^ at the above :D

I don`t think any console will be that doomed this generation.
Xbox and GC sold what they sold because PS2 had pretty much every single game except for Halo, Mario, Zelda, SSB Melee and Mario Kart. That was it: PS2 had it all and then some more.
Going back to the previous generation and there is no PS1 equivalent - not even the Wii (not about sales numbers). So i don`t see one console taking off and leaving other eating dust.

But what if both PS4 and x720 takes off, leaving Wii U in the dust? That's what I'm worried about...

It won`t. And for a number of reasons.
If rumors are true and they are all that more powerful - not Wii vs HD twins all over again - that comes at a cost, a real cost.
Imagine that Xbox 720 comes with Kinect 2.0 and PS4 with the rumored tablet controller. Won`t that raise the price of the machine? People call Wii U outdated and the Deluxe model is at 350. Do you really think both consoles will release at a lower price? Most likely equal or 50 more for the "deluxe" version.

What will be their release dates?
Wii U sales for the big games suffered because they were already available, not because somehow, Wii U`s fan base likes ZombiU and Scribblenauts more than BO 2 or AC 3.
If their release dates come after the big games for the holiday period and consoles are again 350/400 that will slow transition from old gen to current gen.
If games take more time to develop the release schedule won`t be that bright and if games for next year are already deep in development, both consoles might risk getting late ports or even not getting some games.

But more important, what will they offer that will be new?
Not everyone will be rushing to buy an expensive console just because of the better graphics when most likely the first batch of games won´t be all that!

Wii U by then will have a bigger userbase, Zelda WW and probably another big title from Nintendo not to mention that it will have ports from the big guns like COD or BF4.
Online gamers will choose PS3 and Xbox360 for the bigger userbase; Wii U for the bigger fanbase of next gen titles or the smaller userbase of the just launched consoles.
We might even see fortunes change when it comes to the sales of the next COD game.

Glad to see this thread is still up and running! :)

You're welcome ;D

PS720 could launch between $350-450, and since both MS and SOny can afford to take a hit per sold console the actual cost could be $450-550, making the Wii U look seriously outdated. Why buy an outdated system for $350 when you can get top of the line for $400? That's just $50 more. Not a huge difference.

And just imagine if x3ox is launched the same day the next CoD is released? I bet that would sell like crazy. Maybe they'll even have a special CoD bundle? And just imagine if MS sold x3ox with a prescription based plan? "Buy the all new Xbox for $200 and sign a contract for a Xbox live account for 2 years for only $20/month!" That could be devastating for Wii U.

What did PS2 offer that PS1 couldn't already do? Better graphics. That's about it. People care about pretty games. Just take a look around these forums and it becomes very apparent that people like graphics - they even crave for it.

I'm telling you, Wii U could very well face a bleak future a head...

Why do you think Wii U will look outdated? No one knows exactly what Wii U is capable of.
The launch games aren`t an example of Wii U`s power. Take out the ports and you are left with ZombiU, Mario, NLand and Scribblenauts. And none of those games was made to take advantage of Wii U`s power.
Now, if you look at WW and X...

MS could take a hit. But even then, they spent a few number of years in the red and the question is: after R&D, all the years in Red, did it pay off? How much?
Sony can`t even lower the price of Vita let alone do another PS3. It would seriously hurt them.

CoD is both a core game as it is a casual`s friend. Even if both consoles release before the next CoD, the userbase will be small and probably sold out at first. Wii U will pose a better alternative.
More, i doubt they will release in time for all the big holiday games. Leaving room for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.

PS2 had the DVD player and that alone was very big at the time! Not to mention it was super anticipated.

Yes, no one knows what the Wii U is capable of yet, and neither does anyone know what PS720 will be able to do... I do think that if the difference between WiiU and PS720 is rather noticeable, Wii U will not have much of a chance selling 3rd party games - and that will in the end hurt the consoles sales. But I agree that WW remake and X is looking gooood!

YEah, I don't think either of MS or Sony is willing to take a big hit this gen; maybe MS, since they seem determined to own the living rooms. I don't think Sony can take a hit of more than $50/console. But will this mean that they can't produce a console that is more powerful than Wii U?

I figure that most of CoD sales will be done on the PS360, and won't start to seriously shift until next year...

Yeah, PS2 and PS3 probably got a boost in sales because of DVD/Blu-ray, and PS4 will not have any features like that to sell it - buuut having said that, they did acquire Gaikai, meaning that game streaming could be a big push for the system...

I wouldn't worry to much about that.

The PS2 took off because it launched earlier than the GameCube and the Xbox, had the brand recognition and a DVD player. This new gen all consoles have about the same recognition (only exception is Xbox in Japan), both the Nextbox and PS4 will have BR and the WiiU launched earlier.

Besides, if we look at the trend of the sales and the feeling we get from them (I admit this is rather personal), is that the Nextbos will do well in the US and moderately good in Europe. The PS4 will do well in Europe and Japan and "okish" in the US where the brand has lost appeal to Msoft. WiiU is doing good/"okish" in US and Japan and bad in Europe. Since no console will dominate in all 3 markets, there's little chances of a new PS2.

Besides, now it's more common to have 2 consoles than it was before, and while there are some that have both the PS3 and Xbox360 (usually with one of them bought years after release whit a few price drops), the usual combinations are Xbox360+Wii or PS3+Wii if only because the Wii was "for the family". If Nintendo achieves to do that again, sales of 40mil are achievable.