Microsoft Xbox Live official and guru, Major Nelson, has recently announced the reveal date for the Xbox 720 on his blog. While this doesn’t necessarily confirm or deny any of the rumours that have been doing the rounds online, including the name for the new next generation games console, it does give us a date in the not so distant future to aim for for the truth.
The reveal date will be the 21st May 2013, so it really won’t be long before we know it all. With the PS4 reveal feeling like a minor blip in the annals of computer games history and the Nintendo Wii U impressing more and more every day there’s a huge opportunity for the next Microsoft console to take chunks out of the Sony serious gaming marketplace and fight back against the might of the Wii U. It just needs to bring something new and impressive to the table while quashing the more negative rumours that have been surfacing about the 720, and it should be in with a shout.
Whether or not it will feature a built in, and much improved, Kinect motion sensor control system or whether it allows second hand games sales will be key to its success. The reality of the situation will have a big impact on the entire computer games industry, so the 21st of May will have repercussions for video game fans everywhere. If the Xbox 720 comes out with a super slick Kinect package that becomes a significant USP, Sony and Nintendo will need to react. Similarly, if games will be matched to a single console, blocking the resale of second hand games, it’ll be up to Sony and Nintendo to decide whether or not to follow suit or use this as their own unique selling point.
While it has slightly less impact on the games industry as a whole, there’s a lot riding on the rumour that the Xbox 720 will feature always connected technology. A lot of Xbox gamers have already vented their annoyance and confusion about this online, so it could be one of the big success factors of the next gen games console.
The mark the big reveal date Microsoft will be holding a massive press event to make the announcement. This will all be streamed live on the Xbox.com website, as well as on Xbox Live, so you’ll be able to watch the events yourself as they unfold. The event promises to share the overarching vision for the future of the console, but Microsoft have confirmed that we’ll have to wait until E3 before we get an in depth preview of the games that they’ve got coming out for the 720.
If you’re planning on watching the live reveal day stream, things are set to kick off at 17:00 GMT, but you’ll be able to get a summary of the details here on Tuppence Magazine from the 22nd onwards. Although, in all fairness, we’ve still got our fingers crossed for Sega to throw it’s hat back into the ring 🙂
However, there’s a note of caution to throw into the mix in that the reveal day may not actually include launch date information, so speculation could still be high even after the 21st. The PS4 was announced last month without an official launch date, so you should probably gear yourself up for Xbox to do something similar. However, if your looking for something to hang your hat on, big game released like Watch_Dogs would seem to point to either October or November, so get set for a manic Autumn.
