Honestly? Time. Time is the best source of how well or poorly a console does. Right now, it looks as though the Wii has this generation in its pocket and the PS3 is going to spend the whole time trying to catch up to the Xbox 360.

But... this has happened before (to a significantly lesser degree, though). It is entirely possible that this can turn a 180 in the blink of an eye. Faster than you can say "What happened here?"

It's been less than a year into the lifespan of the Wii and PS3, and less than two into Xbox 360's. I would wager than by the summer of 2009, the generation will be set in stone. Currently, the PS3 is failing. The Xbox 360 is unhealthy, but surviving. The Wii is flourishing. But it can all change.

well i kind dont believe that statement because third parties was supporting the dreamcast....it was only when Sega announced that they were discountiuing the dreamcast..when third parties left the console....so your statement is wrong...

Physical evidence you say? Go to your gameshop, or any gameshop and compare the overall sizes of the displays for each system. A dying console has a much smaller display rack than the popular one.

However a new console begins with a smaller segment for it's only building it's games library, as it continues to become popular the displays for that console will grow. That being said you have to wait atleast 1 year after the release to have a better vision. Once a display will reduce in size, it will almost be impossible to turn the tide.

ok thats a excellent statement....cause when i remember when the n-gage was out there were no games but probably 12 games displayed in a Gamestop store....i just wanted to know if anyone can remember did the dreamcast had alot of display compared to the gamecube and xbox??

 you just quoted a paragraph, what statement are you referring to where i mention the dreamcast, or that 3rd parties LEFT the dreamcast to show its downfall? the question was "what are some things to know if a console is about to fail" We are putting what we think will show these signs are we not? If we are only allowed to say teh things that happened to the dreamcast or failed past consoles then why the hell are we even discussing it since you can just google the facts and find out for yourself?

Playstation price drop 250 days

Gamecube Price drop 176 days

Dreamcast price drop 245 days 

Xbox price drop 181 days 

PS3 price drop 229

The only "Failed" system i see is dreamcast and it was cut 5 days earlier than the PSX one of the most successful systems, and the GameCube which made nintendo a great deal of money and had some amazing games was cut at 176.......xbox might have lost MSFT a buttload of money but it produced some stellar games, so theres some stuff to answer the underlying question of your thread, no the PS3 is not a failure based on the price drop.

On a related note, Peter Moore seems to be the only constant with failed consoles of relative generation, eh?

An initial $600 price tag!

What?! Look at how well the Panasonic 3DO faired, or the PC engine did overall! :P

In all seriousness, I think there is very little beyond the bottom line reports being sent out to investors that can tell much of anything these days.

Why? Mainly due to technological advancements across the board in peoples everyday lives. The dynamics of console gaming has changed based on different marketing schemes and target audiences.

It's not always fair to contrast and compare all data to previous consoles as the technological marketplace has changed so dramatically within the last twenty years.

Good guidelines, but certainly not law as there are too many changing variables.