No, they don't need to. But being ahead in business means being ready before you need to be. Being aggressive got them toe to toe with the mighty PS brand. Now that they're not so far behind, the might want to use it to their advantage again.

It's actually pretty amazing that the 360 keeps up so well technically even today. PS3 just never quite turned out clearly superior . Just that fact alone makes me think that; even if MS releases a console before the other companies, then it won't be outdated before the others - I might as well jump in.

X360 didn't sell better EVERY year... it dipped in 2009 (10.14m) vs 2008 (10.89m). 2010 (13.61m) saw a solid increase due to introduction of Kinect and a casual push combined with a good price cut that year. 2011 is looking to be less than 2010 (currently at just over 8m) and that all points to a high possibility of another early in the year price cut to drive sales.

Additionally, this does nothing to promote any real reason MS has to launch in 2013 vs 2012. It makes more sense to launch when 360 is popular than when its a has been.

A new Kinect, Win8 base, cheap 360, and good software support from enahanced ps360 games combined with a few exclusives means a solid launch effort.

I also think MS will want to be right along side a new Nintendo console far more than a year late with a new Sony console.

True that, after the not so sucesfull Xbox (Which I loved though), they did manage to turn things in their favour with the 360, we'll see if they're going to capatalize on this again  soon enough I suppose.

PS3 put it's money on the wrong horse in terms of technology, instead of the Cell proccesor, they should have spend the money on a more capable GPU & more RAM. Simply put, having a CPU with horse power ready for 2011 means nothing if you have an underpowered GPU, and the CPU is just ridiculously difficult to program for in relative terms. :)

And going by current rumours it's likely that the Wii U is going to be less powerfull than the Xbox "720", so the only thing Microsoft might have to worry about there is the PS4, but I'm not sure wheter Sony is again willing to lose a extreme amount of money on their new console, definitely not at the moment, they're not doing well.

I still expect to hear the first rumblings - at least some kind of target render of a popular franchise - at E3 2012.

The 360 current sales are 9.6mil, or if we go by shipments which can't possibly be adjusted have shipped 6.8mil this year by september compared to 5.8mil by september 2010. Considering it is currently outselling 360 from last year, yes, most likely this will be its best year ever.

It is entirely possible that microsoft pulls a sony and launches their nextbox despite strong 360 sales and with the 360 getting a big exclusive next year. The PS2 got god of war 2 and final fantasy xii after or alongside the ps3 launch. But the ps3 has been a disaster for sony, so I somewhat doubt they will try to emulate them.

Also your last comment makes it seem like you just want the nextbox to launch at 2012, which I'm honestly not sure why. Sony reps have said multiple times they want the ps4 to launch alongisde the nextbox. Microsoft has never said they want the nextbox to launch alongside the wiiU. The nextbox and ps3 are far more likely to launch alongside each other then the wiiu and nextbox, so if you think currently known info makes it likely that the nextbox will launch in 2012 to compete with the WiiU, then currently known info also means the ps4 will very likely end up launching in 2012 to compete with the nextbox. Again you are simply assuming microsoft's intentions, while sony's intentions have been stated by sony reps themselves.

So basically either all three consoles come out holiday 2012, or wii u comes out next year and nextbox/ps3 come out 2013.

You are right that we are both inferring our own ideas while nothing concrete is out.

Difference is, you are making your assumptions based on SONY claims while I am making mine based on market conditions and MS past actions.

MS desperately wanted to be first last gen with the sole purpose of getting 10m units shipped before others launched. They did that and have thus allowed the 360 to remain ahead of PS3 (so far), highly profitable, and leagues better than what the xbox did.

Why would they not want to try and do that exact same thing without the RROD issues?

Even though many like to assume Nintendo is not a competitor to Sony or MS, I gurantee you that MS and Sony see them as a big threat; especially when the Wii still outsold them by a very large margin.

MS won't care if Sony wants to launch when MS does, they will launch with they feel its the best competitive thing they can do to not only retain their marketshare but grow on it, if possible. That means they'll desire to be ahead of Sony and Nintendo again if possible. Since we all know exactly when WiiU is launching (2012), MS will want to make sure it is as close to that as possible so that Nintendo can't gain any long term effects from the early launch.

They also know that Sony probably doesn't want to nor is ready to launch that early, so a 2012 launch has the best competitive advantage vs both of its competitors.

They are also fully ready for such a launch. The software is ready as its obvsiously going to be win8 based as that aligns it with all of MS's other products for best integration. This article and others support that the hardware is essentially ready for full production very soon.

Games surely have already been in some form of production as there are plenty of rumors since before last E3. Additionally, games like Battlefield 3 that have a significant difference between PS360 and high-end PCs are definitely going to happen on WiiU and the first couple years of the next generation.

There are more reasons to launch in 2012 that to wait for 2013 and nothing from logistics to make it impossible.

360 will still continue to sale and be profitable for years after neXtBox launches, regardless if that is 2012 or 2013. Halo4 will still sell 10m regardless if fans are also buying new hardware to play a slightly enhanced version of that game.