Xbox 720 : Every Myth, Speculation, Rumor And The Truth That You Should Know

What will the next-generation Xbox 720 be like? Is it already in development? Much more questions answered in this extensive article. An in-depth look on the rumors and hype surrounding the Xbox 720, what features we can expect and what should be included. And finally, will Microsoft drop support for the 360 once its new console ships?

[Alexander Roy]

Of course it is already in development. Does anybody seriously think the people responsible for that just sit there for like, five or six years, giving each other hugs and then the supervisor comes in to tell them they have to design a new platform, do the research and stuff? The only good example I can think of right now is the CELL CPU, which has been in development for about seven years before we saw it in the PS3. Anyway, besides hoping that there will be a significant rise in power with the next generation, I also want them to take more time to create a reliable product. I hate beating a dead horse, but the only thing that's holding me back from buying an XBox360 is the RRoD - and I really want to play DOAX2.

[Fragking28]

thats not one of my worries they messed up once trying to rush the product but that wont happen again. It's funny how people seem to forget sony had alot of problems with the ps1 and ps2, not 360 level but you still went through like a couple systems. The only one they seemed to get right was the ps3.

[power of Green]

I agree with the power/Architecture, speaking of beating the dead horse I hope comapnies design hardware better so the devs can make better products instead of fiddling around with hardware it will be better for all platforms with simular capability(multi platform games etc). I may get a PS4 if corrected, these are my worries right now and is the thing holding back me on getting a PS3(takes awhile to get games that are some times equal to whats being done on other platforms faster.

On the other hand MSFT will make some super costumized hardware in the 720 and Sony will have to follow within a year or so with updated Cell technoligy?. Next generation may be worse for gamers than the slight problem we have now.

[edhe]

Be a big boy, take a chance ;).

Mine's on regularly for 4-6 hours a day, it's a sept 2006 console - played gears, bioshock, ME, oblivion, gta, condemned, halo etc. Going fine (though i just had to clean the lense).

Using the TLoD as an excuse for not enjoying the game platform with the most & best games of this generation is pretty last-year.

[beavis4play]

360 can't compete with GOW3,FF games,KZ2,MGS4, resistance2.....etc

you should try living in the present. sales for 360 are going down and gears2 looks to be the big release for the system this year as far as exclusive games go. and, fable2 is only first party game getting lots of buzz.

[HateBoy]

"you should try living in the present"

"GOW3,FF games,KZ2,MGS4, resistance2"

Except mgs 4 (just finished it! Cool stuff), how many of those titles are out? I'm not taking sides or anything, I couldn't care less about your little war. But make some sense, try to think before you write.

[LJWooly]

Telling people to live in the present while rebutting their argument with games that are yet to come out, is a little bit stupid.

But yes, the PS3 currently looks to have the best line-up out of the three consoles, and is home to the best videogame this generation has seen so far.

[BulletToothtony]

but the nextgen Xbox looks like is gonna have the features that the ps3 already has..

HDD, bluray, hdmi 1.3, bluetooth, wifi, i mean you don't have to wait another 4 years to have all of these features you know.

[plenty a tool]

it will have blu-ray, a powerful custom built cpu and gpu, 2-4gig of ram and most importantly do a sony(continue to use the same pad since the ps1), and keep the same controller as the 360's.

bulletoothtony: why would they use bluetoth? when the wireless system already in use on the 360 kicks arse?

lol @ beavis4play. live in the present whilst spouting games months maybe even years away!

[BulletToothtony]

i would've been fine with 2.4 wireless as well, but the one thing that makes it better imo is just that you can pair any bluetooth headset with it.. i have 3 bluetooth headset, 1 for my ps3, 1 for my phone and one for the gym.. so sometimes when 1 get low on battery i can just swap it for another one..

besides that, it doesn't matter, i'm fine with wireless as well

[marinelife9]

They need to put more memory in the home consoles. It used to be consoles didn't need much memory because they were just being used for games. Now they are running low footprint operating systems. They need more memory for nicer textures.

[juuken]

I also want to play NG2 and Infinite Undiscovery as well. Ya know, people think I hate MS and the 360 for the sake of hating them, but I have my reasons why. They've been advertising a console that's more likely to break than any other console on the market and nobody, and I mean NOBODY stepped in and said 'hey, this console needs a makeover. take it off the damn market'.

I would have bought the 360 first if the hardware was actually reliable and get a PS3 later on for games like MGS4 and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. But the 360 will become my second console once I get it next month hopefully. And if anything happens to it...I'm sorry to say but I will get rid of it as soon as possible.

MS has to realize that coming first doesn't always mean doing perfectly well. They should have been focused on getting out a working console first instead of worrying about that. They should have learned their damn lesson with the first XBox.

[KBDuB]

You're an idiot. How many of those games that you listed are out? And, you tell someone to live in the present.. Nice.

[DG]

As long as the "720" has
-2 to 4 GB DDR3 Memory
-4+ Ghz Quad CPU
-Motion Controller
-Full BC (Hopefully enhancing 360 games somehow)
-1080P support
-Under $500 (Hopefully ($400 but doubt it)
-Decent Launch games
-4x (Speed) or more BR Drive
-Wifi
-Basic HD PVR functions (doubt it)
-Not before 2010.

I'm down.

[Bnet343]

HateBoy just owned the hell out of beavis4play. That is mighty fine ownage. People here are a bunch of morons. I bet we have a bunch of 12 year olds running these articles. Anyway, I just want something reliable, though my Xbox 360 has not RRoD'd in a very long time so .... srsl;y though MS stop phucking around and make reliable hardware

[BWS1982]

if you're so confident in the integrity of hardware, you shouldn't have to pick up any store warranties. Is that to go along side of the other things that DON'T come with a 360 out of the box (like wifi and free online and a charger)? I'm NOT a fanboy, and support all consoles, but a fanboy from any console is just obnoxious, the narrowmindedness is akin to racism, honestly. I wish I could have confidence in the 360, I will get one eventually, but RROD is STILL an issue (even mentally), even if it never happens again, because you don't just "shake it off" with a few PR spins when you've decimated consumer confidence like that. Opinions and facts.....they are NOT synonyms dude.

[edhe]

The 360 is all MS's own IP they can churn it out forever. The xbox wasn't their IP and they were held over a barrel by nvidia, whom they'll probably never do business with again.

The 360 will have a long life, it's a very capable console and they'll angle it at the casual when the price lowers, lowers, and lowers. It *might* become fairly ubiquitous eventually, like the ps2, but with far better options for the casual [xbla, demos, community, long-awaited iptv, xblvm and hopefully zune integration too].

NB. Anyone who thinks that Sony's 10 year plan for the ps3 means the won't release another console in that time are being silly.

[Fragking28]

i agree people say the 720 will compete with ps3 and when ps4 comes out game over. There going to release ther's a year after ms console again. The only way they can possibly come out with a console before ms is buy doin a rush job. So I see the xbox brand always coming out first.

[edhe]

The next xbox won't be competing with the ps3 it'll be trouncing it. The ps3's competing with the 360 at the moment, and not doing well considering Sony's ps2 original marketshare.

If you think the ps3 is technologically superior to the 360 you're blowing bubbles out yer bum. It's been proven time and again that there's no benefit to using blue ray or cell for anything other than the most ardent exclusive. It's quite the detriment for everyone.

The next gen will be interesting to see if Sony totally change their architecture again, Rooking developers, or not. You can be certain that MS won't bring in something too different, allowing devs to keep their experience and maintain momentum onto the next platform.

[fishd]

I really like to see your face after watching HEAVY RAIN trailer at E308.

[arakouftaian]

secund the xbox360 will never reach not even clouse to what the ps2 did, n the ps3 is allready shown that it can do more n better game the prove is mgs4 , the new xbox will be just to be pair whit the ps3 well yeah it may have better grafic etc but it will be a lil much better and developer will be working for teh ps3 n port it on the new xbox so it will look just like teh ps3 ot meybe a lil better n then in like aboth 1 or 2 years lather the ps4 comes in n the xbox720 will look like crap!!! in every way

[Veryangryxbot]

Then why are all you fankiddies talking about the next MS console already.

Lets face it. If the 360 is actually worth a damn and actually has a super bright future ahead with plenty of triple A games, no one will be talking about how the "next MS console will come out and trounce the PS3".

Fact of the matter is, deep in your hearts you have seen the signs. Your fanboy mind dont want to admit it, but your heart understood what the writings on the wall meant.

Oh yea, dont want to burst your bubble, but the next MS console is not competing with just the PS3. Its competing with a superior (again) PS4.

[edhe]

The SDF arrives, shame they don't use spell check...

..that's a 'common sense' feature after all eh? ;)

[power of Green]

Bold claims, I dissagree about your game being some godly untouchable product seems average with tons of movies mixed with last generation gamplay that looks average visually just my opinion.

Ask yourself if Sony will use an updated version of the Cell and will that be enough for what MSFT will come up with?. We know both consoles will have many cores etc. MSFT is good at taking over it only takes them a few times.

Wii has so far won popular opinion with the trend consumer casual bulk(the masses) so if PS3 or 360 can tap into Wii's revolution then it will come down to price and lineup.

[Veryangryxbot]

The CELL trounces any other chip on the market right now. And has been for over the last 2 years.

The current CELL uses 8 SPE with 2 SPE's unavailable for developers.
In case you have been living in a cave for the last 4 years, Toshiba, IBM and Sony have been working on a CELL with over 40 SPE's.

The PS4 will undoubtedly use The Cell 2 chip. And it will be the most superior chip on the market again.

With this in mind, it is folly to even think that the next MS console can match 10% of the what the PS4 does.

@below
Speak English cos I can BARELY understand what you are saying.
What makes me think? The very fact that Cell is state of the art. And has been for 2 years. Cell 2 will be no different. As it is not just the SPEs that are getting an update.

[power of Green]

What makes you think that thing(CELL) will be competing with new and or costume made set-ups when the times comes lol.

[SL1M DADDY]

Sorry, but my guess is that MS WILL drop support for the 360 when their new console is released because they would not want to lose potential customers of their new console to those content with their cheaper, older console. They need all the help in sales they can muster when it comes to new hardware, otherwise they would not be in a position to continue in the console race.

Power of the PS3 is in it's offerings. BD is better than DVD for several reasons and some of those are outside of the games themselves. BD movies win over DVD. Size does matter when it comes to textures and the overall look of a game. MGS4 just proves that point. No other game has as many textures on any other console and no other game looks as pretty... Don't tell me that BD has nothing to do with this.

When it comes to the PS4, you can bet that Sony will once again create a whole new machine. Why? Because that is what Sony does, they reinvent the wheel every time and they push us into the future whereas Microsoft is content with small baby steps that lead into the next couple years. MS's hardware is already dated and showing its age, that would explain why you can read plenty of articles about the new Xbox 720... Nobody would be writing about the next Xbox if they were happy with the current one...

And this has nothing to do with the Sony Defense Force (that was originally started by a bunch of Xbox fanboys), this is all about facts, something you are unfamiliar with...

[Bucky Sligo]

You guys don't know what MS is going to do with the 720, power wise, so your claims are speculation at best. You don't even know what Sony is going to do. Didn't they sold some of the cell rights to Toshiba? That shows you their faith in cell.
The PS3 is already fighting fiercly with the 360, losing market share. Not to mention that the console division are in a loss of $3 billion. If anyone is deperate, it's Sony.
@Slim Daddy
MS dropped the original xbox due to legal reasons. Why would MS drop the 360 as soon as it's starting to turn a profit?

"When it comes to the PS4, you can bet that Sony will once again create a whole new machine. Why? Because that is what Sony does, they reinvent the wheel every time "
Is that a good or bad thing? If I'm a PS3 developer, I would be pissed since all the knowledge I gained is useless with the PS4. No wonder the PS3 is struggling with 3rd party support.

[SL1M DADDY]

As a PS developer, you would be used to Sony changing the way things are done. They have done it now 3 different times and to great success. At this point, developers might not like change but each time they do, the developers realise that Sony pushes them to do their best and to take advantage of some of the most powerful console tech ever. Sony is about inventing and reinvigerating the console market. It makes me glad to see them doing what others do not dare to do. At the moment, the two best looking games are on the PS3 and in less time than the 360 has been out on the market. To that I can say that developers are getting the hang of the PS3's hardware and only good things are instore for the console.

It's hard to argue with games like Uncharted and MGS4. Then top them off with a dose of Heavenly Sword, Ratchet & Clank, Motorstorm, GT5:P, Warhawk, Resistance, and many, many more.

[Capt CHAOS]

I always wondered why the original xbox was dropped, I see now. Yes, agreed that the 360 has a long time ahead of it. Sure, RRoD issue needs sorting and I'm sure it is or in the process of being addressed. Sure the DVD could be quieter for games, but it's spinning at a very high rate, that'll get quieter in time. I can see a xbox 360+ coming out that includes a bluray drive in the future.

[Bucky Sligo]

"As a PS developer, you would be used to Sony changing the way things are done. They have done it now 3 different times and to great success"
I wouldn't call failing 3rd party support success. It's only 1st party developers who are mastering the cell, they have no choice but to spend immense resources on mastering it since they are owned by Sony.
You can argue that the PS3 exclusives looks better than Xbox360 games, but thats highly subjective since I have heard a lot of people who own both consoles say the PS3 is struggling with textures. Is that result worth the effort of the cell? I don't think so. Judging by PR talks, the PS3 should be blowing everything out of the water which it is clearly not doing.
Why do you think they keep on radically changing the hardware architecture of their console? If the last one was a success, why change it? Why not make the last one even more powerfull and give the developers a break?
Sony might be on top last gen but they will soon realise that not everybody is going to come along every time they change their hardware, some developers realize that sony doesnt own the whole market this time around. Things change

[SL1M DADDY]

The only folks saying that the PS3 is struggling with textures are those that have not played any one of the games I listed. If anybody says that MGS4 is low res and suffering from no textures is obviously lying. lol

MGS4 is the most texture intensive game to ever hit a console and it is a PS3 exclusive only solidifying the power of the PS3 in terms of development. I'm not saying anything negative about the 360 there, I am simply saying that sure, some developers have struggled with their games on the PS3, but it is not the hardware, it is the development teams. Kojima proves that amazing things can be done with the PS3. It's just that simple.

[thewhoopimen]

the only people blowing bubbles out of their ass are like you peopele who think that the 360 is still comparable to the PS3. Doesn't it seem strange that everyone else in the world is ponying up the extra $100 to buy this console? The cell is really starting to show its superiority over the 360 now. It couldn't with existing programming tools and traditional programming mindsets, but that is all changing.

[kazuma]

@edhe
"NB. Anyone who thinks that Sony's 10 year plan for the ps3 means the won't release another console in that time are being silly."

sony didn't say they wouldn't release another console in 10years...they said they would SUPPORT it. quite different, u should check the dictionary. ps1 was in production for eleven years, ps2 for 8 years and counting, and ps3 will go the same way. say whatever u want about microsoft nintendo and sony, but sony really has been planning their consoles for a long run (sure once the new console is out the catalog of games starts getting full of movie ports, kiddie games, u name it but that's just natural most developers move on)

[DG]

Can you explain to me why a company would want you as a customer to buy their new console that they are loosing money on as opposed to one the make a profit from? Reinventing the wheel? So an HD Format, the Cell and motion controls was all invented by Sony right (check your facts)? Also remember this is a business not your holy fanboy war that you all seem to be fighting. If it costs a developer more money to develop a game on a certain console with less install base what reason do they have to do it? I guarantee you the accountants at Konami are itching to reveal that MGS is coming out on 360/PC in 6-9 months. Ill bet the farm on that. PS Why am I trying to prove a point to you get on my ignore list buddy!

[crimsonfox]

microsoft has a good chance to beat out ps3 in terms of the graphics of what it can do.i think they can pull off some crazy cool things with there new system whatever the name might be you know it will be hard to catch up the the ps3 but its hard for ps3 to catch up to 360 so we'll have to wait and see i cant wait

[ThanatosDMC]

Well, that's a "no $h!t" statement. That's like seeing a guy come after you with a knife from a mile away and you're in a room full of weapons. I mean, you have a choice of what you're gonna be holding in your hands.

[treacherous_gamer]

I mean after reading all your insights, it got me thinking. What does Microsoft have up its sleeve? The Xbox 360 seemed to pull out ahead of the PS3, until the price drop and the release of MGS4. What will happen when the PS4 releases? I just wonder.

[power of Green]

Don't know MGS4 hype will be dead within a month or two, which ever console reaches mass market price with the most games first will probably win there's no greater factors that matters more.

[fishd]

Isn't it a bad sign that people talk about x720 right now?

[treacherous_gamer]

I guess so. Have they moved on with their 360? I haven't and I still enjoy it as hell. Funny thing, I've never had a RROD and I bought mine in late 2006.

[edhe]

Everyone always sees something and wonders what's next. Plus it's a general pass time on tech forums to consider the next generation and it's possibilities.

[green]

When the PS3 is nearing it's 3rd Bday, you will start hearing talks about the PS4.Which will launch a year behind the next 360.

[juuken]

Yes it is. I have a bad feeling that MS will drop support for the 360 soon enough. I mean...what will happen after 2008? It seems to me that they don't even have plans for 2009 and beyond with the 360.

[AceLuby]

I don't think Sony will put out a system to directly compete w/ it. Why would they? Blu-ray, HDD, wi-fi, browser... more expensive and no games. Everything the PS3 offered at the beginning of this gen and everyone knows how good that did, and it didn't even directly compare because the 360 didn't offer the same right out of the box. With them offering the same package there had better be some absolutely stunning games, visuals, and 'successful' non Halo franchises right out the door or people will look at it and say 'well, I could get this or I could get a PS3...'.

Also, regarding marketshare... Why don't we wait and see until the dust settles before declaring marketshare shifts. The 360 hasn't sold as much as the regular xbox yet... after that happens we can start analyzing marketshare gains.

[fishd]

PS3 found a worthy opponent,at last!

[treacherous_gamer]

The Xbox 360 gave the PS3 a run for its money in the early stages. And I heard lots of people complaining how they hated their PS3 and that it wasn't selling so much.

[Capt CHAOS]

Wake up dude. The PS3 is the one that's trying to catch up with the 360.

[juuken]

treacherous_gamer, I actually heard that people hated their 360's and were actually trading them in for PS3's because they were sick and tired of bringing the DAMN THING back to their stores because it somehow broke down during a long ass game of either Halo 3 or Gears of War.

[AngryTypingGuy]

In terms of graphics, anti-aliasing and game library, the PS3 is still behind the 360.

[Pain]

@ above.

dream other wise.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

I'm thinking about all those multiplats that 98% of the time look better on the 360.

XD

[juuken]

In terms of graphics, AND reliability, the 360 is behind the PS3. Uncharted, MGS4, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and especially Heavenly Sword is an example of the PS3's capabilities.

Maybe you need a new pair of eyes because the 360 is starting to see it's limitations in terms of graphics. Gears of War II doesn't even impress me at all.

And as for games, I wouldn't be using that line too much if I were you, because developers are starting to understand the PS3 a lot better and soon the PS3 will be leading in the games department. The only reason why the 360 has such a huge library is that they came out first and it was easier to program for.

edit: And Jason...pulease. It's actually coming to the point where all multi-platform games will receive equal treatment on both the PS3 and the 360.

[MANCREEP]

um....well i kinda see what jason is saying. but a better and more fair way of saying it, would be that 98% of multiplatform games out there are done for the 360 and ported out from there, so it only make sense that they will look a slightly better and run a LITTLE BIT smoother on the 360.

And ANTI-LIASING IS AWESOME, ITS SOMETHING PC OWNERS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR YEARS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THEIR GAMES WHICH ARE SUPERIOR TO CONSOLE GAMES....anyone who is opposed to that statement is an ignorant jacka$$ and should upgrade his PC from Windows98.

[zapass]

I hope they shape it like a toilet so that I can pee in it from the comfort of my couch while playing my PS3 games. xD

that would be a worthy design, I might even shell out a couple $ for it...
LOL!

[LuHawk]

Maybe so you can finally stop wetting your bed at night

[AngryTypingGuy]

Juuken..."And especially Heavenly Sword?" - To anyone out there that isn't blind, walk into a Game Stop next time you're near one. Go to the PS3 display. Turn on the Heavenly Sword demo, chances are it'll be on there. Now take a good look at it and tell me there aren't jaggies galore. Now do the same for other games on there, including Uncharted. Uncharted is an amazing looking game, but it's not the current standard. Again, lots of jaggies, at least on the Sony TV that it's on - and I'm pretty sure it's not the TV. Seeing is believing. I don't need to argue with you - let your own eyes do the talking.

[karlostomy]

My friend, you are completely wrong.

You argue that the reason that PS3 multiplats are so inferior is ONLY because they were ported from the 360 and therefore 'it makes sense' that the ports will run better on the 360....

Huh? What?

Are you serious man?

Did you forget the ps2? ALL of its games native to ps2 and then were ported to the xbox1.

Guess which looked and played better? yep... XBOX1.

Do you know why? because the xbox had BETTER HARDWARE than the ps2.
No ifs, no butts, no delays, no excuses.

So why is the ps3 not capable of the same feat?

Think about it!

[Veryangryxbot]

QUESTION: WHEN IS THE NEXT 360 COMING? At the earliest 2013. Most likely in 2014 together with the PS4 (we all know why all the "720 rumors" keep popping up. If there is nothing wrong with the current console and the future is bright, noone will be talking about 720. Let's face it. You may be dumb and stupid. But I'm not).

QUESTION: WILL 720 COME WITH A BLU RAY DRIVE? Depends. If it comes in 2013, it will come with Blu Ray drive. If MS is foolish enough to piss on their loyal fanbase by rushing 720 in 2010, Sony will not allow Blu Ray drives. And this is one of the reasons why its clear that you wont see any 720 before 2013. By 2013, Sony shouldnt care because they get paid and because its many times cheaper to buy a PS3 for a Blu Ray by then anyway (Interesting note is how all the fanboys want a Blu Ray drive in the next console even though I could have sworn many people claimed that Blu Ray is a failure and how digital downloads will take over as early as 2008. What happened?).

QUESTION: IS IT ALREADY IN DEVELOPMENT? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that they have already started gathering ideas like Sony and Nintendo are. And no, in the sense that there is no a secret team working on the next console in a secret basement. Simply put, ideas are always welcome but they have no concrete plans or schedules.

QUESTION: WILL MS DROP SUPPORT FOR 360? Yes and no. MS will stick with futureless 360 for the next 5 years at least since they have no choice and therefore they will stick with supporting the 360. And no, they will drop 360 because by the time 720 (in 2013 earliest) comes out in the market, there is no reason to keep supporting the 360.

QUESTION: WILL the 720 HAVE HARDWARE ISSUES LIKE THE 360? Yes, MS is first and foremost a software company. Hardware and software are not the same thing. Faulty software can be fixed with updates and patches like how they do with Windows and Vista. Faulty hardware cant be updated with patches. You need to get it right or almost right the first time through and this is something MS is never good at. All their software products are usually like swiss cheese filled with loopholes and faults. MS is used to fixing the holes with updates and patches. Hardware is not the same as software and MS learned this the hard way in the current console race. This is what happens if the market (the stupid customers) ALLOWS MS to fix their software products. This creates a culture that is inefficient and lazy.

The fact of the matter is there are a large group of average folks working for MS that arent used to bringing out slick and reliable products in time. This culture exists today and will continue to exist for the next 90 years in the MS corporation. That is why the 720 will have similar hardware problems because its rushed out in the market and the people behind it are lazy and inefficient folk.

[treacherous_gamer]

I hope that the Xbox 720 doesn't have the same hardware issues as the 360. MS learned a lot from their mistakes and hopefully will fix it with their next console, don't you think?

[Deadman64]

Assuming harware issues in console that probably hasn't even entered the design phase is just ludacris.

[juuken]

...You love making the xborgs cry don't ya?
You rock-that is all.

[Blackfrican]

If there was no internal disc drive. And you could purchase an external DVD drive (could play all 360 games) or/also purchase an external blu ray drive (for movies / games on disc). I think all games should be able to download directly to hard drive to prevent disc changing (I know you all love changing discs). This could also help keep the price down for those such as myself who are not interested in a HD movie format in their system and only use it for games. The next HDD better be huge.

[treacherous_gamer]

Yes I agree with you. That would help save countless disc swapping sessions. And since you cant scratch or lose your discs, your collection stays indefinitely. I wonder what would happen to the game trading (like at Gamestop) industry then.

[ThanatosDMC]

But i like my growing collection...

[BWS1982]

version of the game is more at risk IMO than a hard copy. At least the hard copy cannot be erased or corrupted by accident or a crash of some sort, I wouldn't trust my purchase to a hard drive, but I can at least be in total control of a disc that's tangible. This is why I don't believe downloadable content will beat HD movies on disc, it's too risky.

[TrevorPhillips]

lets just prey that the xbox 720 wont have the red ring of death

[power of Green]

You hope it won't have RROD? no kidding lol Never seen PS2 owners saying I hope there is no RDE etc.

[fishd]

A BLUE ring will be better,it's a comforter color!

[ThanatosDMC]

HAHAHAH!!!

[Strife Lives]

Do you think Sony is just standing by asking everyone to make firmware update after firmware update and thats all their doing? Offcourse not.Im sure their researching the PS4,as Msft is researching the xbox3. I wonder who would make the GPU for both next next gen consoles.would the next xbox use a cell processor? Would Sony adopt the same formular? Both companies changed their layouts with each new console. Msft most notably,correct me if Im wrong used a stripped down Celeron processor in the xbox.and now their using a custom made CPU.honestly,I think both Msft and Sony will use tech superior to both the cell and a tri-core setup.I think the next jump will be bigger than xbox-ps2 to 360-ps3. Im thinking PS1-N64-SATTURN to 360-ps3 for both next consoles.

[Common Sense]

I think the Xbox 720 will use a CELL-like architecture with slightly higher clock speed and more SPEs than the PS3 and I think Microsoft will keep the unified shader architecture and about 1 gig plus RAM.

I think Microsoft will go with CELL because it offers a lot of power for its price when compared to Intel Quad Cores and developers will be more familiar with the CELL architecture and will be better at parallel programming.

I also think the PS4 will go in the same direction.

I have a PS3 right now and I am really enjoying it and I will buy the Xbox 720 ( if its reliable) in 2012 or 2013 and the PS4 2 years later.

[mf_fm]

if M$ (microsoft) do 2 things on its current or the "720", it will dmg the competition badly.

1)a much better cross pc/xbox gaming experience, "Window Xbox(Gaming)" hows that?

currently there are Vista Home, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate, why not the next Window 7 has a gaming based version, "Window Xbox"?

i would have a pc or 2 pc in a room, and for sure the xbox in the living room, but i will not have 2 xbox in 2 different room. (at lease for many people realistically)

2)no need blu-ray/dvd, or any disc format, period, there is no need, just a freaking huge HDD.

a server which you will be able to download your game directly after your purchase, you can buy a game card which can be packaged nicely at your local store to enter code or whatever to download the game which you own.

*i highly doubt with in 2 years there are "gamers" nor "pc owners" would not have high speed internet!!!

*3G (3rd generation mobile technology is broadband speed on cellphone), meaning even on the road you will be able to go online with "something", figure it out M$

*even greater internet speed is out there, but not commercialized yet, 1GB/second how about that, 50GB+ games, download make easy!

[beavis4play]

read what you just typed and ask yourself how realistic that sounds.

[ThanatosDMC]

Ummm... the PS9 is just a bubble of thought... PS9 FTW??!

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Strife Lives]

I take it you're giving South America,India.Most of africa.most of eastarn europe and most of Asia (except India) high speed internet? You're also going to get everybody a 1terabyte HDD. . .When think about it. .its not going to last long if a game is 100gigs. We wont ever lose Media formats on some sort of disc for more than a decade.no,maybe much longer.there are places in the world,I guarentee u,where people still use Vhs casettes and audio tapes.what ur talking about lol thats a decade or two away.

[ApocalypseShadow]

all we can do is look at present strategies to see who will lead in market trends.

microsoft did a better job by upgrading their online service,but not being a hardware developer meant they still don't know where the market is going.unless they are willing to start manufacturing consoles themselves next gen,nintendo and sony will still be setting the standard while microsoft uses what works but nothing more.but they may be more careful in testing next time.

taking a look at their current system,you can see that all they did was try to improve on what was already being used LAST GEN.and time and time again,they mention ps2 every step of the way in what kind of console sales they want.but trying to control every drop of what you get,what you can use and what you can buy for your own console.the controller,the video connection,usb,rumble,the medium.all things we already seen with GC,xbox and ps2.and the camera didn't beat last gen's eyetoy.and they didn't even add wifi when every portable has it for free.but microsoft says,"want wifi?""give us $100 dollars."...i don't think so.

and as for dropping 360?they won't right away,but they will.trust me.next gen development costs too much already.they will not be splitting costs to make games for two platforms.they don't even have in-house devs to that.they let them all go.how will they support both systems with games?they can't.and they won't.third parties will for awhile.but they will drop it too.

sony surprisingly went in the opposite direction by giving gamers freedom to use what they want on their systems.mice,keyboards,cameras ,headsets,controllers,hard drives,what movies you want on you HDD,video cables,if you want to play online or not,buy an online magazine or not,use bluray or dvd for movie watching,use wifi or not,if you want BC or not,etc.

but sony also took risks with bluray,with motion,with cell,with internal batteries for controllers after the laptop fiasco,etc.but as a hardware company who makes tvs,they KNEW that next gen tvs would have hdmi and 1080p resolution.microsoft downplaying it didn't change the fact that these tvs were getting it.microsoft not making tvs meant they would not have known what was next.and they didn't.then later they started patching the system to compete with built in features ps3 already had.

now microsoft will try to add features nintendo wii has.because nintendo has brought in a slew of new gamers to play with the wiimote.and again,microsoft is not innovating,they are trying to DUPLICATE market leaders in hardware.but think outside the box?nope.not microsoft.that's why they are getting outsold by nintendo.and got outsold by sony with all their heavy hitters like halo last year.that's a shame with ps3 being more expensive.even to this day ps3 costs more.but is outselling 360 WORLDWIDE.

nope.microsoft will listen to what the other camps are doing and just try to get it out before they do next time.because they want to be first again.but as we have seen,first meant nothing without forward thinking to back it up.

apocalypse.................

[Bucky Sligo]

"and as for dropping 360?they won't right away,but they will.trust me.next gen development costs too much already.they will not be splitting costs to make games for two platforms.they don't even have in-house devs to that.they let them all go.how will they support both systems with games?they can't.and they won't.third parties will for awhile.but they will drop it too."
By the time the 720 arrives, the 360 will be a cash cow. Cheap to manufacture with loads of games. Casual gamers will be over it and this time MS owns all the patents of the Xbox360, there won't be any legal desputes. The xbox 360 will be very profitable for MS in the future, they won't nearly let it go as soon as the original Xbox.

[Bolts]

The PS3 and 360 are grossly obsolete when you consider the fact that in July a 9800 GTX+ will cost only $299 and can easily push CoD 4 and Gears of War at 1080p native, full scene 4X AA for over 80 FPS. That lady and gents is actually a mid range card! High end PC GPUs can double those numbers.

When you consider the fact the PS3 and 360 can barely run those same games at 640p native and 30 FPS its easy to see how ancient the current generation of console tech really is, and thats just THIS YEAR. Next year after Nvidia perfected their 200 series the price will drop even more and the PC will make yet another performance jump, again.

If Microsoft want their brand to stay relevant in the market place then a nextgen console should already be in place.

[treacherous_gamer]

A 9800 GTX at $299? Man, I shouldn't have spent 800 bucks on two HD 3870 X2 in CrossFire

[himdeel]

...the price you listed is JUST an approximate price for the graphics card your argument fails. If I could just buy a graphics card and run a game off of it then sure your statement is very logical and I'd be bubbling you up and agreeing with you.

However the pc aficionados know you just DON'T buy a new graphics card. There are other components that must work well with your rig. Hell the last graphics card I bought I had to upgrade my power supply costing me about $500 when it was all said and done when my intent was just a graphics upgrade. I just made myself sad :(

[Black_Jack]

Thats just not going to work fanboi, this is a console we're talking about, to be sold to the general consumer for an affordable price, with features other than a high degree of graphical capabilty. like the above said if i could buy the gfx card for 299 and play games off it alone! hell yeah great i'm all for it, but thats not the reality, i need a monitor, psu, cpu, mobo, case, cables, keyboard, mouse, hdd, dvd/blu drive, ram, cpu cooler and the rest.. for a consumer console price of $299 or lower? no chance. on top of that it needs to be compact, cooled and reliable. which high powered pc's just arnt (not for $299.

[MaximusPrime]

bring back helmet console!

[LFC1EE]

Yes if the 720 does comeout in 2010 look out sony and nintendo, no i

have to disagree with you there veryangryxbot,ms are not going to make

a mistake like the rrod again you can bet on that, i have a xbox360

elite and a ps3, and to be really honest the 360 games are alot superior

to ps3's, look at sony's libary of exclusive of games theres only

drakes and mgs, and when you've played games like mass effect and cod2 ,

gow and bioshock, no disrespects to the ps3 but xbox 360 wins hands

down really.

I personaly feel if it wasn't for the rrod, xbox 360 would be way

ahead of sony and nintendo, that's why there pressing on with the 720 .

Ain't going to be any mistakes, alot of gamers would have preffered

the xbox 360 over the ps3 for it's great libary of games but have

been forced really to buy a ps3 becase of the rrod.

No disrespects to sony or the amount of sony fanboys on here it's just

my opinion and if you don't like it debate like a true gamer.

[treacherous_gamer]

I agree with you. IMO, the 360 is the best and I'm glad I bought it coz the PS3 was sold out at that time :P

[user858621]

ohhhhhhh so wat ur sayin is that wen the 720 releases then sony will have real competition

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Warhawk
Resistance fall of man
Uncharted drakes fortune
Gran turismo 5
Godfather:Dons edition
Folklore
Genji days of the blade
Haze
Heavenly sword
Lair
Metal gear solid 4

You see the variety in the games? not everyone like's alien shooting games

Halo
Gears
Bio
Mass

(all of wich i can play on PC) STOP SAYING PS3 HAS NO GOOD GAMES.

i bought a PS3 because i like it's lineup of games better,much better.

[steve30x]

Lets hope they use a better cooling solution for the new console. They need it to be good enough so thet the console wont have a nuclear meltdown (RROD) every 6 months. I will hold out for a year the next time to see what if any failure rate is. I hope they do justice to the next console. I loved my Xbox 360 before it RROD on me but I wasnt willing to go through more than 1 RMA so I switched to a PS# which has been working Flawlessly since I bought it.

[Grown Folks Talk]

but I see that comment quite often. I got RRoD & switched to Sony. I wonder how many people would have jumped ship on the PS2 disc read error if there had been another horse in the race during its 1st year. In my personal experience, if you really wanted it in the 1st place, you get it replaced. Maybe it's just me.

[treacherous_gamer]

I would like to add that my PS2 died within a year. But did I switch to the original Xbox? Nope, i got another PS2 because the games library was superb for the PS2. I would have gotten the PS3, but it was sold out. So, I had to be content with the 360. And let me tell you, it was the best decision I ever made.

Case in point: The console with the greatest line-up of solid games (doesn't matter whether 1st/3rd party) will win the next gen console war.

[himdeel]

...before and Treacherous mentioned it. If you get people to invest in your (good) games regardless of the system those games are on. 8 times out of 10 people WILL come back to that system or purchase another system if/when your machine ceases to function because they still want to access their library of games.

[Says you]

biglee XBox 360 games are not even close to being superior if they are why do they have to keep using the same engine like Unreal Engine 3 and plus you don't make any sense your saying there only games like Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid 4 if you believe that I'm sorry but you are an XBox 360 fan and if XBox 360 fans think that there games are superior well that proves my point that

they should rename XBox 360 the DelusionalBox360 considering if XBox 360 games are so superior it would look better then Killzone 2 and Uncharted like when Drake gets wet you would see his clothes get wet has any game done that on the XBox 360?? I don't think so

and Metal Gear Solid 4 looks better and more intense action then any game on the 360, Heavenly Sword can have 1000 swarming enemies that each AI reacts differently I cant say that for any XBox 360 game so I guess when it comes to exclusives PS3 has the superior games while the 360 only has the basic principal games

and oh guess what biglee each of those games use's a different engines not the same one like the XBox 360 that uses Unreal Engine 3

I guess XBox 360 isn't great after all if you think about it

oh please treacherous_gamer the RSX isn't even that weak if its so weak then how come it can manage to do the trailer of Killzone 2 that doesn't prove crap I say let the graphics do the talking and right now the RSX graphics is definitely proving the point while the other console cant manage to do other graphics since it keeps using Unreal Engine 3

what other engines has anyone seen on the XBox 360 besides Unreal Engine 3?? I can name you one non!!

all the big titles and some other titles uses Unreal Engine 3

Gears of War BioShock Mass Effect Huxely Too Human Prey Lost Odyssey

and I don't think using Unreal Engine 3 for an RPG is good considering not every RPG should use it everybody knows that engine is mostly use for realistic graphics not for other graphics for fantasy RPGs

[treacherous_gamer]

From a hardware point of view, the 360 is superior than the PS3. Check out this article at http://rofl-at.us/?page_id=...

But IMO, hardware specs doesn't matter as long as developers can't tap into the true potential.

[Veryangryxbot]

"From a hardware point of view the 360 is technically superior"? WTF, youre full of shiat. And look at that link you gave. "Rofl-at-us"? Lmao you mean "xbots-are-us"? No name xbot sites dont count ok. Its a FACT that PS3 hardware is WAY stronger and MORE powerful than 360 hardware.

PS3 hardware wise is VASTLY superior than the 360. The Cell is the most advanced chip on the market and is even beating the latest chips in the market AFTER 2 years. Rofl the 360 uses Xenon, a chip thats at least 3 years old. And youre talking about how 360 is technically better lol.

Im sorry but you are clearly just a delusional xbot who has never seen or played PS3 games on a real tv. PS3 is doing folding at home and contributing to society. 360 cant even run without a cooler. So much for "superiority". PS3 has Blu Ray, built in (replaceable) Hard drive, built in WIFI, built in HDMI, Blue Tooth for wireless controllers, and a free (and ever expanding) online network. PS3 owns 360, xbot. If you werent so poor and dumb, you would have gotten a PS3 by now.

First year PS3 games are technically VASTLY superior than 360 games even though 360 kit and architecture is PC based and thus easier to understand and its been out a year longer meaning developers had a year longer to get used to it. You would think that 360 would actually have the edge. But not so. PS3 first year games blew 360 games completely out of the water. This is because PS3 really IS more powerful than 360 hardware. Period.

Heavenly sword shows that PS3 is capable of running over thousand of enemies on screen each with their AI. 360 cant even do more than 20 or 30 with GREY of WAR 2 (thats THIRD year). And even than its NOT INTERACT ABLE just like Kameos fake 100 enemies on screen at once (scripted shiat isnt real).

They talk about polygons and textures but Lair (an average game) has 20 times more polygons and textures than Gears of war. To make it even worse, Lair is open space 16km x 16km where as Gears of war is in confined area (like most shooters). Its barely 15 feet x 15 feet. So much for superiority. Games like Uncharted has superior textures and MGS4 shows yet again what PS3 is capable of doing.

Not only are PS3 games doing vastly more things at the same time, superb animation (Killzone 2, Uncharted, MGS4), PS3 games are also much more cinematic giving the atmosphere and unique experience taste, it has super textures and polygons (much more than 360), better lighting and HDR (Killzone 2), destructible environments (Killzone), waves (Tekken 6), facial expressions are better on PS3 (Heavenly sword and MGS4) and actually show emotion rather than roBOT/ drone face like Mass effect.

Simply put, PS3 games have much more things going on at once. Killzone 2 and MGS4 show exactly whats up. 360 games look like last gen compared to PS3 games. And the only reason why multi platform games look equal is because lazy 3rd party developers dont want to tap into that extra power to make PS3 games look better which it EASILY can.

In fact 360 is so bad that INDUSTRY developers have already admitted that 360 is pretty much maxed to the limit graphics wise. Thats why Gears of war is still the best looking 360 game and thats why GOW2 doesnt look that much better. Its already MAXED. PS3 still has a long way to go with Uncharted only tapping about 30% estimated of its powers. Thats why GT5 and KZ2 look SOOOO GOOD. And MGS4 blows GOW out of the water and makes it look like N64 gen. If you werent soo poor and had to resort to YouTube to watch low resolution MGS4 cutscenes, you would have known that MGS4 is the BEST looking game out there right now with more textures and polygons than any 360 game to date.

Also you named Bioshock, Mass effect and Gears of war and supposedly that line up is better than PS3. First of all, its NOT. Second of all, I do NOT need a 3crap60 to play ANY of the three games you mentioned. Why? Because those games arent EXCLUSIVE. I can get it on my PC which blows the 360 version away. Not to mention that Bioshock is already announced for the PS3 and Mass effect will soon follow.

Youre full of shiat, clueless and probably work at Wal mart or Mac Donalds earning minimum wage. Thats why you hate the PS3 and make up lies about how much stronger the 360 is so that you can sleep better at night.

Whatever man. You can believe what you want. You can stay delusional and stupid if you want. But the moment you come in here and try to convince us with your lies, youre going to get smacked DOWN hard ok. Just like what just happened with this post.

PS IN ONE OF THAT OTHER POST OF YOURS YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN A PS3 OVER A 360 IF PS3 WASNT SOLD OUT. THERE IS A REASON WHY ITS SOLLLLDDDDDD OUTTTTTTT AND 360 IS NOT, MORON.

[juuken]

"From a hardware point of view, the 360 is superior than the PS3."

What...the...f*ck?

I'm sorry but...whut?

If the 360 was superior to the PS3 in terms of hardware, then why does the RROD exist?

...Dude, put down the freakin' blunt!

[n to the b]

thanks for that long, boring tirade of a comment. u made a few dumb mistakes, tho (personally I'm not surprised).

1st of all, u say the cell chip is 2 yrs old then try to blast 360 for being 3 yrs old? lol.

also, 360 games that are also on pc still count as exclusive enough to the (prob vast majority of) people who don't keep a top-of-the-line gaming pc that needs multiple upgrades every 2 yrs. in addition to being really expensive, maintaining a cutting-edge pc requires a lot of know-how.

I'm not going to read thru all of your comment, it's too long. just wanted to point out your logic is seriously flawed.

[juuken]

n to the b, if you're going to counter his argument, at least do it properly and not half-assed.

Ya moron.

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

Think about this if all these features are in the present consoles, what will be the difference? The next generation consoles will have to focus on how we interact with video games. I personally think it's too soon to be releasing around that time.

Some_One_Plays: Subconscious Interview: Next Generation TV Consoles HTML: http://www.gamespot.com/use...

Sony made the right move of making a future proof console it will be cheaper and will be doing what the next generation console will be doing. Most likely the only difference might be graphics besides that everything that the PlayStation 3 has now can be competition. Microsoft and Nintendo need to rethink what the console should be like because Sony just has to sit back and relax building their next console.

[ThanatosDMC]

It's a "monkey see, monkey do" deal. So for each console Sony put on the table, M$ will put several iterations of one kind of console and another console that smells like the competition.

[Bill Gates]

Face it fanboys, M$ has clearly shot themselves in the foot, BIG TIME. By releasing the 360 as early as they did, and as inferior as it is to the PS3, they have only set themselves up for future failure. By the time the 360 comes out it won’t have the price advantage that the PS3 will have by then.

M$ is counting on the hardcore fans it has like Power of Green, to buy into their next console and try to create the hype it’ll need to sell. The third generation xbox will sell worse than the original. Truth of the matter is that a lot of the little kids that play the 360 still won’t have jobs by the time the “720” comes out, and their parents sure as hell wont be forking over another $400 bucks 2-3 years later.

Why do the robots keep insisting that the next installment of the 360 will be leaps and bounds over the current 360? M$ hasn't ’t invested nearly as much as SONY has on R&D when developing the CELL. The next M$ system will come with a ridiculous large HDD for DLC, WiFi built in, Bluetooth compatible, and Internet capabilities……Hmmm sounds like a system that 14 million + already have in their homes. Yeah it’ll have a newer video card but seriously it won’t be leaps and bounds over the PS3’s GPU. In any case, SONY has it’s money on the CELL processor to maintain the edge over whatever M$ releases next.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Robots? Did you forget what side you are on mr. always flaming 360 owners Bill Gates? I've been banned for less on this side. Robots GMAFB.

Mods?

Your whole topic makes no sense. Do you have a link that shows MS spent the same money on the 360 as Sony did in R&D for the Cell? Where do you get this stuff from? By the time this system comes out the 360 will be on it's 6th year at least. That is no less than most consoles lifecycles. The 360 IS NOT THE ORIGINAL XBOX so don't believe for a minute that MS will drop it like the Xbox1.

[Ali_The_Brit]

The Xbox 360 Elite already has HDMI and in 2012, Wi-Fi will be a standard and so, it should be built into the Xbox 720. The PS3 already has a built in Wi-Fi Ethernet and Bluetooth.

^^ not to mention the sucsessor of dvd, blu-ray, looking at this article really makes you see how last gen the 360 hardware is and how next gen the PS3 hardware is

[treacherous_gamer]

That's because the Xbox 360 was released one year earlier than the PS3. Hmmm. Robbie Bach said, “if you take the question of whether it was the right thing to try to be first [with Xbox 360], the answer to that is definitely yes”.

[running rampid]

please stop writing like an inbread retard. you could use the spell check button but even then it is still not hard to right small words :P

[bednet]

It's not hard to see why we are looking forward to xbox720, I'm still waiting to see what the PS3 will be capable of once it's maxed, we know the best games are still to come. As for the 360, I mean I like it but I can't see anything much better coming out graphically speaking, the general consensus is that it's been maxed.

Maybe we're just expecting too much of the PS3 and it'll be shown to be only slightly better than 360. In any case you can bet that you'll be reading PS4 articles once FF13, Killzone, etc are released.

[Xi]

I doubt either is maxed out, and the 360 has many great upcoming ip's that I'm extremely excited for, and a much more diverse and lineup of games than for my ps3 (which ironically is loaded with shooters, resistance, killzone). Sure the ps3 has finally had it's first block buster but what's next? (please don't give me a list, rhetorical question)

As great as the ps3 is (which I absolutely love btw), it's been a desert compared to the 360 in terms of a steady release of high-scoring, well received titles.

Uncharted, mgs4(which I still hate, never cared for mgs), and a couple titles dot the barren landscape but there's nothing else, and there's not much to really look forward to, or at least nothing they've released any info on.

sure we can put all our hope into one basket, like killzone, but lets be honest, none of their games have been anything but average. FF13 will probably see a release in another 2 years (square soft is notorious for delays, and they tend to release games in japan about a year prior to releasing here), lbp is the only really innovative and interesting new title coming for the ps3. But until we start seeing things from ICO or similar studios, and until we start getting release dates the ps3 is in no better position than it was before mgs4 came out.

it's all perspective, but you're dead wrong in thinking that the ps3 hasn't already been maxed out, and that the 360 is. Both have already been pushed to their limits, from here on it's all just optimization and playing to each's strength.

[bednet]

I agree that there are more title coming on the PS3 than titles that have come out...this is exaclty my point...people don't look forward to PS4 because it seems like the best is still to come...or have a feeling that it's still in it's infancy. Compare that to the 360 where we've seen what the machine is capable of. This does not mean that there are no great games coming out, but I don't see it being able to compete against the PS3 graphically in 2010.

Again, speculation, but as a geek the PS3 is technically speaking a dream machine, we just need the dreams now.

[ROCCOZILLA]

PS3 is taking over no just the gaming world but every type of media entertainment.its unbeatable!PLAY B3YOND waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay B3YOND!!

[thawind]

HOLD ON A SECOND , I HAVEN'T EVEN BOUGHT MY PS3 YET AND YOU GUYS ARE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT PS AND XBOX 720 THIS IS GETTING SCARY!!!

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

To tell you the truth I think 80% of gamers won't even consider a new console until 2013-2016. Games are coming much slower and the consoles today do way more than just gaming.

I'm with you on this one, I'm not buying a new console so quickly.

[avacadosnorkel]

Microsoft needs to release the next XBOX next year, before more 360 owners trade for a PS3.

If MS releases the next XBOX next year they will beat Sony to the PS4 by at least 3 years.

[strotee]

then the xbox3 would look antiquated compared to the ps4. there is a point where releasing something too soon can backfire, (e.g. quality of hardware, people feeling ripped off if they've owned it for less than 1-2 years, etc). microsoft needs to convey that they care about people getting a console late into its lifespan and not always just appealing to early adopters ("hardcore" gamers).

[Bladestar]

@strotee - that depends... look at the xbox 360.. it did came out 1 year earlier than the PS3 and many games still look and perform better on the xbox 360... Many developers believe that eventually consoles will come with enough horse power that would let them focus on just making the games... I mean think about it now... what's limiting consoles compare to the PC? practically only RAM.... CPU and GPU on both consoles are sometimes even more powerful than computers running games like Crysis... With the price of Memory today and their speed and multicores it's not hard to see what's needed.

If the next xbox comes with at least 4GB Memory and 8 Cores I'm sure developers would be very happy... it does not have to be newer technology... just matured technology.. and add lots of it...

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

What can they do in a years time that will make me want another console if my present console can do the same? Don't get me wrong graphics will be better (I hope) but if all they offer are new games I'm out. I think the next generation needs to focus on how we interact with video games than features itself. What would be the difference of watching a 1080p movie on the PlayStation 3 compared to a PlayStation 4?

[Bladestar]

I doubt the next xbox is going to have blu-ray built in... at least for games... do you guys remember when sega made their own disc format for games? Why not use HD DVD as a game format and completely avoid paying royalties to Sony while keeping the same manufacturing process of DVD by using HD DVD.... not only that but it helps since not many HD DVD burners will exist... the technology is already developed... obviously they can add blu-ray movie playback if Sony does not try to over price the license. It would also be nice if developers are allow to publish their games on standard DVD9... some games are very small (warhawk) why should they be release on a 30GB disc... and forcing developers to pay royalties for the disc and waste resources on manufacturing a more expensive disc? only use next gen discs on games that need it.

The next xbox can come when the xbox 360 is 5 years old... that's only 2 years away... that's average console life span.

"The Xbox 720 could feature something similar to Sony’s Cell-like processor. But will Microsoft invest in something like that? We already have four cores on today’s PC. They might not have to look farther than their partnership with IBM. IBM has already developed a dual core 4.7GHz server CPU, dubbed the Power6. " I so do not agree with this... and let me guess.. microsoft will dump in the garbage all their development tools, obviously the cell architecture is not compatible with the xbox 360 so there it goes BC...

look around even sony sold their cell piece of the action... and with the biggest CPU makers (intel and AMD) focusing on multicore technology... "AMD plans 12-core server chip for 2010"..

multicore is the future no need for a new architecture that requires every development tool to go back to the drawing boards and make developers life more difficult... some CPU makers are talking about up to 64 cores...

[Xi]

they're so self purpetuating.

I mean, the only reason we talk about the next xbox is because some stupid site wants to get hits by making articles about what the next xbox might be like. Not because the next xbox is actually coming, but just because there's some stupid site that wants hits.

I'm sure if we had a bunch of PS4: Every Myth, Speculation... etc as much as we had for the xbox ones (like those Xbox 2011? leave me out) we'd start to think the next plastation is on it's way too. But it's not.

Neither system is dead and until we get an official announcement all we're doing is giving more amunnition to fanboys to attack one another.

[Britjadg]

@ veryangryxbot

if you actually read the article, you'll know that a lot of that has been said prior to this thread. sony's set up is geared toward video playback. they put a fuk off great cell in their console and then didn't harness the power fully because they put a relatively standard graphics card in it. this is where sony loses the majority of its power.

for the record i dont think 360 is superior to my ps3, but you shouldn't delude urself that ps3 is better than xbox. technically speaking the two systems seem relatively on par with each other with xbox perhaps coming out with a slight edge because of its fully customed hardware and devs being better set up using 360s architecture (its like developing for pc).

[karlostomy]

Right on.
Just wish more people here could see that.

[js_mac]

The RRoD is caused by cheap chips (they thought using these would save them a few $million) overheating and melting heat-sensitive components that shouldn't have been near them in the first place. It's obviously backfired; in fact so much so that they've had to set aside $1billion to repair consoles with the RRoD.
Of course I can't speak for MS - who, like their rivals, are in it to bring a profit to their shareholders, not to entertain for us guys - and their business philosophy, but it would defy all common sense to sell a deliberately second-rate console again.

[AngryTypingGuy]

So is each Xbox name going to be in multiples of 360? Hopefully they'll come up with more creative names.

[RAM MAGNUMS]

XBOX 360 will be discontinued soon after gears of war 2 is out for 3 months!
Youheard it here first losers!

XBOX 360 has been found guilty of being a fake ps3 and its year headstart is the only reason why the ps3 is supposed;y catching up but to me the ps3 isnt even in competition with the broken box and has out created the limited console! What with all the feaures of the ps3 alone put the plastic brick into shame!

Pretenders of the throne will soon be outcasted by its very own fans!
Microsoft will be in court soon for its corruption and will have no more money left to make a broken box 720! The war is over and xbutts are the first to buy a ps3 and become multi platform users why because they like to waste their time and money on garbage electronics like the xbox 360 and pay monthly for it too! WHY? They are addicted to first person shooters and garbage rpg's! Ps3 will teach these xbutts another lesson in those genre's that will outright laugh at them for being so irrevelant to Sony!
Do you really think Sony gives a crap about what a xbutt is playing?
NO! All sony wants is to steal xbox live. the heart and soul of the xbox!
When update 2.40 is upon us, Xbutts will be a shell of a bricked console gamer! What we have here is a Massacre performed by Sony that will make each xbutt n4g member curse all Sony droids as they walk into best buy for the last time and junk the xbox 360 for the shiny ps3!
Best Hardware!
Best Game!
Best Online!
Best controller for all types!
Best HD Disc!
Best interface!
Best Store!
Best QORE!
Best Browser!
Best Hardrive!
Best Microphone!
Best Experience!
Best Console!
Best Camera!
Best Gamers!
Best arcades!
Best ps1 games!
Best PS2 games!
Best PSP games!
Best Remote play!
Best Wi-Fi!
Best resolution, 1080P!
Best frames per second!
Best Graphics!
Best style!

PS3 Is THE BEST!

Dream Big XBUTTS!

[AngryTypingGuy]

Do you make love to your PS3? You need a girlfriend, badly. Yikes.

[Deadman64]

why do you embarass yourself so much magnum?

[dirtrider]

i think its funny how the ps3 people say "must be bad if they are already talkin about the next xbox" well i hope they know that the ps3 was in developement a long time ago before it finally came out in nov 2006. also if the sony fangirls would think the release of ps3 was pushed back because of sony tryin to secure the use of blu-ray and blutooth compatibility in it. id say the cell was in development since around 2003 maybe even a lil sooner the ps2 was released oct 26th 2000- so i guess it was bad that sony started on their next gen console then huh? sony microsoft, and nintendo are all in early stages of their next consoles usually they start after their current console reaches its 2 year point in their lifecycle. all i can say is next generation console ALL 3 of them should be pretty dang awesome- cant wait. peace

[strotee]

"Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone."

People like you are making the line between Open Zone & Gamer Zone thinner by the hour. Please grow up.

[DFresh]

I doubt the 720 will come out anytime soon.
It'll come out the same time as the PS4 and Wii 2 in 2016.
Nothing but rumors no facts besides Microsoft doesn't have the technology yet to go beyond the current generation not like Sony does.
Sony right now could make the PS4 but they promise 10 years so their going to deliver on it.
Sony's advantage next generation.
OLED TVs-1st firm to release, advertise, and sell OLED TVs.
Newer Ultra HD Blu-ray Movies.
Developers exclusive to Sony.
Don't think the 720 won't have a big challenge with the PS4 once it's released to the public in November of 2016.
Just enjoy the game generation we have now and move on.

[MANCREEP]

release/sell OLED 1st. lol.

[macca28]

you can not compare xbox 360 to ps3 right now xbox is by along way the best console for gaming at the minute ,yes i no about metal gear solid but what else ,may be not in 12 months time but right now xbox is the gamers choice .and yes i own a ps3 aswell

[Xi]

but do you also own a dictionary?

[tk]

Jsut imagine the possibility that they will release the XB720 with a BR drive - and think of the impact on XB360 sales. Most likely it will be able to play XB360 games (if they stay with ATI for the graphics) - they own the IP anyway - so most likely it will be. That would kill of enthusiasm for the XB360 - and pitch it as a PS3 competitor. It will make MS look like they are gicing up on the XB360 in order to compete with the PS3 with BR. Don't expect any solid news until 6 - 12 months before it releases.

[KBDuB]

Look at the Fanboys Go!!! aha

Competition is good.. The 720 can be good, Ms just needs to take their time and make it reliable.

[Skynetone]

except for the fact that everyone will have broadband by 2012

[SkyGamer]

I liked how Bill Gates stated that the next Xbox gpu wouldn't be that much beter than the rsx. The Xenos is ALREADY better than rsx. It has UNIFIED architecture and 10 MB embedded eDRAM and access to 512 mb of ram. What an idiot. Anyone who dabbles in PC gaming knows that a good gpu makes all the difference. That is telling someone that there is no reason to upgrade from a "stripped down 7800 sli with only 256 mb of ram" to a 9800 or let alone an 8800 because there is only a marginal difference! This dude's a joke.

[etownone]

i expect the next Xbox to have lots of memory.

1 gig for the new and more advanced console GPU and 1-2 gig for a quad CPU.

[Common Sense]

The RSX can access 512mb as well. It can access the super fast xdr memory as well adding to 512mb. The Xenos isn't better than the RSX because they both have strengths and weaknesses and there isn't much of a difference in power for one to be CLEARLY superior. It is up to the developer to maximize the strength and downplay or compensate for the weaknesses of each GPU.

The RSX has 10% more clock speed and has a dedicated memory but can still access more and 4 times faster memory {3.2 Ghz compared to 800mhz}. This reduces memory bottlenecks. The CELL can also do a lot of the work typically done by the GPU like geometry and some physics.

The Xenos on the other has a unified shader structure which offers more flexibility and more efficiency and it's 10mb edram helps a lot with anti-aliasing.

Like I said, the power differential between the two Graphics cards are minimal. The games really stand out graphically based on the quality of the game code and that reflects on how synergistically the CPU, Memory and GPU work together.

[etownone]

first gen - reliable hardware, too expensive because they didn't own the parts, needed more games. Made no money.
this gen - own the parts, biggest library and highest rated games and finally making money, but the hardware was unreliable first couple of years.

next gen - own the parts, keep the great games coming and reliable console.

If the next Xbox comes out in 2010, MS might have TWO whole years on the market before Sony does PS4.

[Solid_Snake666]

so it will be Ps3 Vs Xbox 720 lol then they will stop making games for xbox 360 and make customers switch to 720 .....classic

[cliffbo]

i predict the 720 will have less memory than the 360 as more compression will solve all their problem`s. lol

[Fatmanp]

"MGS4 is the most texture intensive game to ever hit a console and it is a PS3 exclusive only solidifying the power of the PS3 in terms of development."

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

MGS4 is an awesome game but the textures are pretty non existent in the outdoor environments. They are only just slightly better than Halo 2. If you want to see a texture sensitive game on console go look at Mass Effect. From my experience with the PS3 only two games have textures that compare to the textures seen in Halo 3, Bioshock, Gears, Mass Effect and others and they are uncharted and Ratchet.

[GUNS N SWORDS]

since xbox 360 wasn't expensive in the first place and it's definitely not going to be in 3 more years so i'm sure the next one will no doubt have a sh1t load of more features, now ps3 on the other hand probably won't, given the many facts that ps3 has already gone over board in terms of features, ps4 will no doubt come with a blu-ray drive,HDMI, bluetooth, and lots of other features ps3 already has.

also ps3's cell technology is still up there in the prices, with everything the ps3 has inside of it i don't think you could just drop the price of a that console, so that you can just make way for something that's might be stronger but at the same time have the same features as the previous one already had.

[ReBurn]

Why do people assume it will be called "Xbox 720"? That jut doesn't make sense to me. 720 is twice 360, but 360 isn't twice zero. I'm just trying to figure out the new math.

[tojfs7931]

Wont be calling the xbox 360-2 thats for sure.

[deno]

who posts all this nonsense?

[Cynical-Gamerzus]

LISTEN UP MS and XBOX NUT-HUGGERS
Do it right the next time!!!!
Instead of losing billions on RROD and on failed systems(Zune etc.)

Make this thing huge and take a loss for the sake of being the greatest!!!!!!
In talking About 10Core Plus CPU!!
SSD Drive no more no less 100MBps Or 250MBps Raid!
Fastest Bluray drive out there!!!!
And most important!!!!!!!
Stadard 1GB TO 4GB
Upgradable RAM!
Sell it at huge loss but it will become the machine for 10 years!!!!TO Beat!!!!
Ill pay $600.00 for it!!!

[heavyarms]

I've had my xbox360 for 3 years now and my ps3 for over a year and really i dont see anything special. They are both great and they both have limitation in the graphics department. If a new console comes out in the next year, i will be the first to look over the hardware and decide if i need it. I want a new system really, something that can play pc games and any console game out there. Just my 2 cents on the topic, I love msg4 but my favorite game is ninga gaiden2, you want to eat my ninja star.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

As soon as I can reserve one I will. Either, I recognize electronics like the 360 needs access to unrestricted air or my launch system was incredibly well designed. I haven't had one problem with my 360 and with a gamer score of 21,453 I play the hell out of it. (New Frontlines FOW map on live!)

[GUNS N SWORDS]

my theoretical maximum score i can reach is over 28,000, but right now i seem to only have a score of 14,380.

[SkyGamer]

I agree with the above poster as more ram sounds logical. 2 GB is really now the industry recommended while 1 gb is now the industry standard. I believe the NextBox will have an Intel backed 64-bit 10 to 12 cores that go up to 4 ghz range.
Intel are stated that they won't miss out on the next gen and they can mass-produce unlike AMD which currently powers my desktop: X2 5600+. They are using new materials that cut down on heating and can pump more volume.
I would expect the NextBox to have around 2-4 gb of ram ddr2. I would say 3 but I am trying to be realistic as if they use ddr2 dual channel, maybe OC could get some decent results and be cost effective.
I would assume that the gpu will be ati and maybe double the eDRAM.
The physical media would be the big question as they do have some options. (Just imagine if sony decided to use HDi, there would probably never have been a format war!) On one hand they could make a deal with sony and use blu-ray. Or they could use quad-layered dvd's pushing 24 gb and can read in any dvd drive. They could use dd.
I think that the HDD will be mandatory and it will be BIG. Probably around 320 GB. I have a 320 gb HDD in my latop and I only paid 160 for it a year ago at a computer store. Funny thing is that my desktop only has a 160 gb, lol.
It is really hard to future proof ANYTHING as technology becomes ALWAYS obselete. The fools who don't think so are only kidding themselves. If the ps3 was really future proof, why are they still using DX9?

[air1]

those of you that claim that you want a 360 but wont get it cause of rrod is str8 up b/s. none of you acted like that when sony had the dre problem. you act like if it happens every other week or something. i didnt get the rrod till like 1 1/2 yrs later and took 2 weeks for another. you dont need no receipt like sony just the serial number and done. you ppl make it seem worse then it is. you guy's get too caught up on horror stories from the net.

what i want the most from all 3 consoles when launched is a good list of AAA games when launched. in other words dont launch the damn thing with 1 good game!

[dkgshiz]

It will end up with huge hardware failures, people will be up set. People should learn from their mistakes. Its like voting for another republican this year. Your going to end up with a country in ruins. John McCain= bad microcrap.

[LuHawk]

yeah just like your worthless life idiot

[Paperfone]

Just Don't rush it. We all know how that turned out....
Maybe ask sony for some tips

[DevonTheDude535]

I'm a die hard Sony guy (check out my profile and my comments if you think I'm lying) and I will admit I agree with the article. The only thing its missing, not getting nickel and dimed for every accessory/service they offer (don't think that part of MS's business model is changing any time soon). I have a 360 with all the accessories (including flight sticks) and hope that many of the accessories carry over also.

[Morgue]

I don't care what it does because I won't be buying it unless they can release a game that will justify me spending another $400.00 in two years and I'm not talking Gears 3 or another stupid Halo game.

[tojfs7931]

2012 is FOUR years from now.

[wallace1000]

Dude you got a disagree because someone can't add 8 and 4 :-P

[tojfs7931]

on the next system is quieter running FANS. Everyone knows by know how loud the 360 is compared to the ps3...

[Boldy]

The fans aren't that loud. It's the disc drive that is loud hence why the 360 is really quiet when your in the blade system and then cranks up the volume when you put in a game. If you put your ear right up to the disc drive and then the fans you will definitely be able to tell it's the disc drive that's making the most noise.

[Silver Bull3t]

"And by 2012 we will take the Internet for granted and almost everyone will have a net connection in their homes. Microsoft can use this to their advantage and include a proprietary technology, much like Valve’s Steam. You have to activate your game over Xbox Live before you can play it.

Horsesh1t... If I've already paid a premium for the freaking game why do I need to have it authenticated?

suck it.... that blows. It's a goddamn GAME not an OS!!!!!!

homo pricks. i'd sooner go back to math games on my abacus.

[Rageanitus]

Name of the xbox 3 is going to be, cuz 720 will be kindov lame. 360 was pretty good since it represents a full revolution..... But what really boggles me is how they came out with the brand "xbox"

[Common Sense]

but was shortened to Xbox. I'm glad they shortened it because DirectXbox 360 just isn't quite as catchy.

[Reibooi]

Yes the next Xbox is in development and I would go as far as to say that the PS4 and the next Wii are also in development its the nature of the industry. Most of the stuff on this list will most likely prove true. There are a few things I question such as the backwards compatibility I'm not sure on the details but there may be a bit of problem with that. Also the aiming more causal thing may not prove true. There has been much talk of over saturation in that market and if that is true it will crash before the next Xbox.

[IaMs12]

From what i heard PS4 will be out before the Xbox720, ive heard stuff, mind you they are rumors just like the 720 that the PS4 will be almost a ready in a year and half, thats why some people have hesitated about buying a PS3 when a PS4 is just around the corner... mind you it will probably just be like the Xbox elite just named PS4 but most likely have added features... who knows

[Common Sense]

We all know Sony and Microsoft are taking notes from Nintendo based on the Wii's success.

Now the question is: What's the next move for Nintendo?

They are probably going to make a HD Wii with better graphics.
Which means Nintendo will most likely screwed next gen unless they come up with something innovative like the Wiimote (Maybe an input system with a neural interface; controlling games with your mind will be awesome)!!!

Most of their customers (casual gamers) obvious don't care about HD or realistic graphics otherwise they won't have bought the Wii. They care about innovative controls and since the Xbox 720 and PS4 will have Wii-like controls nothing will differentiate the next Nintendo games system. I can't wait to see how Nintendo is going to convince them to upgrade because I don't see the Wii casual gamers upgrading anytime soon.

Most of these people are still playing Wii Sports and Wii play.