I don't think there is any dispute about the "large portion" comment, because that is fairly open to interpretation, but the "possibly more than half" comes from personal experience ...

Everyone I know who owns a console (that I know of) is a multi-console owner and bought the Wii first. From 2006 to 2008 everyone bought their Wii, and most of them picked up a XBox 360 or PS3 after that when their prices became more reasonable. When you look at hardware sales and how the Wii sold (roughly) as many as the PS3 and XBox 360 combined until the end of 2009 it is not that unreasonable of an assumption.

edit: NPD data from 2009:

Cross-Ownership*
According to the reports, among Wii owners in the United States (who represent 32 percent of all gamers), 14 percent also own a PlayStation 3, and 26 percent own an Xbox 360. Among PlayStation 3 owners (who currently represent 10 percent of all gamers), 42 percent own a Wii and 34 percent own an Xbox 360. However, among Xbox 360 owners (20 percent of all gamers), 42 percent own a Wii, but only 18 percent own a PlayStation 3.

check my edit

1. That makes more sense. But the way you worded you're post was weird. You said "potentially having damaged relationships with third party publishers due to the PS-Vita, there is a risk that the PS4 won't have a chance to be (particularly) successful." By saying "having damaged relationships, it seemed like you were saying Sony wouldn't be trusted anymore. What you're saying is not a result of the Vita, it's a result of the Wii U.

In any case, I don't see the Wii U having some multiplatform games as sparking much of a problem for the PS4/720. We'll see though.

2. Like I said, it's impossible to know.

3. Fair Enough

Maybe, but every time I've seen similar studies (which is not that common) it has come up with similar results; that between 1/3 and 2/3 of console owners owned multiple systems, and the most common pairings were the XBox 360 and Wii, and PS3 and Wii.

A videogame console really isn't expensive for adult gamers, especially late in a generation where the base systems sell for $100 to $150 (often bundled with games), so I don't think you would necessarily see a drop in multi-console ownership late in a generation.

Basically, what Pezus said. 2009 was when the Wii was much larger than it is today. It's likely that the Wii's presence has died down since then. And it's in USA.

But also, this merely shows how frequent it is for a person to own a Wii + another console. It does not say whether or not the Wii was the first console or the second console. 

The Vita and PS3's impact is that third party publishers are not going to assume that they can devote all of their support to the next Playstation system and be successful. They're going to be more focused on multiplatform support and giving strong support to platforms which have demonstrated strong hardware and software sales. The impact of this change will likely be seen with the Wii U and/or XBox 720.

Sony's strategy (since the Playstation) has been to encourage people to buy their platform to gain access to the best third party games, if those games are more spread out it undermines their strategy. As an example, the 3DS getting Monster Hunder games rather than the PS-Vita will likely result in significant reductions in software sales; and, even if the games do not come to the 3DS, if the PS-Vita doesn't get entrusted with Grand Theft Auto games there will be many more systems that were never sold.

Until I see the PS4 I can't predict what the reaction will be, originally I was just trying to make the comment that Sony was bringing "baggage" into the upcomming generation which wasn't being accounted for.

Yeah, my assumption was based on personal experience which I haven't seen quantified ...

With that said, what the chart clearly shows is that it is very common for PS3 and XBox 360 owners to own a Wii. (Less than) 40% of Wii owners had another console, while 42% of PS3 and XBox 360 owners owned a Wii.

Note: "less than" because there would likely be people who owned PS3+XBox 360+Wii which would be double counted on the Wii.

I wish third party sales could prove this theory of yours that a sustainable cross section of the 360/PS3 crowd bought Wii's. Nintendo is focusing on the core because thats exactly what they lacked proper support for outside of the same Nintendo IP's. I could see where a branch of PS3 owners would buy it for Blu Rays based on purchasing habits, but it doesn't add up for the Wii on core titles.

From GAF:

Annual Operating Income (billions of yen)

Code:

Year  Sony  Nintendo

1995    -9   72

1996    57   65

1997   117  128

1998   137  156

1999    77  145

2000   -51   85

2001    83  119

2002   113  100

2003    68  108

2004    43  112

2005     9   90

2006  -232  226

2007  -125  487

2008   -58  555

2009   -57  357

2010    47  171

2011    29  -37

PS2 was released in 2000. If you add everything from 2000 to 2011, it's -131. Also, all profit made from PS2 between 2006-2009 (and any from PSP) is gone too.

Looking at that chart I would think sony should focus more on profits than on power next time. How can they sit there and say they wouldn't have handled ps3 differently? This whole gen they said Kutaragi was right. I think the big wigs at their game division are saying all this to save face.

This whole chapter reads like sega read towards the end of their days. They released a console significantly higher priced and used it to undermine the competition because they were better than everybody else. It is also more complex to develop for and resulted in the majority of multiplats running poorer. They are even in the position where they have to act fast or sink. I remember people were highly skeptical of dreamcast but the failure of the saturn forced their hand before they were ready to move. Its similar here except ps3 caught on. The difference is sony would like ps3 to last longer than this but microsoft are likely going to force their hand. They would obviously like to make as much profit as possible before moving on but they need to launch close to microsoft.

Its funny because people declare nintendo doomsday just because they "only do videogames" but nintendo have consistently made healthy profits with every generation and aren't in debt at all.