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TALES FROM MY ASS: Durango rumors discussed by anonymous source

An allegedly anonymous insider source has posted a manifesto of sorts describing some of the details on Durango.

As I cannot confirm the veracity of these claims, take it with a pinch of salt.

In short: no always-online connection required to play, no HMD (head-mounted display) glasses yet, VGLeaks specs true, Xbox 360 system on a chip for BC and parallel processing.

As for myself, I'll believe it when I see it.



http://pastebin.com/avbwJc17

4d7220335f345f33 (Mr 3_4_3) said:
So yes, I originally made a post on pastebin that I then posted on IGN that has now mysteriously vanished from the internet. I'm guessing good 'ol Don wasn't too happy.

In that pastebin post I said I wouldn't be saying anything else, but that was before a few things changed. So yeah.... #dealwithit.

That IGN post (that referenced the pastebin post) was also posted on NeoGAF. Though it didn't get much attention.

In that pastebin post I specifically mentioned that I was a GAF member, but that I would not be outing myself on GAF for fear of losing my job. And I still will not be doing that. I'm not an idiot.
However since the reveal is pretty close now, I thought I'd just come out and tell you everything I know. No more cryptic bullshit, just facts.

First of all, for any of the GAF members reading this (or anyone else for that matter) that actually believed the online-required rumor, well.... you're either stupid, very gullible, or a fanboy. Reading the posts some of you made over the past few weeks leads me to believe that mostly fanboyism was involved. So, I'll make this very clear:

You are not required to be connected to the internet in order to play Durango games and MS were NEVER considering doing such a thing. Now please, just read that last sentence over and over again until it sinks in. Done? Good.


Now that I've got that out of the way I can talk about the real details.
First, I'll admit some things that I originally hinted at in the first pastebin are now not going to happen. Mainly the April 18th date (obviously) and the HMD glasses. The date, as you may know by now was pushed back to May, and the glasses, well, although they’re kind of working are going to spend a bit longer in the oven.

Ok, moving on. Have you read the VGLeaks article about the Durango specs? Yes? Good because everything you read in that article was 100% correct. Except, for one tiny little detail that MS kept guarded from most devs until very recently. That detail being that every Durango ships with a Xbox 360 SOC.

There was a reason why MS hired so many former IBM and AMD employees. I'll admit I'm not an electrical engineer (I'm in software) so I won't pretend to know the ins and outs of how the 360 SOC integrates into the Durango motherboard. All I know, and all I need to know about this new change is that I (or a game dev) can use the 360 SOC in parallel with the original Durango hardware.

What does this mean in basic terms? Well, apart from Durango having 100% BC with the 360, it also increases Durango's processing power a fair amount.

Ok, so what else?

Kinect 2.0: - Again the specs from VGLeaks are correct, there's been no change and there won't be. However, the fact is, is that software can do ANYTHING, and with the quite substantial increase in the hardware over Kinect 1.0, any humanly noticeable lag should be gone

Controller: - The controller is pretty much the same. The D-Pad has been improved, but the change will only be noticeable when actually using it, i.e. it looks exactly the same, I haven't actually touched it, this is just what I’ve been told. AA batteries will make a return, but the new wireless tech MS has created for the controller, improves battery life by 16%. Again, this is just what the doc says.

Xbox Mini/Xbox TV: Yes, this is happening, although as far as I know, it’s a whole different team over at MS that are handling this. As has been reported its main purpose is to compete with Apple TV, so expect this thing to be small and around $100.
It contains the 360 SOC (similar to the one in the Durango), however no disc drive is included (to decrease size). But of course you can still play any XBLA/Games on Demand game. That’s all I really know about the xTV so I’ll leave it at that. Thurrott seems to know more than anyone else about this, so go ask him.

OS/Services: I wish I knew more about this, but I honestly don’t. I have no clue what sort of new ideas MS are going to bring to the table this gen, but I’m certainly expecting them to amaze.
The only thing that I do know for definite is that Durango will be running Windows 8. It will essentially be the full version of the OS, minus the desktop side of things. This means it’ll be running the new WinRT framework, which as a side effect also means that contrary to popular belief MS will be the most indie friendly of all the big 3 next gen.
This is because any app/game that is created for the Windows app store will (after adding controller support of course) be playable on Durango.
In other words, any random person worldwide can pay Microsoft a $60 license fee (for the Windows Store) and submit their app/game to the store where millions of people can then download/buy it. No expensive development kits needed.
Expect to hear much more on WinRT - Durango at Build2013.

Ok, so that’s pretty much it. I wish I had more info on specific games and services that MS have lined up, but it seems that even I’ll have to wait until May to find out.
I’ll look forward to this post appearing on GAF, where rest assured I’ll be lurking. Hell, who knows I may even make a few posts.

I wonder how many people will refuse to believe this? Hmmmm….
 
Gaf >> internet >> Gaf.

I can't be the only one that's tired of leaks and speculation. Come on, Microsoft! Give me some real shit to go crazy over.
 
sweet. hope this clarifies some of the haze surrounding this fabled console (I personally feel Microsoft needs a kick in the pants for not showing us anything nearly a third into 2013!)
 

see5harp

Member
Not taking this seriously until I hear it from MS in a conference. Sounds much better than all of the doom and gloom that has been brewing here for months though.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Everything sounds pretty reasonable based on what we've been hearin lately except for full 360 BC although that would be something that raises the cost into the $500 range that one analyst mentioned and would be a big change from previous rumors, which explains recent secrecy. Full, native BC would be a boon for Durango.
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
Cool. Backwards compatibility will be a big plus to the people with big 360 libraries.

I hope it doesn't make the unit more expensive though.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
360 SOC sounds interesting and fits with the latest rumors. Also:

"What does this mean in basic terms? Well, apart from Durango having 100% BC with the 360, it also increases Durango's processing power a fair amount."

Extra power from it? Nice.

Nothing has changed for me. Always online = no buy.

Did you...read this?

You are not required to be connected to the internet in order to play Durango games and MS were NEVER considering doing such a thing. Now please, just read that last sentence over and over again until it sinks in. Done? Good.
 

DaBuddaDa

Member
That drama filled, multi-paragraph rant at the beginning pretty much proves this is from some fake, internet nobody. No real source would be that vain. Full of self-importance and spite. Like your standard 15 year old.
 
Any leaks that start with a lame story are deemed fake in my book.


Too many people are just recycling rumors over and over to get attention/troll people.
 

Toki767

Member
I wonder if he realizes there aren't even very many games on the Windows 8 Store for Indie developers to think Windows 8 is a friendly developer platform.
 

Gorillaz

Member
Is a gaf member

but calls the rest of gaf dumb for believing the always online rumor

doesn't want to reveal who he/she is because they might lose there job too






lmao
 

JAYSIMPLE

Banned
100 percent BC??? oh dear sony is going to have a tuff sell on their hands. If it really has a 360 in it that can be used along side the original hardware, soes that mean it would close the gap on the ps4??

hmmm, Colour me interested :D
 

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
Paging Reiko and his horde of Internet rumor peeps...


Well, apart from Durango having 100% BC with the 360, it also increases Durango's processing power a fair amount.

Yes, because putting an ancient CPU/GPU into Durango will really boost processing power. Not to mention how easy the system would be to code for. Oh ya and the price, add another $50+ to the BOM.


Edit: One down..

I believe.
 

Soriku

Junior Member
You are not required to be connected to the internet in order to play Durango games and MS were NEVER considering doing such a thing. Now please, just read that last sentence over and over again until it sinks in. Done? Good.

I don't believe this.
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
Mainly the April 18th date
This date I hadn't heard about before for a reveal, I thought it was April 26th. But April 18th is the date for Microsoft's FY13 Q3 Earnings Conference Call. Were they originally planning to reveal the console on the very same date? I think there's still a very good chance that they'll say something on Thursday though.

I can't wait til the announcement and reveal will actually happen so we can have discussions about the next generation of gaming without having to rely on rumors and speculation.
 
PS3 launched with 100% PS2 BC, how did that turnout for them?


the average consumer isn't buying nex gen consoles to play games for system they already own
 

Into

Member
This does not really read as someone who knows specific details about Durango, but as some random gamer on a random internet message board. Just the way this "source" structures their sentences looks very...gamerish? Hard to explain

But it was a entertaining read none the less, thanks for posting.
 

Wynnebeck

Banned
sweet. hope this clarifies some of the haze surrounding this fabled console (I personally feel Microsoft needs a kick in the pants for not showing us anything nearly a third into 2013!)

How does this clarify anything? All it does is come across as "I'm tired of the fanboys talking about online only so here's what's REALLY going on." Not a shred of evidence corroborating anything the person said when we have heard several times from different places about the always-online rumor. Sorry but I'm with Cheesemeister on this one. I'll believe it when I see it.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Cool. Backwards compatibility will be a big plus to the people with big 360 libraries.

I hope it doesn't make the unit more expensive though.

Including something over not including something makes the unit more expensive.
 
So a person created a twitter account and sent a pastebin note to noted members of NeoGaf, Pacther, Geis, and SuperDAE? Sounds fishy. Seriously Microsoft, announce the thing already.
 

Proelite

Member
360 SOC stuff is obviously false. Durango using 360 SOC for extra horse power is the stupidest thing I've heard. The benefits of that is not worth the software engineering cost.

Durango having an app story is obviously going to be true.

/thread
 
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