The San Francisco Chronicle rounds up all the big gaming news for 2005, plus some analysts’ predictions on how the next-gen console market will look by the end of next year. They talk about Nintendo DS vs. PSP (DS is winning), the people vs. mature video games, and even a little about EA delving into cell-phone gaming.

The highlights on next-gen: Since the new consoles are coming out, analysts expect Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to sell a combined 37 million units in 2006. The industry as a whole did $24 billion in business this year, and that number is expected to grow.

As for who’ll come out on top in this generation, the paper provides only one prediction:

“We definitely put Nintendo in third place,” she said, noting that the Japanese firm’s Revolution is likely to become more of a niche player, appealing to the younger demographic.

We know it works for Nintendo to go in a “different direction.” Speaking of which, have you seen the Revolution’s remote/controller? As for Sony vs. Microsoft, we’ll just have to wait and see.

• Gamers console themselves with hardware windfall [SF Chronicle]

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