Microsoft NeXtbox 720 Packs Blu-Ray, Kinect 2, And More

With their powers combined, Fudzilla, IGN, and Kotaku have given us a glimpse into the development of Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox 360, rumored to be hitting shelves October or November 2013.

Fudzilla was first out of the gate to whip up some details on the yet-unnamed system that we’re fondly calling the Xbox 720.  The new System on Chip is being co-developed by IBM and Global Foundries.  Codenamed “Oban”, the 32nm SoC began its production run December of last year.  Fudzilla also reported that the GPU tasked with delivering next-gen graphics would be a modified 7000 series, or Southern Islands Series for you tropical vacationers, from ATI.

IGN later confirmed info on the Oban SoC but followed up with a bit of a letdown: while ATI is working on a GPU, it will be more akin to its Radeon HD 6670 than the more powerful 7000 Series.  Nonetheless, the GPU does support 3D and full 1080p HD output, as well as multidisplay output and DirectX11.

This is almost the chip you are looking for.

If you want to know just how inferior your long-awaited Christmas gift is to the new console, the Xbox 720 is reported to have six times the power of the puny Xbox 360.  And, finally, those looking to get their fanboy on ahead of time will be happy to note the 720 will have a 20% greater performance advantage over Nintendo’s next-generation Wii U.

Not one to be left out Kotaku was able to wring their super-secret sources dry of some more details.  Microsoft repeatedly denied future Blu-Ray support despite the disaster that was its backing of the HD-DVD format, but Kotaku’s spies now say otherwise.

Toshiba was the primary supporter of the HD-DVD format but saw sales of the disc and players decline. The company officially stopped supporting the format in 2008 and Microsoft followed suit soon after.

But Blu-Ray isn’t the only change in game disc format Microsoft is looking to make: the company may well be incorporating technology into the Xbox 720 that prevents users from playing used games on the console.  While nobody’s really sure how this will work, it certainly seems most devious and will more than likely not sit well with gamers.

Finally, Kotaku also got wind of a Kinect successor that will be releasing alongside the Xbox 720.  While still a standalone sensor, the new Kinect will have its own on-board processor allowing for better motion detection.

The Kinect has been key to the renewed success of Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which saw itself in a distant second behind competitor Nintendo’s Wii console.  Attracting casual gamers the Wii had been going after for so long, Microsoft announced a couple months ago the motion-sensing device had sold a whopping 18 million units to date.  The 360 itself has sold 66 million units worldwide.  The future of the console continues to look bright: analysts from the Kantar World Panel predict the 360 to take over as 2012’s premier console.

Unlike the Wii and PlayStation Move, which use special controllers for motion control, Microsoft's Kinect senses the movement of the user's body itself and translates it as on-screen action.

Meanwhile, competitor Nintendo has recently hit tough times, posting its first loss in a decade.  Its recent quarterly earnings showed a whopping 61% drop in profits.  Nintendo has seen its monopoly on the casual gamer market tested not only by the Kinect and Sony’s PlayStation Move but also by increasingly-popular tablets and smartphones.  While the iPad retained its place as the most-wished-for Christmas item last year (as well as in 2010), Nintendo has had to slash the price of its own handheld, the 3DS, by $80 to boost stagnating sales.  Sony also released its PS3-in-your-pocket system recently, and while sales have cooled off, it has received a warm reception from gamers and critics alike.

Via: Fudzilla, IGN, Kotaku, Huffpost Tech UK