Speaking after the announcement of the gaming service at GDC (which will work with a set-top box; or on a or PC), analyst has predicted that this console generation could be the last.

"I think we’ve seen the last generation of consoles," he told 1UP.com.

"[Third party publishers] are not going to support a or 720. The content is not going to change in any meaningful ways because the publishers can’t afford it."

Console-less gaming is apparently the way forward, Pachter predicting pain for traditional retailers and console makers, while publishers will reap the rewards.

By Luke Guttridge