Every generation is longer than the one before it. Gaming has always been niche, its not declining just because the casuals are moving away.

Yes we needed the new gen.

Now all we need is the games to come.

Not perchance.  There are 13 times more PS3+360 than PS4+XB1 owners.  There are also like 100 times more games in the libraries.  Yet weekly PS4 & XB1 software sales are already ~30% of PS3 & X360 for the year.

I don't need next gen. I think you can give developers all the processing power in the world and it wouldn't make the games better for me.

wayyyy overdue,these companies wanna keep selling consoles,there was a big yoy slowdown in sales.

Yeah, I read recently that sales of Blu-Ray are down and I believe it. Take a look at your local Wal-Mart. Their CD isle is down to one and their movie section is getting smaller and smaller. I tried to find the first Hobbit on Blu-Ray a few weeks back and it's no where to be found. That would have been unheard of just a few years ago.

It's not something I personally like. I'm older, and so, phyiscal media just feels right. But we're definately headed toward an all digital/streaming future. People don't have to like it, but embracing it would be a good idea imo.

Funny pic but do you think the 8th gen has something that blows people's mind like Call of Duty 2's online in 2005, Soul Calibur in 1999,   Super Mario 64 in 1996, Tekken in 95, etc.  This thing we're experiecing in the 8th gen (which started with the Wii U in 2012 if you don't count portables) doesn't happen every generation.  Hell, it doesn't usually happen with new consoles!  They usually launch with some mind blowing software that justifies an upgrade.  This time we get the hardware and a bunch of promises.  What's the upgrade? Resolution?  Even now, there's features that the PS3/360 have that still aren't available on PS4/ Xbox One.  We've lost features!!  When has that ever happened outside of format changes?  

Yes. The last gen for the most part was 32 bit and that carried a lot of limitations. I tend to mod my games and beacue of the 32 bit limitation sometimes you need to activate Large Adress Aware. It's a royal pain in the ass and now games coming up should be 64 bit, that eliminates the need to use stuff like LAA.

You're right.

Compared to previous gens, this one seems lack luster. I didn't even notice the Wii U release, the PS4 announcement bored me, and the XB1 announcement angered me.

However, I've realized that what is important isn't innovation or "blowing my mind", its improvement. Consoles are dedicated gaming machines, that might have more media features/media features coming then their predecessors. But the improvment in gaming is something that usually takes forever with generations. Now that we've got 3D, Online, and HD gaming out of the way, hopefully we can focus on improving game quality, something that was obviously lacking last gen.

The PS4 and X1 ui's alone destroy those of previous generations, boasting a higher feature set, while simultaneously getting us to our games faster. Load times are being eliminated, and console gaming has become cheaper overall if we consider inflation.

All of those "wow" things from previous gens, are things that have become standard now. I think the improvement is more of a justification then the innovation.

All big 3 tried to incorporate new things in their consoles, but its obvious that its going to be harder to "wow" people especially when they are older and their is only so much new stuff under the sun.

I mean what's left that isn't really an improvement or upgrade? VR, 3D, 4k(1080 upgrade), 60-120(30 fps upgrade)?

In fact, MS and Nintendo were so desperate to find something new and be innovative, that they gimped their consoles to support features that nobody asked for praying that the newness would wow consumers.

Even the PS4, with the touch, streaming, and social media features although this is less risky and more in line with what is popular today.

Regardless, there are only so many new things that can improve gaming as a whole, but until now the focus has been on finding these magical bolts of lightining rather than actually directly improving gaming. The latter I see as much more of a justification than the former.

The answer is not really, despite what some hardcore will tell you here, wich is their vision.

Tech wise there isnt a huge evolution that can be perceived by the human eye. The average consumer cant tell the difference and doesnt like purchasing multiple consoles. I know of people that have bought Wii's and PS3's last year.
The hardcore though, were eager to see something new. This wont last though. As diminishing returns become bigger between generations, the high the chance that the market will collapse on itself. People just wont see the value on buying a new product for hundreads of euros/dollars for something they can hardly comprehend.

I am convinced that we might only have one more gen after this new one, if at all. Streaming is the way, not because its more convenient or better, but because there isnt a logic support to the purchase decision of a new console. I'm certainly not looking forward to it.