With supposed competition in the form of smartphones taking over the handheld market, do you feel that something similar may happen to the videogames market in general?

Points to Consider:

- Will development costs mean that gaming will become too expensive for the average person?

- Will longer working hours mean less time for all but the youngest gamers to play games?

- Will there be an entertainment phenomenon that will replace the videogames market?

- Will one of the leading console manufacturers be forced to drop out next gen due to a shrinking market?

So many questions, all of which are impossible to predict precisely - but we can make some good guesses :) What do you think? Are we looking for a larger upcoming generation than the current, or will the market shrink with devastating consequences?

It will be super massive! It will put gaming 100% into the mainstream, (positive) media attention will be on par with or very close to music and movies and completely break away from virgin dungeon master and slacker stereotypes (though I think it's already done that actually).

Gaming will be pretty much the same price as today or cheaper, the big 3 know the worlds economy is camel shit so they won't be taking any huge risks such as launching a console at $600, I think emphasize on digital distribution could make things cheaper (look at steam) but it all depends on what microsony (and possibly nintendo with WiiU) do with pslive, how open it is and how much it costs for devs or publishers to get stuff on there etc.

Why do you say the market is shrinking? I'm pretty sure its actually the opposite.

I really hope the 3DS end up outselling the DS so this "lol smartphones are killing handhelds" nonsense can stop once and for all.

Whats with media nowadays having a hard on for smartphones? I just don't get it, not one casual person thinks like them. They don't go "well Im done playing cod, gonna play angry birds" they do both. Why is being able to do both so confusing to them? Im glad these negative media analyst wern't around during the gc,xbox, and ps2 days. they would have of had a field day with the gc and xbox.

I predict that the next three home consoles will grow from their predecessors but that the 3DS and Vita will sell less than the DS and PSP (respectively).

The Wii U will benefit from its tablet controller, HD graphics, and a (hopefully) more comprehensive online system. It will appeal to the tablet gaming market and bring back some of the more hardcore gaming market that the Wii lost in its last couple years. I expect it to increase significantly in sales over the Wii like the PS2 did to the PS1.

The PS4 and Xbox 720 will both benefit from the current momentum of their predecessors. While the PS3 and 360 are selling well now, they both had relatively sluggish starts. The 360 had to built up its brand name strength practically from scratch, and the PS3 was hurt by a high price point and lack of early killer apps. However, both the PS4 and 720 will likely launch to reasonable price points, have established online networks, and a strong foundation of western third party support.

As for the 3DS and the Vita, I don't think they will sell less than their respective predecessors due to smartphone competition. It will be because Nintendo (and particularly Sony) will fail to release the mass market games necessary to expand their userbases. With the 3DS, Nintendo's early killer apps seem to be Mario titles. While this is fantastic for gamers, they won't bring the necessary expanded audience to build on the DS's success. Same for Uncharted and Call of Duty on the Vita. The DS was primarily successful because of titles like Nintendogs and Brain Training. The expanded audience gained from these games then poured over into traditional Nintendo titles like Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart. However, if Nintendo relies on just these Mario series for the 3DS, they will carry over this expanded audience they have already earned but will fail to expand it further (as well as lose some gamers who have moved on to other systems or naturally won't be repeat customers).

The 3DS could still have very impressive sales and easily crack 100 million, but I don't see it selling more than the DS. I expect similar results for the Vita. To be fair though, I expect both systems to be very successful sales-wise and financially. Just that they won't beat their predecessors.

Overall, I expect the 8th generation to be larger than the 7th. But I expect most of the growth to come from home consoles.

That's a bold prediction.(literally)
I don't really think so though. The Wii brand has weakened a lot this past year and I don't really see mass market adopting that tablet controller like they did the Wii back in 2006. But in the end it will really come down to games and marketing. Would be best to save these discussions once more is revealed at E3.

If I had to make a guess based on nothing:

Xbox 720 > Xbox 360
PS4 > PS3
WiiU 3DS > DS (Although I'm having my doubts about this one)
PSP
I think the market will still grow a bit, smartphones won't stop that.

Xbox 720 > Xbox 360. Check.

Ps4 > Ps3. Check.

Wii U < Wii. Check

3DS > DS - Dont think So. Over 100M maybe.

Psp < Psv. Check

We might be wrong though.

I'm not sure, depends what route they go doesn't it? This has been a huge generation for everyone.