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XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Xbox 2 Concept Designs Leaked? 191

An anonymous reader writes "Two new images of what are reported to be Xbox 2 concept designs and logos , have recently been found on the internet. The designs are said to have been released by an anonymous tipster who claims to be part of a focus group for the Xbox 2. The anonymous member reports that he has more concept designs ready to release in the near future." Doesn't look to me like there's much credibility here, but they still look pretty.
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Xbox 2 Concept Designs Leaked?

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  • Design (Score:5, Funny)

    by b0lt ( 729408 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:03AM (#10227357)
    I was thinking that it would look more like this [biggestpos.com]
    • Re:Design (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Directrix1 ( 157787 )
      Yeah, me too. They've already assimilated enough people to be that size ;). But seriously now. Aren't we all passed this "console gaming fad" by now? Console software has gotten so mainstream, that it borders on the same bland universally applicable edge that modern movies do (or at least its getting that way fast). I thought consoles were great until I realized that the ONLY "innovations" that are really happening are just more polys/sec (wooh). Oh well, your money. Have fun.
      • Re:Design (Score:3, Interesting)

        Who the hell plays consoles for innovation?

        Yes, there IS innovation--usually in the form of games that do something not done before--but that's not the point.

        The point is a cheap way to play games at home. It's a way for your children or spouses or guests to play a game without violating the sanctuary of your PC lair.

  • Xbox2 Mod? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Stefan Fredriksson ( 196416 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:07AM (#10227378)
    One of the most important things that has made XBOX a somewhat sucess is the ability to mod it.

    Now, if you are a student for example now you need only one machine and you get a DVD player, a computer and a game-console in one box. All for a few hundred american money (inkl. harddrive and modchip)

    If they want to continue to grow they must make the XBOX2 "moddable".
    • Re:Xbox2 Mod? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kryptkpr ( 180196 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:19AM (#10227441) Homepage
      If they want to continue to grow they must make the XBOX2 "moddable".

      I think they're going to fight tooth and nail to make sure the XBOX2 is NOT moddable. They've traditionally sold the hardware at a loss, and made up for it in software. In their eyes, modchips are lost software revenue and only pirates use them.
      • only pirates use them.

        Yarr, me matey

        Sorry, just getting ready for Talk Like A Pirate Day [talklikeapirate.com] next Sunday (Sept. 19th)
      • by Amata ( 554796 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @06:11PM (#10230534)
        Situation for ya. Not even hypothetical:

        I am an American citizen. Good ol' USA. Or something. I have a job that has me living in South Korea right now. So I either have to own 2 of every hardware that reads region-encoded media to deal with all of my perfectly legally purchased DVDs and games, both here and back in the states, or I can just buy one hardware and force it to read all regions. A nice byproduct being that I can get this one hardware to also read more types of media, but that's neither here nor there.

        In the near future my job could easily have me working in Europe. That's another region. So I'd either have to buy more hardware to deal with that region, or just use my regionless hardware that I already had.

        Doesn't sound plausible? Just ask any US Soldier.
        • Yes, they want you to buy 2 of every hardware... In the game console world it's all about market share, and the more systems are "out there" the better.

          If this isn't what they wanted, then they wouldn't have forced region codes onto a console that has no trouble outputting whatever signal is necessary.
    • Re:Xbox2 Mod? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ianoo ( 711633 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:28AM (#10227486) Journal
      No, the reason the X-Box has been so successful is because of marketing - people think it's a good games console (and it is). Modding consoles is still a "minority sport", modders themselves accounting for a relatively small portion of total sales.
      • by 88NoSoup4U88 ( 721233 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:47AM (#10227552)
        I hope they will make it possible for custom content (like amateur mods) to be imported, and played on the Xbox 2 : I am sure that the demand to mod games like it is happening on PC's atm, will only increase in the future ; ifnot also raise gamesales, if customers know there is more content once the game is released.

        One free chance to be innovative for once for MS ;)

        then again, IIRC, they weren't going for a harddisk in there this time around (don't know for sure if this still stands) ; and this would make custom content (defenitely at the sizes mods come these days) nearly impossible.

        • That's exactly what MS wants to prevent. There is no money in having someone else make software for your system without paying licensing costs to be a mainstream game. Just because fan-generated content is often more innovative or stimulating than that which is pumped through the XBox marketing machine, does not mean that it fits the business model of the XBox (which is to practically give the hardware away, and then rake it in on selling 'official XBox' game status).
          • I see what you are saying ; but doesn't the point i raise also make sense : I have alot of friends who eventually bought Q3 (vanilla Quake 3 not being their kind of game) after I told them there are alot of mods around that change the gameplay ; and maybe change it in a game they like.

            And since you agree on that they want people to buy the games : This is exactly what would happen.
            Keep in mind, to play a 'mod' : you -have- to own the original game (if you want to play online.. yadda yadda)

    • Re:Xbox2 Mod? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by System.out.println() ( 755533 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:53AM (#10227585) Journal
      One of the most important things that has made XBOX a somewhat sucess is the ability to mod it.

      Actually, that made it a spectacular failure.

      Sure, there are a lot of XBox's floating around now, but don't kid yourself - Microsoft didn't make a dime on any of them. Console makers can offer such powerful systems for so cheap (both being relative, of course) because they traditionally take a loss on the system and make up for it in game sales and licenses. And owners of modded XBox's tend not to buy games.
      • Console makers can offer such powerful systems for so cheap (both being relative, of course) because they traditionally take a loss on the system and make up for it in game sales and licenses.

        Xbox and Dreamcast do not a tradition make. The Playstation series and Nintendo consoles were all sold for a profit.

      • And owners of modded XBox's tend not to buy games.

        Funny that, after I modded my xbox, I found myself buying *more* games.

        Of course, they are for PC/PS2/GC/GBA

        On a more serious note, the xbox games I choose are mostly those that support online play, and the original media is required for those because you must disable your unsigned bios to access Live.

        Otherwise, I mostly use my modded xbox for emulation and storage/playback of video files.

        I like to "vote with my wallet" and I enjoy financially supporti
      • Re:Xbox2 Mod? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by startled ( 144833 )
        "'One of the most important things that has made XBOX a somewhat sucess is the ability to mod it.'

        Actually, that made it a spectacular failure."

        I still haven't seen anything to pull me away from the third option: the small community of XBox modders hasn't had any significant impact on the success or failure of the XBox, or Microsoft's probability.
    • Re:Xbox2 Mod? (Score:2, Interesting)

      Since it will have a G5 and (if I'm not mistaken) and probably something from ATi or nVidia, so we can assume that it will be transformable into a Mac clone without too much effort.

      Contrary to the legend, there's nothing proprietary in today's Macs, except for the G5 itself. The rest is well documented (PearPC [sourceforge.net] helped a lot in that array).

      *That* would be an interesting mod!
      • Since it will have a G5 and (if I'm not mistaken) and probably something from ATi or nVidia, so we can assume that it will be transformable into a Mac clone without too much effort.

        This assumes, first of all, that you believe the specs that leaked out [mercurynews.com] a while back. Whether you choose to believe me or not, I know they were real at least at that time... which doesn't mean they haven't changed or won't change before the system is released. But for now, we'll assume those specs were/are correct and curren
  • Well (Score:5, Informative)

    by GT_Onizuka ( 693787 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:07AM (#10227379) Homepage
    The first link already got /.'d for the most part, but here's the Google Cache [64.233.167.104] for the source site.
  • If this is true... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jmcmunn ( 307798 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:08AM (#10227380)
    Then it certainly looks much smaller than the current rendition of the Xbox. And from the sixe in the pics, it looks like it probably does not have a hard drive in it. Unless of course they went with a laptop drive, or something smaller then the standard desktop drive.

    I must say, I don't like the silver too much. I like the black of the current game systems, they blend into the rest of the entertainment center as is.

    it will be interesting a couple years from now (or next year?) when the next generation systems start coming out if this is what it really looks like. I don't believe for a second that this would leak out on accident, I would bet if these are real pics they were let out on purpose to see what reaction they get before they start making them for release.
    • I like the black of the current game systems, they blend into the rest of the entertainment center as is.
      Except that most home theater equipment seems to be coming out in silver these days. Walk around Circuit City and you wont find hardly any black components anymore.
      • by Animats ( 122034 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @10:38AM (#10227801) Homepage
        Yeah, the industry switched from silver to black around 1990, and from black to silver around 2000.
        • Yeah, the industry switched from silver to black around 1990, and from black to silver around 2000.

          Yeah, it's a conspiracy to get us to rebuy our whole stereo every 10 years! Or, if you want a decent stereo, go to a stereo shop, like Myer Emco. Lots of black there.

          • There is a central organization that makes the decisions about which colors are In and which colors are Out. It's the Color Association of the United States. [colorassociation.com] Their primary focus is clothing and textiles. But there's also an "automotive/technology/health" trend package, available to members of the Color Association.

            "Leading professionals in the design community serve to select the colors that will be popular 20 months ahead." This provides the needed lead time for manufacturers. The dye plants start

          • Guess that means I won't be replacing any of my av equipment for another 10 years or so ... the silver shit is fugly ...

      • As I walk around Circuit City I see...black TV's, black stero recievers, black Dvd players, black cd changers...oh and lots of black speakers and speaker stands. Show me the majority of silver subwoofers?

        Yea, there are definitely silver ones there too, but it is still easier to find black most of the time in my opinion.
  • pics on engadget (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:12AM (#10227398)
    pics on engadget: http://www.engadget.com/entry/9253838747326816/ [engadget.com]
  • by shplorb ( 24647 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:13AM (#10227404) Homepage Journal
    They could very well be real.

    After all, they're so ugly and tacky they just have Microsoft Design Department written all over. =]
  • by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:15AM (#10227412) Journal
    Okay, at the moment the webserver is spitting out 503s, but let's consider the nature of this content. It's what the game console's *case*, a bit of molded plastic, might be made to look like. To be blunt, why does this matter? What gamer is concerned whether or not his game console has a red stripe or a blue stripe on it?

    Not only that, but even the technical specs (which haven't, AFAIK, been finalized yet) *still* wouldn't mean that much, even if they're a titch higher than the competitors (especially given the least-common-denominator nature of ports). I've played some awfully good games on low-spec systems (Heck, Tetris and Sobokan can be played on character-based systems, and the two still beat a ton of modern games in terms of fun and hours of enjoyable gameplay.)

    Even the previews that you get of games rarely have useful data in terms of informational content. No, it isn't until this beast is out and reviews for games start coming in that there's going to be really useful data about the XB2.
    • "It's what the game console's *case*, a bit of molded plastic, might be made to look like. To be blunt, why does this matter?"

      Maybe because that was one of the 'biggest' (gotta love the pun) problems with the first X-box ? It was considered -way- too big.

      I agree that at the current stage of development, the case is most likely (maybe even more so now) to be changed ; The new Gameboy DS also did a very quick overhaul in a few months ; and most of the changes put through there were based on the comments the

      • Maybe because that was one of the 'biggest' (gotta love the pun) problems with the first X-box ? It was considered -way- too big.

        Who really had this problem? I have an X-box, and I really couldn't care less that it's 3 times the size of my playstation.. as long as it fits on a shelf in my entertainment center and has a nice black color scheme to match the rest of my components. Are these people carrying their X-boxes around with them or something? It's a console.. 95% of people bring it home, set it up
        • by bluk ( 791364 )
          I could point out that the usual response is that Japanese homes and other urban enviornments are limited in space and it was one of the biggest turnoffs for Japanese buyers. Without Japan, game consoles have traditionally not done well, etc., etc.

          But closer to home, the Xbox is probably the first console that many people did take outside of their homes because of the system link/network functions. If you've ever been to a college dorm or a place where there are lots of gamers, you should have seen at le
    • by neuro.slug ( 628600 ) <neuro__.hotmail@com> on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:59AM (#10227623)
      Obviously you don't get out much. Why do you think people buy BMWs when they could simply mod a Honda Civic and get the same performance? It's the experience of having a damn sexy car that feels damn good to drive. We, as a society, like pretty things (iPods, IKEA, Jaguar). Even *gasp* hardcore gamers love to make their PC pretty--in their own way--with neon lights and other mods.

      If we didn't like pretty things so much, our economy would collapse pretty darn quickly. The presentation of the new X-Box is not necessarily a deciding factor, but it's definitely a persuasive one.

      -- n
      • Why do you think people buy BMWs when they could simply mod a Honda Civic and get the same performance?

        Because that's not reality?

        Most of us don't like to pour an additional $20,000 into an already shitty looking car to make it look shittier, sound like crap, and not actually perform as well as the car it is trying to be. Not to mention the hours of time one has to put into modding an entire car to make it into anything decent.

        Don't even get me started on the spoiler.
      • Why do you think people buy BMWs when they could simply mod a Honda Civic and get the same performance?

        Because it'd cost $50k and have no warranty?

      • Because a Jag is an expensive status symbol, and an XB2 is not.
      • by sita ( 71217 )
        We, as a society, like pretty things (iPods, IKEA, Jaguar).

        IKEA is good design value-for-money, but it is definitely world class design. They are simply not in the game of groundbreaking nor exclusive design.

        Why do you think people buy BMWs when they could simply mod a Honda Civic and get the same performance?

        Indeed this is what you get when you buy IKEA. Modded second-class furniture that almost looks like first-class furniture. But it's good price-performance, so people buy it.
    • "To be blunt, why does this matter?"

      Err, because it might be sitting in my livingroom?
    • What gamer is concerned whether or not his game console has a red stripe or a blue stripe on it?

      Hi! Your post was about the look of a gaming machine- You must be new to these, I can tell. Let me show [golem.de] you [tripod.com] around [codeword.com].

    • It's what the game console's *case*, a bit of molded plastic, might be made to look like. To be blunt, why does this matter? What gamer is concerned whether or not his game console has a red stripe or a blue stripe on it?

      Girls.
    • " It's what the game console's *case*, a bit of molded plastic, might be made to look like. To be blunt, why does this matter? "

      Because I'm curious. I don't need a better reason than that.
  • "Focus Group" (Score:5, Informative)

    by PhrostyMcByte ( 589271 ) <phrosty@gmail.com> on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:16AM (#10227415) Homepage
    Microsoft did hold an XB2 dev group at building 20 recently so maybe these are real.
    • They also held a focus group that somehow decided the monstrous controller was the best controller evar. Then they released the Controller S due to gamers seeing the Japanese controller, and lo and behold! The S exponentionally outsells the monstrous one at retail, and now Microsoft packs the S in with the system.

      So, when we know they're holding focus groups, we should also know that whatever they decide in those focus groups will be the exact opposite of what the general gaming public wants.

  • A Coral mirror (Score:5, Informative)

    by slux ( 632202 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:17AM (#10227421)
    A Coral mirror of the site that first published these [nyud.net]. Couldn't get the article link to load on coral anymore, but this is where they got it.
  • So... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Viceice ( 462967 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:17AM (#10227428)
    This is like pointing at a random article of concept art in a car manufacturer's library and saying "Introducing the new 2006 Chevy."

    Could it be? Yes, but so are the other 1000 art pieces. Would it be? Highly unlikely.

    A chance snapshot of a working Xbox2 prototype would be news, but this is Concept Art! Heck, I could go fireup LightWave and make you a new Xbox2 as well.

  • by 4r0g ( 467711 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:21AM (#10227452)
    I think that this is just normal MS marketing practice to "leak" out information of an upcoming product to keep it in the headlines. Makes it more interesting when it finally ships. Just look at Longhorn, XP, 2000 (NT5 anyone?) and the rest.
  • other concepts.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kc_cyrus ( 759211 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:25AM (#10227469)
  • by bbzzdd ( 769894 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:25AM (#10227472)
    Slashdot has taken to posting the fake Xbox2 pic of the week now?
  • Xbox FS (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PhotoBoy ( 684898 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:26AM (#10227482)
    Xbox FS could be a genuine name, a few months back I had an email from a GameSpot affiliated company asking if I wanted to participate in a questionnaire about "next generation consoles" (I guess I forgot opt out of emails from GameSpot affiliates).

    It didn't specify which next gen consoles in the email but most of the questions were about the next Xbox and what I thought of potential names, it also offered a potential logo which was like the current X logo but wrapped around a sphere.

    The other names that I can recall were Xbox HD, Xbox 360 and Xbox 247. Xbox 2 and Xbox Next weren't offered as options.
    • Okay, I get XBox HD (High definition), and XBox 360 (360 degrees), but what does XBox 247 supposed to mean?
      • Okay, I get XBox HD (High definition), and XBox 360 (360 degrees), but what does XBox 247 supposed to mean?

        It is physically bigger than all the other consoles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

        In all seriousness, it probably would be a tie-in with Xbox Live or something. Just saying you can play 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just remember to eat, drink, shower, and use the toilet.
  • highly derivative (Score:5, Informative)

    by tverbeek ( 457094 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:31AM (#10227501) Homepage
    The supposed Xbox 2 logo looks heavily "inspired" by Sony's recent Walkman [minidisc.org] logo, plus the Cingular logo [bradheld.com], and a bit lile Microsoft's Office:mac [microsoft.com] logos (and the whole Aqua motif). Unless MS is going for the "me too" look, I don't think that one'll happen.
  • by FerretFrottage ( 714136 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:49AM (#10227561)
    How's that for a desgin concept? I love the xbox because for ~$200 I can get a reburbed unit, a mod chip and a cheap 100+GB HD. Now I have the ability to view my family pics, my ripped CDs, camcorder pics on any tv I have the xbox connected to...many thanks to the developers of XMBC. I just started adding Linksys NSLU2 devices as file servers and the whole setup is getting that much more smaller (footprint wise) and quieter. Now is MS wasn't so anal about the "Not Invented Here" cause we control the world and its $$$, they could have really made some major market share in TV/PC convergence.

    I'm sure the xbox2 will be more locked down than so until espn 2k7 or Madden 2k8 really rocks over the current offers, its great to have the xbox.
  • FAKE! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:50AM (#10227569)
    This is fake.

    The XBox2 has a new connector for controller. This photo features traditional XBox controller connectors.

    • Re:FAKE! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by grumbel ( 592662 )
      Will they use USB this time? Always wondered why neither Playstation2 nor XBox used USB for the controllers, after all they already have USB on board so why not use it and go proprietary instead? Do they really make any additional money out of this, especially since PC users can't use the gamepads for PC use without buying a converter first? Or is this just to lock out 'unworthy' gamepads in advanced so that users don't plugin their PC gamepads with not enough buttons into the console and then complain?
      • The Xbox does use USB. The only thing proprietary is the connector, but you can get around that by swapping a few wires.
      • USB (Score:3, Informative)

        by EnglishTim ( 9662 )
        There's a few reasons:

        a) You don't want people plugging in all sorts of USB devices and then bitching because they don't work. Where are you going to get the drivers?

        b) The physical USB plug is not well suited to consoles. It's not always immediately obvious which way up it plugs in - remember young children haveto be able to put these things in and out. Also, they don't tend to 'click' in all that well - you don't want something that comes unplugged easily. Finally, because they are quite small, they're
        • This is a sack.

          First off the PS2 does have USB sockets. It's those little rectangular soc ... there ... there y'go, you've seen them now. Yes, it does fit your keyboard. And your webcam. And your mouse. And to the best of my knowledge Sony have had no problems with people ringing up and insisting that they deliver scanner drivers or some other shit.

          An Eye Toy plugs into it just fine though.

          Secondly - this business of a USB plug not being suited to consoles. I agree that it's not immediately obvious which
          • First off the PS2 does have USB sockets. It's those little rectangular soc ... there ... there y'go, you've seen them now. Yes, it does fit your keyboard. And your webcam.And your mouse.

            Yes, and apart from a keyboard and mouse, you can (to the best of my knowledge) plug a grand total of two peripherals into them - the eyetoy and singstar.

            And to the best of my knowledge Sony have had no problems with people ringing up and insisting that they deliver scanner drivers or some other shit.

            Well, I'd suggest
  • by segmond ( 34052 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:50AM (#10227570)
    pictures of an external box? i want specs, internal pictures, no one cares about how it looks.

  • I like the logo (Score:3, Informative)

    by 88NoSoup4U88 ( 721233 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:51AM (#10227577)
    The new logo (if it -is- the new logo) looks quite cool ; If this a hoax, still some pretty clever design of the logo there.
    I don't like the current logo too much ; it doesn't really 'evoke an emotion' with me [/hippy shit]
  • by FinalCut ( 555823 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @09:55AM (#10227596)
    you can see images of the "leaked" designs at: http://www.engadget.com/entry/9253838747326816/ they have pretty good bandwidth so will hopefully be less likey to be subject to the /. effect
  • by EvilCabbage ( 589836 ) on Sunday September 12, 2004 @10:30AM (#10227765) Homepage
    Here,Knock yourselves out. [playingwithfire.org]
  • It has a handle, just like the one on the gamecube which has been the target of many jokes. If MS does something right, is marketing, and they will know better than put something like that on their console.
    • I like the handle on the game cube. That makes it easy to carry from one place to another. I plan on taking mine down with me to my parents house during Turkey Day and playing games with my Neices and Nephews. It's a good idea especially if they are trying for the Nintendo set (usually younger gamers).\
  • Is it just me or does the first picture look a little like the old Phantom [phantom.net] mockups?
  • Well, if they're genuine, the Xbox FS is even uglier than a GameCube (but probably five times the size), and the Xbox 2 logo looks like somebody just blew their nose onto a sheet of paper!
  • I saw the "Xbox FS" and thought it said "Xbox F5". F5 is the Reload button in most browsers. Xbox Reloaded?

    Oh God I hope not.
  • Make it look like a solid block of brushed aluminum. No "curves", no "bio friendliness", no bullshit. It should look like a high-end CD player. A power button on the left, power LED on the right, DVD tray in the middle, four controller ports below it.

    But judging by these pictures we'll get a cheesy looking piece of Chinese-made crap again.
    • Yeah, I wish that ALL of the next-gen consoles would fit into a standard audio-rack, so that you can stack other devices ontop/below the consoles, like a reciever and amplifier, and maybe other consoles?

      But, naah, they need to make consoles that look like toys, not like something that belongs in a A/V rack....

      (and if you want portable, then get portable, like the PSP.)
      • PSP is going to be BIG I think. I hate being chained to a TV when I want to play a game, just as I have to be chained to my desk when I want to work on my PC. To fix the latter I have a laptop, but there's no real solution for gaming right now.
      • "But, naah, they need to make consoles that look like toys, not like something that belongs in a A/V rack...."

        Thats because they ARE toys. They play GAMES. That is their primary function. Expensive toys, but still just toys.

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