Regarding the PS4 and Xbox One, I was expecting a repeat of last gen: Xbox winning in US and UK, with PS4 winning everywhere else. Xbox One's DRM controversy changed that prediction instantly though. The situation would've been far worse had they not reversed that decision, though.

The 3DS, Wii U, and Vita had similar predictions from me: I thought they'd all do reasonably well, but not as good as their predecessors. Only 3DS got an accurate prediction from me, while the Wii U and Vita did much worse than I initially would have expected.

Well that's about the closest anyone in this thread has come to putting up any reasoning for think xb one would win. But it is so full of bad assumptions that even this doesn't qualify as a reasoned analysis of the market coming to analogical conclusion.

Pretty much only emotion and hope could lead anyone to think xb one or Wii U could win the 8th generation. Though Wii U winning was 50/50 up until it was actually revealed.  But with weak specs, high price, for Nintendo, and only a tablet controller as its new thing it sealed its fate as a turn off for the casuals before it even launched.

I thought Wii U because the Wii did so great, and the with the launch being pretty impressive I thought that the console would've outdone PS4 and XB1. Back in 2013 though when PS4 was revealed I knew who it would be.

wii had such huge success early on,but its last few years it ran out of gas a bit, while the ps3 picked up steam,you can see/feel the momentum changing..... i had a feeling that would carry over to next gen,though not this bad in the opposite direction for the new nintendo console

It was clear quite soon that Wii U would fail, when they did not market it, loose the support from EA and other third parties and launched with unimpressive and conservative software (Nintendoland, NSMBU)

The fate of PS4 is a mystery even to those in charge of it.   http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2014/08/19/sony-is-mystified-by-massive-ps4-sales/

Why MS did not go for the kill is also a mystery. They had the change of leadership that maybe made them hesitate - is it too late now?

orginally xbox but then ms announced their product and i knew ps4 had it in the bag. even still, very impressed by how much ps4 is killing the xbox brand.

In all honesty i had no clue!

I didnt think PS4 would be doing this well and after the xbox DRM mess i really had no idea.

But i knew WiiU would be a big miss considering the bad PR, bad buisness model, forced "innovation", and the fact i knew none of the casuals who bought Wii would move on. However i didnt think it would be doing as bad as it is....

lol why did so many people think xbox would win after they saw the ps3 comeback?

Wii U I like the idea more than the wii but I thought the name was going to cause confusion, then after the reveal of PS4 and XBO to me was PS4-Wii U- XBO. MS killed the best chance to win this gen.

Why it's selling so much better is a mystery is more a PR thing than a reality, the reasons for the current situation are fairly clear. But it is no mystery that it is the best selling. Also with a launch of equal hype to PS4, PS4 was still going to win because there is almost no way xb one would repeat the level of market share it had in USA and UK, and it was never in contention anywhere else. Best case scenario right now would be xb one at 12 million, PS4 at 14 million with most of that extra 2 million being USA and UK.