and Son isn't??

or  are you apart of the "they are can no afford to" group

SONY HAS TO BRING NEXT GEN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AS FOR PS3 IT WILL BE ON THE MARKET AS THE PS2 STILL IS.

The PS-Vita was initially announced January 27, 2011 and was then released on December 17, 2011 ...

At this point in time I wouldn't completely count out Sony announcing the PS4 early in the year, giving out (mostly) technical details at GDC in March, having it on display for the first time at E3 in June, showing off the launch line-up at Eurocom in August, announcing the price and release date at TGS in September, and releasing it in November/December.

I'm not convinced (much) more than a few months warning is necessary in the modern world, or actually helps the system. Back when gaming news was reported through paper magazines and there were only a couple of conferences a year you had to make a huge splash at several of these conferences for anyone to know about your system; but with the internet you can release information on an arbitrary tuesday in the middle of the year and (most) of the gamers you're targeting will know about it immediately.

I never really believed the NextBox and PS4 to be coming in 2013. It would just be a horrible idea. Just because WiiU is coming means nothing because that console is basically just playing catch up with HD. Sony is bleeding money everywhere and needs this gen to last a bit longer. MS is not really in a whole lot better position as they have not been as profitable as they suspected.

I am almost positive the "secret meeting" Sony and MS had a few months ago was basically making a pact that they would not release new consoles next year as it would just hurt the industry even more. We all need this generation to last a lot longer, shit even another 2 years because it took so long for this gen to take off. If HD development is still too expensive now, what the hell is it going to be like when the PS4 comes out?

Also the last thing Sony needs is to have a new console gen stepping on the toes of all their new titles they will be releasing on PS3 come next year and beyond.

TWO MORE YEARS!!! TWO MORE YEARS!!!

Im not a part of any group.

MS will have the more powerful console, that is all.

1.  The VITA is not a home console

2.  The VITA had almost a year from announcement to release

3.  The VITA is failing badly atm.

honestly, HappySqurriel,  seeing how poignant point #3 is....

Your point of example (VITA example) seems pretty poor in retrospect.

The vita isn't failing because Sony didn't announce it earlier or release it later, it is failing because it is an over-priced system that is designed to sell to a very small market (the people who want "home console" experiences on the go).

Regardless of whether the Vita is successful or not, the point is that Sony doesn't have any strict rules about how far in advance to announce a system prior to releasing it. While I wouldn't expect Sony to announce the PS4 at E3 and release it at the end of the year, announcing it between TGS 2012 and GDC 2013 would be completely in line with their most recent system release.

@persistanthug

I will keep it real simple for you. This time I will go chronological rather then prioritizing the response.

Microsoft shutting down under performing studios is proof of nothing. If the games those studios make suck then it stands to reason that there is no reason to maintain the studios. Just like it doesn't make sense to keep churning out installments of series that even though profitable aren't necessarily helping the platform, or furthering long term goals. Closing a studio doesn't necessarily mean that Microsoft fires everyone. Usually it means Microsoft is just moving the talent around.

Your seriously bemoaning Rare. The studio had a long string of failures in core gaming, and wasn't particularly all that appreciated by the rank and file of console owners. Microsoft didn't have anything to lose, by having them work far afield, and they would be fucking stupid to have them come back now. Since they found success out where they put them. I doubt the employees at Rare would protest too much for that matter. This isn't a great big loss, and nobody feels the least bit deprived.

On a side note it is funny that you mentioned closed studios, but are mum about all the studios that Microsoft has opened, or acquired in the past couple years. Microsoft now has twenty game development studios. They only have five studios that aren't specifically focused on games. Yeah kind of puts your media box argument to rest, but it isn't like you should have made it in the first place. Everyone knows that the patches for Live that allow it to connect to already existing services outside of Live are puny when compared to the size of actual games.

You shouldn't confuse public presentations with where the money is actually being spent. Oh my god they talked up their Kinect device to sell casual players on the machine. How dare they not spend time on courting the large contingent of hardcore players that hadn't already bought into the machine. On wait silly me. They don't fucking exist. So what if they aren't lavishing the attention. They are still pumping out the games. New and bad studios taking up the task of developing for the device isn't really sweat off of my balls.

With all your talk you would think that Microsoft had no plans to release core games next generation. Oh wait I am looking at the list of studios. It looks like Microsoft will have more core studios next generation then it ever had this generation. How could that be with their new casual focus. Here is an idea maybe Microsoft just maybe is actually more competent then Sony or Nintendo. Maybe they can I don't know balance both audiences you know without failing one at the expense of the other. I hear Nintendo is going to try something similar.

Seriously Nintendo is taken seriously, and they have made it clear that what they did was really fucking dumb in the long run. Casuals might buy machines, but they are lousy when it comes to buying games. Something tells me that Microsoft has more then a five minute attention span. They aren't going to make more games then the casual market can support, or produce so few games for the core that demand will not be met.

That sign of yours points in one direction. Specifically to the fact that Microsoft has a surprising capacity for being self indulgent. Microsoft has no problem whatsoever with fleecing fools. It is the same reason they sell me a two month gold plan for two dollars. It is an excuse for them to turn my auto renewal back on, and sign me up for a monthly plan that costs me ten dollars a month. Unless I remember to turn that auto renewal back off. They are banking on me forgetting to do it just once so they can take my ass to the cleaners. Your evidence is exactly what now.

As for guaranteed I certainly never said that, but I think the odds are somewhat better then a fifty fifty shot. There is a problem that Microsoft has that Sony doesn't have. Namely the fact that the 360 is further along in its lifespan which is a finite thing. Eventually the 360 must succumb to sales degradation, and once that happens Microsoft is going to start losing brand momentum. Microsoft has to get there sooner rather then later. Nintendo with its new hardware isn't going to help, and neither is market saturation.

There is a rule in business. It costs much less to keep a customer then it is to get a new customer. It costs more money to sell someone on a product then it costs to keep a current customer buying the product. Microsoft cannot want sales to stall, and to end up having to spend millions, or even billions rebuilding the brand loyalty that they have right now.

As for your last statement. I hate to tell you this, but Sony has been known to lie. Not just lie, but do so blatantly. This is the company that had top members of management denying a price cut was going to happen for the PS3 all of a day before it was announced publicly at E3. Hell we had circulars advertising the price for god sakes. That didn't phase them at all. So forgive me if they have no credibility as far as I am concerned.

While there is a popular assumption that "casual gamers don't buy games" I'm not sure it really stands up ...

For every Wii system sold there are (roughly) 10 games that were sold, and this would work out to being at least 3 games being sold per system per year (after all, not all systems were sold on day 1). For a system that had such a "casual" userbase, had such widespread piracy, and with a library full of little games that were likely undertracked, it is hard to say that the "casuals" weren't buying much software.

Microsoft's lack of success with selling Kinect software has more to do with the quality of Kinect software than the buying habits of "casual" gamers.

I completely agree, there is no need for the year and half announcement to your product. They could do exactly  what squirrel has said. Business is not the same as it used to be. THings move at the speed of light. Think how much has changed since ps3 and 360 launched.  There is no need to have this much time. I actually think MS will do exactly as squirrel has said, with sony not far behind.