XBox 720: Microsoft Leak Reveals Next Gen Xbox Details?

By Adrian Poole / June 19, 2012

The internet has been buzzing over the recently leaked 2010 document from Microsoft detailing some of the finer points with regards to its new Xbox, the Xbox, uh, "720"? We are fairly sure that the Redmond based company will think up a different name before launch day at least, but the leaked system details look interesting so far. Now, Microsoft has been very quick to try to suppress this document and have reinforced the message legally with their lawyers forcing the posters to remove it. But enough websites got their hands on it, that we can't say that MS were that successful. There is of course a lot to be said of the authenticity of the document as well with many speculating that it is a hoax, or perhaps even a cynical attempt by Microsoft to dampen excitement for the forthcoming launch of Nintendo's Wii U. According to sources some of the finer points contained within are spot on the money:

"If it's a fake it gets a lot right. It's fabricated with good data, at least. A surprising amount is credible. Certainly more than I've detailed in XBW. They got the AR specs right, for a start... Still, there's a lot in there I know to be accurate that has, to my knowledge, gone unreported." - Michael Gapper, Xbox World.

So, what's the fuss about? What's in this beast? Well, if the leak is to be believed the "720"will have an insane sixteen core processor and one of the new 7000 series AMD Radeon GPU cards, so it is definitely packing some heat, maybe more heat than a games console can be said to need. Although given a likely lifecycle of six to eight years - based on Xbox 360 - that level of hardware will likely be commonplace towards the end of its run. More or less predictably the "720" will come with Blu-Ray support, which must have made for an interesting grovelling phone call to Sony after the 360's embarrassing hopes on HD-DVD a few years back. Also, there is Kinect 2, much the same as the original but with support for up to four people to join the arm flailing fun. Kinect 2 also offers better voice recognition built in. The big news though is the new augmented reality glasses, that link up with the full 3D support and Kinect 2 - although details on this aspect are sketchy beyond the point that they exist. So, it would seem that there is once again a heavy reliance upon Kinect, albeit in a slightly upgraded form, to keep the Xbox ahead of its rivals, which is perhaps an unreliable gamble. Kinect, although admittedly a clever device, seems more like a kids toy that someone at Microsoft fell in love with and is now intent on breaking proper gamers with. Get with the program guys and gals, Kinect is here to stay. There are of course, no mentions of any game titles forthcoming, although we can almost certainly "look forward" to yet more (Bungie free) Halo, Project Gotham and Gears of War for the new system with new shiny graphics and almost certainly Kinect support - whether we want it or not. So, the only thing which remains to be seen is whether or not this document bears any resemblance to reality - something we will likely learn next year when we trade in our Wii U's for it. What do you all think of the latest rumours regarding the next gen XBox? Share your thoughts below. You can read more ravings from Adrian Poole on his blog.