There was no Xbox 720 at E3 -- as we predicted -- but a 56-page document has just leaked detailing the console, as well as the successor to Kinect and a nifty glasses add-on known as Project Fortaleza.
The presentation dates from August 2010, The Verge reports, but considering it predicts such innovations as SmartGlass and a Metro dashboard, I've no reason not to assume these are on the money.
First up is the console. It's referenced as the Xbox 720 in the literature, and while it could be a working title, we'll presume it's the real name until we hear any different. The big news is it looks like it'll come packing Blu-ray functionality for playing 1080p HD movies, and it'll be able to play films in 3D. There should also be a huge jump in power -- with it listed as being six times as beefy as the current Xbox, according to the document.
An 'always on' state should mean lightning start-up speeds too. While the final specs haven't been disclosed, it could possibly arrive touting eight ARM or x86 cores, each clocked at 2GHz with 4GB of DDR4 memory, and three PPC cores each clocked at 3.2GHz for backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games.
Thanks to a Windows 8 base, you should be able to record TV shows, and it also should be easy for developers to make apps to work across multiple platforms, including the Xbox, and PCs and mobiles too. The price is predicted as $299 (£190), and Microsoft expects it to stay around for a 10 year lifecycle, selling more than 100 million units.
Kinect 2 should be more accurate, have stereo imaging, better voice recognition, support for four-player tracking, an improved camera, and dedicated hardware processing. Special controllers (or 'props') are also expected, such as a bat for a baseball game. But does that miss the point of controller-free gaming?
And Project Fortaleza are a pair of specs that will work over Wi-Fi or 4G and add augmented reality to the mix. Google Project Glass for games, anyone? The glasses won't launch until 2014 though, but they are designed for use away from the console too, which is pretty exciting.
It all sounds pretty great to be honest. You can read the whole thing here. What are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.
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Chris Pedley 16 June, 2012 12:55
If so this could be great for Family playing with Kinect 2 if they can just perfect it, as it is a little dodgy at current, and the glasses ....... well i dont no what to make of them as yet as not enough is said, but if they are similar to Googles glasses than they should be a great addition, And as for the actual console, will be brilliant for Hardcore gamers, and with kinect and the relatively cheap price tag could be great for Familys aswell, this potentially could be the Playstation Killer if they do it right
anonymous 16 June, 2012 16:49
Hmm, sounds good, but I think 1080p i going to be tomorro's technology. I think they should bring this out with 4k support. Now that will be nice:)
anonymous 17 June, 2012 15:38
I wonder if this will be as easy to flash so it can run pirated software as the first two models, or will they show that they think about the software companies and helping them protect their software....
anonymous 22 June, 2012 10:58
If it doesn't have 4k support then it will be the stupidest thing that they have done. Also, not too surprised at the fact that it has used blu-ray and not created their own media format. It also needs to have glasses free 3d at 120 fps at 4k.