Microsoft Introduces New Xbox 360

Earnest Cavalli

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Microsoft Introduces New Xbox 360



As of today, there's a new edition of the Xbox 360 available for purchase.

During this morning's E3 press conference, amidst announcements of upcoming videogame releases and all the hoopla over its new console, Microsoft took a moment to reiterate its allegiance to the moribund Xbox 360 by revealing a brand new version of the six-year-old device.

According to the company, the new lighter, smaller Xbox 360 should go on sale today, and aside from the expected aesthetic alterations, it also offers better, quieter functionality than its predecessors. Think of this as a move similar to Sony's PlayStation 2 Slim, which was released toward the tail end of the PS2 lifespan, yet was smaller, quieter and objectively superior to the consoles that came before it, without adding any truly novel functionality.

To make up for this lack of new stuff to trumpet, Microsoft has opted to improve Xbox Live Gold. Taking a page from Sony's book, Microsoft has decided to offer Xbox Live Gold users a selection of free games. It's currently unknown how many titles will be available for players to download totally gratis or when this promotion will go into effect, but two games mentioned are Assassin's Creed 2 and Halo 3 - older games, but still classics of the current generation.

This information is all brand new (hence the lack of pricing or solid availability details), but expect all mysteries surrounding the new Xbox 360 to be cleared up as the day rolls along.

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fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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So if the current 360 S is the 360 Slimjim, what's this one? The 360 Minime? The Nought Point Five?

Maybe when discussing hardware I'll call it the 360.5...

Also, three complete rebuilds in one generation, that's impressive.
 

RonHiler

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Good. So if my four year old machine ever dies on me (and so far no sign of that happening, fingers crossed!), I can still get a new one to play my library on without having to bother with the XBone. This is actually the first good thing I've heard out of MS in the long while.
 

Matt Dellar

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Jun 26, 2011
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So I see they're still charging for a service literally everyone else offers for free. And they're still displaying ads despite that.

Stay classy, Microsoft.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Jun 5, 2013
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Its a point in Microsoft's favor that they didn't release this newer 360 at the same time the Xbox One comes out. I'd bet $360 which console would sell better.
 

EeviStev

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If this turns out to be a self-depreciating joke on Microsoft's part about how they've so thoroughly bollocksed the Xbone that they're making slight improvements to the 360 to justify their business cards... well, I'll eat my keyboard, but it would be worth it.
 

I.Muir

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There is only one way to improve xbox gold
and that's making it free
Failing that you could make xbox silver that allows you to play games online seeing as how you are forced to view ads anyway
 

MetalDooley

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Feb 9, 2010
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The Hungry Samurai said:
Good to see Xblg catching up with Ps+ only a year late.
Except PS+ offers games like Hitman:Absolution not 6 year old titles like Halo 3 which probably everyone who's interested in it has played it already
 

sid

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http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/10/e3-2013-new-xbox-360-model-revealed

http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/96/newxbox.png


Shorter, more square, black. Sorry about the picture quality.
 

luvd1

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So wait, the "free games" are fable 3, assassins creed 2 and halo 3? Seriously? That's it SERIOUSLY!?! Your joking right? How are you so bad at this!?! Halo 3 is feking 7 years old for crying out loud!
 

piinyouri

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From what I heard, they more or less stopped the dying console problem with the first new version (The one that looks like a stealth bomber).
This new version seems to be a step back. It's smaller, which could mean the heating problems will be even worse than the original Xbox 360.

After a few years if it goes on without many reports of it dying, I'll probably pick one up.
 

Frezzato

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But...the...they made it look more like the Xbox One. Why would Microsoft do this? I pity the uninformed parent who, despite the clear labeling of "360" on the box, will probably pick this up instead of what their kid asked for. I can imagine the conversation now:

"He said it looked like a DVD player, and flat and boxy. One half of the console is shiny."
"That one? The 360? I thought it was called 'One'"
"Well, it is flat. And one half is shiny. And you're damn right we're only getting him one."
[/center][/spoiler]
[spoiler=What about that other one?][img src=http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Xbox-One-Games-Can-Be-Accessed-on-All-Consoles-via-Cloud-Shared-Locally.png?1370588007][/spoiler]​
 

Hero in a half shell

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FizzyIzze said:
But...the...they made it look more like the Xbox One. Why would Microsoft do this? I pity the uninformed parent who, despite the clear labeling of "360" on the box, will probably pick this up instead of what their kid asked for. I can imagine the conversation now:

"He said it looked like a DVD player, and flat and boxy. One half of the console is shiny."
"That one? The 360? I thought it was called 'One'"
"Well, it is flat. And one half is shiny. And you're damn right we're only getting him one."
[/center][/spoiler]
[spoiler=What about that other one?][img src=http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news-700/Xbox-One-Games-Can-Be-Accessed-on-All-Consoles-via-Cloud-Shared-Locally.png?1370588007][/spoiler][/QUOTE]
Seriously?

That's not even 'similar'. It's freaking identical. It looks like a Chinese knockoff version. This had to be a concious decision by Microsoft to make them so similar, even the placement of the circular silver eject button. Its so close a mimic I expect to see Microsoft accidentally suing themselves for copyright infringement.

They are obviously going for brand recognition with this, but I bet my ass you are going to find people buying one thinking it was the other, or at the least you'll just have shop clerks having to clarify to every customer the difference between the two consoles.
"But they look so similar"
"No they're very different"
"Well I'll take the cheaper version then"

Confusing your potential customers and making your product as difficult as possible to identify in a shop is not a good business move. So it fits perfectly with how Microsoft have been handling the entire Xbox One reveal to date.

At least they're consistent.​
 

FalloutJack

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Nov 20, 2008
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An act of desperation wasted... Did they really think they were going to be selling millions more of these?
 

Vivi22

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piinyouri said:
This new version seems to be a step back. It's smaller, which could mean the heating problems will be even worse than the original Xbox 360.
It may be smaller, but guaranteed the Processor and GPU are more efficient now and it uses significantly less power just like every other iteration of the system. It's unlikely the over heating problems will crop up again unless they royally fuck something new up.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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so basically they have so little trust in their new product that they release a new version of the odl product hoping it to cushion sales loss?


luvd1 said:
So wait, the "free games" are fable 3, assassins creed 2 and halo 3? Seriously? That's it SERIOUSLY!?! Your joking right? How are you so bad at this!?! Halo 3 is feking 7 years old for crying out loud!
in a world where copyright laws are allwoed to hold games hostage legalyl for 95 years, a sensible solution to make over 7 years old games free is a step in the right direction. i think personally all games above 15 years of age should be put in public domain to begin with, but were getting further from it if anything.