Next-gen Microsoft console to be called Xbox, reveal coming 21st May

A few separate sources are confirming some very specific information about Microsoft's next-gen console, suggesting that it won't be called the 720, or Durango, but in-fact, just Xbox – taking the John Rambo and Rocky Balboa route – and will be revealed for the first time on 21st May, a few weeks before the E3 expo.

Eurogamer did a good round-up of the new information, collecting both The Verge and Paul Thurrot reveals, which independently suggest that we'll be getting our first look at the Xbox in the next month and a half and it'll be expensive – to the tune of $500 in the USA and therefore probably at least £350 here. However it's been suggested that a cheaper one will be available for around $300 (£195) but will have an ongoing subscription payment model.

Mr Thurrot has been an Microsoft analyst for sometime. He knows what he's talking about – seen here on WhatTheTech

The expected release date for this new machine is 4th quarter, with Thurrot suggesting it'll be early November. However he did say that the next Xbox would not have an entertainment machine version at launch, as previously expected; though it may be something Microsoft develops further down the line.

There are also some less concrete rumours, with hints at a new Xbox 360 that will cost just $99 (£65) aimed at tackling entertainment devices that are encroaching on the living room experience: like Apple TV and similar. This suggested to Thurrot that Xbox may not play 360 games.

KitGuru Says: If that pricing information turns out to be true, it'll make the Xbox the most expensive – probably – of the big three's next-gen systems. That didn't go so well for Sony with the PS3, but then it was a year late to the party.

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