Considering how PS4/720 will be so similar in terms of architecture, will sales realy matter? Does it matter if one sells 20million and the other sells 40million? Both consoles will get the same multiplats. Online stores for these consoles will also make it easier for publishers to be profitable. Exclusives are the only wildcard. If 1 console is completely dominating another, it increases the chances of the game being exlcusive to 1 platform. The chances of this happening are slim though.

then about what will we argue relentlessly ?

 penis size?

It will matter for the company making the consoles. Software sales are even more important.

"Online stores for these consoles will also make it easier for publishers to be profitable"

Enough to offset bigger development costs? We can only hope so, but I doubt it.

Also, unless VGC starts tracking digital sales somehow, sales info/discussion on this site is gonna get even more shaky, and if digital on console gets to a point where it's comparable to digital on PC, this site is obsolete and we can only rely on the odd figures here and there from publishers.

it already is. from what i remember the digital sales on the vita are about 1/3 of all software sales

Of course sales matter.

We'll still have hardware so I wouldn't say obsolete. Less interesting for sure though.

OT: I say it depends on if my preferred console is doing well or not.

Lol what. Sales will matter. If the console sells 1 million units then that console won't get any third party support, hence no multiplat games for the console. Then if the console isn't succesfull for the maker (ex, Sony or Microsoft) then they won't support it with first party games. Then it'll just be there collecting dust with your Wii U!

Jokes =P

3D printing... 

jk, that's right I forgot about hardware.

Even when the Xbox was sub 20k and the PS2 was fast approaching 100 million, it still got all the GTAs, all the Maddens, all the CoDs and Medal of Honors, all the Dynasty Warriors, all the Sonic collections, etc etc etc.

Sales never mattered in this regard, it was always down to CD vs Cart and DVD vs mini discs, power vs whatever the fuck Wii's deal was, etc etc etc. Once ease of porting is out of the way, sales are pure wankery.

I think that's a good enough reason for most of us here, though.