In the next 3-6 years, what is going to happen for the next generation of video games? Each new generation has been pushing for the next powerhouse system. In terms of graphics and power, how would you sell a ps4 or the next x-box. I think it's hard to imagine things looking more realistic than what it's going to look like in the future years, so is there a point in making the next generation of systems. I think the final goal in games will be virtual reality games which I doubt will happen in our life time. Wii has taken the first step by making you part of the game, and the 360 and ps3 have done it in terms of making games look real. But what happens after our current generation? Your thoughts.

If we knew, what fun would it be to speculate? For sucessor consoles, if Microsoft and Sony both go for "I got the POWER to RAPE YOUR WALLET" mode again, they'd probably push 1080p as the minimum resolution for their games (what was the next one, 1440p or something?). If Nintendo does the "value" concept for consoles again, chances are iffy on 1080p support methinks. HDMI would need to be on a decent number of TV's for Nintendo to consider supporting it, and unless the "surround sound" market does better, I'm not sure we'll even see a digital audio connector on the Wii.

I wouldn't go as far as saying the next Nintendo console won't support 1080p. In 3-5 years, Sony and M$ will be making money on the 360 and PS3 and the costs will probably be sub 300 maybe even 200 for the 360. Nintendo can easily adopt similar hardware used by Sony or M$, sell for the same $250 range and go for the cheapest console of next next-gen, turn a profit AGAIN on every console sold, and have the killer graphics we're seeing of this generation. Cross ports of 360 and PS3 games, like how Manhunt2 is going PS2 Wii, we could have Manhunt3/4 going PS3 Wii2.0 Add some more functionality or a new functionality to go with the wiimote and nunchuk, innovation + this gen graphics = pwn? Who knows, that's what I think will happen.

I said it's iffy because it depends on how Nintendo deals with it, they can't deal with a Wii2 the same way they dealt with the Gamecube>Wii changes, so their future support won't work the same way as Microsoft or Sony's will. And having a die-shrunk combo-chip for legacy gamecube/wii support like the PS3 has the PS2 chip will add to the cost, something Nintendo managed to avoid this round, but won't the next.

This is probably the hardest gen to predict, just because the Wii has taken things in a completely new direction. There's no way possible that the next xbox and PS will rely on just the same old controller (and yes, the six-axis is pretty much just the same old controller). Now the big N will have the most experience with interactive gesture controls, and they'll probably have exclusivity of a lot of third party titles built up around that same idea, but I'm sure the competition will think up some pretty crazy stuff too. I wouldn't be suprised if the next consoles had controllers that looked traditional, with two joysticks, but which could be separated down the middle, giving you two motion sensing, pointer weilding controllers.

To predict what will happen nex-gen has something to do with what will happen this gen. This gen we will see all three systems coming to a nice three way split. Wii will be on top, with 360 and PS3 within 10m units. This will cause a few things. 1. I have said many times there will be a WiiHD . Basically take a 360 and add the Wii-mote and you will have Nintendo's next system. I say 360 because it will follow the same costs cutting areas to keep a sub $300 system w/ a pack-in game. - smaller HD (40g?) - DVD vs. BD/HD-DVD - Component vs. HDMI etc. 2. 360/PS3 will, again, do the same thing. Push to a higher level of graphics, however, not nearly the same jump as this gen. If fact it will be much, much easier for ports of these two to be really good on WiiHD. They will also try to get as close to a hybrid wii-mote and there own controllers as possible, so they can capitalize on the many unique Wii ip's. There systems will be smaller and overall cost around $400. As they will realize that the 360 entry point was better. Again the Wii will be less expensive and overall lower power machine, however, this time it will be more like the PS2 compared to the Xbox/GC than Wii to 360/PS3. Time frame is WiiHD in 5/6 years, and Xbox 3/PS4 in 7/8. They won't let Nintendo have too much of a head start, but I think a 2 year jump on the comp is one of the reasons Nintendo decided to skip HD with the Wii.

I think the power cap will start to become obvious by then (consoles powerful enough, etc). Things may change if we get a new radical (& affordable) tech - such as holographic projection, raytracing hardware, etc. All companies will start to focus more on smaller, portable devices - packed with power. Also look for more digital distribution, iTunes online style services, etc. So Sony may release a PSP2 - that can play PS2 games, etc. Its much easier for Nintendo to release a souped-up DSII or a WiiII - as the tech is there, and its a question of cost. I talked about this on another board, but I would love to see this in a DS II (and we may see it in 2-3 years, if not before!): - 5x-10x 3D power, 2x-3x CPU power (raw). - 16/32MB of RAM - bigger screens, higher resolution - support for multiple touch points (ala iPhone, etc) - much improved online support - full digital distribution. It may or may not come with a DS cart slot (backwards compat, increased cost), but it will be capable of downloading DS, GBA (and possibly other) handheld games and storing in Flash RAM (ala Wii). I would love to see a 3G/phone model as well - so you can access the web, call people, etc - anywhere (rather than just relying on a WiFi point). Ohh - add mobile VoIP to that list :)

WiiHD, no the tech is NOT there. Nintendo's already using the best of the same-design processor from Motorola, and even just a few upgrades to the current graphics chip design is only going to help so much.