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New Version of Xbox 360 Rumoured
Carlo Becchi writes "According to Engadget a new version of the Xbox 360 is on the way. The next version of the console is codenamed 'Zephyr', and sports a bigger disk (120 Gb), better manufacturing process (65nm) and HDMI digital out up to 1080p. From the article: 'The 120GB drive may or may not come bundled with the kit, we don't yet know, just as we also don't yet know how much a Zephyr 360 is going to run (we imagine it'll go for the same price as currently so they can keep up a little on their expanding margin).'" It should be pointed out at this point the whole story is a fairly convincing photo and leaks from 'a source'. Take with a grain of salt.
Will it come with a built-in HD-DVD drive, or will I still be expected to pay $200 for that add-on?
My Sysadmin Blog
I know they'll sell like hotcakes then. Especially if they smelled like hot cakes!
Future ruler of a small Asian-Pacific island
For the current Pro model? Maybe making it the core system... So everybody gets a HDD... I hope this happens soon...
Onward to the Aether Sphere!
One certainty is that whether the XBox 360 does include HD-DVD, the games are going to be stuck on DVD. Seeing the massive strains placed on DVD by having FMV, higher textures & polys etc., this is going to be a thorn in their side for the lifetime of the 360.
There is also the question of what happens to the current models. My guess is that the "core" will go the way of the dodo, the existing premium will become core until stocks run out and then this one will take over but keeping the elevated price point.
While your at it add built in wifi and a quieter DVD-ROM drive.
I doubt MS would have a built-in HD-DVD drive. For one thing, I don't believe the transfer speeds of the HD-DVD (reading DVD discs) are as fast as the current DVD drive. Also, I believe MS has stated several times that they believe the future of movie distribution is over the internet and their movie download service has been doing pretty good and they benefit directly from those sales vs sales of a HD-DVD addon.
Now that 360 sales are relatively strong, let's announce a new update that won't be out for a while but be so much cooler (both figuratively and literally :) than the one sitting on shelves right now. Yeah, that's a good idea. This isn't a PC where updates happen so often you might as well bite the bullet as soon as you're ready. This is a console and people really will wait if they think something better is right around the corner.
Each of these features has been previously announced or strongly hinted at. Is it any surprise that we're getting evidence of it actually being implemented?
Well, that and the fact that I'm about to go back to university and won't have enough time to enjoy a 360 until the summer. Still, by then the number of AAA titles will be much higher, and I expected at least a model with a bigger HDD and maybe an HDMI cable as standard. Looks like my guesses were pretty much on the money (if this "leak" is true), but it didn't take much brains to guess that. With the PS3 arriving here in Europe sometime this year, MS need to reduce the number of hardware specifications they are "losing" on vs Sony's machine - if only so Joe Public doesn't look at the specs and think "hey the new PlayStation is much better than the Xbox, and no wonder since that's been in the shops for 18 months now". 120GB of storage is twice that of the premium PS3 model, and 1080p out of the box would satisfy a lot of the videophiles out there.
Fact is, the general public (and gamers who feel safe and familiar with the PlayStation brand) are under the impression that the PS3 will decimate the 360 right from Day 1, and MS need to show that their console is already running at full steam with high specs and an impressive catalogue of games.
This is all written from the perspective of a European gamer, so the battle is still to really start here.
This new model will become the new 'premium' and the old premium the new 'core'; price for both will remain the same.
;p
And if MS really love me they would offer some kind of trade in plan for those that bought the 20GB drives
HDMI isn't a huge deal for me. It'd be nice, but I only have one HDMI input on my TV anyway and the cablebox is using it. Component 720p already looks quite good.
- "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
MS has not announced any new update other than they will be using the 65nm process for future 360's. This is all rumor so far. As for updates, these changes don't suddenly make the old 360's stop working nor does it make future games require these updates. So unlike PCs, these updates don't introduce any compatibility issues.
They're just trying to win Wired's 2007 Vaporware Awards. They figure if they leak it now they have a whole year to build it up. It's good marketing
There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. -Victor Hugo
so it IS surprising then?
MS presents the Xbox 361: The Do-Over Edition
as long as they offer a 120gb upgrade for older 360s that would be fine with me. there are currently hacks out that let you use any HD of any size, but the MS firmware drivers have hardcoded 20GB limits in them, so even if you hook up a 500GB hard drive, it only can use 20GB. with this coming update, you should then be able to use your own drive up to 120GB. (you can't put movies or demos on any media drives you connect, only the main drive)
If they really want to "embrace and extend" they'll have to include a WiiRemote.
Use some of that horsepower to include the new interface, and I'm in!!!
I swear the FAA calls me every time I turn on my 360 to play a game. A couple of times, seismologists have dropped in to see what was going on.
There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
I know Microsoft has said they will not allow games to be shipped on HD-DVD, but frankly that stance will change due to pressure from major game companies who want to make cross console ports as simple as possible. There were already a number of game developers complaining about space even at launch, and that voice will just become stronger until Microsoft can no longer resit it.
All it takes is EA saying "you know what, Madden is just a little too big this year to fit on the 360 so we're going to have to cut you out".
I predict the launch of Halo 3 will involve in some way HD-DVD - it may be anything from an extras disc that comes on HD-DVD, to a deluxe version of the game on HD-DVD with a DVD version available as well with reduced content or graphics. Given that they are going to be forced to move to greater HD-DVD support anyway, the marketing opportunity is too good to miss.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Could this be a hoax? Maybe a clever photoshop job?
So I bought the SXRD sony TV thinking the SVGA support actually supports 1080p. Picked up the xbox VGA cable and well, that was a waste of money. no dice didn't work at all.
The sony TV doesn't do 1080p through component so meh, I'm screwed. Now if they release an HDMI compliant 360, they sure as hell better release a cable as well for the existing owners! I"m not going to buy another 360 so I can have 1080p.
Hopefully they don't start releasing 1080p games because that is the only place I see a difference. Blu-ray 1080p, and the HD-DVD addon (1080i) I have yet to see any noticable difference. Now, gran turismo HD, when it was on my old 1080i HDTV didn't look all that great. Actually PGR3 looked better, BUT, in 1080p I noticed a huge difference..
MrJynx
I picked up a cheapie refurb Netgear 'print server' for about $50 on ebay - one thing to fiddle with and gives me four physical network sockets.
I'd kill for a quieter drive - OR better still, caching to the 360 HD. I don't mind buying a bigger HD, leaving the disk in the drive, whatever it takes - but I'm damned if I'll sit looking at loading screens as my room vibrates when I bought the damn thing with an HD. PS3 can do it, it's only a firmware update, c'mon MS...
are 360s starting to look more and more like computers, following the computer business model? consistent hardware upgrades, new versions, accessories, etc. etc.? Why buy a 360 when you can get high end gaming computer and do more things with your purchase?
I am not a fanboy, I been gaming all my life (29 now), and have no real bias towards any platform.
With that said, can they please do something about the noise levels? Sometimes playing Oblivion I feel the 360 is about to take off or something. Don't get me wrong, the HDD upgrade would be nice as would the 1080P, etc. But in terms of enjoyment, I would be so much happier if it was just quiet!
I guess asking to copy the CD to the HDD the first time you play and let you play without the disc is asking too much right? (Yeah, I realize the pirates would be on that in a second.)
I cannot imagine any legal or technical reason they cannot let people put downloaded demos
and videos to an external HD. Its all DRMed, and if its a demo, who cares. Please MS. Why have these
stupid restrictions, note to you the gaming managers/engineers, you're too quiet, make some noise
or else you're just a typical monkey at MS. No balls at all. Be more vocal, get a clue from Steve Jobs.
As in the arstechnica article, stop giving excuses that 20gig is enough, tell the business analysts to F-OFF.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
That "number of game developers" was really just one.
Oh really?
Quoting:
"According to Game Informer, nearly every developer they talked to at X05 expressed difficulties fitting their launch titles onto a single disc."
To which Microsoft can reply, "Just use your Wii graphic assets, since you're still going to ship there on a DVD-9
To which EA will reply, have you not noticed that the games and control schemes going for the Wii are generally different? Or simply reply "fine then we're pulling Madden like we said". Microsoft is not the one in a position of strength here to make demands.
Sure the X-Men game was similar. But for every one of those you have games like SSX Blur that looks quite different, there are a number of upcoming games that take that approach since the system and controls are so different.
Besides, do you (or more specifically Microsoft) really want the head to head reviews where the XBox 360 graphics are on par with the Wii and the PS3 is scoring far higher visually? This is another aspect of the lower storage capacity I have been predicting, that after some time in head to head the 360 will look weaker graphically than the PS3 (even though it is not) exactly because textures are simplified, eliminated, or more greatly compressed. Why should the 360 developer and user suffer with a limitation on storage that is needless?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Will it come with REAL downloadable content?
No this isn't a link to a joke. This is a video of the new build, running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcACuy4x8nA
You aren't free to do anything, until you've lost everything.
How long before this Xbox becomes fully expandable, except it will now be called the XPC and run Vista, and to run any software on it, you'll need to use software that has received a Microsoft license. At about this time, there won't be many new games for a "normal" PC and other software apps will be well-on-their-way to being "ported" to the new platform.
Is that true? I have noticed a big difference in sound, between the 2, but is it strictly the DVD drive? or do these DVD based games require more of the system, thus it has to crank the fans also to keep it cool?
Play any demo game you can download without a DVD in the drive. No jet engines. It isn't the fans, it's the DVD.