Xbox 720, NextBox, Durango, Xbox 3rd Gen, Terry. Whatever you want to call it, the next iteration in the Xbox family is very likely just over the horizon.
We’ve heard lots of rumours of constant connection DRM and lack of optical media before but now VG247 is going public with some of the information they’ve been told by their friends who are willing to interpret a Microsoft NDA slightly more loosely than probably intended.
They’re claiming that the XBox 720 – as they call it (and we’ve heard elsewhere) – will definitely have a Blu-ray drive and will utilise the constant connection for DRM that many have said will totally put them off the console.
They’re also claiming a four or six core processor with one core completely dedicated to Kinect and one dedicated to the operating system. Kinect will, apparently, be built in to the machine somehow.
According to these latest rumours, holiday sales season 2013 is looking good for a release but Microsoft has already promised that there will be no new Xbox hardware shown at E3 this year.
We’ll see.
Source: VG247.
TSBonyman
I simply would not have any use for a console that locks out/hobbles pre-owned games or requires a constant internet connection. Let’s hope the rumours aren’t true.
Severn2j
I’m starting to wonder if a lot of these rumours are Sony and MS testing public reaction to some of the proposals. They know that the public don’t like DRM and an always on system, so maybe they’re putting these ideas out now to see if people will put up with or just not bother..
Personally I can live without backwards compatibility, but obtrusive DRM and a refusal to run preowned games will count me out.
orimisac
I’ll be out too. Requiring permanent connection to internet for an equipment that stores credit card numbers and other ID and personal info and that I can’t figure out (that’s central to the idea of DRM) how to filter information that is received/sent to 3rd party is definitively out of what I accept as reasonable.
orimisac
DRM requiring full time connection to internet is really a bad idea. For several reasons that range from security to privacy. Though consoles are computers, just a small amount of users are aware that they can be used for purposes other than gaming. Unfortunately hackers know that they can use unsupervised equipment that are up for long periods of time and eager to receive connections in known ports to develop successful attacks.