Xbox 360 Exposed

I quoted the article, but to understand what they are saying about the pictures, you really need to read the article on their site.

Here's the pics:



Here's a highly-detailed pic of one of concept design standing vertically:
http://home.comcast.net/~pocketfudge/xbox360.jpg

From what I can tell, these really seem to be the real deal, or like the article above states, really close to the final design. It may be possible that someone tricked us all, but that person would have to be VERY good at this kind of thing.

Any thoughts on the design itself?

Personally, I think it looks so-so. I like it better than the Xbox, but it looks kind of generic or something (can't quite find the word I'm looking for). I know TXB said that the big power button may have other uses (camera?), but at the moment, it looks really bad, IMO. Maybe it will grow on me. The rest just looks kind of plain, which isn't necessarily bad but not really good. I guess Microsoft did achieve their goal of making a much smaller console that could be set horizontally or vertically.

 

The Sony fanboy in me says yeah, while the impartial gaming fan in me says that those quotes were taken out of context and could mean several different things. The dev kits themselves could have a difference in power with the PS3 version being much better even though the same difference in power may not still be there with the final versions of the consoles. From what I understand, both dev kits don't have their final GPU's in yet (or even a GPU at all in the case of some PS3 dev kits), so there's no telling what the devs meant. If Sony was sending out kits with Cell and the devs stuck in some 6800's, maybe the SM 3.0 in those GPU's made the dev kit much better than the Xbox 360 GPU's (guessing something like the X800 maybe, which doesn't support SM3.0 IIRC).

Or maybe the developers really did mean that the dev kits blew the X360 out of the water. Probably won't know anything for sure until E3 at the earliest. I have read more about devs loving the PS3 dev kits and getting so much more out of them, but the context I read about them really makes it hard to set it in stone, making them just interesting rumors.

It sounds like the controllers will be wireless, so the wireless bay may plug into the back somewhere, or maybe somewhere on the front that isn't so obvious, such as that piece on the right of the concept model. Maybe that lifts up to show USB ports or something. I'm not sure exactly how the wireless thing works or how Microsoft is planning on integrating them, but that would be my guess(es).

 

About the 40GB HD:

Remember that it is sounding like there will be 2 versions of the Xbox 360 at launch, so that will likely cost extra. I'm not sure how much extra, or if the 40 GB HD is one of several options (40,60, 80, or whatever). You may have to get one for Xbox Live though, and for some other reasons which I'll mention at the end of my post.

I love the idea of wireless controllers, as long as they do it right. The situation you brought up is a horrible thing to think about, but I would imagine that they will make it really easy to recharge the controllers. I know Toshiba found a way to charge ~80% of some of their batteries in less than a minute, so maybe Microsoft has some quick and easy way to recharge dying controllers (which should hopefully be a rare occasion). They may offer USB wired controllers too, although I think they can do fine with just wireless controllers.

FWIW, I would like Sony and Nintendo, if they are doing a "normal" control interface, to use wireless controllers as well.

I believe they said the outer shell will be removable, meaning the Xbox 360 will be highly customizable. If you don't like how it looks, it should be easy to find some different skins with awesome designs and colors. Pretty good idea actually. Another thing that I would like Sony and Nintendo (again, if relevant) to do.

I'm sure on the details of it all, but I think the DVD's Microsoft will be using have some more security features than the average DVD. IIRC, due to these security features, the Xbox 360 DVD's will max out to around 7GB, instead of the ~9GB of normal DVD's. I imagine that would mean that they did a lot to make this not as piratable as the last Xbox (already doesn't come with a HD).

Speaking of which, here is a article from IGN that talks about the HD and a few other things:

So if you want Halo at launch, you'll need a HD.

 

Oh yeah, there are versions with a HD. Sorry for the confusion, I was just trying to say how easy it will be to pirate games (or other things) with the base unit. I imagine it will be similar to the PS2 in that respect. Probably not too difficult to those determined to pirate, but that does make things a little less easy.

Of course, I'm assuming that Microsoft isn't doing anything to the HD's either. I'm not sure if there is anything they can do, but maybe they'll put security features in the Xbox 360 that will make it nearly impossible to play pirated games off the HD. Of course, having Halo 2.5 on it, plus the ability to download full games (legally) on to the HD doesn't really help. Guess we'll just have to see how easy it will be to pirate...I mean, you guys will have to see how easy it will be to pirate.

 

Just to follow up on the whole PS3 power>>>>Xbox 360 power topic...

Apparently, EGM has some new rumors out in their newest issue. Here's one quote from the article, supposedly:

Not sure how valid this is since EGM had recently said HL2 would be on the Xbox 360, when shortly after it was more or less confirmed for the Xbox. Plus, this does go along with previous rumors from them pretty much stating the same thing, so maybe they're biased...can't be that though, right?

If it is correct though, this is interesting. FWIW, Heavenly Sword, a next-gen game that had seemed like a Xbox 360 game for sure, seems to have become a PS3 title considering a certain Sony trademark for a "Heavenly Sword" name in a game. I'm not sure how that went, but maybe JAM (the developers for HS) are one of many studios switching their titles over to the PS3. If nothing else, I wouldn't be surprised if Team Ninja (DOA, Ninja Gaiden) switched to the PS3 considering how much they like developing for the most powerful console.

Other interesting rumors from EGM include:

I bolded the first one since it is semi-related to this topic. I'm not sure how necessary it is to have that button though.

BTW, I'm getting this from another board, which kind of explains some of those extra comments in the rumors. You can read some more there:
http://ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=44467&page=1&pp=50

 

Actually, despite my preferences in consoles, I have considered the possibility of getting a Xbox 360 when it comes out. With support from EA and other big name devs, there should be some great looking games out this fall, including a next-gen basketball title that I would love to play. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is another game that I would love to play as well. Of course, some of these games will have PS3 versions, but the Xbox 360 will be getting them first, and I would like to be the first to play them. Problem is that I will probably be a poor college student this fall, unable to warrant a $300-$400 console purchase which I'll probably play for maybe a year. I'll probably barely be able to save enough for the PS3 when it comes out.

So I'll probably stick with waiting the extra year or so and getting the PS3, even though I would really like having a next-gen console in 2005.

Now, I never said I wouldn't play a lot of the Xbox 360. That's still a great possibility. I'll just need to find some "friends" at college.

 

Now it appears as though the memory card for the Xbox 360 has been "exposed":


Looks kind of ugly to me. Reminds me of those cartridges from years ago, not some sleek memory storage device. Maybe I'm judging it too quickly though. Also, as you can probably tell, it seems to say "64MB" on it, so I guess you can assume memory cards at that size and possibly a variety of other sizes as well. I'm not sure how the memory cards will be used in comparison to the hard drive, so I don't know if this is a more-than-acceptable alternative to the HD for the console. I would guess that Microsoft won't price the memory cards at a low price (looks at $25-$30 price tag for a measly 8MB memory card from Sony).

It has been pretty exciting lately considering how quickly some of the stuff has been hitting the internet. I wonder what's next (from OurColony or elsewhere).