I know, and I would also be part of this also, a focus on the future, and whether or not the Wii U could keep up with the PS4 and the next Microsoft offering.  Well, how about looking to this generation?  If the Wii U is closer to this generation than the other consoles to come out, and if memory isn't an issue, doesn't some success of the Wii U also mean that the current generation of consoles would get additional life and hang around longer?  If one is arguing that the memory and power of the Wii U can keep up with the PS4 somehow, with a scalable engine, couldn't this engine also be scaled down to the current generation of systems to, thus extending their life?

Comments?

I doubt it will be any different than last gen. PS2 kept getting multiplats for a few years. This time around both PS3 and 360 will be getting them.

If the Wii U does well this fall when all of the big games come out, it could extend the life of the Xbox 360 and PS3 by a little bit, but not much. What will extend the life of the Xbox 360 and PS3 will be the large user base, and poor Nextbox and PS4 launch sales. So far every 8th generation console has struggled at launch, I doubt that the Nextbox or PS4 will be an exception.

I think that those consoles will just keep selling, but more importantly really hurt the PS4/NextBox sales in the short-term. Who would upgrade straight away when all the games, and more, are on the current systems for a much lower entry price?

Nop. The Wii U barely has any life for itself.

I think it will be the other way around.

PS3 and 360 success will insure that the Wii U keeps getting content, or the Wii U will kill off the PS3 and 360 sooner?

PS3 and Xbox 360 will extend the life of the Wii U.

I think that the PS3 and X360 will extend the life of the Wii U

Perhaps, but not as much as the gaming industry's desperate need for the revenue of PS360 owners. If you need to sell 4 million plus copies to profit off a game, it's going to be at least a couple years on the market before PS4 could possibly support that on its own.