THQ have begun work on the next set on consoles and are set to begin work on Sony's upcoming handheld soon. In a Reuters article they report that THQ are looking forward to the next set of consoles and want to have launch titles ready for them.

The article can be found below and is thanks to Reuters.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Video game publisher THQ Inc. THQI.O has started development work on the next generation of game consoles and expects to begin developing software soon for Sony Corp.'s 6758.T new handheld games device, the company's chief executive said on Monday.

Brian Farrell on a conference call with analysts to discuss quarterly results said THQ's Rainbow and Volition studios were looking ahead to Sony's next-generation PlayStation and Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT.O next version of the Xbox with some early research efforts.

"We still believe that the next generation will launch in 2006. That's our best guess as of today's date," Farrell said. "But we're certainly preparing in the event that there is a 2005 launch."

The current-generation PS2 launched in late 2000, while the Xbox launched in late 2001. Industry executives and analysts have been split on whether the next generation of hardware would come in 2005 or 2006.

Farrell also said THQ is poised to begin work on potential games for Sony's PSP handheld gaming device, which is expected to be released late in 2004.

"We expect to start getting some emulators within the next 30 to 45 days," he said. Emulation hardware allows game developers to design games for new hardware without actually having the final devices.