first I would like to point out that Nintendo would be wise to strike while the iron is hot wrather than wait for their momentum has been lost. Nintendo not releasing a new console because their current one is selling great isn't really that great a reason, it is much like saying Sony shouldn't have released the PS3 while the PS2 was still selling in fact it was even outselling the Xbox360 and the PS3 for certain weeks up to a year or more after their releases.
Nintendo would also do well to leave the Wii on the market after the release of their next console to cater to the consumers that just want a cheap easy party console, with a price cut of course.
as for technical prowess and release date, I think that any time from the middle of next year iis possible with 2012 being more likely unless there is a sudden fall in demand for the Wii, Natal and move being a success or a new console being announced (I think Microsoft could if natal isn't a big driver of hardware) as for specs I expect it to be at least in the same league (probably slightly more powerful) as the PS360 especially if Sony and or Microsoft are having success with natal/move as this would allow more cross platform titles with the PS360, this could be out some time next year. if they wait for 2012 or want a very powerful console I could see a console up to 6-8X as powerful as the xbox 360 probably closer to 4X as that would allow for a $250 price tag even if the US dollar stays weak/ yen stays strong with a small profit margin (if Microsoft can sell the arcade for $200 with it's out dated/proprietary tech now imagine what Nintendo could do with current tech and economy of scale will also help keep the price down) I also expect to see at least 8GB of memory built in for downloadable content and if the offer downloadable Gamecube games 16GB and or some form of external storage.
as for physical media a proprietary version of blu-ray technology hopefully faster than the PS3 and scalable to 4 layers offering 100GB+ lol, or possibly the same disks as the Wii if the console is only on the same level as the PS360. Holographic disks won't be price appropriate until at least 2014 probably later.
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