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XBox (Games)

Designing the Look of the 360 102

Posted by Zonk from the where-are-the-fins? dept.
Gamasutra has a piece up where they talk to the folks that designed the look of the Xbox 360. From the article: "We are responsible for the whole look and feel, the outward aesthetic. This includes the features, how it looks as overall design language, how it works with the controller and peripherals - working on the camera, the charging systems for wireless remotes - and then the box itself, obviously."
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Designing the Look of the 360 More

Designing the Look of the 360

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  • Play? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by turtled ( 845180 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @04:45PM (#13046928)
    This all means nothing to me. I want to see how the games play more than how the system looks. Others may feel different.

    On the other hand, if I was interested in design, I would have liked to see it more rack compatable, fitting in with stereo equipment as for it would be the living room media hub.
    • I am one of those people who will buy the console, even if it has a bad design- I don't really care.

      BUT- I will be happier with it if it looks cool, and sits in my cabinet and makes a statement other than 'I have a geeky video game console.'

      A little style would help.

      Also in the article, they talked about the functional design- the controllers, laying out the box, etc. etc. I would like to think that when I open this sucker up on day 1, I will take it out and think, 'Ohh...THAT's cool!'

      I have purchased
    • "Well, I don't need it, but I sure want it." This quote spoke to me, because sure I look into the specs but it may the little bit of primitive in me, but if somethign is pretty I am going to club it and bring it back to my cave. So far the design looks nice, though I can't complain much I did really liek to original personally it stated something like, "I WILL kick youre ass", and it did, just not enough original games I suppose. In my opinion the pictures of the 360 look pretty decent. love the wireless
    • the rack mountable frame comes a bit after the 360 release, if it comes

      for **$ it'll be yours

      profits for M$
    • Then don't read about it and don't post about it.
  • You'd think they could spell check the title, at least.
  • Why did these guys think it necessary to make the Xbox360 white? It's pretty common knowledge that people perfer their electronics black. Silver would have been fine too...but white? Yuck... And the whole faceplate thing is a nice idea...but it's only the very front of the console...the rest of the machine is till while like a 10 year old PC :(

  • Reason for the concavity (Score:5, Funny)

    by snorklewacker ( 836663 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:02PM (#13047148)
    Lovelady: (what a name!) We talk about it in terms of the inhale - it's like the console is breathing in, pulling in all of this energy before you release it again.

    So basically ... it sucks?

  • Lovelady: The quality of the drive is something that Microsoft worried about. So they used the best quality drives they could...

    Hope this is true. I've heard that the original PS2 was first shipped with a lesser quality drive before they upgraded it in later models. I hope this is not the case with the XBox 360.

    • Re:Drive quality (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Leiterfluid ( 876193 )
      The Xbox had the same issue. If the drive came from a particular vendor, they were known to generate disc read errors. I was actually working at Xbox Live at the time I got one of these drives. It was less than a month after getting my system, and they wanted me to pay to have the product shipped for replacement. I told them the BBB would be more than happy to register yet another complaint on their drives.
      • So it is more advisable to wait until the second run of these things come out or will MS get it right on the first try this time?
        • I've got a v1.0 Xbox, and it's even louder than the later versions (though the DVD drive hasn't given me problems). I'd wait until you hear reports about problems from any console before buying.
      • I agree with this. There are at least three or four categories of drives included with Xbox consoles, although they've gotten significantly better in the last few years of the production run.

        More specifically, if you're buying an Xbox, look for the Samsung or Philips drives (there's more stuff about that on the Xbox-Scene Forums [xbox-scene.com]; these two types read CD-R's and won't die like the piece-of-crap Thomsons commonly found in the 1.0 Mexican units (although the Samsung ones have problems with DVD+ media.)

        Si

  • Personally I think that it's a pretty crap design. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by selsine ( 731825 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:07PM (#13047204) Homepage Journal
    Personally I think that it's a pretty crap design. After all of the flack that Microsoft got over the look of the first Xbox (which I own) I really expected something cool. When I was fist shown screen shots of the new Xbox I was sure that they were fakes, or that it was a prototype that hadn't been painted yet.

    The article is an interesting read, however I am a bit disappointed that she didn't answer the stackability question. That and the price are the major stumbling blocks for me actually getting this system. I don't know where I could fit the Xbox 360 in my entertainment unit.
    • Personally, I like the design.

      The stackable question is a dumb one, for two reasons:
      1) I've never seen a game console ever made that was stackable. The PS2 was too small to stack components onto it. The gamecube is a ... cube. The N64 was also cubish in nature and took cartidges. The saturn was top loading. The ps1 was toploading. The PS3 has a curved top. Do I need to continue?
      2) Game consoles are smaller than a/v equipment; if you're going to stick it in your entertainment center, it is going to b
      • Hmmm

        1) Just because they've never done it before doesn't mean that it's not a good idea. If they want these things to be all around digital entertainment devices (or whatever) then why not play by the rules that other devices use?

        2) I don't know was the Xbox (version 1) was smaller then most Av equipment?

        Either way, it's just my opinion, and I really don't like the way that this new Xbox looks.

        • Re:Personally I think that it's a pretty crap desi (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Keeper ( 56691 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @07:57PM (#13048964)
          1) I'm not saying it isn't a good idea, but I think it is dumb that everyone is constantly ripping the xbox (and only the xbox) for not being rackable when no-one else has done it either.

          Making it rackable forces you to sacrafice a number of desirable features, the biggest being portability -- everyone complains about how large the xbox is; to be stackable in your entertainment center, it has to be even larger. If they do that, you can forget about it fitting in your backpack. Additionally, you HAVE to have space setup in your entertainment center to hold the box; it would be too large to store next to it. There are additional cooling considerations you have to account for. And it generally makes the unit more expensive.

          2) Yes, it was smaller than most av equipment. The depth was about right, but the width was way off.

          Its fine that you don't like it, but I get tired of seeing endless posts about how fugly it is compared to xyz, when xyz is so ugly it makes me want to barf. :p
        • I think the reason these consoles don't sit nicely in AV equipment, and stick out (like a sore thumb) is so they can get some more free advertising off you in your house. I mean you go over to someone's house who has a gamecube or an xbox and you spot it right away.

          Chances are you don't go into someone's living room and spot the make of their amp from across the room (audiophiles excluded).

          Saying this I hate the looks of all the consoles... new and old... and would prefer something that say nicely even o
      • The problem with lack of stackability isn't that I can't stack a VHS Recorder on top of it or a TV, I don't expect from a console, most are simply to small to handle that. The problem is more that I can't stack simple stuff on it, like games, memory cards, the controller or simply another gaming console.

        Lack of stackability won't stop me from buying a console, but its certainly a thing that tends to get quite annoying in daily use and especially in times when you do not use the console for a while and just
    • Consoles before now have been non-stackable due to their own limitations (top-loading, carts, etc) EXCEPT the PS2, and sony has learned their lesson.

      The reason the 360 and PS3 are so unstackable (especially the PS3):
      THEY WANT TO BE ON TOP!

      Sony and MS dont want anything to be on top of their console in your entertainment center. That would make it convenient to put a PS3 on top of the 360 or a 350 on top of a PS3.

      Nintendo doesnt seem to mind, though. The revolution looks tiny and perfectly stackable

    • This generation's consoles are more stackable than what came before. Right now my television doesn't occupy the entire space alloted for it in my entertainment center.

      The PS2 sits next to the television horizontally. My Gamecube sits on top of it on the left side with no problems. The rest of the space on top of the PS2 is where I keep memory cards.

      I'm not sure what the big deal is. I don't think I'm in the minority here, but I don't play all of my past consoles all the time. If I want to fire up my SNES

  • Astro Studios LINK (Score:3, Informative)

    by Numeric ( 22250 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:11PM (#13047247) Homepage Journal
    I checked out some of their other design work, its cool, but nothing I have ever noticed.

    http://www.astrostudios.com/ [astrostudios.com]
    • Obviously they don't design for usability (adjusts your browser window to full screen). Just another design firm that wows the stupid management and produces an inferior product.

      5 minutes on the internet and you'd see that if they could make it rack mountable, easy to stack half their work would be done for them. None of this hippie nonesense about breathing in energy. Give me a damn break.

      </rant>

      Sorry been dealing with too many inept artists lately while trying to produce a functional product for
    • Their website is flash-only. That's never a good sign.

  • Just my opinion (Score:5, Interesting)

    by laxcat ( 600727 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:13PM (#13047273) Homepage
    From a shear industrial design standpoint (nevermind rackmounting or anything else, just how does it look...), MS made by far the ugliest console last time around and are dead set on making this round no different.

    Sure it's better than the horrible eyesore that the original XBOX was, but not enough. The prototypes for the PS3 and Revolution blow this thing away.
    • The rev looks amazing. Just the right size for a game console, I say. Of course, I see the shiny plastic being covered with fingerprints in no time, but it's pretty keen looking nonetheless.

      The PS3 looks ... meh ... rounded, very plastic, and very bulky.

      None of them are meant to be stackable though. Stacking is murder on airflow. You ever notice how the top of a PS2 is somewhat warm? It's dispersing quite a bit heat through that top so it doesn't need to run fans at the speed and volume of your avera
    • I can't imagine what universe you must exist in to think that the PS3 looks good ... *puke*
    • Wow, I had no idea people really prefered the look of the 360 over the other Rev and PS3. This is the first time I've really had a public discussion about it.

      To me the 360 looks like something a complete amateur designed. Of course I guess people like the stuff AlienWare makes too, so who am I to judge? For my money give me an Apple design any day.

      I think clean and simple designs are not on the best but the most timeless. The 360 has so many unnecessary bumps and grooves. Just looks messy to me.
      • I'll take the XBox 360 over the diseased monster looking Powermac G5's... or the original imacs... or the ipod.... not meaning to anger the blind apple fans in here, but I think they miss the beat on a tonne of aesthetics.

        now the powerbooks tho... some of them are pretty sweet.
  • Just glad it does not look like a george forman grill like the PS3 does.
  • ...why what would make a perfect sense as a trackball (and one good excuse for the name of the console - 360 degrees free rotation) is just a simple switch?
    • A trackball instead of a switch? where? As the power switch?

      Talk about a subgame... infinite possible positions, only one of them is "on". Actually, that does sound like MS...
      • The ball with "X" mark on it, in the middle of the gamepad.
        • Have you ever held a controller before? :p

          That would be an utterly terrible place for a trackball. It would be uncomfortable at best, and more likely just plain unusuable. And that's ignoring that a trackball would probably require a lot more space around it and would add a not insignificant amount of weight to the controller.

          It wouldn't really add too much needed capability, either. Yeah, POGs will complain that there is no mouse for FPS games, but analog sticks work fine as long as the game is designed

  • How it looks (Score:5, Funny)

    by FidelCatsro ( 861135 ) <fidelcatsro&gmail,com> on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:34PM (#13047553) Journal
    Well here we are reviewing another console design So here's a quick poll
    What do you consider the The ascetics of the Xbox 360 to be akin to
    [ ] I bent my wookie
    [ ] The Chewbacca defence
    [ ] What happens when you roll play-do and forget that your not meant to keep rolling just at the middle when making snakes
    [ ] Now i know why they don't work for apple
    [ ] Burma shave
    [ ] An eloquent design improving greatly on the concept seen in the previous console
    [ ] Its a DVD player Jim , but not as we know it
    [ ] hey who spray painted my sound blaster extigy and punched it in the stomach
    [ ] It suxors
    [ ] It r teh Rox
    [ ] An Audi [TT] in console form
    [ ] I always give stupid answers in polls so I'm going to say a rotund pillar

  • Looks of the 360 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ec_hack ( 247907 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:46PM (#13047692)
    Sonny, the 360s were beautiful machines. Lots of blinking lights, switches, dials, even a large nameplate on top. The big emergency stop was always there in front, taunting you to pull it. When the new 370s came out with only a couple of lights on the front panel, I knew an era had passed.

    Everytime I see one of these stories with "360" in the front, I flash back to my college days as an operator of an IBM 360/22 in a corporate data center. I'm officially old.

  • not the mainframe (Score:4, Funny)

    by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 ) on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @05:49PM (#13047715)
    am I the only one wwho saw that title and thought about the ibm 360, from many years ago?

    xbox? what's that? is that some kind of crossover patch box or something?
  • It's too bad the designs don't seem to allow much customizing of the case. I'm sure legal/warranty issues could come into play, but I would feel much more inclined to buy a console if the case was easy to modify...perhaps not "recommended", but was manufactured in a way that makes it easy none the less.
    Different colors are nice, but lose their luster when you go to a friend saying, "Hey, I got the blue one" and they reply "hey, me too." Many people like to customize and show what they can do. Let the users
    • If you had read the article, you would have discovered that they wanted to make it so the whole case could be skinned, but it cost too much. While I agree it would be cool, would you be willing to pay an extra $40 for the ability to change the case? I wouldn't...

  • end game (Score:4, Funny)

    by macshit ( 157376 ) * <snogglethorpe@NOsPAM.gmail.com> on Tuesday July 12, 2005 @08:19PM (#13049131) Homepage
    Man, those clumsy slashdot editors seem to have chopped off the end of the story! Here, I'll fill it in:
    "... and then, to celebrate our triumph of design, our mastery of every nuance of the gaming console's form, we all got completely smashed on champagne the night before the deadline, and fell into a deep sleep.

    Unable to wake us, but knowing the deadline had come, my teenage nephew "buzz" panicked and submitted some random photo he found on the website of a Taiwanese PC-maker.

    A shame, I suppose, but ... maybe the world just wasn't ready for what we had done. Someday, though, someday..."
  • It looks like a white optiplex Dell. Uck.
  • ... but after getting an eyeful of the PS3, the 360 looks beautiful.

  • Is it just me, or is the original iteration on the far left of the shown iterations for the console (presumably from first to last, left to right) the coolest?

    I don't know about the rest of you, but if they had released that, I would have been all over it. That, and if they had kept the name Xenon. Instead they pulled this crazy marketing crap, and now we have a console that looks like a coffee maker on crack, and with name that makes you wonder... "Xbox 360? What happened to the other 359?"

    Not to mention
  • Umm, well the iPod is like really popular and its white and plasticky. Thats the cool new edgy "extreeeme" color so we made this dog-bone shape.. and we were like totally stoked... then we made it white... oooh! and it had to have glowy bits so we did that too. Yeah us are great designers, and we're just interns! Rawk!

    Puh-lease... the Xbox 360 "design" is as original as buttered toast. Next slashvertisement please.

  • PS2 (Score:1)

    by Rethcir ( 680121 )
    The best quote I have ever heard about a game console is that "the PS2 looks like Darth Vader's toaster." I forget who said it but I agree. It's definitely very early 80's Star Wars/James Bondian.

    The overall look is decent I guess but I have a feeling it would have looked much nicer if it wasn't for the little overhangy part on the right if you lay it down. I'd rather have a regular box than a funky one which tends to wiggle around on me because the base is smaller than the top.

    I think overall I would rat

  • i wounder has anybody looked at the xbox controler on slashdot dont the buttons on the right look like the windows sysmbol? maybe in the wrong order but still.

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