Rumours about the new Xbox (or Xbox 720, as it's often referred to as) are now more than just internet gossip.
It's one thing to wildly speculate about the next Xbox console. It's quite another to find out that Microsoft is gearing up to build one.
We've also put together our video wishlist for the Xbox 720:
Recent job postings reveal that the Xbox Console Architecture team is hunting for new blood. Successful candidates will join a team that will be "responsible for defining and delivering next generation console architectures from conception through implementation."
It also came to light in August 2011 that the next Xbox could actually overlap the Xbox 360's lifespan. That's according to an interview from Metro with Xbox's European head Chris Lewis.
It screams Xbox 720 (or whatever Microsoft chooses to call its new Xbox). So let's gather together the facts, the half-whispered untruths and the wishful thinking to see what such a machine might be like…
The Xbox 720 specs will be a significant technological leap forward
The Xbox 360 was launched in 2005, with the best technology that 2004 had to offer. Inside, it used a custom-made IBM Power PC with a trio of 3.2GHz cores and an ATI graphics processor.
Compare this ageing specification to a 2011 PC like the Scan 3XS Vengeance. It rocks the latest Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge CPU, Nvidia GTX 580 graphics card, 1TB of onboard storage and 8GB of DDR3.
Cevat Yerli, the boss at Crytek, believes that the PC is effectively a generation ahead of the Xbox 360 and PS3. "As long as the current console generation exists and as long as we keep pushing the PC as well, the more difficult it will be to really get the benefit of both," Yerli spilled to Edge.
Something has got to give.
Xbox 720 storage and disc format
Cloud storage? We might not be ready to abandon physical media just yet. But Steam has served PC users well for several years and OnLive is turning heads.
The most obvious next-gen storage option for the next Xbox is Blu-ray. But Microsoft has refused to add it to the existing Xbox 360. Other alternatives? You'll find flag-wavers for flash drives, Nintendo-style game cartridges, even the resurrection of HD-DVD.
Xbox 720 processor and graphics
Considering that the Xbox 360 Slim now features a 'Vejle' CPU/GPU combo processor, KitGuru ponders the possibility of the new Xbox 720 getting a cutting-edge AMD Fusion chip. It's betting on the DX11-capable Krishna APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), due for release late 2012.
Semi Accurate believes the new chip will actually be called Obed and incorporate elements of IBM design - however it seems AMD is nailed on as the manufacturer.
AMD reckons it will be a beast of a machine, pumping out graphics that offer Avatar-levels of detail. James Cameron's opus used CGI and 3D capturing, with each minute of footage costing $1 million to make.
Not only will the console be capable of Avatar-style graphics, according to Neal Robison, AMD's director of ISV relationships, it will also feature improved artificial intelligence and physics capabilities.
This could mean that each individual incidental character – like the pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto, for example – could each take on their own individual personality.
The 'bigger, better, more' ethic is what makes the games industry tick. Eat Sleep Play founder David Jaffe suggests we desperately need a new generation of high-end consoles to keep producing 'blockbuster' games like Battlefield 3, Crysis 2 and LA Noire. "Gameplay travels very easily," Jaffe told IGN. "The spectacle doesn't."
EA's Frank Gibeau disagrees. "Obviously, more computing horsepower is nice, but to be honest, the Xbox 360 and PS3 still have a lot of horsepower that hasn't been tapped."
In October 2011 it was reported that developers were prepping games that could run on a new console.
Epic's Mark Rein suggests that a tablet might be the shape of consoles to come. "Imagine a future Xbox 360 that is actually a tablet you carry around," Rein told Develop last year. "It will have more power than 360 does today, with technology like Kinect built right in…"
What about the Xbox 720 controller?
Love it/hate it, gesture-control is here to stay. Expect an improved version of Microsoft's Kinect hardware to be a prominent feature of any new Xbox. Kinect is currently the world's "fastest selling consumer electronics device" with sales topping 10 million. A Guinness World Record.
But the game pad will remain the input device of choice for veteran gamers. We can't imagine playing Gears of War 4 by waving our arms around. It lacks precision.
Could the next Xbox run Windows 8?
Microsoft wants to create an ecosystem of apps and games that work between Windows Phone, Windows and the next Xbox. But could that mean the new gaming console could run a variant of Windows 8 as Gamerant suggests?
The Xbox 720 release date is 2013. Or 2014. Or 2015…
Microsoft has said publically that the Xbox 360 will have (at least) a 10-year life lifespan to match the PS3. That puts a new Xbox launch into 2015…
Senior execs for a big US retailer told their shareholders in July 2011 that they don't expect the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 until 2014.
Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli feels that we're due a "new [console] generation in 2012, 2013." While M2 senior analyst Billy Pidgeon told NowGamer that, while he expects a Wii 2 to surface by 2012, he's "not expecting a next generation Xbox before Q4 2014."
The 2014-2015 timescale looks a good bet. Square Enix is already anticipating the Xbox 720 by planning to open a second Canadian development studio by 2012. "The new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will require more attention and more staff," said Stéphane d'Astous. "We want to prepare ourselves."
Bethesda's Todd Howard, game director for the forthcoming blockbuster Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, says that gamers should not expect follow-ups to the PS3 and Xbox 360 until 2014, at the very earliest.
Speaking to PSM3 magazine, the Bethesda exec said that gamers were happy with the current generation of console tech and that he didn't expect to see an Xbox 720 or a PlayStation 4 before 2014.
Backing this up is a comment made by a designer who has worked with Microsoft, who implied that a new Xbox 2015 release date is set. In his online portfolio, Ben Peterson wrote "Microsoft Xbox. Confidential / Collaboration with Microsoft's IEB design group investigating future user experiences and hardware for 2015."
Alongside an angled image that doesn't give much away, he wrote: "Microsoft Xbox. Confidential / Collaboration with Microsoft's IEB design group investigating future user experiences and hardware for 2015. *Work samples only permissible in person.* (March 2011)."
Question marks hang over such information; who is Ben Peterson? Didn't he sign an NDA when working with Microsoft? Why is there no contact information on his online portfolio? Will he be allowed to live after such a faux-pas? Or is this all a traffic-mongering lie?
But the next Xbox could be showcased at E3 2012
The successor to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console is likely to be unveiled at E3 2012, according to a "high-ranking source at Crytek". They said that TimeSplitters 4 is being developed for the next-generation console, using Microsoft's updated DX11 development tool. We're not so sure about that, but you never know...
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Your comments (9) Click to add a new comment
southyjd
August 15th
9. People keep saying "why are they bringing out a new console" well announcing it anyway. The fact is since consoles cam out 35 years ago it has always been nor more than 6/7 years for a new generation to come out.
Here is a quick rough timeline.
First console 1958 - cant really count this as it was not available to mass market
1975 - Atari
1982 - sinclair
1983 - Nintendo Snes
1989 - Sega Mega Drive
1995 - Playstation
2000 - playstation 2
2001 - Xbox
2005 - Xbox 360 & Wii
2006 - Playstation 3
ponyboykiller: You brought a Slim but essentially its the same console that came out 6 years ago. i.e graphics etc are the same.
If Sony and Microsoft do wait till 2013/14/15 then they are running behind on what has always happend if above is anything to go on. The only reason why they can wait longer is due to game devolpers like Dice who work even harder to make games look amazing with a 6 year old system. They make more money because they keep selling the cheaper console.
Personally i hope they announce a new console this year. Its about time they did. Think of the new games that would come out. Like i said if deveolpers like Dice with BF3 and Crytek with Crysis 2 can come out with visuals like that on a 6 year old machine just think what they can do on a new one.
Chris
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kermit
July 18th
8. bigdavey
oh you wrote m$
I bet your l33t
w4nk3r
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bigdavey
June 13th
7. ponyboykiller, they want your money :)
Anyway, if Sony are working on the next playstation, m$ have no choice.
They are already upgrading the internals of the slim with a combined 45nm CPU/GPU, so hopefully they can carry that technology forward and rrod won't be a problem, it'll be something else.
As for 'cloud' (has the word online really become that boring) storage, no thanks.
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ponyboykiller
June 7th
6. Why are they coming out with another one? I just got the Ne Xbox 360 Slim!
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siiix
March 31st
5. 2015 i really hope they will be over this mega primitive plastic disk formats, i hope by then chip based storage, or at least mini hd-blueray (~50gb/disk).... downloads are the future , but not every one has internet, or credit card... 4 years not enough will change on that... download only is a lot further then 2015... here in Ontario we dont even have dsl2 or real fiber yet and its mid 2011, not to mention how difficult it is to get unlimited.. and thats canada not south america or africa...
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hiawa23
March 23rd
4. I think HD DVD would be a great alternative if MS doesn't want to support Blu-ray or 100%digital download. If you ask me, had the 360 launched with a HD DVD drive in it, the formats fate would have been much different. Whether the format has nothing to do with games using it's larger storage capacity. who knows maybe there will be another alternative storage medium that's larger than bluray. I own all 3 of this gens consoles, & prefer the 360 to the other two consoles, & I have had little RROD issues this gen, so I am looking forward to thenext Xbox. Also, preferred the Xbox1 to the PS2.
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weedymuff
March 22nd
3. hope they learn to not cut corners and rush it out like the 360 so theres no problems like rrod
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technobrakes
March 22nd
2. Hddvd would be not as stupid as you might think. Being a dead format means there are bugger all writer's. Making the games hard to copy, Ild love to see that.
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smokemonster
March 22nd
1. I'm surprised developers are keen; so many studios have folded during this generation due to the high cost of developing a game.
When you look at a launch game for 360/PS3 then look at what's available now, there is a very clear leap forward. New tech isn't always what's required; DICE seem pretty sure their Frostbite 2 engine will redefine the visuals in FPS games.
But then depending on who you believe, will we even need a dedicated console in 2015?
Even MS are always spouting that the future is downloads, so maybe they'll look at OnLive and take on that approach? That would certainly keep the console cost down and utilise XboxLive in a whole new way.
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