If you're a publisher with talented developers that you believe in, selling IPs is brilliant. The best example I can think of is Sony/Naughty Dog selling off Crash Bandicoot right around the time of the PS2 launch. At that point in time, Crash still was a popular franchise, but it was definitely losing some momentum. So Sony sold it, made a pretty penny, and Naughty Dog established a brand new more interesting franchise, Jak and Daxter. Jak and Daxter + "Selling" Crash > "Keeping" Crash
My Top 5:
Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger
My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 
and Wii 
Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.
