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XBox (Games)

New Version of Xbox 360 Rumoured 102

Posted by Zonk from the maybe-maybe-not dept.
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.
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New Version of Xbox 360 Rumoured More

New Version of Xbox 360 Rumoured

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  • HD-DVD?? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by masdog ( 794316 ) <masdog@@@gmail...com> on Friday January 05, 2007 @02:51PM (#17477302)
    Will it come with a built-in HD-DVD drive, or will I still be expected to pay $200 for that add-on?
    • I doubt it, for the same price anyway. A "360 + HD-DVD drive" pack-in bundle is inevitable, but I imagine it would still cost a fair bit - especially if the 360 console in the pack is a new upgraded version.

    • Re:HD-DVD?? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by stoolpigeon ( 454276 ) * <bittercode@gmail> on Friday January 05, 2007 @02:55PM (#17477396) Homepage Journal
      sure.
       
      what? my guess is as good as that of anyone else.
    • Who knows? I think it's technically possible to have an internal HD-DVD drive. Seeing as the drives are apparently so expensive at the moment I can't see Microsoft putting a HD-DVD into the Xbox 360 and keeping the price the same though (even just for the bad PR of making people pay $200 extra for something that then becomes free for the newer model). Perhaps they'd add it as seperate model for a Crap / Premium / HD-DVD lineup or something.
      • Well, analysts were claiming that the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 cost Sony $200 to produce so it is likely that a HD-DVD drive would cost a similar ammount for the XBox 360.

        I would speculate that Microsoft might do this because the XBox 360 currently turns a profit, the redesigned XBox 360 will likely be less expensive to manufacture (by switching to 65nm they should be able to save money on the processors, power supply and cooling; HDMI and a larger hard-drive should not cost that much more than what the XBo
    • 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.
    • Not going to happen. MS will be in no hurry to embrace one of the new dvd formats fully when it can just push its movie download service instead. MS doesn't benefit from HD-DVD the same way Sony benefits from Blu-Ray.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by abigor ( 540274 )
        Microsoft is one of the key backers of HD DVD. They have committed hardware and software support for it. I'm not sure where you are getting your information from.
        • i dont know if i would consider an add-on drive "comitted" it doesnt seem too far fetched that if hd-dvd fails thta MS could then release a blue-ray drive for the 360 aswell.... sony is Committed to Blue-ray, because if the format fails so does the ps3 where if hd-dvd fails, microsoft has the dvd fallback oprion and the ability to backpeddle and release a blue-ray drive...... just my 0.02 cents....

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by donaldm ( 919619 )
          No Microsoft is not a key backer of the HD-DVD consortium, Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC and Memory Tech are. Basically Microsoft is supporting HD-DVD since it throws a spanner in the Bluray consortium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporation s _supporting_Blu-ray) which to them is Sony. If things change and Bluray starts to dominate then you will see Microsoft do a back-flip.

          As far as Microsoft committing to hardware support then you really need to remember that Microsoft is a software company not a hardware

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tonywong ( 96839 )
      Pray that it comes with a 3.5" bay for the HDD so you could theoretically upgrade it to a 750GB drive.
      • WHy do I need a 3.5" bay when an external SATA drive will do just fine?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by donaldm ( 919619 )
        If it just had a USB port like the PlayStation then you can easily attach a larger drive. Why go for the added expense of replacing the dive? You should also be aware that the Xbox360 has a proprietary drive which can be quite expensive. I can't see this changing.

        The most important thing people should be asking is will the HD-DVD drive be used for games and if it is then there are going to be some very pissed off console gamers forced to "up-grade" their machines.

        I think Microsoft is now starting to realise

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by trcooper ( 18794 ) *
      MS is on the record as saying that the HD-DVD drive will never be built in. Read this article, page 3. http://arstechnica.com/articles/headstart.ars [arstechnica.com]

      I have to agree, not only are they tying their users to a format that may or may not be a success, I'd rather have the drive as an addon, because on all of these consoles the most likely things to go are the optical drives. Less stress on the main one, the better.

      MS isn't as interested in the success of HD-DVD as sony is about BD either. Sony has always want
    • Will it come with REAL downloadable content? [teamxbox.com]

  • Platinum Version (Score:5, Funny)

    by The_Pariah ( 991496 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @02:58PM (#17477438)
    Give me the ultimate version option, one with built in HD-DVD, Wireless, HDMI, and the 120GB HD. I'd pay $600 for that version.

    I know they'll sell like hotcakes then. Especially if they smelled like hot cakes!

  • And a price drop (Score:5, Interesting)

    by glenrm ( 640773 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @02:58PM (#17477440) Homepage Journal
    For the current Pro model? Maybe making it the core system... So everybody gets a HDD... I hope this happens soon...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Thansal ( 999464 )
      If that were to happen I would be rather tempted to buy one.

      I just might end up with a console from each of the 3 players (Wii, PS2, 360), and this after having only one console (GC).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by glenrm ( 640773 )
        I will be getting a 360 when this happens, the question is how to get a Wii (congrats to you on getting one), everyplace I go they are out of stock, at least I can enjoy Final Fantasy on the DS Lite in the meantime.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Thansal ( 999464 )
          Oh, heh, I havn't bought a Wii yet, Though living in NYC lets me just camp out overnight at the Nintendo Worlds store if I really want to (they apparently get shippments almost every day). I also havn't bought a PS2 yet as I am tryign to find a good bundle pack.

          My current addiciton is Castlevania:PoR on the DS.
          • Good addiction. Dracula is pissing me off. So is the conductor guy at the bottom of the Nest of Evil. They're both jerks.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by ender- ( 42944 )
          the question is how to get a Wii (congrats to you on getting one), everyplace I go they are out of stock,

          Well, the Fry's in Arlington, TX had about 15 of them 2 days ago, while I was buying an Xbox 360. They also had about 25 PS3s and a small mountain of Xbox360s.

          I don't know if they were being sold as a bundle or anything. I just saw the wall of PS3 and Wii boxes in the cage behind the registers, and heard the cashier commenting on how many they had.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by MooseMuffin ( 799896 )
      I don't think so. It doesn't make sense to continue producing the pro version. Right now, the 2 models are the same, except for the HD and pack in accessories. Continuing to produce a non-hdmi, 90nm variant makes 0 sense. I would predict this taking the place of the current pro version, with the core version also getting the hdmi/65nm upgrade, but still shipping sans HD. Price points remain unchanged until the holidays.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by llZENll ( 545605 )
        I agree, the big issue is the 90nm, with the 65nm they will be making a lot more chips per wafer, which are much cheaper which drives everything, there will be absolutely no reason to produce any more 90nm chips.

        Since drives are so dirt cheap, what could happen is the pro version comes with 120gb while the core version comes with 20gb drive, this would make a lot of sense since MS wants to push their videos and demos, which you can only get with a HD, for the manf cost of a 20gb drive, probably less than $2

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by *weasel ( 174362 )
      I doubt the 'core' system is going away.
      Having a SKU without a HD lets them advertise a unit price that Sony will never be able to match*.
      It also lets them remain price-competitive with Nintendo.

      *Sure, Sony could match the price by taking horrible losses on hardware for the life of their console, as Microsoft did last go-round trying to keep up with the PS2. But I don't see Sony being in a position to do that.
  • The PS3 raised the bar by including HDMI, blu-ray support, a hard disk by default, wi-fi and some other bits and pieces. Microsoft have to update the XBox 360 to compete with that. What remains to be seen is whether the thing will include HD-DVD or would that cause MS to find themselves having to hike their prices to PS3 levels.

    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

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by the computer guy nex ( 916959 )
      1) How is HDMI raising the bar? The 360 can already do 1080p now without it.

      2) Blu-Ray support is equivilent to HD-DVD support. The 360 wins here since you have the option of buying it or not.

      3) HD by default is also advantage-360. Many people buy consoles without the need of downloading large amounts of movies/music/demos.

      4) PS3 games over Wifi are horrible. There is a noticable lag difference vs ethernet.

      5) Dual layer DVD's can hold near 10 gigs. PC games have been outputting at "1080p" lik

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        1) How is HDMI raising the bar? The 360 can already do 1080p now without it.

        Because HDMI is the standard for high definition TV. All televisions bearing an HD Ready logo in Europe require it (or DVI-D) and no doubt it's defacto standard in US and Japan, as well as the fact it offers better picture quality.

        2) Blu-Ray support is equivilent to HD-DVD support. The 360 wins here since you have the option of buying it or not.

        Yes, you have the option of buy some strap-on requiring its own power supply or not

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Jzor ( 982679 )

        4) PS3 games over Wifi are horrible. There is a noticable lag difference vs ethernet.

        I'll give you one really good example to blow this out of the water...

        My younger brother purchased the cheaper version of the PS3. My parent's house is several miles outside of town and is hooked up to this extended range DSL from the local telco. (Pioneer Telephone @ Kingfisher, OK) It is supposed to be a 1.5Mbit line, and as you can imagine it never achieves that kind of bandwidth. This is hooked up to a Netgear 802.11g wireless router.

        As I said, he got the cheap PS3 without wireless, and instead

      • Um, all PC games are highly compressed and important information that is needed constantly is put on the HDD.

    • double negatives... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      so it IS surprising then?
    • er, you are saying microsoft needs to catch up to the ps3? im sorry but sony has a LOOOONG way to go to catch up with the 360.
    • 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 c

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        I don't think every game needs more space since obviously they won't. However it will be the epics which will strain the content to its very last byte. It's just a fact that when all the graphics in the game need at least 4x as much space, FMV requires 10x as much that a DVD-9 isn't going to be enough for some titles. Even games which render cutscenes with the game engine may not have enough space. After all GTA: SA used the game engine for cutscenes and was busting out of a DVD-4.7 disc.

        Anyway the PS3 ne

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Osty ( 16825 )

        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.

        That "number of game developers" was really just one. Bethesda (the guys who made Oblivion) voiced concerns about fitting Oblivion onto a DVD-9 disc well before the 360 ever shipped. Sure enough, they were able to make it fit. Anyway, it's too late to make a change now. If Microsoft were to allow games to ship on HD-DVD, they'd be alie

        • That "number of game developers" was really just one.

          Oh really? [joystiq.com]

          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 sa

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Osty ( 16825 )

            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.

            Actually, I think it's the other way around. Microsoft's head start in the market (or its lesser specs in comparison to PS3, take your pick) has made the 360 the platform of choice for multi-platform developers. EA will never come to Microsoft and

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
        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".

        EA isn't stupid, the 360 and PS3 version costs a lot to develop and the 360 has a much larger userbase which means they'd kill their sales numbers for it. EA didn't tell Sony that the PS2 is too weak for Madden or Nintendo that the GC uses too small a disc, EA will cut material that doesn't fit on a disc rather than cutting a version from their lineup. They don't skip

    • Re:Not unsurprising really (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Andy Dodd ( 701 ) <atd7NO@SPAMcornell.edu> on Friday January 05, 2007 @04:40PM (#17479644) Homepage
      "The PS3 raised the bar by including HDMI, blu-ray support, a hard disk by default, wi-fi and some other bits and pieces."

      While Nintendo did just the opposite by not including many of those features. Despite that, the Wii is doing extremely well, for a number of reasons, including:
      a) Price. Wii is less than half the price of the PS3. A Dodge Neon is devoid of features compared to a Cadillac, yet the Neon sells extremely well. (Well, sold, I believe the Neon has now been replaced by the Caliber? I haven't looked at their offerings recently.) Not everyone wants a Cadillac, and so a manufacturer doesn't necessarily need to make Cadillacs.
      b) Focus on gameplay rather than whiz-bang oooh-shiny features that don't necessarily improve gameplay at all.

      How well compared to PS3 or 360 is currently impossible to tell, since the Wii is the only of the three systems still limited in sales by availability. (which, in and of itself, is a good sign for the Wii).

      PS3 didn't raise the bar in any way with those features, since the Wii has proven that those features are not necessary in any way for a given console to succeed.

      The Core will most likely always remain available, because it is always good to have an entry level system to offer those who don't have $12938921704123 to spend on their consoles or have the money but are not willing to spend it on such purchases. (Such as myself, I have yet to buy a console that cost more than $150 for the system, and yes, that means I'm usually playing the previous generation but I have no problem with that. Used games are cheap, and I have better things to spend my money on.)

      • PS3 didn't raise the bar in any way with those features, since the Wii has proven that those features are not necessary in any way for a given console to succeed.

        The PS3 certainly raises the technical bar. And its far, far too early to decide how all these new consoles will pan out, sales-wise. Wii is a superstar right now for sure, but Xbox360 is doing great also, and the PS3 is not even on sale in the UK yet.

        (Such as myself, I have yet to buy a console that cost more than $150 for the system, and yes, t

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
      Okay.
      HDMI=DRM! Sony has got to love it. DVI would be a better choice. Still I will give you that having HDMI is a nice option as long as long as it is just an option.
      blue-ray=DRM! So does HD-DVD but I don't want to pay for them in a console. They are not yet needed for games and one or the other is going to fail in the market place. If not we will all end up with dual format players or both will fail.
      I think Sony hasn't so much raised the bar as much as dug a hole.

      Standard hard drive and wi-fi are both nice

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Osty ( 16825 )

        HDMI=DRM! Sony has got to love it. DVI would be a better choice.

        You do realize that DVI-D can do HDCP just like HDMI, right? In fact the video portion of HDMI is signal-compatible with DVI-D. The only other bit that you get with HDMI is audio, but unless you have an HDMI-enabled receiver I'd stick with the TOSLink digital audio output instead.

        I still expect to see a 360 that is also a PVR and support for the Zune.

        Acting as a PVR would obviously require a hard drive. It would also require a TV tu

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
          I didn't know DVI could do HDCP! Damm them too hell!

          Yes I can see putting a CableCard interface on to the next 360. That way you could record not just SDTV but HDTV as well. And yes you would need a bigger hard drive or an NAS. Same for the P2P, I am shocked that Sony or Microsoft didn't do this already. It seems like a great idea.

          As to the ZUNE. From everything I have read you can not fill it from your XBox! DUMB! DUMB! DUMB!
          of course you can not fill it from the wifi interface.
          It also doesn't have any und

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Osty ( 16825 )

            As to the ZUNE. From everything I have read you can not fill it from your XBox! DUMB! DUMB! DUMB!

            No, that just makes sense with the 360's current approach to media. It's an endpoint, not a provider. If you want to fill your Zune, do it from the PC where the Xbox is getting its info as well (you're not ripping CDs or vids directly to your 360, are you? That'd be dumb!). While it would be neat to be able to move Xbox Marketplace bits directly over to a Zune, that's a rather small scenario since the ma

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
              "In fact the only thing I could see you moving to your Zune from Xbox Marketplace would be trailers (full TV shows and videos I'd expect to be DRMed to prevent that)."

              Dumb dumb dumb dumb.

              Right now Microsoft has Three incompatible sources for music and video. You have the the XBOX marketplace, Playforsure "yea right", and the Zune market place.

              If I give you that the XBox360 should be treated as a peripheral to the your Windows PC then why limit it.
              Why not allow me to rip music on the my 360 and store it on m
  • 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.
    • 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.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hal2814 ( 725639 )
        "MS has not announced any new update other than they will be using the 65nm process for future 360's."

        Yeah, when I realized I didn't include a disclaimer assuming the rumor to be true in order for my comment to have any bearing, I almost posted a reply stating so. I don't like replying to my own posts though so thanks for pointing that out. My original post does depend on the rumor being true.

        "MS has not announced any new update other than they will be using the 65nm process for future 360's."

        True, but th
  • 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 the
  • This new model will become the new 'premium' and the old premium the new 'core'; price for both will remain the same.

    And if MS really love me they would offer some kind of trade in plan for those that bought the 20GB drives ;p

    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.

  • Cue the DNF comments... (Score:3, Funny)

    by silentounce ( 1004459 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @03:10PM (#17477740) Homepage
    They're just trying to win Wired's 2007 Vaporware Awards [slashdot.org]. They figure if they leak it now they have a whole year to build it up. It's good marketing

  • hey i didnt take my hand off the checker (Score:5, Funny)

    by SydBarrett ( 65592 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @03:25PM (#17477996)
    MS presents the Xbox 361: The Do-Over Edition

  • new drive please (Score:3, Interesting)

    by llZENll ( 545605 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @03:33PM (#17478180)
    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)
    • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      you can't put movies or demos on any media drives you connect, only the main drive

      Then what's the point?

      -Eric


  • 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!!!

  • Letter to submitter (Score:4, Informative)

    by this great guy ( 922511 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @03:50PM (#17478486)

    To: Carlo Becchi
    From: this great guy

    Dear son, I told you a hundred times, but you never seem to remember.
    - Gb means Gigabit
    - GB means Gigabytes
    This Xbox model would come with a 120 GB disk, not 120 Gb.

    Love,
    your dad.

  • Quieter than a turboprop? (Score:5, Funny)

    by mypalmike ( 454265 ) on Friday January 05, 2007 @03:53PM (#17478570) Homepage
    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.
  • 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 differenc

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by boskone ( 234014 )
      I'm 100% with you. I so want to see HD DVD in 1080p on the SXRD.

      I really, really hope they come out with an HDMI kit.

      The TV's pretty fabulous, though, eh?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MrJynxx ( 902913 )
        It's leaps and bounds better than my old HDTV. I can't even compare the two, every single game looks even better.. Even the 360 games look refreshed..

        But, some of my friends have problems watching bluray/hddvd's on it, it actually makes them feel sick to their stomachs.. heh

        MrJynx
    • That's your fault for buying a Sony TV. Samsungs don't have a problem with 1080p over VGA.
  • 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?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by DeeDob ( 966086 )
      No, console upgrades are nothing new or exclusive to the 360 (if this news proves to be true).

      From memory (there may be more):
      PS1 had the standard and slim version.
      PS2 had the original, updated and slim version, with different connections options depending on the model.
      GBA had the original and the SP versions.
      DS now has the "lite" version.

      I'm pretty sure some of the older consoles from the 80s had more than one versions.
  • 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 mu

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Tridus ( 79566 )
      The only thing confirmed in all these rumors is that Microsoft is changing to a smaller CPU die (65nm I think), which will put out less heat.

      In theory with less heat being put out, they can put in a quieter fan at the same time and turn the thing into a console rather then a jet engine.
      • Most the noise comes from the DVD drive, not the internal fans. Compare the noise levels when playing something disk based, like PGR3 to one of the Live Arcade games such as Geometry Wars.
        • Most the noise comes from the DVD drive, not the internal fans. Compare the noise levels when playing something disk based, like PGR3 to one of the Live Arcade games such as Geometry Wars.

          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?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Raenex ( 947668 )
            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.
  • 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 [youtube.com]
  • 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.

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