Now that we can officially call the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii current-gen, eager gamers are no doubt wondering when the next line of consoles will hit. (To me it’s amazing some people are already thinking this far ahead.)
What’s interesting are the predictions of when we will see these consoles, and more importantly who will launch first.
Evan Wilson, an analyst of Pacific West Securities, decided to take a stab at predicting when the next wave of consoles will appear in an article earlier this year, and his opinion will obviously be debatable among the fanboys of each respected crowd.
Wilson believes we’ll actually see the next wave of consoles arriving around 2010, with Nintendo’s hitting the stores first, and Microsoft launching a few months after Nintendo. Sony’s fate is harder to determine since the PlayStation 3 has yet to hit its stride in terms of games maximizing on the hardware. Sony has also previously stated it wants to extend the life of the PlayStation 3 like it did the PlayStation 2.
When it comes to the portable scene, Wilson also thinks new versions of the DS and PSP will launch in 2010 as well. While I was with him on the console dates (but not the order) the next wave of DS and PSPs could be sooner than Wilson thinks. I wouldn’t be surprised if at this year’s E3 both Nintendo and Sony unveil new iterations of their portable platforms for release sometime in late 2008 or holiday 2009. If you look at how E3s have gone in the past, this year is a prime candidate for new hardware to be announced or teased.
Whether Wilson is right or wrong, however, I have no doubt new versions of the consoles are already in development.
[via GameSpot]
