The current-generation consoles have been there for quite some time now, going well beyond the traditional life-cycle of their predecessors and thus the gamers are getting anxious to see what the industry giants in store for them.
While most of the speculations regarding the upcoming consoles suggested that the Sony and Microsoft will be launching their high-end consoles in 2013, GameStop expects the next year to be a bit different.
Talking about the next-generation hardware and when it would finally arrive in the market, GameStop CEO Paul Raines said that while Nintendo will be launching Wii U during the holiday season at the end of this year, he is not expecting both Sony and Microsoft to launch their new consoles next year and instead, it would either be the next Xbox or PlayStation 4 that will arrive next year, with the other coming a year later in 2014.
“This week, I’m getting a lot of rumors that are very interesting about 2013,” Raines said while speaking with Polygon. “We have not been expecting two more consoles in 2013. We’re expecting Wii U this holiday, another one next year, and another one in ’14. These rumors change every week, but we’re hearing more about next year.”
His prediction is in contrast to the prediction given by other industry analysts, who are convinced that both Sony and Microsoft will not delay the release of their next-generation consoles beyond 2013 as it is becoming a necessity to survive in the market. They believe that if the two companies wait too long, they would fall too far behind their competitors and thus will have a tough time bouncing back.
The fear is justified to an extent since the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets. With every passing day, gamers wary of waiting for the extended life-cycle of the current-generation consoles are looking elsewhere for fresh gaming experience, something that their current consoles are failing to provide. With continuous and relatively quicker advancement in mobile phone technology, the developers are managing to offer a new and unique game to consumers every now and then. While their focus initially lay on the casual gamers, they are beginning to target serious games as well due to the availability of more resources and better technology on hand.
Nintendo will be the first one to step into the next-generation space with Wii U. However, things are not looking too bright for the console due to the various challenges that it is expected to face upon its launch as well as at the time when Sony and Microsoft come up with their own high-end consoles.
All the talk about the up-coming consoles and their possible impact is based on mere speculations. Nintendo has a history of making a huge impact in the market against all odds and maybe, just maybe, it will be able to do it once again.
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