Will all of the Big 3 survive next generation?

[Gamerace]

I don't think anyone will be 'eliminated' per se but I do expect next generation to be very different. Nintendo can survive off of the strength of thier properties and the fact that they sell consoles at a profit (excepting price dropped 3DSes). However, WiiU could be a repeat of the Gamecube.

MS we know is moving to a subscription model and will have a large focus on multi-media not just games. With an enhanced Kinect, I think they are the best positioned of the three to thrive next gen.

Sony we know is going after cloud. MS undoubtably is too and Nintendo would be foolish to ignore it. Cloud gaming could totally equalize the playing field, meaning all 3rd party games are playable on ALL systems, possibly even Wii (how's that for late revenge - unlikely to happen though), including 'Smart' TV's without a console at all (just controller). We know nothing of Sony's strategy otherwise (at least I don't, aside from 'power') and so I suspect Sony not Nintendo is in the weakest position going into next gen. An expensive console will fail, regardless of power. Unlike MS/Nintendo, Sony has little sway with casuals (ATM, it dominated that market with PS2) and the core is becoming increasingly less profitable to cater too. Sony sold PS2 as a DVD player, PSP as a UMD player (fail!) and PS3 as a Blu-ray player. Even the Vita requires a prepriatory memory card. There is nothing coming after Blu-ray. And how do you make digital/cloud prepriatory? I suspect Sony is going to try. And fail. But ultimately they will continue to make some of the best games around and will continue to provide a platform, even if it's only a digital one (cloud-based) on Sony 'smart' TVs and devices.

So physical consoles as we know them today may end, but I don't think Nintendo/Sony/MS position as maker/publisher/distributor of games and game playing devices will end. It will just look very different in ten years.