At the start of the month, rumors consumed PC and console gamers alike at the thought of a Steam created console. Most PC gamers thought to themselves, “Well I’ve already got a Steam box. It’s called my PC.” Console gamers had mixed reactions whether it was excitement at the thought of Steam powered games being available on a home console for the first time while others worried about the thought of adding a fourth major console to their home collection, especially with the impending release of the Wii U, next XBox and PlayStation 4 within the next few years.

These rumors were dispelled in under a week when Valve spoke to gaming site Kotaku saying that the company was a long way off from releasing a home system and that the rumored boxes that had been created were meant for internal purposes only to test streaming content from a PC to television, not acting as a console in and of itself. Valve told Kotaku, “We’re always putting boxes together,” he said. “Going all the way back to the Half-Life 1 days, we built special boxes to test our software render…it’s just part of development.”

While on the surface the concept of a Steam box might sound good, there are a few essential problems it must overcome before this idea should attempt to become a reality. The first is the current state of the home console market. Right now, the console market is dominated by the big three: Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. While Nintendo diverged from the hardcore gamer with the Wii, they claim to be aiming at taking a hold back on that market with the release of a more powerful Wii U.

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If you feel your current XBox console is starting to get a bit long in the tooth and are anxiously waiting for Microsoft to drop some new, shiny hardware goodness, you are going to have to wait a bit longer. Until next year, in fact.

That’s right, Microsoft has confirmed that the next next-gen console, rumored to be called the Xbox 720, will not even be announced or talked about at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, or “E3″ as we like to call it.

“While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon,” the company said in a statement. “For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360-and it’s the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever-a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide.”

Well, that’s nice for Microsoft. We’re glad they feel the XBox 360 is still a great gaming platform. In fact, it really is. It still manages to offer a lot to gaming developers and the games still look pretty darn good when played on it.

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This week Nintendo announced the upcoming release of its new Wii U console but even with that announcement, details on the console itself were still few and far between. But now, more info has begun to emerge as the E3 show is in full swing.

According to BGR iinformants, the new console will support full HD 1080p gaming and sports a custom Radeon HD graphics processor from AMD. In addition, IBM will be supplying Nintendo with a 45nm multi-core processor with embedded DRAM for the console.

There are also four USB ports, an HDMI port, an S-video port and component jacks. It will also feature 802.11n Wi-Fi. And that, for the moment, is pretty much it.

Expect more details of this new console to emerge as E3 progresses. Of course, we may not know it all right away and that’s okay. What’s life without a little mystery, right?

Check out the full press release of the Wii U announcement after the break.

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If you’ve been curious as to when (or if) we would be seeing a new Nintendo Wii system, you can now put that curiosity to rest. Why? Because on Monday the company released a statement confirming that it will reveal the successor to the original Wii during the E3 Expo tradeshow in Los Angeles.

The new console, currently codenamed “Project Cafe,” may feature a new “Screen Stream” controller option that will provide each individual gamer with their own touchscreen display, although Nintendo did not disclose any of the console’s new features in its statement. In addition to the Wii 2 confirmation, the company also announced its earnings for the fiscal year ending March, 2011.

Net sales of ¥1,014 billion ($12.35 billion) were down 29.3% year-over-year and Nintendo’s net income fell 66.1% to ¥77.62 million ($946,110). Hardware and software sales for the United States, Nintendo’s largest market, also fell year-over-year.

Nintendo sold 15.08 million Nintendo Wii units, 3.61 million of its new Nintendo 3DS devices, and 17.52 million of its Nintendo DS portable gaming consoles in the States. In contrast, Nintendo sold 20.5 million Wii units in the U.S. last year. Globally, the company sold 171.26 million Wii units, 120.98 million DS devices, and 9.43 million Nintendo 3DS units.

So, they’re not doing so good. Good thing they’ve got something new coming out. Hopefully, it will spark interest from consumers.

Click through to tread the statement from Nintendo. The E3 Expo takes place June 7-9 at the Los Angeles convention center.

We’ll be there so be sure to check back right here for a look at the new Wii and all the other gaming news coming out of the show.

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If you’ve been waiting for a replacement for your aging PS3 or XBox 360, your wait may be a bit longer than you think. According to Kotaku, neither Microsoft nor Sony will launch new gaming consoles before 2014.

“Both [Microsoft] and Sony are telegraphing to each other that they’re delaying, to milk the current [generation] and fill in previous craters better,” one source told Kotaku. In contrast, Nintendo’s next generation gaming console is expected to land sometime next year.

But wait, all is not lost. Microsoft and Sony may decide to build onto their current systems. For example, Microsoft may release a “Kinect-upgraded” Xbox 360 in 2013. “Sony definitely isn’t launching a successor before 2014 and could stand to benefit by having Microsoft launch first as PS3 builds in North America and builds a strong position in Europe,” said Billy Pidgeon, an analyst with M2 Research cited in the article.

Microsoft has stated it will offer support for the Xbox 360 through 2015. So, it stands to reason we should see a replacement for it sometime before that. So, the 2014 date makes some sense.

Although, if I were Microsoft I might worry a bit more about how to sustgain consumer interest in a console that’s already over six years old. In the tech and gaming world, that’s almost an eternity.

If you’re a fan of Sony’s PS3 console but have sometimes felt something was missing or, shall we say, a little inadequate, this post is for you. This week Sony announced three new PS3 models with updated storage capacities.

The announcement came at the Gamescom event currently taking place ion Cologne, Germany. The newly announced 160 GB PS3 Slim will retail for $299 and should be on sale in a matter of weeks.  A second model, which can be purchased in the Move Bundle, comes with a 320 GB PlayStation 3 console, Sony’s Move controller, PlayStation Eye camera, and the Sports Champions game.

The Move Bundle should arrive on store shelves in mid-September and will retail for $399. In addition to the hardware announcements, also revealed at the show were software trailers  and demos for games including Resistance 3, inFAMOUS 2, Medal of Honor, MAG, Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5, Virtua Tennis 4, and Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One.  Of course, we will bring you any important news and info about these games as it comes.

In the meantime, be happy that Sony is releasing larger capacity PS3 consoles to hold all your media nd such. Although, it begs the question, do any of you actually use your PS3 console for that purpose or do you do what most of us here at The Flickcast do and just use it for games, as a Blu-ray player and to stream content from another souce in the house like a media server computer?

Playstation 3, Sony’s seventh generation console, has been on the market for almost four years now. It’s had two models, two hard drive sizes, a top-of-the-line Bluray player, a motion controller (with another one on the way), and complete connectivity with its portable predecessor. Overall, you could say the system has had an impressive history. But is Sony already working to release a new console? This video certainly hints to that.

Posted by Kotaku earlier today, the video begins in sort of a complex, labeled S.C.E. Principal Scientific Research Laboratory, Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan (coincidentally the same city where Sony has its offices). A woman is talking to the cameraman, then a man in a lab coat, as they race frantically through the facility.

They speak in anxious tones as they make their way to a room, where a man is lying on the floor holding a controller. When they remove his glasses and try to remove the controller from his hands, he begins shrieking. In the background, a television displays the Playstation symbol, and the video cuts to black with the words “PS4 V3.1 – Please Wait A Moment” written in Japanese.

While the video isn’t confirmed to be the work of Sony or Playstation themselves, the appearance of the video as well as the words and images displayed certainly warrant some speculation. The image that appears on the TV certainly looks three-dimensional, but the appearance of the word “PS4″ definitely makes it seem like a new Playstation is what this video is really all about. Check out the trailer for yourself after the jump and let us know what you’re take is.

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It’s got to be tough being the odd man out. The PlayStation 3, the Wii, even the portables like the PSP and DS have fairly robust browsers built-in that allow you to surf the web as you wish, but Xbox 360 owners who dream of watching video via Hulu or YouTube on their 360 just had those dreams dashed.

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox, put the kibosh on such extracurricular activities. Chalking the 360’s browser omission up to, “…the web browsing experience on TV is a poor one,” Greenberg clarified Microsoft’s Xbox online strategy just a little further. Despite recently adding support for specific properties like Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and perhaps most importantly, the Netflix streaming service, Xbox seemed to be moving towards opening up the web experience for their console gamers.

And yet, what these latest comments signal instead, is a move towards built-in support for specific web properties wherein the experience can be optimized and managed by Microsoft, versus opening the console’s masses up to the web at-large. This seems contrary to the consensus of PS3 users, who seem to feel that while browsing the web on a console is by no means perfect, they value the utility in having the capability to do so.

In his interview with CVG’s sister magazine ‘Edge’, Greenberg commented on the PS3’s browser specifically. “No disrespect, there’s things I love about the PS3, but that’s not one of them. We want the online experience to be fun and optimized for the living room, and we’ll continue to add more applications to get more richness.”

It’s kind of frustrating being a DS owner, isn’t it? As much as we love our little dual-screen consoles, the second you buy the latest and greatest model, Nintendo announces another one. But now Nintendo’s got something a little different up their sleeves. At E3 in June, Kotaku reports, Nintendo will unveil the official successor to the Nintendo DS: The Nintendo 3DS.

Announced in an official release by Nintendo, the Nintendo 3DS will be “enjoyed with 3-D effects without the need for any special glasses”. No details have been released about what it looks like, the official name (Nintendo 3DS seems to be a working title), or how the 3-D will work, but the Nintendo 3DS will be backwards compatible with all Nintendo DS games, which is a relief. Rumors are circulating about a 3-D joystick, an accelerometer, and a force-feedback mechanism being worked into the console, but it’s hard to say if any of these are reliable, or feasible.

You’ll be able to get your hands on a 3DS sometime between April 2010 and March 2011., but be sure to check back with The Flickcast for our coverage of this year’s E3 Expo from June 15-17th for more details on this brand new console.

Earlier this week, The Flickcast reported that the Nintendo Wii may be getting a price drop.

Now, according to Kotaku, Target AND Toys R Us are advertising a new price of $199 in upcoming circular ads. While this seemed to be just rumor before, these ads make a price drop more and more of a possibility.

A price drop for the Wii couldn’t come at a better time.. Since its release in 2006, the console has never dropped in price. At $250, the Wii is only $50 cheaper than a PS3, which has far more advanced graphics and a Blu-ray player. A $50 drop in price will surely help this small console compete with its much bigger and bulkier adversaries this holiday season, as well as convince gamers who don’t already have the console that it’s worth buying for new holiday titles like New Super Mario Brothers, Spybots, and Wii Fit Plus.

Be sure to check back here at The Flickcast, since we’re likely to hear something from Nintendo at next week’s Tokyo Game Show.

ThisTuesday, Sony’s newest version of their popular gaming console, the Playstation 3 Slim, will hit shelves across the country. If you’re one of those on the fence about purchasing it, we here at The Flickcast have got you covered. Here’s the lowdown on the differences between the older, fatter PS3 and the slimmer, more streamlined PS3 Slim.

What We Like

-This time around the PS3 will be 33% smaller and 36 percent lighter. Not only will this save gamers space, it will also make it easier to move between play sessions.

-$299 price tag. This finally puts the PS3 in the same price bracket as some Blu-ray players and the Nintendo Wii.

-New textured surface. The previous PS3 had a glossy finish, making it susceptible to scratching.

-120 GB Hard Drive, which is now easier to upgrade and will not void the warranty if removed.

What We Don’t Like

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