Xbox 720: Everything We Know

Rumors about the next Xbox started bouncing around in late 2011. Of course this gets everyone’s panties all tangled up in a bunch, because we can only imagine what a console claiming to be SIX TIMES more powerful than the Xbox 360 can do. After months of speculating, some numbers have finally come down the ladder to give us a more solid idea of what kind of hardware will be making home inside the next Xbox chassis.

The processor will be very much like Radeon HD 6670. If you don’t know what that means, then we’re here to help. That means that not only will it be supporting the now standard 1080p resolution, multidisplay output, and 3D, but it just might make you loose your bowels before you even open the packaging. If your eyeballs don’t implode from the pure awesome of this beast, then you sir (or madam), have the eyes of a god.

Release dates were originally rumored to be for late 2012, but Industry Gamers reports that we shouldn’t even think about getting our hopes up. Now that our Christmas has been ruined, what do we do? Well, continue feeding on the ensuing rumors, of course. That report states that the 720 (or whatever it will be called upon release) would probably not see the light of day until 2014. But according to Microsoft, it is now slated to launch sometime in 2013, late in the year. By that time, they should have an improved version of Kinect (currently being referred to as Kinect 2) and it will hopefully be launching with the new console. 720 should also support Wifi and Blu-Ray. Pricing has not been revealed yet, but our calculations so far estimate it to be somewhere in the ballpark of $999,999,999,999.99.

Okay maybe it won’t be THAT bad, but think back to when the PS3 came out costing $600. People thought it was insane, but the funny thing is that for how much they complained, they bought it anyway. So don’t be surprised if the new Xbox pricetag is a bit heftier than the average Joe can handle, at least for the first six months. In the last few years, there seems to be a trend of having new systems arrive, be terribly expensive, and then prices dropping dramatically after a certain time. The PS3 went from $600 to $400, and now it’s only $299. The 3DS received a price cut of $80 less than five months after its release. I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft’s new monster is close to $1,000. I’m not saying that I think it will be close to that, just that it could. If it is, you can bet your grandma’s cat the price will drop considerably within a year.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to move on to some potentially upsetting news. Reports have been surfacing that the 720 may not support used games. Remember all the craziness with online passes? Well, this would be a whole lot worse. Essentially that means that if you want to go to your local Gamestop and pick up a used copy of The Elder Scrolls VI, it isn’t happening. You’ll have to buy the game brand new, and once you do, it’ll be impossible to sell it, because once it’s been installed on your system, it won’t work with any other. I’m sure you’re thinking at this point, “But, Cru, there’ll be people that learn how to bypass it!”

And you would be absolutely correct. There’s almost always somebody looking for a way around things like that. But don’t expect to see those people playing online. At least not for very long. You know for a fact that if Microsoft follows through with this shenanigan and they catch someone busting down their anti-used game wall, that person’s console will be banned permanently from the servers. In my opinion, this is an entirely terrible decision, and if it’s the path that Microsoft wants to take, then I don’t know if I’ll be able to find it in myself to support them by buying the console. Bear in mind, though, that none of this is officially confirmed, and could just be wasteful rumors.

If it is Microsoft’s plan, though, they’re going to be dealing with some very angry consumers, and could potentially be losing the support of many Gamestops and privately owned video game stores around the world. Some of the customers might even opt not to buy Microsoft products anymore. In summary, it would be the worst choice any company producing video games can make.

They could just be taking the online pass route entirely, and people are just blowing it out of proportion, but that would be just as bad. On average, a used game that was just released costs $45-$55 depending on where you buy it. Now imagine that you didn’t realize you had to buy an online pass if you want to shoot other players in the face, and that costs you $10, maybe more. You’re either spending more than you would have for a brand new copy of the game, or you’re so close to the original price that it would have been more worth your time to buy it new rather than dealing with the creepy, sniveling nerd working behind the counter that lives in his mom’s basement.

This approach would still be a major mistake for Microsoft. Xbox Live reached 23 million users as of February 5, 2010. That’s a lot of people to be screwing over. Imagine if every single one of those people were angry enough not to buy the 720. Even if the system only cost $299, that’s $6,877,000,000 (six billion, eight-hundred seventy-seven million dollars) in the hole. Is it worth it?

The next Xbox is going to be a monster, there’s no doubt about that. What kind of monster it is depends entirely on how Microsoft proceeds from here. Hopefully the monstrousness is only from its outstanding processing power and graphical capabilities. We don’t want a monster that feeds on the souls (wallets) of innocent gamers worldwide. I sure hope Microsoft is smart enough to realize that gamers are only willing to take so much.

Are you excited for the next Xbox? How do you feel about the possibility of used games being eliminated from the market? Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think. If you have any information not listed here and can link a reliable source, please send it to crujir@chaotic-games.com