The next Xbox rolls out tomorrow. There’s been a lot of rumor surrounding this box, and tomorrow we learn what was true and what was thankfully left on the cutting room floor. Here are the odds of what we’re going to see.
By all accounts, the new Kinect will be a pack-in… and will need to be hooked up for the next Xbox to even work. It’s not a surprise, really: Microsoft has found a lot of money in those exercise games and likely the box will debut with games such as Ryse to take full advantage.
Let’s see here, a streaming video box with a camera in your living room that can track how many people are watching and can, according to one patent, charge accordingly? Or, more likely, provide very precise ratings for each and every streaming TV show you watch? Don’t expect Microsoft to discuss these features, but they’re on everyone’s minds.
At the very least Microsoft will make serious hay of their partnership with Comcast, but if a few new partnerships between networks and Microsoft come to light, that won’t be a big shock either.
Remember SmartGlass? Expect close integration with your tablet and smartphone, especially your Surface and your Windows phone, to come up. A lot. As in, if they don’t run the entire demo with a Surface we’re going to be surprised.
Also expect them to pimp the ever-loving hell out of Skype, which is likely part of the reason the new Kinect is mandatory.
Microsoft’s campaign to turn your living room into the Holodeck is going to get an enormous push, but we’re going to bet they’re saving that particular party for E3, since it’s not really a device that lends itself to YouTube videos. But Microsoft will likely be discussing it.
This is likely going to be the big draw for most of us tomorrow. Microsoft has, by all accounts, been throwing pretty much all their game development muscle behind the next Xbox. It’s why the PS3 is getting a nice pile of games on the way out and Xbox 360 owners have to hope some stuff goes cross-platform. There will definitely be a lot of third-party games: Call of Duty: Ghosts is confirmed to make an appearance.
But also expect Microsoft, which didn’t really have many first-party exclusives last generation, to come out swinging hard. If we don’t see at least three new first-party IPs, we’ll be pretty surprised.
What are you expecting tomorrow? Weigh in below and let us know.