Microsoft's is different because if you track the history of their moves from the last year, *all* of their efforts to recapture market share have been predicated on price cuts and maximizing consumer perception as a pure "dollars to value" purchase. MS has put out some solid software but did it almost exclusively during a scheduled fall season and ancillary to its aggressive price cuts and bundling.
What's incredibly troublesome about this is that two of their biggest moves - the Titanfall bundle/price drop and the Sunset Overdrive bundle/price drop - overshadowed those major releases. It's a dangerous movie, I think, because it creates the perception that MS doesn't have faith in its software to drive sales - a problem that I'd argue plagues the entire Xbox brand, and one that's going to hurt them more and more as they lose that market leader jewel for third party support. Comparatively, Nintendo has always stood behind its software, and it's kept them alive and popular even during their market lows.
We will never know what the exact thoughts behind the moves are. But you can also spin it the other way. Microsoft wants as many gamers as possible to play those games, so they drop the price.
Of course that is not what's happening, but the maximization of sales and profit is the goal in every company, small or large. Microsoft is trying to do that by making these moves and ship more consoles, so they can sell more games later.
Nintendo games are kind of like Apple products in a way. You don't see that many price cuts on them and they seem to hold value longer. That is one position to take, but it is not better or worse than another.
Comparing the release schedule between the two, both are releasing their main games in fall. That is normal, since there are more buyers in that period compared to other months. Nintendo released Bayonetta 2, Hyrule Warriors and is readying Super Smash. Those are also three exclusives for the holidays, same as Microsoft.