Nintendo's move towards lower production costs and higher profits will interest many companies in the coming years.

This is no longer a money-spitting contest for mammoth corporations, but one for small creative companies.

The only companies I could see making a console would be the following:
Panasonic
Toshiba  
Sharp
LG 
Samsung 
Philips (jk :P)
Acer
AMD
Dell
IBM 
Intel  
Sun Microsystems  
NVIDIA  

But most of all....
Apple
Sega
EA
Acti/Blizz
Google (Imagine it o_0)

If either EA or Acti/Blizzard made a console, they should partner with nyko. Nintendo was the only company where the controller for their first console didn't suck

The PS1 controller at launch didn't have analogue sticks, and the xbox controller was unplayable unless you had huge hands

Toshiba, Google, Apple, Verizon, and Ubisoft. EA and Activision-Blizzard really do their best as multiplatform software providers. Could you see Madden as a console exclusive, or Guitar Hero, or Call of Duty? Ubisoft, however, could do well as a 1st-party. Their brands could work as exclusive titles, and they have a broad set of such franchises that appeal to a vast array of gaming tastes

Oh yeah, that reminds me. EA could never create a console. Most of their franchises are licensed to them under the condition that they must create the games for all viable platforms. If they tried to make madden exclusive to the EAbox, they would lose the rights to it

I can only see two possibilities:

- Apple (with another partner)
- Sega: with the "I love dreamcast so much" atmospheer around the internet, they could launch a portable dreamcast, with the same spec, low price (99$) and with their games at around 20$ that everybody love cause the "dreamcast was the best console ever" ...

Apple is going to take a shot at the handheld market with their Iphone, but other then that, don't look for new contenders. There arn't many corparations in the world right now that have the free capital to gambel in the very fickel vidoe game market, and those that do have seen what happened to those who tried in the last 3 generations.

The only companys that have had sustained sucess in the market place are nintendo and sony, and even those juggernuts have hit some very rough patches. I conced that MS could be added to this list, but i am hesatant to do so untill they make enough to pay the X Box's debt load.

On the other side of the coin we have Jaguar, 3DO ,CDi, Turbografix 16, Sega Cd, 32X, Saturn and Dreamcast. I'm sure i missed a few but you get the point, new comers don't often fair well, and even if you do suceed at first, you could still fail horribly.

Just to be clear, i'm not bashing ANYTHING here, just making the point that consols are an expensive and very risky venture.

look at 8.

nintendo then made the DS.

Oh yeah, I got one, and a real one: don't forget ... GIZMONDO! It will be available soon ...

None of them will enter the console market. lulz