We're fast approaching the launch of new consoles from Microsoft and Sony next year.

The 360 has impressed in recent years with strong exclusives and an interesting array of XBLA titles, though recent iterations of the dashboard seem to suggest a slow watering down from “gaming console” to “media hub”. The PS3, meanwhile, has perhaps had fewer exclusives, but appears to remain focussed on gamers, with no mandatory subscription fee for multiplayer and PSN+ offering interesting bonuses to subscribers.

The Wii U has arrived to a lukewarm reception, and looks set to provide exciting first-party games and little else. Thus, the question remains: which will be the console to own as a primary gaming machine?

I dispute the exclusive titles from Microsoft. Xbox is watering down at an alarming rate.

Not owning a 360 would mean missing out on Gears of War, Mass Effect, Halo, Forza, not to mention lots of very good XBLA titles like Fez, Castle Crashers, Shadow Complex, Trials etc.

Not all of those games are to everyone's taste, but as a whole they represent a decent reason to buy a 360 over a PS3.

That said, yes, watering down is happening fast.

I've always been a bit jealous of the Xbox's multiplayer features, and the main thing i'll be looking for next-gen will be finding the general consensus between friends investing, and making sure everyone goes for the same console for maximum online hang time.

I have a feeling there will be even less exclusive titles next-gen too.

I think my loyalty will lie with Sony. I've got an Xbox and a ps3 atm and in all honesty I only use my Xbox for sky player, halo and gears. I really don't like where Microsoft have gone with the Xbox dashboard. it's massively unattractive. Having said that. there's no point having a console which none of your friends own. so I'm with joe with a lenience to whichever console my boys get. referring to exclusive playstation titles (that are worth talking about) I can only think of metal gear solid, killzone and resistance? There's far too many games that are being revamped to keep the consoles credibility (killzone, god of war etc) any thoughts?

I think both consoles are definitely playing it safe at the moment and banking on the franchises they know will sell. That's probably to be expected with a year (or so) left to coast until the new consoles are here.

I agree with Joe in terms of seeing where friends go. I don't get much time for multiplayer these days, but it's still nice to be able to share games and recommendations if everyone has the same hardware.

I've been getting well into the ign game scoop podcast recently and they were discussing the wii u. What are your guys thoughts? will u reckon you'll sick with Xbox or just see what everyone buys....

I'm not sure it's fair to write off the Wii U totally—it's obviously early days—but it has been a shaky launch by all accounts and ports like Batman are, apparently, pretty sketchy. I think it will all come down to whether the first-party games like Mario, Zelda etc really push things forward or wind up being HD versions of what we've seen before.

I think Dicko and I probably get most of our gaming done on an Xbox at the moment, but we've both been leaning towards a move to Sony next-gen (not sure I'll be getting anything at launch, but that's a different conversation). I do have concerns that Sony will have the financial clout to compete with Microsoft, especially after seeing this: online.wsj.com

As Will is aware, I had hands on with a Wii U recently and I would never have that machine as my main console. The controller layout is awkward and the second screen is currently feeling like a detracting gimmick in that I found myself rather uninterested in any of the demos that didn't utilise it as a mechanic. As for the other two players: do we really have concerns over no Forza or Gears when Sony consistently publish quality titles from Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Thatgamecompany and a wealth of interesting PSN games? The cost to patch XBLA certified games means we won't see as many arcade gems next time around - read what happened to Fez. 360 only stays as my main console at the moment due to the uneven quality of 3rd party titles on PS3.

Yeah, the weird Wii U “buttons and analogue sticks reversed” thing has always struck me as an odd choice. It works so well the other way around.

Personally, I don't think I'd miss much in the way of Xbox first-party titles; the only one which springs to mind is Halo, and even then I'm not exactly a die hard fan. A game like Little Big Planet, which is right up my street, more than makes up for it.

I hope Sony focuses on making their next platform an easy one for third-party developers to port games to. The reality is that a lot of people will be buying Microsoft's next console, and Sony needs to make their “PS4” an attractive prospect for developers to at least maintain parity with the new Xbox in terms of third-party games available.

Exciting stuff! Hopefully we'll get a decent showing at E3 this year. It will be interesting to see what happens if both consoles get a similar release window this time around too.

Yeah, I think everyone will be watching E3 very closely. With graphics unlikely to make a breathtaking leap forward, more than ever I think it will be about the strength of launch line-ups.

I'm just hoping they don't start to push back games that have already been announced as next gen launch titles, I'm mainly looking at the last of us....i think with new consoles on the way it would be a smart move to introduce PROPER cross platform gaming with Microsoft and Sony. YES I SAID IT! if there's going to be no exclusive titles, then let us all play together in perfect harmony....

It's a nice idea, but I can't see it ever happening. From Sony's point of view, exclusive IP like The Last of Us is a key reason to buy a PS4 over anything else.

Yeh and Shadowrun proved that it just won't work - the specs of each machine are too different to allow such an infrastructure to function efficiently.

The IP argument is nice in theory but you would miss out on the benefits of having games designed for one specific platform I.e. Uncharted simply wouldn't look as good if it was ported to 360.

Here's hoping we see more second tier titles get the go-ahead. I'm talking about games on the same popularity level as Devil May Cry, SSX, Burnout. New IPs are scarce and its unfortunate as I am often willing to overlook shortfalls in design if it means I get a new experience (Dishonored).

Oh, and I want a new Viva Pinata desperately....

Another way to look at it might to be ask whether the initial question is redundant.

As both Dicko and Phil show, most people who are keen on video games tend to wind up buying multiple consoles eventually (not sure if you've ever had a 360, Joe?) to get the best of both worlds.

Although that is a luxury, the rest of the less hardcore folks (myself probably included at this point) either play too few games, or don't miss the exclusives enough, to warrant buying both and, actually, the one console they choose doesn't matter that much as the most popular games—FIFA, CoD etc—appear on multiple platforms.

All that said, in tight economic times it's a bit rich to say “just get both”.

I'm quite intrigued to see the price of the new consoles Including the uk price of wii u. I'm not sure I agree with games not looking as good on rival consoles. I think if gears can look as good as it does it certainly could withstand uncharted. And wasn't shadowrun on Xbox and pc? Playstation and vita's are starting to experiment with cross platform which I want to see in action.

I think Dicko's point about Uncharted on 360 wasn't so much about whether or not the hardware can handle it, more about the fact that a game will look best if specifically built and optimised for a certain platform, rather than ported across.

Regarding price, I'm very intrigued to see what they launch with, too.

I'm not sure they can afford to launch as high as they did last time (PS3 was £400+?) with people feeling the pinch. At the same time, a part of me hopes they need to because they've put that much new tech into the systems. We can see with the Wii U that £200-£250 doesn't get you very much in terms of hardware these days (taking into account a chunk of that covers the touch screen gamepad).

Price is a contentious issue as the cost of parts may not have such a big impact on RRP. Console manufacturers will price a system at a price they think it will sell for- the Wii and 360 both made losses when they were launched.

I think 299-350 is a fair price bracket for a new console regardless of the price of its inner tech. You're looking at a 10yr investment in this day and age with the consistent release of new titles; not a bad price at all.

Should we not be considering the price of games? Should we expect 60GBP to be the initial price for games?

Wouldn't be surprised by £60 games on release, but that surely has to come down to around the £40 mark we're accustomed to pretty quickly.

£300-350 is probably about right for the console, although Microsoft have said they will have two different options (uk.ign.com) which will have quite different capabilities. Expect at least £100 difference in price there, I reckon, with the “casual” console probably around £150-£200.

I have a feeling Xbox will be very socially focused with lots of casual games to jump on the wii bandwagon. I'm hoping Sony will stick to its roots, learn from the move not being a huge success and make a simple console aimed at proper gamers with improved online capabilities and more affordable online game purchases. I don't understand how games cost the same wether they are digital or physical.

It is odd that consoles, for the most part, offer digital games at the same price as a boxed copy. For a start, there obviously aren't the same manufacturing/distributions costs so those ought to be passed on to the consumer. Also, Steam is proving that games at lower prices will fly off the (digital) shelves, with a lot more people willing to take a risk on an unproven title if they can grab it in a temporary sale at £10-£20.

Sony has a chance to capitalise by making its digital store really attractive to developers, cutting out publishers where possible and avoiding a lot of the cost/red tape which makes the Xbox an awkward platform.

I think anything from 250-350 is a reasonable price for a console this days like dicko said. I paid 200 for my vita which was reasonable I thought and I'm stoked with that. I think as long as they don't mess around with bundle packs and extra crap you can buy it'll be affordable. my only worry is that Sony especially are starting to push digital copies of games, which of course involves large hard drives. and with games taking up 8+gb of space it could get pricey if they decide to come stock with a small hd. much like the vita. You have to buy memory cards. I do think they really need to sort the price of games. I haven't laid full price for a launch day game since skyrim cos I know the price will drop within a month or 2.