With the Xbox 720, a Return to Game Cartridges?
 

According to reports by U.K gaming mag MCV, the next generation Xbox – codenamed “Durango” – is due to arrive next year and will not ship with an optical storage drive.

Read more here: With the Xbox 720, a Return to Game Cartridges? | Hardware Canucks

Let's hope so. Disc loading is half of what drove me to gaming pcs :D

It's a nice move to not have to use and pay usage fees for Sony's Blu-rays as HD-DVD fell flat on its ass. Also I imagine you will be able to buy/download your game as you can with released xbox and arcade games. Add those two things together and there isn't much of a need for a plastic medium for the next xbox.

They said cartridge with solid state storage.... interesting... I think the world is going to change to solid state more quickly than I though. No more disks, no more moving parts, USB Keys and SSD tech FTW!

That won't make me buy an XBox though but that's personal. I prefer buying consoles that actually doesn't have pre-built failure notifications because they just fail rarely instead of often. (All, and I mean ALL, of everyone I know had at least one Circle of Death on either their XBox or their XBox 360. Fun fact, a robber actually robbed my friend's broken XBox)

Anything that reduces mechanical parts is a win in my books. as much as little rotating motors really isnt that big of a deal.. a standardized game cartridge or solid state storage technology could have advantages. Download all your games, pop out your drive, take it to the nearest store after purchasing a game to transfer it directly to your drive in a matter of minutes. Also, reduce piracy.

You're talking about something from years ago. The 360 has been a solid piece of hardware for a while now, especially since the launch of the slim.
I for one will pickup the new console because I prefer MS's platform over Sony's (I own both currently).

You are right, slim is pretty solid and I do like MS's UI better. Maybe a bad first impression :rofl:

Is this ends up going to digital downloads game stores will all die :(

If game stores don't already have online shops they are dying. Microsoft will have to outsource the downloads for bandwidth reasons and online shops will be the ones to pick that up.

This is good news. Screw moving parts! Solid state FTW.