What might be inside the next Xbox - a realist's view

It's almost that time already - The Xbox 360 is barely settled in and already gamers everywhere are eagerly awaiting news of Microsoft's next console. As is now the norm, the internet is buzzing with chatter of the next Xbox, years before it will even hit the shelves.

Some highlights

No Blu-ray?
Compatible with 360 controllers?
'Newton' for 360 a dummy run for the next console?

[TheEndzor]

They Need something that can play high storage games.

Dvd-9 is quickly becoming obsolete for gaming

[alexM]

RROD

RROD

RROD

[Sir Ken Kutaragi]

...A Fire-Station!!! ;-D
With Little Fire-Men!!! ;-D
AWW!!!;)

[Denzelio]

Don't forget Fire Ants, the little firemen will chase the fire ants and if the ants manage to escape they'll burn your house down.

[PopEmUp]

A Time bomb, .....what that sound......beep..beep....beep, beep,beep,beep,beep,beep,beep.. ..BOOM! BOOM!BOOM!

[toughNAME]

Don't use a jet engine for the next box

[DJ]

Jet Engines are awesome, man! The louder, the better. =D

[kewlkat007]

the damn thing is noisy and I think its the DVD ROM drive, not so much the fan. I have no other operating issues.

[riskibusiness]

12 Core IBM CPU w/6MB cache - slightly more after analysis proved more was needed. CPU will be tweaked a bit.

4-5 ATI Core GPU W/O EDRAM; capable of ray tracing and physics. 4.5-5.5 times more shader ops.

Optical BUS 120MB per second between all components.

2GB DDR400+ memory

No Optical Drive, but attachable DVD or Blue-ray.

100% BC with attachable drive.

W/controller, will come a motion sense devises.

Replaceable flash drive. Comes with 120GB standard.

Built-in ABGN Wireless.

Those are the main changes. Too bad we won't see Intel's Larabee as an additional chip though. MS is going to move into hardware virtualization. And expect the next system to be commoditized; many makers of the console.

By the time this releases it will be cheap and affordable.

[rawg]

Then it will cost 4-5 times as much as well. Good luck selling that console in a crowded market with no games. Ask the Sony guys, it's not a walk in the park.

[LJWooly]

If the next Xbox goes the way of the Wii, I will cry myself to sleep for five consecutive nights.

[potenquatro]

@ riskibusiness. ATI has one gig of memory now and it's not ZOMG goodlooking. by 2010 or 2011 i expect more than 2 gigs. maybe they end up with NVIDIA again.i havn't seen anything new from IBM and u know they are not going with CELL. maybe it will have some new AMD if they go with ATI. HDD has to be any HDD no special MS HDD that's expensive. but if it's like u say that there are many makers for the console, there are gonna be ALOT of sku's to choose from. i think going that route is bad for branding,but if they make it happen it could mean cheap next-gen gaming. nobody has been succesful before thou.

[JsonHenry]

The next time around will be a custom AMD CPU, as well as custom AMD video card, and about two gigs of RAM.

[tokugawa]

a couple of custom cpu's, a pretty bad-ass custom gpu. a blu-ray drive. interchangeable hdd(100gig+) 2 to 4 gig of ram. and i hope that they stick with the 360 controller! by far the best controller i've ever used....and i've used alot all the way back to the atari vcs2600

[Tomdc]

putting just DVD in it would be the stupidest move ever! This writer is clearly a fool... Already games are getting to big for DVD's and there isn't really any alternative other than blu-ray. The point he makes about downloads is true to some extent but it wont be commonplace till about another 7 years because of slow internet connections.

[Kaz Hirai]

"Jump In- to 1080 degrees of FLOP!"

36 days until Judgment Day, Nazisoft!

MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!!

[BLUR111]

36 days until KAZ WILL STILL BE SPAMING THIS SITE WHEN MGS4 IS OUT NOT PLAYING A PS3.

[PR0NE]

@BLUR111 can you raise your voice, i didn't hear you...

[Mr Playboy]

A$$hole

[Ali_The_Brit]

Will Blu-ray really have the market to itself? It’s seen off the superior HD-DVD

how in the name of god is HD-DVD superior? blu-ray can hold like 3 times as much data as HD-DVD.

[DomUltra]

Like they really have the option to use active currently existing technology, HD-DVD's are their only route.

@ the disagree-ers

Okay first off, it's either use DD with a 1TB HDD which isn't tangible, or HD-DVD, Sony isn't exactly gonna hand over there money maker, at least not with Apple right beside them.

[OOG FunK]

see the thing is that blu ray isnt always the best choice....they could take advantage of the other formats that are becoming available that can carry 50 gigs at a cheaper price....cant remem the name of that format....but most likely it will end up being a blu ray or something of that sort for the next system....

O and fyi I gaurantee sony would love for MS to adopt Blu Ray cuz its more money for them and the fact that just because they both make consoles doesnt mean their companies dont have business relationships with each other all ready....think outside of your lil gaming utopia

[DomUltra]

Whatever keep dreaming that Xbox might eventually have Blu-ray it only makes you look like an ass.

[OOG FunK]

funny how it makes me look like an ass when i like both systems moron go save your trolling for somewhere else and get a life dude.... just because i said something that actually makes common sense u think im wrong?

[Blackcanary]

Dom if MS use BLU-RAY Sony get Royalite because they own half of BLU-RAY
MS would be kicking them self because Sony would be making money from them. Every gmae sold Sony would get royalites.

[Isaya85]

MARK MY WORDS SONY AND MICROSOFT ARE GOING TO TEAM UP TO COMPETE AGAINST APPLE AND EA NEW CONSOLE SONY+MICROSOFT=PLAYBOX

[Homicide]

Hopefully something reliable.

[robep3]

I can tell you what wont be in it the POWER SUPPLY LOL.

Rob.

[pp]

HD-DVD was superior its a shame microsoft didn't come out on launch of the xbox360 with a biult in hd dvd drive.

[DomUltra]

Dumbass.

[juuken]

Um...then how come blu-ray won?

[AngryTypingGuy]

BluRay is the superior format in the eyes of more people, including myself, because of its higher storage capacity. However, some people preferred HD-DVD because it supposedly performs better and has features that BluRay can't do (hence the "superior" comments). I've also heard some people say that HD-DVD had slightly better picture quality. I've never experienced HD-DVD in action first hand, so I can't really say for myself.

Being a gamer though, I am glad that BluRay won because it has more potential for future gaming. The guy in the article is crazy. There is no way in hell that MS can go with DVD-9 next gen if it wants to compete with PS4 graphically, and have games more than two levels long. I see MS licensing BluRay for next gen. Having a total DD console would be to risky, and to be honest, doesn't sound appealing.

[DJ]

But the PS3 bias made it really enjoyable. Especially this line: "perhaps some additional cores but nothing too fancy. Sony’s CELL was widely blamed for lackluster games early in PS3’s life - perhaps that’s the downside of doing the ‘ooooh fancy’ with the CPU." =P

But the author got something slightly wrong when they wrote this: "The shared memory architecture of the Xenos has been widely applauded by developers so expect this to stay as a key feature."

It's definitely going to stay, but i've only seen mixed comments about it. It gives them a lot of bias towards GPU performance, but at the expense of the CPU. This was the opposite for Xbox 1. It's not so much a "feature" as it is a cost-saving decision.

[xboxrumble]

your trying way too hard...

i wonder why u even care to comment on this article..

probably never had the 1st xbox nevermind the 360.

[DJ]

And I still kick ass at Halo. =P Maybe you thought I was being sarcastic? Just stating the facts about Unified Memory Architecture.

[JsonHenry]

As for all the articles I have read they claim that devs prefer a unified shader GPU, but not unified memory.

And on desktop PCs unified shaders are a standard already, so they will most certainly be in the next round of consoles.

Maybe on consoles unified memory is a desire for developers, but I can it only serves to slow the system down on a desktop PC.

[Drekken]

who in their right mind EAGERLY awaits nextgen console two years after its predecessor? That to me is a smack in the face if it comes out anytime before 2011...

[shotputking]

it's a smack in the face if it comes out 5-6 years after the original? that actually sounds perfect to me.

[Drekken]

Key word being 5-6 years.... that is FINE. Anything before is a rush... sorry if anyone misunderstood me.

Still want to know who is eagerly awaiting.

[potenquatro]

... i don't expected any time soon but i think about what they can do.
alot of people got their xbox in 2005 and are expecting an xbox cristmas 2010. in 2010 i'll be next-gen gaming.pc, xbox, ps4, wii2, 3do2, cd-i3 or whatever. alot of people are going to be next-gen gaming in 2010.imo

[jcfilth]

maybe they're not completely happy with what the got and seeing there's other consoles with much more features just makes them want a bit of all that imo.

[JsonHenry]

I don't eagerly await anything. By the time the next gen consoles come around I have been playing games with better graphics and physics on my PC for at least a year.

[OOG FunK]

I say it will be interesting to see what comes out next...be interesting to see what intel is cooking up with the new procs they are making as well....maybe one of their new video cards/processors could be the future

[wass007]

2 Dominant Companies Who Always Care Bout Their Customers Never Release Faulty Products (RROD) And Will Send Microsoft To Its Grave!!!!!!

1.) They F*cked Up With RROD (Sonys Win)
2.) They F*cked Up With Vista (Apples Win)

[PR0NE]

@was007 stop right there, and don't even mention Apple, they're always infested with their DRM sh!t, Sony on the other hand stopped their DRM nonesense(example sony ericson walkman) and are going in the right direction.. if there are two companies that i hate the most, it's Apple and Nintendo...

[Citizen Cook]

Sony won't win anything! They can't even gain substatial ground on M$ and that is with their RROD problem! Next gen, when they don't have a heating issue, they what? I'll tell you: Sony will finally die and be forced to leave the game business and go back to making cheap overpriced TV's trading on their long dead rep from the 80's...

Blu-ray won because M$ didn't FULLY support HD-DVD. They didn't offer it in the box at launch. Also, Sony gave a big fat greasy check to Warner.Bros

Betamax was better than VHS, why didn't it win dumbass!

HD-DVD was cheaper to produce and buy, had better tech a larger storage option, and best of all it was REGION FREE.

M$ may just use a new disc not currently on the market. Blu-Ray won't be the last. There are about 5 different discs in development right now that will make Blu-Ray look CD's when its finally released....

HA HA HA HA!

[juuken]

Your ignorance astounds me.
That is all.

[PoSTedUP]

dont get too ahead of yourself. 16 months head start, their not doing to well for such a big lead. sonys doing better than microsoft in their point in time. sony has a variety of games, microsoft has only shooters, hears your top shooters, mass effect, bio shock, gears and halo, any thing in common? becides halo 1 2 and 3?

[wass007]

God!! will u listen to dis turd!! at first hes like "digital distribution is the future" now hes like "better disks then blu-ray is the future" make up ur mind cuz u luk like a douchebag ryt now

[THE_JUDGE]

concentrate on this one for the next three years and then speculate. Is the 360 that bad that you have to try and think of the next ones features to tide you over? These articles are useless.

[BulletToothtony]

me why the author would suggest that the next xbox should keep the existing DVD drive..

he says it's cheap to produce.. who cares.. last time a i checked ps3 and 360 games cost the same and bluray doesn't scratch so easily.

but if he is serious then that's just plain denial... at this point we already need bigger disks.. and he thinks that in a few years devs are still gonna be able to fit things in 7 gigs?? some games yes... most "good" games No!

[rhood022]

I liked the part when he said that blu-ray beat out the "superior HD-DVD format."

[Adamalicious]

They will definitely need something larger than DVD. It seems like Blu-Ray will be the most logical choice for a console that will come out in the next 2-3 years, but you know the last thing Microsoft wants to do is pay royalties to Sony on their hardware.

They could always use HD-DVD, but then they lose out on the major value add of Blu-Ray playback.

Moderately off-topic: I think it would be great it flash memory got so cheap (and so large) that games could be on Cartridges again, but that's probably not going to happen anytime soon as flash capacity will probably always cost significantly more than disk-based.

[BulletToothtony]

i've thought about that too, i wonder if it would help loading times in a game..

i don't know much about the reading speeds of a memory stick.

But being that the 8gb memory sticks are around $80 i don't know if it's because of the luxury of having an 8gb stick cause i don't think it's that expensive to actually make them

Either way, by the look of things bluray will be here for a few years.. and imo i think it's quite good, with the ability of having even a 100gb disc i think it would be safe to put in a BD drive

[sloth4urluv]

Not really a fan of either formats, but I would say the onlything Bluray has going for it is larger capacity. Physically its superior, but software wise I would have to say that HD was superior.

Im just glad I waited before buying either player.

[aftrdark21]

Microsoft will add an HDD standard to their next machine? Or if you will still have to buy one from them in order to upgrade it? Will it have wireless built in? Or are they gonna nickel and dime everyone again? I can see it now... want an extra 1 GB of RAM? That will be $200 bucks! Hopefully Microsoft learned their lesson from this gen. I'm sure there won't be a RROD in the next Xbox. They can't afford to have it and remain competitive next time around.

[OOG FunK]

I say the next one is deffinite to have a hard drive because now since they have an established DD with the marketplace they are deff gonna push DD more and more over the years and try to take control of that market

[pshizle]

either bluray drive or DD 1TB hardrive

[DomUltra]

Actually, they don't have Blu-ray as in option, most of you just assume Sony would give their current money maker away while they still need it, answer is no, they're not going to, existing routes reinvent HD-DVD to be used as the next thing for games atleast for Xbox franchise or obvious 1TB HDD.

[Blackcanary]

You look so stupid right now.
Sony would love MS to have a BLU-RAY Drive in the next Console and for MS to use BLU-RAY disk for the games way because Sony own Half of BLU-RAY which also means that MS would half to pay them some money. Every game that would come out on Blu-ray for there new consoles means sony would get Royalites. Sony want MS to this because they will make more money.

Please do ur research before making stupid fanboy comments.

[DomUltra]

Your a retard, because you know royalties just give sony so much money, if you weren't a retard you'd understand it's only a percentage, right now they need the PR coverage for their console, not blu-ray on two consoles, retard.

[zapass]

but they already want to buy a new console!
watabunchafools

[clrlite]

If they do make a new xbox. What will be in it? I hope they dont reuse their old formula of filling a green and grey box with goldfish crackers and shredded newspaper. Really, i've disected one....

[beavis4play]

why would anyone be looking forward (after only 2+ yrs)to the next console? ms made a mistake giving up on original xbox after only 4 years. for them to give up on 360 before 6 yrs. have gone by wouldn't be fair to the 360 consumers. and devs would have to start with new hardware and wouldn't get to utilize the 360 to it's full potential.(unless they're already doing that now?)

and please, i understand why they gave up on original, but that doesn't mean it was fair to consumers nor does it demand a four year cycle for 360.

[avacadosnorkel]

starting the countdown. I've been saying for over a year now that the next XBOX will be released next XMAS. Funny thing is, it might be sooner....like this XMAS.

[MonkeyOne]

MS is going to release another not-for-profit console?

Why?

Same with Sony. How is the current business model of NOT making any money on your product going to result in a new console for either company?

Makes no sense.

[Nadine Coyle]

they could use HD VMD. this holds 200 layers and can hold up to 1000gb but this comes out in 2010 i think. correct me if i am wrong. just in time for the new xbox?

[Skynetone]

are you on crack

its not just sony how owns the blu-ray format

both ms/sony pay royalties on many of there products {its no big deal}

[Nadine Coyle]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
here is a link to it. this might be usefull. :)
any more info will be much appriciated. thanks
@ my comment above; i think i got confused with RED RAY lol

[LJWooly]

I can't imagine Microsoft settling for paying royalties to Sony, and going with Blu-Ray, so, yeah, they'll probably find an alternative format.

[iHEARTboobs]

But why are people already looking forward to the next XBOX? Is the current one not good enough for you guys? A lot of 360 fans would say it's the best system this gen, so why look forward? It just makes it seem as though you guys like the 360 but don't think it's refined. Is that true? I'm not trying to bust ball$ here, i'm just curious. I do have a PS3 but i'm not looking forward to what comes next, i'm enjoying what's here and what the PS3 has to offer now and in the coming future. I guess you can chalk that up to you guys having the 360 longer but i'm not sure.

[kevoncox]

Only SOny fanboys are talking about what the next xbox will have. Everyone seems to think it's coming this year or next year. They're idiots! Ms is making too much money and they will milk this console just like Sony miked the ps2...

Developers can't abandon the 360 because the userbase buys too many games.s is miking about 100.00 per console and has been doing so for about a year. They are making about 100 per hdd (the 120s) and 18 million dollars a month on xbox live( 6 millions active accounts X $3.oo a month)thats 216 million a year on live fees alone. Lets not talk DLC where they are making about the same a year in that...So live is neeting Ms about 432 million a year - lets say 100 million is off in operating cost. SO there is a net of 332 + software sales....
Trust me MS is in no hurry to jump ship.

[Blackcanary]

Kev damn u have lost some bubbles dude i'm gonna give u a bubble anyway wasn't they doing well with the xbox when it first came out and that stayed alive for 5 years knowing MS they keep the 360 alive for 5-6 years and bring out a new console to stay ahead of the comperation again another rushed console something that gamers don't need.

I for sure know that if MS do this i will be sticking to Nintendo and Sony and will not buy another console from MS if the 360 life span is only 5-6 years. This is already there 3 year soon there 4 year only time will tell.

[Bleem360]

@kevoncox

Where did you get these numbers from? Did they come to you in a dream perhaps?

MS don't make anything like $100 on the HDD's - are you mad? Closer to $20 I'd wager..

[iHEARTboobs]

Only sony fanboys? Look at this thread. 360 fans have been talking about it for a while now. I'm sure sony fanboys are talking about it also but don't exclude the 360 camp.

[Covenant]

Just as long as it's reliable...that's my only request for the next Xbox.

[The_Firestarter]

That's the MAIN reason why I didn't even bother getting the 360.

[blackout]

ms better find something fast snoy is making alot of way

[kingtigar]

why the fuk did they call it an "X" anyways?

[Adriana Lima]

Microsoft Extended (8-bit home computer)

[madness]

because it was originally going to be called the "Direct X Box"

[Dmack79]

will offer a free towel for every xbox 720, because that's the only thing that will come close to reviving their flawed xbox 720s. :P

poor xbots can only look to the next system that M$ launches becuz their cuurent one SUX!

How about you xbots save some money and buy a PS3? trust you won't regret it.

PLAY BEYOND!

[MainEventX]

PS3 is the only true next-gen system the Wii and 360 shouldn't even be considered next-gen consoles. First off the Wii and 360 still use an old format called DVD which only holds 4.7 gbs of data or 9gb on dual layer disc, the PS3 uses Blu-ray which holds 25gb of data or 50gb on dual layer disc. The Wii has no hdmi port which is necessary for the future while the 360 has an hdmi port 1.2 and the PS3 has an hdmi port that supports 1.3a. The differences first off 1.2 supports 16.7 million colors while 1.3a supports over 1 billion colors. 1.2 cant use Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master Audio and it cant support 7.1 surround sound, while on the other hand hdmi 1.3a supports all that plus more. hdmi 1.2 can only support 1920x1080p60fps maxed out while 1.3a supports 2560x1600p60fps maxed out. An added bonus about 1.3a also supports x.y.Color and Deep Color which 1.2 dosent. 1.3a also has a way higher transfer rate and bit rate compared to 1.2. Also the 360 has 3 core processors which is old news considering Intel makes Quad Core Processors while the PS3 has the revoluntionary Cell processor which has 8 and the Wii has a weak processor we dont even nedd to talk about.You cant even upgrade the 360 HD unless u pay for an overpriced 120 piece of crap HD on th PS3 u can upgrade your HD limitleesly. The 360 or the Wii doesnt even have an HD movie playback drive the PS3 does. The PS3 is built stronger than both the Wii and 360 it can handle more heat and cold and still not break down. Also the PS3 firmware constantly upgrades the system and by far has the most multimedia compatibilities compared to the Wii and 360. The RSX GPU can handle DirectX 10 level details and graphics the 360 GPU can't. The PS3 is truly the only system worthy of being called next gen and is the most future proof console that ever existed.

[BLUR111]

INSTALLING.................... .....PLEASE WAIT.......................... ............................... ............................... ............................... ............................... ............................... ............................... ............................... .........

.... .

[juuken]

Wow Blur, is that the best you got?

...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.
...loading game.
RROD.

[Bleem360]

*falls off chair laughing

[BLUR111]

i own ps3 and 360 they both work great but unlike you im not a gay fanboy or whore loser . so i dont have the time to say rrod every article. over and over please come up with some other insult to make 360 look bad... get over it 360 will not die cuz of news4fanboys i mean n4g... ooops! (deleted by mod)

[Saigon]

he should have left the comparison of the PS3 in every comment out of the article...

it was a good read though...

[Skynetone]

3 new cores {double the power}

1 gig / 2 gig ram

60 / 120 gig standard hd

4 / 8 speed blu-ray drive

my choice would be 3 new cores / 2 gig / 120 hd / 8 speed blu-ray drive

i actually like ms to release early

[jinn]

mixed ring of death colors

[Denzelio]

The ability to customize your own 'RRoD' colors, and brand new 'RRoD' faceplate's to buy.

[tony]

haven't pushed the 360 to the maximum yet and they already talking about the next machine. i tell you one thing, there will be games for the current machine that will surprise us and make us wonder how far the 360 can go.

[jcfilth]

I think it is already at its maximum and that's why they upgraded the UnrealEngine3 to give GOW2 a different look, all I've seen is better shading wich of course makes the game looks better but i don't think it will get better than that. just my opinion based on what I've seen.

I heard Bioshock is coming out to PS3 this september and with better graphics. That's what I heard.

[The Dude]

@jcfilth

I heard the ps3 version of bioshock is below 630p oh well too bad the ps3 has reached its limits.

[SlippyMadFrog]

Kojima said they pushed the cell to the maximum with MGS4. So I guess the PS3 is at it's maximum as well.

[Blackcanary]

If thats true then why does Final Fantasy 13 and Final Fantasy Verus 13
And KillZone 2 look better than MGS4.

They haven't pussed the PS3 to the limit Kojima is diserpointed because he still thinks it could be better than that i think give him a 100GB BLU-RAY disk and it could look better than that.

[SlippyMadFrog]

I personaly believe that nor the PS3 of Xbox360 have reached their limits. I was just showing jcfilth that I too can come up with reasons why the PS3 is at its limits.

[Blackcanary]

My bad didn't notice that was what u was doing.
If they were still able to improve on the grapphics on the PS2 they can do it with the 360 thats if it hasn't reached its limit when it comes to graphics theres always a limit.
But i think its still early to say the 360 has reached its limit when it comes to graphics. And the only people that know that for a fact is the devs right so my geekanes lanuage is poor.
Its ok be a fan of a console but speaken crap out of ur @ss is just stupid.

[JasonXE]

32gb or higher internal flash card. Hdd from the previous 360s can be added as add ons.

HVD storage device

All cables and accesoriesa re backwards compabitle.

cpu.. gpu with directx 11 (unrelase verison i guess)

1 or 2gb of ram.

Two skus. Barebone (if you have the accesories) come at 300 buxs i guess). Other sku is 400.

[DJ]

The big question mark though is the CPU. Microsoft has vowed not to work with IBM or Intel ever again, and have been working on custom CPU architecture since around the launch of Xbox 360. How it'll compare against Cell's successor is a total crapshoot. It's obvious that ATI's going to supply the GPU though, and that the console will use Blu-ray.

[ceee227]

AMD/ATI has already come out with a CPU/GPU on a single die. I think Intel has one coming out in the 4th quarter. In a few years I can see this becoming a real possibility for gaming also. Smaller case design, less heat produced, and less power needed.

[PMR_21]

PACKED FULL OF COW SH*T

[jcfilth]

1. It has a controller similar to the one on the PS3, some kind of a second choice.I hate the Xbox controller.
2. It comes with Blu-Ray
3. It is reliable
4. I don't have to pay to play
5. it is not expensive( a 360 Elite for almost the same price as a 80gig PS3? not for me, it is very expensive imo if you compared them side by side and see what each gives you.)
6. change the green color to something more...hmmm i don't know, something like a blue color or maybe... I don't know, just not that ugly green, same with the manu, it is ugly. Maybe I just don't like green lol.

Looks like the next Xbox won't be for me :p

[dragonJP]

...and really I would think more along the lines of 2011. MS has made their bed with the 360 and low they are going to have to lie in it for the next couple of years, if they don't want to alienate the fanbase they have built with the 360. November 2010 would mean 5 years, and I expect that we will start hearing the rumors and feeling the buzz for the 360's successor sometime late next year. Anything earlier would seal Microsoft's fate as perennial third-place in the mind of many many gamers...

That being said, the "next-box" will definitely bring back the STANDARD HDD, or go crazy-nuts can't-beat-'em-join-'em and have replacable 2.5" HDDs a la PS3. Maybe flash drive based games, if flash tech is cheaper and bigger (MUCH bigger) by 2010? It will definitely run quieter and will have a big graphics upgrade. Xbox Live will be cheaper if not free (with ads), that sweet controller won't change much, and there will be an alternative controller(s).

I know, I know the joke, 'sounds like a PS3.' MS will definitely rip ideas like built-in wifi from Sony, maybe trying to out-PS3 the PS3 in other words. But reliability and profitability will be the main focus of this next Xbox: it will not be rushed out....

[TheKungFool]

Much respect as always DRAGON JP.

I think you are correct about what will probably happen, but I'll play devil's advocate a little with what probably should happen:

If Microsoft was smart they'd be working on the next Xbox right now and have it ready for early 2009. Sticking with the 360 is a waste for a variety of reasons:
1) The 3 year warranty isn't looking great now that year 3 is here
2) DVD9 is not an optimal disc format at this point
3) The 360 is missing many features that could be in the next unit
4) They're already talking about a "new" 360 build anyhow
5) 360 sales have been declining since 2006 anyways

If they made the next 360 unit fully backwards compatible, added features the 360 is missing, and offered a decent warranty from day one, it might bode better for them than waiting around for the PS3 to surpass the current 360.

I realize people might not want to upgrade again so quickly, but considering the still continuous 360 quality issues and the fact that many year one 360 owners will be out of warranty in the next 6-8 months, opting to release a newer system sooner rather than later might be a realistic option.

[TheKungFool]

Again, not trying to troll or anything, that was just some random thoughts.

[Denzelio]

"What might be inside the next Xbox"

A New next gen revolution type of 'RRoD' already ready for you straight out of the box.

[The Dude]

12 Core Processor
4GB Memory
500GB Hardrive
1.6 TB Holographic Optical Drive

[TheIneffableBob]

Just an FYI:
There are a lot of factual errors in this article regarding hardware and graphics technology.

[Fat Onion]

Considering that previous XBOX's have launched in November, I would expect XBOX 3 to launch on 11-11-11 as opposed to 10-10-10.

Source: Me

[Blackcanary]

MS are stupid if they bring out a brind new console in 2 years time just to get another head start.
The XBOX was doing well and they kill its life span MS will do it again with the 360.

If that happens they can say good bye to my money.

And i dought the new 360 will have Blu-Ray for the games don't think MS will wont sony to make money of them.
If it does well Sony will be in the money.

[SlippyMadFrog]

If they bring out another Xbox iteration too soon I'm going to be pissed. I doubt it will happen again though since Microsoft had to drop the original xbox due to a lawsuit between them and the graphics card manufacturer on the original xbox. I think it was ATI, I could be wrong. They are also finaly making money out of the Xbox360 so I think thats another reason they wont can this one yet.

Also, Blu-Ray is owned by a whole consortium of companies, not just Sony. So they won't be paying Sony directly for the technology.

All that we can do is speculate, no one knows for certain what Msoft's plan is.

[Bleem360]

@ Blackcanary

"The XBOX was doing well and they kill its life span MS will do it again with the 360."

Sorry, but the Xbox was not doing well, at all. The original Xbox resulted in a $4bn loss for the company - that's why they HAD to kill it off quickly. If they hadn't, it's unlikely that the 360 would have delivered a profit quite as quickly as it has done..

[Britjadg]

LMAO @ juuken, couldn't have said it better myself. played.

and LMAO @ this article. already talking about the next xbox. maybe if they get enough of a headstart (say 4 years) they can give WII a run for their money.

[bootsielon]

RROD. Might be, right?

[Saint Sony]

...and even if MS would launch their nextnextnextnext gen console already, game devs would still make games that run with 360/PS3.
The new xbox would not get many games purely made for it, just because not many people would buy the new one quite yet.
Though if the new console would run all the 360 games smoother and better.. then maybe it would sell slowly.

[Nadine Coyle]

IT TOOK SONY 3 ATTEMPTS TO GET IT NEAR ENOUGH PERFECT and they are a hardware comapny dont forget.
if it takes microsoft 3 tries to get it right i reckon that is an acheivment.
the original xbox had a far less reliabilty problem then the ps2.
i believe that microsoft will do a sony on the 3rd console. they will get it right next time.
too much at stake for them not too.

[disrupt3r]

i wander when the new xbox is released, if they will just dump the 360 like they did with the first console. that will piss me off (again) to be honest.

[Nadine Coyle]

i wouldnt think so. a console is more profitable later in its life because costs of making fall dramaticaly because of out dated hardware.

the orriginal xbox was in a differant situation. they needed to get to the next gen quickly and get the xbox name out.

[Citizen Cook]

Sony will miss next gen entirely!

HA HA HA HA!

[Britjadg]

or alternatively microsoft will release so early that their console is so fuked it wont even RROD, just explode.

[sumfood4u]

They should add Cell to the Mix w/ BC at 100%!I wish Sony started back with the BC again at 100% i mean only 60GB ofers this:-(

[redmamoth]

... (and not steal a Dell Optiplex) and put a PS3 inside it... Problem solved!

[Aquanox]

Sounds overall reasonable except for the proyected launch date of November 2009.

This is extremely unrealistic… I’d say nearly impossible. The original Xbox had a 4 years lifespan just because it was a first go for Microsoft, and experiment in the industry and because they didn’t want to compete head to head with they once almighty Playstation brand in 2006. This time around the Xbox 360 was first and there’s no way the competition will launch another console before 2010 so, financially, it would be extremely stupid to launch a new Xbox in 2009. Add to that the fact fact that 2008-2009 will be the years when developers finally tap the hardware and Microsoft will not want to throw another architecture at them when they’re starting to rock and roll with the current one.

Another very important thing be taken in consideration is the fanbase attachment. Nobody wants a 4-3 year console, especially when you don’t buy it at launch. Microsoft’s console has hit the masses this year and will continue gaining ground with IP TV in 2009. Launching a new box in this year would reduce the competitive lifespan of the console for that crowd to a few months. All in all, launching a new Xbox in 2009 would be one catastrophic move.

Said this, do NOT expect a new Xbox anywhere before 2010. For me, late 2010, or even better, 2011 will be the sweet spot.

[Cynical-Gamerzus]

THis article is obviously from a backwards ass idiot.
First off MS has to release a new console and it better be a beast of innovation..(not a budget PC such as the previous Xbox's 360 etc.).

And what it better have is a Hard drive SSD! some interesting controller.HDMI or better! Enough RAM to do FUll HD as Native Stadard!(1GB+)
And more CPU cores for more Action it better make me coffee also.!!!!=D

Seriously they've been conservative with their Budget PC consoles of the past.And it has cost them near billion in loss!(RRD,Xbox 1 Drive failures) it's time for them to step up and just sell the best at a loss and do what they do best SOFTWARE and own this market!!!
Stop being cheap and Backwards ass MS !!!!

Take us to the next Level already!!!
For me it's about technology Sony wins this round MS ???what about the next??

[Bleem360]

Bye bye bubbles - you fecking idiot!

[N4g_null]

Gaming can be expensive yet taito type-2 arcade systems are basically PCs with cored duo quads in them with as much ram as you want. Some gamers can actually afford this. We all know what the ceiling for these systems look like(crysis) and Ai has just figured out how to hang on to objects for dear life. Core duos will be cheap as dirt by the time this thing comes out. Ram will be that way also. 8 gigs of ram is $500 last time I checked. Hell I have systems with that in them and the 8800 cards will make you throw money at your PC like it was a stripper pole dancing. To not want your system of choice to not have the best is like saying you don't want micheal jordan (the young one) on your team? Seriously drop the whole this HD system is more powerful than the other. It's up to MS or sony to prove this because the developers get nothing for doing that when you look at sales every one is fine with what they are looking at.

I love these articles though but ars-technica would crush them. There is some stuff you guys should know about though. MS is part of some thing that intel is backing and the talk from the chip industry is that intel wants console production again. Maybe it's because they know AMD is making money there who knows? Yet they are going head on again nvidia LOL. The core duo is no joke yet nvidia is smacking ati around but even ati/amd will be making a fusion chip! If done correctly this will be as big as putting a FPU on a 486 chip!

lots of stuff is coming in 2010-12 even stuff that may replace blue ray and actually read faster than them. Hey it's possible. Also don't count out solid state releases... once those things get the size of a dvd case it will happen. Some developers just need their own solid state hardrive since they already have stuff like steam and the epic guys have game editors that may just run on the next batch of systems. Hey but who knows I just know the future is bright as long as people don't get too greedy.

[witchking]

This is a boring prediction. There's nothing here that pushes the envelope. Some of these things could be worked into existing 360s -- call it an Xbox 360 Ultimate.

I suspect the next Xbox console won't come until 2010 or 2011. It's likely that Xbox 360 will continue to hold a small lead over PS3 worldwide through the end of 2008, though the gap is getting smaller each month.

But really, for the next Xbox to generate any kind of excitement, it has to be a big deal, and it's going to hit smack dab in the middle of PS3's infamous 10 years of support nonsense. There will be a new Wii by then as well.

But more of the same sounds far too boring. No, this next Xbox needs to push the envelope... not just graphically, but in every other aspect... and digital distribution is likely to be one of those.

[SL1M DADDY]

MS might be pulling the "get it out before the competition" trick again. I know that the article is all speculation but why is it that we can't have more consoles that have a 7 to 10 year lifespan? How long has the PS2 been out and it is still selling like crazy. If MS releases their next console, it would just be nice to see them continue supporting the 360 for a couple years after. Dropping the Xbox support upon release of the 360 was a bummer. I loved that console.

[Zool 08]

"piggy backing on the GPU lies a 3rd party NEC chip specifically designed to handle 4xAA and colour processing at little cost, something demonstrated in the recent release of GTA for both consoles, where the 360 version has the higher native resolution than that of it's PS3 release."

Well more 4 u, and you failed to mention that the PS3 version has less jaggies and slightly better graphics.

[599 US Dollars]

"Will Blu-ray really have the market to itself? It’s seen off the superior HD-DVD format already, but DVD will be around for many many years yet."

--I love how it's just generally accepted now that HD DVD was a better format (and for you n00b fanboys, more space did not make Blew-ray better. HD DVD ran on a NEW HD codec which required far less space to look BETTER than a 50 gig blew-ray using LASTGEN SD codecs at a higher bit rate. stupid n00bs.)

"Again, don’t expect many surprises here - Probably kicking off with 65nm chips, perhaps some additional cores but nothing too fancy. Sony’s CELL was widely blamed for lackluster games early in PS3’s life - perhaps that’s the downside of doing the ‘ooooh fancy’ with the CPU."

---LOL, owned.

"NEC chip specifically designed to handle 4x AA and colour processing at very little performance cost, something demonstrated in the recent release of GTA for both consoles, where the 360 version has a higher native resolution than that of it’s PS3 release."

---LOL, owned again.

-But he says late '09. I don't think M$ would be ready then. I'd put my money on late 2010. And hopefully Micro$hit learned a few lessons from the RROD this gen and can produce the greatest platform on planet Earth next time around with no red ring bullsh1t to fan the sony droid flames even though they have no games to play on PS3 lool. And please don't cater to the moronic Asians who want small consoles. Just include a big f*cking fat harddrive like in the original xbox in EVERY console this time, u stupid moronic designer idiots. AND PLZ ADD MORE RAM. 512 TOTAL THIS GEN? THAT'S IT? U MEAN AFTER EPIC BEGGED U MORONS TO UP IT FROM 256 TOTAL TO 512? jesus CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ram is so F*CKING cheap. u can get 3 GIGS on the PC for like 50 bucks. RAM is the most important thing in game development. f*ck TEH CELL, and all these stupidly named GPUs and CPUs. give devs REAL power with more RAAMMM u c*ck suckers!