To me point 2 is very wrong, with how big PSN, Xbox live, Wii online shop center(is that the name lol) and online purchasing is getting you can get even more quality low cost third party games than before.

Great thread! While I don't mind your sarcasm threads I really enjoy your posts when you are in a more serious analytical mode :)

I mostly agree with what you are saying. I have always felt that Nintendo tried to make the Wii U both a casual successor to the Wii and a more traditional console and failed in both of those goals. Granted it was hard to replicate the motion controls craze but at the very least I feel they could have done more to appeal to the mainstream.

As much a Nintendo may not like it when it comes to home consoles I think it would go a long way if they could at least make sure to get the majority of the most popular 3rd party games on their system. While Nintendo 1st party studios and games are great, their main strength lies in the handheld space and Nintendo should realise that they need 3rd party support to have a successful home console in case the console doesn't catch fire like the original Wii.

At this stage I can only foresee the Wii U selling at Gamecube levels but I sincerely hope that Nintendo learns from their mistakes this gen and that they look outside their self imposed insular bubble. Perhaps a change of leadership will be needed.

As for the results this generation I agree PS4 should win overall easily in the home consoles space while Nintendo will continue to dominate in handheld sales unless the Vita catches fire as a PS4 companion device.

Its almost never a question of will it sell.

Its a combination of my post regarding better first party competition and Rol's post to mine explaining the political side of the arguement.

People have proven many, many times that the low selling ports on Wii U still were profitable to the companies involved. EA (and others) abandon due to competition and the fact that MSony will hurt gamers to do what EA and others want.

Nintendo is only a gaming company. If gaming fails, they go away. MSony just dump that division. 3rd party software focus on what they think will create increased revenue per title and those actions are at odds with Nintendo's character. Read Rol's post to mine.

You answered your own question.

Its never about hardware and always about software.

Wiimote didnt' sell Wii, Wii Sports did. People paid $250+ to play Wii Sports.

The wiiU losing to the Xbox One isn't locked in yet. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being like the 6th generation where the ps4 dominates and the wiiU and xbone have a cripple fight.

I agree with everything except #5's first paragraph. That is utter bollocks.

The most gleamingly true thing is the Wii U being the anti-Wii. So true it hurts.

I cut the ones I agreed with and left the ones I disagree with.

2. I'd argue you are right here but also that is part of what makes you wrong with Nintendo. In an industry in which the gaming consolidates around several mega-franchises, the owner of several of those franchises is going to make out just fine. The real issue with the last generation is that Sony and Microsoft battled to a standstill with Microsoft taking North American and Sony grabbing the rest of the world. That clearly isn't going to happen this time and both of them follow the exact same business model so when there is a clearly loser there, it means they will lose badly. Nintendo is the winner in that they aren't trying to compete directly against Sony and Microsoft. They get a certain amount of business just by being the only true alternative solution and then on top of that, they've chosen a low cost solution to be a second choice for many living rooms. Over the long run, this is really going to be a positie as Sony kills of Microsoft.

3. I disagree. The Wii U is basically the perfect wedge product in the age of changing tastes and dynamics. Microsoft and Sony are going with more of the same and raising the cost of doing so. We've seen this strategy fail spectacularly with Vita. It won't fail for both of them but will for one of them in this generation. Nintendo has the strongest second screen strategy in my opinion and that is very important in this day and age. The living room is going to have one big screen and then plenty of people sitting around staring at small screens be they a smartphone, tablet, 3DS or Wii U. It doesn't demand to control it all like Microsoft tries to do. Instead it offers a solution and fits in with everything else. These consoles are probably going to be the last of their kind in that other solutions will take the place of needed future hardware improvements. All of them are powerful enough to become dumb boxes for cloud based services and processing that will develop/improve in the future.

4. I don't see it as anti-Wii. I see it as Wii+. It still has all the prior motion controls and is fully backwards compatible including even being able to use a Wii-mote with the tablet controller. I see Microsoft as really stacking up units and with sales dramatically dropping off after the early adopters. Plus the network effect is going to hammer them hard when so many other people choose Sony. The only solution then is to be the alternative thus not needing the network effect. What is the solution for those who need something other than collecting trophies and killing each other in Call of Duty? Nintendo and it will be cheap and get cheaper to boot. You note that Microsoft blundered. All they've ever done is blunder. They just have deep enough pockets to try to spend their way out of their blunders but the number of burned bridges is too deep this time. More expensive but less value in an online experience, highest cost console with less performance, biggest box, and the fear that their policies can turn against you at any moment along with the sour taste of so many bad Xbox 360's will have more people looking at Sony this time and as you note, Sony has done the right thing. They will take first but I see Microsoft in third this time (as they have been in the prior generation.)

Plus let us not forget that all of these 8th generation solutions are competing against the entire 7th generation. Before someone is going to thrown down good cash they need a compelling reason to dump their current investment. Nintendo has made it easy to keep that investment and extend it. Much like how DVD and streaming have limited the appeal of Blue-Ray with regard to replacing DVD's (of which plenty are still sold.) The 7th generation is good enough for many people and the 8th generation value proposition will have to improve enough for them to give up or sell off the prior generation investment. Considering Gamestop and others basically had to throw away their PS2 stock to force people to stop using it, it will become even harder to get ride of this generation which already has many of the most important capabilities wanted in a console (streaming, gaming library, etc.)

5. Point blank the 3DS isn't failing. It is winning as well as it can in a changed marketplace. The old rules are gone and the new rules have the 3DS selling as many units as it can against factors the DS never had to face.

6. Microsoft might still take N.A. They shouldn't but they might. They don't mind bleeding tons of money and Sony might not be able to follow them in terms of bleeding money. They can't afford to do it everywhere but they might pick their spot and try to survive until the next generation or just write it off as an expensive loss to leverage Windows phones, tablets, PC's etc into the living room. That is what Xbox has been all along anyway. A big money loser to keep Windows in the minds of the masses.

Then why are they ending the 7th gen in third place?

Yes NInty is the hero of gamers and MS Sony just want to hurt gaming, sure lol.  

Ea does what Ea does Sony getting into some big fight with them would be utterly moronic.  Its the consumer that decides what works what does not (MS X1 policies), if people are buying Ea games no matter what ever crap policies they come up with its on them not Sony or MS.  Who are you to say Ea is wrong if peopel are buying their product, you just favor a lesser evil nothing more.   

Yes they are a gaming company, and theres is no doubt in my mind they would be just as good if they did not make hardware.  As you put it Ea would hurt gamers while Ninty would release their freeom ideals on all the consoels PC tablets smartphones where ever and be just fine.

 Nins desicions have nothing to do with protecting gamers, they are protecting their own $$$$.  I get many here are ardent Ninty supoorters even if its to the extrem but get real they are in it to profit nothing more.   Did you forget the way they pissed on gamers and went all waggle casual showelware on the wii all in the name of profits ?

past is that, and growing pains.  

X to 360 was serious growth, they wont settle for being beat by nin now.  To take 3rd now would be going backwards.