Microsoft squashes Xbox neXt rumors

[midian182]

With reports stating that Sony is planning to announce a new version of the PlayStation 4 later this year - possibly before the arrival of the console’s VR headset in October - people are now wondering if Microsoft will follow in its competitor’s footsteps and release an updated version of the Xbox One.

Rumors that we might see some form of Xbox 1.5 went into overdrive recently when a Microsoft employee, David Gardner, posted a listing for the “Xbox neXt” on his LinkedIn profile. After much speculation that this could be the company’s answer to the PlayStation 4.5/PS4K, Microsoft has now confirmed that this is nothing more than an old internal team name.

"Xbox neXt was an old internal team name for a group that worked on releasing Xbox One and is not related to a future console," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "We have nothing further to share."

The statement backs up the recent comments made by Microsoft’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer. Speaking at Microsoft's Build 2016 developer keynote last week, Spencer said he didn’t expect there to be a Xbox 1.5.

“I’m not a big fan of Xbox One and a half. If we’re going to move forward, I want to move forward in big numbers,” Spencer told Gamespot. ”For us, our box is doing well. It performs, it’s reliable, the servers are doing well. If we’re going to go forward with anything, like I said, I want it to be a really substantial change for people–an upgrade.”

Spencer’s obviously being a bit vague with the statement but he doesn't seem to be ruling anything out, and the fact he uses the term “upgrade” could be important. Ultimately, the chances of us seeing a refreshed version of the Xbox One (Xbox Two?) that features some vastly improved hardware components may depend on how successful Sony’s upcoming machine proves to be.

We’re likely to learn more about the companies’ plans for their consoles at E3 in June.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/64337-microsoft-squashes-xbox-next-rumors-xbox-15-unlikely.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

In fact it's time to forget about all these asthmatic and hamstrung consoles and step up to a proper PC which is far more powerful and versatile even if you only want it to experience this new VR fad.

 

[ghostf1re]

In fact it's time to forget about all these asthmatic and hamstrung consoles and step up to a proper PC which is far more powerful and versatile even if you only want it to experience this new VR fad.

In most circumstances I would consider VR to be a fad. This time, I don't. I think VR is here to stay for the foreseeable future. There are too many companies investing in it for it to just be a fad. In order for it to take off, they need to do a lot of fine-tuning. Price being the biggest hump to get over. $800 for the Vive is just way too much for a platform that only has a handful of games worth playing. That's not even including the PC required to operate it. I think it will be a few years before VR really picks up, but I don't think it's going anywhere. At least not for a while.

 

[GraemeWilly]

When Microsoft denounces anything to do with an Xbox upgrade, they are simply saying they aren't doing it incrementally. They are either going to release a full on successor that happens to play all the same titles, or they will do something else equally substantial. They will Not release an upgradeable box, though. What we have to think, then, is what form will the next box take? Obviously, Microsoft isn't going to let the competition release an even more powerful box and let them sell even more and get more PS devices into more households...they will have a counter strategy..be it, cloud power, physical hardware, software tricks or a combination of all three...whatever. The question isn't what is Microsoft not going to do? It's what then will they do? Everyone is releasing a more superior box these days. AMD is releasing their consolized PC to drive VR, there is also Origin PC, there's still the looming Steambox, and now Sony may be releasing a 4K enabled console...do you think Sony and Microsoft want to be the only "come play the more inferior experience with Sony and Microsoft!" As AMD, Origin and all these other console PC's make more popular PC TV boxes? No...Microsoft and Sony will do everything and anything to continue to be the dominant force in the living room.

 

[GraemeWilly]

...another thing to think, is are they simply just dismissing "Xbox Next?" or "Xbox 1.5" on account that that's not what they are calling it? They do that sort of thing. We have to see articles that state, "we have no 4k hardware planned," period. We haven't seen that article, yet.

 

[TheBigT42]

I would think Apple or some subsidiary would own the rights to neXT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT