A new era of gaming begins this fall, but for now the Xbox 360 dynasty continues to tighten its grip on consumers as Microsoft's console dominates the living rooms of almost half of all console owners, according to the NPD Group's January report. While the aged system enters the twilight of its life cycle, strong sales momentum in 2013's virgin month propel the brand forward. Microsoft's own press release boasts that the system remains the "top-selling console in the region" for the twenty-fifth month in a row, and spurred 281,000 unit sales in January. GameSpot reports that monthly sales from the same time last year jumped nearly 17,000 units.
Looking forward, no concrete word about the Xbox 720 has leaked, but attentive gamers expect an announcement at Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference. Sony plans to strike pre-emptively with a Feb. 20 announcement of its own, resurgent from their relative marketplace defeat over the past several years. The once dominant titan gave the 360 a year-long head start before launching the PS3, a fatal mistake that Sony will not likely make again.
"Whatever gets announced on February 20th, the majority of consumers in the UK won't know," Xbox Regional Director Jonathan Grimes told MCV in an interview. "They'll still want to buy the devices out there. So in terms of noise our job will be to ensure that the consumers that are going into stores, going online, still see and experience Xbox, rather than get lost in the industry chatter. Whatever is announced is important from an industry perspective, but we must remember who is buying right now."
Talk of the PS4 has kept the industry on edge since the press event was announced last week. Leaked pictures of the next-gen console's controller have emerged the past few days, and set the internet ablaze with speculation. Microsoft must produce some industry chatter of their own to subdue excitement for the PS4.