Releasing 32Xbox in 2010 and 720 in 2011 sounds about something that would a) piss off the fans b) piss off the devs. So, what would be coming out 2010, would need to be their next gen console.
Considering Nintendo, their next gen console is likely to hit market 2012, judging what Iwata has said, and Sony is likely to put PS4 out at the same timeframe.

I know how you people want to point out how Sony can't afford PS4 and would stick to PS3, but the truth is, that in order to keep in the business, they have to make the jump around the same time others do.

Joelcool7 said: KBG29 said: I do not see any reason for Sony to have a new console for a long time. Outside of Uncharted 2, and God of War 3 (two currently unreleased game) we have not seen what PS3 can do. The tech under the hood still has years left before third party devs, and even some internal studios start seeing a need for more power. If Microsoft and Nintendo want to release new consoles in the next two years more power to them, but I hope Sony stays right were they are. I have had every console since SNES on day one, besides the Wii. If the new consoles are really coming in the next two years, this will be the first generation I sit out. There is not powerful enough tech out there right now to justify any upgrade beyond the 360 or PS3. I don't want a current high end computer set up. The best chips on the market only produce a mild leap over the HD consoles, and that is not worthy of a new console. The next Wii, will be HD , have a hard drive and probubly a new controller with intigrated WiiMotionPlus and what ever else Nintendo can come up with. In terms of hardware power I bet the next Wii will only catch up to or barely surpass PS3. Any Nintendo fan knows that the Wii is in need of a sequel fairly soon. I know I for one have spent over 300$ on virtual console but only have room for a few on the internal memory, many of us bought 360's and PS3's to get our graphics fix. Its true developers still don't have the technology to max out the PS3's graphical potential but other systems like Wii and possibly even 360 could use new consoles. And judging by Microsoft's 4 year life cycles and Nintendo's five year life cycles it looks like the next gen could start as early as next fall! Squilliam said: Microsoft clarified the statements made regarding a new console next year. Its just Natal... I remember when 360 launched, Peter Moore clearly stated Microsoft has a three phase/Three console plan for the games industry. And he clearly stated that the life cycle for the X-Box was going to be four years long. If Microsoft is sticking to their plans and to their life cycles than we will see a new X-Box come 2010. Of course Peter Moore no longer heads X-Box but that doesn't change the four year life cycle, not to mention the 360 will have surpassed the sales of the origional X-box long before fall 2010.

2009.

bdbdbd said: Joelcool7 said: The next Wii, will be HD , have a hard drive and probubly a new controller with intigrated WiiMotionPlus and what ever else Nintendo can come up with. In terms of hardware power I bet the next Wii will only catch up to or barely surpass PS3. Any Nintendo fan knows that the Wii is in need of a sequel fairly soon. I know I for one have spent over 300$ on virtual console but only have room for a few on the internal memory, many of us bought 360's and PS3's to get our graphics fix. Its true developers still don't have the technology to max out the PS3's graphical potential but other systems like Wii and possibly even 360 could use new consoles. And judging by Microsoft's 4 year life cycles and Nintendo's five year life cycles it looks like the next gen could start as early as next fall! Squilliam said: Microsoft clarified the statements made regarding a new console next year. Its just Natal... I remember when 360 launched, Peter Moore clearly stated Microsoft has a three phase/Three console plan for the games industry. And he clearly stated that the life cycle for the X-Box was going to be four years long. If Microsoft is sticking to their plans and to their life cycles than we will see a new X-Box come 2010. Of course Peter Moore no longer heads X-Box but that doesn't change the four year life cycle, not to mention the 360 will have surpassed the sales of the origional X-box long before fall 2010. 2009.

Well its currently an open book as far as determining what they might or might not do. As far as im aware Natal is essentially a relaunch with current generation hardware although it could just as easily be updated higher performance hardware as well. Who can say at this point? There are plenty of seemingly viable strategies all around.

Squilliam said: Well its currently an open book as far as determining what they might or might not do. As far as im aware Natal is essentially a relaunch with current generation hardware although it could just as easily be updated higher performance hardware as well. Who can say at this point? There are plenty of seemingly viable strategies all around.

I don't know if this was to my 2009 comment, which was to point out that the 4-year cycle would mean new console in 2009, not 2010, or to the earlier post, considering why they would release a new console 2010 instead of a bundle.
Natal, as seen, looks like nothing more than a Eyetoy-like peripheral. And due to lack of input device, if Natal ever comes out, it will look more like the Sony system.
If M$ puts Natal out as a peripheral/bundled peripheral, it's not going to get supported by third parties and even if it would, the default controller would still be the default control method. In order to get the new system supported, you'd need to force the devs to use the new method, which can be done by making the new method the default controller.

If M$ goes on to put out an "upgrade" to 360 and soon after puts out a new console, the ones who bought the upgrade are likely to get pissed, M$ creates unneccessary competition to its platforms, which cause the devs getting pissed by having an extra platform to develope for.

Isnt that partly what happened to Sega. Rushing platforms dropping support for them etc. Which bascally pissed alot of thier 3rd parties and consumers.

Games4Fun said: Isnt that partly what happened to Sega. Rushing platforms dropping support for them etc. Which bascally pissed alot of thier 3rd parties and consumers.

That's excactly what happened to Sega. That's why the 32Xbox.

Of course there are other possibilities available, but what i described is what i think the most likely scenario. Wii Motion + dev kits have been out for close to a year now and the 3rd parties haven't excactly rushed to support it. The reason for this is, that the 3rd parties aren't happy with the system getting an update, since the update requires extra work and the installbase for the update starts from the ground.

Joelcool7 said: Alright Microsoft announced recently that the next generation of X-Box will launch next fall. This leads us to belive that before or during E3 2010 Microsoft is going to pull out its next games console and start the new generation with a bang. Already Microsoft promised to bundle Natal with future X-Box's. This new X-Box will likely rock the games industry. We also know that in line with Nintendo's five year life cycles we can expect the Wii2 at either E3 2010 or E3 2011. This new Wii has been speculated and rumoured for ages. Miyamoto confirmed at E3 2006 that the next Nintendo console will feature built in HD we also know that massive displeasure with the miniature hard drive that the current Wii has that the next one will likely feature a larger hard drive. So the next Wii if inline with this generation probubly about 2x the power of the PS3 or the same power as PS3 with a bigger hard drive and HD support. So that leaves Sony for PS4, if inline with the same five year life cycle Nintendo's consoles have a PS4 should be expected for 2011. However Sony likes to run with overlapping ten year life cycles. With the new WiiMote that Sony showed off at E3 and the likely hood that a new Wii will likely just be a PS3 with a Wiimote. What are the chances Sony will bundle the new Wiimote with a new Slimline PS3 and not make a move with a PS4? Sony has invested millions in establishing the PS3 as a next gen console. Sales are only starting to tip in Sony's favour would they really pull the plug on PS3 and introduce PS4 this early, or will they sit back the next generation and market the PS3 as the next generation console at a budget price?   Will we see a bundled PS3/Wiimote instead of a whole new console next generation?

 

It's already been pointed out that the next 360 isn't really any different except that it comes with motion controls.  If Sony does anything, it would be something similar with maybe slimmer model.

 

As long as Wii is selling the most consoles, Nintendo will not be releasing a new model (except for color or other minor changes).  Most publishers don't even tap the graphical power of the Wii.  For those that do, you can't tell the difference between a 360, PS3 or Wii on a SD TV. A lot of people don't have a HD TV, so the 360 and PS3 are just a waste of electricity compared to the Wii.

A new Nintendo console won't be announced until E3 2012 at the earliest, just because they have no reason to do so, Wii sales are still great.

bdbdbd said: Squilliam said: Well its currently an open book as far as determining what they might or might not do. As far as im aware Natal is essentially a relaunch with current generation hardware although it could just as easily be updated higher performance hardware as well. Who can say at this point? There are plenty of seemingly viable strategies all around. I don't know if this was to my 2009 comment, which was to point out that the 4-year cycle would mean new console in 2009, not 2010, or to the earlier post, considering why they would release a new console 2010 instead of a bundle. Natal, as seen, looks like nothing more than a Eyetoy-like peripheral. And due to lack of input device, if Natal ever comes out, it will look more like the Sony system. If M$ puts Natal out as a peripheral/bundled peripheral, it's not going to get supported by third parties and even if it would, the default controller would still be the default control method. In order to get the new system supported, you'd need to force the devs to use the new method, which can be done by making the new method the default controller. If M$ goes on to put out an "upgrade" to 360 and soon after puts out a new console, the ones who bought the upgrade are likely to get pissed, M$ creates unneccessary competition to its platforms, which cause the devs getting pissed by having an extra platform to develope for.

Peripheral support is a complicated thing. I really can't say at this point what they intend to do and how they intend to implement Natal and even more so whether we will see entirely new hardware or just a refresh of the current Xbox 360 come 2010.

However I do think they could support both an Xbox 360 and an Xbox 360+ console at the same time should they so choose. Every game disc has about 1GB of space locked away from developers which could be unlocked to allow developers to support both consoles. Since the architectures would likely be extremely similar the costs imposed on developers would not be of terrible concern as an updated Xbox 360 SKU could feed off higher end PC development on Direct X 11+ and possibly in a way provide an easier transition to a next generation by taking hardware leaps in stages rather than at once. Nintendo uses this method with their handhelds all the time, its quite a proven method really.

No, and it's the PS Wand.

I believe Sony will ride the PS3 for a while and will likely be really slow bringing in a new console for next generation.

The PS3 has a LONG way to go till it's under $200, Slim and maxed out.