The "new" Next Generation.

[Brats]

I believe that PS3 software revenue is now ahead of the Wii, but the Wii sells many more titles each month (as they are on average much cheaper).

Regarding third parties, many of them still have to 'get' the Wii. I think the succesful Wii titles are those that tell everything you need to know just by looking at the box. The success of Just Dance is in its simplicity - you hold the controller and dance to the music. That's immediately apparent even from the title.

Conversely, Epic Mickey seems to have tanked completely, but then it's a title that even I had to watch a video of to understand what it was actually about. It looks like a good game, but it's failure to get across it's gameplay in an immediate way has been its downfall.

Nintendo get that. All of its successful titles have an immediacy to them that sells them instantly.

[Brad]

Yeah, I agree with that accessibility bit. I watched my wife (a bit of a technophobe) pick up an iPad yesterday and just use it like she's been using one for years. Because everything worked like she expected it to she basically wanted one. She'll play Singstar because it's obvious what she needs to do (sing!) but Rock Band was a no-no - too complicated. Third parties have had 4 years to 'get' the Wii. If they haven't by now then they never will.

[dataDave]

I just want a 3DS, and a PC that can play WoW.

That's all I need really.

[MisterBubbles]

Give me 1080P 60 fps, or did Sony and M$ lie about the HD generation of consoles we have now?

[Neon Ignition]

One glance around my office brings up a run of peeps who own a Wii. I'd say they're the type who make up much of the Wii's base which is people who see it in the same way they do a DVD player or CD player. Something that gets a a lot of use as an entertainment device but not something they're heavily intrigued or informed about enough to bang on about to people or online. This creates a silent demographic that the obsessee's on the net mistake for disinterest. Nintendo make an absolute fortune from the Wii still and despite slowing sales it still sells a large number with relatively little new title pushing because they're marketing is spot on and the costs are low. As long as that continues they'll hold off. I'd say we're staring at the first rumbles of an entirely new Nintendo format in 2012 with a release likely lagging 2013/2014.

After the issues with the PS3 launch and the building momentum it now has Sony will stick it out for a long while yet. Maybe another year or two on top of Nintendo's release and I'm doubting they'll copy the aggressive feature/power approach they used with the PS3.

The 360 is a different proposition. It's hard to call as it really depends on Kinect, if it was a big enough hit to give the system a second wind you'll end up with it running for another 3 or so years but progressively becoming more Wii like in content rather than the market its known for. If Kinect is unsuccessful then you have a direct PS3 rival that is a little more strained due to the DVD format support, increasingly murky target audience and a market share that'll have slipped into third place. That might force MS into releasing an early new system but then they'd have to choose between the existing market that assures them 3rd place again or directly targeting the broader market like Nintendo did.

I still feel, considering market position and system age, MS will cross the starting line first and anyone wanting a big generation shift in performace should move on as those days are dead. Nintendo has made sure of that as it's clear the 'core gamer' of old is not where any of the big 3 see's the future of gaming to lie.

[MarioMark]

Not yet. Athough 1080p at 60fps would be nice. I'm enjoying playing all of these PS2/Dreamcast remakes in HD at 60 FPS more than the slow screen tearing mess we see in the new games these days.

[Matt]

I've found it funny how this forum, in general, is always so negative about a next round of consoles.

Until the new consoles do appear, we're not going to get too much more out of this gen. Refinement after refinement, but I'm not expecting any big leap from here on it. And with the PC market being subdued, that pretty much negates any publisher pushing that level (the top end PC level) of graphics to do much more than a smoother (AA, res and framerate) version of console graphics. If that sentence makes any sense at all....

So thus, at the top end of the console graphics spectrum, we'll get KillZone 3 which looks great, but is evolved from KZ2; I'm sure Uncharted 3 will look spectacular, but will be technologically just an incremental advancement over the UC2 engine. Now, imagine what an Uncharted game could look like on a PS4 And as I always point out to the naysayers, you'd not just be getting higher screen resolutions and prettier graphics. The processing power would allow things just being touched this gen. Right now I'm playing a lot of Bad Company 2, and the destruction is always fun. But I imagine a next gen version where youd get a real physics model holding up each building, with proper reactions to explosives. Emergent gameplay could come alive under.

Personally, I'd be over the moon if a new console was going to drop before Xmas. As I said, it's a funny forum sometimes. Loads of excitement over "yet another shooter", loads of excitement for something like the Kinect, but few of us seem to be looking forward to a console. It can't purely be a financial reason based on the Gaming Spend thread. I can't be the only one who remembers those giddy days of buying the 360 on launch and turning on PGR3. NOTHING beats that New Console feeling.

I fear the Kinect will let the 360 cling on well past it's sell-by date. We're not seeing much from that with exclusives pushing the graphics. I don't think it's "maxxed out" but I don't think financially there's any incentive for MS to drop the kind of money Sony do.

[SmokeMeAKipper]

Some great points being made in here - I'm very much in the "we don't need a new generation yet" camp. The Wii is the obvious candidate to upgrade but I can't imagine a Wii HD being substantially more powerful than a PS3 or 360 (if anything, I expect it'll be on a par and it will give devs the chance to port PS3/360 games over with tacked on motion controls in conjunction with Kinect and Move releases...)

The fact that nothing has been announced, and there really isn't much in the way of rumours, allayed with the general economic situation, and the fact that the current consoles are still selling extremely well... there's just no need for it.

They'll come in time, but not for a couple of years I hope.

[JSR]

I expect Nintendo to announce something new sometime next year. It might not be a "new" console, but at the very least an updated Wii. Almost like the DSi, I could see they making a new Wii with HDMI output and a bigger built in storage solution, and maybe a new interface to increase the sale of online products. It might be able to render games in a higher resolution too, but if so I would guess all upcoming Wii games will also be compatible with current consoles. A stopgap before the real Wii 2.

[EvilBoris]

Give me 1080P 60 fps, or did Sony and M$ lie about the HD generation of consoles we have now?

I know it's predictable that I'm going to point this out, but it was only ever $ony that tried so hard to 1-up the MS' claimed 720p support.

Where's my 120fps?

[Matt]

Both lied. 1280x720 2xAA was in the MS manual for requirements. That pledge was broken by launch date.

[EvilBoris]

we'll get there one day, Reach was almost 720p...

[Matt]

lol Ironically I think all the big PS3 exclusives are 720; just not the 120fps that was once touted

[EvilBoris]

'Spinning Cube in Deep Space' is going to run in 1080p@60

[Matt]

I'm pretty sure they could hit 60fps and 3D with that. Though adding decent AA may be too much