Just a simple question. Say which console you think will be the most powerful next gen and why.

I personally think the PS4 will be the most powerful because Sony will want to keep that image of having the most powerful console like they do with the PS3. 

Whoever is last in releasing their console or whoever is willing to lose the most money on hardware.

My guess is that Sony will most likely come out and say that they have most gigaflops or something...and there will be lots of pointless screenshot comparisons and arguing on sites like this.

Actually by the looks of things the Wii U will be quite a bit more powerful than the PS3/360 especially for performance. 

PS4 and 720 will be on par with one another with the Wii U slightly lagging behind due to launching early. All 3 companies have realized people care more for games as opposed to pure tech. There needs to be a balance between tech and games. I think the Vita and 3DS do this nicely, as will all future consoles.

Microsoft's machine, but only marginally. The power gap will be slimmer than this gen, more akin to the PS2 era - the Wii U will be noticeably weaker, but it won't affect its ability to get multiplats.

I think the Next Box will be the most powerful. The, year older, Xbox was about twice as powerful as the PS2. And the year older Xbox 360 is within about 5% of the PS3's power (sorry, did the math). For comparison the difference between 720P and 1080P could be argued as 44%. Microsoft is a Software company, and they need really good hardware to do all the things they want it to do. Especially with the new Kinect, they will heavy processing power to handle it all.

The Next Xbox will be more of a ubiquitous device - phone conferencing, social connections, and (perhaps even take dictation for Work/Email) and stuff we don't even know yet. It will be much more than just gaming.  Also, I think the price will reflect that, and it will be the most expensive of the three.

I'm a little surprised that the WiiU doesn't use state of the art DirectX 11, but instead uses the older 10.1. I hope this doesn't mean Microsoft is saving DirectX 11 for the Next Box.  While great, I don't want to  be limited to DX 11 or DX 11.1 as we will be locked into already several year old tech for another bunch of years. (Please innovate with DirectX 12 or more!)

Due to the current troubles Sony is in, I think they will go for a lower priced console and try to take over the mass market they lost with the PS2. It will still do all the PS3 does and more, but at a lower price point and a 'core gaming' focus.  I think it will be a year or two later and a bit more powerful than the WiiU, but sell for a similar price.

I think the PS4 will be the most powerful machine. I also think it will launch much later in the gen. They have pushed forward with their tech every time. Launching late would make it easier.

I think the PS4 and next Xbox will be on par again performance wise.  I think Microsoft will come out strong first and Sony will counter with similar performance within six months after.  But both will also cost the same.

Next box,

The ps4 will be able to have 15 screens all running at 1080p @ 60fps!!! Just like the Ps3 and run 2 screens at 1080p @ 60fps *cough*

nextbox will be most powerful imo. Sony went from 75% of the console marketshare to 28% by making an expensive powerful console, that as it turns out is as insignificantly more powerful than the 360 as the gamecube was over the ps2. Obviously very few people are actually graphics whores. Infact I know a ridiculous amount of people whom play their ps3s and 360s on hdtvs with composite cables at 480i and talk about how great the games look.

Sony won't be able to sell a console at a loss again next gen, while microsoft easily will. I think it is even possible the ps4 will be closer to the wii u than the nextbox. Then again with the wave of casuals xbox has been attracting lately, microsoft might pull a 360 and decide to make an underpowered console at mass market price from the get go.  I mean other then gears of war there hasn't been any popular xbox game to come close to maxing out even the 360, so why is a signifcantly more powerful machine needed. 

So imo

xbox 80% chance

PS4 15% chance

Wii U 5% chance