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Microsoft: Seriously, No Xbox Hardware at E3

By - Source: Kotaku | B 87 comments

They really meant it.

The last few months have brought us tons of juicy rumors about the Xbox 720. We know that it's codenamed Durango, and last week we heard that it would be losing the disc drive in favor of an alternative form of interchangeable solid storage. There's also been a lot of talk of Microsoft announcing the console at E3 in June this year. While Microsoft is not expected to release the console this year, many have speculated that Redmond will at least give us a glimpse of it this summer. Microsoft said back in January that it didn't have anything to announce, but that hasn't stopped the rumors.

Sadly, it seems it really is not meant to be. Microsoft has once again quashed rumors that it will have new Xbox hardware on hand at E3. In a statement sent to Kotaku, the company has reiterated that there won't be a new Xbox at E3. Microsoft said that the Xbox 360 is having it's best year ever, following an amazing year in 2011, so they're going to focus on building the Xbox 360 momentum with Halo 4, Forza Horizon, Fable: The Journey, and more.

Check out the full statement below:

"While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon. For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360-and it's the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever-a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide. Xbox 360 didn't just outsell other consoles, it also outsold all other TV-connected devices like DVD players, as well as digital media receivers and home theatre systems. And in our seventh year, we sold more consoles than in any other year-defying convention.

This year, we will build on that Xbox 360 momentum. With "Halo 4," "Forza Horizon," "Fable: The Journey," and other great Kinect games on the way, our 2012 Xbox lineup is our strongest ever. This year, we will deliver more TV, music, and movie experiences for Xbox 360-as we'll make it even easier to find and control your all entertainment. And this year, Xbox games, music, and video are coming to Windows 8 so people can enjoy their Xbox entertainment wherever they go."

Microsoft said in January that Kinect had refreshed the Xbox and made it a brand new console, and considering this latest statement, the company obviously thinks the 360 has some mileage left. Do you think the 360 is getting a bit tired? Is it time for Xbox 720? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Top Comments
  • 17 Hide
    kcorp2003 , March 16, 2012 9:27 PM
    Every year is "best year ever" for xbox360.
  • 16 Hide
    DroKing , March 16, 2012 9:21 PM
    Yayyy More ammunition for us PC gamers! More parts they take out from consoles more closed it become hence it will become useless and less popular! Please keep making consoles lamer and more expensive to push people back to good ol PC GAMING community! Consoles are a waste nowadays they do nothing but hold innovation back.
  • 14 Hide
    Uber nobody , March 16, 2012 11:27 PM
    Graphics are not everything, but more processing power is always a good thing. More processing power allows for more things than just graphics. AI, for instance, is a cpu bound task that eats up a lot of cycles. Throw more processing power at it, and developers can increase the accuracy of AI and allow for more AI to be active at 1 time. Example: Shogun 2: Total War. This game uses a crap ton of CPU horsepower for it's hundreds of soldiers running and fighting all at the same time. The other benefit of more power under the hood is the addition of innovative game-play mechanics. Example: physics based puzzle games. Were these feasible 10+ years ago? Heck no. More processing power gave birth to that sub genre. Now you may say "I don't care about those genres of games", but who knows what game-play mechanics are not feasible yet due to the limitations of current hardware.

    To sum up: MORE HORSEPOWER = MORE GAME-PLAY OPPORTUNITIES.
    Stop saying we don't need more powerful consoles, because with more power comes greater fidelity AND greater opportunities.
Other Comments
    Display all 87 comments.
  • 7 Hide
    Shin-san , March 16, 2012 9:07 PM
    It's getting tired, but I can easily understand Microsoft liking the idea of making a lot of money. I'm not sure if third parties are ready at this point, either.
  • 13 Hide
    kevinmcg , March 16, 2012 9:09 PM
    Yeah it outsells other devices because they red ring every 2 years.
  • 11 Hide
    matt_b , March 16, 2012 9:09 PM
    Quote:
    We know that it's codenamed Durango, and last week we heard that it would be losing the disc drive in favor of an alternative form of interchangeable solid storage.

    ----> Reason I couldn't care less, no optical drive is an automatic count me out. I don't care how much potential it may have, I'm not investing in something where (concerning the games) I cannot resell, buy used on the cheap, rent, or lend or borrow from a friend. It may or may not end up this way, have to wait and see, but I know Microsoft's intentions for doing this.
  • -4 Hide
    Dealer009 , March 16, 2012 9:13 PM
    Does it even matter? It's less powerful than current PC graphics cards like the AMD 7970, and there is no software to show it off.
  • -3 Hide
    dormantreign , March 16, 2012 9:16 PM
    Getting tired...i stopped playing this console 3 or 4 years ago. The graphics are teribad!
  • 16 Hide
    DroKing , March 16, 2012 9:21 PM
    Yayyy More ammunition for us PC gamers! More parts they take out from consoles more closed it become hence it will become useless and less popular! Please keep making consoles lamer and more expensive to push people back to good ol PC GAMING community! Consoles are a waste nowadays they do nothing but hold innovation back.
  • 17 Hide
    kcorp2003 , March 16, 2012 9:27 PM
    Every year is "best year ever" for xbox360.
  • 0 Hide
    hobojoe58 , March 16, 2012 9:36 PM
    Very TIRED OF Xbox 360. It was Outdated by 2 years before it even came out!! The interface is AWFUL and there are but maybe 3 exclusive IPs (all sequels). Please somebody make a NEW IP WITH A NEW XBOX and SOON.
  • 8 Hide
    ismaeljrp , March 16, 2012 9:41 PM
    Kids....it is no longer about graphics....that's surplus , from a business perspective.
    The way these consoles were made were meant for flexibilty in the addition of features....which in console terms is much much more important....

    Us PC gamer's love to complain, but that's more because our machines already do all those features, and a whole lot more....so really, the only thing to look foward to is improvement in actual game development.

    Consoles are more overall media centric.... so stop your whining already.
  • 6 Hide
    ismaeljrp , March 16, 2012 9:44 PM
    As long as the the tech their machines have allow them to add more things....they will keep adding from a software perspective...

    Times have changed from , the days where new consoles were pushed to market, solely with the promise of better hardware, more realistic gaming and graphics....it goes a lot deeper than that now.
  • 0 Hide
    sp0nger , March 16, 2012 9:45 PM
    wow i was not expecting this i honestly thought it was a done deal that they would be anouncing next gen xbox this e3
  • 10 Hide
    XM Keeper , March 16, 2012 9:46 PM
    The original Xbox was not around long enough(only 4 years) and the xbox 360 is supposed to go to around 8 years? I'm afraid its 512 MB of RAM will limit the size of the maps in next Call of Duty. A new Xbox should have came out back in 2010.
  • 14 Hide
    snapple232 , March 16, 2012 9:54 PM
    Quote:
    Yayyy More ammunition for us PC gamers! More parts they take out from consoles more closed it become hence it will become useless and less popular! Please keep making consoles lamer and more expensive to push people back to good ol PC GAMING community! Consoles are a waste nowadays they do nothing but hold innovation back.


    I'm sorry but what a stupid and narrow-minded comment. And I say that as a lifelong PC gamer. The sooner these new consoles come out, the better the graphics will be in our PC games. Not everything in life has to be reduced to some zero-sum "us vs. them" mentality.
  • 5 Hide
    Alberio , March 16, 2012 9:57 PM
    So, capitalize on old hardware as long as possible?

    But I wonder how well we can emulate 360 hardware nowadays....
  • 5 Hide
    drwho1 , March 16, 2012 10:07 PM
    No disk drive is an automatic NO BUY for me.
    I personally use my PS3 as both a gaming console and Bluray movie player, if MS truly wanted to compete, they should at the very least keep a disk drive.... but NOT as an option, but as part of the console.

  • -1 Hide
    fyasko , March 16, 2012 10:08 PM
    i got tired of paying 60$ a year for online content and got a PS3. PS3 is a far better HDPC/entertainment unit and i don't continue to get nickel and dimed by sony like MS did.
  • 0 Hide
    internetlad , March 16, 2012 10:26 PM
    I only play games that have single/split screen multi or games that don't compliment keyboard and mouse, this is pretty much fighting and racing games, other than that, it's PC.
  • 4 Hide
    alidan , March 16, 2012 10:31 PM
    kevinmcgYeah it outsells other devices because they red ring every 2 years.

    i boutght 3 of them, all because of read rings and general crapy construction...
    its the exclusives that i want the thing for... but this time.. if it fails, im going to wait on emulators.

    -------------------------
    yay, now here is where i get the downvotes from...

    real gamers dont care about graphics, i seriously do not care what any of you have to say, and especialy not the people who complain they they dropped 2 grand on a quad sli and nothing runs like crap on it.

    most of us want better game play,
    most of us want better sorry,
    most of us want music to be good
    most of us want more then 2 sound effects for running
    but the most vocal of us complain that their 5000$ computer isnt being pushed to the point that you cant play the game...

    look at crysis 1 and crysis 2, the graphics engines, crysis one was such a crappilly optimized engine that it took years before it was a viable gaming experience on the high end, yet when the game was ported to a better optimized engine, it was suddenly playable on the consoles.

    i for one LOVE that the consoles hold graphics back, it forces developers to better optimize their engines, it forces them to make better gameplay to compensate for poorer graphics, or god forbid, better ai.

    now downvote me for shoveing truth in your faces,

    lets not forget that with better graphics, comes higher costs, but im sure people who complain that their pc can play any game out there care that new games will cost more because they cant live without a game that brings their systems to a crawl.
  • 1 Hide
    WR2 , March 16, 2012 10:39 PM
    They're being 'extra sneaky' about future plans.
    I wonder if they have more than the usual reasons for that?
  • 2 Hide
    dudemcduderson , March 16, 2012 10:59 PM
    alidani boutght 3 of them, all because of read rings and general crapy construction...its the exclusives that i want the thing for... but this time.. if it fails, im going to wait on emulators. -------------------------yay, now here is where i get the downvotes from...real gamers dont care about graphics, i seriously do not care what any of you have to say, and especialy not the people who complain they they dropped 2 grand on a quad sli and nothing runs like crap on it. most of us want better game play,most of us want better sorry, most of us want music to be goodmost of us want more then 2 sound effects for runningbut the most vocal of us complain that their 5000$ computer isnt being pushed to the point that you cant play the game...look at crysis 1 and crysis 2, the graphics engines, crysis one was such a crappilly optimized engine that it took years before it was a viable gaming experience on the high end, yet when the game was ported to a better optimized engine, it was suddenly playable on the consoles. i for one LOVE that the consoles hold graphics back, it forces developers to better optimize their engines, it forces them to make better gameplay to compensate for poorer graphics, or god forbid, better ai. now downvote me for shoveing truth in your faces, lets not forget that with better graphics, comes higher costs, but im sure people who complain that their pc can play any game out there care that new games will cost more because they cant live without a game that brings their systems to a crawl.



    I could not disagree more, I believe that REAL gamers should and DO care about good graphics. Are you suggesting that you would be okay with N64 graphics to this day so long as all the good games still came out? If so then you are lying to us and yourself (a lot of those games ran at a native 360p res btw, look it up).

    In regards to your comment "most of us want better sorry", I DO agree with this because my old Sorry board game is crap. They could make it better with more colored pieces to choose from you know?
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