There isn't a lot of reason for any of the 3 companies to get the next gen started. With the economic crisis it may be unwise to try to get people to buy
new systems in general, but there are other reasons specific to each.
What the bleep would a PS4 even be? The PS3 is still the most expensive console, and way above the $200 mark that was standard before this gen. What are they going to do, make another $600 console? How would developers be able to even afford graphics more detailed than those the HD systems can do now? Nintendo wisely realized that the industry had skipped a generation. I also wonder if Sony would even be able to launch a system again in 3 years. They probably won't be at a point where they've had a return on their PS3 investment by then, and would not have the reputation that guaranteed 3rd party support this gen.
Nintendo might have a motive as more people get HDTV, but being in the dominant position, they have the most risk in pressing the reset button. Going HD also loses the advantage of being cheaper to develop games with.
Microsoft is kind of a combo of the others. Their system can already handle ridiculously powerful graphics, and they are doing pretty well. They started a year before the others, though, and do have an obvious upgrade to make. Including lots of cores would allow them to continue to make PC ports convenient. It might make sense though if their next console was simply 360 with Natal included, to offset the cost of the complicated control scheme.
What the bleep would a PS4 even be? The PS3 is still the most expensive console, and way above the $200 mark that was standard before this gen. What are they going to do, make another $600 console? How would developers be able to even afford graphics more detailed than those the HD systems can do now? Nintendo wisely realized that the industry had skipped a generation. I also wonder if Sony would even be able to launch a system again in 3 years. They probably won't be at a point where they've had a return on their PS3 investment by then, and would not have the reputation that guaranteed 3rd party support this gen.
Nintendo might have a motive as more people get HDTV, but being in the dominant position, they have the most risk in pressing the reset button. Going HD also loses the advantage of being cheaper to develop games with.
Microsoft is kind of a combo of the others. Their system can already handle ridiculously powerful graphics, and they are doing pretty well. They started a year before the others, though, and do have an obvious upgrade to make. Including lots of cores would allow them to continue to make PC ports convenient. It might make sense though if their next console was simply 360 with Natal included, to offset the cost of the complicated control scheme.
and everyone ignores the "eurozones" 
