At this stage of any previous console cycle, there would be rumours galore about what the next generation holds.  With none of the usual leaked concept art or grandiose claims of future tech from current gen manufacturers the future of consoles is very quiet.

It's not wholly surprising, considering the high costs associated with this generation and the claims from Sony and Microsoft that our current consoles will last for 10 years, but I still can't help wondering what the next generation holds.  What ideas do the big three have in-store and more importantly, what do we want from our next generation of consoles.

Personally, my favourite console of this generation is the Wii (I know there is a lot of shovel ware and that horrible tag of 'family friendly'), but it also holds some of the most enjoyable, innovative and purely fun games of the current crop of consoles.  I've never been that fussed on ground-breaking tech specs and amazing visuals and from the PS2 era on, I have been happy with the graphics of most games (as in they're good enough to allow me to play the game underneath).  What I would like from the next Wii would be Motion Plus as standard, a bit more grunt under the bonnet (more about that later) and a better storage solution (although the recent HCSD card announcement is a step in the right direction).

The Wii has introduced a new way of play and, although it has been abused by waggle, has enlivened old genres and created opportunities for new ones.  Now developers are starting to really get hold of motion controls, I expect more great games to appear on the Wii.

The reason I would like a more powerful Wii, is because the second best advancement of the current consoles - the development and deployment of physics.  From ragdoll physics that enliven FPS’s, to the physics based puzzlers like World of Goo and LBP.  I loved GTA4 (technically at least) – watching Niko walk, run and fly around was amazing and throwing Stormtroopers around in The Force Unleashed was a similar thrill.  The fact that cover in FPS is fully destructible, not only looks cool, but changes the way that genre has developed.  I would like to see the next gen of consoles push physics to another level and use it to create new ways of play.  Not just o make stuff look cool, or more realistic, but to really change the way we interact with games…

As for the Xbox and Playstation, I really don’t know where these can go (apart from the above physics statement).  Like I’ve previously said, I’m not too fussed about photoreal graphics and in fact could be slightly put off by a game that looked too real.  Who wants to play a World War 2 FPS where everything looks like it’s in real life – not me, that’s for sure.  The whole thought is repellent!

It’s a tricky future for the two consoles that pride themselves on power.  Although I love  a lot of games on them, they’re generally just refinements of old games or genres.  The future isn’t in more I power.  For games to develop we need to think of new ways to play and try and keep things fresh. 

Still, there’s always going to be gamers (unlike me), who crave the newest technology and because of that, I think the best thing Sony and Microsoft could do is join forces for the Next Gen and create the Microny X-Station!  It sounds stupid, but think of the benefits.  Development money could be drastically cut, both from a hardware and software point of view and the savings could be pumped into making more interesting and risky games.  Games developers could get up to speed on the new hardware much quicker and start producing better games, faster.  A unified technology would also mean smaller development teams, allowing the excess staff from the old teams to make another game at the same time.  Sony and Microsoft pooling their current resources and talent would be a formidable force in the games industry and would create something that would definitely be worth investing in. 

Is this far enough though?  What could the future hold for the next generation?  What do you all want to see in your favourite, under-the-telly box?!