Xbox 720 Rumors Say 360 SoC Provides Backwards Compatibility

Xbox 720 rumors on hardware specifications are saying the Xbox 360 hardware has been shrunk down to a system-on-a-chip (SoC) which will provide the Xbox 720 backwards compatibility for the 360.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Xbox 720 always online rumor, among other revelations, has some gamers saying the future of next generation consoles looks grim. But the revelation of the Xbox Mini also said the Xbox 720 always online rumors were wrong.

The Xbox 720 rumors about the Xbox 360 SoC come from a note on PasteBin:

“Have you read the VGLeaks article about the Durango specs? Yes? Good because everything you read in that article was 100% correct. Except, for one tiny little detail that MS kept guarded from most devs until very recently. That detail being that every Durango ships with a Xbox 360 SOC. There was a reason why MS hired so many former IBM and AMD employees. … All I know, and all I need to know about this new change is that I (or a game dev) can use the 360 SOC in parallel with the original Durango hardware. … [The Xbox 360 SoC] also increases Durango’s processing power a fair amount.”

This mystery person also claims wireless controllers for the Xbox 720 will once again require AA batteries, but that battery life has been improved by 16 percent. He or she also claims the Xbox 360 SoC will be used in the Xbox Mini and that both systems will use operating system technology pulled from Windows 8, meaning that the Xbox 720 will run the new WinRT framework. The idea behind this would be to allow any game developed for the Windows App store to be easily ported to the Xbox 720, which makes sense since Microsoft has been focused on developing a unified operating system.

The Xbox 720 having a Xbox 360 SoC for backward compatibility is not without precedent. The original versions of the PlayStation 3 came with a PlayStation 2 shrunk down onto a daughterboard. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, emulated in software the original Xbox hardware. Of course, this approach has a performance and game support penalty, while a 360 SoC would significantly increase the price of the Xbox 720.

What do you think of the Xbox 720 rumor of a Xbox 360 SoC powering both the Xbox Mini and the Durango hardware?