News

Xbox Next Rumours: Now with BluRay and 2 GPUs

By Justin Pauls

Posted on April 2, 2012

Amid swirling rumours that have been hitting the ‘net since for the past few weeks, VG 24/7 reports that according to their sources, the next console in the Microsoft Xbox brand will contain both BluRay and Kinect 2.0 built in. We can also expect not one but two AMD GPUs along with a 4-6 core CPU. Apparently its development name is Durango, and it may require an “always on” network connection to help combat piracy (and potentially used game sales).

Multiple sources have confirmed this morning that the machine will have two GPUs. One said: “It’s like two PCs taped together.” We’re waiting for final confirmation of specs, but the graphics cards are thought to be equivalent to AMD’s 7000 series GPUs, but “not CrossFire or SLI”. The GPUs aren’t structured as they are in a normal dual PC set-up, in which the two chips take it in turns to draw lines of the same object: Xbox 720′s graphics units will be able to work independently, drawing separate items simultaneously.

Kotaku reported last week that the next generation of Sony’s Playstation brand is code-named Orbis, and is also headed for a Christmas, 2013 launch. Neither Microsoft nor Sony have confirmed any hardware details and Microsoft has gone on the record to state that they will not be discussing new hardware until 2013 at the earliest.

Justin Pauls

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Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, at a young age I was forced to decide whether the harsh northern winters were going to claim my fingers, or to turn to the safer pursuits of indoor activities. Little did I know that a little game called Ninja Gaiden would bring my digits more pain than frostbite ever could. Starting with Vectrex and C64 games and moving forward through the era of electronic entertainment, I sampled as much as I could in the different platforms, and began my interest in PC gaming from wrestling with DOS memory management.

While console games were a part of my earliest gaming memories and I certainly had played on most platforms including 3D0, all things Nintendo, PS1 and the like, truly the PC was my domain until the Xbox. As an old PC gamer, I ever chased the cutting edge technology. Eye of the beholder with CGA 4 colors was my first step down the the path of blowing thousands of dollars on PC upgrades over two decades. Ultima 7, with the Guardian talking to me through my monitor, still haunts my dreams and keeps me ever hoping for a decent Ultima 8 and 9. From the 3DFX SLI VooDoo2s and Aureal to today's GPU driven DirectX games, the new and shiny pictures seem to keep me going. My PC gaming has slowed down with the market shift though, and although I have choice games that will ever be on PC, I have found myself in console gaming with a bit of portable gaming in my life.

Back around the turn of the millenium (and long before fatherhood), I had fired off an email offering to help Ron with a little-known site called ConsoleGold. Little did I know it would be be a part of my life to this day. While I've seen my fair share of shovelware (thanks Ron!), I manage to try and find the fun in most games. Leaning towards sandbox and action titles, I've grown to love games for their potential to reach art. Console agnostic and excited for the progress of tomorrow, I fancy the latest and greatest, but still enjoy the good old classics ... as long as they've been revamped from their 8bit graphic roots.