With Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console now getting a little long in the tooth, rumors are circulating about what the Redmond outfit has up its sleeve for the next generation of hardware.
Rumors have ranged from a new ‘Xbox 720’ name to a suggestion that Microsoft will sign deals with television manufacturers to put Xbox Kinect sensors right into screens, negating the need for a separate set of sensors to be used in order to make controller-free gaming possible.
Not content with letting the rumor-mill go on around him, Joseph Dumary, a designer at Yanko Design has taken matters into his own hands by creating some concept images of what he thinks the next Xbox console may look like.
The 100% digital Xbox Prestige uses the foundations of the previous 360 Kinect to form this completely controller-less gaming console that’s even smaller than the Xbox Slim.
Dumary clearly didn’t let anything get in the way of his imagination when he was dreaming this thing up, either.
His ‘Xbox Prestige’ features no physical media drive, with all content received via a broadband connection. The death of physical media in gaming has been predicted for some time now, with both Microsoft and Nintendo offering comprehensive online stores, and Sony in particular putting their money where their mouth is – the upcoming PlayStation Vita portable’s focus will be on digital distribution but media would also be available via proprietary NVG cards, long-live UMD.
The content delivery system isn’t the only area that Dumary has perhaps got a little over-excited, either.
The concept features built-in sensors to remove the need for a separate Xbox Kinect accessory, and the device also features an internal 2TB hard disk. With Microsoft’s move toward the cloud, that storage would be mainly for downloaded games, rather than saving game progress.
If some of that seems remotely possible, wait until you hear the specifications for what will power the Xbox Prestige, should it ever be made.
The console has an 8-core processor for super-speed performance up to 20 times faster than previous Xbox models. It supports 3D, 4K2K, multiTV (DPConnect), live TV and webcam, as well as GPS that allows users to view the location of any other user on an active map.
Before you all rush out and sell your current Xbox 360s to pay for this bad boy, just remember that this is a concept, and whatever Microsoft finally puts out will likely be very, very different to the Xbox Prestige.
That said, if we do get anything like this, we’ll be very, very happy indeed!
(via PocketLint)
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