With the buzz of CES come and gone, we can now shift our focus past Valve living-room PCs and onto the ever elusive upcoming generation console race. With development kits already dispatched for the supposed Xbox 720 and PS4, there's no denying that we will eventually see these machines on the market. The question for many however, is when will this stuff come out, and how much is it going to set me back. You may be surprised to hear what Robert W. Baird has to say.

Before we get into any secondary speculation, let's first comment on the issue of price. This is certainly a very important issue for gamers when picking up new systems. After all, we saw how that $599 price tag for the PS3 left it staggering in its early months, so will we see Sony makes the same mistake twice? According to Baird it doesn't seem likely. In fact he predicts that both the 720 and PS4 could start anywhere from $350 to $400.  The lower estimate would place the consoles right on par with Nintendo's main offering of the Wii U deluxe bundle placing the company slightly outside their typical lower price strategy. In addition to this, it is also said that both Sony and Microsoft's offerings will be made public prior to E3 in June with the major conference being dedicated entirely to hype instead.

Now comes the question of when. As many have previously guessed, it seems a November launch looks pretty good to give the Wii U fellas a year's head start, not to mention dominate our holiday shopping lists. I would start saving now if I were you! As far as other details go, Baird also thinks both systems will use off the shelf high end PC parts to make things easier on developers. There will also be a hybrid digital and physical distribution model with emphasis on new industry trends like free-to-play and subscriptions. There is also mention that all of this might mean a bit of an uphill battle for the Wii U. Anyone else excited as I am for new consoles?

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