I bet you the PS4 will be a very good system to have

[Dreddz]

This generation will end up like the 16-bit generation with the Megadrive and SNES. The 360 will have a head start and the PS3 will slowly catch up till it clinches 2nd. That's how I see it going anyway.

[Madame Adequate]

Here's what I would do to make the PS4 successful:

• One SKU. A fair sized, but not excessive HD included. The current system is confusing at best. Pack in two controllers and a DVD remote as standard. The SKU can be phased out and replaced with superior models as the technology and production capacities advance over the years, as occurred with the PSX and PS2.
• A sensible price. The console doesn't have to be as cheap as a Wii. It should also not be as massive investment as the PS3 is. I personally think a PS3 is cheap, because I recognize that it includes the cheapest Blu-Ray player I'm going to find on the market, but the release price tag of the PS3 was simply ridiculous for most people.
• Decide on what I want the PS4 to do and work exclusively on that. Don't tag things on to try and steal from Nintendo, for instance. Don't add gimmicks few use. I would personally direct the PS4 towards just two things - games and movies. Beyond that, the only concern would be online.
• When it comes to online, Sony itself, centrally, should provide the resources needed to ensure a reliable, fast, global system. There should be no bias or preference in terms of games, everything should be given what it needs to succeed online. Obviously, make this as cheap as possible (ideally as cheap as free. XBL service with zero cost? People would be all over that like Soviets on farms)
• Establish/revive/maintain a strong stable of games. Wipeout is probably the quintessential example. The PS brand was built, in its early days, on games like Wipeout. People talk about the Nintendo Wii as changing gaming and bringing it into the mainstream, but Sony did exactly the same over a decade earlier. The PlayStation One was the first console which it was cool, not dorky, to have in your living room. It became a lifestyle item as well as a console, and a global brand, through the strength of Sony's stable combined with their marketing acumen. Who even remembers that Wipeout also appeared on the Saturn?
• And yeah Kaz Hirai gets locked away in a dungeon somewhere in Hokkaido and isn't heard from until the PS4 has been out for awhile. Sony let their success with the PS1 and 2 go to their heads, and they squandered a vast fanbase in a shockingly short time through little more than a few poor decisions and a spate of terrible PR.
• Backwards compatability. As much as possible. PS3 is non-negotiable. PS2 is difficult to justify not having. PS1 should be done too, if at all possible. The entire library of Playstation games should be playable, right back to December 3, 1994.

[Mirage]

I wouldnt say the PS3 has come third yet, i think the novelty of the Wii will wear off eventually and the PS3 does have a lot of good games out now so it could compete with the 360.

haha, no. The 360 has a superior lineup when it comes to exclusives. The Wii has sold more than the 360 and PS3 added together too, so both the 360 and PS3 are just dreaming of surpassing the Wii in console sales.

Btw milf, the 360 is cheaper than the Wii now ;)

[Slothy]

The Wii has sold more than the 360 and PS3 added together too

May be nitpicking, but from the numbers I've seen this statement is wrong. The Wii has not sold more than both the PS3 and 360 combined. I'll qualify that with a "yet", since I do think it will likely overtake them both, at least for a while. I don't think it will continue to sell like hot cakes forever though.

[The Shoeless Hobo]

yeah, expect internet connection technologies to stay as they are today for 4 more years.

Ii will. It would take atleast six years for our country to drastically improve our internet. It would be a multi billion dollar project and we would have to actually dig up holes and replace the old wires with fibre optics.

This is an actual plan my government is considering though.