Xbox 720 surfaces online much to the delight of fans

Xbox fans are amazed at what could have been if Microsoft had gone a different way and allowed the Xbox 720 to be born. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, but the missed opportunity it presents is hard to ignore.

The Xbox One never seemed to fare quite as well as the PS4 upon release. Certainly people bought it, and were very happy with their purchase, but it didn’t exactly challenge what Sony was offering. And after the Xbox 360, the Xbox One just felt characterless.

Now it’s come to light that the Xbox One was meant to be the Xbox 720, complete with Kinect, all for just $299 (£235.87 for anyone shopping in pounds). Can you imagine how easily that would have “crushed” PlayStation at the time? The PS4 sold for $399, meaning Xbox would have not only been the cheaper option, but also the more generous package with the Kinect included.

Let's focus on the positives now – like Persona 3 Reload and its imminent release!

“How could they f**k up so bad?” asked one gamer. “The worst thing is that even 10 years later, it feels that Xbox never really recovered from the Xbox One launch.” Another added, “We were on the verge of greatness, we were this close.”

As wonderful as it is to discover this piece of gaming history, it’s a bittersweet discovery that makes us curse the marketing decisions made at that time. Furthermore, with Xbox having now ceased production of physical video games, Xbox is set to get more expensive than PlayStation – it’s yet another nail in the coffin Xbox users could do without.

We do have the Xbox Series now, which, most of the time, is well received. However, given the limitations of the Series S, it’s always the X that’s championed. Moreover, when it comes to launches, it’s always the S that delays them, which again puts Xbox on the back foot.

I still love my Xbox and always will. But we need to get real for a minute and admit that we were robbed of greatness by never getting the Xbox 720.