First of all, Nintendo is going to need a next gen soon simply because they're going to lose their 'unique' appeal soon. They have the advantage in marketshare, but everyone is moving in to try and take a huge chunk of the 'casual' market. From Sony and Microsoft to Apple and even smaller companies. Nintendo has to come out with a new console with a fresh idea just to reclaim the market.
As for the other companies, they have an even bigger problem. Most of them envisioned their systems lasting 10+ years and their 'piece of the pie' being much bigger than today. So they either need to quickly pull together a new system or hope everything stays exactly as it is today and no one else (such as Nintendo) comes out with something 'new' to rock the boat.
Basically, this gen is starting to level out and not much is going to move forward hardware-wise. The only thing we're going to see is major software sales for games like Halo: Reach or Mario Galaxy 2 or etc. Something is going to have to happen to make either the existing consoles more popular...or a new console is going to be announced.
Six upcoming games you should look into:
