One major bit of information from ntkrnl is that Microsoft is looking to cut the cost of the Xbox One down to $399, is even with the PS4s price. He suggested that this would be done by removing the disk drive and installing a 1 terabyte hard drive to store more downloaded games. Could it be true: The hardware is real, the price drop is possible, but not both at the same time Its been confirmed that Microsoft has prototype consoles that fit the rumored specs. Its been more or less confirmed that Microsoft wants to drop the Xbox Ones price. But youre not going to see a diskless one for a few years. First, removing the disk drive isnt going to reduce the production cost on a console enough to justify a $100 price cut. Microsoft buys them in bulk by the thousands, so theyre probably no more than $50 each. Ditching the Kinect, on the other hand, would lower the price of each console enough to make the price cut viable. Second, an all-digital console makes little sense right now. For a lot of people all over the world, bandwidth caps make downloadable AAA games impractical, especially now that Blu-Ray is the standard medium for those games. With more storage space comes more content and that means more and more chance that single games obliterate monthly caps. Third, internet regulation is in a state of flux in the US. The Supreme Court ruled the Federal Communications Commission couldnt regulate internet providers because the FCC used the wrong methods. So for now, ISPs can do whatever they want until the FCC declares internet access to be a common carrier, which the FCC can regulate. So Microsoft would be incredibly dumb to bring a download only console out in an extremely unstable time. So how might Microsoft implement the price cut? Dropping the Kinect seems like an obvious step, especially after they cut the amount of memory dedicated to it. Getting cable/satellite companies to subsidize it also seems possible, given Microsofts financial muscles. They could also do the buy an Xbox One for $399, get locked into Xbox Live thing they did for the Xbox 360 in the last few years. Could we see a download only Xbox One? Sure, but dont expect it until three or four years from now.
Living in Florida, enjoying the weather when its good, writing for a living. TV, Film, Animation, and Games are my life blood. Follow me on Twitter @xbsaint. Just try not to get too mad when I live tweet during Toonami.
