Next Xbox Could Be Unveiled in May & Run on AMD Chips

Shawn Farner -

The next-generation Xbox, or the Xbox 720 as some have taken to calling it, could be shown off to the world next month, just three months after Sony showed off some of the technology behind its upcoming PS4.

According to The Verge, Microsoft is planning a May 21, 2013 event that will serve as the launchpad for its next-generation Xbox game console. The original target date was reportedly April 24, but the event had to be pushed back for unknown reasons.

There has been quite a bit of fuss about the upcoming Xbox, most notably a comment made online by Microsoft Studios’ creative director Adam Orth about the console’s supposed “always-online” functionality. Orth didn’t understand why people were so upset about the potential for the next Xbox to require an Internet connection at all times, ending his remark with a #dealwithit hashtag.

Orth’s comment was not well-received by gamers online and Microsoft was forced to issue an apology.

AMD’s “Jaguar” system-on-a-chip is not to be confused with Atari’s Jaguar.

Other news about Microsoft’s next Xbox was uncovered today, and that news had to do with the system’s architecture. A Bloomberg report claims that the next-generation Xbox console will be powered by x86 architecture — more specifically, an AMD system-on-a-chip architecture called “Jaguar.”

This would be an interesting choice by Microsoft due to the fact that Sony’s PS4 will also be powered by the same architecture. With two major consoles running on the same chips, game developers could more easily port games back and forth between them. And adopting the x86 architecture also makes it easier for these developers to port PC games to consoles and vice versa.

The decision to go with x86 seems to be an admission by both Microsoft and Sony that their respective consoles need to be easier to develop for. It may also be an acknowledgement that games are constantly being ported back and forth between the consoles and that the process could be simplified. With the next Xbox and the PS4 both moving to x86, Nintendo’s WiiU and its PowerPC architecture is now the black sheep of the console world.

This news is developing, and we’ll be sure to keep you up to speed as we hear more about Microsoft’s new Xbox console.