The hardcore console market seems to be shrinking

[Mr Puggsly]

Lenny93 said:

PS2 + OG Xbox = 182.33 Million.

PS3 + 360 = 173.21 Million.

PS4 + One projected sells = 164 million, 48 million for Xbox one and 116 million for PS4.

Or do you think that these 2 will eventually match or surpass the previous generation before them?

I don't think what you're considering is the casual gamer may be moving away from hardware that's focused on core gaming.

The 6th and 7th gen consoles had a ton of software that people considered casual or shovelware. I feel much of that type of software moved to mobile devices, became free downloads and that's where much of the casual audience is now.

Also, its worth considering Nintendo platforms after Wii lost much of the casual audience Nintendo had. The 3DS for example sold much less than DS because casual gamers began playing games on portable smart devices.

Nintendo fans seem to be annoyed you've dismissed the Switch as a core platform and I can see their point. It's evident the Switch audience is not the exact same as PS4 and X1 users, they don't buy 3rd party core games in the same numbers. However, the Switch library and software sales do show it has a core following.

I believe the core gaming market is going strong, but casuals aren't doing much gaming on consoles. Much of kid and family friendly stuff is being played on smart devices. That started in the 7th gen.