Microsoft Dedicates 2012 to the Xbox 360

According to a recent announcement from Microsoft, 2012 is the year of the Xbox 360. They say they will not be talking about the Xbox 720 anytime soon, but that they have some exciting news for E3—wonder what it is?

Some people think it will be a Kinect 2. I think they are making one last year dedicated to the 360 before they announce the Xbox 720—why?

Well, we’ve already talked about how the Xbox 720 is in the works. Maybe people say they have worked on next-generation consoles in their profiles on certain websites, and we believe them. Many gaming companies also say they are hard at work on video games for the next-gen systems. So of course we understand why 2012 is the “year of the 360:” one last hooray before retirement!

…or so we hope. I am ready for a new Xbox, personally. I was pretty pissed off when I had to be a newer version of the Xbox 360 rather than the 720 recently, because mine broke. I’d rather have bought a new console entirely, because it’s about time.

I’m waiting to hear about it at E3 anyway. I don’t trust those sources!

Avatar Graphics on Xbox 720

Yesterday, the Official Xbox Magazine published an article that gave us some new ideas about the Xbox 720. The AMD director of ISV relationship management, Neal Robison, says that the graphics on the Xbox 720 will be comparable to the graphics in Avatar, the hit movie by James Cameron.

Avatar is famous for the incredible graphics, like a Ferngully in real life. Apparently, the 720 will have graphics so close to that movie that fans will be floored.

Another new addition, Robison says, is the three-dimensional personalities on smaller characters. Say you’re walking down a street in a game: usually, the NPC characters run, scream, walk, but don’t have anything truly human-like. Now, the characters will actually respond.

Since high-end developers have already maxed out the hardware capabilities of the Xbox 360, we have to assume that the 720 will be here sooner rather than later. Many sources say 2014, some say 2013, so who knows.

Either way, the Xbox 720 will blow our minds.

What do you think?