The days of really cheap video game hardware that plays most current big games is over so that's a huge obstacle but even putting that aside there's just too many other options for playing video games now. Mobile gaming is still huge, PC gaming keeps growing, cloud gaming will keep getting better and more accessible while console sales are declining. Young gamers are also less into consoles than older ones and that trend alone is a death sentence for the possibility of a console smashing the PS2's record unless it reverses.

fixed

By 2040 ill have owned at least 40 consoles and ill have well over a thousand games, so if it ever comes to that, they will never be able to take what i already own, and i couldnt conceivably finish all that I own in my lifetime, so if that ends up being the future of gaming, i couldnt really say im that bad off. itd suck not being able to play the new zelda though.

I don't know about some people's pessimism, but didn't the fact that PS5 will end up somewhere around PS4 numbers, at higher price, and even double in the second half of it's life tells you something ? The potential overtime for more sales, is actually there. They just are holding it with those price increases, and the economic situation .. Switch 2 also. The best selling system, better than the Switch 1 too, for the time being, while at the same time being more expensive. This is all pointing to more sales potential. Let alone the fact that the population is rising overall, and the economic situation won't be that bad forever. Just like in the past, it should normalize after a while. Then the real sales potential will kick in. Yes there is more markets then before, there is phones and PCs, however the total number of gamers is also higher. I don't know why the pessimism from most.. If DS could repeat the level lifetime sales of PS2, and didn't reach something close to 200M, because of cut legs, and end tail, and the same for Switch 1, alongside the missing part of the puzzle - the long legs and the multiple price cuts overtime like consoles before that, those two console would likely gone to 200M. All it takes is just one more console like PS2, Switch 1 or DS, but simply combine the strong sides of the lifecycles of all of those 3, The very good and strong sales of DS and Switch in the market life of the console when it's the major one, alongside long tail and legs such as PS2 (or at least half of that if you want), and the price cuts and offers over time like DS and PS2. Of course every other factor from them as well, such as strong software support (both third and first party), and not super high price over the life of the given console. And the 8 years as a major console of Switch 1 too. All of that is simply each needed part of the puzzle.

You are quite the character when it comes to that subject.

just speaking truth to power. its never been easy throughout history and im not expecting it to be easy now.

Reaching 200 million is very hard, but entirely possible! But I don't think Sony/Nintendo/Xbox are capable of hitting that number.

With its population of 1.4 billion, I think it's quite reasonable to believe in the possibility of a Chinese console selling over 140 million units domestically and closing 50-60 million in markets outside of China, especially in a situation where Nintendo/Sony are unable to produce cheap hardware. I think China could produce its own graphics chips and launch a product that will crush traditional consoles in terms of price/power.

Ten years ago, people laughed at the idea of a Chinese car competing with cars from Europe/Japan/USA; Things have changed... today Chinese EVs are putting traditional car manufacturers to shame. So much so that EUA/US—those hypocritical globalists/liberals—protect their markets with fear of competition.

Chinese cars are dominating the EV segment and are putting traditional automakers to shame. I think this phenomenon could happen with consoles. China has the potential to develop consoles and games that will leave traditional companies in the dust, just like in the EV sector.

Doubt it. Most likely, with Steam on everything future, there will be even more gaming devices, but those will be a lot of different devices. Classic consoles will most likely stagnate or decline.

One outlier might be foldable handheld (from Nintendo most likely), if they manage to figure out how to dock that thing as well and not break the bank. Or even better, it would be both able to dock or you could use it to stream to TV via dock, so it can behave like WiiU (in reverse).

I do think that within three gens markets grow so much and there is bound to be at least one gen where one console gets so far ahead it becomes the must have thing, that we'll see 200.

The world's population is actually projected to stabilize a few decades from now, and I don't doubt it will do this sooner than expected. In fact, in some countries the population is on the verge of shrinking. Japan and South Korea comes to mind. In fact, it seems like most of the three big console markets (the US, Europe and Japan) will deal with less growth population in the near future or is already facing this