I've been covering the topic of the next generation of consoles since I started writing about games and under a month from being four years later, the only new console that has been released was the Wii U just two months ago. Now, more information rumors are coming out about the next Xbox and next Playstation. We aren't even sure what they'll be named as the Japanese word for 'four' sounds very similar to the Japanese word for 'death' adding on to the Japanese superstition that using the number would kill off the brand entirely. The second Xbox was named Xbox 360 so what will be the name of the next one: Xbox 720, new Xbox, the Xbox, Microsoft's Durango or Xbox Revolution?

The point I'm trying to make is we don't know any official word but what we can guess on is the information that we have manufactured reported by the gaming media or industry insiders. As in one of my previous articles, I'd like to clarify that I indeed don't have any inside information from Microsoft or Sony in their impending console releases and this is pure speculation from the information that is readily available online, but as I follow many conspiracy theories, I'd rather find fact than guess upon fiction that is readily available in any game media's rumor section. Now that everything has been prefaced and clarified, I don't think the 'Playstation 4' will come out in 2013 for several different reasons which all of them include the concurrent success of the Playstation 3.

In inspiration for the editorial, IGN's Luke Karmali reported on the new Garnet Red and Azurite Blue Playstation 3 models that are due to come out in Japan this year. The red and blue console will be released on February 28th with a 250 giga-byte hard drive for ¥24,980, but other than that snippet of information, we know literally nothing on the new colored versions of the 2012 redesign. Who cares about a new redesign though? In December of 1994, the Playstation was released (model name PSX), but in the summer of 2000, the PSone was released (model name PS1) as in Spring 1999 the Playstation 2 was officially announced. Why am I bringing this all up though? Remodeling the current generation console before a new console has always been a way of reinvigorating the console market. As the next Playstation hasn't been announced, the obvious business move is to push off the impending console announcement which we already heard about from Sony SEO Kaz Hirai.

As reported on CVG yesterday, Kaz stated the following to The Times: "why go first when your competitors can look at your specifications and come up with something better?" Released on November 22nd 2005 in North America, the Xbox 360 was the second console to be released for its console generation. Released nearly a year later on the 11th of November 2006, the Playstation 3 finished by coming in as the last console to be released for the generation. Jokingly, Kaz said you'll need another job for the Playstation 3 as it released for a very expensive $499 for the 20 GB version. Sony obviously doesn't want to make that mistake again as the console didn't sell well until 2010. The next Playstation needs to make a profit from day one to make it worth Sony's time to even think about possibly making another after that for 2021. Waiting for Microsoft to release or announce information on their console will give the console engineers enough time to figure out how the next Playstation can be competitive against Microsoft's next Xbox.

As we know right now, there aren't many titles that have been announced for the fall so obviously there is an announcement impending currently, right? To wrap up what Kaz Hirai said with a quote from Podcast Beyond, I doubt it! Sony is waiting and will study Microsoft's next console before we see any real numbers or specifications for the next Playstation. Getting back to the point that I was setting up before though, the new models impede on manufacturing that could be spent on creating the next Sony console. Last year at the Tokyo Game Show (September 18th, 2012), a new slimmer PS3, coming in black & white, was unveiled and shocked the industry. Previously only available in Japan, the US Playstation Blog announced that the PS Plus bundle which included the white model using a 500 GB hard drive. Four months passed before that model was officially announced, so with the next paint job redesigns coming out in Japan in February, we might be able to expect them coming to the west in May at the earliest. With a new console on the way though, wouldn't you want to focus all manufacturing for the new console? Obviously not since the Playstation 3 still has some time to reign as king of the current console generation.

According to statistics from GamesIndustry.biz reported by IGN, the Playstation 3 has officially out shipped the Xbox 360 though the Microsoft console had an entire year in front of the current Sony platform. Unfortunately due to information not being given to the public about current sales within the games industry, we can't verify whether this is true or not as both outlets are given that information in confidence that it won't be published for public consumption. If this is true and the Playstation 3 still is growing in sales or at least achieving a certain profit percentage, why would Sony want to replace it with new hardware that might not be ready. Sony is going to take it's time by releasing a console without any major flaws why remaining marketable as many people still debate whether the world economy is going to double dip into another recession.

I've been studying the steady implications of why certain consoles do well over the last generation. From debunking made up rumors of the next Xbox being announced at CES 2012 to the future of home entertainment through consoles, I've given you advice on how to read rumor and editorial speculations such as this one, but remember the fact that the best rumors and speculations for the next Playstation are built off of facts. Sony won't release the Playstation 4 because they are not only waiting to see what Microsoft does before they release hardware but they are also waiting to create a marketable product to release with day one profits. To ignore those facts would be just ignorant.