We've never seen a generation with less than three players.
Sony and MS have either money (MS) or influence (Sony) to burn.
SEGA has sucked since the Genesis. Once their NA operation started fighting with their Japanese operation, it was over. Dreamcast was a momentary glorious blip in their slow spiral to obscurity.
Apple won't compete. They don't like playing fairly with others (and this is coming from a longterm Apple user). It's just what they do as a company. They create a new field or they fail miserably.
No one else has the money to drop several billion dollars on a risky venture. On top of that, hardware companies have no ties to the people they need most, the software companies. MS was able to link that quite easily due to their experience but after that, the list grows short (actually, nonexistent).
Nintendo will falter... again. Like Apple, they can't keep catching lightning in a bottle. It runs out after awhile as their prominent heads go in different creative directions.
Expect the Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft triumvirate for awhile. They have all invested far too much to back out at this point and there is far too much to gain by staying in the game. Love it or lose it, those are the players we are stuck with over the next ten years.
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