This is where I finally say don't listen to PC-GAF.
They told us 2GB of VRam will get through next gen fine - BF4 reccomends 3GB
They told us AMD Octocore CPU's were shit and that more than 4 cores wont be needed for next gen - Watch Dogs reccomends 8 core CPUs.
And this is only the start of next-gen and these are just console ports.
The writing was on the wall though as soon as the PS4 specs were released.
I don't think anyone was really saying 2 would get you through the whole gen, maybe 2-3 years sounds right. I wouldn't really take the 8 core recommendation that seriously since intel CPU's still outperform them.