Single console launch expected in 2013

Rumours have been flying around for months about next-gen consoles, but the chief executive of Gamestop says he only expects one new console to launch next year.

Paul Raines, boss of the most well-known gaming chains, says despite the rumours he doesn’t think two consoles will launch in 2013.

“This week, I’m getting a lot of rumours that are very interesting about 2013," he says.

"We have not been expecting two more consoles in 2013.”

The release of the Wii U is already an established fact, but the official launches of the Playstation 4 and Xbox 720 are both very much up in the air.

“We’re expecting Wii U this holiday, another one next year, and another one in ’14," Raines says.

"These rumours change every week, but we’re hearing more about next year."

But past events show that Microsoft is quicker off the mark than Sony, as the Xbox 260 launched an entire year before the PS3.

Late last year however, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe chief executive Jim Ryan said Sony “would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition.”

Of course, they managed to put a nicer spin on this when Sony America boss Jack Tretton spoke to computerandvideogames.com in June.

“We’ve never been first, we’ve never been cheapest, it’s about being best," he says.

"And I think if you can build a better machine and it’s going to come out a little bit later, that’s better than rushing something to market that’s going to run out of gas for the long-term.”

It’s words like that which make the 2014 date seem a little more believable, but nothing is set in stone just yet – so which will release first?

Let us know who you think will bring next-generation consoles to the market first.