Not a long time ago, I wished this generation to end pretty soon but I have changed my mind. The way the Xbox gets better and better is really fun to watch.

The NXE is awesome. I love Avatars, I love VoD and I love the whole design. I played and finished Gears of War2 and it is an outstanding game. The Singleplayer is great. I never had such a great singleplayer in a shooter before. (well maybe Goldeneye on the N64) The multiplayer is not that great for me (too noobish to run with the shotgun all the time...), but the horde mode is fun.

Now I finally played Fable 2 for some hours and I am totally impressed by the atmosphere this game delivers. Peter Molyneux didn't hype it too much, it is great.

Left 4 Dead will be my next purchase. The co-op via Xbox Live is great. I played the demo for 5 hours with a friend. Will be a great game. Banjo Kazooie will be another purchase some time in the future. There are still great games to come and I am looking forward how they are pushing the console even further. (Alan Wake-screens )

But after that, I want a NEW system. The system should be capable of something completly new. The best thing to watch is to see how the games (and these days also the system itself) get better and better. If the system has just some minor improvements, this development won't be that big. So I hope for a great step forward just like Xbox --> Xbox360.

Isn't it the whole point? If Microsoft wanted to force its base to upgrade to the new machine it will not offer "forward compatibility" to begin with.

Gears 3 could be much better, even if the graphics are not much better (the graphics are awesome already). Imagine an immersive 3D experience in Gears. Couldn't this be much more exciting than a few more pixels on the screen?

The idea is to offer new experiences, but as Ninty showed - new experiences do not have to translate to better graphics. That said, I do believe the graphics will be better, but they will not be the focal point of the innovations.

Yes, Yes, Yes!

That's the point. Stop thinking incrementally (more processors, more pixels) but think about "something completely new". And becuase it is not more processors/memory/pixels then it is something that could potentially be added to the existng 360 as well.

The problem with this is Sega already tried it with Genesis and you see where that got them. Innovation must be revolutionary, not evolutionary in a capitalist competition. They will not allow for cross platform storage to PC as this encourages piracy. I could see cloud storage on MS servers, however.

The new console is already in talks to have future compatibility but it will not reduce appearance due to new tech, it will enhance the existing game library, ie draw distances, new additions.

Any console or PC includes a fan--it is how you cool a build. Unless MS creates nanobot cooling on the mobo, expect a fan-based system.

I think the optical drive will be a big umming and ahhing point for them next gen. Should they include a blu-ray drive they can't expect much 'forward compatibility' and will pretty much kill off the 360 or at least they'll be a lot more PS3/next xbox exclusives...but then if they don't include it I think some of the devs focussed on the HD experience will be forced to boycott the system as we've already read several complaints on the DVD space limitation.

So yeah including it plays into Sony's hands of a longer lifespan of the PS3 and not including it potentially means less games.

Playing new console games on a 360 = bad business decision.

Anways, $299.99 for 360 with say 80GB HDD, $399.99 with 200GB HD, & $499.99 with 320GB HDD & Blu-Ray Drive would be a nice SKU list. As far as power, it should be able to easily produce Gears of War 2 & Killzone 2 games graphics wise. Controller wise, Microsoft needs to re-do the D-Pad on the 360 and it will be the perfect game controller for hardcore, but then they could also include a Wii-Mote style controller for alternate play, and that would please the Hardcore & Casual players.

I know I don't want 3D, because I know I don't want virtual blood literally splattering in my face and while I enjoy immersive games, I don't want to actually be afraid of being shot.

I also second (or 3rd) the dismissal of waggle controls, I am very happy with the dual analogue system, is the best universal controller in my opinion

Is 3D that bad for tennis or other sports games? or for 3rd person games? Right now you are guessing. BTW, I am not sure myself 3D is next big thing. Could be it is something else. Who knows. But something is going to be new and innovative and it is not going to be about a new resolution and more poligons. It needs to be more revolutionary than that.

You don't like the waggle contols - fine. 45M Wii users will disagree but I respect your opinion. I would like the 360 to come with a range of controls, including the classing 360 controls, waggle and maybe something completely new. Heck, if we knew already now it all it would be a bad sign that it lacks innovation...

 It really depend on what is your business. If your business is to sell hardware (like Ninty) then you are 100% right.

On the other hand, if your business is software royalties and subscriptions then allowing 50M+ 360 users  (by the time the next gen kicks in) to continue to buy the newest games and continue their subscriptions is the nest business decision you can make.

Microsoft lost many billions on HW. Restarting the bloodbath all over again is worst business decision it can make. If it can find a way to create exciting innovations for the next gen and provide an upgrade path for the 360 base to enjoy those innovations without having to obsolite the entire base, it would be in ideal spot for its business model.

@ amirnetz, the only sports games that I play are Pro Evo, and the cricket games, and I barely think that 3D would help. I also play the real versions of those games, so 3D wont feel that special, it just does not really interest me

I am very happy with gaming as it is, it does not need that much innovation, just some more evolution, LBP is certainly a good start