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

Re:XBox Laptop

[th3space]

this kind of looks like a laptop...but it's a ps2.

1st and 2nd dilluting their brand!

[cgenman]

Ok, so I've been rooting for Nintendo to make a comeback for several years. Unlike Sony, they make hardware that I would like to justify developing for. And unlike Microsoft, I don't have to feel like I'm supporting the destruction of gaming ecology.

But back to the point, with both Sony and Microsoft releasing 1.5 systems, they are going to have a hard time selling more systems in the near future. Sony especially, because the system it is releasing has new features, but whenever a new increment of a system is released and sold the people it is sold to will expect a reasonable lifetime for that system, not just a final year or two before an update. Plus, they lose some of the hype surrounding the next big system from _____, as the last big system just came out. Would we be discussing a slightly smaller X-Box if it wasn't consuming some of the interest in the next generation of systems?

Stopgap measures in the gaming industry have proven fatal for sales time and time again. With both Sony and Microsoft shooting for their toes, perhaps the Nintendo Tessaract will have a better chance in the market.