Did Amazon leak the Xbox One release date?

If nothing else, Microsoft's forthcoming gaming console has received more than its fair share of attention, and plenty of it on the wrong side of what the company would hope for. There was controversy before the official announcement even came, there was double-talk at the announcement, and of course some major backtracking later.

Although we know a lot about the console now, the one thing Microsoft has so far failed to announce is an official release date. Despite a vague promise of "later this year", most of us likely expected the holiday shopping season. It turns out, if Amazon is correct, the device will only just make it in time for that.

According to Amazon's Xbox One pre-order page, "this item will be released on November 27, 2013" -- the day before Thanksgiving in the United States, which is the traditional kickoff to the hectic shopping season.  Microsoft itself continues to use a vague "release date: November 2013" on its store.

Of course, this does not make it Microsoft-official, and I received no official comment, though likely because of the weekend, but I would think that with the shopping power behind Amazon, there is a fair amount of respect that can be given to the claim.

I will certainly find out, as I am one of those who pre-ordered, though my purchase was carried out through the Microsoft online store. Note to Microsoft -- this better arrive before Christmas morning!

Still, it means I have 5 months to figure a way to explain the $500 lightening of our checking account to my wife. The price of the Xbox One is certainly not cheap, but the device does come with Kinect, putting it close to a purchase of the PS4, if you add in Sony's similar technology, known as Eye.