Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo consoles face crunch time

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The rumours are everywhere and, despite silence from Sony and Microsoft, they are gaining traction.With the Xbox 360 now a stately seven years old and PlayStation 3 pushing six, it seems a new console generation is on the horizon. An announcement from one of the two manufacturers is expected at the gigantic E3 exhibition in Los Angeles in June.But 2012 is already looking as if it will be an extraordinarily busy year for games. Sony will launch its Vita handheld console in the UK in February. The sleek high-end device features a 127mm (5in) OLED display, innovative rear-mounted touch panel, twin analogue controls and Wi-Fi internet access.Titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss, LittleBigPlanet, Escape Plan and Little Deviants suggest an interesting gaming experience, but the question is whether consumers will buy a new dedicated gaming machine with smartphones eating into the market.Nintendo is also lining up its Wii U console for release later in the year. Featuring a tablet-style <a href="http://www.louisvuittonoutletstoresonlines.com"><strong>L ouis Vuitton Outlet Store Online</strong></a> controller with its own screen, the machine promises some intriguing new gameplay concepts, but it is still underpowered compared with the PS3 and Xbox 360. The announced games – including new versions of puzzler Pikmin and fighting game Super Smash Brothers – have hardly set the universe alight.Elsewhere, it looks like industry upstart Rockstar could be dominating the charts this year. March sees the launch of its gritty shooter Max Payne 3, sporting ludicrously balletic shootouts and sophisticated character animation. But the big news is the return of Grand Theft Auto. Set in a Hollywood-style city of fame-hungry wannabes and retired criminals, GTA V looks like another huge sleazy thrill ride. An autumn release is possible, but it would be wrong to assume anything with this company.Sequels will do huge business as usual – and it is very much a year of threes. Sci-fi adventure Mass Effect 3, sword-and-sorcery romp Diablo III and jungle shooter Far Cry 3 should all do good business.Publishers are also keen to bring back franchises that have enjoyed long breaks. Square Enix has its promising reboot of Tomb Raider arriving in the autumn, featuring a teenage Lara Croft fighting for her life <a href="http://www.buylouisvuittonoutletonline.com"><strong>Louis Vuitton Online</strong></a> on a deadly island.The same publisher is also exhuming its bald contract killer, Agent 47, for new stealth game Hitman: Absolution.It could be that the most creative, thought-provoking comeback will be Bioshock: Infinite, a steam-punk historical fantasy set upon a floating city.Luckily, a few original titles are expected in the coming months. The downloadable PS3 title Journey promises an adventure set in a mysterious desert where gamers must form co-operative relationships with anonymous players. Then there's the open-world stealth shooter Dishonored, from Lyon-based Arkane Studios, which mixes weird gothic machinery with rusted industrial cityscapes.And Gears of War creator Epic Studios announced in December its plan to launch Fortnite, a post-apocalyptic strategy game in which you build a fortress then defend it against hordes of zombies. Yes, zombies will be back again in 2012. Some things never change.But the big question remains what will those new Sony and Microsoft consoles look like? One guess is that they will resemble tablet PCs, designed to fit into a world where consumers want to take their favourite games, music and movies with them wherever they go.But with the coming rise of smart TVs complete with built-in computer chips, and the growing power of smartphones and tablets, is there still a place for any sort of dedicated game platforms? It could be that <a href="http://www.louisvuittonukhandbagsuk.com"><strong>Louis Vuitton UK</strong></a> 2012 will set the terms of the coming conflict.