There have been rumors flying in every direction for the new Xbox (720, Next, whatever you want to call it), but this one sounds almost legit. The new Xbox may come without a disc drive and rely solely on a network connection to play games. While this would be great for those with a high speed internet connection, but for those without (or those that have one Xbox in one room and another Xbox in a different room with no network), it’s a no-sale right off the bat. I really like online content, downloads, streaming and buying games online (Steam is not only a wallet killer during sales, but a great way to keep content).

But, going online ONLY for a console doesn’t sound quite as enticing. It’s just one more pain in the butt to get it going. For pre-ordering games and having them pre-download and then activate at midnight the day of release would be awesome, when I buy a six month old game and have to wait a day or two to actually play it is not.

“Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend its lifecycle like introducing the world to controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention. Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation.”