The countdown to E3 has begun on Microsoft’s Major Nelson gaming website. The E3 games expo will take place on 11th June 2013 in Los Angeles. Many tech news websites are assuming that the Major Nelson countdown is to build anticipation for the launch of the next generation Microsoft Xbox console.
The blog post on the Major Nelson website doesn’t really say very much at all, the whole of the content including the post title is “Countdown to E3 2013. And it’s on…” followed by the countdown timer widget/app, currently at 158 days and 15 hours. The post is concluded with a link to the E3 Expo home page.
Gaming news website MCV says that Microsoft had aimed to get a new console ready for E3 in 2012 but decided to wait another year due to the Xbox 360’s stellar sales performance, particularly in the North American market.
Nintendo’s next generation effort, the Wii U is already out and available to the masses and prices have already fallen quite a bit. The other console big gun, Sony, with its PlayStation series of consoles is also expected to release a next generation console in 2013.
June is a good time for a console unveiling, with the initial highest priced sales to new tech-crazy early adopters when the console is released in early autumn. Following this the manufacturers have enough time to judge the new console’s popularity and ramp up production just enough to maintain a little scarcity and keep prices high through the Christmas rush.
If Sony is launching its next generation console this year then it will want to aim for a similar schedule of launch and availability. In 2012 many people felt the Nintendo Wii U came a little late to market, at the end of November in the UK, and was marred by update problems and the lack of the appealing TVii service at launch time.
