Xbox 720
Though Sony have been very secretive about the idea of a Playstation 4, Microsoft have been slightly more forthcoming about their next generation hardware, with various job listings and Microsoft employee LinkedIn profiles somewhat giving the game away. For the time being we’re referring to it as the Xbox 720, though recent blog posts from MS nerd hinted at the name Xbox Loop. Whether that’s going to be the name for the future of Xbox or merely a codename during development is uncertain.
Though the innards of the 360 were impressive back in the day, a successor unit will need something a bit more akin to modern day PCs under the hood in order to stay competitive. Though no specific chips have been named, we know AMD are on board and, considering the 360 Slim went for a CPU/GPU combo processor, we could well see the 720 kitted out with AMD’s upcoming fusion chip. AMD have fuelled the fires of speculation by claiming that the Xbox 720 will pack a graphical punch, adding that the machine will be also feature better physics and artificial intelligence.
As far as storage is concerned, it’s easy to see Microsoft staying with the classic built in hard drive, albeit with an increased storage capacity than most 360 hard drives. With the continuing dominance of Xbox Live and the current fascination with cloud services, an entirely online model of distribution could be a possible avenue that Microsoft will explore. It’s likely some form of physical medium will be used however and it’s hard to imagine that the meagre space offered by the DVD ROM will still be viable during the next generation. Though there have been rumours for years that the Xbox 360 would get optional Blu-ray support, the use of it for the 720 seems unlikely. Certain online rumours even point to a potential revival of the HD DVD format, or at least a medium that is built upon similar technology, being used as a proprietary format by Microsoft. An interesting piece of news was also spotted recently in the form of a patent submitted by Microsoft for a console capable of recording digital video. This will certainly mean recording your best gaming sessions from the console’s dashboard, but it seems likely to also extend to recording live TV whilst you game; a tasty idea indeed.
An interesting element of the 720 is what kind of firmware it will run. Microsoft certainly spent a lot of time tinkering around with the software and dashboard structure of the 360 but, with their commitment to Windows 8 linking PCs and tablets together as a unified experience, it seems likely that the Xbox 720 may run a modified version of Windows 8. As far as Xbox related software is concerned, will we also see any changes or new features added to Xbox Live in time for the next Xbox? Very little has been mentioned about the future of Xbox Live, but you can be sure Microsoft will continue pushing the service over the next generation.
With the amount of time and money Microsoft have spent pushing the Kinect accessory on 360, it seems likely that this trend will continue on the 720. Xbox World magazine even claimed that the system will come with “Kinect 2.0 right out of the box,” also marking the question of whether Microsoft intend to improve upon the Kinect hardware for next generation.
The big question that has a seemingly infinite amount of proposed answers is the release date of the Xbox 720. Once again we see Microsoft’s belligerent stance on a ten year console cycle being backed by the majority of industry analysts, all who point toward a fourth quarter 2014 release. Developers have been wishing for an earlier release of 2013, with some Crytek execs even going so far as to say that they know that the Xbox 720 would be showcased at this year’s E3. A lot of information from component dealers and Microsoft employees is showing an E3 unveiling in 2013 with a release to follow that year. More recent rumours have also claimed that an E3 2012 showing is planned in order to compete with the Wii U. The form of release has also been largely rumoured to be a dual SKU as with the 360, with a cheaper set top box style console coming alongside a fully featured and more expensive unit with a bundled Kinect.
