It’s interesting that the third-party publishers are in no rush for their first-party cousins to make the leap. Given that their sales are declining, you might expect some sort of call-to-action. Not so. One leading exec told me that he is “delighted” that neither Sony nor Microsoft had anything to say about new hardware at E3. The publishers do not want you saving up to buy a new console next year, based on fancy promises and lush previews. They want you buying their current-gen AAA games this year. They don't want you thinking that there's something better around the corner. They want you to be happy with your lot.

I dont think anyone feels the need for new hardware yet. We used to need to upgrade because graphics and hardware got so much better. Now PC's have better graphics but not in so much of a noticeable way that console players are upset. Some of the best games out right now dont have emphasis on pushing limits. Especially with the "indie game" becoming a genre. Developers should focus more on emotions of story telling and unique gameplay. Theyve done well with gameplay but they still havent made me cry (unless a save gets deleted). I dont really feel like paying $600 for a new console either.

Nobody does, Nick.

Hopefully the new consoles are a lot less than $600 but I'm not sure what would make me want an Xbox 720.

A new Halo-esque game (scale and mass-appeal rather than style of game) that is only available for the new systems. I was "forced" to buy a Nintendo 3DS (I'm not a huge fan of stereoscopic imaging) just to play a few titles I really like.

Yes, Nick!

Speaking of indie games becoming a genre, I thought that Bastion really nailed it. They didn't waste a bunch of time trying to do TEH BEST GRAPHICS EVAR, they just focused on working out an interesting gameplay experience and were able to ship in under 2 years with only 2 developers.

Rather than relying in the visual experience alone, they spent time actually thinking out a story and balancing the various strengths and weaknesses of the many weapons and powers, and were able to make a good game fairly cheaply. It was an excellent game that could have run on 6th generation hardware (PS2/GameCube, original Xbox), and maybe even 5th gen. So having access to Xbox 720 / PS4 hardware would not have helped in the slightest.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all about having the latest and greatest 1st person shooter, but not every game needs to be that way. There is room in the world for lots of different kinds of games, and it's only in the last couple of years that we've started seeing an revival of interest "classic" games that are less GPU-intensive, and feature plotlines and novelty instead of simply giving you increasingly big guns to kill increasingly big monsters.

I agree.