They didn\'t put DVD and stuff in to reduce the cost cos being able to play DVD s is next to useless no one hardly ever uses their PS2 for that and they i don\'t think would ever use it as a CD player (What\'s the point?).
Useless perhaps in Europe and the States, but not in Japan. Just read up on a few articles when PS2 launched and you\'ll see that a lot of people bought the PS2 primarely as a DVD-player and not as a game-console. The market has also changed since then and prices of standalone DVD-players have come down, especially in Japan (or so I believe).
Nintendo make games and consoles (and are darn good at it) unlike sony who make multimedia devices and don\'t make games.
Nintendo good at making consoles? Not for what I see them. They make great games, but that\'s about it really. If it\'s the specs of the GameCube you\'re getting at, thank ATI, Matshushita and a view others for making what it is. Nintendo is as good at making consoles as Microsoft is...