...While this generation appears to be able to fade away like all the others in ten years, what will become of the next generation? Perhaps a console-computer that updates itself and stays around forever?...
I think the only problem with this is that I think the consol companies want the console to become obsolete every few years. Sure, there's no doubt they want their system to be the best on the market and as fast & amazing as possible... but they make their real money and gain the most hype when another wave of new machines hits the market. It's the only time when every kid on the planet wants the same thing for Christmas at once, the rest of the years it's this game or that game...
The other problem is that it's hard to plan for the ever-changing technology on the horizon. If you have a console that pre-plans for future upgrades... how do you incorporate that? That is where the PC gets both its biggest strengths and its biggest weaknesses: Seemingly infinite upgrades and the bugs and compatability issues of novice customers attempting to make those upgrades. Consoles are great because they fit maximum power/performance and compatability all into one neat package. All you have to do is pop in a game and off you go.
I remember the N64 had a strange slot on the bottom of it. From what I can remember, it was supposed to be so that you could upgrade it in the future. I don't remember ever seeing the upgrade that was meant for this slot... but then again I have a bad memory. I always thought (back when I first got it) that the N64 was supposed to sit on top of another machine with additional memory and computing power and link to it, making it double or tripple in performance. More than likely, if there was anything released to go in that slot, it was essentially a stick or RAM or something. [If anyone knows what was really up with that, let me know] Anyways, the point is that the console companies haven't been very successful at upgrades so far and I think that's because it's not one of their strengths.
As for your original question... I'm not sure who's really winning. You're on to something with Wii's broader marketing. They also have more unique titles and gameplay. As long as you don't throw your controller through your new plasma screen, the Wii looks to be a more unique and creative system overall. In the mean time the other two systems built bigger "engines" and just keep revving them up at each other. They're both stunning at what they do, but they seem to be narrowly pursuing the same-ol' same-ol'.
Of course, I have to mention that I have none of these machines myself and can't make a valuable comparrison but looking at the broader picture, this is how I see it.
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