I think you're being to much of an idealist. Nvidia is a business, and businesses are in the game of making money. They know they have the best cards available right now, in the case of the Titan, it was released with such high specs at the time that it warranted being a $1,000 card. Nothing could come close to touching it in AMD's line.

It's perfectly reasonable from a realistic perspective, and there are no "marketing ploys" to be seen, just smart business sense on Nvidia's part. Stop being a sore consumer.