Recent mumblings in the industry have indicated that the next-gen Xbox is currently in the hands of developers — coated with a nice zebra pattern, no less — and now GameStop’s CEO, J. Paul Raines, has indicated that he’s been given an overview of the new console. During an interview with Games Industry Iternational, Raines said that he was looking forward to the 360’s successor, and feels it’ll be “a very hot, compelling device” upon its release.
This is a promising sign that the console is far along enough in its development cycle that it could potentially launch within the same window as the PS4. Of course, many gamers have probably been paying attention to how long it’s been taking for the Wii U to gain a decent user base, leaving some to fear that the next-gen consoles may be faced with a similar dilemma. Raines feels that won’t be a problem for either Sony or Microsoft, and is confident that both platforms will be successful.
Game Rant’s April Fool’s joke aside, Microsoft’s foray into the next-generation of gaming has been expected for a long time. So far alleged reports claim that the system will require an always-plugged-in Kinect sensor, as well as mandatory game installs, but none of this has been confirmed by the house of Bill Gates.
Previous rumors hinted at a possible April event for the Xbox 720, but there’s been no sign that Microsoft plans on pulling the curtain off its next-gen contender quite so soon. A safer bet would be for the company to officially promote the console during this year’s E3 in June, and with it will undoubtedly be a surplus of never-before-seen video games. Sounds good, don’t you think?
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Source: Games Industry
