Microsoft's Third Xbox to be Unveiled in 24 Hours

In roughly 24 hours, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will hold a press conference to unveil the first tease of the company's third game console.

Commonly referred to as "Xbox 720" or "Xbox Next," the new console is rumored to be called "Xbox Fusion" or "Xbox Infinity."

Microsoft will introduce the console live on television via Spike TV at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET tomorrow. The event will also be streamed through Xbox Live and a number of websites, including Xbox.com.

Xbox was not the first game console to debut this year -- nor was it the first to get its own TV special. In February, Sony (NYSE: SNE) unveiled the fourth PlayStation to more than eight million viewers. The debut trailer received more than 26 million views on YouTube -- more than any other ad in February.

On March 11 (roughly two and a half weeks after PS4 debuted), GameStop (NYSE: GME) announced that more than 600,000 customers had signed up for its "PlayStation 4 First to Know" list. Those who signed up will be alerted when PlayStation 4 becomes available for pre-order.

Nonetheless, some analysts believe that the Xbox is more important to Microsoft's fight against Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) than its fight against Sony.

"This (the new Xbox) is of massive importance to Microsoft. It is a piece of a larger war for the consumer that it is battling," P.J. McNealy, founder and CEO of Digital World Research, told Reuters. "They want to be fully integrated with the consumer whether it's in the living room or mobile. Arguably the battle against both Apple and Google for dominating a consumer's time share more so than taking on Sony and Nintendo directly."

While PlayStation 4 is undoubtedly a competitor to the next Xbox, it seems that any potential threat from Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) has been neutralized -- for now, at least. The Mario creator has endured massive losses and enormous sales declines for Wii U, its latest console.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), the world's second-largest third-party game publisher behind Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI), recently revealed that it is not currently developing any new games for Wii U.

Days prior to EA's announcement, Nintendo announced that it will not be holding a press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June. This is the first time that Nintendo has not held a press conference since the annual event began in 1996.

Sony, meanwhile, will hold its second PlayStation 4 event next month. Microsoft is expected to hold another Xbox event around the same time.

Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ