The shape of things to come.

So, what do gamers want next from hardware? What do you want from that machine in your living room or pocket? And, while I'm asking questions, where's the PSX got to? It slunk out in Japan on 13 December 03 and it's now down for a European release in the 04-05 financial year. Is this a PlayStation fan's dream come true? Time will tell. We do know what some of the functions originally mooted for this PS2-with-bells-on device have been dropped (no MP3 playback and DVD dubbing 24x has been decreased to 12x). It still boasts a slew of features, notably broadband connection, DVD and TV recording, and USB connection to a Sony digital camera. And PSOne and PS2 backwards compatibility of course.

Sony seem to be being playing PSX and PS3 pretty close to their chest at the moment, but then Microsoft isn't exactly being forthcoming about the Xbox2 (or whatever they're calling it – Xbox Next, Codename Xenon… Doesn’t the latter sound like a pulp sci-fi character?). One thing is for sure about upcoming hardware - Sony will be entering the handheld arena, with its widescreen, streamline, USB-port proffering, memory-stick toting, 1.8GB optical-disc spinning PSP due here next Christmas.

And as for Nintendo? What about the GameCube2 (NOT being referred to as Codename Dolphin 2 as far as I know). Will Nintendo defiantly stick to their concept of handheld/console connectivity or will they go the route of creating an all-singing, all-dancing home entertainment device like the competitors seem set on? Either way, it may well be the first of the true next gen consoles out, with Nintendo allegedly looking for a Spring 05 release.

I'm still not entirely won over by the notion of making consoles more into home media centres. This is a viable proposition for home computers as the interface of a keyboard and monitor is a lot more versatile than that of a joypad and TV (sure, my Dreamcast had a keyboard, but it spent most of its active life, er, inactive). And a Windows operating system already manages multimedia activities – even more so as Microsoft are introducing their Windows XP Home Media Center, a variant on XP Professional aimed at home entertainment (it'll integrate standard Windows functionality, TV, gaming, home video and digital photography etc.).

Maybe a pared down, tweaked version of Media Center in a console would be the way forward in making a more diverse multimedia device from your traditional games machine. Whether such a thing will actually appear in Xbox2, or if PS3 or GameCube 2 are to offer something comparable, will have to stay conjectural until credible info drips down from the corporate powers that be.

As for PSP, it doesn't look like Sony will make the mistakes of Nokia, whose N-Gage remains a frankly less than compelling proposition for this particular gamer. The hybridisation of mobile phone and games console doesn't look so comfortable yet, so the PSP is going to be a high-spec games machine. The hybridisation of DVD player, broadband communications device and games machine, on the other hand, has been vindicated by Xbox and PS2 (less so the latter, which Sony remain unassertive about) and naturalised into console culture.

Whatever the next few years bring, it's an exciting time to be a gamer. As long as the importance of gameplay doesn’t get subsumed into the enthusiasm about that old chestnut “convergence”. Daniel Etherington 23 January 04