Microsoft has pioneered the use of the standard line, “Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation,” but in a rare departure from that position Microsoft’s head of Corporate PR, David Dennis, sent out an Email saying that, “No new console will be shown at the L.A. show or anytime soon.” Dennis went on to add that, “While we appreciate all of the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon.”

The news squashed the expected counter to Nintendo’s Wii U. Instead, Microsoft claims they will be building upon the Xbox 360’s current momentum with Halo 4, Forza Horizon and new Kinect titles. All of this isn’t really what most gamers were hoping Microsoft would be talking about at the upcoming E3 event in LA.

We have noticed most of the job postings at Microsoft reference “next-gen” in the job descriptions. In addition, we continue to hear from sources in the development community that they have been briefed on codename “Durango,” which is believed to be the new Xbox 720 or Xbox Next, if you like.

Analysts that we have spoken with were surprised by the released statement by Microsoft PR. One analyst told us, “It sounds like they are trying to dub down expectations prior to E3, as they believe that they have enough in the pipeline and sales are good enough. Since Sony isn’t going to talk about PlayStation 4 and we are not feeling like the Wii U is a threat, we don’t need to talk about the 720 yet.”