If Apple were ever to release even just a standard Bluetooth game controller that worked with iPad + Apple TV + iMacs ... that could be a game changer.

I suspect in the next few years Apple is going to push the iPad being able to wirelessly interface with televisions too.

So if you have an iPad, just get in range of your TV, pick up your controller and you can play, no cables (ala the Wii U concept only the hardware is in the tablet itself).

I'll read thru this thread later, but I'll chip in with my two sales now: next gen console sales will total over 300 million all together! This gen already has sold over 200 million HW, and will end up at around 250m HW sales... Social media isn't new - it's been around for quite a while, and haven't had an impact on gaming sales yet! Mobile gaming has been a big thing since... What? 2008? 2009? Wii had it's best years back then! Conclusion: mobile gaming didn't have a negative impact on Wiis sales. And Xbox had a fantastic year last year - even though it's 6-7 years old! Conclusion: mobile gaming and social media didn't impact on Xboxs sales.

This statement only furthers the point most of us already has: analysts don't know shit!

I believe either Xbox will rise, or Sony will be back on top. Either way, people will still buy consoles for sports games, racing games, FPS and all the genres that fit in between. Plus the entertainment aspect of them (Tv channels, Netflix, Zune etc) could shut out cable boxes in the near future. I don't see consoles struggling in the next generation.

Hmm, the SNES sold 12M less then the NES. Has Sega really made up for that loss in sales?

As I read the title, I thought that might be true. I fear the same, the next gen could be shrinking in comparison to the current gen. So I were reading the article - and it's shit. Not only the author compares the sales of the PS2 to the sales of current gen consoles each alone, but ignores the fact that the current gen sold already more units than the PS2-gen, the analysts make concrete sales-prediction for the launches of the three consoles, although knowing nothing about them yet. A proper analysis could look at the population that bought consoles this gen, but no, they add rumors about "disappointing" hardware-specs of the Wii-U (nobody really knows yet). This "analysis" is worth nothing.

A word about the speculations of Apple-TV and it taking some of the sales. You should be aware, if Apple adds a controller (maybe optional) to Apple-TV it's basically a console. If Apple reenters the console-market I'm sure the next-gen will increase in sales between the four.

Yes.

I looked it up. The Mega Drive sold around 30 million, while the Master System sold only 13 million. So yes, they made up the losses in sales Nintendo had to suffer and sold even some more. Incredible.

He's quite mistaken to compare each current gen console individually to the ps2.

If you compare the entire market between generations, things look much different.  You'd be looking at about ~200 million consoles sold last gen vs 226 million and counting this gen.  Add another 1.5+ years of solid sales, and we're looking at at least 250 million sold before the generation is over.

It's unlikely any console will ever equal the marketshare of the ps1/ps2 ever again, but that's an entirely other issue.  Total sales should continue to increase for the forseeable future, as gaming continues to gain mainstream acceptance and the strength of markets like India, China, and Brazil grows.

That's an interesting point. I would add Korea to the countries you mentioned. Maybe the next-gen-winner is the company, that is able to get a good foothold in these markets.

The problem was obviously me not being aware of it.