CES 2012 has begun and the rumors of Microsoft announcing the cleverly titled project name ‘NextBox’ were false. What a shocker, right? Wrong. These days, bloggers from top gaming websites to the lowliest Blogger page create rumors that have no credibility; simply to create traffic back to their blog (or for the ‘lolz’).
Patrick Garrat of VG247 breaks down the ‘next generation of consoles’ rumors better than I could, as I’ve only been following the industry as a writer since the inception of the current generation. As Patrick put it; video games were just a hobby for me, and now they are potentially going to help lead my career. Looking at all the rumors that have already come out for the ‘Xbox 720′ and ‘PS4′ has made me very jaded for the announcements that are rumored to occur this year.
The fact of the matter is this: these announcements for the next Xbox and Playstation won’t happen this year, as Patrick clearly states in his piece. While both Microsoft’s and Sony’s respective consoles are on the second half of their life cycle; their consoles are still strong, and in my opinion will continue to grow through the second quarter of 2013 at least.
Last November, Xboygen rumored that Microsoft would make the CES 2012 Keynote announcement for the ‘NextBox’ and I speculated by simply saying this: “the likelihood for a Microsoft announcement for their next home console is near impossible”. To create false rumors, you have to imagine what a CEO would see best for the future of the games division at Microsoft. Through studying the stocks and seeing how well Microsoft Games Studio is set to do for 2012 without a new console, you’ll understand that a new console announcement would only hurt the corporation as a whole.
As for Sony, the Playstation 4 has been rumored for announcement since 2010. GamesRadar embedded what was originally thought to be a teaser for the next Sony console but was actually devised by fans of the Playstation franchise. Rumored within the last week, MCV says they have informants from both Sony and Microsoft stating that both companies are going to reveal their next consoles during E3 2012.
Just stop for a second; think before you write. Even if you do have exclusive information on consoles that are due to be announced, companies can pull back their announcements at any time if they see it isn’t feasible for the corporation, making you–as a source–look illegitimate for now-untrue rumors.
I’d tell you guys to not believe the hype, but everyone has a different level of trust in different writers and organizations. As for me, I’ll stick with waiting until something more concrete is shown for the future consoles. Don’t automatically read rumors and believe them as facts; as they move through the internet ‘telephone’ style, you never know what the actual truth may be.
