With Nintendo due to launch its next generation game console, the Wii U, sometime in 2012, console game industry members have been speculating on when Microsoft and Sony will reveal the successors to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles. This week Industry Gamers is reporting via unnamed sources that Sony could reveal its Playstation 4 console sometime next year. The article claims the info came from "a top developer" who did not wished to be directly quoted.
Sony revealed its Playstation 3 console over a year before the console was actually launched, so an early reveal for the PS4 is not without precedent. However, Industry Games chatted with some game-themed financial analysts who expressed doubt that Sony would actually reveal a PS3 successor next year. Wedbush Securitites analyst Michael Pachter is quoted as saying that new consoles from both Sony and Microsoft won't actually come out before 2014, with reveals in 2013. He states, "Wii U isn't going to pressure anyone, it's Nintendo's catch up to this cycle, and the other guys are going to see if the tablet integration is worth copying first. That means nobody is going to finalize specs till they see if Wii U succeeds."
Another analysts, David Cole of DFC Intelligence, believes that Sony needs to keep the PS3 console as its first priority for a while longer, saying that an early PS4 reveal "would mean a major loss and an early end to the PS3, which if it can last several years longer could start making some decent money for the company. Yes, they will feel pressure from the competition, but I think pressure from investors and the financial community wins the day."
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