The existence of an in-development next-gen Xbox has been given further weight this morning, after various Microsoft employees were spotted mentioning 'next-gen' work in their LinkedIn CVs.
Meanwhile "senior creative director for Xbox" Jonathan Harris says he's spent the last 14 months "designing the next generation of entertainment", while Xbox hardware intern Joe Langevin says he's working on "high speed data buses to prevent electromagnetic interference in next-gen devices."
The most revealing of the LinkedIn listings though is arguably that of ex-Microsoft employee Patrick Corrigan, who says he spent the first half of 2011 "providing groundwork an[d] integration for branding elements for next-gen Xbox on all forms of media. Ranging from print to UI across future releases of the Xbox platform".
Microsoft's probably working on a new Xbox then. Try and act surprised.
The platform holder has long spoken of its ten-year plan for Xbox 360, which launched in late 2005, but that doesn't rule out a successor launching during the period, according to European Xbox boss Chris Lewis, who said in August:
"We think we're a little over halfway with the life cycle of the console, but that's not to say there won't be an overlap. I'm not going to announce specifically or talk about timing. But you could imagine there could be overlap, it depends. We're not being specific about the next generation at this stage."
Comments
30 comments so far...
Jedi_sniper on 10 Oct '11 said:
Yeah, not surprised. We just need to wait about 4-5 years for a release though!
jubbgi01 on 10 Oct '11 said:
If they release a giant X console like that pic, I'm all over it.
martinawatson on 10 Oct '11 said:
microsoft ?????????
DoomGuy84 on 10 Oct '11 said:
E3 2012 reveal to take the attention away from Wii U me thinks.
IbanezLewis on 10 Oct '11 said:
I'm hoping to see a reveal next year for release in 2013 or holiday 2012. I know the Xbox 360 is meant to have a 10 year cycle or something, but that doesn't mean that consoles can't overlap.
BOYD1981 on 10 Oct '11 said:
I guess it's too much to hope that the next gen xbox will be even more PC like and hopefully include analogue 5.1 outputs like those found on even the most basic of onboard soundcards these days.
Sticking in a hard drive and letting us use them for DLC and "installing" our games just doesn't cut it anymore.
StonecoldMC on 10 Oct '11 said:
The story would be surprising if MS weren't actively working on the 360's successor.
nologo on 10 Oct '11 said:
hmm they should announce something - i need some stimulation from the gaming community.
the only thing im looking forward to is star wars. battle field 3 is a major disappointment because the graphics are so far away from getting anywhere near the pc version
Hashbrown on 10 Oct '11 said:
No Shiz Wiz. Always thought companies stood around twiddling their thumbs until a month before release where they suddenly chuck everything together.
They were probably preparing the next gen the day after the 360 was released. Its not about when they are ready, but when the consumers are. ATM they are still selling software and hardware at a healthy margin, they're in no rush to start selling things at a loss again
Ali_ on 10 Oct '11 said:
Microsoft working on a new Xbox? Nooo. Surely not! Next, you'll be telling us Sony are working on a new Playstation or something equally ridiculous.
drpunk on 10 Oct '11 said:
Mind blowing.
Don't go telling us that Sony are working on a Playstation 4. That'd be earth shattering.
TykerD3 on 10 Oct '11 said:
Great, yet expected news. Im so pumped for the next xbox, i have even started saving for it in one of my bank accounts...2012 E3 reveal for a 2013 Nov release me thinks. So the xbox will be 8 then, and they will support it for the next two/three years.
WHITEyy118 on 10 Oct '11 said:
I probably could have guessed at that but the real question is which, out of SONY or Microsoft, will grow some and actually announce their new console??
TykerD3 on 10 Oct '11 said:
I think MS will announce first, but Sony will only be a year behind so MS dont get too many sales ahead. The question is: What tech will these consoles have? Will MS use Blu Ray, SSD, how much ram, AI chips??? Exciting (i am so geeky)
gmcb007 on 10 Oct '11 said:
"grow some"?!?
Okay.....maybe the reason they haven't announced anything is because they aren't ready to due to the fact they are probably still at the drawing board stage of development. So you just want MS to turn round and say " Oh btw we're making a new Xbox but we haven't created it yet".
They announce it when they've got a working prototype.
KesMonkey on 10 Oct '11 said:
I also want a 15-pin midi/gameport, some 9-pin serial interfaces, and if it's not too much trouble, at least one parallel port too.
Do you seriously expect them to start supporting old hardware with a new console?
I thought I was late jumping on the digital 5.1 wagon four years ago.
edit: Not having a go at you, and I do realise that not everyone has digital surround sound, I just think that your 'request' is waaaaaay beyond wishful thinking. It could happen, sure, but I wouldn't bet any money on it.
KesMonkey on 10 Oct '11 said:
Exactly. Improved graphics capabilites are a given. I want answers to those questions too.
I'm guessing that RAM will be about 2gb - 4gb (~half that of a common gaming PC), that SSDs are still too expensive to include in games console, and that Blu-Ray is the very last format on the planet that MS would adopt.
I don't know about A.I. chips, but some physics co-processors would be nice.
NEO_SUPERMAN on 10 Oct '11 said:
It's going to be so awesome that I think they should call it the Special Edition Xbox or the SEXBOX.
What do you think about that?
nologo on 10 Oct '11 said:
4gb is not common in gaming pc's these days.. wow you are living in the past. its 8-16gb.
i just ordered a 16gb i7 in work (non graphical)
you also need to be aware that this console won't be out for another 2+ years. 2-4gb of ram in 2 years will be useless.
SSD i'm sure will drop in price rapidly.. its getting cheaper by the day.
WHITEyy118 on 10 Oct '11 said:
Hairy things that all men have LOL.
But it'll take a lot to announce a new console as you say so will it just be a case of both waiting for the other to make the first step? Which is what we don't want as it'll slow the process. We need something to get the ball rolling!! something better than the Wii U
steagz on 10 Oct '11 said:
the next gen will not be that much different from what we allready have. everything will run a little faster and look a little bit prettier. basically who cares
bjjcjc on 10 Oct '11 said:
Think this is pretty much spot on.
RAM is next to nothing. 8GB of DDR3 RAM only costs around £40 to purchase at the moment, and thats buying normal desktop RAM from Crucial, a price that will in all likelyhood be cheaper still when the next Xbox enters mass production. And bearing in mind that Microsoft will be buying memory in huge quantities (hence probably getting it considerably cheaper than the price quoted above), putting 8GB of RAM in their next console probably won't cost them all that much, so would not be surprised to see at the very least 8GB, possibly even 12GB, in their next console.
Processor wise I would expect a quad core (maybe a hex core), bigger HDD installed, probably bundled with an updated kinect controller, and a half decent GPU which shares the main system RAM, like in the XBox 360.
toaplan on 10 Oct '11 said:
"If they release a giant X console like that pic, I'm all over it."
That would be such a cool design. Probably not practical from a manufacturing point of view though.
dazmeister on 10 Oct '11 said:
Pretty sure a new xbox reveal will come at E3 2012, and then will release Christmas of next year or in 2013. Then i think the PS4 will release 1 year later (possibly 2).
bennyt on 10 Oct '11 said:
Preferably a 2012-2014 release
I'm more than happy with my 360 at the moment and with all these great games coming out-Batman AC, Skyrim, Assassins Creed 3, Mass Effect 3, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Halo 4, Gears, Far Cry 3 etc, i don't think its necessary right now, especially with the recession.
The next box i'm more likely to get is the 250g slim with kinect...when it comes down in price
Windowlicker79 on 10 Oct '11 said:
That is actually the prototype for the original Xbox console.
http://startupmeme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/image_thumb76.png
http://www.net4tv.com/voice/graphics/story/58_xbox.jpg
The_KFD_Case on 10 Oct '11 said:
To put it in "net speech": "Pure win."
Joe90_Remy700 on 10 Oct '11 said:
well i was set on nextbox,but sexbox wins it for me! please Please PLEASE microsoft, DO NOT call it 720. it sounds like wanna be high definition. call it iBox or whatever letter all other companies put infront of every product these days.
kbekl on 11 Oct '11 said:
console wise no, will be pretty much what the pc is churning out today but the pc side of things will get a heavy bump in the right direction
i am hoping it will be more pc like so that their would be no difference between the code for the pc and the xbox making both systems just require the chosen os for it and if the xbox ships with win 8 as opposed to xbox os then microsoft stand in good stead to push sony out in the cold due to the ability to cross platform with the pc
BOYD1981 on 21 Oct '11 said:
It isn't really old hardware though is it, it's standard hardware for PC users.
I just think if Microsoft or Sony offered PC gamers a more PC like experience the next time they come to upgrade the less hardcore may be tempted to go for the cheaper/easier option of a console.
I love PC gaming, but I tend to play most non-FPS games with my 360 controller and on my TV, and the only thing other than price keeping me choosing the PC as my primary platform actually is the sound. Not too fussed about mods, and the next gen consoles will be running games at atleast 1080p (by which time WQHD will probably hit the market).
I know it's wishful thinking, I just don't see why it would be so difficult to add it.