Xbox 720 Release Date: Not June, But Later In The Year

A certain countdown timer posted on a Microsoft-affiliated website has many in the gaming industry excited. Many believe it has something to do with the Microsoft Xbox 720 - however contrary to some reports floating around the Internet, the day the countdown ends, June 11, is not the release date of Microsoft's next-gen console. 

Microsoft director of programming for Xbox Live Larry Hyrb recently put up a countdown timer on his website Major Nelson that expires on the day E3 2013 starts (June 11). While no clues were offered as to what the countdown pertains to, Hyrb did add the cryptic words "And it's on." Most of the money is on a new hardware announcement at E3 - probably he next-generation Xbox. 

Some websites around the web have taken to referring to June 11 as the Xbox 720 release date, which can be highly misleading. If anything, Microsoft will be unveiling the console, showing off some pretty demos, and maybe even giving some hands-on time to the press. Consumers from the general public will still have to wait until the holiday season of 2013 before they see the Xbox 720 on retail stores' shelves. 

An unconfirmed report from SemiAccurate states that Microsoft has started production of the Xbox 720's main chip. The same report also mentions that delays amounting to more than a few weeks could be a serious problem for Microsoft, and could push back the Xbox 720's release until 2014. Given this kind of tight production cycle, there's little chance Microsoft will be releasing the Xbox 720 in all its glory as soon as June. 

Of course, I could be completely wrong, and Microsoft reveals that it has already filled inventories worldwide on June, but that's highly unlikely given how we haven't even seen actual gameplay footage of a game running on the Xbox 720.

Nothing has been confirmed by Microsoft, but as of now, the Xbox 720 is tipped to come with Blu-Ray, a TV input, and Kinect 2.0. The system should also be sporting a serious RAM upgrade and some connectivity features that should make it more of a living room centerpiece. 

Sony's PlayStation 4 is expected to release around the same time as the Xbox  720. 

Which next-gen console has you most excited?