According to a number of sources, several of the major developers now have teams in place that are focused on developing for the next Microsoft and Sony consoles. (We will just call them the 720 and PS4 for the time being!)

Developers working on developing for the 720 have apparently received specs to start coding to using “target boxes” that have been built to emulate the system’s projected specifications. These target boxes house components provided by Microsoft to allow development to start. Actual development kits for the 720 which will feature some sort of actual hardware are projected to arrive before the end of the year, or by the first or second week of the new year at the latest.

Talk continues of a major Sony-owned studio that has now shifted its entire focus and resources to development for the PS4. The same studio is also said to be involved in the development of the actual console and is apparently heavily involved in the development of the graphics technology that will be used in the PS4.

All this talk seems to confirm suspicions that Microsoft is planning a 720 launch in 2012, which is very bad news for Nintendo who is launching the Wii U. As for Sony, we think that they are preparing the PS4, but are not perhaps as far along yet, as they are eyeing a 2013 launch instead.