Debated on whether to put this on my Nintendo AGENDA page or even make a YouTube, but instead I'm just gonna post this quick'n'dirty here. I do these every once in a while to take a look at the current and future landscape of video games from my Nintendo biased POV.
X-BOX
WTF. There's the possibility that Microsoft will bow out of hardware and that's what they should do...publish all their games on other platforms to make back the billions they spent to get where they are in gaming. Even still, there's some x-bots who are hoping for future hardware in a quickly dying brand. X-BOX is now lending it's (worthless) brand to portable PC's and Smart TV's a la the old ideals of hardware licensing (like 3DO, CD-i, etc.) which won't work. The rumors suggest the X-BOX brand will be spread across a variety of platforms with a main system being a PC/console hybrid...a powerful, premium, expensive hybrid running Windows 11 on your TV which also won't work. The brand is too tarnished and the real money is bringing their games to other platforms. Another problem is that they're moving towards that "all-digital future" that most people really don't want, game consumers who've been around long enough see right through that garbage. And even if it's forced down our throats the audience for that would better go to the already established Steam service, which they already have! Want a PC/console hybrid, Valve will already have Steam Machine ready to gobble that up. The macroeconomics of the current world make future X-BOX hardware (even if it's meant to be a boutique x-bot niche) look bleak when people could just play those games on other platforms.
PlayStation
With the X-BOX no longer being a "threat" (to be clear, it only ever was a threat in mindshare, never marketshare) Sony has already stated through Mark Cerny (PlayStation hardware architect consultant) that they're approaching a next generation with AMD differently. Using ideals and verbiage like ai upscaling, lower power consumption and advanced compression they seem to be scaling back the old approach of raw horsepower and going towards more efficient but cheaper and smaller tech potentially for PS6/other PlayStation hardware. This seems to be the opposite of what the next X-BOX might be. Together with rumors of PS6 and/or a new PlayStation portable system it makes sense, but is this multiple platforms (console and portable) or like a Switch hybrid? Two systems could spread Sony too thin (especially if they play different software) like they had before they abandoned PSP and later PSVita. Nintendo has already been doing the more efficient and cheaper (ai upscaling, low power consumption, advanced compression, etc.) hybrid approach for a while now so that means Sony will be playing catch-up if they're going for a hybrid or portable. Too soon to know, but I think whether it's two separate systems or one hybrid system they better play all the same (PS5/PS6?) games...which brings the "all digital future" debate back in. Being portable or hybrid means it won't play discs, and if it doesn't play discs and everything is digital then why buy a system at all if it's games can eventually be played on a PC that Sony has already been porting their games to. The macroeconomics of the current world make future PlayStation hardware look questionable in the near time...they're making good decisions similar to decisions Nintendo (the market leader) has already been doing but they're stuck between waiting for the world economy to be ready for their "next generation" or letting Nintendo take more marketshare with Switch 2.
Other
PC has a new savior in the Steam Machine and the industwy as a whole is dominated by PC gaming which the "master race" loves to laud over console gamers but they act like mobile (iPhone/Android) isn't bigger (it is). Then their portable gaming pc religion has a very loud minority also lauding their hardware over Nintendo...all while being outsold 30 to 1.
Nintendo
Yes, I'm biased for Nintendo, but here's some things to keep in mind: they're the last bastion of physical games in an "all digital future" and they're the last platform with exclusive games that aren't ported to PC. Diminishing returns in visuals also works in their favor...not arguing that Switch 2 games look as good as PS5 games, no...but most people (regular consumers) won't be able to tell the difference which means the competition loses it's "advantage" once more of their games come to Switch 2. There is negativity surrounding Switch 2 in price, game key cards and lack of system sellers...yet, it has already sold 15Million+ consoles in 6 months...reality check: that's the fastest selling game system of all time! Seeing a bunch of them on Walmart store shelves doesn't mean it's not selling, it means it's well-stocked which helps in it's record-breaking sales. There are things going against Nintendo and Switch 2, sure, but we live in an age where everything gets hate online (not irl) and Switch 2 is selling well without having it's killer app and it's too young to see what it will be established as. Give it a full year and we'll know more about what it is to people in both it's mindshare and marketshare. The macroeconomics of the current world make the future of Nintendo look okay with room to improve (lots of ideas for ways to improve in my Nintendo AGENDA page soon) or falter mainly depending on what really matters: the games...Switch 2 is getting games, but it needs games that keep selling systems.
Overall
The state of the industwy is dictated more by the state of the world and the world looks bad right now, plus there's less money being spent on video games and gaming overall seems to be artistically down which is why people would rather spend time with past gaming generations...but that too is rough 'cos there's less of that out in the wild as collectors horde the old stuff. Piracy and emulation abounds.