And the rumour mill keeps on running… this time we are hearing from Paul Thurrott – a popular Windows blogger – who appeared on the latest What The Tech video podcast to discuss the next Xbox among other topics.
There are many interesting statements made by Thurrott, although he reiterates that he is largely extrapolating upon what he does know. And what he does know comprises of notes he was sent back in January. Obviously the hot-topic is the “always-online” issue, and Thurrott mentions that in his notes it says word for word; “must be Internet-connected to use.” Now, what that means exactly is speculated upon during the podcast, but according to Thurrott we may not have to wait much longer to get official details as Microsoft are reportedly due to officially announce the next-gen console during an event on May 21st.
He also states that there will be two SKUs for the console, set to release “early November”; a $3oo subscription-based model – which we’ve been hearing about for the longest time at differing price-points – and a $500 standard model. We don’t have any idea of what the subscription pricing will be, but Thurrott says that the console overall is a rather “expensive” investment. Apparently there will also be a new, cheap (very cheap) Xbox 360 released around the same time, currently codenamed “Stingray”, although no other details were given.
And finally, a non-gaming version of the Xbox was being planned for development – also not a new rumour – codenamed “Yuma”, but it was cancelled according to Thurrott because Microsoft likely “did not want to confuse the market” and instead is focusing on marketing the one product in the next Xbox as the ‘all-in-one’ machine. Naturally, there is no word from Microsoft, but Thurrott is rather respected in the field. Then again, his notes are outdated, but only by a few months. Things can always change and his information may not even be accurate to begin with – these are ultimately still just rumours.
Nonetheless, what do you guys think about what he has said? Let us know in the comments below.
