I just got through reading an interesting article on the next Xbox unofficially titled "Xbox 720" that I thought was pretty interesting. There is no doubt the next xbox will have far better hardware like quad core CPUs and dual core GPUs,etc, but my only question is will there be a Blu Ray player?
We know that the HDDVD thing lost out to the Blu Ray format and Sony has the lock on Blu Ray will Microsoft have to suck it up and add a Blu Ray player? One of the only reasons I now own a PS3 is for the Blu Ray player, but it seems insane for MS to not add some sort of Blu Ray on the next Xbox.

There is also talk of doing away with discs as well and doing game purchases through online downloads straight to your xbox not unlike services like STEAM on the PC.

Anyway, just curious what you guys thought as it looks like they may have something ready to show at E3 2012 so we will see.

Link to the article.
http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2007/03...o-microsoft.htm

A new Xbox would be good as the current one is starting to show it's age a bit. I hope they don't do away with discs completely though. Not everybody has unlimited monthly bandwidth, and this gen's games can be pretty massive. Next gen will be even worse.

Would have to think Blueray would be the defacto disk medium at this point just as the CD was back in the day. Also don't see how a disc-less console could be implemented, and be expeted to grab a lot of marketshare, given the bandwith requirements. Don't know the stats but a lot of users don't even get online. I can't see MS locking out potential customers.
Can you imagine the load requirements on game release days with games exceeding multiple GB's? I know some will say it works for Steam and others but we're talking a much larger scale. Maybe a future generation but I don't see it this go 'round.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks xbox needs bluray..for sure it needs a storage medium that can hold reams of data in the same way as bluray can but why can't this be proprietary?

Microsoft is in the movie business I guess but is streaming them rather than discs so there is no commercial reason to use blurays.

I suppose the only thing that may stop this is other disc or portable data storage technology not actually being available but what are the chances of that?

The most disappointing thing of this console generation is the screen resolution 1280x720.
On Pc I get used to play at 1920x1080 AAx2 and games look way better even when shadows or other effects are turned down.
I think If they released same console with a better GPU it'd help a lot.