Another rumor is that the graphics card it's going to use is a http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/27/xbox-720-to-feature-radeon-hd6670/.

Well that is better than current cards used by the consoles by quite a long way but by today's standards is actually quite poor and by the 720's release would be even more dated. I do of course realise with cosoles they will always be outdated compared to PC's and they have to be built to a budget

As for the second hand thingy, imo that would be a very bad move by MS. It would alienate alot of people I feel

I'm losing faith in humanity more and more everyday.

Compared to what microsoft is doing recently with GFWL, I highly doubt that this is true. I also bet there are going to be a lot more threads about the upcoming consoles with even more ridiculous claims. After all rumors like these do pull in a lot of traffic.

Another thing to bear in mind is that Sony had a hand in Blu-ray's creation, and therefore stood to profit from its success. Making less money than the could have from a console has its disadvantages, but probably balanced out with the money the got from BR licensing (presumably they hold/share the patent and therefore get a little money from everyone who manufactures the drives).


EDIT: Oh, and I don't see them switching to holographic just yet; it's still a long way from mature, would be exorbitantly expensive to include at this time, there's still plenty of money to be made from BR, and as far as I can see from a quick look, they don't even have any involvement in the major holographic formats.

Should the latter be true, Microsoft will not see a dollar more of my money.

Most gamers will cave, though. Our history does not have many examples of extended willpower .

Why should they cave? The PS4 will be a good alternative as long as they don't follow suit.

Xbox does imo have better exclusives, the Halo series being the most obvious but is that enough to make them cave?

Blind Fanaticism.

I'd hope they'd use their brains a bit more than that to be honest

That might depend on if the person playing it actually paid for it.

I feel that PC Gaming may be an attractive option for some people this time. The gap in price between the next Xbox and a PC bought in 2013 with comparable specs (if the GPU rumors are true) is going to be smaller than ever.

True...... I do think though that PC gaming scares some people as they think it's harder than it really is. I have friends who play on consoles who say they do that because it's just easier, no problems with incompatible system specs etc

i would not be buying an xbox whatever either if that were the case. i may not any ways because i have since gotten a job and have moved on to PC gaming.

Well, this news is rather odd IMO (Unless I am missing something). Just hope that it is speculation...

How did M$ get their hands on blu ray?

I suspect they bought a few million

Same way as anyone else?

They are buying hardware from someone who has a licence or bought one themselves? I don't think Sony would have an objection to making money from every Xbox produced and a tiny bit from every Xbox game printed .

The fact that they could get close to cornering the market if enough people boycott X-Box.

It won't happen, unless they switch entirely to digital distribution, which is HIGHLY unlikely.

If this turns out to be true, I'm done with MS and any future console they produce. I'm sick of consumers being held hostage by corporate bottom lines. The practice of buying and selling used games should be no different than used books, DVDs, clothes, etc.

Probably not going to happen, but even the fact that it is being speculated makes me nervous.

I'd call this nigh impossible. Microsoft might be greedy, but they aren't morons. Anyone with half a brain can see that this would alienate a large number of people, make more leave out of contempt, and cost you more than you'd gain.

holy crap that holographic thing is sick, i pooped my pants
and i dont think ill have a problem seeing as i always buy my games new