By: Chris Morris in CNBC
On Wednesday, Microsoft confirmed the worst-kept secret in the video game world: It plans to unveil its next generation console on May 21.
Like Sony's PlayStation 4, the new console is expected to hit stores this holiday season and many analysts and investors are hanging their hopes on the new machines to kickstart the video game industry back into growth mode.
Microsoft has been coy about what features the new Xbox will have—and not even the most ardent rumormongers claim to know what the console will be named. But in speaking with developers who have spent time with the developer kit, a few details have emerged.
The new system will likely run on an AMD processor, rather than the IBM PowerPC technology the Xbox 360 uses. For users, this means they won't be able to play their Xbox 360 games on the new system. (Similarly, the PlayStation 4 will not be backwards compatible.) The system will also beef up its system RAM to aid developers in making games.
Kinect, the motion sensor peripheral Microsoft introduced in late 2010, will be an integral part of the new Xbox and has been dramatically upgraded. Microsoft will also continue to emphasize other forms of entertainment as much as it does games. (In 2011, Microsoft brought Nancy Tellem, former president of CBS Television Studios, on board to lead its efforts to form an Xbox studio.)
"We now have a tremendous opportunity to transform [the Xbox] into the center of all things entertainment—from games, music and fitness to news, sports, live events, television series and movies—so consumers have one destination for all their entertainment needs," Tellem said upon her hiring.
The Xbox 360 has been the top selling console in the U.S. for 27 consecutive months, according to The NPD Group—and analysts say Microsoft is the company to beat in the next generation.
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