In the midst of waiting for February 20th reveal of the PlayStation 4, a substantial amount of information regarding the Xbox 720, or Durango, has been revealed, if only in form of rumors from a source who has been reliable so far. According to this source, the next-generation Xbox will have capabilities such as running multiple games and apps simultaneously, game installations and improved Kinect functionality.
The source, courtesy of Kotaku, comes from a person by the alias SuperDaE, who claims to have Durango development kits and even to have played some Durango games. The games, he describes, are “like going from playing Halo 2 on an original Xbox to playing Crysis on a powerful PC.”
SuperDaE received attention last year when he put a Durango development kit on eBay, which the sale of was blocked by Microsoft. The information SuperDaE has come from overview documents for Durango game makers, detailing information that describes the console as a graphical powerhouse with the multitasking traits smartphone users have come to expect.
From Kotaku’s report, it appears that a new version of Kinect will come packaged with every Xbox 720. The new Kinect is reportedly mandatory this time around, and must be plugged in and calibrated in order for the console to function.
The new Kinect will have improved capabilities, such as tracking up to six individual skeletons simultaneously, identifying faces and emotions, independent tracking thumb movement, and improved viewing angles.
The Durango will come standard with an HDD, and will feature storage of 500GBs for the mandatory installation of games. These installations will take place in the background, eliminating the painfully long installation times of the current generation.
The next-gen Xbox will be able to handle multiple games and apps at once, suspending progress of one game in order to switch to another.
The controller of the Xbox 720 will be a “natural evolution” of the current controller, so it doesn’t look like we’ll see a complete overhaul like the PS4 is reported to have. The controller will feature “new wireless technology” so current gen controllers won’t work with the system.
Check over at Kotaku for the full run-down on what very well may be the Xbox 720 or Durango’s final specs before it is revealed officially.
Source: Kotaku
