Business and consumer computer solutions provider Hewlett-Packard, graphics industry contender NVIDIA, Microsoft's PC advocate Games for Windows initiative and even broadband game publisher Trion World Network released a whoosh of hostile air against the next-gen consoles.

They were probably outraged as many other hardcore PC fans were at the 2007 Game Developers Conference's "PC Gaming in an Age of Connected Consoles" panel discussion. Instead, the PC industry leaders formed their own panel, bringing in Microsoft's Games for Windows initiative's boss Rich Wickham and Trion World Network's founder Lars Butler, among other representatives of leading PC industry entities.

Lars was also quick to comment, "I believe the days of the console are numbered. There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that is it."

Backing Butler, NVIDIA's VP Roy Taylor upped the PC's ante by stating, "Our advantage as developers is we know what is coming. And what is coming is far ahead of the console. You will see a huge difference between what you can get on a PC and a console."

In line with this, Hewlett-Packard plans to enter the hardcore gaming market by rolling out a new line of gaming-related hardware, possibly even hobbyist PCs, within the year. It's even claimed that they plan to even provide a curved computer monitor for not only widescreen effect, but for full FPS immersion.

Whether or not the PC industry giants can deliver, we cannot tell, but with PC enthusiasts who know exactly how to make full use of their PC's power and console piracy looming over the horizon, consoles may never be able to say "the PC is dead" ever again.

Many have speculated that the Wii's advent to the gaming realm has sparked a revolution in gaming (pun unintended), as it has pushed developers to think of more innovative features to games (such as substituting a Wiimote for a baseball bat or something).

Sure, it has opened lots of possibilities for gamers, which is quite exciting really. Now, computer hardware company Hewlett-Packard is setting its sights on gaming as well, and it seems that they're upping the ante on gaming innovation further. HP VP Philip McKinney recently showed an intriguing video at a "major telco con in Hong Kong" that features kids playing a scavenger hunt using handhelds and "racing along alleyways and backstreets of the real world collecting clues posted on walls and other places to find the prize."

And it's all thanks to a nifty open-source platform called Mediascape, something that HP programmers have been working on. Whether we'll see this technology in the near future, we're not really sure. But it's exciting to know that devs are exploring new horizons in gaming.