http://www.computerandvideogames.com/300560/news/xbox-720-in-2012-wouldnt-be-a-surprise-analyst/

EA has dismissed reports that it's already in possession of Xbox 720 hardware as "total fabrication - 100 percent not true", but announcing a 360 successor in 2012 certainly isn't out of the question, according to M2 Research analyst Billy Pidgeon.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, he suggested that Xbox 360 has lost some momentum.

"While Xbox 360 has peaked in some respects, particularly in North America, the system is still selling strongly and penetration potential remains - in Europe overall, and in the young end of enthusiasts as well as the mass market for an extended back half of this cycle.

"It's in a vendor's best interests to maintain a system's viability as long as possible," he added. "On the other hand, should Xbox 360 hardware sales begin to drop off dramatically in Q4, or early in 2012 Microsoft will likely announce launch of a new system at E3 next year."

Last week, an unnamed source told respected games industry publication Develop that "Microsoft is rushing to make an [Xbox 720] announcement at E3" in a bid to steal Nintendo's thunder.

The site was also told that developers have been allowed to see improved features that upgrade the 360's current capabilities, including a speedier and enhanced interface with Kinect that boosts the device's responsiveness.

I was going to say it would be a surprise to me based on the thread title. But an announcement of 720 in 2012 for a 2013 launch wouldn't be a surprise.

Apparantly both the Sony/Microsoft next generation consoles are in 'alpha' so it doesn't surprise me. This was expected...

No surprise here, both Sony and Micro will unleash new consoles soon as well. Get ready people the next Generation is at hand. This E3 will be amazing :)

I hope we dont have to wait for long for the next generation. I still have the 40gb fat ps3 and I wont buy an other console from the same generation when it dies

please not too soon guys...

How do you mean too soon?  Xbox released in 2001, and 360 in 2005, 4 years. We're at 6 years this year since the 360 release. =)

PS2 released in 2000 and the PS3 in 2006. 6 year gap, and  we're at 5 years this year since PS3 release. (PS1 to PS2 gap was 6 years, 1994-2000)

Gamecube released in 2001 and Wii in 2006, 5 year gap, and we're at 5 years this year since Wii release. (N64 to GC gap was 6 years , 1996-2001)

Point is, the next gen isn't any more rushed than the general trend for the past 15 years of home consoles. The whole "10 year plan" thing is just a marketing pitch at best. 6 years is the general rule it seems.

That and ...

I have seen several generations where everyone on web-forums is 100% happy with what they have until the next generation of system is first shown. Hypothetically speaking, if Nintendo's next system has moderate performance (say 8 times as powerful as the HD consoles) and there are a handful of games that show off its capabilities, you will see a lot of people really excited about the PS4 and XBox 1080 (it isn't going to be called 720, it will be 1080 for 1080p).

I dunno. MS is just starting to get insane profits (look at last quarter profits) for the 360 which is eliminating RROD cost, and maybe even the original XBox costs in the long run. 

I think the real questions are: How powerful will the Wii 2 be? How successful will the Wii 2 be? I think if it's just slightly more powerful then the 360 MS has nothing to worry about in terms of graphics, and if it doesn't exactly fly off shelves MS can still remain competitive with the 360 for another two or so years.

MS can still easily cut their 360's cost by $50 while still swimming in a pool of money as well. A $150 360 at base price with improved hard drive space (say 20gb flash built in vs 4gb) can do pretty well. They can also improve the elite's hard drive space to a half terrabyte and reduce the price by $50. There's plenty of price wars left for MS and Sony to do before this generation is over.

But then you DON'T launchin November, but rather right after E3 or so, so you can meet demand over the course of the year, and then you drop Halo 4 on people's heads in November.