Based on the sales of the WiiU/PS4/XBox One, I think that all three are going to fail!

WiiU

The WiiU will be lucky to achieve 20-25 million sales lifetime.  Is it beause the system is bad? Yes and No.  Yes, because the unique controller increases the cost of the system and the common folk don't care about it.  Also, the advertising and messaging about WiiU has never landed that it is a SIGNIFICANT jump in quality from the original Wii.  The No part is related to the fact that it has awesome first party support(finally) that can't be rivaled for years by the other two systems.

PS4

The PS4 has had clearly the best start and the best gaming powerhouse design of all three systems.  Without much debate, the PS4 will probably outsell the WiiU and XB1 combined in the first 12-18 months.  That is the real problem with the PS4.  Past the intial rush of core gamers looking to upgrade their old PS3/360, the PS4 doesn't do much for the casual crowd.  Also, the whizbang/shock of the graphics power(compared to the last Gen) will wear off quickly, as all 3 systems are truely underpowered at launch and will only get worse.  The initial success(power/price) of the PS4 is it's actual long term failure.  What does the PS4 have that people outside the core gaming community really want?  Nothing YET...  PS4 will sell 50-60 million MAX, probably closer to 50 million.

Xbox One

The Xbox One obviously has a few problems to overcome upfront.  Microsoft failed on messaging when announcing  the console and then failed with the price too.  But did Microsoft fail on pricing?  They did if they wanted to grab casuals from the word go, but not long term.  Microsoft has planned the XB1's launch as a long term thing.  Get the early adopters at a higher cost, because they will pay.  Drop the price later as content and multiple(win8/winphone/XB1) platform delivery is realized.  It has been reported that Microsoft is planning to make the windows phone OS free to cell phone makers.  Microsoft realizes that long term, it's the ecosystem that matters and not the hardware.  It's really only a matter of time before they drop the XB1's price below cost to gain maximum platform delivery.    Even though most people don't want me to use the K word, I will say it.  The Kinect is what will actually save the XB1 long term.  The capabilities of the Kinect along with the XB1's HDMI pass through will be the systems big draw down the line.  The Kinect/Multimedia capability is what makes it have the functions that help it cross over to the casual crowd.  Unless Microsoft pulls the original Wii out of the hat and has a monster cultural craze to buy the XB1, it will probably sell the same 50-50 million as the PS4.  The difference is that the XB1 will be more succesful in years 3-6.

So, how does this indicate that the Next Gen is a failure?

Like anything, it's all in the eyes of the beholder.  Last Gen will have sold 270+ million. Based on my thoughts, this gen will sell 150 million at best. It's not because the products themselves are bad. It has a lot to do with things outside of console gaming. Smartphones/tablets/PC's/ the internet.  I could get into a long debate on how those things will really be the demise of console gamings dominance, but that is another thread...

EDIT : Added Thoughts about the large #'s here at launch

The big launch numbers are expected based on the way people do preorders nowadays.  Also, people no longer want to wait to get what they want, they go get it right now.  We also had last gen systems that should have been replaced 2 years ago based on the hardware alone.  All of this created a pent up demand that in previous genreations took the manufactureers months to produce.  These launch numbers are big because Sony and Microsoft did an awesome job on production.

As far as the total console #'s being low on my estimates becasue of casual gamers.  I think there are a bunch of gamers who buy COD and Battlefield and a sports game every year and that's it.  Because the last gen systems have sold sos many and continue to sell so many, they will be supported really well for 2-3 years more.  So, most of those titles will not require the casual crowd to upgrade to play.  Sure, some will, but a good chunk will not need to right away.

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No thoughts now?

PS4 will sell more than 100M.

What makes you think that?

I guess the fact that Xbox one and PS4 track way over their predecessors at the same point in time makes your prediction kind of logically flawed. You basically just said: "Xbox and PS4 will sell less than their predecessors because I say so"

There is no reason to believe your prediction will come true.

I don't think so, I'm thinking around ~250m consoles will be sold this generation which is only slightly down from last gen and it'll go more like:

PS4= 110-130m. X1 = 90-110m. Wii U = 20-40m.

I really can't be bothered to explain those predictions, that's just how I feel it'll go lol. Way too early to make predictions really, in a year or two we'll have a much better idea of how things will go.

I wouldnt say a failure, but i think slow starts are here to stay. People jumped at and labeled the Wii U and Vita (and the 3DS) as failures, but i think its just a general trait of the market now. People are not as willing to be early adopters. The fact that theres less visible difference between just makes the issue worse.

I was today with a casual gamer and trying to tease her about the new Zelda (For 3DS) im getting and she lamented herself that it doesnt work on the DS. I know for a fact that she has the money to buy a 3DS easily, but i guess people tire of buying new consoles/think its a waste of money. They want to buy one and be sorted. This will definitly hurt the new gen, because the visible difference is smaller than ever before and current-gen systems can still do everything.

I think you overtimate the value of casuals. Nintendo put their game on them with the Wii and now payed the price with the Wii U.

Logic??

Let's apply what you just said to reasoning.

Both systems just launched after 7-8 years between generations.  Demand has been built up over that time and in today's society, people who are big fans of anything Line up and pay whatever to get it right away.  That was true to some degree at last gen launchs, but it wasn't as common back then as it is today(look at any iphone launch).  Also, look at ebay.  A large number of people have learned that there is a lot of money to be made in the purchasing and reselling of the systems.  This too creates a crapload of demand from middle men.  The biggest factor is the proliferation of the HDTV.  Even though the last gen was supposed to be the HD revolution, it didn't really happen that way because there were so many people without HDTVs.  Now, the market is sturated with inexpensive HDTVs.  This allows people to go next gen with the lateest tech fora lot less.

THe Because is say so portion is the part where we have to factor in the Smartphone/Tablet/internet segments.  Those areas basically did not exist until the last 3rd of the last gen.  The tablet/smartphone market is exploding in both quantity of paroducts/sales and quality/power.  You can go buy a tablet today that is more powerful than the PS4 or XB1.  It isn't price comparable, but it will be in a few years.