Many of us are under the impression that the Nintendo’s new Wii U console will be coming out way before the next gen additions from Microsoft and Sony, although the release of the so called Xbox 720 looks set to be nearer than we envisage. Even though it is expected next year, the recent tablet rumors have given us reason to believe that the unveiling could coincide with the release of the Wii U in the fourth quarter of this year.

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Apparently, the console is expected to be called the Xbox 720 and reports suggest that is will be available for around £190, which sounds pretty cheap considering the relative price of a 360 back in 2005. In an article on Sabotage Times they talk about this next gen console and whether is will have the advantage over others, and an image seen on Google has had many wonder if it will be shaped like an ‘X’, yet the majority expect a thin, sleek machine in similar fashion to the current console.

The 360 in not exactly a thin and sleek device and there is an idea that this will still remain relatively chunky and there are hopes that it will not be intrusive and unattractive. It seems that the Kinect feature will have more attention paid to it and speculation surrounds the fact that it could be an integrated feature, which would defiantly be ideal, even if many hardcore gamers are expecting Microsoft to focus on more traditional forms of gaming.
A recent article by Tech Digest questions whether the likes of the Xbox 720 and PS4 can deliver the lacking emotion and photorealism seen in current games, and this comes from 2K Games boss Christoph Hartmann, who quizzes whether the next gen console can deliver this. He feels that recreating a Mission Impossible experience in gaming is easy, yet titles that have emotions like love and sadness or not so easy to do although they are the sort of things that immerse people in movies.

To make this aspect more apparent photorealism would be something that would really bring the development forward and there is an expectation that it will be sometime before a title will really draw on your heartstrings. Last week we looked at some 720 devkit images of what is suspected to be an ‘Alpha’ version of the Xbox 720 hardware and on the screen the Durango seems to be rather prominent, giving us cause to wonder if this is fake or whether this is the new Xbox, and if that will be the final name. Do you think the Xbox 720 will be competing with Wii U sooner than expected?