Yeah, the only company possibly contemplating an upgrade any time soon would be Nintendo, seeing as everyone has a Wii now and it was built using pretty much off the shelf last gen parts they have the biggest incentive to produce something new. What with Sony making a loss on every PS3 sold for nearly every year since its release and Playstation Move only just coming out, plus MS with the Slim Xbox and Kinect those two companies aren't gonna be undermining what could potentially be the "next big thing" (as unlikely as I think they are to be the next big thing, but thats another story) by announcing a new box of tricks that people will save up for.
Besides, the leap from last gen to current brought with it Wireless Controllers, full multimedia functionality, high definition gaming and an online gaming experience that fulfilled the promise. What with Sony and Nintendo bringing 3D to the game now with current consoles, aside from slightly sharper graphics, I don't see what a next generation console can even achieve at this point that a current one couldn't.
I really think they'll need something akin to mind control (which I think is seriously being developed), total "Holodeck" immersion or a virtual reality experience akin to the Holo-bands from Caprica in order to drive a demand for consoles anything like the Wii or Xbox again.
But back to the topic, it sucks that Gears is getting pushed back, but I thought the spring release seemed odd for a flagship title anyhow, so I guess its not that big a surprise to me.
