Yet 3DS will still finish its LT at 65-70m which still would rank it in the top 10 selling platforms of all time so selling half of the best selling platform in history isn't proving any points here, Virtuaboy barely took off, Vita's 15m on top of that means that on the portable side the's a potential 80-85m consumers which is the usual total consumers in the portable market, the isn't a decline the market has just returned to the normal sales range.

It's not returning to normal though; GBA sold 80 million with just three years between its release and its replacement, Vita and 3DS combined haven't reached that amount in twice as long.

It has returned to normal because GBA sold 80m as the only portable on the market with no competition what so ever, Vita and 3DS combined is 75m which is not far off that amount, this gen will end with total amount of portables passing that 80m, that's a return to normal numbers for the market.

It was replaced because strong competition was on the way.

80 million over three years versus 75 million in 6 years means the rate of sales have more than halved from around 27 million a year in the 6th gen to around 12.5 million a year this gen.

80m over 3 years with no competition during an age when they had a monopoly while that 75m has been with the so called mobile boom you have been touting. The fact that this gen will surpass the GBA eras numbers highlights portables are just as strong now as they were back then.

No, they're not. They're selling at less than half the rate they were back then, I just showed you the math.

You showed me the math and I showed you what that math is applied to in that era, your argument is like saying this cost $10 back then so should cost $10 now when the are economic factors like inflation in place.

GBA did well in an era of a monopoly the second the PSP was coming it got dropped because as a competitive platform it would struggle, Vita and 3DS are going to surpass the numbers in the GBA era all the more doing so while your chestnut the mobile market exists and the are other numerous devices that play games or are you conceding now that mobile is not a factor as your argument right now contradicts itself from various angles.

The straight up maths here is that in a harder era the portable market is going to maintain it's usual total number of consumers this is something you can't argue in any shape or form.

That there are reasons for the decline doesn't change the fact that it is a decline. Portables are selling less than half as much per year as they did in the 6th gen, and even less compared to last gen.

You can argue about year on year to try and twist things but the truth of the matter is the total amount of portable units moved will be equal or higher then gen 6, this flat out blows your argument out of the water as the only decline would be in comparison to the DS and PSP era which itself was an anomaly. The total number consumers now is the usual normal amount and nothing you keep trying harp on about is disproving this, I'll keep telling you this the more you struggle to accept it.

900k on WiiU + 9.5million on Nintendo Switch