The Next Xbox Has Mandatory Kinect, Game-Swapping and New Controllers, According To Leaked Info

The next-generation Xbox—the one that will follow the still-popular Xbox 360—will run multiple games at once, require game installations, and will only work when a much-improved version of the popular but divisive Kinect sensor array is plugged in, according to a source who says he has access to development hardware.

Those are a just a few details about the new console, codenamed Durango, that were shared with us by a person with access to next-gen information. Our source also claims to have a pair of Durango development kits.

We've also heard more about how the system apparently works and what it will be like to control it and play games on it, though we've not seen the unit ourselves. Our source even claims to have played some Durango games, describing the graphical leap from current-gen console gaming like going from playing Halo 2 on an original Xbox to playing Crysis on a powerful PC.

Our source for this new info goes by the name SuperDaE. He first came to the attention of lots of people last year, when he tried to sell a Durango development kit on eBay (he says the sale was blocked by Microsoft over a copyright issue; we've asked them to confirm and will let you know what they say, if anything). He's an unusual but surprisingly well-informed source. More recently, SuperDaE contacted Kotaku with information about the next-generation PlayStation, all gleaned from more than 90 pages of Sony development kit documentation. He had a trove of new details, tied to what appears to be hundreds of pages of Microsoft documentation, to share about the next Xbox as well.