Well I think publicity plays a role in rather a console succeeds or fails, followed by what gaming franchises make games for it and how much the console cost itself and how many quality games are released for it when it comes out.

I think a good launch title for the console is a big plus, if people see a great looking game coming out for the new console on start up, then it makes them want to buy it in most cases. Especially if the game is along the series they follow, so in my case it would be Final Fantasy.

I think it is the game library through the entire lifetime of a console. The ones that seem the worst so far are the WiiU and PSVita which both have very lacking game libraries - the PSVita's is a little better as it actually has some of the obligitory games such as Uncharted Golden Abyss and LittleBigPlanet Vita. The WiiU's main saving grace does not seem to exist yet.

I do not at all think it is actually the features of the console that would make it unpopular. Consider the Wii; everyone thought that basing it around motion control was a stupid idea and yet somehow everyone seems to have one, and the reason for that is because there are many bloody good games on the Wii.

marcus047 : It's really annoying me that you have 'Console' spelt wrong in the thread title and your first post.

I think having a great exciting trailer is a huge seller. I know a couple who would buy any game as long as the trailer was cool. 

jaws123 : So basically you are saying as long as it suckers you in then it will sell by the bucketloads? Do you not remember the travesty that was Aliens: Colonial Marines? That game looked amazing in the advertisements and they even gave a demo to those who preordered. The demo was awesome and in no way an actual part of the game. It was just made so that people did not cancel their preorders.

Tails the Fox : Well more then that, i meant that is a good part. You can't just have a good trailer and crappy game, word will get out that the game actually is trash.

jaws123 : And even then people will for some reason buy the bad game. Everyone I know for some reason has Duke Nukem forever.

Tails the Fox : Lol, and you know one more i also have that but i never play it. Sucker me 

To get back to the topic at hand, and to stop the clear sandwich posting, I'd like to add more input. What makes a console fail is horrible platform design(such as weight and style of it), bad games that come out prior to the release of the console, and horrible timing and endorsement or if its similar to older gaming consoles to its franchise with no new good feature changes.

Eh, I really have trouble with some of the statements in this thread. What's a "good game?" I'm looking at a list of Vita games and there's around one hundred and while many are western games, there's also a fair number of Japanese games that have been localized. Now when a "good game" in mentioned in here, are just western games meant or all the games for the system?

From what I've read online, many of the Vita games are fairly good and many are top-notch games that are actually system-sellers.

I don't think graphics are that important in a system but a game that looks like Ping wouldn't fly these days. I think the biggest seller for a system is games.

Really, to be fair and honest with everyone.

We all know exactly what makes a gaming console succeed or fail, it's the level of attention (or publicity) it gets.

But at the same time, we cannot forget the fact that as the humans we are (no offense)... we constantly want something more and NEW.

I mean, if we never had the ability to go beyond SNES and NES, we would still be playing those systems... but because people constantly want MORE and NEW, all the retro and nostalgia of our past is slowly being forgotten by many.

As for myself, although systems like Xbox 360 and PS3 are amazing in their own way, I have come to appreciate and praise these older systems such as Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, and other OLDER generations of systems (including Atari 2000, and so on).

Come on people, let's be honest... we all know that MANY (not most, but many) of you want something NEW to add to the playing field. You want something that stands out from the rest, something that is it's own UNIQUE idea and style... but at the same time, as we progress further with our systems and ideas, most of them are just re-hashes or re-creations of earlier gaming ideas or concepts.

For example (no offense to any Modern Generation gamers), one of the first FPS was the original "Doom" for SNES. Indeed it didn't have as HIGH or DEFINED graphics as today's systems, but overall... it is still more challenging than playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Don't kid me wrong, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 is an amazing game... I enjoyed playing it here and there, but after seeing how people treat their gaming lifestyle these days... MANY of you no longer play to enjoy the game, but to have some sort of achievement or success to brag about.

Personally, I could post hundreds of reasons why retro games are better... but I doubt that would change your mind or opinion, as it is not my job nor my right to make you think otherwise, but in simple terms... retro is better in my opinion.

If you don't mind me saying, here's some of the reasons why RETRO is better than MODERN:

1: With our retro games, we don't have some little kid or older person yelling in our ear that we are a NOOB or a TROLL or some other nonsense of that sorts. It's a MUCH less repetitive and a little more FRIENDLY.

2: We don't have to deal with people HACKING or CHEATING, because the only way they could play with you would be in your house right next to you. So if they wanted to do some cheats, they better do it while you are in the bathroom or occupied temporarily (and often, those cheats were removed IMMEDIATELY once you realized how low your friend decided to stoop to)

3: Although we had LOW graphics, we did have ORIGINAL ideas and a sense of imagination when it came to our games. I mean seriously, people these days go insane over games like Farmville, and yet... they don't realize that Harvest Moon was Farmville before it was cool.

4: Our controllers were LESS complicated, we only needed 4 buttons, a joystick (or D-pad), and 2 bumper buttons (of which weren't used OFTEN). Not to mention, our controllers didn't weigh much nor did they take up much space and they didn't require BATTERIES.

Better yet, instead of posting my "opinion" just go to google and look up in this exact text "why retro games are better". The first link should be some website known as "retrojunk" and if you view that nice little "list" this guy/girl has... then you can pretty much be proven why RETRO is better.

So... before I start a flame war or something else, many consoles FAIL because people constantly want something NEW and can't just appreciate what they already got.