I agree, I think the Wii will be the biggest platform in this generation in Japan.

What was the competition for the Gameboy after it got shot of the GameGear and the Lynx?  Nothing...that's why it lasted so long.  Any company will try and keep their console on the market for as long as possible....but in the end, they will replace it or get out the market.

IMHO, the Wii has had a very easy ride.  If it weren't for the ridiculously high cost of the PS3 and the lack of software support for the PS3 as well, I seriously doubt the Wii would be selling as well as it is.  Although I agree that there is a percentage of new gamers just buying it for Sports etc....that wouldn't buy a PS3 or 360.

As I've said before....I honestly feel that the handheld market it pulling a percentage of gamers to the side of handhelds, thus reducing the number of home console gamers.  People are finding it harder and harder to dedicate time to playing games...especially when you get older and are supposed to grow up...but portable gaming is a very easy simple solution to this.

I personally feel that this home console generation (Wii, 360 and PS3) will be a smaller community over the course....than the last generation.  Don't forget...Sony was bringing in no gamers with Sing Song and Buzz for some time now as well...and these people may or may not upgrade to a Wii or PS3 or anything. 

@jlauro

I  own a PSP...I don't own a DS, Wii, 360 or PS3.

At the moment, I have no intentions of buying any of the Current Gen consoles.  It's just too early doors for me...I've been stung too many times.  I would like a PS3, but I would not pay the current price and the games aren't enough for me.  I could say that about the Wii as well.  The 360 has a good collection of games that I would enjoy playing, but I have this horrible feeling that the 360 WILL go tits up within the next 2 years.

I have 2 relatives who had the choice of a Wii or 360 at Xmas...they both chose the 360.  If the PS3 was out...they would have both got that. 

I'm certainly not getting a Wii, none of my friends are going to get a Wii, and I only know of one person who actually has a Wii.

Following this same thought, I know 9 separate people with a PS2. Some who still play there's and still buy games for it.

I know 3 people with a 360 and two people with a PS3. None of these people also have a Wii, or (so far as I know) are planning on buying one.

Now this is just comparing two different sections of people, but from the extreme differences between us, I think it's safe to say that anecdotes and personal statistics just dont apply to these sort of debates, because they can be very unreliable.

As for the Wii reaching PS2 sales. Not a chance in my opinion.

The Wii is the first time I've ever bought a console anywhere near launch (and mine on launch day no less). NES '88 or '89, SNES '95, PSX '98, N64 '99, DC '01, PS2 '03, GCN '04. I also agree that the Wii can't reach the PS2 levels, mainly because it's a far more reliable unit. ;)

 Wow never thought you would say that...

Well what I meant was that I belive that Wii, if it sells well for the first five years, can do a PS2 and keep selling.

Agree the price gave them the headstart, but for the moment I can't even see that they go for the same market at all.

And here I see a strength in Wii, giving a quick fast gaiming experience as in games like Wii Sport/Play and so on. I mean the key software in Japan, which I and you agree on is the strongest market for Nintendo is software that can give a fast gaiming experience.

I can agree, mostly because I think that the price for all consols is above mainstream for the moment. I also agree on the importance of buzz, singstar and so on, sony have done a great work. But seriously I do hope that we (as in the comunity of gamers) will get a lot larger for the moment I don't see it because the total collapse in sales so far for PS3. 

Just because Nintendo is aiming towards new players, and Nintendo fans, doesn't mean that the only people buying the Wii are going to be new players, and Nintendo fans.

Do you think new players will have what it takes to become king in games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Do you think they will be smart enough to beat The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, or have enough skills to beat the new Metroid Prime game, or even Super Mario Galaxy for that matter?

The Wii has sold over 7 million consoles. Do you really think that the only people that bought the console were children, grandparents, new gamers, or just Nintendo fan boys? No. Many extreme gamers have purchased the Wii, including myself. It will never die.

Has the Nintendo DS died? Was its touch-screen ever a fad? Nope. It's still crushing the Playstation Portable. If the Wii is a fad, than video games in general are just a fad. The only people who think it's a fad, are those who want it to be a fad, because they're either making out with Bill Gates, or being Sony's little bich.

The Wii is not a gimmick, nor will it die. You just want it to be a gimmick, and you want it to die. And the Playstation 3's controller has been reviewed as the worst for this generation, and the Wii's has been rated the best.

I believe there is no chance that the Playstation 3, or Xbox 360, will outsell the Wii at the end. I don't know about the Playstation 2. It may or may not outsell it. I mean, over 100 million consoles sold is extremely impressive. I give Sony two thumbs up for that console. However, I give Sony two thumbs down for the Playstation 3. No rumble in the controller, which happens to be a modified Playstation 1 controller. The system is 4 pounds heavier than the Xbox 360, one year newer, $200 more expensive, and was focused mainly on graphics, yet the games are looking worse than the Xbox 360's. It scratches like an iPod Nano, there is a limited library of good games, its trailers were nothing like the real games, it's not fully backwards compatible, you have to buy a memory card adapter to play your saved Playstation 1, and Playstation 2 files, its interface is a copy of the Playstation Portable's, it's missing many features that it was intended to have, originally, it's over priced, it's losing too many exclusives, its future library isn't looking that fantastic, Sony keeps selling off their mascots (Crash Bandicoot), et cetera.

The Wii is innovative, and new. However, I don't like the fact that it cannot play DVDs/CDs (the Sega CD, a console over a decade ago, was able to play CDs. WTF?), and for a next generation console, I think it should be a lot more poweful. Also, it scratches very easily. Not as easily as the Playstation 3, but still pretty easily.

I don't like how the Xbox 360 doesn't come with the HD-DVD. You have to buy a seperate unit, that connects to the Xbox 360, which is stupid, because you might as well just buy a seperate HD-DVD player. I know that if the Xbox 360 had a built in HD-DVD player, it would be more expensive. However, that's what the Xbox 360 Elite was for. But, Microsoft didn't add an HD-DVD inside the Xbox 360 Elite. They could have, but they didn't. No... They added 100GB more instead. WTF Microsoft? We don't need 100 GBs more. We need an Xbox 360 with a built in HD-DVD player. And what's with the tray-loading mechanism? How come the Wii, and Playstation 3, have a slot-loading mechanism, but not the Xbox 360? And why only three USB ports? The Xbox 360 has two in the front, and one in the back? WTF? Why not two in the front, and two in the back, or even better, just four in the front?

While no console is perfect, some are just more popular than others, such as the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo is aiming towards new players, and Nintendo fans, but instead, everyone is buying the console, including extreme gamers.

For those who think they and their friends still will not get a wii after 4 years (and the price will probably drop below $150 from $250 by then, adjust for your currency area...), I have a couple of questions... When will world wide launched alligned PS2 sales catch up with wii sales? (ie: 2 years into product launches, etc...) or is that not it, but you just think that the sales will always be ahead for the wii, but the wii will not have as long of a life span, and be replaced before it has a chance of catching up with ps2?

If you aligned the world wide launch dates of the PS2, and Wii, would Wii be winning?

Same here. I really think that is the reason PS2, and especially Xbox360, sales are so high. Not to mention the slimmer PS2, which I am sure many people bought to replace their first one. However, it all comes down sales strategy. Nintendo does the "different model" strategy with their handhelds, and I think they will do the same this time around. THAT could give it a chance at outselling PS2.

According to ioi's new chart, yes the Wii is ahead of the PS2 by a bit of a margin.