Read more: "2013 Smart Guide: 10 ideas that will shape the year"
Bigger, better and far more immersive. With Nintendo's launch of the Wii U in November and Microsoft and Sony both expected to pitch in with successors to the Xbox 360 and PS3 in time for next Christmas, 2013 will be a huge year for console gaming.
Leaked details have sparked excited chatter about 3D gaming in 1080p HD and Ultra HD (which has four times the pixels of 1080p), and augmented-reality play in your living room. Nintendo, which was the first to introduce motion-controlled gaming last time round, has continued its pioneering streak and brought us two-screen play, by adding a touchscreen to its control pads.
The gaming field is getting crowded. Since the launch of the last generation of consoles in 2005-2006, games have begun streaming from the cloud, coming to TVs directly from PCs, even become available through a crowd-funded Android console.
Given the eclectic competition, it's no wonder the next crop of heavyweights are embracing novel designs. The idea of the Wii U's controller screen is to clear the TV screen of user-interface clutter and introduce multiplayer possibilities. Players in the room have different perspectives on the action depending on what is displayed on their controller, for example.
Sony and Microsoft are also embracing two-screen concepts. The next PlayStation will probably enhance its connection to the PS Vita, its portable cousin, allowing you to play a game on the move and then swap to the main console when you're home. Similarly, the next Xbox is expected to make Smartglass - an app that lets you control the console from a smartphone - more of a centrepiece.
If additional screens and eye-popping pixel counts aren't enough, perhaps we'll move beyond screens. Microsoft has filed a patent for projecting augmented-reality 3D images onto your living room walls. If that pans out, game worlds will burst out of the TV and into your home, with Kinect - or its successor - letting you control the action with simple gestures. Two screens might seem rather quaint when your whole living room is the control pad.
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2013 Smart Guide: Next-generation video games
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2013 Smart Guide: Next-generation video games
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2013 Smart Guide: Next-generation video games
