New XBox 360 on the way? M$ does it again!

[Spankey]

Posted this elsewhere, but I thought we could enjoy this. It seems that Micro$oft was holding out on their customers with the HD-DVD add on. There was a reason for no HDMI on that lil unit. Oh well, it sure was flying off shelves! /Sarcasm. What was all that about the 360 add on and HD-DVD being cheaper than Blu-ray?

Codename Zephyr

[dialog_gvf]

The add-on isn't a player, it doesn't decode and it doesn't have video output. Since there is no port on the Xbox 360 with sufficient bandwidth to carry a raw video/audio signal back to the add-on, there was no way to put HDMI on that.

This is the same reason there is no general HDMI cable. Microsoft goofed at the video output chip design stage, and then has played mind games with their customers about this ever since.

Imagine how current owners are going to feel when this box comes out, and they wonder how come this "choice" is not forthcoming for them?

Gary

[JTK]

Inevitable.

I know people to this day who swore up and down before the 360 launched on through to today that MS would have to come out with some kind of hardware to match or try and exceed the beast machine that is the PS3.

It looks like these people, a lot of whom were castigated on certain forums and abroad...they have been vindicated.

The typical game console lifecycle is about 4-5 years. The 360's current hardware config can last about that long, at most.

In any event, I couldn't be LESS surprised about talk of 360's successor already, or at least a "360.5" variant.


I'm glad I got rid of my "first gen" 360 before the inevitable price drop that's going to happen when they get ready to put this thing out.

[Josh]

Microsoft continually cannibalizes their market share and the consumers accept it with open arms. Asking their die hard fans to purchase a new version of their console only two years later (assuming a May announcement for a fall release) is ridiculous.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by joshd2012

Microsoft continually cannibalizes their market share and the consumers accept it with open arms. Asking their die hard fans to purchase a new version of their console only two years later (assuming a May announcement for a fall release) is ridiculous.

And yet so many people predicted this and refused to buy a 360 at launch.

They knew the PS3 was coming out later and would have the better hardware and MS would have no choice but to have to try and match up their hardware after the fact.

At the very least, any existing 360 owner that wants to upgrade to one of these new machines should be getting a VERY generous trade in/rebate boost offer.

[Nismobeach]

bahahahaha! This is freaking GREAT! This proves how much of a joke the current 360 is!

[Nismobeach]

Originally Posted by JTK

And yet so many people predicted this and refused to buy a 360 at launch.

They knew the PS3 was coming out later and would have the better hardware and MS would have no choice but to have to try and match up their hardware after the fact.

That's one of the reasons why I waited for my PS3. Sony promised something revolutionary and they delivered on it. MS on the other had was just trying to (obviously) force themselves further into the market and give their customers the "impression" they were getting something revolutionary.

PS3 FTW

[phranctoast]

ok kids.....can you say "rushed out system"?

[Blubaru]

I wonder how all those parents that bought 360s for their kids this past Christmas are going to feel when they hear this news.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

ok kids.....can you say "rushed out system"?

I've been saying that for well over a year now. It was painfully obvious to a lot of people, but it was first so a good chunk went for it anyways.

You won't get some people to admit it, but believe me: A good chunk of folks knew this was coming.

[Maximus]

Firstly this has not been confirmed and could well turn out to be a hoax (can anyone say Photoshop with me).

Secondly in doing a system rehaul this early is like admitting defeat, it would be similar to Sony putting out a PS3 without a BD drive and selling it as an addon later.

While the transition to 65nm is a big milestone putting in an analogue to digital (the upconversion chip in the X360 is for analogue transmitions only) modulator chip could prove costly so the X360 will no go down in price, it could also cause some degradation in the purity of the digital signal from HDMI. Part of the reason why the PS3 can do HDMI so easily is that the signal is digital from start to finish, but in the X360 there is an upconversion stage which required analogue (hence no HDMI in the original incarnation).

I would expect Sony to combat this March 08 when they make the transition to 45nm (Sony are more than likely going to skip the whole 65nm generation) as the cost of the PS3 will have basically halved by then as B/V diodes will be cheap, and using half the silicon for one chip will basically double the yield/half the cost. They have already committed to removing legacy hardware in their next update of to console, and the BD drive will probably be thinner/smaller and we might see 1.8" drives used for HD storage. When this happens we will see a smaller PS3, call it a PS3 slim (like pstwo, psone). Krazy Kaz has already stated that Sony expect to be making a 5% margin on the PS3 by next Christmas (07), so that could lead to price cuts for the older PS3 $399 20GB and $499 60GB and $599 for the top of the line slim model when it gets released (March 08).

Please note that this is all guesswork and none of it is sourced and my own thoughts only.

[phranctoast]

Im worried when Sony goes the way of software emulation for ps2/ps1 games. Thats the reason (as far as I can tell) that there are so few xbox titles that work on the 360.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

Im worried when Sony goes the way of software emulation for ps2/ps1 games. Thats the reason (as far as I can tell) that there are so few xbox titles that work on the 360.

Well they have said that they will only update to emu once every single game can be emulated and there is no need for legacy hardware. I wouldn't worry about this if you already have a PS3 as it contains all of the PS1+2 hardware in it.

[phranctoast]

I wouldn't worry about this if you already have a PS3 as it contains all of the PS1+2 hardware in it.

good point. I shouldnt be worried. I have a launch ps3.

[reiella]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Well they have said that they will only update to emu once every single game can be emulated and there is no need for legacy hardware. I wouldn't worry about this if you already have a PS3 as it contains all of the PS1+2 hardware in it.

It's more an effort to create a virtual machine to handle the system. Something, MS isn't quite able to do with the 360/XBox compatibility since they don't own all the IP to the XBox. They, can, however, program compatibility patches on a per title basis since they own distribution rights for all XBox games. It's a very quirky distinction.

Further, with the PS3, the system is significantly 'above and beyond' its predecessors to be able to expect a reasonably fast Virtual PS2/PS1 machine to be possible. While the tech difference between the 360 and the first XBox is alot more narrow, it becomes a bit more questionable. Such that title specific optimizations may well be necessary [so it isn't as bad a trade-off in that instance, to go ahead with per-title compatibility].

[Stuart Kirby]

I've got a 360 and admit, it was so obvious this would happen at some point. Damn my impatience for wanting to see HD on my HDTV Never mind, I never use it since I got the Wii anyway

The 360 is a bit of a brute already though. The noise this thing gives out is crazy.

[mainman]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Firstly this has not been confirmed and could well turn out to be a hoax (can anyone say Photoshop with me).

Secondly in doing a system rehaul this early is like admitting defeat, it would be similar to Sony putting out a PS3 without a BD drive and selling it as an addon later.

While the transition to 65nm is a big milestone putting in an analogue to digital (the upconversion chip in the X360 is for analogue transmitions only) modulator chip could prove costly so the X360 will no go down in price, it could also cause some degradation in the purity of the digital signal from HDMI. Part of the reason why the PS3 can do HDMI so easily is that the signal is digital from start to finish, but in the X360 there is an upconversion stage which required analogue (hence no HDMI in the original incarnation).

I would expect Sony to combat this March 08 when they make the transition to 45nm (Sony are more than likely going to skip the whole 65nm generation) as the cost of the PS3 will have basically halved by then as B/V diodes will be cheap, and using half the silicon for one chip will basically double the yield/half the cost. They have already committed to removing legacy hardware in their next update of to console, and the BD drive will probably be thinner/smaller and we might see 1.8" drives used for HD storage. When this happens we will see a smaller PS3, call it a PS3 slim (like pstwo, psone). Krazy Kaz has already stated that Sony expect to be making a 5% margin on the PS3 by next Christmas (07), so that could lead to price cuts for the older PS3 $399 20GB and $499 60GB and $599 for the top of the line slim model when it gets released (March 08).

Please note that this is all guesswork and none of it is sourced and my own thoughts only.

65nm Cell chip has basically been confirmed. It is only a matter of time that every new production PS3 will use this one.

65nm is ready to be mass-produced well actually it is allready being mass produced. 65nm is cheaper than 90nm and or more efficient. I only hope that the launch PS3's for Euro will have 65nm chips.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by mainman

65nm Cell chip has basically been confirmed. It is only a matter of time that every new production PS3 will use this one.

65nm is ready to be mass-produced well actually it is allready being mass produced. 65nm is cheaper than 90nm and or more efficient. I only hope that the launch PS3's for Euro will have 65nm chips.

I know that IBM have developed the 65nm Cell, the problem I was talking about was incorporating a new chip design into the PS3 before IBM successfully move to 45nm. Sony would be better off using the 90nm chip for now and do a complete redesign for the next jump by using IBMs specs for their 45nm Cell.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Stuart Kirby

The 360 is a bit of a brute already though. The noise this thing gives out is crazy.

Is that the drive (not used with HD DVD), or the fan (which with AVC would be at full spin)?

Gary

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by mainman

65nm Cell chip has basically been confirmed. It is only a matter of time that every new production PS3 will use this one.

65nm is ready to be mass-produced well actually it is allready being mass produced. 65nm is cheaper than 90nm and or more efficient. I only hope that the launch PS3's for Euro will have 65nm chips.

I wonder if it will be pin compatible and in the same package? That would make it easy.

Gary