Despite the rumour mill bursting at the seams with whispers of a next generation consoles being announced and even possibly released in 2012, Microsoft France’s marketing director Cedrick Demas has come out and said that there will definitely not be a new Xbox console in2012.
We’re in an industry that talks a lot, that likes telling stories,” Delmas told French site Lepoint.fr. “I am not convinced that things will happen this year. The Xbox 360’s cycle is not over at all. The proof is that we haven’t price cut this year. Afterward, what will happen at E3, it’s still too early to say. What’s certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012.”
In the meantime, Nintendo has confirmed that its next-generation console, the Wii U will be released in November. Demas says that Microsoft will not look to counter the new console directly with new hardware of its own.
“If we wanted to counter Nintendo, we would have to be in a position to release something immediately, and that is not at all the case,” Delmas said. “We’re not here to counter Nintendo and they’re not here to fight the other manufacturers. Nintendo has put itself in a different cycle. It’s going forward to its own rhythm, with success as we have seen with the Wii, and now it’s their turn to present their innovation.”
Meanwhile, Sony has recently said that it believes it will be the last of the major console makers to release its next-generation hardware. “Wii is pressed for time because it’s in decline. In our case, we have a lot less pressure. We were the last to release PS3, and we will probably be the last to announce something [this time around],” said Sony France boss, Philippe Cardone.
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