Smaller XBox 1.5 Rumored In Japan

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamesindustry.biz article rounding up the Japanese rumors that an XBox 1.5 will launch later this year. It seems Japanese magazines such as WAM and Dorimaga are reporting a smaller-sized XBox will be launched alongside the flagship Japanese RPG True Fantasy Live Online. But the article suggests that "..it's not expected that any changes will be made to the internals of the system, however - this is, by all accounts, a purely cosmetic makeover."

Comments

Mirrored for the lazy

[Anonymous Coward]

Xbox 1.5 rumours gather speed in Japan Rob Fahey 16:17 03/06/2003 Now less likely to maim small children when falling off tables? A number of Japanese magazines are reporting that Microsoft is moving ahead with plans to release a redesigned Xbox, dubbed "Xbox 1.5", which will come in a significantly smaller case than the original model. Weekly magazine WAM has reported that the new system will be launched alongside the MMORPG True Fantasy Live in Japan later this year - a move which would make sense, given that True Fantasy Live is one of Microsoft's key hopes for invigorating sales of the Xbox in that territory. Also reporting on the new Xbox is respected Japanese games magazine Dorimaga, which speculates that the forthcoming hardware revision is the reason why Japan has not seen an Xbox price cut in the last few months - with the price of the old hardware expected to drop when the new version appears on the market. Many commentators fully expected Microsoft to unveil a revised version of the Xbox hardware at E3, following long-running criticism of the bulky casing of the console. It's not expected that any changes will be made to the internals of the system, however - this is, by all accounts, a purely cosmetic makeover. Source: GamerFeed

Re:Smaller Controls Too?

[PainKilleR-CE]

I wonder if the standard controls will be smaller too. I heard a lot of people complain that the size of the controller made it difficult to handle for people with small hands. My five year old prefers to put it on the carpet rather than hold it.

The standard controller on all current XBox systems is the S controller that MS released after the Japanese market rejected the original XBox controller. I had to buy the original XBox controller seperately because I like the bigger controller.

However, if you're looking for a smaller controller than the S controller, I think you're SOL, because there really isn't much chance of it getting any smaller.

V1.5 naming scheme

[Hellraisr]

It might be prudent to note here that there are already three versions of the Xbox.

V1.0, V1.1, and V1.2. These all have minor hardware changes in them, but look the same externally. I suspect most of the changes were to stop the mod-chips from working.

So basically the reason it is called 1.5 is that it is just a new version (and they probably will change it a small amount to render current mod chips useless)

All consoles have various revisions which may or may not change how it looks on the outside. So it's not really a big deal, it's expected.