Some online stores are already accepting pre-orders for the PS3 Slim at less than £230 delivered. With the PlayStation brand's monstrous pedigree and reputation, that's a no-brainer for your average punter.

What a mess...

Removing bundled software and gouging the price of the base model by (arguably) the cost of a retail game? Microsoft, you idiots...

You now put the Arcade model in the same price bracket as Wii, but without any software and no novelty/buzz factor to compete with Nintendo's console. This is jaw-droppingly stupid.

I can see this actually encouraging sales of Wii, not stealing from them.

I can see it now... school playgrounds awash with old 'Electric Blue' VHS tapes, being sold from the back of a Transit at the front gates.

The Daily Mail's going to explode (hopefully).

Reading too much into this, it might suggest the Zune Phone may be a reality after all.

I would find it very difficult to believe Microsoft supporting Apple's products for mobile integration, and Windows Mobile simply hasn't been fit for purpose since it's original inception and is long-overdue to be scrapped.

What's unique about this generation is that all the manufacturers - Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo - can actually update their respective console's features while the box is sitting in your house. They can also offer you content directly, and have more revenue streams via direct downloads and online rentals (for example).

Another thing to bear in mind is that HD graphic fidelity is pretty advanced. In the past we were lusting over CGI trailers and rendered cut scenes, whereas now we're playing games that look well in advance of that technology whilst we're actually interacting directly in the game space.

Microsoft and Sony - in particular - are still very sore from the HD arms race, whilst Nintendo chose to confidently ignore it altogether. Whilst analysts may often clutch at too many straws, I do believe that neither Microsoft nor Sony will want to increment their hardware cycle again as soon as in previous generations. And, by choosing to completely ignore HD altogether, Nintendo have no real reason to iterate either--they're already turning a very nice profit on Wii.

Prolonging this generation is explicitly in everyone's interest, because it simply becomes ever more lucrative for the manufacturers. And I don't think many publishers would honestly thank MS or Sony - or even Nintendo - for releasing their next home platforms in the near future, despite what the idle boasting of people like Ubisoft might have you believe...