found the post. You must mean when I said PGR gameplay is similar to Forza/GT. Was just messing around with that one but you're right

Note to self: Allow thirty minutes between morning coffee and signing on to VGC to avoid unnecessary crankiness

whats more important is that a long term can't cost 300$ or 350$ at launch like everybody wants for next gen... for me i would rather pay 600$ for a 6/7 years instead of 350$ for 4 years... but that is my opinion...

NightDragon83 said: 20+ years... I wish we were still getting brand new SNES and Genesis games

THIS :D

I'd like a generation to last 5-7 years, but that doesn't mean you should drop the "old" system as soon as something newer comes around. I like how Sony handled the PS2. That's a good example of how it can be done, and NOT like Nintendo misstreated the Wii, droping it like two YEARS before the next system...

The companies have no control over this. The consumer does. Design the best console you can for now. Be practical about it. As long as it is supported with quality games, people will buy it. When the current tech gets old (which has historically taken around five years) and customers are hungry for more, release it.

Well that's been Nintendo's thing over the last few generations... dropping support for existing systems as soon as new hardware comes out.

This is most apparent in the handheld department.  The dropped support for the N64 and GC were understandable because they were basically dead in the water at the end of their respective generations, but on the handheld side it's an entirely different story.  The original GB and its many variations lasted an astounding 10 years, but as soon as the GBA was released, software for the original GB/GBC was non existent.  Same thing when the DS came out... the GBA SP was a HUGE seller from 2003-early '05, but Nintendo deliberately starved it of software in favor of the DS, despite claiming at E3 '04 that the DS was going to be the "third pillar" of their hardware lineup going forward.  But we all knew that was bull.

And now we have the 3DS, which has been out for barely a year, and what does Nintendo have in store for the existing DS?  Nada.  Despite the DS's huge install base worldwide, there's nothing significant on the release calendar for it.  It's all about the 3DS now.

i like long term but would want a bit more flexibility with the HW, ie ability to add more RAM and upgrade GPUs

It's funny how we now consider 'long term' to be around seven years. Before game consoles came out, usually when you bought a new piece of equipment for the home, you didn't even consider that one day it would be made obsolete.

My, how times have (unfortunately) changed.

Well first off I honestly thought B&W 2 was for 3DS, not the original DS (haven't kept up on Pokemon games in over a decade), so my bad on that one.  I'm honestly surprised Nintendo is putting the sequel on the DS, when the 3DS is begging for a proper Pokemon installment.

But the GBA was still selling like hotcakes well into the end of 2005/2006, when all the major series started seeing installments on the DS like Mario Kart DS and NSMB.  It was at that point that the GBA was essentially killed off by Nintendo, despite still not even making it to its 5th b-day yet.  And as for the DS... what major games have been released for it since the original Black and White over a year ago?  Maybe a Professor Layton game, and that's it?

Another thing that should be mentioned about this period is that at the time the PSP was announced and released Sony was DESTROYING Nintendo on the console front. It's true Nintendo were making a profit on the Gamecube but their lifeblood  was handheld hardware and software for many years. This was a time where Sony was as close as it had ever been to striking at Nintendo's core business.

The only way Nintendo could remain competitive during those years, prior to Wii making a huge entrance and PS2 sales beginning to decline, was by launching a "third pillar".