It's indicative of a change to the established pattern of console wars; nowadays, it's more about adding features and gadgets to improve existing products than developing entirely new ones.
Let's go through a long list of things released during the 20+ year console war's history, shall we?
Nintendo Power Glove
Nintendo Power Pad
Nintendo Light Gun
Nintendo R.O.B.
That little light and magnifier thingy for the Nintendo GB?
Sega 32X
Sega CD
Atari Jaguar CD
Nintendo Super Scope
Nintendo GBA's integration into the Nintendo Gamecube
Xbox Media Center
Sony Playstation DualShock controller
PS one (compete w/ LCD screen)
Sony Playstation 2 Slim
Sony Playstation 3 Slim
The numerous add-on peripherals for Nintendo Wii
How is any of this different than what we have had for the last 20 years? It has always been the trend of console designers to milk us for every cent they possibly can on a gaming console before coming out with the next generation. Few systems (like the Xbox) have done so generally with new functionality without the need to purchase add-ons. Others have released better, sleeker versions of the original console before moving on the the next gen. Still others have given us a schlew of peripherals in an attempt to generate revenue from those looking to create "home arcade" systems.
To the systems programmer, users and applications serve only to provide a test load.