In the beginning of the game console, console generations used to be defined as 8, 16, 32 bit etc. Nowadays there are probably very few people that could tell you the graphics definitions of an Xbox 360 or a PS3. Yet as close as those past generations used to be in competitiveness it always came down to games. Games defined what system you would get and when games became graphically too sophisticated for that generation we moved onto the next.
However this generation while probably the most confusing has entered into the equation the greatest amount of variables between each of the three competitors. Equations that may make it very hard to transition to a next generation.
This generation has placed a heavy focus on media and interactivity not to mention an even greater focus on purchased downloadable content. People are using these machines now as part of their media hubs, not always and sometimes not at all as dedicated game machines.
Lets go back to the concept of downloadable content first. Every system has some sort of DLC attached to it, and I believe all are attached to that particular system. Sure you can say that for the most part you run into this issue even with purchased media but old Xbox or PS2 games could always be traded in or sold if you were done with them, not the case for DLC. So in the transition to a new system either there needs to be a system in place to transition this media along with you or alot of people will be out of luck and money.
In respect to the PS3 Sony has backed that machine heavily for its "next 10 year lifecycle" and its Blue Ray functionality. If people are buying a Blue Ray player in 5 years they are not going to "upgrade" the player because they are not looking to play new games.
The Xbox 360 has become a major home media hub and has the ability to be continuously updated as Microsoft does twice a year. So as new features get added to the system it essentially refreshes the system. After years of updates would we transition to a new system that may have to go through all these updates again?
The Wii has sold very well, but its sold very well to a casual player and the player who is interested in the Wii Mote control, graphics are not a high selling point for these buyers so is there a need to upgrade to a Wii2? And what would happen to the Wii control, would people still be interested in buying a new system that has the same type of control scheme or would it have worn off by then?
These systems are becoming more and more than game systems, and how much more can graphics really play a part in the need for a next generation? Will the fact that our media collections and Blue Ray DVD's have become attached to our game systems mean we don't need a new one.
Perhaps Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo just need to continue to update there current machines (along the way we will surely see new hardware iterations as well). The Xbox 360 is probably the closest machine to a full functioning media center that has additional features added to it twice a year, the PS3 still seems to have a long way to go until its fully functional with its incremental updates and certainly there is ALOT Nintendo has still not done with the Wii.
If the right online systems and software continue to be introduced and all systems continue to increase their media capabilities through updates could that be all that is needed. Also perhaps without a major jump to a new generation any or all of these systems could finally become cheap enough to really reach the mass market!
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