CREDIT: SONY
A million and a half PlayStation 4s have already been ordered three weeks prior to launch.

With only three weeks remaining until the launch of the PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One to follow a week later, the anticipation for the upcoming generation of video game consoles has reached an all-time high.

The majority of retailers worldwide can already celebrate the massive influx of profit that the new systems have already guaranteed, with Sony confirming excess of 1.5 million consoles ordered since its announcement in June, and Microsoft, while not disclosing any official sales figures, has had employees claiming similar presale numbers in interviews.

These early numbers are setting up the new generation of home console gaming to be the most successful in history, a figure that is flying right in the face of industry analysts' claims that the video game industry is facing a downward trend. Before the initial announcement of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, both hardware and software sales in the current generation of games had experienced a bit of a bottoming out in terms of sales, with the majority of the people who had ever intended to purchase them having already done so, and a large percentage of game developers turning their attentions and resources toward mastering the new pieces of hardware that they will be working with for the next decade or so.

However, the industry has proven again and again that it is arguably the most successful medium in all of entertainment today, and one that is able to bounce back from the slumps that it has experienced. The recent release of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V is a prime example of the enduring popularity of video games, with the title exceeding $1 billion in sales in the first three days that it was available, becoming the fastest selling entertainment product of any kind, and motivating the industry in North America to its most successful month in over five years, with GameStop and its affiliates reporting a 54 per cent rise in sales over August.

This upward trend, as well as the abundance of advertising campaigns designed to promote the new systems, has seen the demand for consoles officially surpass the supply that will be made available on launch day, and potentially in the weeks that follow. In addition to console sales, retailers are reporting a healthy amount of pre-orders for new software and the accessories that gamers will want in order to augment their new systems this holiday season, and some are reporting that certain titles may not be available in the required numbers, especially big releases such as Battlefield 4 and the yearly entry into the Call of Duty franchise.

Regardless of the chosen system, the rising numbers indicate that the industry is in a strong enough position to come out of the transitional period that comes with the launch of a new generation of consoles. Both Microsoft and Sony can confidently look ahead into the future knowing that each company is going to be supported by a large and fiercely loyal fanbase, as well as the support of the premier developers that helped turn the previous generation of consoles into home staples and to elevate the video game industry to heights that it had never seen before.

It's an exciting time for anybody who holds an interest in the industry, as new technologies look to take games to an even higher level of popularity, profit and quality.