When the next generation of gaming is coming and why I'm not looking forward to it

This coming holiday season the Xbox 360 will be turning 7 and the PS3 and Wii will be 6 years old. The previous generation lasted only 4 years for Microsoft, 5 years for Nintendo and 6 for Sony. This console cycle, while still delivering some really great games, is getting long in the tooth.

So the question on everyone's mind is, when will the new console hardware be revealed and when will it launch?

Nintendo has already revealed their next console to break fanboy's hearts even further, the Wii U. But for the hardware anyone wants to play games on, we look to Microsoft and Sony. Microsoft took a full year lead last go around and as bad as Microsoft would like to do that again, Sony will probably make it difficult.

E3 2012 will be an interesting one. Microsoft and Sony are in a bit of a Mexican standoff. Both have recently released new hardware add-ons in the form of the Move and Kinect that are aimed to lengthen this hardware cycle. So who will shoot first? I think you can expect to see both companies show something about their next generation of hardware this year. How much exactly is wait and see thing.

Showing hardware over a year before launch was a mixed bag for Sony. They thankfully ditched the "boomerang" controller the following year with rabid feedback from fans. They also stripped out a lot of features like the a second HDMI port and an extra 2 ethernet jacks. Mistakes were made.

I recently rewatched Sony's 2005 and 2006 E3 keynotes as well as Microsoft's 2005 keynote. These kind of keynotes are exactly why I am not looking forward to the next generation.

Sony's 2006 keynote was pretty infamous for embarrassing moments like "giant enemy crabs," "$599 US Dollars," "Riiiidge Racerrrr!" and many others. But many forget the blatant bullshit flying out of their mouths in the 2005 conference. Like I mentioned before, they spent a good amount of time touting the dual HDMI ports. They spent a ton of time showing absolutely terrible looking Power Point slides comparing the PS3 to the Xbox 360. Obviously they showed the 360 being trumped by the awesome power of the Cell processor. For all I know that is true but I can see now that there isn't a huge divide between visuals on either console in games today.

Microsoft had less to lie about in 2005 because they were launching just a few months after. They did have their "VelocityGirl" vision for the future of the Live ecosystem. That was never really delivered on but wasn't as bold of a lie.

How many lies can we expect when the new consoles are revealed? How many games will be announced and never released? Killing Day anyone? How many CG videos will we see of games that don't even exist at the time that will be forced into a mediocre existence? MotorStorm anyone?

As much as I'm trying to tell myself that covering all this new stuff will be fun and exciting I just know it is going to suck. How much time was wasted writing articles for The Getaway 3 before it was canceled? Conversations about "VelocityGirl" style virtual good you'd never create and maybe you even bought two HDTVs because Sony said you could have a panoramic display. All for naught.

Are you still excited for the next generation of video game hardware? When do you believe it will be coming? Let me know in the comments.