Achievement unlocked: next generation Xbox features confirmed. The only question is, which features? Speaking to CVG, a purported Xbox 720 developer has claimed that design materials leaked online earlier this week are "genuine but should not be considered totally reliable".
Microsoft has already helped that particular idea along, of course - the manufacturer sent takedown warnings to sites carrying the doc yesterday, on the grounds that they're "offering unlicensed copies of" or "engaged in other unauthorized activities relating to copyrighted works published by Microsoft".
Dated 2010, the doc outlines an "Xbox 720" console that's four to six times as powerful as Xbox 360, equipped with a Blu-ray drive, augmented reality glasses, Xbox SmartGlass features and an expanded, upgraded Kinect. It'll retail for $299 in the US, supposedly, and launch in holiday 2013.
Speaking to OXM under conditions of strict anonymity, a development insider commented: "there's no way in high hell Microsoft will call the next generation Xbox "Xbox 720", or my name's not Matt Lees". More as we get it.
4 comments so far...
msbhvn on 22 Jun '12 said:
Hopefully they've since rethought the Blu-ray drive, slow access times mean mandatory installs and if game sizes continue to increase they could end up with the same storage problem within a few years as they have now.
They might also have pushed back the launch date to wait for hard drive prices to fall. Flooding in Thailand last year interrupted production and prices are still high as a result.
I also reckon MS will implement the subscription service they've been testing with the 360 to defray the losses they'll be making on each unit. Having two years of XBL payments guaranteed will also make people think twice before trading the machine in, because they'll still have to pay for XBL.
NBA Kirkland on 22 Jun '12 said:
If they don't have a Blu-ray drive then what are you suggesting?
Bezza89 on 22 Jun '12 said:
Either DVD or proprietery (spelt wrong) disc format. I myself can't see them not having blu ray when they are advertising xbox as a media hub if only for films, but as mbs says the blu ray games read speeds are ridiculously slow, and if it's only partial install like the PS3 it makes sounds worse than the xbox fan for non-installed games.
msbhvn on 22 Jun '12 said:
That's right. It wouldn't take much for MS buy up the rights to the defunct HD DVD format and the original specs for both it and Blu-ray allowed for up to ten layers. A ten layer HD DVD would hold three times the data of a dual layer Blu-ray, 150GB vs. 50GB.
Of course, the new BDXL Blu-ray spec holds 128GB, it just requires a new drive with a stronger laser, that's why PS3 and current Blu-ray players can't use it. Sony will almost definitely use BDXL for the next PlayStation, so would MS want to use the same technology?
Blu-ray is also riddled with patents. Sony got sued by LG over patents relating to the PS3's Blu-ray drive. It might work out cheaper for MS to go the proprietary disc route, like Nintendo have with Wii and the Gamecube before it. It would also cut down on piracy, because consumers wouldn't have access to PC drives with similar technology like they do with Blu-ray.
It all depends on how important MS's market research tells them Blu-ray movie playback is to their potential customers and their "media hub" strategy.