Rumor: Next-Gen Xbox Will Cost $300-$500, Be Always-Online

| 8 Apr 2013 10:47

Noted Windows blogger Paul Thurrott claims that a "subscription based" next-gen Xbox will cost $300, and the standard model will be $500.

The Xbox 720/Durango/Next-Gen Xbox will launch in November of this year, and set you back $500 for the standard edition, or $300 for a "subscription based" model, claims noted Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott on the latest episode of What The Tech. He described the platform overall as "expensive."

Thurott also confirmed rumors of the next Xbox's always-online requirement, which was strongly hinted at earlier this month by comments on Microsoft executive Adam Orth's Twitter. Thurott claims the system's notes specifically state that the new console "must be Internet-connected to use." The console reportedly stops functioning if its internet connection is dropped for more than three minutes.

"But is that a bad thing?" What The Tech host Andrew Zarian asks Thurrott regarding the always-online requirement. "I don't know," he replies, "because I don't know what it means." Thurrott claims that the wording of the system notes could be interpreted in any number of ways. He warns us to not be quick to jump to conclusions. He does state that his current Xbox 360 experience is almost entirely online, mostly playing online games or using it as a media center connected to an online service.

Most surprisingly though is the revelation that a new Xbox 360 console will be released alongside the next-gen Xbox. Microsoft is planning a $99 "Stingray" Xbox 360, which Thurrott claims is because the next-gen Xbox will not be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games. A media center-only Xbox codenamed "Yumo," which could not play games at all, was reportedly in development but eventually scrapped.

We will have to wait until May 21 to have these rumors confirmed, which is the date Thurrott says Microsoft will reveal more information about its upcoming console.

Source: Gamespot

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Aka $600 to $1000 down here in Australia.
Sigh our money is on equal with the US now yet everything is almost double the price.
It just makes me feel punished for living somewhere other than the US.

Oh hey! I guess you australians will eventually have to pay $1200-$2000 then! thats not including the pos controllers you have to keep replacing!

Oh, I'm sorry. You people are under the impression that 720 will cost 300$-500$ when you fail to remember that is in fact 600$-1000$ because you have to buy their consoles TWICE because they are made from crap! Microsoft, the only consoles you have to keep buying and buying!

That's strange, I thought Seppuku was a Japanese tradition.

Heh, well the X-Box probably SHOULD fail. For crying out loud, it started with Microsoft copying off of Sony's answer-sheet. And while it DID manage to make its mark, I hear alot more about RROD than I do YLOD. They managed to get this far on less of the personal footwork, but if it's's time. Let the DRM kill it.

Who wants to bet that $500 worth of components could build a PC with higher specs than whatever's in the 720? Anyone?

Hell, the guy who made my PC could probably do better with $300.

Well this clinches this, as I will not be buying the next gen xbox. Provided that the ps4 does not pull the same crap, I shall be sticking to it and the PC. Sorry, Wii U, you don't seem that interesting.


Primero Holodon:


Primero Holodon:
so basically you're saying "This product doesn't appeal to my specific interests, Therefore it deserves to fail"

Well if it succeeds then it'll set an awful precedent for gaming. We could end up with every console requiring an online connection.

If it is 'always online', then it must fail for the good of the gaming.

See, I'm okay with that reasoning, It's more just that He's happy at the prospect of xbox failing not because of it being always-on but simply because he doesn't like xbox. I don't like the wii-u but that doesn't mean i think it deserves to fail.

Actually, it's pretty much a combination of both. Aside from disliking the X-Box in general (This stemming from my dislike of Microsoft), I also harbor a deep disdain for their awful business practices as far as their X-Box services go, and for the sheer flood of all the worst aspects of gaming that stem from their console about 85% of the time something vile is loose in the gaming community (There's a reason the term 'X-Box Live' strikes such a sour note when mentioned).

In essence, yes I dislike them for personal reasons, but also for general reasons. Microsoft deserves to fail because this sort of stunt is not unlike them at all. Really, when you think about it, doing something like this for a console is utterly ridiculous and idiotic, but when you get past that stage: Does it really surprise you that it's Microsoft pulling said stunt if it's true?

Sounds almost like Microsoft is purposely attempting to commit Console Suicide...or they REALLY are just complete idiots who don't play videogames themselves, and rather just roll in piles of cash.


Online at all times?


Ok, ok, so they're all rumors but still. $300 for a reaaaaally basic edition is still a lot if you ask me. Sorry but I'll never get over the fact that consoles weren't THAT expensive a couple of years back. And yeah, I know that back then, consoles didn't do as much as they do now and online gaming and new technology and stuff. And yet, I still think that's a lot. I might as well buy a laptop and turn into PC gaming.
Which I don't wanna do. Stop giving me reasons to quit console gaming!

Edit: And really, before anyone starts complaining about online gaming not being an issue, it is. If you're lucky enough to live in a household and be in a situation where you always, ALWAYS, have internet connection (No blackouts, no disconnecting randomly, not moving out, etc), then good for you. But know that it's rare, believe it or not.
I moved out to a new place and I did everything in my power to keep my internet connected as I moved from one house to another. Little did I know my cable/internet company would do otherwise and I'd stay without internet for over 3 months. My PS3 and 360 became pretty paperweights. Yeah, I could still play some games but still. You get the idea.

If all this is true (especially the lack of backwards compatibility) then I have no need for brand loyalty, and will choose the console that's the cheapest with the best exclusives. Seeing as they're basically identical under the hood.

And of course Sim City 5 starts da precedent.

Annoying ass DRM. Impossible to crack. Still sells like hotcakes.

Everyone else thinks they can do it.


Shit like this.



It doesn't fucking matter!

I leave my Xbox constantly connected nowadays too, but if I want to take it offline (or have to) then I should be able to! The only people benefiting from always online shit are the publishers. It's anti consumer practice. I don't care how they spin it, it's anti consumer.

I should reread this article. I don't remember reading anything except for "You should probably buy a pc for gaming." I must have missed something by reading too quickly. Or maybe I didn't...

You know.. being forced to have a kinect with every new xbox... this sounds like some awfull batman villain plot to somehow take control over the world utilizing some secret device build into the kinect XD

Still wondering if the Riddler or the Joker would come up with that first...

jim carrey as the riddler already did something of the like

im gonna just wait till they announce this as official before making up my mind

Wait, so you have to pay for the hardware, then pay a subscription to USE the hardware and also pay for an internet connection so that it works at all? Not to mention that you are being spied on by your mandatory Kinect and having adverts pushed in your face on the dashboard (if the current XBL is a sign of what is to come). I don't think Microsoft like their customers much but love their money.

I agree with all this except for the part about the adverts "being pushed in our face". They are tiny moving boxes that don't even make noise unless you scroll over them. I don't even notice they are there 90% of the time.


Yes, it looks like it might be a Nintendo/Sony competition again, with a 3rd company (This time Microsoft) in a very distant third. Unlike the N64 vs. PS1 however, I have a feeling the WiiU's probably gonna keep the lead on the PS4, at least for a majority of it's life span.

People keep dissing the wiiU as a failure out of the box, but what they fail to factor in is neither the PS4 nor the Nextbox has done anything yet but come out and piss people off before they even hit store shelves. I don't think Nintendo will be in the lead this gen, but they won't do as bad as people think... not when then their competition is too busy trying to look as unappealing as possible. People also don't factor in that the games for the wiiU aren't out yet; not the ones that are system sellers. When those come out THEN we can make actual measurements of the console's success or failure.

If I do buy a console this generation, It would probably be a Sony. I'm not too mad about the new Playstation, but with every leak about the new XBox, it looks better. Sony also have more titles I'm interested in at the moment, at least on the PS3, hopefully they will continue this with the PS4.

Escapist, if you are part of the press conference at E3, all I ask is that you ask this one question for me and all the gamers out there...

"How did you collect and review the research that made you decide that the new Xbox is always-online?"

Don't let them refuse to answer the question. Don't let them give a short answer, don't let them go on until this question is answered fully and thoroughly. Get the HOW, the WHO, the WHAT, and the WHERE of this research, and with that information let it pour out so that gamers can explain how the research that went into the new Xbox is the likely the most incomplete and biased piece of research that has ever went into a product.

Seriously - I think it's time to ask where the hell is the research that pushes forward business decisions like this. Either someone's not willing to put in an effort to get the full picture, or someone is fabricating the results so that their suggestions appear to be proven instead of the opposite.

Sure, a rumor is a rumor, but to release a console which will shut down when somebody within the area uses a microwave just strikes me as mad.

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