The Glade 4.0

If you're still wondering when Microsoft will release the next Xbox, Bloomberg today joined the line of news organizations saying that it's coming next year.

Bloomberg's sources said the new console will launch during the 2013 holiday season, and Microsoft still is deciding whether to unveil it at the E3 conference in June or a separate event.

The console will surely be on sale in time for Black Friday 2013, so you might want to set up the lawn chairs outside Best Buy pretty soon.

Last summer, a Microsoft roadmap leaked, revealing that the console is coming in 2013 and will have additional TV capabilities, including the ability to handle broadcast TV, Blu-ray discs and 3-D output. Content on the console may be synchronized with phones, tablets or PCs in the home, extending the capabilities of the current SmartGlass system.

The slide deck outlining the roadmap may be outdated, but it said the 2013 launch price will be $299, including the next version of Kinect, which will have a high definition camera and track four players at once.

The document indicated Microsoft is designing a console with six to eight CPU cores that's intended to be left always on, like a DVR or media server. It's also designed to be silent, which would be a big improvement for the Xbox.

Microsoft's plans also take into account expectations that Sony will release the PlayStation 4 console for 2013 holiday sales. The PS4 could be revealed as soon as January, when Sony will be a headliner at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, developers are working on major new titles for the Xbox in 2013, such as Bungie's "Destiny."

A lawsuit in May revealed that "Destiny" was coming in the fall of 2013 and was aimed at Microsoft's next Xbox.

Gaming site Kotaku reported in February that the Xbox 720 is code-named "Durango," so perhaps the launch will be in Colorado.

A leak to game site IGN provided an early glimpse of the hugely anticipated video game that Bellevue studio Bungie has been building since it split from Microsoft in 2007.

Bungie acknowledged the leak by posting a screenshot of its ambitious sci-fi action game, which is likely to formally surface next year.

Bungie created the "Halo" franchise that helped establish the Xbox and went on to generate more than $3 billion in sales. The market for action games is more competitive now but "Destiny" will be a first-tier franchise that could join the $1 billion club with "Halo" and "Call of Duty."

IGN's report said the game is set 700 years in the future, in a universe with a massive alien ship hovering overhead. Players are knights, defending Earth and its last city from alien monsters.

The report was based on a document prepared by Bungie's advertising agency, which apparently left the slide deck in a Los Angeles coffee shop. IGN's story said Bungie is working "to create a universe as deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise."



Activision is publishing the game that's expected to run on the Xbox and PlayStation platforms.

Depending on when it's released, it could be a cornerstone franchise for the next versions of the consoles that may arrive next year.

In comic strips the person on the left always speaks first. - George Carlin