The Xbox 360 enjoyed some impressive sales figures during the all-important Black Friday week, with 750,000 consoles flying off shelves, along with a 50% increase in the number of Xbox LIVE subscriptions sold, compared with the same period last year. The continuing success of the console is all the more notable when you consider that it's no spring chicken, but whispers of its replacement - often dubbed the 'Xbox 720' - have been circulating for some time now.
Bloomberg is the latest to serve up a dish of hearsay, having spoken with "people familiar with the company's plans" for the next-generation console. According to their sources, Microsoft's roadmap sees the new Xbox scheduled for launch ahead of next year's holiday season. Frankly, that's not too much of a surprise, and certainly lines up with what we've been hearing, but it's always good to hear this stuff coming from more sources.
Given how well the Xbox 360 has been performing in sales - outselling its Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii rivals almost every month for the last two years, and even outselling the brand new Wii U over the last week - it's hard to imagine the new Xbox being anything other than a massive success when it launches next year.
Microsoft's Xbox plans extend beyond just a new console, of course; the company is also expected to begin selling its new non-gaming 'Xbox TV' set-top box, designed around Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment offerings, at the same time.
Both the new Xbox console and Xbox TV are expected to make their first appearance in the middle of next year; some reports suggest that they may debut at E3 in June, but Bloomberg says that Microsoft is still deciding whether or not to hold its own standalone event to announce the two new devices.
And don't forget, if all that wasn't enough, there's also the Xbox Surface 7-inch gaming tablet to look forward to!
13 Comments - Add comment