Xbox 360 & Next-Gen Live Specifications Leaked

Tim Grube writes "Gaming Horizon is reporting that the Xbox Live 360 specifications and console specifications have been leaked. Xbox Live on the next generation is said to have two version, a free one and a subscriber one. The Xbox 360 iself will have a DVD-RW, be Wi-Fi Ready, contain 3 USB ports, and have 512 GDDR3 RAM."

Comments

Re:Nothing shocking

[p4ul13]

It is annoying that everythign is custom. That means no upgrading other then by buying a new box from MS.

Well it is a console game system. If you're concerned about upgrading your game system then this might not be your system. A PC gaming rig might be more appropriate.

Myself I'm curious to compare this to the PS3 specs when we see them. I love my PS2. I'm not really a fan of MS software, but am open to the possibility of them producing a good console system.

Economies of scale

[Corpus_Callosum]

Microsoft does have a lot of latitude because of the economies of scale that the XBox 360 will offer. If Microsoft knows for a fact that they will sell 20 million consoles (or 30 million, or whatever), then it gives them pricing power.

Not only power, it gives them the ability to practically dictate prices for parts. Everyone seems awestruck that MS might use DDR3 or a 3core PPC or toss in a DVD burner. Why? Because they are expenseive at frys?

Once past a certain volume, manufacturing DDR3 won't be any more expensive than any other ram. Same with a new processor or even a DVD burner.

This is where economies of scale can be used to crush competitors. MS may have figured out that it can leapfrog the current state-of-the-art by guaranteeing volume to manufacturers of new technology. If so, watch out - they might use this to springboard a play out of Apple's book.

Imagine if Longhorn is released at the same time as a PC that is built out of the same contracted parts (but perhaps more of them and higher clocked) as the XBox 360. MS getting into the hardware business with a system a generation ahead of everyone else?

Frankly, the idea terrifies me. But I wouldn't put it past Bill. He is watching Apple and doesn't want his old nemesis to stomp on his pride anymore.

Whatever the case, this should be interesting...