Xbox 720 to cost $99 with a subscription fee?

The Gadget Show  Wednesday 11 July 2012

When famous video game industry analyst Michael Pachter predicts things, people tend to listen. According to his latest prediction, the new Xbox will go on sale for just $99, alongside a monthly TV subscription, and be both your television and games console. It’s a bold prediction, but could he be right.

As Xbox 720 rumours continue to roll in, Pachter’s prediction is one of the boldest. Speaking at the Develop conference in Brighton, he said that the next Xbox will sell for just $99 and be “priced like a smartphone” with a subscription fee, with a cable TV provider in the US, and no doubt similar here in the UK.

Xbox 720 rumoured for 2013, six times more powerful than Xbox 360

You’ll be able to watch your TV through it. He said that the Xbox 720 will continue the trend for consoles to be multi-purpose devices. “You won’t need a ‘smart TV’ when you’ve got an Xbox 720” Pachter predicted, as reported by Inc Gamers.

“It will be you television and your internet” and be able to “display television to as many screens as you have in your possession” with “multiple TV channels in different windows,” using Microsoft’s SmartGlass technology to stream different channels to different screens.

So, that’s a games console and TV, with the potential to play games and stream content to other screens without having to invest in multiple consoles. All for $99 with a monthly fee. How does that sound, gadget fans?

Its success would depend on just how much a subscription fee would actually cost, but with millions of gamers already paying a monthly subscription for premium services such as Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus, it appears that many of us would already be willing to pay if it means receiving a premium service.

One question remaining is what non-subscribers would get for purchasing just the console, and where the line between default services and premium services lie. What would you expect for a monthly fee? 
 Naturally, we ask readers to take the above with a pinch of salt, but for even more Xbox 720 rumours, hit the link below. 


Xbox 720: five hot rumours about the next-gen console