Xbox 720: Latest Rumors & Expected Release Date

For Xbox lovers, the new console can't be released soon enough. And while details of the new gaming console are extremely hard to come by there have been a few leaks suggesting that the newest Xbox will be unique to the Microsoft corporation. This time around, there will be no disc drive. That's right, the scuttlebutt is that all games for the new console will be downloadable and the console will have interchangeable solid state drives. 

Using the Xbox live market place, Microsoft is apparently planning on distributing content solely online. I'm not sure how they plan to provide games and content to users who frequent gaming stores, but I'm sure Microsoft has already thought of something (Perhaps purchasing a card in the store which you can use to redeem the game purchase on the marketplace). Another rumor has it that the Kinect style controls are here to stay. Love it or hate it, it seems Microsoft see's dollar signs with the Kinect controls and plans to incorporate these into almost all aspects of the new device, from the gaming controls to the controlling the UI it seems that we cannot escape this awkward, and sometimes laggy & unresponsive controller. To me I would think that investing so heavily in the Kinect controllers would be a bad thing... can you imagine playing HALO or some other fast paced game by waving your arms around? This itself seems silly and I am hoping that the Xbox 720 will still continue to support the traditional controllers. 

The biggest concern for myself is the rumor that Microsoft will be attempting to kill the second hand gaming market. Apparently they want to prevent users from trading in old games to purchase new ones and although no details have been released as to how they will kill the second hand gaming market, one can assume that they will most likely be shooting themselves in the foot with this practice. Although there has been no official release date as of yet, you can expect Microsoft to show off the Xbox 720 at E3, in May 2013. That's all for now, but I will post more details as they become available.