Nobody knows for sure what the next Xbox will pack, but with so many clues cropping up, a clearer picture is slowly taking shape. A newly discovered patent reveals that the next Xbox could allow for simple upgrades — PC style.
Discovered by Beyond3D Forum user "Sonic," the patent 20120159090 published in December 2010 shows a Microsoft patent that calls for "platform resources, hardware resources in particular, to scale up or down over time."
Eurogamer says that patent matches the ideas presented in the 56-page document leakthat detailed the next Xbox, which were later confirmed to be authentic (at least, it was during some point in time of development).
Furthermore, the inventor listed on the patent is Jeff Andrews, one of Microsoft's chief hardware architects, lending credence that a customizable Xbox is something the company is taking into deep consideration.
While it's certainly possible that the dated patent is only a patent, and nothing more, Eurogamer believes that because consoles are now capable of lasting through a 10-year lifecycle, creating an upgradeable Xbox would allow Microsoft's console to be somewhat future-proof as the years go by.
PC gamers know about the flexibility of being able to upgrade their PC components all too well. Whether that's swapping in more RAM to run more apps at once, a heftier graphics card to run the latest games with the most detailed textures or just changing up the CPU, the ability to adjust as technology grows is very attractive, especially for the tech-savvy gamer.
Perhaps, the next Xbox could feature something like Samsung's swappable "Evolution Kit" that it's including in its high-end Smart TVs, that let you upgrade the "brain" of the device through an expansion pack on the rear. That would work for a new Xbox.
One thing is for sure, gamers are hungry for a new console. Ouya's $4 million in Kickstarter fundingin less than three days is proof that gamers are dying for a new console, even if it is one that will run mostly mobile games.
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