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Despite Microsoft’s determination to deny us seeing a new Xbox console this year, we’re hearing reports that the console has recently gone into production.
Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans have divulged the information to games website IGN, blabbing that Austin, Texas based company Flextronics has started manufacturing parts for the next-generation games console.
We’re going to take this one with a pinch of salt, what with 8 months of 2012 remaining for us to not see a new console from Microsoft. However, Flextronics has previously manufactured both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 consoles, so it’s likely to be involved with the next project.
We’ve heard the console’s codename ‘Durango’ leaked before when games developers attended a secret Microsoft conference earlier in the year, with one loose-lipped developer tweeting the codename.
IGN has been told that Microsoft created a specific group away from the main company, whose task was to test both software and hardware possibilities for the console. Apparently that testing has now finished, and the console itself has entered the manufacturing process.
With the console not expected to launch until next year, the extent to which Microsoft is making the console right now may only extend to a batch of test consoles, or even just small parts that will eventually make up the finished product.
We’re pretty certain that we won’t see an Xbox 720 until Christmas time next year at the very earliest. Microsoft seems to be actively extending the life of the Xbox 360 with accessories like Kinect, a host of video and music on-demand apps and much more to come. We’re even hearing that the company will launch a 4GB console with Kinect for under £100, with buyers tied in to a contract where they pay monthly for Xbox LIVE and an additional amount that will no doubt make up the cost of the hardware.
IGN queried the news it obtained from the sources, and was met with the following response from Microsoft: “Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend its lifecycle, like introducing the world to controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships.
“We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention. Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation.”
It’s still very early days, but have you already made the crucial decision: Xbox 720 or PS4?
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Via: IGN
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