Please,

The industry wasn't in stagnation before the wii, if I remember the PS2 did rather well for it self, the xbox 360 seemed to have fairly good first year sales and that little DS thingy seems very popular on the tube.

Their can be no doubt that the wii is leading the way by a hefty margin and will probably go on to win this round, hope so any way, but if it had never happened then one of the other two would have taken the lime light and been number one.

 Would have been number one yes, but would not have sold that well, the next gen sales would have stagnated, take the DS out as well and the entire industry would be on the verge of collapse as sales would be in the gutter

this all can't be alot of good since i see crazzy post like a madman

My friend, please justify that, What were the actual downward trends that have helped you come to that conclusion (nintendos blue ocean policy doesnt count)

As of 2005 the industry was in the best health it has ever been, so long as you dont count indipendant code shops.

I love Nintendo and funilly enough love what they have done but they have changed the industry and consumer expectations of the industry. If they hadnt come along with the wii one of the other manufacturers would be storming ahead right about now, if for no other reason that the industry would be selling to the same people as before.

The industry has been in a long term period of growth for some time and as the 'new' and up and coming medium of entertainment that trend would have continued

The industry have been growing year after year without needing any saviour .

More so ,Nintendo is reshaping the industry to its own benefit ,so the "benefits " of the coming of the Wii to the industry as a whole are far from clear .

When we see third party games selling as good as they do in the 360 and PS3 then we can say third parties are getting profit from the Wii .Right now ,its the machine that is triumphing but only Nintendo is benefiting from that .Most softs are bombing in the Wii and only Nintendo games seems to attract the casual crowd that makes the 80% of its userbase .

The hystory rarely repeats itself exactly .This generation will be different to all the others seen before .The Wii ,even selling the most by a good degree ,may be unable to put a dent on the traditional industry and be left with the worse catalogue of the three .IF the third parties see that only casual crap sells in the machine and that the attach rate and ratio of the PS3 and 360 is way higher they will push for those and release some quick cash ins for the Wii .After all ,releasing crap or quality on the system sells about the same .As for the other two ,I see the 360 collapsing in Europe in few time and the PS3 selling more year on year so the PS3 will be first between those two .Maybe at the end of the generation the PS3 wont outsell the Wii but we will see if the PS3 isnt the beloved console of the industry as a whole and has all the core and hardcore gamers buying 5-6 games a year and the Wii the cash-cow of Nintendo alone and home of millions of super casual gamers that buy 1 game per year at best .Its just an exxageration just for you to see that the Wii even winning in hardware units may lose the final race .

diomedes
what consoles do you own?

a lot of people are saying that the wii is going to stop. the wii's is following in the ps2's footsteps! it's obtaining new audiences. it's obtaining the old nintendo fans. some people still have the nerve to call it a fad!! it's far from fad status!! it's now an item an ICON!!! the wi contsantly gets praised by news reporters at times. i've even seen the wii in tv shows. (run's house on mtv!!) the wii has placed it's status! i'm going to be honest. i don't think that the ps3 will catch the wii!! the videogame industry is about bringing new and innovative ways to the table. the wii is innovative!! i mean look at JOHNNY LEE!!! you wouldn't have been able to do this on the 360 or the ps3!!! people are also using the wiimote for a mouse! soon enough people will learn how to use the wiimote to make lasers to fight in wars!! the wii has did what no other game system other than the ps2 and nes do. BRING GAMING INTO THE MAINSTREAM!! the gap between it and the ps360 will only increase! my doubts about the wii in 2006 was completely dead when i got mine earlier this year!! i mean, without the wii, we could of ended up having a video game crash of 2007!! Wii has earned the right to be called a "dominating" console!!!

 profits are down, costs are rising, and companies are being forced to merge to survive, the health of the industry is always stated as revenue, but revenue is not the same as profits, costs are rising faster than revenue.  Why do you think sequels are being pushed instead of new IPs, because it is safer for the companies, due to rising costs.

Console makers are taking huge losses to try and push their wares in the hopes that enough will sell over time to gain them marketshare to recoup those losses

Im sorry but cose shops have been going bust for 10 years, just compare the british section of the industry. Other developers are being bought up or publishers merging because the industry is gradually moving to mega corperation domination and cost were rising due to a unsustainable business model. however due to supply and demand the industry would have stabalised anyway.

The consumers were still there, the content would not have just given up and gone home. Oh and sequels have been a main stay of the industry since the early 80's

 Consumers can leave, they've done it before, and there are more entertainment options today, and the model was reaching a point where sequels were being pushed because it is unaffordable to risk on new IPS, thats not a good buisness strategy, because it leads to consumer apathy.

Nintendo is basically creating the only sustainible portion of the industry, where even small devs can survive and compete without mega corporations being needed and new IPS are worth taking a risk on, plus they are keeping the prices mass market and the gameplay accessible so more people can enter the market.