Forget E3 in June; both Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation games consoles could be set for their respective first reveals in March, according to a new report.
Game Informer magazine reports that both companies will reveal their consoles for the very first time at “special Apple-style press conferences near the Game Developers Conference in late March.” This doesn’t sound like an official public launch, although if true, it would truly tee up a showdown between the two gaming giants at the annual E3 event in Los Angeles.
The magazine also reckons that Sony is very keen to not let Microsoft get a head start like it did with the Xbox 360, which launched almost a year ahead of the PlayStation 3. Both companies want to give their new consoles the full limelight at events ahead of E3, though there will be some surprises kept for the world’s biggest gaming expo.
“We hear that Sony in particular is determined not to come out last this time like the PlayStation 3 did this generation,” says Game Informer. “We’ll have to see how soon it can get the PlayStation 4 out the door, and whether Microsoft is motivated to prevent this from happening.”
Furthermore, a recent interview with Hiroshi Sakamoto, Sony’s vice president of Home Entertainment, revealed that the company seems to be itching to reveal what it’s been working on.
“I can only say that we are focused on the E3 gaming event, scheduled for June. [The] announcement may be in that minute or even earlier in May. In that time we expect to deliver great news, but we must wait until May at least.”
It’s beginning to look more and more plausible that we’ll start to see the first official details of Sony’s new console in the first half of this year, and probably Microsoft’s, too.