As much as we like to think generations are won by established franchises each gen has it's new ones that define the winner.
SNES had Mario early on but it was the Super FX and Rare games that closed the deal at the end. (DKC, isn't really donkey kong, it his image on a sidescroller)
PSOne had Ridge Racer, GT, Twisted Metal, Crash Bandicoot, Tekken
PS2 had Devil May Cry, GTA3 (which was not really anything like GTA 1 and 2), Jak and Dexter, etc. GoW at the end.
I know some people are disappointed but it looks like WiiSports and WiiPlay are the first mega hits of the generation. To give you an idea of how popular this game is, in Japan it's not a pack in and has sold 2 million copies to just over 3 million Japanese Wii owners. Xbox 360's #1 game has sold about 4.5 million copies WW to 10 million owners, and the #2 360 game has sold about 2 Million WW (CoD2). Wii #3 game (Zelda) is at 3.61, and Mario Party 8 is selling so fast it should join Zelda up there soon, and Super Paper Mario still hasn't been released in Europe yet and is running pretty close.
What do I think of this? Well, where's prime 3 already? :P
For real? I think we will see a continuation by Nintendo of graphics lower than the competitors. And mainstream consumers will be hesistant to buy HDTV's as long as they are over impulse price. You can get a really nice 27" SD-Digital TV for $220-250, HDTVs are still way too much more per inch for most people to actually buy (not afford, actually want to buy). I really am starting to think HD is going to go the way of surround sound (analog and digital combined). In other words, it will have a strong portion of the market, but not quite mainstream (for many years still to come). Video games aren't all played on the living room television either, they often get relegated to a secondary TV.
We as hardcore gamers tend to surround ourselves with other entertainment minded people, who adopt to new technologies and such. But very few true core gamers, casual gamers, and non-niche consumers are going to have multiple HDTV's in their house, and only a moderate portion will have HDTV at all.
I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it.
