Microsoft is fully embracing the digital marketplace with its next Xbox, it seems, as reports suggest that the console won’t include a disc drive…
As digital distribution grows in popularity with every passing year, many industry analysts have hinted that the next generation of consoles may not support physical media at all. For Microsoft’s inbound replacement for the Xbox 360, those rumours have been particularly strong, and if the latest reports from MCV are accurate, then its next console will indeed be sold without a disc drive.
According to MCV’s anonymous source, the next Xbox will include “compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage” – though what format it’ll use isn’t quite clear.
If the reports are true, two things are abundantly clear: first, that the new Xbox won’t be compatible with the old one, which means we’ll have to keep our bulky 360s if we want to play all those games we have lying around on old-fashioned discs, and second, that boxed games purchased from shops could become a thing of the past very soon – at least as far as Microsoft is concerned. That’s surely bad news for traditional retailers like GAME, who are already struggling on the high street.
Although little more is currently known about the next Xbox (NeXtbox?), it’s currently thought that Microsoft will be dramatically unveiling its new behemoth at this year’s E3 – which would make sense, given that the system’s currently pegged for release next year.
More next-gen eggs box news as we get it.
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