Electronic Arts has strongly dismissed claims that its internal development teams are already working with the hardware that will become Microsoft's successor to the Xbox 360.

A report from respected industry publication Develop on Friday suggested that EA has been given the kit by MS, inside a PC shell.

However, EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told IndustryGamers: "This story is a total fabrication - 100 percent not true."

Develop reported that "a senior, trusted, well-placed" source said EA was working with a "very early build" of the console "with no casing", in order to ensure it could have games to launch on the system on day one.

The source suggested that Microsoft was readying a shock announcement for the hardware at E3, to rival the unveiling of Nintendo's new console, currently dubbed Project Cafe.

"Quite often when new consoles come around they're packaged into a PC shell, but actually what's inside is an entirely new console," the source said.

"Why let Nintendo steal the thunder in June [At E3]? It doesn't want to lose momentum. That's why I think Microsoft is rushing to make an announcement at E3."

Develop's informant said Microsoft was pushing ahead for a 2012 launch for the new console.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/30 ... velopment/

Thoughts? It would be funny if it were true now

I recon it'll be 2015 at least until we see a new Xbox.

There is probably a lot of life left in the 360 console still. The Kinetic only came out last year so that has a lot more socope, maybe they will make the new console Kinetic compatible which will make a lot of sense.

I can't see why MS would spend millions on a new console at a time when fewer people have enough disposable income to get one. Maybe in a few years the global economy will have picked up and people will feel able to splash the cash again.

That makes sense. Plus with cloud gaming will they release another console? They might not have anything significant to for the next E3. Microsoft are big enough to have something else in the wings.

Incidentally, what's happened to the Kinect games. Seems like there was a small glut of games at launch and now not so much.

I have not followed what has been going on. I would check the state of the Kinetic games segment before I bought a Kinetic add-on. I would imagine that many are waiting to see how the market develops before diving in and developing games for the device. I would imagine that they would be more expensive to develop.