The next Xbox may require an always-on connection and will come with Kinect built-in

It looks like 2013 will be the year of a new generation of consoles. Nintendo Wii U has already been on the streets since last November, everything indicates that in the event that Sony is preparing to unveil the next PlayStation in two weeks, and each new rumor brings the possibility a little closer of a new Xbox in a matter of months. This week we have the corresponding dose of rumors while we continue to wait for those 124 days that Major Nelson's counter reflects for E3, supposedly the moment of presentation of the new Microsoft console.

According to information collected today by Edge magazine, from sources that have been able to test the console, the next Xbox will require an internet connection to functionThe reason is that the games will come with activation codes that will require you to check online. Apparently, Microsoft's intention would be to avoid the second-hand market by allowing only one use of that code.

Although the new console will continue to extend the possibilities of Xbox Live, from Redmond they are not going to definitely embrace online distribution. The games would continue to be sold in physical format, opting for 50GB capacity Blu-ray discs and definitively abandoning the HD-DVD format. Of course, on this occasion, the new console will incorporate an improved version of Kinect The main improvements of the new version of the popular peripheral will be related to its precision and capacity to capture our movements.

Sources have also reportedly confirmed that recently leaked specifications are true, including those published days ago by VGleaks. These come down to a 1.6GHz 8-core AMD x64 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 800MHz D3D11.x GPU. They also ensure the presence of an internal hard drive that would be larger than those we have seen on Xbox 360.

And up to here we can read. How much will be true and how much is the product of the imagination of some is difficult to say, although Edge's prestige is well known to reproduce unfounded rumors. In any case, if there are no new movements from Microsoft, it seems that we will have to keep waiting until E3 to find out if that new Xbox definitely exists and this is it as the informations describe.

Via | Edge Online