RSS^XBox2 to be Unveiled May 12th
Microsoft just announced that they will be unveiling the successor to the XBox, code-named "Xenon", on MTV on May 12th, on a show titled "MTV Presents: The Next Generation XBox Revealed" and hosted by Elijah Wood. Originally, Microsoft was waiting until the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to announce its release along with Sony's PS3, but apparently, they don't want their release lost amongst so many other announcements and so have opted to let the cat out of the bag a little early.
From what they're telling us, the XBox 2 will leverage a mini-subscription model, where you could pay a small amount of money for downloadable content (e.g., new cars for your racing game or new tattoos for your GTA character) from central servers. Personally, I think the model will lend itself to customer abuse. Think about it... you will still pay $75 to buy the game, but then shell out a buck and a half each for all of the extra characters or weapons or whatever? Very sneaky. I have no problem with the model itself if it translated into cheaper up-front costs for the games, but I'm not that naive.
