Unsourced Rumors About Xbox 720 Flood Internet

Ladies and gentlemen of TA, I am not a professional journalist. No Newshound does this job for money as we are all unpaid volunteers whom do not even get to keep copies of any games brought to us for review. Despite our amateur credentials, we hold ourselves to a very high standard of journalism. We want you to trust what we report as news; even rumors should have a firm basis in reality. We will not sensationalize news or events for the purpose of driving up page counts, or getting quoted by as many other sites as possible.

One of the ways that we attempt to achieve this standard is waiting to post stories. Once we feel we have all the important, pertinent information we will move forward and post the story with the appropriate [RUMOR] in the headline. A great example of this was the recent Resident Evil 6 reveal. Our method of handling rumors and speculation resulted in a turn around from [RUMOR] to "Here's the trailer!" in just 45 minutes. We want you to feel that anything, even rumors, posted here at TA has been sourced and verified to the very best of our ability.

That being said, let's break down the 720 pound elephant in the room courtesy of Stephen Totilo's article on Kotaku. A lot of people have been using the handy "Suggest a news item" feature right here on TA to submit this story, usually with a subject line that says "Xbox 720 to not allow used games" or "Death to the second hand games market."

This, is sensationalism and the sort of "news" that sites run when they need to bring up their page count. The actual content of Stephen Totilo's article is filled with caveats and "this is just my speculation", such as this excerpt:

It's not clear if that means that the system wouldn't play used games or how such a set-up would work. Obvious approaches—I'm theorizing here—like linking a copy of a game to a specific Xbox LIVE account could seemingly be foiled by used-game owners who would keep their system offline. My source wasn't sure how Microsoft intended to implement any anti-used game system in the new machine.It is clear that these caveats are overlooked by an onrush of "OHMYGOD! NO MORE USED GAMES!" We do not know that. Other rumors included in Stephen Totilo's article are about Blu-Ray support and smaller controllers, both of which are perfectly plausible. No one seems to care much about those rumors judging by the way various forums and message boards have blown up in the past 48 hours. Everyone is focusing on the "death of the second hand market."

Let's talk about that, but let's focus on what we do know. These are called facts and they are proven pieces of information that have been sourced, verified and can not be denied. Companies are including Online Passes on a more regular basis as a means of countering the used game market. This is true, this happens all the time. The new Xbox 720 will simply include a built in mechanism so that every game will require an Online Pass to be played over Xbox LIVE.

Or will it? Is my comment about requiring an Online Pass any different from the speculation in the original article? No, it's not and here again, is a fact. I present another quote from the original article everyone is so up in arms about:

My source wasn't sure how Microsoft intended to implement any anti-used game system in the new machineSo the real news is that the new machine may or may not include some sort of anti-used game system? Exactly how this will be done is unknown by everyone including a source real close to the project? So where's all this "death of the second hand market" stuff coming from with such certainty?

I don't know. You don't know. Stephen Totilo doesn't know as he filled his article with caveats and saying outright that he was merely speculating. That's just the power of rumor and trying to discern the unknown. Anything we post today as news regarding a new console, which certain websites have done, could be invalid, altered or a downright lie. The stance held by the Newshound team is to leave such flimsy rumors on the cutting room floor.

When we post a rumor, we believe there is something concrete to it. We do not post wild speculation from an unnamed source unless there is something else behind it. Along the same lines, we also do not post when there is a glitch with the marketplace causing a game to be free, which typically involves creating an account for a specific region, such as Taiwan.

I'll wrap this up for the "tl:dr" crowd as I believe I have made our stance clear. When reading any articles on the "next Xbox", be aware that until Microsoft says anything, it will be nothing but rumor. Could it have a system that stops the usage of used games? Will it have a Blu-Ray player? Perhaps it might even be backwards compatible with the Neo-Geo or the Atari Jaguar?

Until such time as there is an official release from Microsoft or a company working directly on the system and willing to go on the record, this is the last you will hear of the "Xbox 720" on TrueAchievements.