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Xbox details imminent

By Gregory Peake
Johannesburg, 17 May 2013

The rumour mill is in overdrive, with less than a week until the #XboxReveal event. Rumours ranging from the new Xbox coming standard with a hard drive (something the lower-end Xbox 360s lack), to what GPU it will be using, abound.

Dubbed the 'Xbox 720', the Xbox 360's successor is set to be properly revealed on 21May, in Redmond, Washington. Other rumoured names include its codename, Durango, as well as Fusion or Infinity (which was later declared to be a hoax, despite Microsoft registering Xbox8 domains).

NVidia commented earlier this year that it didn't feel it was missing out by not taking part in the console market, citing low margins, adding weight to data pointing towards AMD providing technology for both the Xbox and Sony rival, the PS4.

Rumoured to feature two quad-core processors, as well as two GPUs, the Xbox release looks set to match the PS4 (unlike the current generation, where the PS3 leads in performance and price). The new Xbox's x86 architecture means it is possible it will be backwards-compatible with 360 games, unlike the PS4.

Reddit user C-Ron created an Xbox Infinity logo, clearly stating it was not the real one, but major games journalism Web sites picked up on it and ran with it.

He posted: "Discovered that everyone thinks a fake Xbox Infinity logo I made in Photoshop is the real deal. I didn't react when I saw smaller Web sites using it, but when I saw Ars Technica and GameSpot use it, I facepalm'd."

Also rumoured are 'digitally watermarked' games, which means purchased games will only work on one console device or account.

Games developer Eidos co-founder Ian Livingston told Destructoid: "With the next Xbox, you supposedly have to have an Internet connection, and the discs are watermarked, whereby once played on one console, it won't play on another."


Expect more information to emerge in the build-up to the reveal event, as is usual in these scenarios.

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