Just thinking... maybe the reason why Xbox 360 and PS3 keep selling so well it`s because, for their audience, there are only 2 consoles and no leader.
In the PS2 generation, they were all going for the same market - essencially - and there was one clear winner from the start that ate the other one`s market.
This generation that isn`t happening: the market leader pratically has no place in the core market and the Xbox brand gained recognition as the playstation lost part of it`s recognition.
I think it`s safe to assume the same happened in the PS1 generation.
Of course, that doesn`t take away the fact that not only redesigns were introduced this time for PS3 and Xbox 360, but they upgraded their controller input (kinect and Move) giving way for the casual market.
There`s also something that didn`t happen this time around: the change in price was less drastic. Why? Probably because, in the context of a sales tie, they didn`t need to appeal to costumers as Xbox and GC did when they were fighting against a clear leader.
Having prices higher by this time in the lifetime they can keep the perception of value in their consoles and they can still impact the market with a price drop.
Don`t know if this makes much sense, but it did a few minutes ago! :D
