Leaked internal Microsoft memo for next-gen platform states system will be “tolerant of today’s Internet.”

Numerous reports have claimed Microsoft’s next Xbox will require an Internet connection to function, but these assertions are false, according to an internal Microsoft memo obtained by Ars Technica.

“Durango is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today’s Internet,” reads a line from the memo, reportedly sent to all full-time staffers working on the next Xbox.

“There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should ‘just work’ regardless of their current connection status,” it goes on. “Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single-player game.”

It is not clear when the memo was sent to developers. A Microsoft representative told GameSpot, “We’re excited to share more about the new generation of games, TV, and entertainment on May 21, but have nothing further to share at this time.”

Most recently, noted Windows blogger Paul Thurrott claimed the Xbox 720 will require an Internet connection to function, but suggested that the feature “isn’t as Draconian as many seem to believe.”

Microsoft is widely believed to formally unveil its next Xbox during an intimate event at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington on May 21.

This announcement will “mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV, and entertainment.” The event will be streamed through Xbox.com, Xbox Live, and Spike TV in the United States and Canada.

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Former Microsoft creative director says next-generation platform should “double-down” on games and have entertainment options be secondary.

Former Microsoft higher-up and longtime Fable designer Peter Molyneux has offered his take on how Microsoft should handle the approach to its next-generation console. Speaking with Edge, Molyneux said he would like to see Microsoft make the platform game-centric above all else.

“What I would do is double-down on what this console is for: it’s for playing games,” Molyneux said. “It’s for playing console games for this massive, incredibly loyal audience of gamers out there. When they start to mix all this other stuff in there I’m kind of slightly like: ‘look, I don’t want another way of looking at Facebook’. You know, I’ve got all the ways of looking at Facebook. I don’t want another way of looking at Netflix. Just give me what I’ve paid my £299 for, and that is to play amazing, incredible computer games.”

Molyneux left Microsoft in 2012 to start independent studio 22Cans. He suggested he was briefed on the next Xbox before he left the company, but is now only “kind of” aware of the approach Microsoft plans to take with the new platform.

The designer may have a role to play in Microsoft’s next-generation announcement next month. He revealed earlier this week that there are 50 layers left in his latest game, Curiosity, and that he expects the center of the cube to be reached May 21, the same day as the next Xbox reveal.

“There’s an interesting opportunity, possibly, for me to’ well, I can’t say any more than that. There may be some words from me around that time. I’m not saying any more,” Molyneux said.

Microsoft has previously suggested the next Xbox will be much more than just a destination for games. The company said its ambition for the platform’s reveal event next month is to highlight the “beginning of a new generation of games, TV, and entertainment.”

Microsoft also recently hired former CBS television executive Nancy Tellem to develop “interactive and linear content for Xbox” at a new production studio in Los Angeles to help make the Xbox platform an all-in-one destination for entertainment.

GameSpot is owned by CBS

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Today, Ubisoft has announced that the highly-anticipated open world game Watch Dogs will be landing on the 19th November in America, and Europeans will only have to wait a couple of days before it hits on the 22nd November.

The above release dates are for the PC, PS3, 360 and Wii U. Ubisoft has said it will be a launch title for the PS4, and it’s “also planned for other next-generation consoles”. It’s pretty safe to assume that this will be the Next Xbox.

In addition, Ubisoft has today revealed there will be a total of four special edition bundles released for the game, the Dedsec Edition, the Vigilante Edition, the Uplay Exclusive Edition and the Special Edition.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – Watch Dogs Coming in November, Special Editions Introduced – News

Read more here: gamrReview

Lead software engineer says unannounced next-generation platform has “cool new features.”

According to the LinkedIn page of a Microsoft employee, the next Xbox will have “cool new features,” though these were not shared due to adherence to a non-disclosure agreement.

Videogamer spotted the online resume of a lead software development engineer who claims to be leading the “Video Cognition Xbox team” at Microsoft.

This person’s job duties include “video processing for DMR’d content,” which encompasses managing the “video processing pipeline for DMR’d videos for indexing into the Xbox video catalog.” In addition, this person said he handles “visual processing and scene detection,” as well as “feed generation for Xbox Smartglass layers.”

A Microsoft representative was not immediately available to comment.

Microsoft has not announced its next-generation platform, but the company is believed to reveal this console during an event on May 21.

GameStop CEO Paul Raines believes the console is a “very hot, compelling device,” noting that he expects the world to “stand up and take notice” when Microsoft does announce the system.

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Rumours are suggesting some sort of next-gen exclusivity deal between Microsoft and EA which will be revealed at Microsoft’s upcoming ‘Next Xbox’ event. CVG are reporting that they’ve received confirmation from two separate sources that EA and Microsoft have secured a partnership with one another.

Non-Xbox gamers needn’t be too worried though, it seems, as CVG go on to heavily qualify their story:

“It is likely that such a partnership will not extend beyond exclusive downloadable content, or staggered release dates. An outright exclusive EA game on the Next Xbox would be unlikely, and certainly a major coup for Microsoft if such a deal were to be secured.”

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – Rumour: Microsoft and EA Secure some sort of Exclusivity Deal – News

…read more
Source: gamrReview

The next generation Xbox is set to be unveiled on April 26 according to a rumor. Rob Crossley Tweeted the news yesterday saying that a trusted source provided him the date. The announcement will come two months after the PlayStation 4 was unveiled if the rumor turns out to be true.

“The next Xbox event is scheduled for April 26th, I’ve been told by someone I trust. Microsoft may change date, obvs, but diarise tentatively,” said Rob Crossley in a Tweet.

…read more
Source: VG Charts

Electronic Arts Labels president Frank Gibeau, speaking with Bloomberg TV, has said that the next generation PlayStation and Xbox will be released in about a years time. He has also said that the market is in a period of flux as gamers wait for the next generation of consoles.

“The new hardware is going to be coming out in about a year’s time, so we’re right around this period in time when the market’s going to slow down and then you have a new game changer coming with all new technology, all new hardware, and another growth period,” Gibeau said. “I don’t know what [Sony and Microsoft] are calling them, I’m under non-disclosure so I can’t comment too much about what they’re specifically doing.”

“Transition is our friend – is kind of the saying we have around EA – because it gives you a chance to reset everything,” Gibeau said. “And we’ve done enough transitions in this business that we know what we’re doing, and we’re going to go after this one in a big way. But it is a time where you see new companies emerge as leaders and some traditional companies fall away.”

E3 2012: Sterne Agee industry watcher says it’s “all but a given” that either Microsoft or Sony or both will launch new consoles by end of next year; Robert W. Baird analyst agrees.

LOS ANGELES–The next generation of consoles from Microsoft and Sony could be on store shelves as early as next year, Sterne Agee industry analyst Arvind Bhatia predicts. In a note sent to investors today, the industry watcher said it’s more than likely new consoles will be out by the end of 2013.

A new Xbox and PlayStation are coming next year, analysts say.

“Based on various conversations we had at the conference, we believe it is all but a given that either Microsoft or Sony or both will launch their new consoles next year,” he said.

In a separate note, Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian echoed Bhatia’s thoughts, saying he expects new consoles from Microsoft and Sony to launch late next year. As for specifics, Sebastian said these new platforms are likely to boast improvements to processing power, speed, and graphics over current-generation technology.

Additionally, he said the “most significant innovations” for next-generation consoles may be the integration of new online features and “flexible revenue models” like free-to-play and microtransactions.

Regarding the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Bhatia said this year’s annual event has been “underwhelming” thus far, citing no major announcements. Bhatia said he was hopeful for price cuts on hardware, a Wii U console price announcement, and “exciting” Wii U software, but none of those things happened.

For more on E3 2012, check out GameSpot’s ongoing coverage.

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Speculation sparked that dev kits for Xbox 360 successor have already been assembled at Texas branch of electronics firm Flextronics.

Microsoft has said gamers shouldn’t expect to see its next gaming console anytime soon, but developers might already be getting their hands on the system. IGN is citing an unspecified source with the news that the next Xbox hardware has entered manufacturing.

The next generation of hardware is beginning to loom large over the industry.

The report says hardware for the next Xbox has been produced at the Austin, Texas branch of electronics firm Flextronics, which was the first manufacturer of the original Xbox and one of three Microsoft initially employed to work on the Xbox 360. The firm also reportedly created a testing group focused specifically on “comprehensive marketing, software, and hardware tests of the next Xbox.”

As for what exactly is being produced, IGN speculates Flextronics is producing dev kits so the next Xbox developers have hardware on which to create their games. Microsoft had not responded to GameSpot’s request for comment as of press time.

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Report claims Microsoft’s new console demands always-on broadband to fight piracy; system will include Blu-ray drive, ship for Christmas 2013.

Gamers will need an Internet connection to play next-generation Xbox titles, if a report proves accurate. VG247 cites sources who claim the next Xbox will require a constant Internet connection as a method of fighting piracy. No further information concerning this was offered.

Will the next-gen Xbox require a constant Internet connection?

Other details included in the new report include word that the system will ship with a Blu-ray drive. This matches up with news from January, but jars with a report from last month, which said the next Xbox would ditch a disc drive entirely.

As for specs, multiple tipsters told the site that the next Xbox will sport two graphics processing units (GPUs), with one source saying, “It’s like two PCs taped together.” Graphics cards in the system are believed to be equivalent to AMD’s 7000 series GPUs, but “not CrossFire or SLI.”

If a report from last week proves accurate, the next PlayStation–the Orbis–will also be powered by AMD technology.

Additionally, the site reports the Xbox 360 successor will use “four or six” cores for processing. One is for the Kinect and one for the operating system, according to the site.

Lastly, the next generation Kinect is said to be built into the machine as a standard feature. Microsoft blogger MS Nerd last week said gamers shouldn’t expect the next iteration of Kinect until 2015.

As for a release window, the site says the next Xbox will be on store shelves during the 2013 holiday season. A 2013 release for the system falls in line with previous reports, which suggested the mystery console would ship during that window.

A Microsoft representative issued the following statement to GameSpot:

“Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend its lifecycle like introducing the world to controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention. Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation.”

For more on the next-generation Xbox–as well as the PlayStation 4 and Wii U–check out GameSpot’s rumor roundup feature.

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