The internet rumor mill is cranking out "reliable sources" reporting on the next-generation of Xbox, a device that may or may not actually exist. Earlier today, we reported on rumors that the "Xbox 720" (a totally speculative name) will be out in Fall 2013. Since then, we've heard even more juicy rumors about the Xbox 360-2.
According to unnamed sources gathered by game blog Kotaku, the next-gen Xbox will support Blu-Ray discs as well as DVDs, will be up to eight times as powerful as the current Xbox 360, will feature smaller controllers, and will launch with a new version of the Kinect.
That's the good news. The bad news: The console will supposedly not allow gamers to play used games. At all.
Further details are sparse at this time. Should a no-used-games lock be put in place, we're not sure how it would work. And we don't, honestly, even know for sure that the device is being developed. But if I had to put money on the likelihood of these rumors being true, I'd say it's a pretty solid bet. There's nothing here that strikes me as totally unlikely, anyway.
While rumors of the device date back many months, the closest we've come to an official mention of the cojsole was from the screen capture you see below, cheeky product-placement from sci-fi movie Real Steel. It's not official or anything, but interesting anyway.
While many expected a CES 2012 announcment of the device, it didn't happen. The current "conventional wisdom" points to Microsoft officially announcing the device at E3 2012, a possibility that seems much more likely to me.
I've put a call in to Microsoft for a response, and while I hope they'll detail their precise plans for the next gen console, including price-point and release date, I don't honestly expect more than a "no comment." I'll update this post when/if I hear from them.
Update: Here's the official response from Microsoft's representative:
“As an innovator we’re always thinking about what is next and how we can push the boundaries of technology like we did with Kinect. We believe the key to extending the lifespan of a console is not just about the console hardware, but about the games and entertainment experiences being delivered to consumers. Beyond that we don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”
Source: Kotaku
All of the best people are following Stephen Johnson's twitter feed. Also, email me if you wanna.
Comments
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ONE.MAN.ARMY
This started out as a rumors now everyone has to know more about the 720
DylanLee
Microsoft is not stupid enough to do this. This would result in a HUGE loss for them. The most I can see them doing is restricting online play for ALL games if it was bought used, with a person having to pay a fee to play used games online. They will not stop used games all together. No gaming company is that stupid.
infinitytomorrow
C'mon people, really?!? Getting worked up over a rumor? None of this is confirmed, yet you act like its the end of gaming. Seriously, find something else to get angry about; I hear Prop 8 still isnt overturned
jmc8888
Once again the idiots who are paid to know something, know nothing. (microsoft)
Another business that has forgotten the most important aspect of a new product, is that it provides users a reason to buy it.
Underpowered = reason to buy
Smaller controllers = reason to buy
Limiting users = reason to buy
Kinect 2 = reason to buy
Accelerating depression with no end in sight (and none of the remedies are being pushed dem or repub) = reason to buy
(not sure but probably) overpriced = reason to buy
Actually none of the above are a reason to buy. So we should call this the Sega CD of consoles. Not really an upgrade, costs a ton, and will have to be replaced shortly after launch.
Who wants a smaller controller? I want a BIGGER one. As time goes on, more and more people are older and want bigger controllers, either because they are adults now, or because they are aging...as gamers will be entering their 40's en masse during the next few years. Personally I feel the controller, should be bigger around the 4th and pinky fingers, since right now they have to be curled up and can be a bit discomforting after awhile of playing. Making the bottom of the handles fatter would end this.
But no, they have to make it smaller, because the 3-8 age range who have never bought their system, comes first. Good job Microsoft. Way to be too retarded to know who to focus on.
The system will be very much underpowered. Let's get down to brass tacks. That 800 percent increase will be AA/AF, motion blur, and other dx11 features. Big freaking whoop. While they are nice, and it will allow higher resolution, it still isn't anything that people could have bought a year or so ago on a PC. Sorry this isn't a 'generation' difference. More like half a generation, with many things just about the same as previous. See Sega CD.
The 360 had a lead of about a year over pc's (hardware), and two years (software) when it came out. Now they will be putting out something that could be beat years before it was even launched? Will this play in full hd and beyond the Unreal 4 engine or beyond? I think not. What are some saying...ati 6670? But the 8xxx will be out by the time it arrives (if true). Not to mention crossfire/sli.
What idiot at mircrosoft is pulling home a paycheck above minimum wage (that shouldn't be) made this idiotic decision? They should be fired immediately.
Not allowing users to use used games? Are they nuts? Are living in corporatocracy land. A magical land where banksters get trillions and million of free homes they don't own, and the American people (and world) don't get Glass-Steagall (the only thing to wipe the fraud away). In such a land, together with citizens united and other travesty's you get idiot corporations who think it's fine and dandy to screw you over. You can't trade games with friends, or kids bringing over games for sleepovers. No more rent before you buy. I bet they had their sophistry statistical god give them an output saying they'd make more money. But of course being an incorrect 'model', surely it doesn't have as one of its variables that if you can't try, or don't want to be screwed, you'll likely buy less games. Less players online, means shorter shelf life per game. They'll be throwing cold water on all their games. Surely they realize in the end it'll mean LESS money, except some phd idiot's religious like belief in the output of incorrect 'models' tell them differently. Idiots.
On top of this, they want to release kinect 2, because, it's what they wanted the kinect to be, before they convinced YOU otherwise, and had you drop 150 bones. Thanks for that. Can you say...too soon? And will Milo finally be there? Or are you going to tease us with that again....and then say...we wanted him in there and that's one reason why we have Kinect 3. Thanks for screwing over your customers again! It's not like it was old, or you needed to keep to that promise that the kinect will be able to be used for many years on multiple consoles. Now you are saying otherwise. Thanks!
It'll probably be overpriced, because this pos should be 200 bucks, tops.
But again the idiots making this probably don't realize that they'll be launching a new overpriced, underpowered console during an accelerating depression. Think 1929 x 1000. Because what we've faced in the last 3+ years, was NOTHING, compared to what's coming. Think 1 percent through the problem we are.
All in all, this is a horrible move by Microsoft. Screwing over it's customers, why, because they are 'afraid' and we know how much idiot 'psychology' has been legitimized into allowing stupid decisions to have a 'reason' behind it in order for said stupid decision to be 'legitimized' in a corporate sense. Don't need a real reason, just a believable one. So microsoft once again, using all the idiot metrics to bring about a disaster of a decision. Good thing they can get such cheap credit, to offset their sheer and utter idiocy. (at least for now).
Wake up microsoft. This console has all the makings of a steamer. Better hope you don't red ring it again.
Glass-Steagall or die, seriously.
seamusnealonmcguire
xbox sucks grow a brain people
emanuelc7
ITS FUNNY CAUSE GAMEFLY- USE USED GAMES?
FAILURE
zefrof
I hope they ban used games it'll kill the xbox
richardocopeland
stop hating on the used gamers most of them are in minimum wadge jobs and �60 for a game is just far to much for anyone to afford especially after paying �50 for XBOX gold and then �10 pounds per DLC that would have been in the game if it was released a generation ago.
i personally think that the next gen should upgrade its games on demand system to for first day downloads instead of five or six months down the line and regular sales like steam does.
Vman91
I dont mind the no used games. Even if they decide to go with strictly digital games and store them in a cloud service, that doesnt bother me so much. My problem is if they decide to do all this, are we still going to be asked to pay $60(or more with the next generation) dollars for them. They would be saving a lot of money on production, shipping, buy backs, etc. and making us pay $60 dollars for something that we will probably only play for a no more then a year doesnt seem right. Games have one of the shortest life spans of media/software. They cost close to as much as some high end programs, besides things like steam they rarely go on sale, and not to mention most of them today ship with a lot of bugs that the developers seem to just look over because they think they can patch them. Just saying, if they expect people to keep putting out money for games, they are going to have to give more incentive to spend money if you wont have the option to sell back(or even return) a video game.
RelicCastle ShowHide(6 Replies)
GOOD, I HATE THE CHEAP-SCAPES THAT BUY USED!!!!!!!!!! YOUR CHEAP-SCAPES ARE THE WHOLE DAMN REASON GAMES COST 60 DOLLARS IN THE FIRST DAMN PLACE!!!!!!!!!!! IF EVERYONE PAID THERE FAIR SHARE OF 60 DOLLARS THEN EVENTUALLY THE PRICE OF GAMES WOULD EVENTAULLY DROP IN PRICE!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK AT THE PRICE OF BOOKS,VIDEOS,MOVIES,MUSIC....N ON OF THOSE ENTERTAINMENTS COST 60 DOLLARS A COPY...AND THEY DONT HAVE AN OPEN RETAIL OUTLET OF FOR PEOPLE TO BUY USED...LIKE GAMESTOP DOES....I HATE WHAT GAMESTOP STANDS FOR....USED CRAP FOR THE CHEAP-SCAPES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!! I MYSELF BUY ALL NEW BRAND NEW COLLECTORS EDITIONS IF AVAILABLE....I HAVE 1000 GAMES THAT IVE BOUGHT IN THE LAST 7 YEARS SINCE XBOX 360 AND 100% BRAND NEW,,,,I DONT BUY USED CRAP....I COULD NOT TAKE PRIDE IN BUYING USED KNOWING THAT MY PASSION IS VIDEO GAMES AND TO BUY USED WOULD MAKE ME THINK I DONT TAKE PRIDE......SO YES I HOPE THIS BANNING OF USED GAMES IS TRUE,,,AND GAMESTOP GOES OUT BUSINESS AND THE PROLIFERATION OF BUYING DOWNLOADABLE GAMES ON XBOX LIVE FLOURISHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SUCK THAT CHEAP PEOPLE
shaqfu283
i have no problem with this bc places like gamestop are making a killing off the used game market. as in like higher margins than game developers are which makes no sense. also if you think this will send everyone off to sony thats doubtful since so many publishers will back this 100% if it means more money and can just snub the sony market. besides this has been the story of a pc gamer's life so consle nubs can suck it up and deal with it like we have forever
Rosco95
I am a huge fan of Microsoft, but if they actually do this then I am running straight to PC Gaming.
Jax009
A new Xbox that can heat my snacks.
Microsoft, ALL MY MONEY!, if this was standard
wyman856
If Microsoft does somehow manage to invalidate used games, it would likely be via a process of tethering games to Live accounts (much like the Online Passes of EA and other companies). Furthermore, I'd imagine that while used games may still be purchased, a separate CD Key (much like what Macs & PCs already used) would exist with an X amount of times which you may activate. One positive that may be a result of this could perhaps being able to play Live PC games on XBOX w/o additional purchase, similar to Valve's Steamplay.
PSYCKOTIK
then keep it... they CANT force ppl to spend $60 every time just to play it
GamingTruth
They could create a system that allows you to play used games if they offer something similar to an online pass code. That way you could still buy used, but hopefully the additional premium for the code does not make buying used more expensive than buying new.
ThermalTrigger
Come on ppl. No one is actually buyin into this RUMOR are they? Yes it is totally possible for them to do this but they arent going to simply because they wouldnt have a console business nemore. 95% of ppl would switch to sony even with all the stuff that has happened with them and microsoft isnt going to let this happen. Why would they be competing with sony all this time if they were gonna make an idiotic move like this? All these people that believe or even partly believe in this RUMOR, calm down because it IS NOT gonna happen. Microsoft and XBOX is a business just like anything else in the world today and any business isnt gonna do something that puts them out of business. Way to many people, especially Microsft, would be affected by this for them to make a game simply an one console game. There are way to many cons vs pros for them to do this. I dont and wont believe this until it is actually announced by microsoft themselves and I also see it with my own two eyes. No one else should buy into it either.
Niicko
I can see it being true seeing as how EA has been attempting such a feet and managing to find success. When I purchased my copy of Madden 12 I had to pay extra for the online features. It's annoying but people pay it because the games are fun but to get the full experience out of them you need the online features. If Microsoft does a more extreme version of it then I believe they can manage it but it will be difficult. If a system breaks, or with rentals it could mean game rentals die off, or the removal of disc gaming all together. There has always been talk of going digital with games and just having entire games downloaded. We have that capability now so what is to say they won't go that way entirely.
The disc tray on the console could be reserved entirely for backwards compatibility, blu-ray movies, and DVDs.
If they went entirely digital gaming then we could see a terabyte or larger hard drive for consoles, or maybe even a "Cloud" system where internet connections are required more than ever.
With the idea of the "Cloud" or digital games only, Microsoft could theoretically monitor all transactions, and console performances to eliminate modified consoles, cheaters, and illegal copied games.
wigglyevil
if they launch a console that dosent allow used games i wont buy it i probably will stop playing video games for good
dudemandude2272
If the rumor is true (Which its not. That is why its a rumor) then we all know what would happen. Microsoft would be making the biggest mistake possible. What happens if your console breaks and you need another? Does that mean you have to get a new console? Or transfer the hard drive? How would achievements work? How would the rentals work? How would trading work? Microsoft DOES care about other companies. If they can't sell their product to a company, (IE. game fly for rentals) THEY LOOSE MONEY! Plain and simple.
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