Hopefully this will shed some light on how things really are. And hopefully put an end to this specific brand of sensationalism on the internet these days.
Looking at platforms from the last 3 generations, NOT INCLUDING HANDHELDS.
GEN 5 TOTAL: 144M
- PSX 104M
- N64 32M
- SS 8
GEN 6 TOTAL: 211M +37%
- PS2 157M
- XB 25M
- GC 21M
- DC 8M
GEN 7 TOTAL: 265M +27%
- Wii 101M
- PS3 83M
- 360 81M
Not as flashy as graphs but you get the general gist. And this is just looking at the last 3 generations. Every generation there has been more than a 20% increase in combined console sales. So I reeeeeeeeeeaaaallllly don't know where this whole doom and gloom nonsense comes from. But hey, if we really want to add handheld gaming to this list, then by all means lets do it properly. ADD the IOS and ANDROID device sales there too!!!!!! Cause while they may not be gaming on the PSP, vita, DS or 3DS anymore, they sure as hell are gaming on their phones.
EDIT: And something else about the last generation. It was combined the most expensive console generation in history. In the PS2's 5th year, you could buy a brand new PS2 for under $150. As at the launch of the PS4, no to hell with that.. right now, six month into the new generation, a brand new PS3 is still around $250. If sony and MS can somehow make the PS4/XBO get to as low as $200 in say three years, this gen will also put up some crazy large numbers.
