| Galvanizer said: Wii U is almost out but we haven't seen PS4 and 720. It kinda makes me think that Wii U is releasing too early and will go the way of the Dreamcast when it released before PS2/GCN/Xbox. What do you guys think? |
First off, Sega's financial problems and the destruction of their brand from previous system releases killed the Dreamcast, releasing before the PS2 probably was the only thing that the Dreamcast really had going for it.
With that said, when the previous generation market leader launches their system a year (or more) before a system it has typically seen abysmal sales; and when a strong and healthy company has launched a system a year (or more) before their competition it has typically resulted in increased sales for them. Look at how Sony gained the advantage on the N64 by releasing the Playstation before the N64, how Sony crushed the XBox and Gamecube by releasing the PS2 before either system, or how Microsoft saw the XBox 360 sell to (over) 3 times the sales level of the XBox by launching before the PS3. You can add to this list most of the market leading handled systems being that Nintendo launched ahead of or along side all of their competition, and the only time a system has even sold well was when it launched at (roughly) the same time.
Essentially, several generations of handheld and console systems would indicate that Sony and Microsoft not releasing their systems along side or ahead of the Wii U is setting them up to see their sales decline by 40% to 60%, so why aren't you asking whether they're making a mistake?
