Microsoft has gotten over six years of faithful service out of the Xbox 360, but the time is approaching for the next generation of home consoles to arrive. Follow along here as we detail all the latest news, rumors, and innuendo relating to the development and specifications of the next Xbox.
Next Xbox rumors: specs, developers, GPU, and more
Next Xbox to lose the disc drive, says MCV
British video game trade magazine MCV is reporting that the next Xbox will ditch the optical drive in favor of downloads and solid state memory. It's not known if games will actually be offered on physical media at retail or if the console will exclusively rely on digital distribution. If true, the move would make sense to us — optical media is fast becoming an anachronism in modern hardware and games consoles are often ahead of the curve. The PS Vita dropped its predecessor's optical drive...
Next-gen Xbox 'Durango' codename accidentally confirmed by Crytek?
Last June, Videogamer reported that Microsoft's next home console would be revealed during E3 2012, and that Crytek was already using the hardware to develop TimeSplitters 4 as one of its launch titles; a rumor Crytek quickly denied. Earlier this month, Kotaku reported that the operating code name for the new console is Durango. Today, a now-pulled Tweet from Crytek senior technical artist Sean Tracy seemingly connects these two reports, saying, "Enjoying the Durango developers summit in...
Next-gen Xbox not arriving this year, confirms Microsoft France
Rumors about Microsoft's successor to the Xbox 360 have been flying lately, but that doesn't mean a release is imminent. In an interview with Le Point, Microsoft France marketing director Cedrick Delmas stated that it was "certain" there will be no new Xbox released this year. This lines up with recent reports that the as-of-yet unnamed new console would be launching late in 2013, with a GPU based on AMD's 40nm Radeon 6000 architecture and perhaps even a Blu-ray drive. "The proof is that we...
Next Xbox will come with Blu-ray drive, Kinect 2, and 'anti-used-game' system?
Kotaku's anonymous sources are reporting what could be a video game industry coup: according to the rumor, the next Xbox will finally adopt a Blu-ray disc drive, years after the company's HD-DVD plans fizzled out and subsequent Blu-ray denials. Apparently, though, there's more to the new drive than simple playback of 50GB optical discs, because one of the sources also claims that the supposed "Xbox 720" will also "incorporate some sort of anti-used game system." Anything you hear about how...
Next Xbox coming late 2013 with Radeon 6000 GPU?
IGN is reporting that the next Xbox will ship in autumn 2013, with a GPU based on AMD's 40nm Radeon 6000 architecture and allegedly offering performance akin to the Radeon HD 6670 from last year. "Sources close to the project" are offering a ballpark figure of a six times performance increase over the Xbox 360, or 20 percent more power than the Wii U, though this doesn't really tell us anything in real terms. All this should obviously be taken as rumor and speculation, but it's worth noting...
Microsoft's 'father of Windows NT' now working on future Xbox projects
Dave Cutler, who once led the development of Windows NT, is now working on Microsoft's Xbox team. Cutler joined Microsoft in 1988 and has helped build Windows NT, 64-bit versions of Windows and Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud platform, amongst others. His work earned him the special designation of "Technical Fellow" at Microsoft, a small group of 22 employees, including sysinternals creator Mark Russinovich, who are recognized as technical leaders.
Cutler's previous experience and technical...
Microsoft's Don Coyner will not lead new Xbox design team, says CNET
Andy Lees apparently isn’t the only guy switching jobs at Microsoft this week. CNET is reporting that Don Coyner, Microsoft’s General Manager of Design and Planning, will be leaving his position as head of the Xbox design and experience group. Instead, that job will go to Emma Williams, the General Manager of Xbox Experiences, whose most recent project was last week's Xbox Live revamp. The group she will be heading is a combined hardware / user experience team charged with providing a...
Next gen Xbox 720 console ad in upcoming Hugh Jackman film?
The much-rumored next generation Xbox console, often referred to as the 720, has never had an official nod from Microsoft, which has consistently maintained that the current 360 still has a long life ahead of it. Be that as it may, it looks like the upcoming Hugh Jackman film, which takes place in the year 2020, might know a bit more about it than we do.
The above screenshot is from the film Real Steel, which is about a man training a robot to box. The film is based on Richard Matheson's 1956...
