Amazon.co.uk taking preorders for next-gen consoles

The American Amazon.com often offers items for preorder long before their release date has been set, letting users enter their e-mail address to be notified when--or, in some cases, if--the item in question will ship. However, it has nothing on its British counterpart--especially when it comes to jumping the gun on game platforms.

Case in point: Amazon.co.uk is already taking preorders for not one, not two, but all three next-generation game consoles. No release date or price is listed on any of the pages, which feature only placeholder art of a generic console silhouette. Each page also contains speculative information under the disclaimer "Confirmed details of the [insert console name here] have not yet been released by [insert console maker name here]. The information below is therefore subject to change."

While totally speculative, each Amazon.co.uk product page does feature a handy roundup of rumors about each next-gen console. For instance, the page for the "Xbox 2/Xbox 360," which is widely assumed to be the first console to ship, speculates that it will have three 3GHz PowerPC processors, a 500MHz graphics card, and an optional external hard drive, and it will come in at least two models. It also mentions that the launch lineup might include Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Dead or Alive 4.

The PlayStation 3 page begins by admitting there's "little concrete information" about the console. But that doesn't stop Amazon.co.uk from claiming that the machine will be "orders of magnitude more powerful" than current consoles--or even its next-gen rivals. The site also makes the not-so-daring assertion that the Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, and Grand Theft Auto series will make it to the platform. Finally, Amazon.co.uk predicts that the PS3 will launch in spring 2006 in Japan and will likely not make it to Europe until Christmas of that year.

As for the Revolution, Amazon.co.uk mentions the rumors that its controls will be wireless, possibly buttonless, and may also include gyroscopes. It also goes over the talking points of Satoru Iwata's Game Developers Conference keynote address, including the console's wireless networking and backward compatibility.