There are a lot of rumors floating around right now regarding the "Xbox 720" and what features and functionality it might ultimately contain.  We thought it would be a good idea to collect those current rumors into one easy to digest news story.

Let's start with the nastiest one, that the Xbox 720 (or whatever the Xbox 360 successor is ultimately called) won't play used games.  This one comes primarily from Kotaku, specifically this story, which refers to it as "some sort of anti-used game system."  Beyond that the details are fuzzy, but personally I can't see any system like this ultimately making it to market (this generation at least).  Not only will it anger used game resellers (including giant industry titan Gamestop), but it'll anger gamers as well who have already been quite vocal about things like the price of digital games rivaling their physical counterparts (when there's perceived to be less value in a digital copy that can't be resold and doesn't come with a manual or box).

Other rumors are much more favorable.  Multiple sites are reporting that the next Xbox will switch from DVD to Blu-ray for its physical media, a move which absolutely makes perfect sense unless Microsoft plans to create its own optical disc format ala the GameCube.  Another rumor has Microsoft shipping the Xbox 720 with a revamped Kinect, featuring an on-board CPU and enhanced performance as a result.

Finally, the hardware in the next Xbox is reportedly six to eight times as powerful as the Xbox 360, and 20% more powerful than the Wii U, whatever those numbers really mean.  The hardware behind all that raw power is rumored to be a 32nm IBM PowerPC CPU, and a GPU based on either an ATI 6000 (similar to the Radeon HD 6670) or ATI 7000 series GPU (we'd guess that's dependent on when exactly it ships).

Speaking of which, and perhaps the most important rumor to any gamer, IGN reports that the system will ship in October or November of Fall 2013.