Hi vgcharters, how you doing all ?

So, my mates and I are pretty much excited about next gen consoles and all, but when the question about actually buying the upcoming hardware comes up, the conversation turns into something akin "ohh, I'm on the fence to buy tablet X, iDevice 6, upcoming Galaxy etc... I'm gonna wait a couple years to jump on the next gen console bandwagon. Just look at the new Wii, no games. PS4 gonna be the same for the first year or so." etc, etc...

I see them giving priority to devices that actually are just improvements of what they already own. They want the consoles and games, but they don't feel like spending about 500 bucks on it because it is "expensive". 

Is this something that is also going on among you and your friends ?

I see myself giving priority to other stuff like a photo camera and windsurf gear, but not actually upgrades to smartdevices that I already own.

no why the hell would you? that stuff is for casuals who can only play games in small doses

You should probably read.  It doesn't sound like they are buying them for the games, but just upgrading their phones or tablets.

Thus they are spending $200-600 on that and thus not having the funds to buy a next gen system.

basically they are going "should I get a PS4, or buy a new phone which is exactly like my old phone but a higher number thus the new 'cool' thing"

They choose the phone.  Not for the games.  Gaming forums make the bad assumption that everything in life is related to games.  Even the PC owners who spend more money on their pc's aren't ONLY gaming on their PC.  There is a crap load more they want the more power for and use it for.  Not to mention doing things like the internet and other things that consoles can and other devices can do is infinately easier, faster, and better on a PC.

I need a phone only to call or text.

Reality check for all gamers. Apple has sold 100 millions iPads to date and they cost $500, with that in mind a report shows that 40% of user use the iPad primarily for gaming. That means that you have 40 millions iPad out there used primarily for gaming, now if you compare this number to the number of 3ds and ps vitas out there you will see how big that is, specially when you have to consider that a 3ds and a ps vita together are less expensive that a single iPad.

Whether we like it or not tablets and phones are going to significantly affect the gaming market, for example i have decided not to buy a 3ds or a ps vita and instead got a new 4th gen iPad. Not only I'm able to play good quality games but i have the functionality of a note book included, plus the highest quality hardware in the market.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/48122/apple-ipad-100-million-sold
http://ipad.blorge.com/2012/07/23/ipad-mainly-being-used-for-internet-browsing-entertainment/

Edit: so yeah i am giving priority to my Iphone and iPad

Buying smart phones and tablets don't interfere with me buying games or consoles. If anything it eats more into my PC/laptop buying. I'd say on the one hand I'm in the minority since I'm sure many people do their gaming on phones and tablets at the exclusion of console gaming. On the other, so far tablets/phones have hit the PC/Laptop market more so far.

I think its inevitable that the dedicated console/handheld gaming market will shrink, especially given the heights of the previous gen. What the new numbers will be I could not hazard to guess. Ultimately the numbers will stabilize to a new normal (will probably take more than this next gen to find out what that is). Then the numbers will begin to grow again, probably slower than in the past though.

Personally, I can't stand gaming on tablets and phones.

I would never give priority to a smartphone, or an ipad over a brand new console, mainly cause a console would give me much more satisfaction than any of those products. Also, tablets have never appealed to me, and I already own a laptop which is working perfectly, and I bought an Iphone 5 a month ago, so that be fine for me for 2-3 years.

I am never a early adopter of consoles. So ill stick with my 360 and Ipad 4 for another year after at least

Congratulations on describing the upcoming generation of game consoles and the vast majority of console games released in the past five years. I think we've found the answer.

Speaking for myself, my tablet is the most-used computing device I have, and my smartphone the one I have with me most of the time. I don't just use them for many things besides entertainment, I use them for many kinds of entertainment that game consoles suck at. So if I have to decide between improving the computer that I use the most, the computer I carry with me most of the time, or the computer that stays at home and only does one job, of course the least useful one gets bottom priority.