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couchmonkey on 14 November 2017
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VAMatt said:
quickrick said:

Look at the handheld market 230 milliom with psp and ds to 85 million with with vita, and 3DS. look at how bad xbone and wiiu did compared to there predecessor. switch will start off strong , but it will slow down next year hard, i also expect ps5 and the nextxbox to  struggle, especially the nextbox,probably there last console.  

The thing is PS4 sold better than PS3 (so far) and XB1 is just a bit behind X360 numbers (though it has fallen off this year, it seems likely that the XBX will fuel a strong Q4 and bring it back in line).   Certainly handhelds are in a tough space, as mobile gaming has taken hold.  But, I don't see any evidence that home console sales are in bad shape, or even declining significantly industry-wide.  
                       

For my two cents, everyone keeps on blaming mobile for poor sales of handhelds, but if mobile is the wave of the future, could it be even worse for home consoles?  Will the tablet-loving kid of today buy a TV set at all?

Personally, I think weak economics and big miss-steps also play a factor in 3DS sales, at least.  The 3DS launch year was awful, I sold my launch system that Christmas to try to get some of my money back, with nothing but Street Fighter IV to show for like 7 months of ownership.  I don't think 3DS ever fully recovered, which is reflected in mediocre third party support.  Meanwhile, the past decade has not been an easy time economically - DS and PSP faced that starting in 2008, but they also had a couple of years worry-free on the market first.

As for Vita, I'd be happy to hear someone more informed explain what went right or wrong for that system.  If Switch's success is predicated on "powerful handheld", then why didn't Vita do better?