Since we actually a full NPD leak this month, I was able to compare that to NPD data from the last-last gen for those who are curious. Comparisions are done for consoles at same respective point (approximately) in their life cycles and represent the year to date sales through June of each year.

Just an interesting snap shot to look at how these consoles compare at the same points in their lifecycle:

Wii U 3rd Year (2014 June YTD) vs. GameCube 3rd Year (2003 June YTD)

448k (Wii U) vs 721.3k (GCN)

Playstation 4 2nd Year (2014 June YTD) vs. Playstation 2 2nd Year (2001 June YTD)

1.577 million (PS4) vs 1.933 million (PS2)

XBox One 2nd Year (2014 June YTD) vs. XBox 2nd Year (2002 June YTD)

1.1 million (XB1) vs. 975k (XBox)

3DS (2014 June YTD) 4th Year vs. Game Boy Advance 4th Year (2004 June YTD)

768k (3DS) vs. 2.23 million (GBA)

Take aways ... this gen is generally being outsold by the PS2/GBA/GCN/XB era at the same respective points. The PS2 is notably higher than the PS4, the GCN is higher than the Wii U. XB1 and XBox are a bit of a wash. 

GBA is destroying the 3DS. 

I would say as another take away, it's unlikely I think the PS4 will outsell the PS2's second year, ditto for Wii U's third year over GCN's, and virtually impossible for the 3DS to match the GBA. XBox One over XBox might be doable though.

Where are those numbers from?

Yeah I think the PS2 will start to pull away in a more pronounced way the next few months.

July 2001: 352.7k
August 2001: 322.7k
September 2001: 343k

Is the PS2's sales rate for the upcoming months in its 2nd year, so PS4 is going to have to start selling way above 300k a month to keep up ... doubtful.

NPD June 2014:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=857224

NPD Archive Numbers:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10423

Ah ok.

Certainly looks like console gaming is doomed.

PS4 is more profitable than PS2. Hardware is not sold at loss. Plus PS+ and digital purchase makes it better than PS2.

Worldwide numbers would be more interesting!

Here's another disturbing trend if you're Nintendo:

3DS (4th Year 2014 June YTD) Vs. GameCube (4th Year 2004 June YTD) =

768k (3DS) vs. 713.8k (GCN)

That means basically their handheld line is now selling similar to what the GameCube was at the same point's in their life cycle.

Not good, because the handheld line is supposed to be the one carrying the weaker console division.

You can see why Nintendo is having a lot of trouble even sniffing GBA + GCN era profits. 

Too bad PS4 will likely not even come within spitting distance of PS2s LTD. 

Pretty sure the PS2 was profitable by June 2001 too. That's over a year from the Japan launch.