I think there is an element of truth to this that some people probably do not like to admit ...
Up until the release of the Nintendo DS and Wii the primary motivating factor for people to "upgrade" from one console generation to the next console generation has been the processing power of the new systems; we see a lot of this continue today with people like MikeB talking about how the Cell processor is 20 times as powerful as a 4 year old G4 processor when performing the fast fourier transform without any consideration of what that means or why that would be important.
This focus on technology can not survive for much longer being that within 5 years for the same (inflation adjusted) price of a PSP or XBox 360 you will be able to buy a laptop that is able to provide 3D graphics at a similar quality to what a cutting-edge console will be able to provide.
Why consoles and portable gaming systems will survive is that their hardware is dedicated to gaming which means that their user-interfaces can be perfectly suited to providing a better gameplay experience than any lap-top can provide.
