MS deny 'new Xbox' Natal speculation

News - While redesigned case hinted

Despite rumours emerging over the weekend suggesting that Microsoft could be readying a new iteration of the Xbox console to release alongside Natal in autumn 2010, the platform holder have played down talk of new hardware.

"Don't believe nonsense on the internet is all I'll say," an MS insider told Eurogamer. "We'll do the right thing for Natal."

Speculation had suggested that a new console would be introduced alongside Natal, giving developers more power to play with as well as offering backwards-compatibility. This is apparently not the case, however.

"I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation," explained Xbox boss Aaron Greenberg today.

"With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary."

That said, we do still hear talk of a new Xbox 360 SKU, but we're told this will be a case-change only, nothing hardware-specific - perhaps changing the aesthetics of the console in the same fashion as the PSone and PStwo. More soon.