I think we will finally see the new stuff in 2012. The new engines and upgraded engines have started to outgrow the current console gen. Look at what DICE and Epic and Crytek have been able to do lately - by next year consoles will not be able to hanldle it without massive FPS loss and giant HD installs.

Dont forget gamers we are stil in a recession.let them take there time and give us a grand intro to next gen.plenty of juice left in the 360 and the ps3,as for the wii,well you make the call.

Maybe X360 users need another console, I really don't yet.

no consoles need to become a standard like DVD. As long as great games are made for consoles they could be around a minimum of 15 years. Im tired of console cycles and having to dish out hundreds of dollars every 5 years or so. I would rather spend that money on many great games.

I 100% whole heartedly disagree with this article.

We are now seeing development costs come down a little bit and the arms race for "ZOMG, THE BEST GRAPHICS" has slowed.

This leaves room for developers to experiment with games and get more creative...take some more risks.

In other words, we are going to see more creative, better games and more often than we did in the beginning of the generation.

The time is not now. Otherwise Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo would've let uw know.

Sony believes in the 10 yr cycle - the old cycle was 5 yrs

The new one I think will be 7 yrs as the standard

Which puts us at 2012

i dont see whats wrong with this gen, why does it have to end?

in my eyes, as of last year, its just hitting its stride.

be more patient.

i for one, am not ready to shell out another $400-$500.

i'm just fine with my ps3 until 2015 at the earliest. were people in such a rush when the ps2/xbox/gamecube was still in their prime? probably not. this guy is crazy if he thinks i'm gonna just leave my ps3 like it's nothing.

another god damn stupid article from someone who has no idea whats right for the companies or gamers

no no no!! You mention how awesome the games could be over the next 3 years with better hardware? I say watch how broken, boring and uninspired they are in the next 3 years while all companies are starting the SLOWWWWW transition to the next gen of consoles. Boo, no.

I love my graphics, that's why I built a PC, Gears 3, KZ3 and UC3 are good enough for me. I'll be interested in 2014

With Kinect just recently releasing, a few games for this gen (like Bioshock Infinite) still to come in 2012, and new optimization tech for Xbox 360 (which I'm sure will be learned by PS3 and Wii devs), I'm fairly sure this console generation for last at least another 2 years.

No new consoles are needed yet. Still lots to look forward to.

il be ready whenever sony and Microsoft is

iLol'd PS3 just started rolling. 360 just started flying casual. Perhaps its the Wii that needs to jump forward.

It wil be a while before the next gen comes...so dont hold your breath people.

Nintendo needs a new console pretty badly. Also they need to revamp their online portion of things. Its really bad. The friend codes, the crappy online games. Its time to get on the ball with it. No friend codes next time Nintendo.

we dont NEED a new gen, but i wouldnt mind a new gen..

Tell the writer to STFU

xbox 360 hardware is getting better designed and ps3 software is getting better developed.. so many years left in this current life cycle..

want a new more powerful platform? Build a better pc..

By the end of 2012 I think it's time for something a bit more up to date

PS3 is still producing quality visuals... and has awesome features. Forget a new generation.

on schedule, we will see hints this E3.

If Sony follows it's normal time line of 2 years after its hand held and 7 years after launch the PS4 will be released in 2013. One problem with Sony is that there is no whiz bang technology to put in it's next console.

If Microsoft was following it's normal time line it would have launched last year. So who knows what they are doing.

If you don't hear hints of it at this years E3 from somebody that means the new consoles are following a new time line.

As long as my PS3 can produce visuals and Gameplay like KZ2 & 3, UC2 & 3, LBP1 & 2, Heavy Rain, Infamous 2 & GT5 then I am cool with the current gen for some more years. I'm really curious what ( mainly first party ) developers can still squeeze out of the PS3.

New consoles, worthy of a generational upgrade over a PS3 or 360, would cost like $800-1000, using 28-32nm chips.

I don't think the world is ready for that pricetag. I think it might be best to wait a couple more years. Retail-scale 22nm production isn't too awful far away... but we're still talking 2013-2014, at a minimum.

Remember that its basically stupid to release hardware that is overpriced, especially if it also loses you money on each unit sold. Even if new hardware made an appearance at 22nm tech, for $600... when do you think the price would come down? 16nm is a stretch limit for modern day fabrication techinques -- if released at 22nm, the chips would not hardly get cheaper.

A $600 console, at 22nm, would remain at $400, or more, for its entire lifespan, until new fabrication techniques are brought to commercial production levels. That's just not gonna fly, in terms of business.

The next console generation will probably have to be the first one that doesn't trounce its predecessors by leaps and bounds, in order to remain affordable. That's also going to require a new business model. Only one company has already adopted a new model (Nintendo), slowing hardware advancement such that business can proceed as usual -- unfortunately they also had to embrace a new crowd, because the old one is still hungry for tech.

I have a feeling that most of the people how dont want a new and more powerful console are the ones that adopt this generation 3 year ago till now!Because I own the all the systems from the release day 6 years ago and im ready too jump to the next evolution in consoles!Its obvious that people that brought consoles in,2009,2010,and this year dont want this cicle to end!

No no no.

The next system I will buy will be a high def wii. I miss my Zelda games. I need a controller option too this time.I like to get high and sit on the couch sometimes NINTENDO!

If Microsoft actually names their next console the "Xbox 720" I will eat a hat.

I'm definately not saying this as any sort of fan-boy, just from how I see it.

But I think the 360 has been pushed as far as it can go in the larger sense. Don't get me wrong the devs will still be able to get more out of it by adapting the way they do things, but I think it's well and truly peaked and now it's more a question of tweaks. But so far it's been the more successful of the two consoles overall.

The PS3 however is just coming into it's own now. First party devs are doing good things with it and other devs have got to grips with it. Even Valve who previously were talking it down are interested now. The PS3 still has a lot of life in it yet and will continue to pull away from the competition in terms of quality, even if not in sales.

I am looking forward to seeing what the next gen consoles will be like though, hopefully it will be a big and impressive leap forward when they do come. I have no particular views or bias about which one will be best.... I will just wait until they are both out and then pick the one that seems the best choice for me at the time... it really could go either way!

go ahead and release new consoles, I wont be buying any of them for a long! time.. so many games to play right now.. hardware doesnt matter to me

games seem to be getting better on platforms year after year.. theres a lot of juice left in both consoles.

i dont think we need the next gen for at least 2 more years. There is a steady flow of new IPs springing up i.e LBP, Rage, LA Noire, Heavy Rain, Alan Wake etc although it is true the market is filled with sequels. However, those sequels might as well be called new IPs considering their level of quality and innovation. we are getting amazing games and these consoles (especially the PS3) is on track for the 10 years life cycle where the 360 too will pump more juice for another 2. Nintendo is another story and should have had a console out last year!

I'm happy with consoles right now. This gen still has some strength behind it. what we need are more good, NEW IPs. New ideas are much more important than newer hardware.

There is lots of life left for this gen after seeing the new xbox 360 graphics engine whitch is coming soon i hope.

I don't think a new console generation sooner (ie. within the next two years or so) rather than later is a bad idea.

If it's going to mean even larger budgets for the already ridiculously expensive triple A titles I can see why it could be a problem for the gaming industry, but rather than vastly more advanced game engines and more detailed art assets (ie. quickly increasing development costs), I'm more interested in running current generation graphics at 1080p, 60 fps - plus higher resolution textures that are likely created anyway in many cases, but left out of console games due to strict memory limitations - instead of the vast majority of them being limited to 720p (or even lower) and struggling to manage a steady 30 fps.

Of course I could just switch completely to PC gaming (I'm currently around 50/50 between PS3 and PC), but I actually quite like console gaming and of course a number of the PS3 exclusives.

I hope there is no new consoles out yet as this Gen still has legs left in it. Ps3 games are looking better and better. Kinect is getting stronger and has a bunch of new games comming out for it and the Wii is still selling very well and giving us some amazing games.

Plus I think if there was a new console to come out now we would be paying around £60 per game because of the cost it takes to make a game for the current Gen.

I think we should let Sony Microsoft and Nintendo keep addind software updates to the consoles as this is making the consoles better and better. Look at what the 360 and ps3 were like when they came out and look at what they do now and the hardware has not changed just the software.

Why the rush for new expensive hardware? Everything about current gen consoles are fine. If you want more then just buy a computer.

Microsoft and sony are not graphics lovers. On top of all they are companies caring about their profirs. They are certainly not on favour of the idea of releasing new consoles this soon. I reckon nintendo will be the first to anounce thier next gen concole maybe as early as 2013!

let me see...the unemployment rate is a record lows. Jobs are far and few in between, and people can't afford to keep their homes. The last thing we need at this point is a new generation of consoles. Who's going to by them? Certainly not me and the great majority of this country's population.

Do remember, the PS3 cost Sony hundreds of dollars for every unit sold for years. I honestly don't believe that Microsoft and Sony have the money to gamble with because they would lose big time.

If they build them, I WON'T come!!!

I'm guessing there wont be a Ps4 before 2014.

Sony should introduce a Ps3 PLUS:
-- 2 Gb RAM
-- revised true multi-tasking game OS
-- improved Browser, Media players
-- FM tuner
-- HDMI input

The rest of the hardware will be the same as Ps3 and this machine would be a monster with massive improvements over the Ps3 for a couple of hundred extra.

The Ps3 Plus would be able to play all existing games. Developers will have option of making/selling a standard Ps3 game or Ps3 PLUS. The Ps3 Plus should make it easier to make higher definition games with higher more stable frame rates.

Also, the Ps3 PLus new game OS and more RAM, should function like a PC allowing Meida player, web browser, a game to active at the same time.

The HDMI input will allow you to run your Cable/Satellite receiver through your Ps3.

The Ps3 PLUS would be a brilliant move ... as good as what Nintendo did with the Wii by keeping it simple, with minor hardware improvements.

"we’re seeing the same games only somewhat prettier"

except for a few exceptions, welcome to the first 2 years of every next gen.

There is are huge differences between this gen and the previous gens that easily extend the console lifecycle past the regular estimated 5 yrs.

Games get updates and DLC.
PSN and LIVE get amazing cheap games. (LIVE gets Indy games too)
Firmware for the hardware.
Both consoles have become multimedia beasts with Netflix, Movie rentals, Facebook, etc..
Both consoles just launched motion controllers.

And as much as I would love a new Xbox, since I've had mine since launch, seeing the videos of Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3 show there is definitely life left in them. Those two games look friggin amazing .... and both multiplats. How sweet is that.

I'm hoping for 2012 .... but I'm going to assume 2013 for next gen.

No thanks, the last thing I need is to waste money over and over to keep my PC being able to run games at there best.

Plus it is easy to bring over a console then a PC, I would hate bring my PC over to a friends house to play a huge PC game (I do have a friend that has about five gaming PC's in one part of his house).

you want a new system, go update your PC you nub.

The latter part of 2013 is when I believe they should start selling new consoles. Early November so they are there for chrsitmas and people can go broke then. We still have a solid 2 years plus until we see the end of what these consoles are capable of.

I'm not ready for this console generation to end.

No just No. I don't want next gen to come yet becuz we all know prices will be alot higher. $60 is already high enough. The way the economy is why would you want to spend more.

Dont be insane, 3D is just starting to empty our pockets and now you want next gen consoles which obviously will bring more expensive games, besides the PS3 still has a year or so before it peaks, 2014 for me.

New consoles aren't coming out for a few more years. Sony just brought out Move and Microsoft just brought out Kinect AND a new 360 model. And no one cares about Nintendo. They don't make good games any more.

Nintendo USED to have games like Mortal Kombat but now all they have are kiddy games like Pokemon.

the only place for next-gen/ current-gen gaming is pc,

all consoles are LAST-GEN.

720p is LAST-GEN
30 frames per second is LAST-GEN
sub-hd is LAST-GEN
no or little anti-aliasing is LAST-GEN
horrible pop-in and load times are LAST-GEN

it was time for new consoles a year ago
they are milking the audience because MS lost their ass with RRoD and sony was getting SHIT on for the first 3 years and is only recently seeing a profit

kinect and move are TRASH aimed at kids and fat housewives like the wii, but "hardcore" gamers are falling for it too.

it's a shame because console gamers could be playing in HD with 8x anti-alising with beautiful stunning particle effects like pc gamers are, buy no, you want to be cheap-asses and hold on to this sub-hd gen for another year

hate to tell you but, a new console will be announced this year at e3, wheather you like it or not, devs are sick of the restraints the consoles pose.

As long as next gen destroys this gen than I'm ready. I want the next gen to be able to run Battlefield 3 with maximum settings with at least 60fps locked without a slight hiccup. Hell I want the next gen to make Battlefield 3 look like a ps2 game!!!! BRING IT MAN!

pc games from several years ago could give this console generation a run for there money , lets move on.. im ready :)

If a gen is decided my 1st party games (what it is not )then the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox360 already delivered all they could.
Besides Gears of War 3 and Zelda Skyward sward there i no more real uber 1st party or even exclusive aaa 3rd party game coming to those consoles.
DQX will probably got cancealed on the Wii .

On the other hand this gen can still continue to breath real well on the PS3.

I m not sure if MS & Nintendo are in a hurry to launch a new console before 2 more years has passed since they could not deliver many "next gen "uber aaa games on this gen.

Not to mention that not every 3rd party atm can make graphically amazing games such Crytec (Crysis2) or Square-Enix ( FF13 & FFv13).
To launch a new console now will be a waste ...

Another crystal clear exemple is Nintendo 3DS , it seems that it will keep reciving minor remake games of N64 and PS2 for a LONG while before new games arrives to fully use the 3DS full potential .

Just enjoy your console / portable of choice for now while BigN , MS & Sony continues to build their game's library for the next gen consoles.

If you're sick of feeling like this gen's tech is maxed out, stop complaining and buy a gaming PC, chances are it'll run things nicer than the next generation of consoles anyway.

When 360 launched, it's tech (cpu/gpu) were relatively low end compared to gaming PC's of that generation, while it's not as easy to compare the ps3 since it's processors so different, I think all of us deep down know that, regardless of their differences, the PS3 and 360 are pretty much evenly matched in terms of capability.

Yet PC has been leaps and bounds ahead, and always will be.

Consider this, people were playing Quake and Quake 2 on their CRT screens at 720p+ when the xbox 1 and ps2 had only just hit the market, and this console gen barely seems to scrape 720p for most games these days.

Only benefit a console has is price.

That said, if Sony jumped the gun last generation, games like Shadow of the Colossus would never have made it to market, additionally, despite the PS3's release, the PS2 continued to sell decent numbers right up till the start of this year, pretty damn good considering - with that in mind, I think Microsoft will announce a new console in the 8th year of the 360, and Sony will follow suit within a year of the 360's successor being announced.
(to the lazy, that means 2013 for next xbox, late 2013/2014 for the next playstation.

I am pretty much willing to set up a large cash bet with anyone here, that this will be the case.

I don't even think this gen has hit its stride yet. Not to mention the current economic conditions around the world are too dire to even think about releasing a new console. In case you didn't know, the industry has been losing money in year to year sales comparisons for nearly two years now.

why have new gen consoles no one needs them when the current still have at least 5 years left in them, new features and games if your gonna have new consoles now what will they offer that the current ones cant.......oh i thought so

"think of how much more expansive these games could truly be with new hardware"

True new hardware would ramp things up, but so would larger file limits. If Microsoft would allow 3rd parties to release retail games as downloads without file size restrictions instead of being pinned down to DVD disc limits, I'm sure quality would increase.
If you look at the multiple disc games already out they are better in most cases.
And while the freedom of space isn't a guarantee of a better product, it certainly is one less obstacle.

This guy doesn't know a damn thing. I mean sure the 360's best days are behind it but the PS3 hasn't been fully tapped yet.

Oh hell no ms and Sony have just learned their lesson consumers are not ready for more bs and developers are not ready to go bankrupt over games that will cost more and take more tine

We don't need a new generation and I don't want a new generation.

PS3 and 360 can be updated with just about any feature we want. The only reason for a new set of consoles is faster loading and better graphics. I'm not ready to spend hundreds of dollars just for that, when I'm still impressed with what the current gen offers.

hello

There's no way I could possibly disagree more.

No, no, no, and no.

This reminds me of this article:
http://thedeftgamer.blogspo...

The current gen consoles are too powerful to be put away, and next gen consoles would be way too expensive. Sony halted PS4 development indefinetly because of the pure expense required.

It would be a burnen on the gaming world.

the gamers who bought there 360/ps3 on day one and have been gaming on them the last 5-6 years are ready for a new console or ready to move on to PC with superior graphics and game play New feneration of gamers who just bought there 360/ps3 and getting into gaming may not be ready for a new console. What they have now is good enough for them. I think MS is much further ahead of Sony to bring a new console to the market. Sony already announced they have stop research on the ps4 to concentrate on the psp2 and xperia market.

This would be absolutely horrible. I still need to get myself a 360 before this gen ends. Plus the next generation of handhelds are coming so do we really need the next gen of consoles too?

The only thing I'd welcome, is Sega back into the arena of consoles. Spice it up a bit.

I love my PS3 and my 360 right now so I don't want anything new just yet thanks.

Dec 2012 at least unveiling of the new console gen. PS3 + Move and pricedrop will see PS3 sales take off.

When do we need new consoles? Well the answer is simply this: when we get there. The reason why new consoles come out is because there is something the game developers are trying to achieve that the current generation just can not produce. So we upgrade the hardware. I don't think we'll start to see signs of a new gen at least 2-3 years from now.

I agree. We need new consoles now!! Games are looking the same. PS3 move or kinect isnt going to save this generation. If you dont want to buy a new console then wait but ill be first in line with my wallet open. If nothing is announced soon ill be making the switch to PC and retiring my PS3/360.

I think we are starting to halt with the giant graphical leaps that we saw from say n64/ps1/ to the xbox/ps2 generation. Graphics will get better but I don't see it being as great a jump as the author here is expecting.

Uncharted 3 is knocking and wants to know what the hell you're talking about!

Xbox 360 fanboy said that we need next gen console because we dont want a ps3

I feel like the graphical improvements will be minor making it unworthy.

The only reason a new console should come out is if they make the systems strong enough to support more players in online games.

I just dont see people willing to fork over the $400 for a new system on top of games.

Looks at Killzone 2/3, Uncharted 2/3, GOW III, and Crysis 2 (PS3) and Crysis 2 (360)...this console gen still has a lot of legs...PS3 has the legs....dare I say 360 has legs too based off Crysis 2 (360) single player videos.

Only new games are needed now.
New hardware that doesn't use 5kw of power and doesn't second has a heater just to render better explosion and more pixels for less than $600 with 40% loss for the vendor the first year doesn't exist yet.
There is a lot that can be done with a mix of motion controllers, buttons, cameras and current hardware in terms of gameplay.

a console from sony or microsoft right now would be a sega like move.

well see new consoles once graphics cards are 100x better then the consoles. then we will see consoles using a custom version of a cheap but powerful graphics card that can perform just as good as the top of the line graphics cards. the design of the next generation console will change again because thats what game consoles are. they are highly specialize and sophisticated in 3D hardware acceleration. i wouldn't be surprise if we start seeing specialized hardware for lighting and animation to strain less work off the graphics card of consoles. we already see this happening for physics, most of them are integrated inside the graphics card but its still hardware. so we will see the CPU be more of a manager then a calculating cruncher probably, or there will be soo many core that the developer will just decide which does what.

There is not a NEED for a new console generation right now. Dev's are just not starting to do great things with current console why would they even bother to release another at this point in time. It will be a few years until you will see anything on this. Sony has there NGP releasing at the end of this year/beginning of new year. So they will have nothing until maybe E3 2013 to announce at all. They want all focus to be on the NGP and rightfully so.

I feel that this generation of consoles can last a few years longer. Who really needs to be up 2 spec is Nintendo because they are really behind where tech is concerd. Sure they are number one this gen but that is just because they stuck to old tech so they could produce the console cheaply. What i really would like to see is Nintendo step up in the graphics department. Yes i know that Gameplay > Graphics. But better hardware allows you to do more things with the games which is why it can improve gameplay.

I'm expecting an E3 2012 unveiling of all 3 consoles with Xmas 2012/Spring 2013 releases, because I think this current gen still has alot of life left in it.

I think this gen is more like the PS/N64 gen as oppossed to the one we just had becausse that gen lasted about 6 years, whereas the PS2/GC/Xbox era lasted for 5 years.

Besides, with all the great games coming out this year (especially for the PS3) why do we need another console this year? Next year, maybe, but it all depends on what games are going to be announced for next year. I just want these companies to take their time developing their technology and really make the next generation truly special - no rushed hardware and faults please.

Unless PS4 and Xbox 720 and Wii 2 launch games look like the Unreal Engine 3.9....demo then I am not interested in new hardware.

Technology needs to catch up to my expectations...

lolz no cash for that

I dunno, I'll buy anything:) but this generation isn't over before The Last Guardian releases.

"This Console Gen Has To End"

Why even if new consoles came out people would still be buying these anyway just like the ps2.

I am so ready for the next generation of consoles. The current consoles are way outdated, and it's time to weed out some, or all of the casuals.

As things are right now, it is way to easy to make a quick buck, there is no passion anymore. All you have to do is make a game somewhat reminiscent of Call of Duty, make an epic trailer, add a countdown timer to your website, and you instantly make huge money because everybody and their brother have a PS3 or Xbox 360.

Releasing a new console generation will weed out the casuals because only extremely rich people and the hardcore gamers will have them. The developers will have to make quality games again to do well because the people they will be marketing to will be (for the most part) true gamers.