Xbox Next Rumormill

[foogledricks]

Thought it would be fun to consolidate all the more viable rumors about Xbox Next in one place, rather than hosting multiple threads for them. Maybe this can eventually be pinned. Please feel free to contribute - I'm sure I missed a bunch of games and hardware rumors. It will be interesting to see how they pan out.

 

Date

There has been so much buzz leaking from developers, publishers, and magazines about the Xbox Next, and it can't all be stemming from Microsoft's promise to not be beaten to the punch by Sony. Expecting Fall 2005.

 

Name

The most recent rumors suggest "XBox 360", but even if this is Bill's choice, Microsoft has several months to change their mind.

 

XBLive

Spectator Mode (Think this was from EGM)

Player Customizable Content (XBlive 3.0 Spec)

 

Hardware Features

 

 

• 1080i Standard/Optional (Wishful Thinking, as I have not read this anywhere)
  
• Backwards Compatibility (Highly covered in the press, unknown)
  
• Flash Memory / Harddrive (Highly covered in the press, unknown)
  
• HD-DVD / DVD (Lightly covered in the press, unknown)
  
• Wi-Fi / Ethernet (Wishful Thinking, as I have not read this anywhere)
  

Games

 

• The GodFather (Egm)
  
• Perfect Dark (Highly covered in the press)
  
• Kameo (Xbox==>Xbox2 graduate?)
  
• Halo 3 (Duh)
  
• Need for Speed (Press Release)
  
• Madden (Duh)
  
• B.C. (Xbox==>Xbox2 graduate?)
  
• Spiderman 3 (Press Release)
  
• Battlefield: Modern Combat (Press Release)
  
• Half-Life 2 (Xbox==>Xbox2 graduate?)
  
• DOA4 (Straight from the Horses Mouth)
  
• Ninja Gaiden 2 (Straight from the Horses Mouth)
  

[Angry the Clown]

Gamesindustry.biz and Eurogamer are reporting that not only are more apparently confirmed reports of an October/November Launch in America for Xbox2 emerging, but so called insider "expert" claims that the console will hit Europe only weeks later have surfaced too, the possibility setting an unprecedented full scale attack on the western gaming markets this winter.

 

Speaking under conditions of strict anonymity, senior American and British development, publishing and retail sources have confirmed the launch window in the past weeks.

 

It is also now widely known among British sources that Microsoft UK is currently in the planning stages of a spectacular and unprecedented launch event in central London for the winter release..

 

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6766

 

Daniel

[General Zot]

Man, I want to buy this when it launches. Please, please MS make it backward-compatible.

[Jon W H]

kfredericks, you forgot Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion being confirmed for the next XBox gen. I'm sure there are a handful more, but that's a big one as far as I'm concerned.

 

Since the new consoles won't show up til E3, I'm skeptical of any of them showing up before 2006.

[Romier S]

Since the new consoles won't show up til E3, I'm skeptical of any of them showing up before 2006.

 

I think you'll be suprised Jon. The next Xbox is almost guarenteed to hit shelves this year.

[Angry the Clown]

This article at Gamesindustry.biz today has had confirmation from a number of developers that the XBox follow up will indeed use wireless controllers as standard.

 

Daniel

[iainl]

I'm fairly sure B.C. is in suspended animation, if not actually dead, so I doubt it's coming to the console in the near future.

 

Mind you, a failure to fit it into the current XBox was one of the reasons they ditched it, so a resurrection wouldn't be uncalled for.

[heavy liquid]

This article at Gamesindustry.biz today has had confirmation from a number of developers that the XBox follow up will indeed use wireless controllers as standard.

 

I sure hope so! :tu Hopefully Nintendo and Sony will follow suit.

[Anthony G]

Please, please MS make it backward-compatible.

 

I hope so too.

 

The GodFather (Egm)

Perfect Dark (Highly covered in the press)

Kameo (Xbox==>Xbox2 graduate?)

Halo 3 (Duh)

Need for Speed (Press Release)

Madden (Duh)

B.C. (Xbox==>Xbox2 graduate?)

Spiderman 3 (Press Release)

Battlefield: Modern Combat (Press Release)

Half-Life 2 (Xbox==>Xbox2 graduate?)

DOA4 (Straight from the Horses Mouth)

Ninja Gaiden 2 (Straight from the Horses Mouth)

 

Any confirmations about which games will be ready by (or close too) release date?

[GrumpyElf]

I ripped all this off from other sites, but you all remember Steve Ballmer right? He made these comments lately:

 

"When you see the new Xbox, you're going to think it's - well, let me say it politely - unbelievable. Just unbelievable. The graphics, what it can do, the way things look, we're talking huge innovation."

 

Ballmer rounded off his discussion with a teasing nod to Xbox 2's rumoured unveiling at E3. "Rumours are that we'll see that product sometime soon. I couldn't comment, of course, on those rumours. But it's an amazing, amazing innovation."

 

Now, before you take all this seriously, you may want to check this guy out.

 

http://www.ntk.net/media/dancemonkeyboy.mpg

 

:tu

[Camp]

New "insider" information at Kotaku

 

Not so much in this report is new but it's notable as it's being reported by Kotaku. Their source does the following:

 

• 
  - Confirms the name '360'
  - Confirms the console will ship in two varients (one with a hard drive and one without
  - Says the exterior will be silver
  - The unit can stand vertically or horizontally
  - It will have user-customizable removable panels and a customizable Dashboard
  - Backward compatibility is still being worked on but isn't working yet
  

[Romier S]

According to some of the things I've heard about the next Xbox, that report you posted Camp, mentions some things that sound quite close to reality. Xbox 360 still sounds silly to me though. However it could grow on me over time.

[Ryan FB]

Wireless controllers standard?

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz this morning, developers working with prototype Xbox 2 hardware confirmed that while they have not seen final designs for the controller, Microsoft representatives have indicated that the pads will indeed be wireless.

[Camp]

According to some of the things I've heard about the next Xbox, that report you posted Camp, mentions some things that sound quite close to reality. Xbox 360 still sounds silly to me though. However it could grow on me over time.

 

hmmm....If I didn't know better I'd say you have a source feeding you confidential info. Care to share?

[Romier S]

No sir, cannot share.

[dogbert]

I still don't believe the 360 name. I also don't think it'll ship with "customizable face plates" - that sounds like a buzzword wishlist on a marketing report.

[JTello]

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz this morning, developers working with prototype Xbox 2 hardware confirmed that while they have not seen final designs for the controller, Microsoft representatives have indicated that the pads will indeed be wireless.

 

If I can take the wish list one step further,... I hope that they have some sort of recharging stand, as I would certainly perfer not having to deal with swapping batteries all of the time.

[Camp]

Well, I'm shocked by the whole wireless controller thing. I knew about the early rumors that Xbox 2 would have provisions for adding wireless controllers built-in to the chipset (which sounded a lot like some form of Bluetooth). Packing a very marketable accessory with the console is margin suicide in the console biz. It's the same reason new release consoles don't ship with dual controllers or pack-in games anymore. Get the consumer to buy the high margin accessories in addition to the console sale.

[Josh]

FYI, the guys at Kotaku can't usually be trusted. They get most of their info from Joystiq and gametab.com anyway.

 

New "insider" information at Kotaku

 

Not so much in this report is new but it's notable as it's being reported by Kotaku. Their source does the following:

 

• 
  - Confirms the name '360'
  - Confirms the console will ship in two varients (one with a hard drive and one without
  - Says the exterior will be silver
  - The unit can stand vertically or horizontally
  - It will have user-customizable removable panels and a customizable Dashboard
  - Backward compatibility is still being worked on but isn't working yet
  

[Camp]

FYI, the guys at Kotaku can't usually be trusted. They get most of their info from Joystiq and gametab.com anyway.

 

I couldn't disagree more. I've found Kotaku & Gizmodo to be quite professional (and a ton of fun to read). Furthermore, it seems pretty clear they got this bit of "news" independent of another site.

[General Zot]

This is fun to speculate, but I consider all this jungle noise until we see the darn consoles at E3. Wireless sure is sweet, and I'd definitely buy the HDD version if it was backwards compatible, but everything right now is conjecture.

[foogledricks]

but I consider all this jungle noise

The subject of this thread contains "rumor" in it for a reason.

[heavy liquid]

Removable HD? Xpod? Interesting:

 

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6980

 

Microsoft's next-generation Xbox console is set to feature a removable hard drive bay, according to online reports today, which will allow users to upgrade their entry-level systems to include mass storage capabilities.

 

One vital question, however, is whether this hard drive will simply be a sealed memory unit (which may actually be a hard drive, or may be a very high capacity flash drive) or if it will sport a screen and buttons, allowing it to be used as a portable media player.

 

Comments made to GamesIndustry.biz by sources who claim to have seen the new console suggest that the latter may be the case - resurrecting the "xPod" rumours which originally surfaced last year, after XNA boss J Allard allegedly told fellow snowboarders in a bar at a Canadian resort that the next Xbox would come with an iPod style media player.

[Angry the Clown]

I just read that news myself, Erik.

 

Citing a "reliable source", technology news site Engadget revealed details of the removable hard drive, claiming that the unit attaches to the top of the console "in a really slick way, almost like the hood scoop on a muscle car."

 

I can't quite picture this at the moment.

 

Would they need to launch with two models? Surely for the sake of avoiding consumer confusion everyone buys the basic model then buys whatever peripherals necessary for them to customize it?. Unless buying a model outright with the hard disc would come at a discounted price over buying each component separately.

 

Daniel

[foogledricks]

Would they need to launch with two models?

Daniel

 

No, I imagine that if it is flash-based, the Xbox 2 might come with 512Mb of storage built in, with an option to buy modules of 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc. If it is harddrive-based, I imagine your options would be 1 gig, 2 gig, 4 gig, 8 gig, 20 gig, 40 gig.

 

Frankly, I like this idea because it gives consumers choice. If you use custom soundtracks, then you might choose to buy more storage to scale to that preference. I may not need more than the default storage because I don't listen to custom soundtracks.

 

Microsoft of course has to make sure that a minimum amount of storage is available for all vital game-related storage activities (updates, caching, etc.). Who wants to put Halo 3 into their Xbox 2 on xmas day, only to receive an "Out of Space Error, please remove your 8 gigabytes of downloaded DOA4 costumes to proceed"