$250 is the heavily rumoured price in the United States, so at least they got that right.
My guess is there trying to combine their console and handheld market into one device and have it be the successor to both Wii U and 3DS. I don't want it to fail, but I don't want it to be the next best thing where the competition follows suit.
EDIT: The way I see the 3 going into the year is this:
Nintendo is going for the handheld market
Microsoft is going for the high-powered console market integrated with PC
Sony is going for the exclusive game market while having the best AAA support (Call of Duty, Destiny, etc.).