Some considered Microsoft to be at the tail-end when Nintendo and Sony announced that their next-generation game consoles, the Wii U and PlayStation 4 Orbis, will be released before the Xbox 720. It may turn out that Microsoft is in no rush to replace the current Xbox 360 model.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 is currently the top selling game console in the United States for fifteen straight months. According to marketing research group NPD, a total of 371,000 "Xbox 360" units were sold last month and makes up 42 percent of all gaming console sales.
This happened amidst a grim month for the video game industry as game title and hardware sales fell 25 percent from a year earlier. The Xbox 360 total retail sales of $430 million outperformed the combined figures of Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3. That may be a reason why Nintendo is pushing to get its "Wii U" out the door one day sooner. Rumors report that the "Wii U" will be available on November 18, placing the release date ahead of both PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720.
Sony also chimed in saying that they are confident the "PlayStation 4 Orbis" will launch before Xbox 720's release date.
"Sony are completely in the belief that they have the jump on Microsoft this time," a source told gaming website VG247. "You should be watching the timing of next year's E3 keynotes, and who's going to go first."
"Top line publishers already know about it," the source said. "Developers working with publishers - like Ubisoft, for example - already know what's going on. They're already working on it."
Neither Nintendo or Sony have given official announcements about the release dates.
With declining sales since the 2011 holiday season, the video game companies are scrambling to reverse this trend and a release of a new console may just do the trick. Microsoft, on the other hand, appears to be sitting pretty atop the competition for now.
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