Rumor: Next Xbox will have a tablet like controller

Not so long ago, we brought you a story about how Sony had patented a touch-screen controller-type device. Now, if “sources” are to be believed, Microsoft’s going to be getting in on the act.

A post on the NeoGAF forums quotes some text from the UK’s Xbox World Magazine, which offers some rumors about what might be going on with the next generation of Xbox’s controllers:

“The next Xbox will be a matt-black media hub with a mission to bring games to life in your living room with augmented reality, directional sound, and a four-player finger-tracking Kinect. We told you all that last month. This month, our sources tell us it will have a touchscreen, too.

“Microsoft are experimenting with a tablet-like controller with a shape closer to Sony’s sleek Vita handheld / Apple’s iPad than Wii U’s bulky unit – it’s an HD screen surrounded by the traditional 360 buttons and sticks.

“On 360 that touchscreen will be second only to Kinect in how you operate your console. It could be a remote control when you’re watching TV, a browser when you’re on the internet, extra buttons and information when playing a game or a portable display when you want to take your game with you.”

Note that the magazine seems to cite their “sources.”

I’d like to clarify that “sources” and “guesses” do not mean the same thing.

Of course, this isn’t the first bit of rumor that points to a tablet-based, touch-screen controller for the next iteration of Xbox. A post on Gamespot from last month offered similar claims to peering within the crystal ball:

“There are strong signs suggesting that, like with Nintendo’s Wii U, a tablet component figures heavily into the new design. That saucy Windows 8 Metro interface (now also seen on the Xbox Dashboard) just begs to be touched. Speculation as to the form it will take has been rife for the past few months, with some even suggesting that the core of the new platform will be akin to a tablet PC that wirelessly connects to a base station, which in turn plugs into your TV. If this is the case, a premium Xbox Next setup could feasibly include a base station, a tablet, a conventional controller of some kind, and the recently discussed high-def evolution of the Kinect.”

I’ll say this now: it’s possible. But I don’t think it’s terribly likely. I have a feeling that the Wii U and its touchscreen controllers already going to cost a pretty penny, and that’s with hardware that brings it up to about equal, or maybe slightly higher than the processing power of the current generation of Xbox and PS3 consoles. So, if Sony and Microsoft move their hardware to the next generation of power—which should, theoretically, be of a reasonably higher power than what’s under the current generation’s hood—I can’t imagine a cost-effective way of throwing a touchscreen in there too.

By way of example, the Kindle Fire tablet, which is pretty under-powered and bare bones in many ways, costs consumers $200, and the company takes a loss on every single one sold, making up the revenue in the content that’s purchased for it. Maybe I’ll be eating my words when/if we find out more in a few months’ time, but I seriously doubt that a touchscreen controller will be cost effective for Microsoft’s next console. Maybe later on down in the system’s lifespan the company will introduce touchscreen-style controllers, allowing them to extend the system’s lifespan—like they did with the Kinect. But I’m very doubtful that they’ll be pimping those out at launch.