Leaked document hints Xbox 720 details
If you were watching the Internet like a digital hawk over the weekend, you’ll have noticed that a document detailing Microsoft’s plans for the future somehow found its way onto the World Wide Web. The document is supposedly a leaked PowerPoint presentation from Microsoft themselves that was never meant for public viewing.
According to the 56-page document, Microsoft is due to release the Xbox 720 (a codename for their next console) in 2013 at a price of $299. It will have 4 to 6 times the power of the Xbox 360. Just read this paragraph again so it sinks in. Sound exciting? There’s more detail to wet our appetites.
The new console will be “True 1080p and full 3D” implying that it will run games at a constant 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution. It will be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 software, support 6 to 8 cores running at 2 GHz, have blu-ray playback straight out of the box and feature all the usual technological gubbins we have come to expect in modern consoles. It’ll also have a built-in, more accurate Kinect – allowing the movements of four individual players to be tracked as well as providing improved voice recognition. The box will allow TV to be recorded while playing games and aims to be “the only box you need for premium living room entertainment.”. In fact the marketing slogan for this beast is “enjoy the complete Xbox experience, any time, any where, any screen… on inexpensive hardware”.
After the launch, Microsoft plans to follow the Google bandwagon and produce Augmented Reality glasses codenamed ‘Fortaleza’. (Gifted geographers might have realised that Fortaleza is a Brazilian city in the same region as Natal. “Project Natal” was the codename for Kinect so are Microsoft having a little fun with codenames?)
Unfortunately news on games for the Xbox 720 was scant. The document does mention Halo, Fable and Gears of War as examples of games. Also mentioned are the intriguing ‘concurrent experiences’; the example the document gives is being able to watch an NFL scores ticker while you play Gears of War 5.
To round things off, the document goes into quite a lot of already revealed detail on Xbox SmartGlass. Xbox SmartGlass was announced earlier this month at E3 so if you missed it, take a look at our coverage of the Microsoft Press Conference.
Is the leaked document real or fake?
That’s the burning question and unfortunately there is no answer. Nor is there ever likely to be an answer as Microsoft lawyers have removed the document from where it was posted. The document does contain a lot of technical information plus a few well-drawn images. This seems like a huge amount of effort for a hoaxer to go through to ignite a crowd already super-excited about the prospect of Xbox 720. That said, I do doubt Microsoft would let such an important and revealing document slip through their fingers.
I am in two minds about this one: I so want it to be true but it does all sound a bit too good to possibly be real. What’s your take Xbox gamers – real or fake?
