Yes, another article on Pastebin discussing the specs of the next Xbox.
First of all let me say that I'm not going to give you some crap about how "I know someone who knows someone else who happens to know someone at MS" story. Why? Because I don't.
The simple fact is I have some 'info' about the next Xbox. How did I get it? Well it would be rather pointless to try to tell you don't you think? As I said before I'm not going to give some story about how I have some inside contact in MS. And the only other way for me to try to "prove" that this information is right would be for me to reveal a little bit about who I am. And I'm not going to do that. Not to mention that no matter what I do or say there will always be people who refuse to believe, and do everything they can to try to prove otherwise.
Notice how I put the word 'info' in quotation marks. That's because the chances are this may change between January (when I got it) and the release date which I will get to later.
Another question that will no doubt get asked; "Why, if you had the info in January, are you only coming out with it now?" Well the simple answer to that is; why not? When you first get hold of any info like this, you feel kind of smug about having inside knowledge of a product. You want to be "a good boy" about it all and not tell anyone you're not supposed too. But ever since the back end of last year there have been plenty of whispers, and the previous two months has seen quite an explosion in leaks. So why I should let everyone else have all the fun and be a good boy anymore?
Now that the "explaining" has been done, lets get on with the "revealing".
To start as I'm sure you're aware the codename is "Durango". MS really want to have a beast of a machine for next gen.
The CPU:
As a previous Pastebin rumor mentioned:
"The X-Box 3 is going to have an 8-core 64-bit processor (assumedly an i7 or similar design)".
Well let me tell you that that is a load of crap. Intel would NEVER be involved in this process. Although think around 6 cores and you're in the right area. The 64 bit thing was kind of pointless to mention, since its guaranteed the chip would be 64 bit. I have no idea about the clock speed, yet as most people could tell you, these days its not that big of a factor. Like I said Intel aren't producing this, which really only leaves two candidates. I'll give you a hint... its not AMD.
The GPU:
You may have heard of the two GPU rumor already. Think its a load of crap? Think again. That's the road that MS is going down. But I should say, its not your conventional dual GPU set up that you may find in some PC's. MS and AMD have been working on something for quite a while, and if everything works out, expect this thing to blow you away when you first see it. Similar to Xenos from the beginning of this gen, its a pretty innovative chip.
The info on the CPU And GPU should tell you whether or not the Durango will have BC or not.
RAM:
Short and sweet:
MS were going for 2GB.
Devs complained.
MS listened.
MS bumped up RAM to 4GB.
Most devs were very happy, however 1 or 2 tried complaining again.
MS told them to piss off.
Controller options:
I think most people will be very happy to learn that the Xbox 360 controller will still be the standard controller for the Durango. I don't know if they will make any changes to it, like fixing the D-Pad, but hopefully they will.
And yes Kinect will be packaged in. NOT BUILT IN. That's an important distinction to make. It will not be a full on Kinect 2.0 upgrade. Instead it will essentially be the Kinect for Windows version (so it will have near mode), and since Durango will be significantly more powerful than the Xbox 360, you can expect this Kinect to be an improvement.
Media capabilities:
Yes, Durango will use Blu-ray. And that's really all I know, but since MS want this machine to be the "center-piece" of the living room, you can safely bet it will have all the bells and whistles that you have come to expect from a modern day piece of consumer technology.
I don't actually know this but expect this thing to be running Windows 8 in some shape or form. Since "the father of Windows NT" Dave Cutler. i.e. the guy who created the backbone that all modern Windows OS' are based on recently joined the Xbox team.
If that is true then I would hazard another guess that Durango will share the Microsoft app store with Windows 8 and Windows phone 8. So you can share your apps across three different devices. So start looking forward to playing Angry Birds on your Xbox!
Other bits of information:
A rumor that has been popping up everywhere recently has been the whole "Next Xbox won't play used games". As far as I'm concerned this isn't true, but like I said this info is from January, a lot can change. I really doubt it though, depending on what Sony or Nintendo do, it could do a lot of harm to Durango.
Another rumor is the "Next Xbox requires a constant internet connection to play" Well as far as I'm aware this simply isn't true. Of course things could change, like I said this info is from January. But it doesn't make sense to alienate so many potential customers.
This could simply be a complete misunderstanding of another feature MS would like to have in Durango. That feature is the "always on, always connected, Xbox".
As the name suggests MS want this thing to be on all the time, they really do want to make it the number one used piece of technology in the house. So you never really turn it off (unless you want to). Instead, when you turn it "off" it simply slips into a low powered mode. In this mode, it can still download demos etc... but MS also want to do silent updates. So for example MS have announced there will be a major update delivered to all Xbox's overnight. You simply leave the Xbox in low power mode and by the time you wake up in the morning, everything is all done. That's my take from what I've been told anyway.
So how does this compare to the PS4 (Orbis)? I have no idea, since I have no info about the Orbis, and never will do.
But judging from what I've read and been told, MS are really going for it this gen. They know that if they really push it Sony can't compete (financially)
What about release date and cost? Well release date, all I've been told is 2013.
And cost, I have no idea. But why would ? I doubt if even MS know yet, since it's a year + away from release. But I think MS have learnt from Sony's mistake, and I doubt they will have their own $599 moment. They have the financial muscle to price Durango very competitively.
So that's all folks, I have a job to do.
