Another thread asked if there'd be a PS9 and it got me thinking, How long with consoles last?

 Personally I think the PS4, Xbox 720, and Pii will probably be the last generation of consoles before every type of gaming is somehow united, or TVs have like built in gaming or something. (around 2015 maybe)

I have an NES, SNES, N64 and Game Gear - and all of them work great.

consoles for ever :P you should have said when will they stop producing them :P

@madskillz: The question was not how long will YOUR consoles last :) .... hopefully forever

I don´t think they will die out... new graphics and interface will always be expencive so you need consoles... maybe one day there will be a clear winner but I don´t think so... the cake is to big... everyone wants a cut....

Consoles will end when all gaming is on PCs because everyone needs a PC and as graphics continue to advance every PC out there will be able to run games with amazing graphics.

@ El Duderino

First of all, welcome back.

Second ... yeah, I was just teasing ... but consoles and PCs will eventually blur the home entertainment lines and become one in the same. With the media streaming, to the Wii Opera browser - my question is - how soon will we see this?

If the only characteristic of videogames you care about is the processing power of the system it is ran on, past 2011 (or so) there will be little reason to continue producing new hardware ...

I believe Nintendo's direction with the Wii and Nintendo DS (focusing on user interface) will be copied by most manufacturers in the next couple of generations but I suspect that after 2016 we will be running low on ideas for new input devices.

I see one more generation after this, but i think they will merge with pc in some way.

i think they will conitinue way past 2020

I guess this thread is really turning into the question 'Will PCs take over consoles in terms of gaming?'

Online, I suppose they could, and maybe should.
Individually, I think not. A PC is a multitask device, and while you can ignore other things that go on, it's harder. Equivalent to a game on your cell phone when the phone rings, versus the phone ringing in another room as you play your console game.

But you never know. No one would have suspected the Wiiremote to have such an impact. Possible to do on a PC, of course. But harder, since it is just one of many programs that have to interact, versus on a console, it (usually) is more dedicated.