The next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony are likely to be considerably more powerful than the Wii U because they have no alternative course of action. Their current consoles are stale and they don't have the option of releasing something which is only marginally better than their current offerings or people won't bother. The Wii U is considerably better than the Wii and offers next generation design even with relatively current generation performance, just as the Wii was next generation in design even if the technology was luke-warm and mature.
The next generation will be defined by the networks that are created by the companies. The reason for instance why Durango (Xbox 3) is rumoured to have 8GB of RAM is because it is following a PC paradigm of cross compatibility.
Tease.
