The next generation of gaming consoles is creeping upon us like a beast in the night, seeking to devour gamers into countless hours of gaming for the next five to six years. However, analysts warn that next generation gaming consoles - Wii U, Playstation 4/Orbis, and Xbox 720 - won't beat current console sales.

Piper Jaffray analysts Michael Olson and Andrew Connor are hard at work making predictions as to the success or lack there of when it comes to next generation consoles. Due to the huge boost in social media, and the smartphone and tablet market which is on fire right now, some analysts believe next generation consoles won't mimic the success of the current and previous generations before it.

They believe developers will focus more on making games for social media sites and smart devices because there is a huge potential for more profit, and game development is considerably less expensive when compared to making a game with believable graphics and sound.

Because of this, sales of the Wii U, Playstation 4/Orbis, and Xbox 720 will all fall in comparison to the current consoles when it comes to sales. Normally we don't agree with analysts. However, these predictions are right on the money. For example, take a good look at the Playstation Vita handheld gaming system, no one wants it, and it has nothing to do with it being a bad device because it isn't. The times have changed. Consumers are looking for quality all-in-one handheld devices, hence the success of smartphones. The powerful gpu found in the Vita will soon make its way to smartphones. So when you think about it, there is no need for a standalone gaming handheld.

Piper Jaffray had this to say to Gamasutra, "We believe console gaming will continue to be a time-share donor to social networks, mobile games and tablets."

"We, therefore, favor companies with increasing exposure to social/mobile gaming, including Zynga and EA."

Video game sales shrank 28% year on year to $1.3 billion last December, with each hardware manufacturer experiencing declines in Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii sales over the holidays, according to Investor Palace . The low hardware sales could be a testament that the next generation needs to be introduced, so things might not be doom gloom according to how analysts are painting this picture.

Let's wait and see how gamers respond to the new consoles before we come to a conclusion. We believe there is still need for video game consoles, but manufactures might want to build a stronger social media aspect on top of the new boxes. Easier for Microsoft as the company has a stake in Facebook, but we can't say the same for the others.

(reported by Vamien Mckalin, edited by Dave Clark)