Next-Generation Xbox 8 Console Confirmed Again, This Time Microsoft Isn’t Denying Comments

On a The Verge podcast last week, General Manager of Windows Live Brian Hall said there is a new Xbox. It seems to be the first confirmation of Microsoft’s plans for a successor to the Xbox 360, though despite Microsoft issuing a statement clarifying the comments a job posting reveals it is in development (surprise!).

If you were ever, ever, in doubt the next-generation Xbox is in development then read this Microsoft job posting

There’s a new Xbox in town; or, at least, there will be sometime in the next 18 months. According to a recent Microsoft job posting, the next-generation Xbox console – codenamed Durango – is releasing alongside a host of new and updated Microsoft products.

Microsoft is advertising for a central marketing group director. If the title means nothing to you, Microsoft simply says it it looking for a person to work on significant products launching in the next 18 months. Products include Microsoft Office, Windows, Surface, and Xbox.

18 months would lead us up to the January of 2014, so the holiday 2013 release seems likely. We’re expecting Microsoft to unveil its next-generation gaming console at E3 2013, along with Sony’s next-generation PlayStation.

We’ve seen a development kit leaked by an anonymous person, speaking to gaming website Eurogamer, while Computerandvideogames.com claims the developments kits began to reach developers mid-2012. According to its sources.

Confusing Terms

The comments made by Brian Hall last week were clarified by Microsoft. Microsoft said the new Xbox refers to new services, not a new console. Xbox music, video, games, and the Xbox SmartGlass app fall under the new Xbox term apparently. It’s confusing.

To add to the confusion, Microsoft will probably use the term when it announces the next-generation Xbox console at E3 2013. Microsoft is ultimately trying to maintain focus on it’s current console.

The anonymous developer I referred to posted photos of the coding environment – revealing the Durango codename, leaked earlier in the year – and Eurogamer seems confident the hardware is not bogus.

We also saw a 56-page document earlier in the year, which detailed Microsoft’s plans for turning the Xbox into a set-top box. Version 2 of Kinect, the motion sensing technology, was also detailed. Even though motion controls may be a simple fad, we need more Dance Central games.