A number of new rumors regarding the future of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade and first-party games are circulating the Internet, creating a lot of hype for next month’s E3. While these are exactly that, rumors, it's always fun to read the latest claims surrounding the biggest show in the industry. Check out the recent reports from the rumor mill and tell us what you think...
First off, we found a long post at MeriStation forums based on info obtained by lostroyanos.com, a Spanish Xbox Live fan site. The first info that comes from the post claims that the price of the Xbox 360 Premium Edition will drop €90 (that’s $110 USD) by the end of October, with the Core package being lowered €80 ($100 USD) - thereby resulting in a price of $299 for the Premium console and a possible $199 for the Core console.
It might be difficult for Microsoft to lower the price of the Xbox 360 by almost a 30% just a year after its launch. There might be some maneuvering due to the price of other next-gen consoles once they come to market. In any case, Microsoft will have two SKUs to face the competition with.
Another rumor claims that Gears of War will launch during the last week of October, backed by a huge worldwide marketing campaign. Additional indications from EBGames and Gamestop showing a Nov.1 release date initially appear to back this rumor. Secondly, Gears seems to be the only shooter that Microsoft has up their sleeves to counter the PlayStation 3 launch, being that nobody expects Halo 3 to arrive this year; which takes us to the next rumor.
According to this gossip, Halo 3 won’t arrive until March, 2007 with an official announcement happening at next month’s E3. The insider also claims a sequel to Kameo is also in the works and that Microsoft is working to secure an exclusive of “an urban game”, which can be interpreted as the next Grand Theft Auto.
Moving onto hardware peripherals, the post at MeriStation claims the HD-DVD drive will cost approximately 95 euros ($115) and it is scheduled for release next September. There is no mention of a HDMI cable as the post only outlines USB 2.0 connectivity with the console. As a side note, the first internal HD-DVD drives for PC will cost around $120, therefore if this rumor is accurate, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD will be in the same ballpark
MeriStation also claims a 100GB hard drive will be available as a peripheral, but won’t replace the hard drive included with the Premium Edition. No release date or price is mentioned.
Finally, regarding hardware peripherals, the Xbox 360 camera (referred in the post as the “My Eye On You” web cam) is rumored to launch in September with a price of 47 euros ($5
or bundled with a game at 77 euros ($95).
Regarding Xbox Live, the rumor claims that the Xbox Live Gold membership will drop in price or become totally free if the user agrees to view advertisements. This new model is supposed to roll out in October and for those users whose paid subscriptions are still valid, there will be an exchange program and a sort of ad-free version. Additionally there are claims that the Friends List will be expanded to a have a maximum of 200 friends.
MeriStation goes onto state that Microsoft will expand the list of backward compatible games in June with the addition of 50 new titles.
The report discusses Xbox 360 exclusives, stating that Microsoft has signed agreements with NBC for live game broadcasting, similar to the gaming TV in South Korea. The post also mentions the recent deals signed with Paramount Pictures and Epic Records.
When it comes to the Xbox 360 dashboard, the report claims Microsoft will develop a new appearance for the dashboard, as well as a special dashboard and Xbox Live for children.
The report also claims that you’ll be able to exchange certain game achievements for Microsoft Points which sounds like a new incentive for users to play their games - if true.
There are other little claims that touch on less interesting matters. One says that the Xbox 360 will appear in two major Hollywood productions, similar to the cameo seen on The Island; the other mentions the much-requested "Download & Play" feature that would finally let gamers download content while playing a game.
Finally, another point in the list claims that a “virtual console” similar to the one Nintendo announced, will also launch this October, where SEGA games will be available for download and play.
This last rumor takes us to a different site, Spong, which is also running an Xbox Live story claiming that Microsoft’s secret weapon to crash the launch of the Revolution and Nintendo’s virtual console will be a legal version of MAME. A Microsoft staffer supposedly revealed to Spong the following:
"You've heard of MAME right? Right. We're just doing a legal version of MAME, meaning that all the game owners get paid and the users get quality product based around a community. Imagine the biggest arcade in the world, just 1,000 times bigger. It'll have as many machines as we can possibly get, all with score-rankings and other community stuff. It's not a secret that MAME was massive for hackers of the original Xbox and the pull and sales of retro game packs on current machines is still really high. If this is taken and put under the right noses, it should become the biggest thing in mainstream/hardcore gamer crossover in the industry."
Unfortunately, Spong's hasn't had the best track record when it comes to the validity of the rumors posted. While the idea of MAME coming to Xbox 360 sounds like a dream come true, the problem with MAME legality is not with the emulator itself, but with the ROMs. Then consider the fact that MAME commercial redistribution is prohibited as well as any commercial use of it, as stated in the MAME license.
We don’t see the need of a MAME emulator when the current Xbox Live Arcade allows any past game to run on the Xbox 360, only time will tell.
Keep in mind, these rumors should be taken with a grain salt and nothing is official until there’s a real announcement.
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