As the current generation of video game platforms mature people have begun looking into the future to see what is coming up on the horizon.  Even though the platforms are 3-4 years away rumors, patents, and other such morsels of obscure information have the speculators and rumor mongers foaming at the mouth. Why not? Nothing is more fun to write than a speculative “crystal ball” article claiming all the special insight you have, only to be found wrong 18 months down the road. In gaming nothing could be more unsure than the coming console war.

Every current platform had some type of problem out of the gate. Whether it was lack of hardware and/or software, console shortages, or reliability problems, all stumbled, add to this the on going problems every current gen console has to deal with. Simply learning from these mistakes this time around puts strain on the predictability of the next console war. This also speaks nothing of hardware developments, software industry changes, and projected industry growth.

Lower Cost Consoles

Barring some break through technology it looks like not much is going to change with the hardware. Of course the machines will be more powerful than current gen technology but there is not going to be any break through technologies. No new optical media and no bluetooth/wi-fi. About the biggest change we are likely to see is cpu/gpu on a single die. Intel and AMD are shopping around their ideas and Sony looks to be going with a vastly superior CELL processor used by IBM. The rest of the components that were once expensive will be far cheaper the next go around. We are not likely to see anything other than standards changes in bluetooth, HDD, Wi-Fi and Blu-ray. Sony learned a hard lesson in where the price ceiling was in the consumers mind and with the current economic down turn there will be pressure to keep the prices low.

Fourth Player Enters the Console Market

Many say there simply isn’t room, but you need to look at what is going on in the industry today. Gaming is moving away from the PC, as people have less of a reason or ability to put together a gaming rig these hardware manufacturers will be looking to make money elsewhere. AMD, Intel, and Nividia are all looking to get a piece of the next gen console pie. There is only one problem. All the current consoles go through one company, IBM. Sony will most likely stay with the Cell Processor albeit more powerful version, Nintendo has continuously lamented about their withdrawal from the hardware race and not likely to buy the latest and greatest, and even Microsoft has stated they would like to develop the chips for thier next console in house.when the next console cycle launches the gaming industry is projected to be worth 3 times its current value, plenty of room for a 4th player with the proper branding.

Back to One Skew

Multiple skews have been a headache for buyers. Consumer frustration comes from lack of backward compatibility support to buying one version to only have the next version come out months later.

Return of the Exclusives

This generation exclusivity has gone out the window, only to be replaced with DLC exclusivity. Current generation consoles were largely defined for their hardware choices, Sony for Blu-Ray, Nintendo for Wii-mote, Xbox by Xbox Live. Next gen the consoles will match much more in their hardware load out and will have nothing to help define them from the third party developers. In order for each manufacturer to keep the consumer from purchasing the least common denominator it is going to have to step up first and second party development. This also needs to be done to prevent the software makers from gaining so much control of the industry that they can start dictating what will and will not be in the hardware.

More Bundled Offerings

Colored/bundled hardware was largely regulated to Japan and a few other countries. With the success of the bundled DS, PSP, and the Gun Metal PS3 and the popularity of decals and face plates we are much more likely to see regular special edition consoles throughout the next gen console life span.

Expanded Control Options

The success of the Wii-mote, the popularity of games like rock band and guitar hero, the inclusion of keyboard controls in some titles all lead credence that next gen is going to have some of the most interesting control schemes to date.

User Generated Content Will Be King

This generation every console was about online play, social experience, and online networking. In 2008 we are going to see the release of two games who’s whole experience is largely based off of what the players make for themselves. Spore had 12.4 million user generated creatures upon launch. Since then the Sporpedia has about a 10% growth rate. LittleBigPlanet set to launch next month is expected to at least match that. By the time the next consoles come around this game play type will have matured to the point of a viable genre. As we all know once a genre becomes hot the developers dog pile on it and smother it to death.

The Arrival of the Home Entertainment System

This gens consoles came very close, but many of the consoles had faults that prevented them from becoming true home media centers. Sony’s awful web browser and clunky picture/video features held it back from being used as anything other than a Game Console/Blu-ray player. Nintendo’s complete lack of HD graphics prevented it from even contending, and the lack of cheap HDD for the Xbox prevented it from ever being more than a novelty. If there is one thing that consoles need in their hardware set up to truly become a home entertainment system is, audio outputs. You cannot be a media hub missing something as simple as quality sound.