Ubisoft have waded in to the whole “when’s the next-gen coming?” conversation by suggesting that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will be releasing new consoles within the next two to three years.
Murray Pannel, Ubisoft UK’s head of marketing told Eurogamer: “There’s absolutely some amazing product coming. The new hardware, if it’s not new platforms coming, the things like Move, Kinect, 3DS, these will all reinvigorate the market.”
“And I do see in the next 12 months if not growth then stabilisation, before what I assume to be a new transition into new consoles probably in the next two to three years.”
However, Pannel also believes that current-gen is far from played-out. “It’s difficult to say what’s coming next, because we’re not with Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft. But there’s still life in all those machines,” he said.
“I genuinely think games can get better. Experiences can get more rich and varied, and the new platforms, Kinect and Move, can help enhance that, certainly.”
Pannel continued, “It would be nice [for the first parties to start talking about new hardware], I don’t think it’s a requirement right here, right now, because there’s enough new tech coming to the market.”
“I would love to see new technology coming. I’m a tech guy and I’m a gamer. But I think in the broader mainstream audience, it’s probably not necessary until there’s more to show on that stuff.”
As for the platform holders themselves, mixed messages are emerging. Microsoft, for their part, believe that Kinect will add 5 years to the Xbox 360’s life-cycle, Sony believe Nintendo and Microsoft will “move first” on releasing a new console, and Nintendo? They are just too busy releasing new DSs and counting the Yen.
