Things are different now though. The market isn't the same as it was, this gen proved a lot of things and the company that thinks on how the market is changing will win (might extend to next next gen).
- So this gen we had casual gamers jumping in the gaming market in drove. It's important to know what convinced them. They bought the Wii yes, but I don't think they were buying Nintendo more than they were buying a different approach to gaming. The controller was the problem for a lot of people and a lot of gaming styles such as dancing games and a lot more. Next gen consoles will have to get these in check, people will want to dance and train again. People will want to speak and get new possibilities and game developers want the same... WiiU is a step back in thet regard in my opinion, let's see what Kinect2 has to offer.
- People play on more devices than before... what devices are they playing with and why? Are tablets and smartphones gaming consoles? No, but they play games AND do other things like movies, music and the more important, APPs! Manufacturers will have to bring those to their consoles if they want to convince people to buy them. Windows 8 will play a huge role in the next Xbox because it will bring apps and a lot of those apps will make use of K2.
- The clouds are getting bigger and bigger... more and more people are buying online and don't feel like stacking games and films on shelves. Services on the clouds will be huge in a few years, so it is important for manufacturers to make a console that has the ability to run games through the clouds. Here again Windows 8 will play an important role in that area.
It doesn't matter if X8 or PS4 are wayyy more powerful than WiiU. All they need is to be more powerful and offer a variety of things people want (more than just gaming). If devs want to make games which requires a super powerful machine then they can just stream the game through the clouds. That's where we're heading anyways.
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