Xbox 360 Version 2!!!!

[MR.COATES]

Looks like we may have answers as to where the heck that HDMI cable is hiding.

Shockety Click (http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/05/the-second-xbox-360-revealed-codename-zephyr/)

:eek:

[KRW]

Well, I suddenly hope mine dies just before the 12 months is up, all of a sudden. :D

[seb2]

Why is this a shock? It's no secret that MS are updating the 360 this year. It was supposed to be early 2007, but could be around May/June time now..

Hopefully it will be silent and have built in WiFi.

[Spooky_uk]

so all the denials by MS so far that no new version will be released ...hmmmmmm - gonna **** off a lot of customers.

[Radiohead]

I was planning on a Feb purchase. I think I'll wait.

[Dan]

I hope that the original can support hdmi.

[Marek]

Wish my tv did 1080p doh!! more expense all round

[seb2]

I think I am going to wait, this news suggests they are coming sooner than expected and it sounds like it's going to be fully loaded..

[MR.COATES]

I hope that the original can support hdmi.

It's certainly an interesting question - but I have no issues with the compononent connection myself.

It'll only be an issue if HD-DVD's start carrying encryption.

[Dan]

I think I am going to wait, this news suggests they are coming sooner than expected and it sounds like it's going to be fully loaded..

/throws xbox 360 version 1 in the bin. :|

[hookbeak]

i'm failing to be surprised or shocked. A new version with an HDMI port - so what ? If you'd waited for HDMI and a cooler chip and a bigger drive you would not have been playing on your 360 last xmas. Fact is that making the 360 has got cheaper this year, so MS can now afford to "upgrade" some components without charging more for it. i fail to see why it's a "bad thing"

The reason of course they didn't announce it, is shown by this thread - as it kills sales until the launch, Apple do this all the time and no one is bothered about that.

All this does is help MS in their battle against the PS3, Sonys main argument so far seem to be 1) we have HDMI 2) we have 60gb, in one fell swoop this negates any "lead" the Ps3 could be deemed to have had technology wise - AND it'll still be a lot cheaper.

New 360 owners will win with newer hardware, older ones win as their console gets stronger in the market.

As for the whole "MS screwed the early adopter" market - what a load of balls, i didn't cry to samsung when a new LCD appeared for the same price but a better spec a week after i bought mine, nor did i complain to Dell when a better specced laptop appeared a month after i bought my laptop.

The fact is the "old" 360 still plays the same games the "new" one will.

[Wendelius]

Hookbeak summed up my feelings better than I could have. :thumbs:

Wendelius

[Harsin]

Hopefully this one won't break if you look at it the wrong way.

[LouBarlow]

One is not going to be happy if the only way one can get HDMI connectability is by buying oneself a new console :|

[seb2]

Better put them 360's on Ebay before the masses find out..

[hookbeak]

Better put them 360's on Ebay before the masses find out..

Quite right, the v1 360 is now useless as you'll only be able to connect it to a telly in 5 ways instead of 6.

[MR.COATES]

Hopefully this one won't break if you look at it thw wrong way.

:lol:

I would call you bitter and twisted but I'd be EXACTLY the same if my 360 so much as broke down for 5 minutes!!

[MR.COATES]

Quite right, the v1 360 is now useless as you'll only be able to connect it to a telly in 5 ways instead of 6.

I'm just waiting for the first comments of how games on the new 360 will look better.

And that the v1 360 is old technology....

:lol:

[Harsin]

:lol:

I would call you bitter and twisted but I'd be EXACTLY the same if my 360 so much as broke down for 5 minutes!!

No. 4 has had a fair few lockups. :(

ALthough I think MattKB still leads the pack in the Forums' Broken 360 league.

[chrisjm]

I hope this does what DS lite did for nintendo. Could do with a wider range of games & developer support.

But that link shows hardly anything, i cant tell if the units smaller, apart from the extra connection it may just be a way to make them cheaper with an innards revision & not as visible as pstwo vs PS2. If thats the case then it will probably just mean they can cut the RRP.

[Space Duck]

So I'm going to be stuck with some ancient kit just because of four stodgy letters (HDMI)? Most disappointed :lol:

Although if I upgraded my TV at any point then I'd consider buying V2 and palming my old one off on my niece next christmas :D

[MR.COATES]

The frame of the 360 seems to be absolutely identical, it's a mere case of tuning the insides.

Consider it as putting a Magic Tree airfreshener on the rear-view mirror. It aint gonna make the car go any faster but it'll sure smell nicer.

[Ian Vinten]

Wonder if they'll put an HD-DVD drive in it too...

[hookbeak]

Wonder if they'll put an HD-DVD drive in it too...


i don't think adding £100 + to the cost of the unit is in their best interests at this time, besides - what's the point ? you just cut off the portion of the market that can't afford that extra £100. the seperate is the best idea. Sony should have done the same, then people would be able to afford PS3's....

[Space Duck]

If the HD-DVD drive was inbuilt then I may as long as they shoved it in during the region free phase of HD-DVD :lol: ie Now!

But then I'd just be wasting me cash since Live has become a rather dull affair for me :(

[hookbeak]

Although if I upgraded my TV at any point then I'd consider buying V2 and palming my old one off on my niece next christmas :D


Advantages of HDMI on the Xbox 360 (1 of 1)

1. the cable is a bit thinner


:shrug:

[Space Duck]

It'd match the other cables at the back of my TV... excluding that pesky VGA Cable.... :D

[degeneration]

Traditionally don't updates (within generations) of consoles take away rather than add?

The PS1 update took away the serial port.
The PStwo removed the possiblity of a hard drive.
The Mastersystem 2 removed the card slot.
The Gameboy Micro took away backwards compatiblity.

[hookbeak]

Seriously, can anyone tell me the advantages of HDMI on the 360 ?

PS3 fanboys keep spouting on about it, as to why it means the PS3 roxx0r and the 360 p0wnz, but apart from the HDCP thing - which currently doesn't exist, i can't find a single reason why i would want it or need it. And i have an empty HDMI socket on the telly !

[Ian Vinten]

I've got a panasonic TV and I'm hoping that HDMI will solve the sharpness v stronger colours, VGA v component debate

[Space Duck]

Plus at the moment Final Fantasy XI takes up a shed load of HD space... :lol: Hopefully they'll release the larger disc seperately :D

[degeneration]

I've got a panasonic TV and I'm hoping that HDMI will solve the sharpness v stronger colours, VGA v component debate
Ah yes... I really did think I was going mad when I swopped from Component to VGA... Now the PS2 is in Component, the DVD in HDMI, the Wii in Composite (Which doesn't look too bad), Sky in the SCART. Only a S-Video to fill...

[MR.COATES]

Traditionally don't updates (within generations) of consoles take away rather than add?

The PS1 update took away the serial port.
The PStwo removed the possiblity of a hard drive.
The Mastersystem 2 removed the card slot.
The Gameboy Micro took away backwards compatiblity.

But the big difference is that ALL of those were due to reduction in console size, that's not the case (as we know so far) with the 'new' 360.

[KRW]

Traditionally don't updates (within generations) of consoles take away rather than add?

The PS1 update took away the serial port.
The PStwo removed the possiblity of a hard drive.
The Mastersystem 2 removed the card slot.
The Gameboy Micro took away backwards compatiblity.

Well, yeah, we don't know what, exactly, this one will be missing yet :D Anyway, I'm with hookbeak, I dont care so long as I can still play the games and (this is more crucial for me) the 60gg HD comes out seperately (so far, so certain) but that its easy easy peasy to transfer stuff from the 20gg version to the bigger one.

[KRW]

But the big difference is that ALL of those were due to reduction in console size, that's not the case (as we know so far) with the 'new' 360.

Nah, the PS1 went through a massive load of changes before the little one came out, didnt it?

[fabbers]

D'oh only just bought one before christmas, HDMI doen't concern me (although my tv does have 2 ports sat there doing nothing) my only want really would be a larger drive. Might take out the extended warranty then when (if) it dies i might get the better version

[SqueakyG]

The main hardware improvement I want to see is a more reliable disc drive. I apparently have the "good" disc drive, yet it still plagues me with dirty disc errors all the time Not quite enough to be worth lugging the machine back to Argos 10 miles away, I'll suffer it. But I play the Xbox 360 with the trepidation of knowing the game could throw me back to the dashboard at any time.

[LouBarlow]

I've got a panasonic TV and I'm hoping that HDMI will solve the sharpness v stronger colours, VGA v component debate

VGA looks great on my projector, but HDMI would solve connection issues with other components which currently have to be hot-swapped when used - it's not the quality side of things that annoys me on that score, as VGA and DVI look just as good as HDMI on my set-up, more for convenience sake.

[fabbers]

The only improvement i really really want to see is drive caching reimplemented ala Xbox1. I'm still in shock everytime i load a game up after being in the dashboard. It must be fairly easy surely to do some kind of logic along the lines of "if HDD1 present preload.........." Which if the drive was increased to 120gb would be great.

[ShakeyJake]

Shouldn't the codename be "Xephyr" rather than "Zephyr"?

[Dan]

Any noise reduction would be a major advantage for me.

[ShakeyJake]

Any noise reduction would be a major advantage for me.

I think MS have done a pretty good job of noise reduction. There won't be any noise at all coming from mine over the next few months.

[KRW]

I think MS have done a pretty good job of noise reduction. There won't be any noise at all coming from mine over the next few months.

:lol:

[seb2]

I'm starting to wonder if the whole 65nm processors being delayed until mid 2007 was just a smoke screen in order not to harm Christmas Xbox 360 sales..

When in fact were getting them a lot sooner.

[paulsaz]

so hdmi carries picture and audio, all good and well but I want the picture to go to my telly and the audio to go to my amp. how does that work then? guess it's nearly amp upgrade time.

[DCH]

I can see the point in an update that doesn't have the HD-DVD built in. I'd buy that, but not just for HDMI.

[Drysolder]

All I see are more version 1 360's being converted to accept warez. Could come back to bite Microsoft hard if not managed properly (perhaps some discount for trade-ins, etc).

[Goblin]

liars, damn liars!

I'm not really bothered unless it's has an HD-DVD drive, then I'll be annoyed. HDMI on my TV doesn't even look as nice as Component but that could be down to a crap lead.

[ShakeyJake]

I'm not that fussed about HDMI or HD-DVD but I would like a console that I don't feel will break sometime between my warranty expiring and GTA4 being released. And being quieter would be a definite bonus.

[BlueDwarf]

Apart form being too bloody loud, the 360 is only really lacking a way to get the most out of the audio on HD-DVD discs.

[Francis]

Apart form being too bloody loud, the 360 is only really lacking a way to get the most out of the audio on HD-DVD discs.
Even then, I'd still prefer the analogue outs. For TrueHD over HDMI, I'd need to upgrade the amp I only got recently :gag:

[Spooky_uk]

the photo posted could also be a fake.....

[fattyboombatty]

well, i'm not arsed about the hdmi or larger hdd. but I AM arsed about it being quieter and cooler as this is the one thing that really annoys me about my 360. my 360 sounds like a ****** jet engine:(

[DB2k]

quieter and larger hard disc are nice .. but tbh not critical unless something magic happens and i fill up my current hard dis. And it would be useful for them to provide a way to copy data between hard discs as i don't want to be swapping them.

[Johnr]

I bet they have also implemented a new drive which will be harder to just 'flash' than the current models.

[johnrevill]

Key improvements for me would be:

1. Lower noise level during operation (still suprises me sometimes just how load it is if I haven't played on it for a while).
2. Built in wi-fi
3. Bigger HD
4. Built in HD-DVD drive

I guess no4 is not very likely and as for the HDMI side of things. I'm not bothered as most TVs only have 2 HDMI sockets at the moment and they will be used up by Sky HD and my DVD player...

[mjpartyboy]

There are more pictures and a video of it in action, using a HDMI to DVI converter, at a certain Xbox web site.

I don't think I'll be upgrading my 360 just for HDMI, I don't even have a HDMI amp.

If they would release VGA and component cables with 5.1 analogue connections I would be happy because the 360 can decode the HD audio formats and I have 5.1 analogue inputs empty and unused on my amp.

[scaramanga]

Well i was going to buy one on just before xmas but held off :D Looks like ill be waiting a bit longer. Also looks like the thing is on the brink of being hacked (or already has, someone has showed they have linux booting on it )

[Matt KB]

No. 4 has had a fair few lockups. :(

ALthough I think MattKB still leads the pack in the Forums' Broken 360 league.

My Number 4 is having disc drive issues but is fighting through the pain. I have wrote a strongly worded letter to MS which is awaiting postage :D

[ShakeyJake]

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/xbox-360-announcements-leaked-iptv-dvr-vod-226561.php

There's talk of IPTV now. They really have to have made them quieter if they expect people to watch TV through them. Also more reliable for the long hours of use they'd receive.

[lettuce]

One is not going to be happy if the only way one can get HDMI connectability is by buying oneself a new console :|

Dont see the point of upgrading to this at all really, if the main thing people are concerned about it the HDMI, as it doesnt give any real advantages over using the VGA with a Digital Optical audio cable!!! The picture quality is going to be no different, all it would do would give digital video and audio over one cable

[Drysolder]

Dont see the point of upgrading to this at all really, if the main thing people are concerned about it the HDMI, as it doesnt give any real advantages over using the VGA with a Digital Optical audio cable!!! The picture quality is going to be no different, all it would do would give digital video and audio over one cable

The only real 'benefit' is HDCP compatibility.

[Grandmaster]

The new model has a new scaler chip to accomodate a digital output, so the chances of the existing model (with its solely analogue output) having an HDMI upgrade are approximately zero.

The only reason you could possibly want this new model over the current one would be if your screen doesn't like the VGA output of the 360, or if your other inputs are taken up by DVD players, Sky boxes etc.

[Tempest]

Calm down dear.

It's going to be not long away from 2 years since the launch of the console and they are just making some minor improvments that all.

[seb2]

Imagine if it had HDMI, 120GB, Built in WiFi, HD-DVD and silent!!

That's what the people want and I am sure MS are aware of this. I know I would pay for it..

If this came true I would be so happy!!

[Tempest]

Imagine if it had HDMI, 120GB, Built in WiFi, HD-DVD and silent!!

That's what the people want and I am sure MS are aware of this. I know I would pay for it..

If this came true I would be so happy!!

Don't forget full Intenet access (wireless keyboard option) Web browser built in etc.
And emulation of other past (different make) consoles with MAME support and all old game roms purchasable via Live Downloads.

All this aside, it does seem daft.
There people re-writing old 80's arcade games VERY SLOWLY for the 360.
why not just release a MAME patch (front end) for the console and sell the ROM Images on Live for a few quid per pop.

Much easier for all concerned, and much more money comes rolling in for all concerned.

[Chris]

The new model has a new scaler chip to accomodate a digital output, so the chances of the existing model (with its solely analogue output) having an HDMI upgrade are approximately zero.

MS said in the past that they can redirect a digital signal to the current av port on the 360.

Main problem with the current 360 is the digital output wouldn't have gone through the analogue scaler so the 720p only games would be stuck at the native gpu resolution on a 1080p display.

MS can get around this by releasing an adapter containing the digital scaler that plugs in to the av port on current AV 360 which you can then use a standard HDMI cable with.

[Drysolder]

MS can get around this by releasing an adapter containing the digital scaler that plugs in to the av port on current AV 360 which you can then use a standard HDMI cable with.

That just sounds like a reet faff, it would probably me more cost effective for Microsoft to run a trade-in scheme.

With a large quantity of the CES announcement already leaked, it just remains as to what upgrade path (if any) will be offered.

As far as I'm concerned, the video knocking around YouTube showing the prototype is pretty conclusive - it does exist, and it's incoming.

[Dan]

Shame there's music on that video, would have been interesting to hear if it's any quieter than the v1.

[KRW]

I don't see why it matters. I expect mine to die at some point over the next 12 months, in which case I'd hope for a new type as a replacement. Perhaps thats what Microsoft will do, rather than do some sort of trade-in for those that are bothered.

[Dan]

Are MS replacing broken 360's that were bought in November 2005?

[MR.COATES]

And one BIG step forward overnight!

Xbox 360 HDMI in action! (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/clip-xbox-360-hdmi-in-action-226584.php)

[Germinator]

if MS release the Xbox 3 sometime in the future do you not think that it will put people off buying a launch console because of the changes there making to the 360.

[LouBarlow]

Dont see the point of upgrading to this at all really, if the main thing people are concerned about it the HDMI, as it doesnt give any real advantages over using the VGA with a Digital Optical audio cable!!! The picture quality is going to be no different, all it would do would give digital video and audio over one cable

As I explained, it would enable me to connect everything at once, rather than having to swap cables every time I want to use a particular piece of hardware.

It's also true to say that for some people HDMI *will* look better than VGA - it all depends on the display being used, and it's fondness for each connection.

[Grandmaster]

MS said in the past that they can redirect a digital signal to the current av port on the 360.

Main problem with the current 360 is the digital output wouldn't have gone through the analogue scaler so the 720p only games would be stuck at the native gpu resolution on a 1080p display.

I think that is wild conjecture to be honest - I liased with the guy who devised the video standards for the Live Marketplace in order to get my company made a "Microsoft Preferred HD supplier" and he actually used the component output on all his projects and never mentioned any kind of digital capability. As the rest of his equipment was state of the art stuff costing tens of thousands of pounds, I'm sure he could have rustled up a digitally capable 360 if he wanted to, working for Microsoft and all.

MS can get around this by releasing an adapter containing the digital scaler that plugs in to the av port on current AV 360 which you can then use a standard HDMI cable with.

MS won't be releasing an adaptor because the guidelines for using the HDMI interface are very clear - you have to use the officially designated socket, and all the cables need to be of a standard. Dongles, custom cables and other oddments are simply not allowed.

The only caveat to all of this is that if Microsoft tend to want something, they get it done by throwing enough money at it to cover any R&D or political problems, but it's unlikely in this case.

[Tempest]

On the other hand............

Most TV's only have 1 or 2 HDMI ports.

If you start sticking HDMI onto everything you're gonna start needing switch boxes very quickly.

I have my 360 on Componant.
My Telewest TV Drive via HDMI
my Oppo Upscaling DVD Player on HDMI

To be honest, I would not want my 360 on HDMI.

[LouBarlow]

And one BIG step forward overnight!

Xbox 360 HDMI in action! (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/clip-xbox-360-hdmi-in-action-226584.php)

Well I'll be wanting those 3 minutes back - what a pointless video :lol:

[LouBarlow]

On the other hand............

Most TV's only have 1 or 2 HDMI ports.

If you start sticking HDMI onto everything you're gonna start needing switch boxes very quickly.

I have my 360 on Componant.
My Telewest TV Drive via HDMI
my Oppo Upscaling DVD Player on HDMI

To be honest, I would not want my 360 on HDMI.

That's fair, but not everyone has the same set-up, and the flexibility is needed.

It also helps sell the console to the masses, and means MS can tick the 'HDMI capable' box alongside the PS3, which will convince those that automatically think HDMI is the 'best' connection, into thinking it's a good thing - good for promotional purposes if nothing else.

[Tempest]

That's fair, but not everyone has the same set-up, and the flexibility is needed.

It also helps sell the console to the masses, and means MS can tick the 'HDMI capable' box alongside the PS3, which will convince those that automatically think HDMI is the 'best' connection, into thinking it's a good thing - good for promotional purposes if nothing else.

Yes, I agree.
The built in HD-DVD would be nice too :)

I really think the TV makers need very soon to start adding 3, 4 or even 6 HDMI inputs to their TV's

All new gear that's coming out will be HDMI, so we need lots more sockets on our TV's.

[RobDickinson]

Yes, I agree.
The built in HD-DVD would be nice too :)

I really think the TV makers need very soon to start adding 3, 4 or even 6 HDMI inputs to their TV's

All new gear that's coming out will be HDMI, so we need lots more sockets on our TV's.

HDMI requires a $5 licence fee per connection I believe (unless you dont impliment HDCP). Plus the expense of the internal switching etc. Even top end tv's havnt ever often supported more than 3 or 4 connections. Typicaly you rely on AV amps to swich or daisychain scart :eek: :doh:

As for the rev2 360 who's supprised? HDMI, bigger hard drive,quiter box, better and larger games catalog than the PS3 all in time to meet the PS3 launch(ish).

I'd expect a rev 3 with internal HD DVD somepoint this year too, just before next xmas prehaps.

that MS have kept it quiet is only basic business.

[lettuce]

Wounder if they will do away with the DVD tray and just and a slot drive like the PS3, guess that would help cut down on noise pollution too

[Bonzo Banana]

I can't help wondering if it would make more sense if the revised 360 was a premium cost model and came with HD-DVD built in otherwise surely its not going to help Microsoft reduce the retail price of the 360. I mean consoles sell at far higher numbers the cheaper they are and a hard drive version of the 360 was £200 it would sell like hotcakes. This revised 360 sounds like its going to maintain its retail price especially if it has a 120gig hard drive and has to pay $5 license for having a hdmi port.

[john316]

A 360 with a HD drive for £280 is simply fantasy land stuff - never going to happen till the price of HD drives come down by quite a bit

[paulsaz]

what are people planning on playing their games on with these built in hd-dvd units, or are you seeing a console with two drives?

[rustybin]

Surely HD-DVD drives are backwards compatible?

[Francis]

Speed is an issue I think? The 360's DVD drive is 12x which is mainly why it's so noisy. The HD-DVD drive is 2x as it doesn't really need to be any faster and why it's so quiet.

[Wendelius]

I don't think MS has any interest at all in a built in HD DVD drive for the next few months. They have stated before that said HD DVD drive will not be used to play games (ie to create games requiring the larger atorage capacity). So it makes more sense for them to keep them as a separate option and regularly drive down the price of the 360 while ticking some features (like HDMI) where they can.

It's all to their interest to capture the market. 360's might "soon" find themselves cheaper than the launch price Wii.

Besides, I personally prefer to have my movie playing drive separate from the game playing one. For just the same reason that I don't play DVD's on my 360. I have a cheaper HDMI DVD player for that and I'd rather keep the wear and tear on my 360 drive down to game playing only.

Wendelius

[simion_levi]

Here's hoping for a big noise reduction! ;) I'm guessing this'll be the same RRP as the current premium package as the 'upgrade' is fairly minimal, though certainly wouldn't complain at a price drop.

Was planning on getting the best premium package available once I get moved into my new house, so it would be nice if this new version gets out to market within a couple of months - don't really want to be caught in the window between 'new stuff announced but not yet available'

[Bonzo Banana]

Also worth noteing that the first version of any pcb tends to be the most problematic so for many it might be worth waiting for the revised mk2 360 in which case that might be 8 months away or something. Its such a major reworking of the 360 that there could be quite a few issues with the first release.

[Tom Whitaker]

There's no way that this thing's gonna have built-in wifi unless the price goes up compared to the current model (and that's not gonna happen either). They've added HDMI to bring it in line with the PS3 and to give a boost to the HD-DVD add-on. The bigger hard drive is to make it a more viable online video distibution tool. Both of these things help them as much as they help us.

They still have every interest in selling those wifi adaptors.

[degeneration]

There's no way that this thing's gonna have built-in wifi unless the price goes up compared to the current model (and that's not gonna happen either).
Nintendo managed to fit wi-fi as standard, I don't see why Microsoft can't.

Seriously, the Wi-fi adpater for the Xbox 360 is staggeringly expensive and I'm ****** that even the PSP and the DS seem to be able to have it, but for the pleasure, I'm expected to pay £59.99 (Although I have taken advantage of the current bargin forum thread, hopefully making it £33.50)

[RobDickinson]

The key here is 'stageringly expensive'.

MS probably make more money on the WiFi dongle sale than the console. If its selling ok I dont see any change there.

[degeneration]

Is the microsoft even making a profit yet on each console sold?

[RobDickinson]

Rumoured to be breaking even, if they do 'just' the die shrink they should be in profit from then on.

[TheCookieMonster]

Is the microsoft even making a profit yet on each console sold?

Not if they have to replace it 2x or more in the first year :lol:

[HarryTipper]

No mention of an updated 360 in the Microsoft CES keynote.

[punisher46]

quiet fans sounds like bliss. although I was thinking of gettign a 2nd radiator in hte living room before xmas, now with the 360 I dont need to bother.....

[Wendelius]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=71634


Microsoft's Chris Satchell has dismissed rumours of revised Xbox 360 hardware sporting an HDMI port and a high-capacity hard disk, even claiming that photographs rustled up by our old friend Internet Reports mean very little.

"At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing," Satchell - head of Microsoft's game developer group - told GameSpot.

The Microsoft man was also cool on the prospect of a standalone hard disk upgrade to one of the mooted higher capacities (60, 100 and 120GB devices have been "seen" in the wild): "As we produce these services, if we see an increase in pressure that's something that will be interesting to look at, but there isn't any announcement today about any new configuration that may or may not be happening," he added.
...


If anything, it means at least that you shouldn't expect an announcement in the short term. So those waiting to buy will have to weigh the time not spent playing vs the chance that MS will announce any revision before Q3 or the end of the year.

Wendelius

[Harsin]

"At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing," Satchell - head of Microsoft's game developer group - told GameSpot.


Translation: Please don't stop buying our current stock of Xbox 360 k thx.

[KRW]

They simply have to replace the HDD at some point. 20GB is not enough for HD movies. Superman Returns on the marketplace comes in at something like 6GB. :(

[ShakeyJake]

There's no way they could use the current 20gb hard disk for PVR with the upcoming HD IPTV. You'd get 2 game demos and 3 minutes of Trisha on it.

[mwgdrwg]

There's no way they could use the current 20gb hard disk for PVR with the upcoming HD IPTV. You'd get 2 game demos and 3 minutes of Trisha on it.

Aren't 90 minute films avaialble to download only 3 or 4 Gig though? That implies getting at least 3 or 4 hours if the same compression is used?

[KRW]

Aren't 90 minute films avaialble to download only 3 or 4 Gig though? That implies getting at least 3 or 4 hours if the same compression is used?

You get a lot more on Standard Definition. The Proposition, for example, in SD is only 1.1GB.

[ShakeyJake]

Aren't 90 minute films avaialble to download only 3 or 4 Gig though? That implies getting at least 3 or 4 hours if the same compression is used?

There's 12gb usable (if you have nothing else on your hard disk) people will hardly be tempted away from tivo and sky+ for that will they. There's no way there's not a bigger hard disk coming.

[punisher46]

why do you get ony 12gb from a 20gb drive. I know you get a 10% loss, but thats more like 40%....

[john316]

Some is reserved for 360 operations

[punisher46]

yeah but thats 6gb your losing....windows xp full install with office is only 3gb...

[ShakeyJake]

I think all the game software updates go in there and probably paging files and stuff. I guess also they need to leave themselves a bit of space for adding new features and whatnot.

[mjpartyboy]

Microsoft speak:

http://www.oxm.co.uk/articles/news/hardware/xbox_360_zephyr_prototype_confirmed,_no_release_planned


They simply have to replace the HDD at some point. 20GB is not enough for HD movies. Superman Returns on the marketplace comes in at something like 6GB. :(
The films are purchased on a rental basis; once you press play for the first time you have 24 hours to watch it before it expires. TV shows are yours to keep. A bigger HDD is still needed though.

[KRW]

The films are purchased on a rental basis; once you press play for the first time you have 24 hours to watch it before it expires. TV shows are yours to keep. A bigger HDD is still needed though.

Yeah, I understand that, and like the idea of renting HD films in that way, but here's the rub - You're sitting at home and think, hey, why dont we watch Superman Returns in HD!! Excellent, all we have to do is wait 5 hours for it to download. I'll put the kettle on etc.

Much better to download the things you want to hire so they are there waiting for you when you decide to watch them. Except on a 20GB drive, there's only going to be 1 film at a time. :( I'd be happy if I could have a backlog of 3 or 4.

[camaj]

A bigger HDD is still needed though.

They could just release a HDD add-on (with the traditional MS markup of course!)

[MR.COATES]

They could just release a HDD add-on (with the traditional MS markup of course!)

That's exactly what will happen if they don't allow saving to an external drive.