Yeah i want a 2012 release for X3.

This sounds about right for the time line of the 360. Probably not the best news for Sony. I can't see them remotely interested in trying to release a new console in three years.

Realistically, if anyone was going to make a prediction that was likely to be true it would be that Microsoft would use an IBM/ATI based system and release it between Q2 2011 and Q4 2013; and the exact same prediction is very likely to be true for Nintendo. Both Microsoft and Sony should have learned the lesson that it doesn’t make sense to drastically alter your architecture unless you can provide backwards compatibility through software; and (regardless of what the console manufacturers will say) very few console manufacturers will be able to maintain consumer interest in their console much past 5 or 6 years, especially if there is a new console on the market from a competitor.

In the times of Win 9x and before, x86 legacy was synergic with MS legacy to tie users, but now, with much more complex OS', providing a strong tie by themselves, CPU legacy is only a burden, MS wouldn't be wise to come back to x86 where it managed to get rid of. Current top end of POWER architecture, that will be mainstream in a few years, goes far beyond top end x86. Not mentioning the fact that Intel did a huge leap just when it managed to put its grubby paws on Alpha abandoned projects: those in the drawers went up to 2010 for the furthest and less detailed, who knows whether it will still be able to have a development so fast when that reserve of pure genius will be exhausted.

Edit: AMD could be a competitive choice, but it could need some help for productive capacity, particularly if XB720 manages to be more successful than MS could predict, and with the end of the crisis, the reduction of components cost and the growth of average income in emerging countries, every next gen console could be more successful than initially predicted.

Only a very small portion of existing OS code is actually tied to the hardware, and Microsoft has been moving more and more towards running all applications on a virtual machine rather than on physical hardware for some time now; and it is highly likely that for a small cost (in OS development terms) Microsoft could have the newest version of Windows running on a different architecture. With that said, I don't think hardware performance is really going to push anyone away from the X86 architecture being that more and more people are finding the processing power of inexpensive hardware like the Intel Atom adequate.

I hope we have at least 3 years left. Consoles and games are expensive; they need to pay themselves off (which will take longer than last gen due to inflated pricing).

This...games prices need to start dropping first before people start talking about new consoles.  It can't cost as much anymore to develop games for these systems...c'mon!

Right. For PC's we have a choice so vast of CPU's, motherboards and other components, that abandoning x86 wouldn't be appealing. But in consoles, where each one has a custom designed and built mobo, adopting x86 wouldn't be so attractive, particularly if we consider that sticking to Power architecture, 100% back compatibility with XB360 would come almost for free.

I was reading an interview with that douche bag that runs Activision, and he said they are usually sent hardware about two years before it's released and that they have seen nothing yet. I will post the link if I can find it again--it's from a few weeks ago.

I agree. Superlong gens suck anyway. Who wants to play a 400 dollar console for 10 years? I wish gens were much shorter, just to increase the need for gimmicry and innovation with each new console.