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[shinobi602]

Well, nothing gets me going more than next gen gossip, rumors, and speculations. Xbox World revealed plenty of juicy details back in January, followed by the leaked documents 6 months later. So they put together everything they know about the elusive device in their final issue. Not much is new really, but it's a comprehensive list of solid good info. Maybe this could be a nice "720 hub" before it actually launches. This, is their story. Hnnnnng.

Microsoft never "comment on rumor or speculation", so we turned to a panel of industry experts and asked them about the most hotly rumoured features of the next Xbox - Kinect 2.0, Blu-ray, a quad-core CPU, 8Gb of RAM, directional audio, a TV output and input, the customisable controller and those incredible AR specs.

Don't expect the next Xbox to be called Xbox 3 or Xbox 720. Apple has changed the rules on branding, so when the next generation arrives it'll almost certainly just be 'Xbox'. That part is speculation, but everything else you're about to read has come from industry experts and from Microsoft's own leaky boat.

The next Xbox will hit shelves in November 2013 and the best developers in the world are already working on it. Rare has Kinect Sports 3, Bungie has Destiny, Lionhead has the long-rumoured Fable MMO, 343 has Halo 5, DICE has Battlefield 4, and Turn 10 has Forza 5, and you won't have to wait long to see them.

Unless something really dramatic changes, everything you see here will be revealed long before June's E3 conference, at Microsoft's annual 'X' showcase in February or March next year. The next-generation countdown starts now...

1)MASSIVE POWER

(Mockup of what Xbox World expects the next gen Xbox to look like)

Microsoft's 'Durango' development kits are already in developers' hands, and the CPU at the heart of the machine is a monster. Where 360 has a three-core CPU from 2005, Durango promises four hardware cores, each divided into four logical cores - a spec greater than anything even the most hardcore PC gamer has on his desktop.

"On paper the 360's specs are still fairly respectable," says Matt Ployhar, senior product planner on Nvidia's Consumer Applications Product Team. "It has three cores clocked roughly at 3.2Ghz each, and the newer 360s have a 45nm chip using less power. However, it's not until you really start digging that the bigger advancements that have been made in CPU architectures start becoming more apparent.

"Today, a 'next-gen' console would likely want to use the latest and greatest architecture it could in order to sustain itself over another five to ten year time frame.

"Specifications-wise, we'd end up with a 22-28nm chip, another processing core at roughly the same clock speeds, a cache that is not only faster but four times bigger, six times the number of transistors; all while keeping in the same ballpark or better for power constraints. That's not too shabby, and it doesn't even begin to cover the fact graphics can occupy space on that same physical die and easily match current-generation graphics performance."

2)PUTTING THE POWER TO WORK

So you've got all this extra power... what can you do with it? "We can simulate more things and simulate those things better," says Simon Mack, chief tech man at Naturalmotion - the Cambridge-based studio behind GTAIV's physics.

"You get more physics, you get better fidelity. We can expect to see more simulated characters and richer worlds. We can start to look at having more complex characters under simulation with more complex interactions, and can add more things - hair and cloth and that sort of thing. This all helps to increase believability.

"Right now, game environments are generally restricted to straightforward simulated objects. Having a greater level of physical simulation means you can have more detailed interaction with it. At its most basic, how about destruction? Destruction of objects, of cloth, and soon... That means your character can affect the world in a more detailed and interesting way, as well as have the world affect the character.

"As you up the number of possible interactions in the game, it becomes harder to manage the gameplay. That's the challenge many developers will face, but we think that will benefit gameplay in coming years."

3)KINECT 2.0

Kinect 2.0 tracks up to four players and can read even the smallest movements of your fingers thanks to advancements in the camera technology and the additional processing grunt, rumours suggest, but there are other Microsoft technologies which will feed into the next generation of Microsoft's often dubious motion sensor.

"For the last couple of years we have explored how to use depth-sensing cameras to enable interactions on surfaces in the environment," says Microsoft researcher Hrvoje Benko.

His device, Omnitouch, turns any surface into an interactive touch screen using a projector or - potentially - augmented reality specs. "Coupled with a pico projector, one can turn anything into an interactive surface. It's possible to track fingers in mid-air and reason about their collisions with other objects, thus simulating the multi-touch interactions from smartphones and slates."

Coupled with a miniature projector and Benko's tech, the next Xbox could project a board game right onto your coffee table or give you a virtual keyboard at any time. But even that's thinking small compared to what Microsoft has in mind...

4)AUGMENTED REALITY

Microsoft's leaked planning document detailed plans to turn the next Xbox into a full augmented reality system with a new peripheral planned for 2014. The new AR specs would work alongside Kinect or Omnitouch to turn your living room into a virtual reality environment in which game characters could appear, and even interact with objects in the real world.

"Most of the time, we don't directly pursue the productisation and miniaturisation steps, but on demonstrating the capabilities of the technology," says Omnitouch researcher Hrvoje Benko. "But I see no reason Omnitouch couldn't eventually end up in a pair of glasses. I'm very hopeful that within a few years we'll see more augmented reality technologies in widespread use.

"I see many opportunities, ranging from simply translating the existing games to make them work on many other non-digital surfaces, to completely new games that leverage your personal view, location, body or environment to create more compelling games. In our Beamatron project, we have already demonstrated driving virtual RC cars around a living room, making jumps off a couch, and behaving just like a real car."

The next Xbox could do something as small as place Master Chief's HUD right in front of your eyes, or even bring the action off the screen right into your living room.

5)3D SOUND

Augmented reality is powerful, but to build a real virtual world you'll want characters who appear to speak to you with location-specific audio. Impossible? Nope; the technology already exists for specialists.

"The effect of 3D sound is astonishing," says Tuyen Pham, CEO of A-Volute: 3D Sound Projects. "You're in the axis of the speaker and you hear sound; you move your head a little bit and the sound disappears. The hardware components in our technology are still too expensive to be used in consumer products, though with mass production having a device on top of or under your TV set can be something accessible for a major brand."

Microsoft are that major brand, and Microsoft Research has already demonstrated its own directional sound prototype - a rack of 16 speakers all working together to 'project' sound into a small area. Coupled with Kinect head-tracking, the speakers could project audio only you can hear, making headphones a thing of the past. Might the tech be intended for the next Xbox? We put the idea to Pham, who has some ideas about how it could work.

"The consumer device looks like a 10x20cm panel with a thickness of one centimetre. It could be placed anywhere, and I think the application of such technology for game consoles is clear. However, after checking with our legal department I can't disclose that. We're working with a gaming company but the information I could give is under NDA..."

6)BLU-RAY AND BEYOND

The next Xbox should ship with a Blu-ray drive as standard, allowing for games up to 50Gb on a single disc without PS3's current problems with the tech - namely slow seek times and increased loading times in game. Modern Blu-ray drives are faster than their 2006 equivalents, and Microsoft will use the latest tech it can source at a sensible price.

One rumour is that the first 'slim' version of the next Xbox will drop the optical drive altogether in favour of a download-only platform scheduled for 2015. The 'slim' Xbox, if it comes to pass, would be scheduled for a post-disc world where broadband speeds and network caps have advanced to the point that a 20-30Gb download would be manageable on even an average home connection.

For now, the UK's broadband isn't up to the job and it's not alone; online video provider Netflix recently deemed Canada a third world country when it comes to broadband. There are only a few PC and console games which go over 25Gb - the bigger PS3 games tend to duplicate data on the disc to reduce seek times - but expect games to grow big enough to fill Blu-rays as the next generation matures.

7)DIRECTX 11

"It's a safe bet that the next Xbox is going to be DirectX 11 capable," says Nvidia's Matt Ployhar. DX11 is Microsoft's own programming interface which unlocks impressive next-generation effects in modern PC games. "We're all in store for some amazing treats graphically when the next round of games start ramping up to really exploit DirectX 11 by default in both the console and PC versions."

"We're only seeing the tip of the iceberg on PC right now, but already I think most console gamers will be amazed by what they're actually missing out on. Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Crysis 2, Colin McRae: Dirt 3 and Stalker: Call of Pripyat are just a taste of what's to come, and in order to see most of that eye candy you really have to dial things up beyond what the current consoles are capable of.

"That means higher resolutions, sharper textures, more anti-aliasing, tessellation etc. It's hard to describe, but check out Epic's Samaritan demo and this year's Unreal 4 demo. A good part of these game engine technologies will trickle down into the next console generation."

8)A NEW MICROSOFT

Microsoft needs to respond to Xbox Live's biggest problems: the ones that hit developers first then gamers second. Indie dev Phil Fish decided against patching Fez because patching on Xbox is a $10,000 job - too much for most small developers.

Live's big problems come from Microsoft's side, and the next-generation Xbox will require a friendlier Microsoft if it's to become home to games like Valve's ever-evolving shooter Team Fortress 2 or multiplayer battle arena League of Legends - the biggest game in the world, and one which grows with its player base.

"For a competitive multiplayer title like ours, it's important to react fast to the player base and address exploits," says Monday Night Combat's Chandana Ekanayake. "But our first patch took 35 days and our first DLC took 34 days before it went live after we sent it to Microsoft. For our PC beta of Monday Night Combat, we did 30 updates on a weekly basis, and sometimes even twice a week."

"On 360, Ubisoft and all the other publishers out there have to choose whether it's worth the costs associated with putting out a title update," says Ubisoft's Stuart White, producer on Ghost Recon. "It's an easy decision if a new feature will take a week to make and generate an extra 30,000 sales, but it's more difficult when it's going to take three months. Then you start getting into a cost/benefit analysis situation."

Cheaper and easier patching will open games up to better downloadable content and more creative ideas from developers. "And cutting down on all that red tape? Yeah, of course I'd like that," says White. "There's a lot of forms you have to fill out... you need to get a specific identification number before you can submit your DLC, and sometimes you don't even know where to go to find that number."

9)NEXT GENERATION CONTROLS

Rumours suggest Microsoft's next controller is still in the prototype stages with some models featuring touch screens and others featuring programmable buttons. Controller technology has changed enough in the last seven years to make the next Xbox controller a radically different device says Min-Liang Tan, CEO of gaming peripheral firm Razer.

"In 2005 the 360 controller was a big improvement from the original Xbox controller in terms of ergonomics and durability, and Microsoft made huge improvements with their morphing D-pad. I think the next development will be adding buttons gamers can map freely for individual customisation," he says.

That means your friend who insists on playing Halo with Greenthumb and an inverted stick won't have to mess around in the menus when you pass the pad.

"We haven't looked into how much it would cost to build a touch screen controller at Razer, but I imagine it would be quite expensive. Anywhere upwards of $99-$150 would be my best bet," similar to Nintendo's price tag for its Wii U controller, then. "There are a lot of things you can imagine doing with a secondary screen, though when playing on a console the gamer's eyes are focused on the TV and the distance to the controller is quite large, so that's a problem.

"Controller technology has advanced so far, Microsoft could take it anywhere. Maybe it could withstand rage-quitting throws because it's made of Kevlar fibres, or have flexible material that morphs to gamers' hand shapes, like a built-in stress ball for when you lose a round online."

10)CLOUD GAMING

In the same leaked document which set out the five-year roadmap for the next generation of Xbox, Microsoft listed cloud gaming provider Onlive as an acquisition target. Onlive's service let players stream games over the internet for a monthly fee with minimal lag, but the company went bankrupt in August and Microsoft didn't opt to buy. Instead, it hosted a mixer for Onlive's staff on August 27, with the aim of 'adding key players who want to make a real impact in creating groundbreaking new products and services'.

Sony already has its own cloud gaming provider, having dropped $380 million (£237m) on Gaikai, with the intention of bringing Gaikai's cloud streaming tech to PlayStation.

Microsoft usually prefers to build from scratch whenever it can, so expect Microsoft's home-grown effort to appear on the next-gen Xbox and every other device you own, effectively turning your phone, TV, PC and tablet into an extension of your console. Any device could become a host for your games and your saves, played locally on the next Xbox or streamed straight from Microsoft's cloud.

11)LIVE 3.0: NEW USER FEATURES

The next Xbox should introduce a new version of Live, with better support for social networking and free-to-play or subscripton-based games. Those are essentials, but online developers have ideas too.

"Microsoft has the best digital distribution network on a console with Xbox Live, but it's not very flexible in the rapidly changing environment," says Chandana Ekanayake, executive producer on Monday Night Combat at Uber Entertainment.

"I'd like to see better discoverability for games on the Dashboard, as well as faster methods of updating a game with more control given to the developer. Removing the 100-friend limit is a must, and Microsoft have to better integrate Xbox Live features across multiple platforms, whether it be console, mobile, tablet or desktop PC."

"I think that increasing the size of the Friends List only helps," says Ubisoft's Stuart White, PvP producer on Ghost Recon Future Soldier. "If you raise that cap, then more people can share what they're playing. And I would love to see a hard drive for all models of the next generation of Xbox so we can do what we can do on the PS3. We're currently limited at times when it comes to the amount of information we can push in a title update or DLC."

12)TOTAL MULTIMEDIA

With the latest version of the 360's Dashboard, Microsoft has already taken steps to turn the Xbox into a complete hub for their own music and TV services. "I think with the next-generation Xbox we'll see a shift towards Microsoft tightly integrating the software and services that power Windows Phone and Windows 8," says The Verge's senior editor, Tom Warren.

"The end result will likely be a greater focus on presenting Skype and Kinect as a competitor to Apple's FaceTime, and Xbox Music to take on Amazon and Apple's iTunes."

Microsoft's leaked doc hints at an 'always on' console. Taken to its logical extreme, imagine your next Xbox taking the place of your Sky+ box, with a TV input and output. What if saying "Xbox BBC 2" or tapping a button on your mobile phone's SmartGlass app let you change channels or record video straight through your console?

"Microsoft has a strong footing in the living room right now, primarily from Xbox 360 and Kinect, and SmartGlass is a clear play by Microsoft to control the living room with its content partners," says Warren. "The cross-platform support will aid it in the short and long term."

13)THE USER INTERFACE

Metro is far from a perfect user interface, as this feature points out, but Metro is here to stay and will be the way you interact with Windows 8, Windows Phone and the next-generation Xbox.

"Microsoft's Andy Lees commented during the 2011 Worldwide Partner Conference that the company wants to provide a consistent experience across all of its products, including Xbox," says Tom Warren, tech expert and senior editor on The Verge.

"It's clearly an important piece of Microsoft's future, and the company is even using it across their new Outlook mail system and the next version of Microsoft Office. I think you'll have to keep an eye on Windows 8 to see how that influences Xbox."

A more precise Kinect means smaller tiles and more content available on each 'page' of the dash, but Windows 8's Metro interface is already proving unpopular, so Microsoft will have to take a year of feedback into account when the latest version of Metro hits the next Xbox.

14)ALWAYS-ON GAMING

However, Microsoft's most powerful feature for next-generation Xbox might be... no switching off. The next Xbox should be an always-on console where key games will be ready to go at a moment's notice.

Throughout the leaked planning document Microsoft constantly references "multiple experiences at once or on their own", be that via Cloud streaming to multiple devices, games with rich online content, or actually using your Xbox to switch between media.

Microsoft wants the kind of speed you get from a mobile device but on the big screen - breaking down the barriers between players and the games, switching between Kinect Sports 3 and Halo 5 as easily as you'd change channels on your TV.

You can't remove loading times altogether so long as games need to load in new assets, but by keeping certain games pre-loaded you can have your favourite titles ready to go at a moment's notice. That takes a lot of power and a lot of RAM - 8Gb of it, rumours suggest. There's no reason a high-end game can't flush the memory to squeeze in huge textures and big worlds, but other games will use memory for always-on gaming.

Apple's iOS has changed things for Sony and Microsoft, and the next gen might be defined as much by immediacy and accessibility as it is by huge worlds, high end graphics and revolutionary online play.

Source

 

[catmincer]

This sounds familiar.

 

[mugoldeneagle03]

How much is the extended warranty

 

[rouken]

its a summary article of the xboxworld issue last month right?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500230

baloney

 

[Ponn]

I'm stocking up on popcorn for E3 right now. It and the meltdowns are going to be glorious.

 

[shinobi602]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500230

baloney

Christ no wonder nothing came up in a search with a title like that.

 

[Router]

Yes, 'tis old. Its also just a round up of rumours we already knew.

 

[OgTheClever]

How do modern blu ray laser seek times compare to the PS3's? I know the read speeds have greatly improved, but how much better are the seek times?

 

[Luthos]

"You get more physics, you get better fidelity. We can expect to see more simulated characters and richer worlds. We can start to look at having more complex characters under simulation with more complex interactions, and can add more things - hair and cloth and that sort of thing. This all helps to increase believability.

"Right now, game environments are generally restricted to straightforward simulated objects. Having a greater level of physical simulation means you can have more detailed interaction with it. At its most basic, how about destruction? Destruction of objects, of cloth, and soon... That means your character can affect the world in a more detailed and interesting way, as well as have the world affect the character.

More destructible environments, hair and cloth physics... that's all I need for next gen.

 

[lettermassing]

as someone with an audio engineering degree i'm calling bullshit on the feasibility of microsoft achieving widely accesible binaural playback w/o headphones.

 

[antitrop]

I would hate to see what would happen if the next Xbox is NOT DX11 capable.

 

[whitehawk]

14)ALWAYS-ON GAMING

However, Microsoft's most powerful feature for next-generation Xbox might be... no switching off. The next Xbox should be an always-on console where key games will be ready to go at a moment's notice.

Throughout the leaked planning document Microsoft constantly references "multiple experiences at once or on their own", be that via Cloud streaming to multiple devices, games with rich online content, or actually using your Xbox to switch between media.

Microsoft wants the kind of speed you get from a mobile device but on the big screen - breaking down the barriers between players and the games, switching between Kinect Sports 3 and Halo 5 as easily as you'd change channels on your TV.

You can't remove loading times altogether so long as games need to load in new assets, but by keeping certain games pre-loaded you can have your favourite titles ready to go at a moment's notice. That takes a lot of power and a lot of RAM - 8Gb of it, rumours suggest. There's no reason a high-end game can't flush the memory to squeeze in huge textures and big worlds, but other games will use memory for always-on gaming.

Apple's iOS has changed things for Sony and Microsoft, and the next gen might be defined as much by immediacy and accessibility as it is by huge worlds, high end graphics and revolutionary online play.

This is not going to happen. 8GB is a possibility, but not instant switching between games. Games and apps? Absolutely. But developers aren't going to want to share ram with other games just because microsoft wants instant game switching.

 

[shinobi602]

as someone with an audio engineering degree i'm calling bullshit on the feasibility of microsoft achieving widely accesible binaural playback w/o headphones.

Yea that was probably the one that stood out to me as not likely at all.

 

[JordanN]

I would hate to see what would happen if the next Xbox is NOT DX11 capable.

What if they want DX12?

 

[Mr. Enigma]

But can we finally have a friend list of over 100?

 

[Router]

Yea that was probably the one that stood out to me as not likely at all.

Almost as stupid as the leak that the next xbox would project images on 4 walls to simulate a virtual world.

 

[Sandfox]

There are so many things are so crazy that Microsoft would have to be developing this thing in the future and be usung a time machine feature to send it back to 2013.

 

[shinobi602]

Almost as stupid as the leak that the next xbox would project images on 4 walls to simulate a virtual world.

Well Sony already supposedly has AR Goggle prototypes working right? It's not crazy they could implement AR in some form between now and 2020 or something.

 

[saunderez]

Sounds like a bunch of uninformed baloney to me. Looking forward to the reveal though, it's pretty likely to be my next console purchase.

 

[Elsolar]

"It's a safe bet that the next Xbox is going to be DirectX 11 capable," says Nvidia's Matt Ployhar.

Great! Just in time for DX12 to come out.

 

[Dude Abides]

This seems more like "wouldn't it be neat if" speculation than anything approaching knowledge.

 

[shinobi602]

Sounds like a bunch of uninformed baloney to me.

lol, and the bs regarding xb3 and ps4 continues. god, make it stop.

Which parts?

The leaked documents revealed a lot. Many of it are actual quotes from industry sources.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

lol, and the bs regarding xb3 and ps4 continues. god, make it stop.

 

[saunderez]

Which parts?

The leaked documents revealed a lot. Many of it are actual quotes from industry sources.

It's all speculation and pie in the sky dreaming. I've read the leaked docs they're not as out there as this collection of rumours.

 

[cuyahoga]

Unless something really dramatic changes, everything you see here will be revealed long before June's E3 conference, at Microsoft's annual 'X' showcase in February or March next year. The next-generation countdown starts now...

Isn't speculation PlayStation 4 supposed to be March or earlier and the Xbox 720 supposed to be April or May?

 

[alphaNoid]

IIRC DX12 is light years away away, we'll continue to see incremental additions to DX11 for quite some time. As it stands, even very new PC games still launch designed for, or compatible with DX9. It would take a console footprint to change that landscape, and it will probably happen next gen.

I suspect 720 will be capable for DX11+.. meaning current and future variants of DX11. If MS wants the 720 to be DX12 compliant, they will purposely engineer DX12 to work within the confines of the 720 in some fashion.

Keep in mind, MS has rebuilt so many archaic designs over the past years. It took over a decade to end of life some software that was holding them back, and starting from new kernals etc.. But in 2012 we got Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Surface.. all new lines, many stem from older kernals but they were architect'd out of the restraints that most of those older kernals had. Essentially, modern MS software is fairly bleeding edge stuff, written from the ground up to integrate cross platform and unify the Live brand and service across all platforms. Think about this, the Xbox 360 is 7, going on 8 years old and still ties into services that exist and are integrated on brand new MS operating systems and hardware.

The 720 is going to be a beast, not just hardware wise.. but software. Whatever OS that MS is developing for the 720 will likely be some kind of spinoff of Win8, so that porting between Win8, 720 and WinPhone 8 will be so attractive, developers will look at the competition and chuckle a little bit. Sony and Nintendo are powerhouses themselves, each with their own strengths, I expect good things from both of them as well this next generation. Both will play to their strengths, just as MS will. But neither of them is a software giant like MS. MS is coming into its 3rd generation off of a HUGE success of a second gen. They're unifying all their hardware with all their software and all their software is integrated on all platforms. They are going to flex that prowess, the time is right, their other new platforms have launched.. all thats left is 720.

Neither Sony nor Nintendo is going to be able to compete feature to feature is MS any longer.. at least from an operating system, integrated services/feature level that is. They'll have similar services, similar features, but nothing either of them does will be standardized, and integrated into the entire experience like anything Live will be. Neither are going to integrate their core services into both PC, tablets and smart phones as well. I'm hoping this actually inspires Sony to do something out of the box, and be creative with PSN. Being a 'free', lesser competitor of Live isn't going to cut it in 2013 and beyond.

Consumers expect more from their electronics these days. Most smart phones do 100x more than either the 360 or PS3 as it is. Next gen consoles need to step it up if they want to impress consumers.. shiny graphics, and 1st party games aren't enough. I'm pretty excited to see what both Sony and MS are going to bring to the table next.. I'm hoping bigger and better in every way, but cost is a factor. If this gen has taught us anything its that the 5 year console cycle doesn't need to exist. Sony and/or MS can developer a powerhouse console and take a loss for a few years if that means they can turn that around and profit for another 5-7 years afterwards.

 

[shinobi602]

It's all speculation and pie in the sky dreaming. I've read the leaked docs they're not as out there as this collection of rumours.

Again, which parts specifically besides the wishful "3D sound"?

 

[JordanN]

IIRC DX12 is light years away away, we'll continue to see incremental additions to DX11 for quite some time.

I wouldn't call it light years. Starting next year, DX11 is going to be 4 years old. The previous DirectX lasted 3 years (even shorter if you ignore DX10.1) and before that it was 4 years with DirectX 9.

Although I agree we'll see more updates to the DX11 family.

 

[DJMicLuv]

But will it play Crysis 3?
I'm looking forward to finding out more about the next gen consoles but until something more concrete is revealed I tend to avoid speculation. A lot of this sounds pie-in-the-sky so I'll just wait and see what gets revealed around E3 time.

 

[shinobi602]

I wouldn't call it light years. Starting next year, DX11 is going to be 4 years old. The previous DirectX lasted 3 years (even shorter if you ignore DX10.1) and before that it was 4 years with DirectX 9.

Although I agree we'll see more updates to the DX11 family.

Wasn't it just released to consumers in October 09'?

 

[KageMaru]

This all sounds like some fanboy's wet dream.

 

[JordanN]

Wasn't it just released to consumers in October 09'?

I'm going by first announcement (which was back in 2008).

 

[saunderez]

Again, which parts specifically besides the wishful "3D sound"?

Augmented reality, switching between games, 3D audio. The only believable bit to me is the hardware itself and the OS. I'm not even sure about Kinect 2.0 unless they want to price themselves out of the market. As a day 1 Kinect adopter I'm not interested in it next gen. I'm just being a bit realistic with what they can fit in the box for a reasonable price.

 

[Router]

Isn't speculation PlayStation 4 supposed to be March or earlier and the Xbox 720 supposed to be April or May?

The only respectable word we have is that Microsoft will announce the new xbox shortly before E3 then continue with the info at E3 while Sony will Announce the PS4 at E3.

 

[shinobi602]

This all sounds like some fanboy's wet dream.

I keep seeing a few posters say things like this, yet no one has offered a reason why.

Besides the 3D sound aspect, there's nothing here that makes me think "There's no way this could happen!"

 

[shinobi602]

Augmented reality, switching between games, 3D audio. The only believable bit to me is the hardware itself and the OS.

The 3D audio definitely has a long way to go before hitting mainstream, but it's not like AR is some Minority Report fantasy that's lightyears away. Sony already has prototypes going, and I could easily see them introduce some type of AR add-on, ala Kinect, down the line between now and 2020 if it's not at launch. Just look at what they're doing now with Oculus Rift.

But what is far fetched about switching between games? Not even games, switching on the fly between different apps, software, etc sounds like a necessity in today's media entertainment world.

 

[?oe?oe]

Man, if the controller had a touchscreen, a lot of GAF would be on suicide watch.

We all know how most of the rumours turned out to be for Wii U. Just rumours.

 

[meltingparappa]

...the best developers in the world are already working on it. Rare...

HMMM.


There are some nice pie in the sky ideas, but the augmented stuff seems like it'll never take off with an accessory that splits the userbase.

And then there's a matter of games. Is there a a real killer app of a kinect game yet? I know there are some great family friendly ones, but it doesn't seem like there's any sign of convergence between most modern game design and the type of control the kinect offers.

 

[saunderez]

The 3D audio definitely has a long way to go before hitting mainstream, but it's not like AR is some Minority Report fantasy that's lightyears away. Sony already has prototypes going, and I could easily see them introduce some type of AR add-on, ala Kinect, down the line between now and 2020 if it's not at launch. Just look at what they're doing now with Oculus Rift.

But what is far fetched about switching between games? Not even games, switching on the fly between different apps, software, etc sounds like a necessity in today's media entertainment world.

I know AR is possible but I don't think it adds a whole lot to gaming. I've played AR games on my 3DS XL, neat gimmick but it's just that. Game switching on the fly can't work without ridiculous amounts of memory and devs being restricted to a small pool of it. Suspend to HDD could work but isn't instant. I can see apps and retail game switching but switching between games is a technological hurdle even PCs can't handle well.

 

[ajim]

Even if only half of those things are achieved id be stoked!

I'm absolutely pumped for the next Xbox. Microsoft give me that feeling I used to feel as a kid waiting in anticipation for the new Nintendo or Sega console.

Can't wait.

 

[dwu8991]

IIRC DX12 is light years away away, we'll continue to see incremental additions to DX11 for quite some time. As it stands, even very new PC games still launch designed for, or compatible with DX9. It would take a console footprint to change that landscape, and it will probably happen next gen.

I suspect 720 will be capable for DX11+.. meaning current and future variants of DX11. If MS wants the 720 to be DX12 compliant, they will purposely engineer DX12 to work within the confines of the 720 in some fashion.

Keep in mind, MS has rebuilt so many archaic designs over the past years. It took over a decade to end of life some software that was holding them back, and starting from new kernals etc.. But in 2012 we got Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Surface.. all new lines, many stem from older kernals but they were architect'd out of the restraints that most of those older kernals had. Essentially, modern MS software is fairly bleeding edge stuff, written from the ground up to integrate cross platform and unify the Live brand and service across all platforms. Think about this, the Xbox 360 is 7, going on 8 years old and still ties into services that exist and are integrated on brand new MS operating systems and hardware.

The 720 is going to be a beast, not just hardware wise.. but software. Whatever OS that MS is developing for the 720 will likely be some kind of spinoff of Win8, so that porting between Win8, 720 and WinPhone 8 will be so attractive, developers will look at the competition and chuckle a little bit. Sony and Nintendo are powerhouses themselves, each with their own strengths, I expect good things from both of them as well this next generation. Both will play to their strengths, just as MS will. But neither of them is a software giant like MS. MS is coming into its 3rd generation off of a HUGE success of a second gen. They're unifying all their hardware with all their software and all their software is integrated on all platforms. They are going to flex that prowess, the time is right, their other new platforms have launched.. all thats left is 720.

Neither Sony nor Nintendo is going to be able to compete feature to feature is MS any longer.. at least from an operating system, integrated services/feature level that is. They'll have similar services, similar features, but nothing either of them does will be standardized, and integrated into the entire experience like anything Live will be. Neither are going to integrate their core services into both PC, tablets and smart phones as well. I'm hoping this actually inspires Sony to do something out of the box, and be creative with PSN. Being a 'free', lesser competitor of Live isn't going to cut it in 2013 and beyond.

Consumers expect more from their electronics these days. Most smart phones do 100x more than either the 360 or PS3 as it is. Next gen consoles need to step it up if they want to impress consumers.. shiny graphics, and 1st party games aren't enough. I'm pretty excited to see what both Sony and MS are going to bring to the table next.. I'm hoping bigger and better in every way, but cost is a factor. If this gen has taught us anything its that the 5 year console cycle doesn't need to exist. Sony and/or MS can developer a powerhouse console and take a loss for a few years if that means they can turn that around and profit for another 5-7 years afterwards.

This is just utter nonsense. MS aren't going to dominate the next-gen. They will share it with Nintendo & Sony irrespective of what hardware it comes out with. MS have barely differentiated themselves producing the same three first party games every year - halo, forza and gears. What they need to do is focus on building a entertainment console for everyone, not just for a hardcore audience or kinect only party games. Also stop MS should stop charging for online play and youtube services.

 

[Bending_Unit_22]

Yeah, the wax wings of this industry are already melting yet the demand is to fly higher. Meanwhile the old man is flying lower (probably too lower but...).

 

[Iknos]

This is one of the dumbest articles I've read about anything.

Doesn't tell us anything new.

Makes up some BS about what it can do.

All the while there was a leaked document that went into detail and this article doesn't mention any of it.

 

[params7]

yeah lets just wait for e3.

 

[Bert409]

Don't mess with the controller plz, Microsoft.

 

[PerZona]

yeah lets just wait for e3.

.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

what kind of mind comes up with these mock ups? This thing is the size of a suitcase.

 

[subversus]

IIRC DX12 is light years away away, we'll continue to see incremental additions to DX11 for quite some time. As it stands, even very new PC games still launch designed for, or compatible with DX9. It would take a console footprint to change that landscape, and it will probably happen next gen.

Black Ops 2 is DX11 only
BF3 is DX11 only
Crysis 3 is DX11 only
Sleeping Dogs is DX11 only

and so on

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

That part is speculation, but everything else you're about to read has come from industry experts and from Microsoft's own leaky boat.

The next Xbox will hit shelves in November 2013 and the best developers in the world are already working on it. Rare has Kinect Sports 3, Bungie has Destiny, Lionhead has the long-rumoured Fable MMO, 343 has Halo 5, DICE has Battlefield 4, and Turn 10 has Forza 5, and you won't have to wait long to see them.

Actually, the Fable MMO part is still speculation, and it goes against what we know for sure. Lionhead's game with "MMO-like" modes (so not necessarily an MMO) is supposed to be "a major brand new IP".

Almost everything else sounds reasonable, and I expect we'll see most of those features (and many more) realized over the coming years, if not exactly at launch.

 

[shinobi602]

what kind of mind comes up with these mock ups? This thing is the size of a suitcase.

...where do you get that from?