THE BUZZ: According to emerging rumors, Microsoft is set to release a cheaper Xbox, known as Xbox Lite, before its true next-generation console launches.

Infamous Microsoft source MS Nerd suggests that a new ARM-based Xbox 360 model will launch late 2013 for around $100, with Microsoft’s next-generation console arriving after.

“My understanding is that we’ll see a Xbox device in late 2013 which does Arcade-style games & all the current & future media apps with Kinect (with near-mode). It will be an ARM-based platform price-competitive with the Apple TV (if you own a Kinect already),” the source wrote.

“At some point after that, we’ll see a Xbox Next, a true successor to the 360. Details about it are very hazy, except that, like the 360, it will do games for core-audiences & the same media apps as the other device, also with Kinect,” he/she added.

EGM’s TAKE: This new Lite console sounds like it will be aimed at a more casual market than the Xbox 360. The $100 price tag would certainly open the console up to a much larger market. It’s an odd choice by Microsoft to try and enter this market with a console, as the description makes it sound, that functions more like a handheld or smartphone. It will be interesting to see how this one develops, if it even exists.

Source: Reddit