Video Games, Video Game Console | featured news

Microsoft Corp will unveil its much-anticipated next-generation Xbox on May 21 following months of speculation the company is gearing up to announce a new video game console this summer.

The next generation of Xbox could finally be announced this spring. On May 21, the company will forget about the troubled Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems and lavish a bit of attention on the Xbox, according to bloggers who cite sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

Software and tech hardware companies have to protect their secrets and shield their upcoming products from the prying eyes of competition right up to the day they choose to announce. In a multi-billion dollar industry like gaming, market players take this kind of thing seriously. Very seriously. An Australian hacker was visited by a handful of law enforcement officials this week on allegations that he’s been stealing intel about the not-yet-released new Xbox, a Microsoft product.

The PlayStation 4 will be released during the 2013 holiday season, which could mean Sony could release their newest console anywhere between mid November to December 31. But what's a console without games to play them on? Sony not only revealed some important facts (while leaving out a few) about the PS4, but also gave us a taste of games to come.

Sony has announced its next-generation gaming console - the PlayStation 4 - at an event in New York. Its new hardware is designed to offer superior graphics as well as new social features including the sharing of recorded gameplay clips. It will succeed the PlayStation 3, which went on sale in 2006 and has sold about 75 million units. The PS4 will eventually compete against Microsoft's still-to-be-unveiled Xbox 360 successor and Nintendo's Wii U.

Sony is to drop the price of the handheld PS Vita console ahead of an event expected to see the launch of the next PlayStation console.

After only selling 3.06 million units of the Wii U console through December 2012, Nintendo is cutting its sales projections for FY 2013 by 17 percent.

Nintendo’s Wii U sold more than 460,000 units in December — enough to outpace the sales of its predecessor but not enough to take the top spot in video-game console sales. The Wii U figures, released by Nintendo on Thursday night, are from the NPD Group’s December report on the video-game industry as a whole.

One reason some people waited in long lines to be the first to get the new Nintendo Wii U console has nothing to do with the games. With Wii U devices all but guaranteed to be sold out at retailers around the world this Christmas, some buyers immediately put their new consoles on Ebay. Wii Us are already selling for over $500 on the site. There were well over 2,500 consoles listed on the world’s largest auction site just hours after it went on sale on November 18 at the Nintendo World store in New York City and around the globe.

Nintendo's Wii U hits stores this weekend, testing the videogame giant's strategy of pushing pricey hardware in a videogame market increasingly geared toward mobile gadgets.