I don't think Nintendo will go with Android. Same goes for Sony. I think Microsoft's will be the most interesting.

Some interesting developments from today.

Apple confirmed it will continue to move into TVs and not dedicated consoles. That it is already a big player in gaming and that will continue to grow.

Sony has new big rumors that its moving more to a streaming concept for gaming that what has been known as traditional consoles/retail. Add that to the PS4 spec rumors that are noticeably lower or similar to Wii U and Sony's smartTV and bluray business and you have a very real move to what is detailed in my OP. A Sony Playstation ecosystem that exists across all their smart products.

I decided to bump this thread due to Microsoft's 56 page slide show that proves exactly what I'm saying.

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=144506

In case you missed it, recently a powerpoint presentation from 2010 has leaked on the net. It foreshadows everything MS has done in 2011 and 2012 (smartglass) and gives a good indication of their plans for 2013 and beyond.

Slide 7 is very interesting as it talks about (in 2010) MS concerns of their competition to "Xbox 720". It specifically labels AppleTV, OnLive, GoogleTV, Wii2 (we now now is Wii U), and PS4.

It focuses on not only gaming, but all the other enhances services all these products provide. Smart TV, streamed gaming, price estimations (wiiu @249 and ps4 @399), and in particular it also list PS4 as having GoogleTV integrated.

Basically, MS is assuming the EXACT same ideas I've laid out in this thread/OP.

Then on the next couple slides it defines the experience 720 will offer. Kinect 2.0, full smart/Win8/Metro vision, DVR functionality, low cost (299), 6x increase over 360 (what I've been saying), i.e. essentially making 720 NOT a purely dedicated console, but a smartTV type device that also has strong gaming applications.

I won't make my "I was right all along" thread just yet as this document was their 2010 overall gameplan and it will be altered before 2013 when 720 launches. However, I think at this point many of you naysayers really need to think outside of the box and see what is clearly headed our way for next-gen.

Based on my latest addition to the OP and MS's leaked document... are you ready to agree with me now? Just go through the 56 page document and see how much it focuses on everything BUT gaming. Look at last E3 conference with MS and see how much of it focused on the new TV services etc.

Personally I think PS3 and X360 are near the limit of what I would call a game console anyway.... so yes I agree with you that while gaming is still going to be a major focus, it won't be the majority focus of future machines from MS and Sony (though I do believe at least the next machines will have a plurality gaming focus. e.g. 35% games machine, 30% browsing device, 20% film/tv box, 10% music player, 5% other) ... but I won't be calling them games consoles.

In fact do Sony and MS even call them that themselves... they are both trying to create entertainment hubs as far as I understand it.

I watch more films and TV series on my laptop now than I do through TV signals... but I don't call my laptop my TV.

TV is just a monitor. Its always about what's connected to it just like any computer.

Thank you for clearly seeing my point in this thread. :)

Nope. Because "(f)uture game consoles will have much of the same capabilities as set-tops, because why the hell not?, but they will be game platforms first and foremost. No "equal" about it. Any game console that tries to make the two equal will be pretty much dead, as it's emphasizing capabilities that are widely available elsewhere, and will only become increasingly accessible as time goes on."

I apologize if I was being unclear earlier, but the consumer, not the hardware manufacturer, determines what features are valued. Microsoft has been increasingly pushing multimedia. Multimedia is the sole purpose they ever entered the gaming market in the first place. I am unsurprised to see them ramping up on this aspect over time. I also anticipate that, if they continue to emphasize this aspect of their console, they will fail.

TV signals though are different than streaming things online.

And yes, as I said at the beginning, I agree with you that the future of "games consoles" is going to pan out more like you predicted, my argument is merely of semantics.

In maybe 15 years time I expect a common thing though will be that TVs themselves will be capable out of the box of the majority current games console/smartphone features now, and will hook up with tablet like devices to play more casual games. Ultimately the only additional feature any other device will add is more "high end" gaming possibilities. (and a slightly different way of accessing the same stuff your TV can get)

I'm going to say that we're going to hit the integration singularity.

When our TVs can do all of this crap, consoles will be just for gaming and nothing but gaming, with multimedia integration being phased out because it will be completely redundant

And that will be fine

Idk. TVs have been adding that stuff for awhile now, but it seems like set-top boxes always do it infinitely better. I think TV manufactures may be the first to remove these features as they are forced into more of a monitor only type of role. This is actually what I'd prefer as I replace boxes far more often than a TV.