... Or at least that's what you'd think if you read any prediction threads on VGChartz. Apparently Gen 8 is all d00m and every console will fail miserably (maybe not miserably, but signifigantly less) because there is no "Wii" to get the casuals. While I dont claim to be an authority on how Gens run, (only starting paying attention to sales at the end of Gen 7) I do know that the gaming market as a whole is very unpredictable. I do feel its a bit too early to call "d00m" to any console at the moment as this Gen has just started.

I also think that whatever will attract casuals to consoles again may not have arrived yet. There is no "motion controls" or "kinect" to sell to the masses at the moment, but there very well could be in the near future.

Will this Gen be shorter and have less sales than the last? Maybe, I dont know nor does anyone else. Only time will tell and what is to come and what may improve or make worse the situation of the gaming market

This Gen will probably be shorter than the previous one.

It will be shorter with less fads. So yes, I don't think anyone will reach 100 million and only one will come close to it.

Handheld wise yeah I expect a huge drop.

Home consoles though, biggest gen ever!!!

Gen 8 hasn't really brought anything new to the table like making online common place or motion controls or going 2D to 3D. It's like 7th Gen Part II: The Revenge. Nothing beut better graphics so far.

I'll be optimistic but I hope for some sort of quantum leap sooner rather than later. This is an industry that has built itself on offering innovation and fresh experiences.

Shorter yes, but doomed/last? No... I think all 3 will continue to make home consoles in some form and Nintendo will definitely do another handheld

Gaming is falling apart

Big games have ever expanding budgets and so have to appeal to ever larger audiences. Some get it right and keep what made them special, while actually being profitable, but it won't last. With all these games trying to go "too mainstream" they're losing what makes them good and most importantly, what makes them better than tablets. I fear that many many casual gamers will be lost to playing games on their tablets. Hopefully what's left can still produce good numbers of high quality games, but I'm not holding my breath

A ridiculous percentage of sales are taken by just a few franchises. How healthy would "HD gaming" look if CoD, GTA, AC and FIFA were removed?

I doubt any of the current gen consoles get past 85 mil units sold. With Steam Box coming and lots of people claiming only "some improvements" from last gen, it seems like players are becoming disenfranchised with console gaming. PC gaming market growing again due to Steam as well.

But....But those january sales!!!!!