It’s been well documented that Nintendo plans to launch its Wii U console sometime between April and December of 2012, but what of the other console manufacturers? Xbox’s EMEA VP, Chris Lewis recently had some things to say on that particular front, and if he spoke true, then it’s going to be a bit before we see the Xbox 720 (obviously not the official name).
When questioned as to whether or not this is the “late stage in a console lifecycle” for the 360, Lewis responded: “We see it as about halfway through. But yes you are right, Xbox is defying the normal curve you might expect. There’s no doubt that Kinect put a huge shot of adrenaline into the business.” Since the console launched in November of 2005, that would likely put MS on track for a holiday 2015 or 2016 launch with their next console. That’s a long time to wait, but most gamers have long since assumed that this generation would stretch beyond the five year cycle that we’ve grown accustomed to.
Continuing, Lewis commented, “What we are now seeing is massive swathes of families and younger audiences flocking to it. As you saw at the press conference, we are now in line with what we projected at E3 2010.” If their projection was that they’d make viewers nauseous over how many times they said “Kinect”, then they certainly hit the mark.
Now that the unit has experienced a decent level of success in the casual marketplace, the company plans to add more wicked hardcore experiences to the Kinect brand. “What you will see is us using Kinect to enhance the experience and not detract from it. I don’t think our core gamers will tolerate anything else from us.” While it’s possible that the core audience will eventually warm up to the peripheral, their post-E3 reactions indicate that it’ll be an uphill battle for Microsoft.
[Source: CVG]
[Image via Xbox Kinect Deal.]
