Could the next XBox be called Xbox 8?

Mark Rein the Vice President of Epic Games has caused a storm today, flat out confirming that their next-gen creation Unreal Engine 4 is already up and running on next-gen hardware, as some of you will know the next UE is host to the stunning Samaritan tech demo and with games like Gears of War, Batman and a whole host of others firmly established using previous editions of their award winning game engine this is big news for the future of gaming.

It was only recently at the DICE summit which was held in Las Vegas that Mark Rein confirmed that they (Epic) would reveal Unreal Engine 4 to the public, I would love to put my money on an E3 showing too, while Microsoft and Sony are playing hardball with details of their next gen hardware, this engine is multi platform, they can easily demonstrate the future of gaming and just say its the PC version, so keep your eyes peeled for details over the coming weeks.

Rein has already stated that Unreal Engine 4 is currently running on “systems we can’t name yet”.

With reports of current Alpha builds of the next Xbox already being in circulation, which is now speculated to be called “XBOX 8”, with it being the eighth generation of home consoles and this would also coincide with the upcoming release of both Windows 8 and the Windows Phone 8, turning the number 8 into a name just as much as Apple turned the “i” to its own purpose.

It has been reported that the next-gen console was on display by invite only during CES 2012, running a beefed up next-gen visuals version of Battlefield 3 which we expect would have been on par to high-spec PC systems, but as Microsoft previously reported that there would be no next-gen Xbox announcement at E3 2012, its not likely we will see any hardware until next year, but as I’ve already said, game engines like UE are cross platform and there is nothing stopping demos for Wii-U and PC doing the rounds.

Source: ThisIsXbox