Industry sources have disclosed to Kotaku that Microsoft's successor to the Xbox 360 will incorporate Blu-Ray discs, introduce the Kinect 2, and prohibit used games from working.
The report that Microsoft may be embracing the Blu-Ray comes as no surprise given its success on the PlayStation 3. At 25GB, the Blu-Ray disc can carry almost three times the amount of data of a 9GB DVD.
While there has been some speculation that the next Xbox would contain no physical media whatsoever, it is highly unlikely given the current state of the internet's infrastructure. It will be awhile yet before Cloud-based gaming takes off, and Microsoft is certainly not going to hedge their bets on an unproven medium.
The report goes on to state that Microsoft plans to include an anti-used game system as a part of their upcoming console.
It's not entirely implausible that game publishers have struck an agreement with Microsoft to prevent used games from working. It could be done through an online activation system not unlike Ubisoft's DRM for the PC, by forcing players to log onto Xbox Live when first starting up the game.
Microsoft also happens to be in the games publishing business, and like other publishers, much of their revenue is arguably lost to used sales at GameStop and other resellers. They stand to anger gamers who depend on used games with the move.
Bearing the fact that used games are the one thing that give consoles a permanent leg up over PCs, it's worth taking with a grain of salt.
Josh Harmon contributed to this report.
