From now until then?

In my opinion, the gaming industry is faced with a number of challenges that it must overcome if it is to survive.

the first is the balance of performance and costing. The price may be low but if it doesn't keep up with the current standards of performance, there is no way a platform will survive while at the same time, if the performance is higher then other companies, they risk over pricing the console which will bring in more money per product but the over all sales figures will inevitably drop. a problem that Sony encountered with the PS3.

The Next Challenge I predict will greatly influence the game market is the rising demand for games that have never been seen before and the increase the interactivity that the player has with the game. This challenge has best been fulfilled by the Nintendo Wii. Allowing the players movements to effect the game directly is certainly a step in the right direction but by doing this, Nintendo has risked failing the challenge of balancing performance with cost.

The Next challenge is Multiplayer networks. games are becoming less of a hobby and more of a social activity and the demand for easier and better multiplayer gaming is rising extremely quickly. Microsoft has achieved this trait to the best standard out of the three most recently released consoles with the Xbox 306 and its online network Xbox Live. not only this but the Xbox 360 (and its predecessor the Xbox) also allows up to 4 Consoles to be linked directly without internet connection (and the cost it incurs) provided 4 TVs, network cables and a powered switch are available.

The last challenge lies with the developers rather then the console companies and that is this; as power increases, people are expecting games to last longer, look better and have more to do in them then ever. there are a lot of examples that would be useful here but it has to be said that the recently released fallout 3 is going in the right direction.

The real challenge however is Balancing all three of the above challenges. at the moment I believe that all three consoles are pretty even in regards to the third challenge and none have actually got an equal balance yet. The PS3 is powerful and has moderate networking capabilities but is nothing special when it comes to interactivity. the 36o again is not very interactive but has good networking and is a good balance of price and performance. at the other end of the spectrum, the Wii is cheap but is almost a generation behind in regards to power. with moderate networking, its potential is the fact that it breaks the current boundaries for interactivity.

In truth its impossible to really tell what is in store for the years to come. I would like to think that games went towards the direction of interactivity. how good would it be to be able to feel like you're shooting your mate without them actually dying but i think I'm getting a few decades ahead of myself.