Xbox 720 vs Xbox 720?

Rumors has it that when the Xbox "720" comes out the console wars will start and that you may very well have to decide which to buy, the Xbox 720 or the Xbox 720.

Information has been leaked that when the Xbox 720 is released onto the masses that Microsoft will have two very different models to choose from.

The first Xbox will be the kind that we all know and love. This will be the gaming centric model that will include Xbox live and is said to run compatible with Windows 8.

The second model is going to try and tap into the casual gamer's market and not be able to play the AA titles that we see on Xbox today, like Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, etc. This model will be predominately focus on streaming media like Netflix, Hulu, among the other apps featured in the Xbox dashboard.

The Xbox "720" has been rumored to use AMD's 7000 series graphics based on it's 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) Southern Islands tech.

A document that leaked in June 2012 indicates that the Xbox 720 will come packing 1080p 3D support, Blu-ray player and DVR functionality.

It has also been rumored that the Xbox 720 will no longer play used games (a similar rumor has been said to be true about the PS4) however this has not been confirmed yet. The fact that the Xbox 720 will require a constant online Internet connection may be one way that Microsoft plans to enable this feature. Such a move would kill the secondary game business for new games, however, in my point of view, it may simply be a way that Microsoft could limit your gamer score; by only allowing achievements from "new" games.

The aforementioned leaked document gave note that the suspected price point will be set at $299 but with two units on the horizon I would expect a higher price point for the gaming platform Xbox.

Microsoft recently went on a buying spree of URLs and one that seemed to stand out was xbox8.com lending to the idea that the Xbox 720 may see a name change by street date to Xbox Infinity.

By whatever name the flow of suspected and leaked information may indicate that official press for the new Xbox may be at hand, however I wouldn't look for anything prior to E3 2013 with an expected release date by Christmas that year.

-Nurd!

Sony's Orbis

The next-gen consoles, by rumors, are stacking up to be quite the beasts for every ones enjoyments.

Rumors have recently surfaced for Sony's Playstation 4 or better known as the "Orbis". The claims of the Orbis is that it uses an AMD CPU and GPU and has a release date around the 2013 holiday season. Development kits are already suspected to be possession by 'select' gaming developers.

The CPU and GPU being discussed is and AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU. The Southern Islands name is associated to a high end range of pc cards that boasts screen sizes of 4096×2160 and a full 3D gaming experience in 1080i.


While all this sounds great there are two major draw backs to the new Orbis. The Orbis is stated to not be backwards compatible with PS3 software but the most controversial downfall is that used games will no longer be able to be used on the system. The hardware is speculated to tie a game to a particular PSN account or even through some sort of digital download.

(In order to be non biased I feel compelled to inform you that the "X-Box 720" claims to have the same lock out on second hand games.)

The gaming industry stands on a back bone of its gamers. Part of said back bone is that of the used gaming community. Since the Atari, borrowing games and/or selling and trading games has always been a part of the gaming community. Video rental stores used to be a staple and in today's day and age, gaming parties.

Taking off of this to a personal aspect, I myself will buy a game and take it to a friends house to play and in my opinion, this helps push the gaming sales. No one wants to pay $60 for a game that no one knows what its like. I know my friends don't. I may be one of the daring but I'd hate to see a world where we push ourselves to only playing Mario, Halo, Gears of War, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy. Without being able to rent a game or borrow one from a friend or even taking one to a friends house would kill not only the secondary market but also push all gamers back into solitude. Sure there's the advent of online gaming but gaming is social at its core. We all like to get together and play.

So what do you guys think about the revolution in gaming with the new Orbis? Ho do you feel about not being able to play used or shared games?

-"Nurd" Pat!