A new post on Pastebin may shake up and potentially ruin much of what we have come to believe about the next-gen Xbox, if it is indeed accurate.
An anonymous poster, claiming to be a NeoGAF member, claims to have some insider information about the console, much of which goes against the many different rumors about the system. One of these statements refutes the idea that the next-gen Xbox would require an internet connection, and claims Microsoft had no intention of ever implementing that strategy.
"First of all, for any of the GAF members reading this (or anyone else for that matter) that actually believed the online-required rumor, well.... you're either stupid, very gullible, or a fanboy. Reading the posts some of you made over the past few weeks leads me to believe that mostly fanboyism was involved. So, I'll make this very clear: You are not required to be connected to the internet in order to play Durango games and MS (Microsoft) were NEVER considering doing such a thing," the poster writes.
Furthermore, the poster also claims that, while the leaked specs for the console's hard drive are mostly accurate, Microsoft has included technology that will allow backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games, despite what has been reported elsewhere. The poster also believes that the Kinect 2.0 is much like it has been reported, except for it will be even faster and have no visible lag.
If these rumors are to be believed, then they would change much of what gamers can expect from the system, which is due for a holiday release. However, like all rumors and speculations about high-profile projects like the next-gen Xbox, unless an official announcement is made by Microsoft, treat it with skepticism. There is no proof that he/she is any more credible than the other potential leaks about the system.