I seriously doubt the new Xbox will be dead on arrival.

Yeah as much as it would be nice, xbox won't be DOA. Look how many chumps they've got so entranced by what they offer over all the hell people have repeatedly gone through with the 360s hardware and paying up a fee to get multiplayer in their games and the buyers keep coming back for more happily bent over. They could blow their entire foot off from the ankle if not higher and they'd have enough warm bodies to keep them just fine.

If anyone who may have a problem it's Sony. The company has been bleeding money on the whole beyond the PS side of things, they're in third in this dying generation regrettably thanks to their ignorant and arrogant sales tactics and developer handling, and look how long and how much had to be stripped off the PS3 to get it profitable. Then there's the Vita, you can fill in the blanks on that one. I'd rather not see them crater but you can only live so long acting as they do even if they do control stuff like Uncharted, God of War, Sly Cooper, LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, and some other gems. I'd rather them not choke, but I'd see them as the first to eat it.

Nintendo is Nintendo and no matter what know it all analysts like Prachter says, they're not going to die, they're not going to go away, fold up their console operations, or any other of that crap. Nintendo is a brand, the brand of the ages of gaming that people first run to for family stuff and specifically a long line of first party stable creations that keep getting successful rehashes people enjoy while slowly churning out new IPs that get gobbled up fairly successfully well, and you can even include in the slow immersion of Japanese stuff (Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Custom Robo) into our language to play. Sure they've pissed off some third parties probably irreparably, while others like the d-bags at Epic have it in for them admittedly too, plus the Wii didn't help things from a visual standpoint (while making them bloody rich) yet they're still kicking and profitable on the whole system after system. Nintendo with the N64 and somewhat even with Wii proved they needed little third party true honest support and backing to live a profitable existence. When you figure they're also still handily dominating the dedicated home portable market still for another generation, they're fine. Not only are they fine, in a way, when you look at 1st/2nd party generated titles they still ooze that diversity of created styles of games from that earlier cartridge based era that's rapidly dying a sad and mass commercialized stinking death today from the stifling high dollar creation model that's there now giving us safe FPS, sports, WRPG and a few other genres. With Nintendo you got your platformer, adventure, action, RPG, strategy, mini game, party game, shooter, action rpg, arena combat, simulation and more.

I've been a live subscriber for 10 years and have never paid more than $30 a year for live(Amazon, sales etc). If $2.50 a month is going to cramp your style so hard that you have to think about it, then maybe live isn't for you. I'll gladly pay it for a service that "just works".

In a perfect world, Nintendo would go third party, and MS would do the networking for Sony's hardware.

Of course that would be the death of console gaming since there would be no competition...

It's the end of the third party exclusives, and the beginning of the "available everywhere BUT" typing of releases.  Nintendo's consoles are starting to suffer from this gap in games, effectively turning the Wii U into a $350 Mariobox.  Lack of exclusives also hurts console manufacturers a considerable amount, as not only will there be no reason to buy Console X, there will be obvious "better on Console Y" games.  Remember the SNES and Genesis, and how all but one multiplatform games were always superior on the Genesis?  Basically that, times ten.

Regarding the "anywhere BUT" theory, a great example would be Kojima and him realizing that being exclusive to Sony isn't the brightest idea on the planet.  However, Kojima didn't want MGR:R, a Platinum game, to be on the Wii U, but he sure loves it when Nintendo gives him free commercials with Smash Bros, or how he made an MGS themed demo for the 3DS and stated that "there may be no plans for a 3DS game".  In Kojima's view, I guess you could say it's "alright".

Modern games/companies seem more interested in inducing micro-fees into all their games. I remember buying Arkham city and within a week Nightwing DLC was available to download for like 5 extra bucks. That is a slap in the face to anyone who pre-ordered the game (like I did... Only to get the Robin and Catwoman codes...)

all the sudden my $60 game was incomplete in less than a month. I look at DLC as a poster child for the decline of the gaming industry, shows just how much respect companies have for their fans. They look at us like cows to me milked.

That's why I now look into games more before buying than ever before. If I learn there's an upcoming scheme to bend over the buyer and have their way with them I just don't buy the game at all, or if it's a company known for doing it due to a series being hot I want for a Game of the Year edition that has it all for less than the original title sold for. Companies like EA and Activision abuse it to death far more than others and Capcom pretty close behind too on some franchises and it's just wrong. I don't care if it looks like showing your age saying it, but when I buy a game I expect to get THE GAME, not part of it.

Modern Gaming is ruled by the PC I agree, buying anything else (modern) is just investing in an already outdated PC you can never upgrade.

Something about the WiiU has a pull with me, its probably the EB VC release... and I already have a tablet.

What's with all the hate on Xbox? Seriously some blatant hate with no real reason behind it.

Here's my take on the current generation: PS3 and 360 are even with their features and library. Some will lean toward the PS3, other the 360. The features and what it can and can't do or do well are also another thing. I prefer the 360 as the load times are faster, the online experience is better, and it's proven to be more secure with customer data than Sony. Aside from that, it has an excellent library, and while the RRoD was prevalent in the beginning, it's been fixed (unless you abuse your consoles). The PS3 had the SAME issue, as well as drive failure rates. Nothing is perfect these day.

It seems like those who hate the Xbox are just jumping on the anti-fanboiiii wagon and haven't actually experienced the system. The PS3 is a great machine in its own way, but there's so many updates and patches pushed down, it's ridiculous. Each game you have to install the trophies, the load times suck, and the interface is very cumbersome compared to the 360.

The Wii was fun for a few minutes when it first came out, but after that, I got bored with having to swing my arms around to play games. I think most people feel the same way about that.

Bored or just out of shape?  It's another method of doing things instead of having to press a button to swing the sword.  We all grew up pressing buttons to swing swords for over 20 years.  I personally like that there is something different out there.  Not because I love it, even though I do enjoy it sometimes, but because it doesn't have to follow the mainstream.

Smart ass Oh, don't get me wrong, it was great when it first came out. The novelty wore off quickly after. I got tired of having to aim for Twilight Princess, or having to swing my arm for bowling. At that point, I'd rather just go to the bowling alley. When I put in 10+ hour days at work, the last thing I want to do is swing my arm around. Some games you don't have an option, and the other games that were multi platform, I'd rather just play with the rest of my titles.

That's because Nintendo has basically resorted to gimmicks and stunts in order to sell their stuff. The Wii had it's silly motion controller, that while interesting at first, quickly wears out its welcome. To me, it was nothing more than a tech demo, with the actual games being very forgettable. Now the Wii U has some giant ass controller with a screen? How does that make the games any better? Is that really innovation?

You know the industry is in a sad, sad state when the most exciting Wii U news is a potential Earthbound "re-release". Are people really going to buy a brand new system just to download and emulate a game that was released nearly 20 years ago?