I really hope the rumors about the GPU are wrong. Nobody should be getting excited by mobile hardware in a console. :|
This.
And paired with a netbook CPU, its really not that impressive from the point of view of the spec sheet.
Don't get me wrong, these rumored components will be great for things like price, heat, noise, power consumption and if arranged correctly, reliability. It will be interesting to see the size of these consoles because I think for one of the few times, we will have console boxes that are smaller than their previous-gen counterparts. In a closed platform, I'm sure developers will be able to do a lot with the hardware and quickly due to them being instantly familiar with the architecture. We'll end up seeing some impressive games, no doubt about that, but the hardware is not exactly bleeding edge.
This is a stark contrast to the previous generation when the Cell was nothing like anyone had ever seen before. Of course the con of this was the fact that developers had a hard time getting to grips with it, but in terms of theoretical peak power, it was a monster at the time and it had everybody saying "wow".
Of course, the dynamics of the gaming market have now changed. The competition from Microsoft is fierce, so there is a fear that if they don't keep things simple they could be left behind early on in the new generation. Of course, the economy is different as well, a $600 console would get nowhere in today's market (of course, the die-hards would still buy it but thats about it). Also, more significantly, the PC platform is more profitable than ever for developers with the digital distribution platform taking off. This means that developers want to be able to make games across multiple platforms, including the PC at reduced dev costs. That is exactly what these new consoles (if the rumors are correct) will give them.
So yeh, all in all, its very logical and it makes sense, but its not all that exciting. From day-one, most mid range PC's should be able to outperform these boxes on exactly the same games. And this time, there's no "untapped" power to play with. It just all seems a little "safe".