If Microsoft 
was looking to ratchet up the stakes in its ongoing battle with Sony, it sure managed to do so with Tuesday’s hiring of Phil Harrison.
In addition to filling the Redmond-based company’s quota of tall, bald game industry superstars, Harrison brings an insight into how things work at Sony that Microsoft has had to guess at for years. And, after being out of the spotlight for the past few years, he’s likely coming in hungry to make his mark.
Microsoft still 
isn’t talking about the successor to the Xbox 360, but that’s not stopping the grapevine from speculating about the new features it will offer.
The company received a patent late last year for a device that would serve as both a game console and a digital video recorder — and that has people wondering if the next Xbox will have an even bigger role in the living room.
In his latest IG 
column, veteran journo Chris Morris addresses the Xbox 720 rumormill and offers up advice for Microsoft’s next console.
As whispers of a looming next generation Xbox announcement grow to a fever pitch, it’s hard to open a browser window these days without encountering a screaming headline about the still unannounced system (which, more often than not, contradicts what another outlet is claiming).
While the truth about what Microsoft has in store will find its way to the light eventually – likely next year in some way at some point – there has been precious little discussion on what the system needs to do to ensure it matches (or betters) the success of the Xbox 360. With that in mind, we’ve got a few humble suggestions about what Microsoft should – and shouldn’t – do with its next generation console.
While Microsoft 
hasn’t uttered a peep about the next iteration of the Xbox, it’s one of the industry’s worst kept secrets that development is well underway. Now, a new rumor from a blog that has a decent track record when it comes to Microsoft information has a few new theories about what we can expect.
If MS Nerd is correct, the Xbox 720 (or Xbox Next, or whatever Microsoft decides to call it) is currently being developed under the codename “Loop” — and the machine may run on a modified version of Windows 9.
Chris Morris: Journalist 