The Xbox news train keeps rolling this week. Yesterday it was officially announced that way more TV options were headed to Xbox Live by the end of the year, and now there’s a report from Eurogamer that the next Xbox will be unveiled at E3 2012.
Eurogamer says the E3 reveal would lead to a new system launch by the 2013 holiday season, though nothing has been confirmed by Microsoft yet. There’s also rumors of several games already in development for the next gen-system including an Alan Wake sequel, Saints Row 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and a mysterious "mature" game from Rare.
And then there’s the pretty blatant tease for the next gen console popping up in a new action movie. An ad for the "Xbox 720" briefly appears in a trailer for the movie Real Steel, as first noted by an eagle-eyed Reddit reader and reported at G4. Since Real Steel is set in the year 2020, it would make sense a new console would be out by then and, in the clip, the ad does sit next to others by legitimate brands. (Then again, we’re also talking about a fake advertisement in a Hugh Jackman movie about fighting robots, so, maybe don’t read too much into this.)
In a story we did earlier this year on the next generation console, the name “Xbox 720” was panned by some of the industry folks we talked to. “That’d be so predictable and lame,” said Wes Keltner, president of Gun consulting.
Whatever the state of the next gen system, Electronic Theatre is saying Microsoft plans on unleashing a new streaming, universal gaming service, like OnLive, in 2012.
In any case, if you felt a little underwhelmed with Microsoft's E3 press conference this year, so many rumblings this early could indicate a major rebound for 2012. Stay tuned.
(Next Xbox illustration above by Martin Abel)
JOE MOMMA135
October 07, 2011 at 12:51pm
Honestly this sounds about right, I can see them rolling it out with those games too. I like the mock-up too (aside from the controller), and I hope that they don't try to push the "games on-demand" thing too hard. . . I'm attached to my physical media.
volcane2004
October 06, 2011 at 12:59pm
As long as they keep supporting the 360 and don't cut it off cold-turkey like the original Xbox, it's all good.
Kevin OXM
October 06, 2011 at 2:18pm
It'd be a safe bet that the next Xbox will be backwards compatable with the 360, Volcane, wouldn't worry too much about that!
volcane2004
October 06, 2011 at 3:45pm
Hopefully it will be backwards compatible! The worst thing they could do is not carry over all our XBLA and Games on Demand purchases. But I'm more referring to the way when the 360 came out, all the devlopment for the Xbox essentially stopped and moved to the new system. I just don't want to be forced to buy a new system to continue playing Xbox games you know?
