Tons of rumors today about the next-generation Xbox--known to the gaming public as the Xbox 720 in the absence of an official designation. (See, if 360 came first, the next logical step is... oh, OK, you get it.) Kotkau has reports from anonymous industry personnel who claim that the next Xbox will be able to play Blu-ray discs. The PlayStation 3, Microsoft's competitor, already plays Blu-ray discs, which can contain up to 25 or even 50 GB of data, compared to DVD's cap of around 9GB. Good news, right? There appears to be a catch: Kotaku's also reporting that the Xbox 720 will have an anti-used game system built in.
Wait, what? Stephen Totilo clarifies:
It's not clear if that means that the system wouldn't play used games or how such a set-up would work. Obvious approaches—I'm theorizing here—like linking a copy of a game to a specific Xbox Live account could seemingly be foiled by used-game owners who would keep their system offline. My source wasn't sure how Microsoft intended to implement any anti-used game system in the new machine.
Other features that have popped up in recent discussion: Rumor has it all new Xbox units will ship with a new model of the Kinect sensor, which will feature an on-board processor--as originally planned for the first Kinect. Said processor will help the Kinect detect movements more effectively. Yay! Other rumors suggest Microsoft hopes to shrink the Xbox's controller for the next go-round, and still others hold that the new Xbox is 6x (or even 8x!) as powerful as its predecessor. Of course, it's all speculation: The 720 is still at an early stage, with chips for dev kits just starting to go into production. Will this mean a 2013 release to the public? Just maybe.
Here's what a Microsoft rep told Kotaku re: used-game incompatibility:
"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."
Take that how you will, I guess!
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