I love to speculate about hardware, I would like to hear what everyone thinks Microsofts next console will be.

We do know a couple of things about Microsofts next system through the power of rational thinking:

1) It will be more powerfull than the 360, and by proxy of its later release date than Nintendo, we know it will be more powerfull than Wii U.

2) We know it will have Kinect in some form. Lets call it Kinect 2.0.

3) Probable announcement at E3 2012.

Will Microsoft introduce something game changing? Some new tech which hasnt already been though of for gaming? Lets hear your thoughts- dont disclude the extrme unlikely scenarios as sometimes these are the most interesting.

Will Microsoft Buy/Create a tangible first party development portfolio?

Will Microsoft shift their focus to a console that is considered casual first and core second?

How will Live evolve, to what extent will skype be used, what new in game features can we expect? What will the inro price be? What will the console be called? Will there be physical media? Will ...... etc etc.

If I was you.. And I wanted to post in this thread, I may consider different options they could go with going forward.

Dont let this thread go silently into the night, post your thoughts... so I can read them!

I voted for the Halo Box one.

I also didn't read the OP.

i think it will be at least 3 times more powerful than the 360, also will use kinect, but have a massive update for kinect that will give it alot of new features which will give it a more wow factor at launch. have a disk slot, no more damn disk trays. will use nvidia for its graphics gpu , since now m$ owns/has a deal with nvidia so i imagine using them to create a gpu that is capable of going toe to toe with the best gpu that is out for the pc at that time . also will allow your controllers to be charged by the system, like the ps3 currently does. will improve the 360 controller with maybe a small lcd screen like 2 -3 inches. will use a variant of the now dead hd-dvd format with increased storage capacity with single layer disks having a 50gb limit and 100gb for dual layer. those are some of my thoughts on what m$ will do, hopefully they will think more long term in the system's tech future in picking its components.

How about a game changing bomb at $399? I think that Microsoft (as well as Sony) will heavily future proof their next console so that they could aim for an even longer life span than the current one. While I'm not sure on CPU/GPU specs, I'll go on a limb and predict no less than 8GB unified system RAM.

A Xbox thats 2-3 times as powerful as the 360 bundled with Kinect 2.0 for $399

Nice thoughts, Im suprised they didnt add the slot loading drive with the new slimmer 360, so yeah that will def be there.

Also good thought about the small LCD screen. If wii U takes off, I can see both Sony and Microsoft adding some variation of a screen to the controller to properly enable tablet style gameplay.

Microsoft's goal with the 360 and even more so with the 720 is to take over your living room.
Microsoft will do it this way:

1) Focus on NUI (Natural User Interface) - Kinect 2.0 in a big way. Microsoft wants to remove the barrier for interacting with their systems, and Kinect has already taken great strides in that direction. They'll improve on it for the 720, possibly bringing in additional tech.

2) Social integration - Everything you do is something that should be a natural extension of the 720, and Microsoft have already made great strides in this area with the 360, but if WP7 is anything to go by, they have more to come.

3) A unified experience - Your Xbox Live, Zune, Windows Live, Skype and every other relevant Microsoft service will come built into the 720, and the experience will be as close as possible across all of Microsoft's platforms. Expect great tie-in with Windows 8, possibly some SkyDrive integration and others.

4) Cross device connectivity - Your 720 will be connecting to your Windows systems in lots of different ways. We already saw the demo with the ricochet stuff for Kinect connected to WP7. As Microsoft controls the hardware (to some degree) on WP7 and W8 tablets, expect this connectivity to be emphasized. Don't be surprised to see the 720 running W8 apps.

I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff in there, but I think these will be the essential bits.

What I hope it'll be:

About 3-5x more powerful than the current 360, even more refined improved online, new IP's.


What I think it'll be:

Kinect Box 720 with Kinect 2.0 bundled with every single 720 plus a normal controller. A mix of shovelware Kinect games, some actually decent Kinect games, and a few good core games.

I know it's not going to happen, but I would love to see Xbox compatible with Windows games (including old DOS games).

Well I think Microsoft is going to announce their new platform at E3 2012 latest 2013. I think the console will be an upgraded 360 with an upgraded more expensive Kinect. Microsoft had to downgrade Kinect to make the camera affordable I bet the more expensive tech is still at Microsoft headquarters and Microsoft will likely use that tech next generation.

I think Microsoft's target market will be the casual market. WiiU is proving Nintendo is now shifting back to targetting hardcore gamers and less targetting casuals, this leaves Microsoft with a great oppertunity to take market share. I expect Microsoft will continue to focus on Kinect and Kinect 2.0 will be a huge part of Nex-Box.

Power wise I'd expect Nex-Box to be roughly 25%-40% the power of WiiU. Seeing as WiiU will be over 50% the power of PS3 according to developers. So Microsoft will obviously be releasing a more powerful platform. However software will be ported back and fourth across all three platforms. I'd suspect Microsoft's games will blow us away, MS will likely put an emphasis on first party software rather then buying third party timed exclusives.

The Nex-Box will be a super powerful casual driven console. I'd say it will probably be more like a super powered Wii. Selling mostly to casuals and recieving alot of shovel ware and crap. Microsoft is proving right now that other then a few of its core franchises, the whole focus is on Kinect and I expect that to remain the case for Nex-Box!