Imagine one of these on top of your TV
Which would you choose?
Xbox 360 has been around for six years now, and although regular Dashboard updates and the introduction of Kinect have kept things fresh, eyes are starting to turn towards the next machine in the Xbox line. The latest rumours, from technical wizards Digital Foundry (via Eurogamer), claim that the new machine will come in two distinctly different set-ups, both of which will come with Kinect.
One machine would be a "set top box"-like affair, designed to work with Kinect as a motion gaming portal, and would certainly represent Microsoft's biggest effort yet to embrace the family and motion market. It would apparently lack an optical disk drive, backwards compatibility and hard disk drive, so would almost certainly be a streaming gaming platform akin to OnLive and Gaikai.
The second available machine would include these features and would go after the hardcore player.
Digital Foundry claims both consoles would be bundled with Kinect, which makes us wonder if the recently upgraded Kinect for Windows hardware would form part of the machine.
It also seems unlikely Microsoft would force Kinect on the hardcore player, no matter its intentions — even if Kinect support were mandatory for all games on the next Xbox, we've learnt by now that tacked-on Kinect features rarely win marks.
What do you make of this latest round of rumours?
User Comments
1. jaxim
24 Nov 2011, 19:46 GMT
I really long for the day that the XBOX can be used as a Media Center as opposed to a Media Center Extender. I would love to record TV shows directly onto the XBOX harddrive. Though if the rumors about a harddrive-less model are correct, then my wish will probably not come true.
2. dirtyvu
24 Nov 2011, 20:16 GMT
functioning as a Windows Media Center would require a tuner card built into the 360. besides, we're moving away from a world where episodes float by on a stream and you have to watch it live, record it, or lose it. we're moving toward a streaming world where you watch it whenever you feel like just by selecting it. It's a Netflix or Hulu style world now. There's no need for you to DVR it if it's available whenever you want to watch it.
3. mastodona
25 Nov 2011, 00:08 GMT
An xbox with no optical drive OR hard drive wow that sounds even more limiting than a netbook...is this really the way the world Is going?!
The new xbox HAS to have a harddrive and ms needs to swallow their pride and integrate bluray too.
4. pellissier
25 Nov 2011, 02:17 GMT
There are but a few countries that can deliver internet speeds and services allowing for an Xbox with no optical drive. In South Africa it'll be light years before we get internet speeds like that, and many European countries and all South American countries included. Unless Xbox is contend with only targeting the US and UK?
5. jaxim
25 Nov 2011, 05:18 GMT
if you use a network TV tuner, (i.e. HDHomerun), then the XBOX (if it had DVR capabilities) wouldn't need to have a built in TV tuner. As for the trend of moving towards the cloud, I am afraid you are right. I think the cloud is a more expensive option instead of getting content Over the Air.