You are, it seems, a nobody unless you’ve got loads of industry insider buddies who are willing to have a quick chat on MSN about next-generation machines under the condition that – no matter who comes knocking at your door – you’ll never tell anyone their name.
Nobody tells us a damned thing, mind, but that means we can happily cherry-pick from the craziest theories out there without having the tiniest bit of egg on our collective faces. Unless we’re eating an egg sandwich with extra egg, in which case you’ll have to excuse the tasty morsels sat upon our noses.
[drop2]The latest (and forgive me if this link doesn’t work, I still can’t figure out how to work Kotaku) is that the next Xbox will use Blu-ray disks (fair enough) but lock out pre-owned games (more bonkers than Bonkers Bob).“I’ve heard from one reliable industry source that Microsoft intends to incorporate some sort of anti-used game system as part of their so-called Xbox 720,” says the site’s Stephen Totilo, who then says that his source “wasn’t sure how Microsoft intended to implement any anti-used game system in the new machine.”
Oh, right.
Well, assuming it requires an online activation (that surely can’t be that far fetched now given that most console owners only buy the machine to play Call of Duty against people they’ve never met) there might be a digital signature on each disk that connects to Live and then ties that disk with –
– oh. No. It really is bonkers.
There’s going to be a new Kinect with it though – that much is absolutely certain. Hopefully this one will be a bit more accurate and / or be accompanied out of the stable by a brand new copy of Dance Central 3.
“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,” said Microsoft in some kind of vague response to the rumours.
“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.”
Don’t blame you, mate.
Smallville2106
This would be bad news indeed for the industry in general.
Awayze
I hope PlayStation 4 uses a higher capacity and faster blu ray than the Xbox 720 and doesn’t go down the same route as MS if this is true.
I hardly buy new games for the 360 unless they’re dirt cheap so its not on MS -_-
KeRaSh
Why would you care about the PS4 having faster and higher capacity Blu Rays than the next Xbox? Bragging rights? Your only concern should be that full next gen games can fit on single discs until the end of the lifecycle and that the speed is fast enough to deliver a smooth experience.
Kennykazey
Exactly. I hope they use discs of the same capacity to make it easier for developers. I belive 25GB single-layer and 50GB dual-layer discs will be enough for next gen aswell. If not Sony has proven they can make blu-rays with higher capacity, so it should hopefully only be a case of a firmware update to make them usable aswell.
And I don’t think the next Xbox will use “blu-ray”, like the Wii U I think it will use a different type of disc that’s really only different in name but with the same capacity, so they don’t have to pay royalties. Another idea would be to use HD-DVD’s as they can hold lots of data aswell, and people don’t have HD-DVD burners in their PC’s so illigal copying won’t be as big a problem.
JBoo
“As an innovator…” Yeah if you say so LOL + it will interesting to see what format they go with next Gen. I can’t wait to see what comes next from MS & SONY;)
TSBonyman
I doubt if the bit about pre-owned is true, that would either dramatically reduce potential hardware sales for any company that did so, or it would lead to rampant piracy. That said, if SOPA get’s pushed through and they were able to detect anyone using pirated software, they would probably send an armed swat team to swoop on the poor kid. ;-)
Microsoft using bluray … well they were on the bluray committee even if they didn’t use it in the 360 so it wouldn’t be a complete shock and given that bluray serves most industries well with it’s storage capacity it would probably be foolish for any company to try to introduce a different format for a while yet.
With a higher res camera and more grunt under the hood I can see Kinect 2 being what Kinect was supposed to be, although I’m already worried that new software apparently allows Kinect to scan your retinas from three paces.. :O
TSBonyman
Oh and Alex, on my seldom visits to kotaku I find that blog.kotaku (.com) works better for me than http://www.kotaku(.com).
cam_manutd
Think this may just be ever so slightly “unlikely.”
InternationalGamer
I just don’t think a console locking out pre-owned games will ever happen. I don’t think Microsoft, or Sony and Nintendo will implement this feature
It’s an exaggerated way of fighting the second hand market. You might be fighting the second hand market… but it restricts many actions that have no effect on the second hand market. Like lending a game to a friend for him to try out(Which at the same time makes him a potential customer because you are ‘advertising’ the game to him)
phantom5813
while i do think this is highly unlikely, sony did try a disc locking stunt with dc universe. not too sure if it backfired or not thought but lessons were learned from that and i do think that if either one of them decides to go forward with that again it will be better thought out
MayContainEvil
I guess there isn’t much point in speculating, we will see soon enough. I hope Terry does use bluray though.
Musky
It’s XBOX, who gives a crap :D
Forrest_01
Microsoft.
hazelam
actually, i do, there are a few series i enjoy that are exclusive to the xbox.
The Lone Steven
Lots of people? Fans of exclusive xbox franchises? TSAers? etc…
cc_star
A bit more than half of gamers
hazelam
not counting wii owners as gamers then? ^_^
cc_star
No one else on here ever seems to, so I thought I’d finally get with the TSA program & join in ;)
Jakster123x
Sounds a little… Harsh.