I mean this in a completely friendly way, Jay: you're full of crap!
No, seriously. The Wii control itself isn't inherently gimmicky--in the right games, it's a huge asset. And the inferior hardware is still capable of some downright beautiful visuals in games like Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3.
The Wii's problem is that nobody is taking it seriously right now--not even Nintendo. When the best thing they have for the Christmas season is a rehash of Animal Crossing, there is definitely something WRONG with the picture. Also, Nintendo has been developing new intellecutal properties, or bringing ones over from Japan. Animal Crossing, for one. Pikmin, Disaster: Day of Crisis*, Operation HAMMER, and all the new Wii and DS Casual IPS. They also brought the Advance Wars and Fire Emblem series over from Japan, and those have been seeing success.
The problem with their approach as of late is simply too much focus on the casual market and not enough focus on avid gamers. And if Nintendo can't be convinced to give a crap about us, then how are they going to convince the third parties?
At least we're getting MadWorld and The Conduit next year.