And yet the Wii is still slaughtering them (especially PS3).

Unlikely, even the ill-performing Gamecube got a 5 years lifespan even though the fifth year was rather moribund. It would be out of character for Nintendo to release a successor to the Wii before 5 years, at which point it will be close enough to the 130 millions to get over them with past-its-prime sales during next gen.

So? The point is not how easy it will be to upgrade but whether it will be necessary to do so. The DS will be easy to upgrade to but its performance against the PSP makes any upgrade unnecessary (sp?) as higher power didn't help the PSP, higher power wouldn't necessarily help the DS successor or the Wii successor.

That way they show their hand. Plus, as long a MS continues to show an inability to capitalise on Nintendo's newfound markets they have little to fear from them (though they shouldn't rest on their laurels either). Letting MS go first also helps Nintendo get a better bang per buck in computing power thanks to moore's law so that their console can be cheaper and/or more powerful and/or smaller and/or more energy efficient (the Wii had 3 out of 4, not too shabby).

Where have they said that? Not only have they said quite clearly that they are always R&D'ing new systems but IIRC they also said that it was likely that the Wii's successor would be HD (though not 100% sure yet). I do not know what would make you think they would not ever make a HD console. One of their problem with HD was that it provided an improvement only to a small fraction of TV owning people but added a lot to the costs. As more people get to buy HDTV's this generation it will make more sense to make a HD console in a few years (i.e. next gen).

That's why the GBA had BC and the DS has BC (only dropping GB and GBC BC due to incompatible voltage) and why their second disc-based console had near total BC with their first and even added virtual BC with many older consoles. What you say just doesn't make sense, you seem to confuse Sony in the PS3 era with Nintendo (dropping BC).

This is just so stupid. Yeas, the major reason why a given currently very popular product doesn't outsell another formerly very popular product is because said currently very popular product is so popular. How long did the NES last? How many years did Nintendo wait to launch the SNES after the Megadrive/Genesis launched? Nintendo's history belies your conjectures.

Wrong, at least in Nintendo's case. The unsuccessful Nintendo home consoles have lasted 5 years (N64 96-01; GC 01-06) but the successful ones have lasted longer (SNES 90-96 and NES 83-90) as the flagship console. The only exception would be the GBA (01-04), but an exception does not a trend make.

An upgrade and a successor are not necessarily the same thing. The DS lite is an upgrade to the DS and the NES2 an upgrade to the NES and the PSTwo an upgrade to the PS2 but none of them are successors to the consoles they upgraded. If by 

If the only difference between the Wii and Wii HD is a hardware scaler but every Wii game works on both then it is the same console (just like the Gamecube with component out are the same as the one without it) just with minor differences. Or maybe you want to split the PSP base between PSP-1000, PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 and the PS2 base between PS2 and its slimmer sibling. I personally do not think it makes sense but if you want to split the PS2 this way go ahead, it will only make it easier for the Wii to overtake it and for the WiiHD to overtake the PS2 slim.

Of course, if the WiiHD is a true successor to the Wii (more powerful, WiiHD games not working on Wii...) then things will be different, but Nintendo's past actions do not point towards them getting such a machine out in the near future (next 3-4 years) but later on, when they feel they can do no better with the Wii, of course they will have a better console (maybe in the next 5-6 years) but by then the Wii will have shattered the PS2's record (or more exactly, shattered the record holder's record, which will be the DS by then).

Time to go to bed for me. Good night everyone and merry christmas if that's your thing.

Yes it will, it's currently outdoing the DS and the DS doesn't have long to go before the DS starts catching and passing the PS2.

Well I'm one PS2 owner who agrees.

No

Reason 1: PS2 is still selling, its not like its done

Reason 2: People will stop buying Wii's when its successor is released

Reason 3: Wii sales will slow down maybe not 2009 but by 2010 we will see a significant decrease

Reason 4: Increased competition from PS3 when its price is dropped

so PS2 is still selling when PS3 is already released for two years but "People will stop buying Wii's when its successor is released".

I have seen a few people posting that. Frankly, I don't understand why people expect the demand for Wii would suddenly become ZERO on the day of its successor is released.

Not unless you count the Wii HD as a Wii.

 1)Wii is still selling, and won't stop anytime soon

2)Nope, it'll still sell for years, and its successor won't be announced for years

3)Price cut and new colors will keep sales up

4)ROFL, yeah right, Wii can also drop prices, and PS3 can't compete with Wii

To the guy who said Wii's library is better than PS2.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAH

Really? I think the Wii has one of the worst if not the worst software lineups of all time. But that is just my opinion....i'm still not sure how the console sells to much. More power to Nintendo though for pulling it off.

The Wii will outsell the PSP by mid 2010. At the rate that its selling it will eventually destroy the PS2's sales LTD.