Many rumours have been circulating about the imminent unveiling of the next Xbox console. A certain rumour even stated that EA have received prototypes for the next Xbox console, but EA have strongly denied these rumours. With Sony looking to let the PS3 have a 10 year life-cycle, it leaves me wondering about the next-gen consoles.
Here are a few reasons why I think a new PS/Xbox console will not be revealed soon.
Firstly, The Xbox 360 sales are still going strong and the number of consoles sold in the first quarter of 2011 is more than that in the first quarter of 2010. It wouldn't make sense for Microsoft to reveal a new console at this point of time, They would be losing out on sales of the Xbox 360.
Secondly, Microsoft just spent bucket-loads of money on the advertising and making of Kinect. Will the Xbox 720 come inbuilt with Kinect?If so, Microsoft are willing to take the risk of angering the people who bought Kinect, and especially the people who bought a 360 just for Kinect, and due to this the Xbox 720's sales will be low.
There seem to be a number of games that are releasing this year that are stretching the PS3 and Xbox 360 to its absolute limit in terms of graphical power(i.e. Crysis 2, Battlefield 3, Rage, Skyrim). No need for next-gen yet as long as devs can ooze out more power from the current-gen.
Sony are in a tight position, since they only started making profits on the PS3 in 2009. They currently will be focussed on Making the PSN stable, because of the release of the NGP later this year, and to regain confidence of their customers. Any plans of a PS4 will be put on the back-burner.
We are going to see the Wii 2(Project Cafe/Stream) at E3 this year. It's rumoured to be slightly more powerful than the current-gen.But if it's another gimmick(like the Wii was for many gamers), people will be more cautious this time around before purchasing it.
So these are the reasons why I think that the Next-gen is far away. What are your thoughts?
VGChartz's Evan Norris: "In the end, Mario Kart World doesn't surpass its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But that's like failing to surpass Resident Evil 4 or Half-Life 2; there's absolutely no shame in it. Judged on its own mechanics, systems, and merits, it's a brilliant racing game, a GotY contender, and one of the finest entries in the entire Mario Kart canon, not to mention another in a long line of exceptional launch titles from Nintendo. Is there room for improvement? Yes. The open world could be more organized, the 24-player Grand Prix races could be less chaotic, and the online customization options could be more flexible, but these are relatively minor issues in such a polished, daring, substantial, and joyful game that promises to provide reliable entertainment for years to come."
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if the next nintendo console (cafe) doesnt require the use of some elaborate control mechanism than its going to give life to the current gen of consoles also.
while the specs that we have of the cafe may have more graphical power than either x360 or ps3, its not so much that its going to stop 3rd parties from making ports of their cafe games for ps3 or 360.
so if cafe takes off and does well its likely that neither the ps3 or xbox will suffer much if at all from the release. i think theres still quite a bit of life left in both, though more in the ps3 as i think microsoft will want to end early so as to put more pressure on sony
I think the next gen consoles will be released in late 2013. They won't want to give a Nintendo a big start and this will still give them ample time to make some serious money from the current gen consoles. In late 2013, the Xbox 360 will be 8 years old and the PS3 7 years and I think both will be supported until about 2015.
I think also that Nintendo have a fairly difficult job ahead of them to try to gain back the core gamers who were pretty much deserted with the Wii. The on-line services also needs to drastically improve as well as their relationship with third party developers. And I think their massive Wii install base is not as persuasive as it sounds, a lot of these gamers are casual gamers who won't have a particular allegience to Nintendo and won't necessarily move to the new Nintendo console. for their new console. I just don't think that Microsoft or Sony are that worried about Nintendo, they see no need to rush out their next gen consoles as they know the obstacles that Nintendo faces with their next console.
However, I see Microsoft and Sony putting a big effort into E3 to try and overshadow the Nintendo reveal. Microsoft will push Kinect hard to attract the casuals whilst putting some effort in retaining the core gamers. Probably business as usual for Sony with them focussing on their many exclusives. I see price cuts for the Xbox 360 and PS3 but not til sometime closer to the launch of the new Nintendo console in 2012.
I wish it would though. I hate how multiplatform games peform on the ps3.
Sony playstation products have a 10 year support cycle where sony continues to support the console for 10 years. That does not mean they wont release a new console before the 10 years are up.
Kinect is rumored to be compatible with the next xbox so M$ could release the next xbox and get sales from the 360, kinect, and new xbox.
Rage and skyrim push no graphical levels. Skyrim has just a lot of stuff to render since there is a huge world while rage is 60fps.
Nintendo will push sony and M$ into the next gen. I can easily see M$ releasing a new xbox within 2 years. Sony will probably be the last to make a move but once M$ announces a new xbox, sony will announce a new playstation. Why? Because Sony does not want the same thing happening with the 360 and PS3.