Microsoft Scouring All Traces of Xbox 720 Design Doc

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Microsoft Scouring All Traces of Xbox 720 Design Doc


Microsoft would like everyone to just forget all about that Xbox 720 design document business.

The 52-page Xbox 720 design doc that bubbled to the surface [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117952-Rumor-Leaked-Design-Doc-Outs-Next-Gen-Xbox] of the internet a few days ago was greeted with great skepticism, and for good reason. It pretty much promised the world for 300 bucks, with eight CPU cores plus three more dedicated to backward-compatibility, 3D support, cloud gaming, a hi-res Kinect system capable of handing four players simultaneously and whole bunch of other stuff intended to make it a "true all-in-one home entertainment box" - not a bad deal for something that was conceived in 2010.

Microsoft hasn't commented on the document either way, but it has reacted in a fashion that could be seen as legitimizing the document: it's doing its very best to wash that plan right out of the internet. It was first pulled from Scribd at the request of law firm Covington & Burling LLP, but Ihned.cz [http://tech.ihned.cz/hry/c1-56175830-microsoftu-unikla-tajna-prezentace-novy-xbox-ma-stat-300-dolaru-prijde-za-rok] has also received a takedown notice, as has Dropbox, which is now blocking its users from publicly sharing the doc.

It's an effort that's almost certainly doomed to futility, not only because what happens on the internet stays on the internet, but because anyone who actually cares about this sort of thing is already aware of all the salient points. Microsoft could be reacting this way as a matter of principle, I suppose, or maybe it thinks there's still a chance to keep the information from drifting past the eyeballs of its more casual fan base; or maybe it sees this as an opportunity to put the Streisand Effect to work for its own purposes.

Whatever the case, I wouldn't go nearly as far as sites like Metro [http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/902786-microsoft-admits-xbox-720-document-is-real], which extrapolated the takedown notices as an outright admission that the document is real. But why would Microsoft put so much effort into neuralyzing the entire internet if it's just a hoax? The plot, as they say, is thickening.

Source: VentureBeat [http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/21/xbox-720-doc-forever/#.T-NADX1x9q4.twitter]


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XMark

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Jan 25, 2010
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Seems kind of silly and pointless of them to try to take down the document when hundreds of articles and thousands of web forum posts have already discussed every major point of the document in detail.
 

Threeseventyfive

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Feb 25, 2012
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Damn. This is basically confirmation that the rumors were true.

If those specs are accurate I'd be happy to buy it day one!
 

baarserik

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Nov 18, 2009
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Well, could be that its true, and they really dont want people to know about it.

OR it promises more then they can deliver, and therefor they take it down because they dont want people to be dissapointed when they announce the actual specs.
 

Clearing the Eye

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Jun 6, 2012
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baarserik said:
Well, could be that its true, and they really dont want people to know about it.

OR it promises more then they can deliver, and therefor they take it down because they dont want people to be dissapointed when they announce the actual specs.
I'm going to go ahead and vote for the latter.
 

Jhooud

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Nov 29, 2011
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Clearing the Eye said:
baarserik said:
Well, could be that its true, and they really dont want people to know about it.

OR it promises more then they can deliver, and therefor they take it down because they dont want people to be dissapointed when they announce the actual specs.
I'm going to go ahead and vote for the latter.
Me too. Since this all sounds too good to be true for the price, then they'd absolutely want to keep those specs from becoming the expectation.
 

Mr.Mattress

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Jul 17, 2009
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baarserik said:
Well, could be that its true, and they really dont want people to know about it.

OR it promises more then they can deliver, and therefor they take it down because they dont want people to be dissapointed when they announce the actual specs.
If it's the former, then fudge, that thing could potentially kick out Sony from any competition and put Nintendo at a huge disadvantage.

If it's the latter (Which is more realistic), then people are gonna have a huge backlash against Microsoft, and while they may or may not get kicked out of the Race, it'll give Sony and Nintendo a better chance of fighting them.
 

Agayek

Ravenous Gormandizer
Oct 23, 2008
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So what you're saying here is that Microsoft has never heard of the Streissand Effect and is being stupid?

Not really a surprise there.
 

Tradjus

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Apr 25, 2011
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If it really -is- a fake, what reason would they have to not come right out and say it's a fake? Seriously, what exactly would they lose by doing that? If it is fake, and they're doing this stupid "Take it down everywhere and hope for the best" tactic they must be aware that they are only validating it in the eyes of everyone. Microsoft isn't made up of a bunch of chest slapping gorillas, they know stuff about the internet.
 

XMark

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Maybe they're about to make their official announcement and they don't want any confusion between the leak and their new announcement?
 

Baldr

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Jan 6, 2010
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The document is real as far as Microsoft did not deny when given the chance. It also old, as in 2 years, so a lot could have changed.
 

Preacher zer0

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Jun 13, 2010
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It's a controlled reaction test.

It's not a fake, nor is it "real" but it did come from MS.

It's the same school of thought that saw Apple "accidentally" lose an iphone in a bar before release.

Stuff like this simply does not happen by mistake.
 

grigjd3

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Mar 4, 2011
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You know, the law of Microsoft rumors is that they are always true. Of course, there must, at some point, somewhere, be the exception, right?
 

uncanny474

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Jan 20, 2011
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DVS BSTrD said:
It certainly is a suspicious degree of damage control.
I See What You Did There.

OT: You're right, Andy, it COULD be a legit document that they don't want consumers to see... OR they could just be trying to stop consumers to get their hopes up because the document is fake.

Seriously? Eight-core processor? Full backwards compatability? A working Kinect?

Give me a break. Next you're going to say it doesn't need to be plugged in because it's powered by Cold Fusion.

EDIT: I'm not saying that it's IMPOSSIBLE (except for the working Kinect), but I AM saying that we're talking about a machine more powerful than my computer, which cost me about a thousand or so USD and is about 2 years old. Selling something like that for 300 USD is just madness. They're not just taking a loss, they're HOBBLING themselves.
 

Formica Archonis

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Nov 13, 2009
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Dexter111 said:
It's over here for everyone to get: http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-SiteFiles/images-news-xbox720/xbox720doc.pdf
I didn't care about it when it was leaked. Now that they don't want me to have it, I want a copy even if it's fake.

So thanks for the link.:)
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
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I call the reverse Streisand Effect: They deny it to hype up publicity intentionally, and gauge market desire for a product still in design.
 

antipunt

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Jan 3, 2009
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Anyone else think of the Pen with the red-light in MIB?

...

or was it just me

.__.