Two years would be the earliest I think.  They are just barely turning the corner on profits with 360.

Yeah, but it really could happen. If one company puts out a .5 console it could really do a lot to the competition.

For example, 360 and ps3 are capable of demolishing load times on current games with a 500$ system.

I wonder what the ramifications of such a thing would entail.
A .5 system would be backward compatible, and the 360/ps3 would be forward compatible with it but with longer load times and less storage space.

The ps3.5/ xbox540 would be forward compatible with ps4/xbox720 but would not have all the features.

they can also just go the slim route to build legs.  I mean does anyone realize how popular ps1 became when they made the psx?  Every person out there put them in vehicles.  Then with the launch of ps2 slim sales increased a bit just with people buying a smaller unit for their house.  Granted there was a price drop with both of these, but it is still somewhat of a .5 system to build legs and both consoles are capable of doing so.  system improvements (other than increased reliability, decreased energy usage, improved chipsets as already noted) would be an added bonus.  The console with the best position to have a .5 system is the 360.  they can add built in wireless and a blu-ray drive (i know they said it would never happen, this is ONLY for example) and these 2 additions alone would be a huge upgrade to the standard system.  Posibilities are endless.

It seems to me that the Elite is already a .5 system especially if they add Blu-Ray.

i dont think a larger hd constitutes a .5 system.

I voted 2012. It'll be Nintendo to put out their next system first. Anything later than that would probably be too long considering the Wii is getting outdated now in 2008.

I say 2012 or 2013 but according to Microsoft there only gonna release there nex gen console a day after Sony does and I dought Sony's got something anywhere near ready for 2011, and I dought there will be a Wii2 buy 2011 because Nintendo will more then likely be still making a ass load of money off the Wii by then, so I think we'd have to wait a while for the nex gen.

 I'm strongly inclined to agree with this post, but who knows, this is a time of huge changes in the industry..

I didn't vote, but... 2009 is possible if you think about it...

What if someone enters the market, such as Apple.... No one says the next gen console is limitted to the top 3 of this gen...

Let me remind people that the 360 came out late 2005. A 2012 release would be a 7 year gap, which is huge. It's never happened since the NES (and even then, only in Japan). I understand the reasoning behind why the current gen would be delayed more than past gens, but anything longer than 7 years is too much. To put it in perspective, the Xbox/Gamecube is 7 years old.

Also, in the past, Nintendo has never been the first to start a new console gen. The SNES followed the Mega Drive(Genesis), the N64 followed the Saturn/PS1, and the GC followed the DC/PS2. The DS is an exception, though it was released roughly around the same time as the PSP.

As for the Wii getting outdated - it isn't. That may be your opinion, but it isn't shared with the majority. It's the sales that matter here (we're talking about console gens), so unless they're declining, outdated isn't the best word to describe it. I'd wait till the Wii stops outselling the HD consoles combined before calling it such.