[QUOTE="TeeniestChaos"]Then the PS3 hit, and despite the early blueray support and top-notch graphics, it hasn't sold as well as its competitors.Kravyn81

Source: http://www.vgchartz.com/

The PS3 is 2 million units behind the 360 and almost 28.3 million units behind the Wii as of this writing. So yes, it hasn't sold as well as it's competitors. I'm not knocking the system - I think the PS3 is great. But sales wise, it is still in last place for this generation. As you've alluded to, though, Sony's current financial troubles aren't really a result of its game division - PS3 is still really profitable:

Recently Sony stock was downgraded to BBB status by Standard & Poor (second lowest ranking possible), and has been similarly downgraded by other ranking systems. Investers don't like the risks Sony is taking in the digital camera markets and mobile markets, and investor appeal may affect gaming decisions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sony-greater-risk-panasonic-electronics-downturn-fitch-053402855--finance.html

Shortly after the Donkey Kong Country series was pulled from the Wii's Virtual Console service this month, my Gameboy version of DKC II finally failed: the cartridge no longer holds a save, randomly erasing the file if the system is powered down for any length of time.

This leaves me without any means of quenching my hunger for banana-hording monkeys.
My soul is peeled, my heart is rotten.

If you feel the same way, please drop a line to Nintendo at this link, and ask for a re-release of the DKC series for GB/gba on 3ds virtual console, or for the SNES version on the Wii:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/webform/

Sony has had a strange track record. They entered with the Ps1, a moderately powerful system with excellent media features. Then came Ps2, the least powerful system graphically that dominated the market and beat out competitors in terms of media with DvD support. Then the PS3 hit, and despite the early blueray support and top-notch graphics, it hasn't sold as well as its competitors.

Due to Sony's historical success with less powerful systems and current finanial situation that might encourage the manufacturer to play safe, I think it's viable to assume that Sony might not shoot for launching the most graphically competitive system on the market. The cost of the development of AAA games rests largely on graphics at this point, and I think it's reasonable to assume that the leap to the next generation won't be nearly as huge as previous changes.

If that is the case, what features would you want Sony to have in the PS4 in terms of media? Or perhaps in terms of new input devices (as these have been historically proven and could be likely, due to the Wii and dualshock controller's success)? Are there any Sony fans out there that wouldn't mind if Sony's PS4 wasn't graphically comparable to the 360's successor, but instead focused on a new direction?

I dunno.....I'm still not sold on wiimote motion controls yet, but I haven't played much of the Wii outside of mariokart/smash bros/wii sports. I like the gyroscope controls in my iphone for some things (Flight simulation games, especially), but not for much else. Perhaps I just to try out later wii games like red steel 2 or skyward sword......

I'm of the opposite opinion:

I think the touch screen with virtual buttons is exactly what first person shooters need to move on the the next big jump in how we play them, but that what we've seen at E3 proves companies aren't using the controller to that potential.

Something like this:

Where you can hit virtual buttons with the thumbs easily, and have some sort of 'shift' key function that adds to the buttons. There's 11 buttons and 2 shift keys in this picture, giving a total of 33 extra buttons that could be used in an FPS for anything. Additionally, gestures on the maps could be used for things like coordinating squads in a battlefield title (circle for defend, X to attack, draw lines for a route, etc. These would display as objectives on your squad's T.V. You could even click the '3' virtual button with your left thumb then circle a point to tell a squad to defend an objective for 3 minutes before moving on. Suppose you want to change objectives on the fly? Hit 'c' for clear and draw an X on something else. Takes a half second away from controlling your helicopter, and coordinates a team in an unprecedented way).

Asynchrous multiplayer looks most promising in Rayman Legends to me, but still isn't the revolutionary aspects I was hoping for.

The controller has some spectacular possibilities, but I didn't see what I hoped for exploed. I want something more like this - a way to improve team-based FPS in a way that PS3 or 360 can't do with a traditional gamepad without feeling gimmicky:

How the Wii U could Revolutionize FPS

There are some excellent PC co-op Splitscreen games out there. You mentioned shooters, so I'll list those first:

Portal 2 (Puzzle-shooter, 2 Player splitscreen). It requires console commands, but in my opinion is the best co-op experience out there for the PC.

Left 4 Dead 1 - (2 Player splitscreen, can connect with others online) Fully supported, requires console commands. Wired 360 controllers are fully supported, and other controllers require either editing the game's files or using third-party software to emulate a 360 controller.

Left 4 Dead 2 - (2 player splitscreen) Local co-op is supported, but NOT online co-op. Wired 360 controllers are fully supported, and other controllers require either editing the game's files or using third-party software to emulate a 360 controller.

Serious Sam (4 player splitscreen) - I've only tried the demo for this one, but it seemed to work well.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 (2 player splitscreen) - I haven't tried.

Terminator Salvation (2 player splitscreen) - I haven't tried.

Platypus (2 player drop-in/drop-out splitscreen. Arcade space shooter, galaga style. Animation is claymation.) - Looks great, but I haven't been able to find a copy :/

Although these are not shooters, I highly reccomend these for co-op on 1 pc as well:

Trine (3 Player co-op on one pc- an action platformer). This and the sequel are real gems - built for the PC as a splitscreen co-op game.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2 player - an excellent action game, even though the graphics don't hold up to today's standards)

Lara Craft: Guardian of Light (2 player)

Lego Star Wars (2 Player Co-Op. I prefer the original - excellent humor and storytelling. All of the Lego games support 2-player co-op).

Splitscreen, but not co-op:

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (4 player - Kart racer, a mariokart clone with an interesting unlock system).

Rayman Raving Rabbids (4 Player - Minigame collections. The on-rails shooting levels are a lot of fun)

I remember that strap....I was the only one of my friends who didn't get cramps trying it out on goldeneye (which was awful both gameplay and control-wise). Metroid proved to me the fps controls can work on the DS afterwards, though.

Now that I think about it.....It would be possible to use the back touchscreen as a mouse-look in an FPS, then have the player use the thumbstick to move and a trigger to shoot. It might be uncomfortable, but Metroid pulled off left trigger shooting on the DS really well. A developer might be more willing to try it as an alternate scheme (since you've already got two sticks), but it could create balance issues in multiplayer if someone stuck with a PS3 controller has to play another player with mouse-like precision controls on a PS Vista.

I hadn't really thought about the cameras....I guess they could provide another gameplay experience not available on the PS3 already if used properly. Maybe a scenario where you have to infuse the spirit of a lost Jedi into an object (real world - augment reality imposes a ghost-like face over something you choose in the room) and the camera in front interprets facial gestures, such as bowing respectfully to initiate conversation in a bioware game. It's difficult to think of situations where you'd need both (maybe a game where you had to video chat with a friend and your facial expressions determined something in-game while also using the rear camera for something else.....), but even then I believe the 3DS has the same functionality; so it wouldn't be an experience you couldn't replicate on that platform unless facial recognition requires more processing power than Nintendo's hand-held has.

I've had a Nintendo hand-held for years, and I've briefly thought about switching both now and when the PSP was first revealed....I want dual analogue sticks....but I still can't justify it. Third party support will likely be releasing the exact same titles as on the consoles, the touch screen can't be used for mouse-like control of first person shooters because there's only one screen, and most importantly:no pokemon. Don't get me wrong; it looks like a great system, there's just not much going for it yet from my perspective...what can it do uniquely (that the PS3/DS can't already)?

I guess in order to pique my interest I'd want to see some PC-esque point and click adventures with some use for the touch-screen (or better- something that used both touch screens for a truely unique experience, like an on-rails shooter that is two player on one portable system with both players using an analogue stick and a trigger for moving their targeting reticules and shooting and a touch screen for changing rail-lines - i.e. jumping). Can anyone think of a way a game could use these features in a way that couldn't be replicated on the DS or PS3?