Gather 'Round, Kids, It's Time For Your Daily Xbox Rumors

Yep, it's that time again. Buckle up, embrace your Xbox 1 "Duke" controller, and put on some smooth jazz: it's time to take a look at another group of Xbox 720/NextBox/KinectBoy Color rumors. These rumors come courtesy of Brian Crecente over at Polygon, and both expand and corroborate the things we've heard up until now, now at least there's some consensus in the matter.

On our favorite subject, "always-on" requirements, the Paul Thurrott's recent comment that it may not be as "Draconian" as people assume would appear to match up with what is stated here: An internet connection will be required to some extent, in order to support "the suite of non-gaming entertainment applications that will be launched alongside the console, like streaming video services." In regards to piracy, "the decision of whether a game will require an internet connection to work and if that is a one-time authentication or a constant connection, will be left up to individual publishers."

This would take the heat for anti-piracy always-on requirements off of Microsoft itself and push it onto the publishers who require it, but it's still a hassle that we know will not exist on those other two consoles that are part of this generation. The real thing to start thinking about, then, is which publishers would be up for it and whether or not they would require a constant connection, as well as what impact this would have on used games.

Yes, if you're thinking a particular group of Electronic Artists would be quick to use this feature, I'm with you.

Other features are pretty cool. The NextBox/Kinect 2: Electric Boogaloo is said to have "share" features like the PS4's share button, but the console can also be set to record simply when cool things happen, such as landing a headshot (naturally, for a Microsoft console, all of the gameplay examples involve shooters). This does make me wonder how large the device's hard drive will be, because this automated recording -which, remember, supposedly can be turned off- could be a big factor when deciding between the rumored $499 and $299 console packages.

Also, supposedly developers will have the ability to add achievements to games after their release, and those achievements might be able to tie into other games, "like awarding points for finishing the first chapter in two different and unrelated games published by the same company." The cheevos will keep on coming.

Finally, as expected, Microsoft is looking into integrating the console with social networks like Facebook or Twitter, and the friends list system is said to have been revised to include "follow" features, a la Twitter.

A lot of these rumors are pretty cool, and creative developers could do a lot with them. Let's hope Microsoft's focus is on the games that will use them, however, and that they will be backed up by a strong lineup beyond games with guns.

We'll know much more come May 21st.

[Source: Polygon, image courtesy of The News Tribe]