Microsoft Announces the all new Xbox 360

[Razorwing]

Ironically, one of my friend's Launch 360's.. just went E74 last night. Just the other day I told him to trade it in for a new one so that he won't get the E74... because since it's a launch 360.. it was going to happen sooner or later.

[Hedon]

I am pretty sure that launch 360s are 100% defective. It just won't ever reach that height because many people rarely use their 360s as much as us hardcore gamers.

[Neo003]

I don't see MS going with Blu-ray for the next Xbox, they're already midway into building the next one and I agree with the few here who said they're moving to digital cards. I'm guessing MS is finally listening to the customer and getting rid of the problem with the current console, you know the 12x noise that everyone isn't happy about.

[Smigit]

The next console from MS will most likely have digital cards, similar to say DS. A form of SD card with higher storage. The reason MS is focused on Games on Demand for Xbox 360 titles, they see this as a way to be able to play the previous Xbox 360 library of games on the next console without the need to have a DVD drive.

It's unlikely they will go the Blu-ray route, as optical is now pretty dated.

I'd say that they are concentrating on Games on Demand due to the fact that can make a higher margin on those sales, not for backwards compatibility. However there are many reasons why they can't go purely 'On Demand' any time soon such as bandwidth and the face many stores wouldn't bother to stock the hardware for a console that they cant make console sales from (The biggest games retailer in Australia won't stock the PSP Go). If backwards compatibility was a huge concern then an optical drive would absolutely be a no brainer.

Optical is hardly dated and is still probably the primary means to get movies for joe blo public (and I think thats important for something they are selling not just as a console but a multimedia device). As for the noise...yes the 360 is loud but they can just use a less crap drive to remedy that. DVD Players in general and the Wii/PS3 usually never have the same noise issues the 360 had.

Ohh and they won't cost all that much when the console is due to arrive either.

[Hedon]

I'd say that they are concentrating on Games on Demand due to the fact that can make a higher margin on those sales, not for backwards compatibility.

Well, yes, they are doing it to make a higher margin for today's console as well. They are also giving themselves a bigger future library for the next console.

However there are many reasons why they can't go purely 'On Demand' any time soon such as bandwidth and the face many stores wouldn't bother to stock the hardware for a console that they cant make console sales from (The biggest games retailer in Australia won't stock the PSP Go).

Which is why we will see digital cards, which can be sold in stores (similar to the DS). They will also concentrate on digital downloads.

Optical is hardly dated

Actually, it's one of the oldest common storage formats we have (invented over 50 years ago and used for over the past 30 years). Even some computer manufacturers are deleting the optical drive from computers when buying and building, because they are using internet and other storage devices for backup and installs. Expect this to happen more going forward.

[George P Global Moderator]

I'd say that they are concentrating on Games on Demand due to the fact that can make a higher margin on those sales, not for backwards compatibility. However there are many reasons why they can't go purely 'On Demand' any time soon such as bandwidth and the face many stores wouldn't bother to stock the hardware for a console that they cant make console sales from (The biggest games retailer in Australia won't stock the PSP Go). If backwards compatibility was a huge concern then an optical drive would absolutely be a no brainer.

Optical is hardly dated and is still probably the primary means to get movies for joe blo public (and I think thats important for something they are selling not just as a console but a multimedia device). As for the noise...yes the 360 is loud but they can just use a less crap drive to remedy that. DVD Players in general and the Wii/PS3 usually never have the same noise issues the 360 had.

Ohh and they won't cost all that much when the console is due to arrive either.

Noise isn't the only problem with optial, my DVDRW drive in my PC when spinning at top speed makes more noise than my 360, that's just the way they all more or less are if they go at max. The PS3's BD drive doesn't make that noise because it's going at a much slower speed, 4x?

That aside, discs degrade, and can get scratched, and also just break if you don't watch out. Likewise the optical drive itself craps out, lasers die and so on. Anything with moving parts compared to something without (SD cards or w/e) will break in time. Dated or not anyone who's own a playstation console through the years can tell you that PS and disc drives dying go hand in hand. If the price of producing and overall shipping games on solid state media gets to a point where it works out, then I'd drop optical in a heart beat! Not to mention that something like flash media would last longer, give you way more read speeds (helps with load times way more than even installing to the HDD), but also saves on power, and you have zero noise.

It's also more flexible for a dev, in the end if your game only needs say 8GB, you punch out 8GB flash cards for it, if the game needs 20GB you go with that. This all just depends on price, but the cost of NAND flash keeps dropping since it's being used more and more now. In 3-4 years when we're talking about next-gen consoles again I wouldn't be surprised if we have a throwback to "carts", but in this case it'll be SD cards for games.

[neoadorable]

the fingerprinting issue i've come to terms with, kinda like it on my notebook and touchscreen smartphone, it gives things this cyberpunk, grimy, lived in feel. so why not in my favorite gaming device?

as for optical storage, i'd be fine with Blu-ray, or with going for a more digital dist approach. with stuff like OnLive finally coming on, we're going that way anyway, in ten years hardware will have become more of an option than a must. there's no threat, we all knew gaming was going there eventually. it was in Logan's Run and Westworld and what not.

[LingeringSoul]

A friend of mine just picked this up yesterday, so we had a go with it last night. Definitely impressed by how quiet it is, especially considering that his last 360 had some sort of disc drive problem that made it sound like a motorcycle engine. I was also impressed by how short it is compared to the last 360 (that is, when you stand them vertically, the new one is considerably shorter). Perhaps not the biggest deal in the world if you have your console resting horizontally (as he did), but I just thought it looked nice.

As for the glossy surface, I'm not too bothered by the hairline scratches that will inevitably appear, and the only parts that will get fingerprints on them are the parts that you actually need to touch (eject button, controller sync, etc.). My friend has the new 360 sitting beside his old fat PS3, and they look quite nice together. Two glossy consoles with touch buttons. Now he's just dreading what will happen if he has to get a new PS3 for whatever reason. Then he won't have the nice uniform aesthetic anymore :).

[Razorwing]

A friend of mine just picked this up yesterday, so we had a go with it last night. Definitely impressed by how quiet it is, especially considering that his last 360 had some sort of disc drive problem that made it sound like a motorcycle engine. I was also impressed by how short it is compared to the last 360 (that is, when you stand them vertically, the new one is considerably shorter). Perhaps not the biggest deal in the world if you have your console resting horizontally (as he did), but I just thought it looked nice.

As for the glossy surface, I'm not too bothered by the hairline scratches that will inevitably appear, and the only parts that will get fingerprints on them are the parts that you actually need to touch (eject button, controller sync, etc.). My friend has the new 360 sitting beside his old fat PS3, and they look quite nice together. Two glossy consoles with touch buttons. Now he's just dreading what will happen if he has to get a new PS3 for whatever reason. Then he won't have the nice uniform aesthetic anymore :).

Just as I said a few pages earlier (Y).

[vladmphoto]

Well since I didn't yet have a 360 I thought I'd pick this up last week. Been using it ever since and love it. My biggest reason for not owning one up to this point has been the lack of WiFi because my entertainment center is in the basement and was not going to shell out 100 bucks for the wifi card which is worth no more than 10$ if we're honest. For the same price you get a whole new design that promises no more of that 42% failure rate, quieter and smaller system, larger HDD (unfortunately not user replaceable once again), 45 nm chip which means less power consumption etc. I think for someone not previously owning a 360 and wants larger HDD, new design, less power consumption etc this is a great deal but keep in mind you can get an Elite with Forza 3 and Halo ODST for 50$ less so that may be a better deal for you. For people that already have a 360 this is probably not worth the additional 300 bucks.

[Razorwing]

Congrats on your 360S! Hope you enjoy it as your first 360!

[JTaylor69]

Well since I didn't yet have a 360 I thought I'd pick this up last week. Been using it ever since and love it. My biggest reason for not owning one up to this point has been the lack of WiFi because my entertainment center is in the basement and was not going to shell out 100 bucks for the wifi card which is worth no more than 10$ if we're honest. For the same price you get a whole new design that promises no more of that 42% failure rate, quieter and smaller system, larger HDD (unfortunately not user replaceable once again), 45 nm chip which means less power consumption etc. I think for someone not previously owning a 360 and wants larger HDD, new design, less power consumption etc this is a great deal but keep in mind you can get an Elite with Forza 3 and Halo ODST for 50$ less so that may be a better deal for you. For people that already have a 360 this is probably not worth the additional 300 bucks.

They've enabled USB memory sticks (16GB per USB usable) to be used as an alternative to hard drives which is why there is 2 extra USBs on the console in place of memory unit ports.

[Smigit]

It's also more flexible for a dev, in the end if your game only needs say 8GB, you punch out 8GB flash cards for it, if the game needs 20GB you go with that. This all just depends on price, but the cost of NAND flash keeps dropping since it's being used more and more now. In 3-4 years when we're talking about next-gen consoles again I wouldn't be surprised if we have a throwback to "carts", but in this case it'll be SD cards for games.

I still think the next console will be Blu Ray, if only because people will want to use it for movie playback. That and I would imagine discs are cheaper than flash.

I do however expect the market place will play a more vital role in the distribution of games. Currently games on demand seem to arrive several weeks or months after the game has hit the stores. I'm sure down the road that timeframe will tighten and a higher percentage of the games (if not all) will also be distributed digitally. So yeah, I agree digital distribution will play a bigger role, I just can't see them going to a solid state memory format over Blu Ray any time soon, especially for a device thats partially sold based on its movie playback potential.

Anyway I picked up a 360S last week. Looks nice but I haven't plugged it in yet since I have a second console already hooked up to the TV. Going to get a second TV and throw one in my bedroom.

[George P Global Moderator]

I still think the next console will be Blu Ray, if only because people will want to use it for movie playback. That and I would imagine discs are cheaper than flash.

I do however expect the market place will play a more vital role in the distribution of games. Currently games on demand seem to arrive several weeks or months after the game has hit the stores. I'm sure down the road that timeframe will tighten and a higher percentage of the games (if not all) will also be distributed digitally. So yeah, I agree digital distribution will play a bigger role, I just can't see them going to a solid state memory format over Blu Ray any time soon, especially for a device thats partially sold based on its movie playback potential.

Anyway I picked up a 360S last week. Looks nice but I haven't plugged it in yet since I have a second console already hooked up to the TV. Going to get a second TV and throw one in my bedroom.

I dunno about the next Xbox or not, but I figure at some point optical will get dropped in favor of solid state media. And I agree about GoD, I think that will pick up more as time goes on but I don't expect them to match retail on the same date anytime soon.

[Smigit]

I dunno about the next Xbox or not, but I figure at some point optical will get dropped in favor of solid state media.

Ohh sorry, definitely at some point. I think I'm looking at a shorter time frame, say the next three years or so.

[Malisk]

Yes, once Kinect releases.

Maybe, once Kinect has been released, and I've read a bunch of reviews.

[neoadorable]

can't wait to get it now, but must remain disciplined...only a couple weeks and i'll feel like i can afford it...

[George P Global Moderator]

can't wait to get it now, but must remain disciplined...only a couple weeks and i'll feel like i can afford it...

I think i'm going to wait till around the end of July before I get one as well.

[neoadorable]

yeah, later in the month is when you can gauge your disposable income better...

[George P Global Moderator]

yeah, later in the month is when you can gauge your disposable income better...

Not just that but my sister is going to be visiting and I figure I'll give her my current 360 and a few RPGs she likes to take back with her.

[scokem]

Mine has arrived today :D It really is whisper quiet - I thought it would be quieter than the old model but not as quiet as they were making out, but it really is! Gonna be thoroughly testing it with the boys at work over lunch but I don't envision any issues.

[Sethos]

Yup, got mine today as well - It's so good. Extremely quiet and feels like a proper quality product, even more so than my old PS3 Fat. The controller has also improved with firmer buttons, better thumbsticks that seem a tad more accurate oh and

they've been coated with a sort of powder that adds a bit of grip. It's really well thought out and just made the best controller even better (Y)

A few pictures;

:wub: 360

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Nice to see it smaller, but holy dust magnet just out of the box :p

[Sethos]

Nice to see it smaller, but holy dust magnet just out of the box :p

Just like the PS3 fat.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Just like the PS3 fat.

Yup, which is why I grew to hate the gloss and don't have it any more