Prediction: PS3 will reach 105 million units before the Wii

[DélioPT]

walsufnir said:

DélioPT said:
Support in terms of software might be tricky because the competition will be too high and seeing as making games for the new generation will cost even more, an added increase in money in the number of ports might risk the support of both PS3 and Xbox 360.

this is true but here backwards-compatibility could play a great role. if microsoft manages to somehow emulate or natively run xbox 360 games with their nextbox the transition could be easier for gamers. this wouldn't help sales for the 360, of course :) but there would be a chance for games still ported to "360 and compatible". i don't see how sony will manage this with their current hardware-architecture. emulation won't be possible so they *have* to put cell-compatible hardware to ps4 (leave aside streaming).

To be honest i have no idea if backwards compatibility does play a role on choosing consoles or not. Truth is, that didn`t stop Wii from succeeding and also Xbox 360. Both consoles must have taken a good chunk of PS2 owners.
In terms of architecture i have no idea how that works, but so far we don`t have any concrete (as in confirmed) ideas of how Xbox 720 and PS4 will be.

I`ll say that BC is a plus but not a decisive point towards any console.
But at the same time, for example, a Xb360 game bought for Xb720, is one less game sold for Xb720. And seeing as both have the same market, it will be hard to balance that transition, at least on the medium and long term.

It`s like, if you don`t give enough support, the old console will collapse and if you give too much, there really won`t be a good reason to buy a new console.
Tricky! :)