Xbox 360 Slim Possible in 2010
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Xbox, 360, Slim, Microsoft, Natal | Themes: Digital Entertainment
It may be possible that Microsoft will slim down the Xbox 360 next year.
According to IndustryGamers, it's a tossup whether Microsoft will invest the time and revenue in refreshing the overall Xbox 360 design to reflect a "slim" look. The survey stems from the announcement that Sony's PlayStation 3 Slim is about to hit store shelves (August 26), however it's important to remember that Microsoft did not take the "slim" avenue with the original Xbox despite Sony's re-mastering of the PlayStation 2.
"I think it is a question of when not if," said David Cole of the DFC Intelligence. "However, the when part is a big uncertainty...rumors have been going on for a long time. I think people were asking me the same question last year at this time." Cole believes that Project Natal will have an impact on the overall decision to slim down the Xbox 360. Even still, the company said that there is an anticipated major redesign in sight for 2010.
Other analysts chimed in with their feedback, most of which also tune in to Project Natal as Microsoft's next big change. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan doesn't think a slim version is even in the forecast. "They had a redesign to eliminate the RROD issue, changed the heat sink, fan and a couple of other components. I'm not sure that they need to redesign the box, although I see the Elite black box becoming the standard."
Jesse Divnich of EEDAR said that reducing the size of the Xbox 360 would provide financial benefits for the manufacturer by decreasing shipping costs, packaging material, and more. However, a redesigned model may mislead consumers into thinking the hardware problems have been resolved.
"Throw in some physical alterations to the design of the Xbox 360 (i.e. making it smaller) and consumers are more likely to believe that their new Xbox 360 is 'more reliable'," Divnich said. "Consumers are more apt to believe a change has occurred if they can physically see a difference, even if the physical difference (in this case, the size of the Xbox 360) has nothing to do with the failure rate of the console."
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I would prefer one that works over a slim one any day
i like how they fixed the fan issues and 2010 isn't that when project natal is supposed to be released to the xbox?
I wish Sony would sort the size of their PS3 devkit out too.
As for the Xbox 360 Slim - why would Microsoft bother investing in all that? It isn't necessarily that big anyway. Sure it's a little on the chunky side, but it's really not a problem.
Personally I think the design of the 360 is one of the best. Not too small of big, looks good both vertical and horizontal. I'd rather see them fix issues with the heat, random pause and disc reading. But realistically the warranty is pretty groovy, you're just out a console while they look at it.
I wonder how they are going to deal with the heat issue causing the red ring of death. What will be the cooling setup? The slim might be a good idea but i am just worried about the cooling cause i owned two xbox 360's that gave me red ring of death.
It's hope this one doesn't overheat.
*lets
seeing as a ps3 could swallow my xbox and nintendo, it NEEDED a slimming, xbox, eh put your time into other improvements
It might be a good time to add bluray as well - i think if they did this, there really is absoloutely no reason to buya ps3 in my opinion.
"However, a redesigned model may mislead consumers into thinking the hardware problems have been resolved. "
This just sounds funny the way he is slamming Microsoft. I thought the idea behind a redesign/re-engineered piece of hardware was for this very reason - to make it better.
Your kidding right? The crapbox was out of date last year why do this ?
It might be a good time to add bluray as well - i think if they did this, there really is absoloutely no reason to buya ps3 in my opinion.
The reason the PS3 needs a Blu-Ray player is because that's the disc that the games are made on. The Xbox however uses DVD for it's games. If they did put a Blu-Ray player internally into the console, then it would drive costs way up, would be useless in terms of being beneficial towards the console purpose (because again the games are DVD), and it would not be able to read the Xbox 360 DVD (or a DVD at all because of the laser) out of the box.
It would be better to do an add-on like the HD-DVD player was if anything. Otherwise, the Blu-Ray players are falling in price quite hard lately and you can find one less than $100 (less than $60 for a computer optical drive) if you find a good sale.
I would rather pay less for a gaming console rather than pay more for a multimedia center all-in-one, this is what put the PS3 in trouble in the first place.
Your kidding right? The crapbox was out of date last year why do this ?
As a 360/PS3 programmaer, I can assure you that the 360 still has plenty of processing headroom for the next couple of years. I'd expect to see a new Xbox in 2012
ive never seen a xbox360 thats been red ring free wtf? they need 2 consentrate more on quality than quantity im considering ps3!! wont buy a xbox again soon until proven to work without any problems!
why??? We don't need it slimmer but functional and better. Consoles are what are holding back graphics in games and microsoft better get off their asses with the rest of console producers and move on in the gaming world. I mean common, we still have games being made with '06 quality graphics?
I keep hearing people harp over the RROD. I have a jasper model and I'm pretty sure that jasper resolved the heat issues. Does anyone know of any reports of the jasper platform failing?
I would prefer one that works over a slim one any day
I'd buy the one that fails less.
Xbox 360 Slim - marketing tagline:-
"
"Because we didn't lose enough extending warranties on RROD - now we make it smaller and compound heat dissipation problems
You probably won't see a slim till they move to 45nm components. Making it smaller wouldn't really help heat dissipation as it currently is.
I wish people would stop feeding Sony in calling the PS3 Slim by it's name... really, it's just the PS3 cheap. Looks cheap, probably feels cheap... hell, in price it actually is cheap. It's the PS3 Cheap... I think it sounds nice, too.
I'm a sony fan... always have been in the gaming industry... I bought a PS3 when it was full price and I haven't regretted it. However, I am very disappointed with the announcement of its latest firmware revision which DOESN'T contain the software PS2 emulator that they patented and everyone's been excited about.
as long as they take out the x-clamps and replace it with something that actually works I will be happy and buy one....
Heat issues, So fit it in a smaller package, What a bunch of bloody genius's...
2 years too late... think about it
it came out what? '05? ps3 in '06? AND they beat them to the punch
Simple revision (such as die shrink and 45nm process [or even possibly 32nm]) to reduce cost of manufacutring and reduce overheating. Revising anything that had a high chance of failure also.
To the cosumer it would be the same, but it'd be cooler, quieter, and cheaper for M$.
It's slim enough.
The Xbox 360 already has heating problems, makeing it thinner will only make matters worst. If they are going to thin it down, they will need to reduce more power and put a fan on the heatsink and have a direct heat tunnel to the side pannel with an additional Exhaust fan. Further more they need to address the motherboard problem, they need to support the board underneath so it can't warp. Why your at it add a internal wireless Eithernet card. Now you have a decent Xbox360.
New Xbox 360 design wishlist :-
1) Improved cooling/stability/reliability
2) Put the PSU circuits into the main unit and scrap the ugly 'power brick'
I actually like the slim design over the original. The original is cool is some ways chrome and piano finish, the slim is elegant in other areas like matt finish plus an overall simplicity look. It will still look good beside a large Plama/LCD/LED TV.
Point is design is still individual preference.
as long as they take out the x-clamps and replace it with something that actually works I will be happy and buy one....
Here's another factor I believe has helped with the Hugh failure rate> I've been in the alarm service business for over ten years and when I see a 360 in the majority of the homes, their either stuffed inside an entertainment center with barely enough room to cool off, setting on carpet floors covered with dust, and some homes which have those bugs in them that like warm places, where do you think they go to hide! On top of that, the stories of 360 owner's making them overheat on purpose.
I actually like the slim design over the original. The original is cool is some ways chrome and piano finish, the slim is elegant in other areas like matt finish plus an overall simplicity look. It will still look good beside a large Plama/LCD/LED TV.
Point is design is still individual preference.
I wish people would stop feeding Sony in calling the PS3 Slim by it's name... really, it's just the PS3 cheap. Looks cheap, probably feels cheap... hell, in price it actually is cheap. It's the PS3 Cheap... I think it sounds nice, too.I'm a sony fan... always have been in the gaming industry... I bought a PS3 when it was full price and I haven't regretted it. However, I am very disappointed with the announcement of its latest firmware revision which DOESN'T contain the software PS2 emulator that they patented and everyone's been excited about.
Back to the actual story...
A slim Xbox360 would be a good idea for some people, does anyone really want a huge clunky box?
Maybe a renaming from Xbox360 Elite to Xbox360 Ultimate as well?
For me as well is not a big deal. Specially since my xbox has always been working fine i dont plan on ever buying a new one unless this one dies on me. Yet its been from day one in here working fine so lets change subject before i jinx it!.
The thing is that it ill have some increased sales after the hype and wait of some kiddos ever since the revealing or announcement from MS if they do it as a move practically there will be somethign they will make out of it. As well as profit so I dont see why not.