We’ve been hearing on and off again rumors about the next Xbox and what it’s going to entail. We first got word that its codename is “Durango” at Microsoft and then a leaked document confirmed much of what we had been hearing. What we don’t know, however, is the real name of the next Xbox? Will it be Xbox 720 or something else entirely?

Microsoft recently won two domain disputes at the National Arbitration Forum that may point to what the company has planned for the next Xbox. While some of the disputes were of the usual boring stuff like XboxPhone.com and XboxTablet.com, there were two domains of particular interest – Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org.

What could this magical number 8 mean to Microosft? Oh, of course, it’s Windows 8, the next hotly-anticipated OS release from Microsoft. What could the Xbox 8 mean though? Microsoft could be pushing for a closer relationship between Xbox and Windows as they have been pushing their own products onto Xbox 360 in the past like Silverlight and Bing. It would make sense to push for more solidarity between the Xbox and Windows brand.

You could argue that the Xbox 360 is already a Windows 8 machine. Last year’s dashboard update brought a look and feel that was reminiscent of the Metro interface found in Windows 8. Just a few more aesthetic and mechanical improvements and we could have Windows 8 up and running on the Xbox.

Of course, this could all just be Microsoft going for a domain land grab to protect any and all future interests. They might not have any plans at all. Still, it does stoke the speculation fires for gamers who want any and all new information regarding the next Xbox.

All I can say that is that Xbox 8 is a pretty bad name. Consumers are already aware and love the Xbox 360 brand. Going with Xbox 720 would continue that brand awareness just like the PlayStation 2 to PlayStation 3. They could pull a Nintendo, however, and rename the new console something vastly different each generation. As long as they keep Xbox in the name, consumers will be mostly happy.

[h/t: Fusible]