I just thought about something real quick while reading your latest updates.
You know, there has never before been in the history of gaming, a generation where not a single console struck big and made a lot of money. The only iffy generation is the SNES/Genesis one, but it’s only because of their fierce competition. There were both successful. I know the PS1 and 2 relied on outside growth, but they were successful.. and would have been successful even in SNES-era conditions. It’s not like they would have sold like the Virtual Boy suddenly.
My question to you is this: Is it even possible for a generation not to have a console be massively successful?
Anything is possible. With the 16-bit generation, Japan was SNES Land while Europe was Sega Land. North America was where the two console makers were fighting over and were even.
I expect split markets with the Eighth Generation. In Japan, either the Wii U or PS4 will be on top. But in North America, it will be Xbox 720 versus the Anti-Xbox 720 (which will be split between PS4 and Wii U). Europe’s different nations tend to go one way on a console. United Kingdom will be Xbox 720. France and some other nations will be Wii U. Eastern Europe will be Sony Land perhaps?
We could see a psuedo 16-bit Era with Japan being dominated by one console, North America being dominated by the Xbox 720 (very likely), and Europe is what everyone is fighting over.