What's that?  Comment on the brand loyalty I don't care about?

Should I say I would choose Nintendo because it has Mario, Zelda, and whatever else?  What if one of those games actually turned out not to be good?  I'd be pretty screwed.

Should I stay away from Microsoft (pretending we're in last gen) because it doesn't have those games I listed?  Well that would suck because it turned out the 360 has great breakout games like Gears of War, Bioshock, and Left4Dead that all weren't there in the previous generation.  Once again, I would screw myself.

It's pointless and stupid to buy or even plan to buy a console before you even know what features it has and what games it has.  Again, I only buy a console if it has enough games released at purchase to justify the price (console price / avg game price >= number of games I want).

The point of the thread is to ask you to take a blind shot in the dark, a hypothetical bet on which console would have the games you would most like to play. Certain presuppositions which are implied in the OP but not explicitly stated include:

1. You can't know anything about the lineup

2. There will be three consoles next gen, and they will be put forth by the same companies as this gen

3. You can only "support" one console, ever

4. Game support and direction is somehow indicated by the course of the console war over the course of this generation so far

The spirit of the question is exactly the reason you are rejecting it: it is asking you to make a stupid, blind decision based on current trends.

That's all there is to it. It's silly, yes, but it's not pulling your teeth or anything, and you're not making an actual commitment.

(think of it as asking you "which console is your favorite" or even "which console do you think will spawn the best successor")

If I had to choose one it would have to be the company that has a first party development staff that dwarfs its competitors twice over.

Playstation 4 and PSP2 is the only way I could go if I had to choose.

Playstation is the only brand that continues to offer memorable IP's, and create new innovative IP's spanning all genres, and most importantly at a quality unmatched by any competitor. If you like all video games, and a console is the only choice Playstation is the only way to go.

Nintendo is limited to Adventure games, and spin offs of the Mario IP.

Microsoft is limited to the testosarone genres of Racing, Sci-Fi, and gun culture.

And EA, and Apple have no games. If EA made a Console you can bet that Madden license is gone, along with a lot of other cash happy license trying to take advantage of the EA userbase which is well over 500M right now with consoles, handhelds, PC, and phones.

Yeah, but that gets back to my I think it's stupid to rely on brand loyalty thing.  I guess I just try to stay away from stupid blind decisions whenever possible.  :-p

Hey man, well it´s due to me not really enjoying games so much nowadays.

I started gaming in 1988, with the NES, and my enjoyment with games hit its peak during the 4th (SNES/GENESIS) and 5th (PS1/N64/SATURN) generations.

When the 6th generation (PS2/GC/XBOX) started, the fun I have while gaming also started slowly going down, and has picked up speed.

I mean, in this current generation, I still find fun, but it´s diminished a lot, not even the Wii´s motion sensing/IR pointer capabilities have been able to inject new fuel as far as I´m concerned...and the way it´s going, I think over the next 3/4 years my fun with games will come close to zero.

With that said, I still plan to keep a close eye on how the industry moves forward, who gets in and who gets out, etc...

I'm prolly going with the PS4 :P I love the franchises Sony's got under they're supervision, and I have a feeling the next one is going to be ungodly awesome and dirt cheap ;)

Hmm..I think is way too early to think in that.

Why is that a lot of people is so eager that this generation ends? I rather enjoy my Wii and don't think about the next gen

@Bob Because the premise of the future is always a great thought! Many of us who jumped on the HD consoles are also very hesitant to see what the next jump will look like :D This is by far the biggest one we've experienced thus far in terms of console power, and if Sony play the hand I think they will, the PS4 is going to be insanely functional and powerful ^^ It'll just be awesome :D

PS4!

God of War V!

IV will be on PS3!

@ KBG29:- I think you will find Nintendo has the best and most varied first party line up.