14 DAY TRIAL // Both Microsoft and Sony seem to be treating their motion tracking peripherals, Kinect and PlayStation Move, like actual new consoles, with statements revealing they will revitalize their platforms for the next five years and that the marketing push will be equal to that seen when the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 came out. But at least one video game executive believes the two companies and their main rival Nintendo must be working on actual next gen consoles to be shown off in less than two years.
Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, David Reeves, who is the Chief Operations Officer at Capcom Europe, stated, “All the first-parties have got to be working on something. The tricky thing is when do you put a stake in the ground on technology? That's the problem. You can be waiting a few extra months to implement something, but you've got to set a date to go with a certain chip at a certain point otherwise you're going to miss the key milestones.”
Reeves says he has no insider knowledge about what the big hardware makers are preparing for the future but his opinion carries weight because of his involvement with Sony. He adds that Capcom is ready to work with Kinect and PlayStation Move, delivering new gaming experiences using motion control, but that his company sees all of this as a “blip” before actual news starts coming out about the Xbox 720 and the PlayStation 4.
The strongest rumors at the moment are talking about Nintendo preparing a new Wii home console delivering High Definition graphics and better motion tracking. Sony seems content to fight for wider adoption of three dimensional video games in order to fulfill its concept of a ten-year life cycle for the PS3, while Microsoft will probably look for more integration of Kinect into the Xbox 360 experience.