So, here's what I see Ninty doing for their next console (Assuming MS or Sony starts the next generation in the next 5-6 years)

1: Nothing. The graphics difference between the Wii and the PS3 is like an old man fighting a heavyweight boxer... and the old man is winning by a significant margin. If Sony releases a next-next gen PS4, I could see Nintendo announcing a 100$ price drop on the Wii, releasing it in different colors, with a new wii-mote with built in Motionplus, and both wii sports packed in. They could probably still make a profit off that bundle too...
Maybe do a redesign of the Wii with future-current technology, like a die-size shrink for the 360, to reduce size, weight, and manufacturing cost, and sell it as the Wii Light: Fully Compatible with all your Wii games!

2: If Nintendo doesn't want to do that, I picture them releasing a next-next gen console roughly the same time as the first of Sony or MS releases their console. I have no doubt that some of the mounds of money that the Wii is printing for Nintendo is going to development of the Wii Too as we speak, and that the MotionPlus and Wii Balance Board are all things that were originally developed by the Wii Too think tank.

The Wii Too will have: 10 GB of flash memory, 360/PS3 level graphics, and come with Nunchuck/Wiimote (w/ Motionplus, of course), a next gen balance board, Next-gen Wii Sports, and Next-Gen Wii Fit, all for 250$. And nobody will be able to find one because they will be selling like gothcakes.

By the way, when are we gonna stop calling the PS3/360/wii generation 'next gen'? It's, like, 3 years old...

Has any console other than the Wii seen a LTD profit?

I know the 360 and PS3 are starting to make a quarterly profit, but they have a long way to go to get out of the hole they are in from a loss-leading sales strategy.

I think the 2 HD manufacturers are going to have some trouble in the next generation. I don't see, technically, games getting much of a leap in the next gen. There would have to be something phenominal achieved in real time that isn't possible now for people not to be meh about it.

The Wii's weakness will really be the biggest benefit for nintendo next gen. The jump graphically should put them probably slightly better than the 360, which will be a huge jump from the Wii.

One thing I do predict for the Nintendo, the next system will be compatible with all will control periferals.

Why has no one called out the TS on his poor spoof of Dr. Strangelove? It's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Thus, a proper spoof should be _____ or: How I learned to stop _____ and love _____.

OT: I do think the Wii will be an HD capable console. This is simply because with the rate at which technology evolves, it'll be very affordable to do so. Unless they plan on making a $150 console, there's really no reason not to make it HD capable.

Honestly, the performance gap in this generation was driven primarily by Nintendo needing to keep manufacturing costs (super) low in case the Wii flopped, and needing to keep development costs low in order to encourage third party development and in case they were the only company supporting it.

As soon as you start approaching (and passing) the fidelity of HD games development costs spike and then hit a plateau because you're producing content at (roughly) as high of quality as we can produce; the additional time it would take to make a model for an animated movie is offset by the additional time it takes to optimize the model and textures for use in your game engine. What this means is that 'if you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound' and in the next generation it doesn't make sense (in terms of development cost and timeline) to hold back because you won't save any money in terms of development costs.

What I expect the next generation will look like (in vague terms) is all three console manufacturers will produce hardware that is as powerful as it can be and still be sold at a profit (or small loss) for $300 to $400; and unless the hardware is released more than 2 years appart the graphical differences between all hardware will be small and difficult to notice in game.

@HappySqurriel

By the end of this gen, do you really see the PS3 being # 2 worldwide?

Yeah, probably ... Japan gives the PS3 a pretty massive advantage on worldwide sales.

If you look at western sales alone, the HD console sales will probably end up being within a couple of Million units and (at this point in time) I could see it going either way.

@Post Name - Love the Dr. Strangelove reference

And i do agree that the systems are not gonna get a big power upgrade, heck Wii2 probably won't pass the 360 or PS3's system specs, but it will be more interactive. And i love the video conference call idea for the wii2, might make AOL and MS mad though, cuz that just may surpass AOL Instant Messenger or Windows Live Messenger's features.

Hmm this is what i expect from the big 3 next gen.

SONY :
-- Use a faster CELL processor(6.4ghz?) with 16 SPE's (1 for redundancy, 3 for SONY to use, 12 for devlopers to use.)
-- Use a new graphics card. Properly based off the GeForce 11/12 series ...
-- Lots more RAM. 1gb of CPU RAM, 2gb of Video RAM -minimum-
-- replace 2x BD drive with 16x BD drive.
-- 128gb SSD or 160gb+ HDD.
-- A more unified approach. eg. All games have Trophy support, custom soundtracks, etc.

Launch Price -- $349.

Microsoft:
-- Use a quad core set-up @ 4Ghz
-- 4gb of shared RAM + 64mb on videocard for AA/Lighting effects.
-- Standard HDD/ SSD (128gb/160gb+)
-- LIVE service becomes free.
-- Complete redesign to avoid people linking next-box to RROD.

Launch @ $299/$399 (depends on what price they think Nintendo and SONY will set)

Nintendo:
-- Dual Core CPU @ 4Ghz.
-- 2gb of RAM.
-- Online serivce overhual -- you now have 1 unified Friend-Code (instead of 1 for your Wii + One for your game + one for your DS + one for your DS game)
-- Uses BD drive (12x) but dosn't play BD movies... uses modified BD disc which on work on Wii2... (also supports Wii games and GC games)
-- 20gb or 60gb HDD/SSD.

Launch at $199.

Predictions:

Nintendo's graphics will be just about the same as they are right now. We'll all go WTF. However, WTF + Nintendo = Epic win.

Sony will try to drop their prices hopefully, but won't copy the Wii as they'll have at least marginal graphical upgrades in attempts to wow the core. Sony's first party will never match Nintendo's, and right now, they are about as successful as they will ever be with first party games...unless they go casual. The most exciting thing about this console will be its launch price.

Microsoft might not even have a console next time. It is entirely possible Live and all of the other properties MS uses on the 360 will be switched over to games for windows. IMO, this is the most likely scenerio. A device will be made that is basically a disc drive that facilitates a standard medium for Windows based computers. MS might even start an Xbox brand of graphics cards. The PC sector with this move would become much more uniform in a standard that would be set, but not in stone, around the time of this new devices launch. Most games would have their main modes specifically designed with that standard in mind. The pricing would be between 500 and 700 dollars to build a 360 spec PC, of course, with high end models available on the free market as well as a high end 360 drive. What's the drive for? To prevent piracy, and require you to own it, in order to play new Windows games. Around this time, PC gaming via HDTV's will be much more widespread. You'll likely have a line out from your graphics card ran to your Samsung in the living room, if you so choose, and the 360 will kickstart that trend.

A push of the PC as a gaming device is something I think MS has been building towards as well. Then now have the "XBox" brand out and accepted/beloved/hated and could easily swap it over to a PC any way (and the features in the XBox consoles are approaching PC-esque any way)

MS's bread and butter is its OS and its tools (Office, .Net, etc) and tightening its grip on the OS market would mean many more dollars than another XBox.

Zen: I think you are on to something, though I don't know if it will be next generation. What I think they will go for is a "Media Center PC," a living room PC/Console hybrid that is accessible, but customizeable Wintel box. Probably have some sort of proprietary input device combined with a mouse and keyboard, or mutable touchscreen input.