So for a while the WC cast, as well as most of the gaming press, has been calling for new hardware and technologies for reasons ranging from simple franchise refreshes to advances in AI. My question is why do you guys assume that this will happen? To me, it seems far more likely that the next generation will simply continue current, well-selling franchises and the advancements in hardware will simply go into graphics for a wow-factor instead of anything well meaning.

Thinking back from the current generation to the PS2, Xbox era, most successful games today are this. Old franchises made to look and sound better. I can think of only a few games that have taken full advantage of hardware and could not be done on older consoles (aside from the obvious vanity upgrades).