Electronic Arts has been there at the launch of countless game consoles throughout its prolific years, and it is going to be no different even this time around.
Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on its big Xbox reveal on Tuesday, and as part of the company's vast hype machine, one of its big Xbox executives took time out to speak to Major Nelson on his podcast this past Friday. During the chat, Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business Chief of Staff spoke about where the Xbox brand is going next, as well as more generally about what we can expect from his company at this year's E3.
As you will probably have heard by now, Microsoft yesterday began sending invitations for its Xbox launch event on May 21st, but one person who wasn't surprised was Paul Thurrott. He initially said the announcement would be coming on April 24th, but later went on to note that plans had changed, and it would instead be unveiled on May 21st. As it transpired, the original date turned out to be the day the invitations were sent, and his revised information about the announcement proved to be right on the money.
With Sony having gotten in ahead of Microsoft in announcing its next-gen PlayStation 4 console all the way back in February, it was only going to be a matter of time before the Redmond company responded with a significant announcement of its own. Today, the software maker has sent out media invitations to an event on May 21st, 2013 at the Redmond HQ, and as you'll see from an image of the invitation posted below, there's little doubt as to what the main topic of conversation will be.
Back in early February, it was speculated that Microsoft's next-gen console, dubbed the "Xbox 720," would incorporate a system preventing the use of second-hand games. It's no secret that game developers see the practice of trading used titles as detrimental to revenue, and it has long since been presumed that measures would be in place to combat this. Further to that earlier report, yet another leak has surfaced in the form of screenshots of the XDK via VGLeaks, which only but corroborate the claims of an anti-used title infrastructure.
Sony may have beaten Microsoft to the punch with the well-documented announcement of the PlayStation 4 earlier this week, but it would seem as though the Redmond company won't be waiting around too long before detailing its own next-gen offering. According to a report over at CVG, the Windows maker is planning a special press event to be held at some point in April - a notion backed up by several sources, who've received reliable Intel to substantiate such claims.
We are only days away from the organized event that will introduce to the world Sony's next-generation gaming console, but while Sony may be keen to reveal what they have been working on with Orbis; Microsoft on the other hand are remaining tight lipped. The lack of public information from the Redmond company shouldn't come as any great surprise, but we do have a plethora of leaked information to wade through in the meantime, starting with a source who is already familiar to the community.
According to a report over at TheVerge, Microsoft may be planning to implement some kind of voice-recognition technology into its upcoming home entertainment system, dubbed unofficially the 'Xbox 720'. The current direction of the Xbox 360 implies the next-gen console will serve as more than a mere gaming portal, and with the 720 also said to be expanding on the current array of set-top box-like features, it looks as though the power of the voice will also be significantly entrenched into the next-generation offering.
Speculation regarding Microsoft's next-gen gaming console is starting to gather serious pace, but it seems that not everything will pan out exactly as the majority of us have guessed. As part of their intentions to converge the brand and a wave of potential new products, Microsoft is planning on going back to the original roots of the console and calling it the plain and simple 'Xbox'.
It has been several years since the Xbox 360 released in a hail of glory, and with its life cycle now coming to an end, we've to contend with an almost weekly barrage of rumors and speculation with regards to its successor. According to the latest specs leak, the next-gen Xbox will be a real powerhouse, featuring an 8-core x64 CPU running at 1.6Ghz, 8GB of DDR3, USB 3.0 - get this - a 50GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive. More (potentially outlandish) rumored specs after the jump!
