I think Sony will place a small screen in whatever controller they deliver for PS4. They will also improve the EYE giving it per pixel accuracy, and better depth perception.

The biggest thing that I think will be different next gen is support for these technologies. Sony will support them from day one giving them much more relevance, and 3rd parties will have similar tech across all 3 platforms.

Overall, I think the most important thing in the main stream market will be connectivity, and I think MS has a slight lead there. Sony needs to make PS4, Vita, Android Phones, Tablets, ect. work seamlessly, and that will give them a major boost.

The problem with the Vita is that it lacks trigger buttons and its analoge sticks would be considered a step down from the dualshock. I'm not sure if it has streaming capablities built into like the wii U pad, although mayb the ps4 will contain a solution? I've played remote play on my PSVita and there was noticable lag and a severe drop in quality, so the current wifi solution isn't good enough to make it a compelling controller. In Regards to the trigger buttons, Sony could release an exterior shell which ads the trigger button and better grip.

The innovation will come with software. We'll see new connectivity between platforms through the Gaikai service, and the first-party studios will innovate as they did this gen. Besides that I don't think there's anything we can predict, maybe an updated Move but it's a stretch to call that innovation, and I hope they forget about it.

I hope to god they don't, actually.

No offence of course. And I realise from a consumer standpoint my view is pretty selfish, because the mass market is going to be more receptive to a family-friendly gimmick than they are just a standard games console.

But all I want is a standard games console with optional extras.

Exactly what the PS3 is now, in fact. So they can have EyeToy; they can have Playstation Move; they can have Vita integration; they can have PS+; but all of these things are optional. I'm still just a big fan of console gaming. Exciting games, controller in my hands, lying down on my bed. If I feel like wiggling my hands or looking at a touch screen, the option is there but it isn't essential.

I feel like when hardware is innovated to give something new, often you'll just get old games redone with new 'features' rather than actual gaming advancements. And if this gen has shown me anything, it's that there's still plenty of life in gaming to surprise and excite me even without straying too far off the mainstream path.

But of course, that's just me. I realise it might not be the best route for Sony's financial future. But it's definitely what I'd like to see.

I don't see Kinect 2 as an Xbox next USP. The thing which is the Xbox' keystone feature which makes it viable is Xbox Live because it changes both the financial equation and it is the power of networking which secured the PS1/2's dominance because everyone owned one. With Live the network is between Xbox and Windows with the next generation so the console will live and die as much on the performance of Windows 8 as it will on its own relative performance.

Not THAT innovative, but PS4 is going to ship with a Kinect-like 3D-camera/microphone combination.
It's not going to use the same TOF technology used in Kinect 1.0 though, instead it will be a stereoscopic camera like in the 3DS. That approach has a few advantages over Kinect:
- Perfectly suited for the upcoming success and gaining popularity of 3D TVs, like allowing for 3D video chat
- Much cheaper to produce than the expensive TOF technology used in Kinect 1.0, additional costs would only be slightly higher than those of a simple webcam.

Even Microsoft might switch to this technology in Kinect 2.0.

They should improve its camera to 3D to allow it to be used also hands-free in more complex games than in the past and its res up to tracking fingers, upgrade the Navigation Controller to include optical tracking like the Move and make it standard equipment, not optional. This way Move would become the most complete motion control interface, allowing both hands-free and controller+motion based games, depending on what's best for each game or even on the gamer's tastes, for some games.

they will have all games stream to Vita basically. thats means it can get Wii-U titles and also just have EyeToy2 for the casuals.
Next gen will play out VERY different to this one. The casual family audience already brought a Wii.. then a Kinect.. i think they will be after something very different with there next gaming purchase.

why don't sony look at emulation software like PCSX2 and rather than suing them like they did with bleam actually employ them to make an emulator that works much like the one on the PC but with the console, with the new hardware of the PS4 they could implement this to allow old PS2 game to look like PS3 game's, just an idea.