I'm a huge Monster Hunter fan, and a game for it would have solidified a purchase for the PS4 for me. I have absolutely no affinity for the stock of Nintendo games though, so unless I see more titles it's doubtful I'll be getting one just for that, which is a shame :(

So far though, the switch to WiiU and 3DS sounded completely opportunistic timing in the development cycle in the way the makers of MH described it, so i'm not quite sure yet that they wouldn't make it for any future PS's in the long run. I guess we'll see.

The PS3 has had not one but two size revisions ,the most recent one coming out just a couple of months ago. But I think Simon was talking about a minor hardware update to an existing platform, like the iPhone 4 -> 4S.

I don't know how successful that would be, since I would think the developers would target the version of the hardware with the larger installed base.

Trough the last decade I´ve been waiting for a new SEGA console, sad me seeing their titles at Nintendo console. But this is kinda impossible. Consoles based on games only won´t exist anymore.

Here's what I see coming:


WiiU will be relatively successful. Not like the Wii, but successful. They have a strong foot in the family entertainment department, they remain a budget system with some of the most iconic gaming franchises at their disposal.

(note: the following is from what I've seen reported from leaked documents)
From what I've seen about the next XBox, they're planning on running the same HD graphics with more memory and speed for gaming purposes. Since almost everyone has an HD TV, they'll love the HD suped-up graphics. They're also making the box an always-on device with lower power settings so that it will be your cable box, Roku box, Internet Explorer, casual gaming device and hardcore gaming device and RedBox and Party gaming machine.


From what I've seen from Sony, they're banking on hardcore gamers with awesome graphics. They're going with 4 times the resolution of HD and the only way to get a TV with those resolutions is from Sony. Win-win. Right?

Except I think they're wrong. I think it's a lose-lose. With 4x the resolution, they'll need a lot beefier graphics card -- raising power requirements and cost. And people will need to buy not just the $600-$800 (my estimation) device, they'll need to buy a $2500* television set to really use it.

* Note: I'm predicting they'll get the cost down to $2500 by next year. We can always hope.


World-wide, Wii sold 90 million, XBox and Playstation sold 70 million each.

I don't think the Wii-U will attract like the Wii did. And I think a lot of Playstation players will go for the more economical and far-more-useful XBox.

I think the biggest question of where it will all go remains in the black boxes -- mostly Sony's black boxes (too much has been leaked about the Xbox to give us much surprise, I think). We don't know everything yet. Playstation might have tons of a great free features (can you imagine the PS1 library for free? Or Sony movies for free? Or for cheap downloads just after theatrical release? Or a major discount on super-hi-def TVs?)

If Sony can lure the Wii users and even some XBox users over, it could really revive the company. But what I see is just the opposite.

What's to stop MS producing a piece of hardware that tries to be a jack of all trades that ultimately neglects its original purpose - becoming the hardware equivalent of Windows 8?

I actually think it's quite likely, even if it's not at the expense of the gaming aspect of the console.

As for Sony, they produced a piece of hardware whose sole purpose was to secure dominance of Blu-Ray over HD DVD at any cost. The fact that it also eventually made a profit unto itself was probably just a bonus to them. So who can say where their priorities will lie this time around? I doubt there's a new media format they'll be trying to piggyback through on their next console's shoulders; but who knows?

There have been numerous rumors and reports of developers getting AMD x86 based dev kits for sony's next console, so I think a "true" PS4 will show up. However unless Sony gets all their divisions in order, even if it is a success, there won't be another console after it.

I haven't owned a console since the Nintendo 64. I'm not sure why. I feel like pc games have been good enough to keep me happy. That's not to say there aren't great console games out there. The last one I played was Heavy Rain, which was amazing.

But it does seem like launching new consoles could be problematic.

Is there any real competition in the set-top box that does literally EVERYTHING genre? If they release a slightly more powerful Xbox 360 with a great OS and great digital support, the entire 360 online library available on day one with new stuff, all games digitally sold, the price of the entire machine made extremely cheap with a Live contract... I think that would be VERY tempting for consumers.

That's if they do it right of course. Also that assumes Sony or someone else do not launch a very similar product at the same time with better games/prices/marketing.

I can see it happening and MS are in a good position to be the ones to do it. There have been plenty of precursors and plenty of failures, but I think that looking at the current market it does seem like now's the time.

After all, developers are wincing at the idea of drastically more powerful consoles ramping up games development costs. So perhaps it's not only the path of least resistance, but maybe also the most profitable in the long run. Given the way mobile phones have diversified and how the actual 'phone bit' is pretty much the least used you'd be a fool to discount the possibility of a console that has games pretty low on its list of priorities.

Generally I see a future that is somewhat bereft of technology that does only one thing.

There are people who enjoy Nintendo's games actually. Your hate on Nintendo amazes me sometimes.
if i recall correctly, the dev-kits are out already and there are many rumours around the "Project Orbis". Honestly i doubt either Microsoft or Sony will go for a "hardware race" in the next-gen, but i'm pretty sure that both will release a next-gen console.

From what I have seen from Velvet its not that he hates the games, its that he thinks he is too old for it, Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon are kiddy stuff.

Hell if he thinks Metroid Prime is Kiddy stuff I pity him.

Reports have MS releasing 2 versions of the next xbox, one more family/casual oriented that will focus on entertainment as opposed to gaming specifically (although gaming will be a big pillar). The second version will be focused on core gamers and provide everything we would expect..graphics..power etc. A solid strategy so long as the execution is good on both devices as it would allow them to make major inroads into the mass market while still being highly competitive amongst the gamer demographic.

I would also say it's a guarantee that the next xbox acts as a set-top/cable box as I've been using my 360 as one for the last 3 years (granted the service still comes from a provider, but using an xbox I already own is cheaper than grabbing one of their dedicated boxes).

I look forward to the next generation and will likely pick up an xbox day 1, a PS4 after a price-drop and a WiiU once it is 99 dollars and has had enough games released to interest me.

I have no business commenting in this thread due to ignorance, but saw this and am confused. I purchased a PS3 for my son, and I could've sworn he said it wouldn't play PS2 or PS1 games. IIRC he said when the PS3 first came out it would, but then they changed something and they wouldn't???? Am I remembering that right???

So, are PS3's backward compatible or not?? I have a slew of PS2 games just sitting on this shelf over here (and a few PS1 games too) that I could play if I bought a PS3?

Yuck. They're diluting the 'Xbox' name too much IMHO. Even my Win8 PC has Xbox now. I don't know what it means anymore.

The very first generation had hardware "emulation" (i.e. included an actual PS2 hardware in the PS3), then in the next one it was replaced by software emulation and then finally totally ditched by Sony... and it was a long time ago so unless you buy a pretty old one (including the ridiculously priced remaining first generation Japanese one) it most probably won't have any PS2 backward compatibility.

But for PS1 they are supposed to be backward compatible but I never tried to put a PS1 game into mine (I prefer to play PS1 games on emulator)