Games >>> pricing > advertising > everything else ~= 0

Games + marketing are the 2 keys.

its a tough choice, right now i would say price than games. That is only because multi plats sell better than exclusives and there are far more multiplats. So its a null point, all the systems have enough games of each genre with different styles for it to not matter much. So price.

Technically, that's the same thing. If you priced it at its precieved worth, then it's the "correct" price.

Price and casual games. Prove me wrong, i'll give you a hint, you can't. No soccer mum buys a PS3 thinking she can't wait for her son to indulge in Metal Gear Solid 4 and Uncharted 3. Or a 360 so that they can play some Gears 3 and Forza. Or hell even a Wii for Xenoblade and MH 3.

In japan things are a tad different though. There are about 5-10 franchises that sell like hotcakes regardless of what platform they are on and that sums up their sales charts, with adequate to mediocre sales for everything else.

Silly me I left out marketing. That too is integral, however I don't wish to comment on it in case I offend users.

Also just noticed someone has Tales of the Abyss 3DS in their currently playing, how is it?

It's not. The GameCube was cheaper than the Wii but didn't even come close. Apparantly, people thought the Wii was worth more money. People don't just buy cheaper products because they are cheaper.

It's always about the games. I'll give an example The Gamecube had the weakest versions of many of their top franchises (Mario, Mario Kart, and Zelda) and suffered because of it.

Games obviously.

Games, games, games.

I remember people complaining about the tracking of Wii Sports sales saying it shouldn't be counted since it came bundled with the Wii but in reality in most cases it's Wii Sport that sold the Wii, not the other way around.