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Microsoft Unveils Smaller Xbox 360 Model, Kinect Details
E3 kicked off today, and Microsoft took advantage of its early keynote presentation to show off a ton of new games and features for the Xbox 360. The biggest news for the very near future is that they're releasing a smaller, revamped version of the console, with immediate availability. It's black, it comes with a 250GB HDD and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi support, and it's priced at $299. Microsoft also put a release date on Kinect, the motion control scheme formerly known as Project Natal: November 4 in the US. It will launch with 15 games, mostly casual-oriented, several of which were demonstrated on-stage. Many new Kinect features were shown as well, such as the dashboard interface, video chat (with support for playing movies both parties can watch), and a partnership with ESPN to provide live and on-demand sports, all controllable with hand gestures and voice commands. (It presently includes college football and basketball, soccer, the NBA, and MLB.) Also notable is a partnership with LucasArts for a Kinect Star Wars game, a fitness game from Ubisoft, and a Forza racing game that uses Kinect and allows players to inspect the cars with an impressive level of detail. Engadget's liveblog of the event has a bunch of pictures from the demonstrations, or you can read a more detailed play-by-play at Ars.
Kinect is exciting and I'll get it but the biggest announcement had to be the ESPN agreement. That's a cable killer right there depending on how blackout/regional rules apply.
"Fighting the underpants gnomes since 1998!" "Bruce Schneier knows the state of schroedinger's cat"
The game trailer post show had that grey shirt guy on and stated the extra port is just for power, you can use it with an old xbox but you will need to plug it in to the wall separately.
??? you can charge your MP3 player when your computer is off?
Do you consider sounding like a small jet turbine to be a problem?
I do.
I'm wondering if that problem has gone away yet.
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Does Blu-Ray matter at this point?
I don't like using my consoles for other things. I used my PS2 as a DVD player for years, but it wasn't as nice as a real DVD player, interface wise. I've used my PS3 once or twice as a Blu-Ray player, but the interface isn't as nice as a stand alone device.
The big reason the PS3 having Blu-Ray was so great was because the console cost $500 or $600, and a Blu-Ray player cost $400 to $700. It was like buying the Blu-Ray player and getting a console for free. The PS3 also supposed updated profiles that older hardware wouldn't.
But at this point, there will be $100 players this Thanksgiving. It's not a bad feature, but I'm not sure it would really move any additional XBox 360s.
It would increases the fees to make the thing thanks to licensing though. And like additional RAM, games couldn't take advantage of it without writing off all of the millions of units already sold, so the storage wouldn't be useful for games.
A separate little box (like they did with the HD-DVD player) would work much better, in my opinion.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Do you really want a blu-ray player, AND an HTPC, AND an Xbox 360, etc. cluttering up your living room (or in the case of some slashdotters, mom's basement ;))? I for one, do not. I do like components for my stereo system, but when it comes to blu-ray, HTPC, and gaming consoles - those are all tasks well suited for a single device.
So yes, Blu-ray would be a valuable feature at this juncture.
I'm sorry, I can't picture current Xbox 360 owners lining up to buy new consoles for this incremental upgrade. The few people left who are into gaming but don't yet own an Xbox are the only real market for it, and personally I've been holding out hoping that they (Microsoft) will finally concede that HD-DVD was a huge mistake and release an Xbox 360 with blu-ray. NIH (not invented here) has never been a problem for Microsoft (since they usually copy everyone else - poorly), so why is it a problem when it comes to Blu-ray?
I might buy this Xbox - but then again, I might wait a bit longer. I already have a rack full of AV components so do I really need another box to further increase clutter?
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
So plug them into anything else that does USB host?
Mine plug into the HTPC to charge.
Does Blu-Ray matter at this point?
Actually, yes, it does. Two of my (non-geek) friends are looking at buying PS3 specifically because of BluRay support - and said that otherwise they would have probably taken Xbox.
Yes, but due to a touch of brilliance, the controllers won't charge if the console isn't on.
Neither does apple charge ipod when their computers are off. Hmm, there's that word: off, wonder what that means... But at least with the PS3's controllers, you can plug them into any USB socket to charge them. Computer, wall-wart or my favorite, the DVR.
At no point did I think that you were a shill, paid or otherwise, but I also did not think those you accused of being shills neither. There was equal possibility of any of you being shills, pretty much none.
I just thought it was pretty much like calling someone an asshole, it hurts your arguments.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Awww come on now! Look at the history of overpriced peripherals and how well they take off. I'm sure this one will do just as good as all the others have in the past. The SEGA CD was a huge success (don't look it up, just trust me) The 32x breathed new life (**cough**) into cartridge games. Sony's EyeToy (a.k.a. a freaking web cam) changed the world with it's "interactive, you're in the game" fun, at least Sony and the 15 people that bought it did. overpriced peripherals do one thing, and one thing only. Fracture a market. Is it sad to say I'm more excited to see what the hacking community comes up with once they've got drivers for the Kinect running on a PC.