Is it, or is it not happening? We’ve been hearing for ages now how Microsoft and Sony would be debuting their next-gen consoles at E3 this year. Sony recently came out saying that they had no plans of showing of the next PlayStation this year, saying “I don’t think we’re contemplating talking about anything to do with future console iterations at this point…” Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time Sony’s…embellished a little when it’s come to E3 announcements.

Microsoft’s now said it won’t be revealing its next Xbox at E3 either.

Speaking to Gamespot at CES, Microsoft’s senior director of marketing and PR Jose Pinero said, quite plainly:

"At the moment we have nothing to announce," adding that “What we have seen with the Xbox 360 is that the Kinect has extended the life of the console.”

“Historically in the 6th or 7th year console sales start flattening or going down because it’s kind of the end of life,” Pinero explained.  “With us launching Kinect a little bit over a year ago, what we saw was a resurgence with Xbox 360.  It makes 360 a brand new console if you think about Kinect and you think about the new dashboard and the new UI that we launched this past November.  It’s like having a brand new console”

If that’s Microsoft’s corporate attitude towards the 360, then it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing a new Xbox this year, or even in 2013.

“We want that box to be the ultimate entertainment device in your house, giving you games, movies, TV shows, music, sports, and all kinds of entertainment.  So I think there’s a lot more that we’ll see on Xbox 360," Pinero concluded.

What do you think? Will Sony and Microsoft spring a pleasant surprise on us, or are we set for one of the most boring E3’s in recent memory?