Hold Onto Your Wallets, New Consoles Are Coming
In news that probably won’t come as a shock to anyone, both Sony and Microsoft are getting closer to unveiling their next generation of gaming consoles. What might surprise you, though, is how soon those unveiling might occur. Read on for the details.
Ever since E3 2012 came and went with no new console from Microsoft or Sony, many in the video game industry began circling next year’s conference on their calendars as the most likely target date for an unveiling. But you might not have to wait that long. Game Informer, by way of Videogamer.com, is reporting that both Microsoft and Sony are planning large “Apple-style” press conferences to coincide with the year’s Game Developer’s Conference. These press conferences will be used to unveil the as-yet-unnamed successors to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The GDC is scheduled for late March, which would put the rumored console announcements nearly three months ahead of this year’s E3.
This is not to say that E3 will be devoid of huge announcements this year. On the contrary, there will supposedly be a number of next generation games unveiled at this year’s E3, and Sony and Microsoft are holding these early press conferences in part to make sure their hardware announcements don’t hog the spotlight.
In related news, VG247 reported on research by Baird Equity that the new consoles will both have a retail price around $400. While more or less equal to the price of the first generation Xbox 360, a $400 price point for the Playstation 4 would be a significant drop from Sony’s last console launch. According to Baird Equity, the lower price will be achieved through the use of existing high end computer components instead of custom made chips. Not only will this lower the cost of production, it will also make it easier for studios to develop games for the new hardware.
Obviously, this is all still rumor. We won’t know anything until we hear it from the hardware manufacturers. But it’s always fun to speculate. I just wish they’d go back to using bitrates when talking about how powerful a new system was going to be. 8bit, 16bit, 32bit, 64bit… and then it sorta died out. By my count, this next wave of consoles should be up to 512 bits. “Xbox 512” has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?