LOL Poor X360 Elite Noobs!! X360 Ultimate (FTMFW!!!!!)

[Fr3@k3r]

Apparently the ELITE was a wiener compared to this..

MS supposedly is to announce a new version of the Xbox 360... named.

ULTIMATE!!!!!!!

Announcement should commence during CES sometime in the next couple days!!! And should be released within the Autumn of 2008...

SPECS:

FULL 1080P HDMI OUTPUT
FULL HI-DEF AUDIO OUTPUT
65nm Processor
Near Silent Fans (might not be good who knows)
320GB HDD!! (would be funny if it was 360gb hdd LOL)
HD-DVD Drive Built In
Wi-Fi Built In

I P T V SERVICE!!!!!!!
It’ll also have the ability to make the most of the by-then established Xbox IPTV service, which will mean recording TV shows to its vast 320GB hard disk and watching live TV shows via your broadband provider.

http://stuff.tv/News/BIG-IN-2008-Xbox-Ultimate/

I wouldnt doubt a $499 or $599 Price Tag, but with all its features, and such... It might just be worth it..

[imposter]

those fans better be powerful or else someone might try to kill themselves with a power supply again.

[Fr3@k3r]

those fans better be powerful or else someone might try to kill themselves with a power supply again.

yeah, maybe some decent high flow silent fans that actually do decent work..

Remember, all a rumor till MS says so during CES..

here's hoping its true..

[MasterTelia]

lol, i dont wanna see the price tag on this thing in denmark, the xbox 360 premium is like $500. but this new version sounds nice though

[nakatalee]

If this is true, I will consider getting it. This is what I call an xbox 360. The current version is just plain suck. No built in HD-DVD drive, small HDD, no Wifi, loud, red ring death. Now the price has to be almost the same as Sony PS3 and microsoft has my support!

[ou_phidelt]

This thing is going to be $600 unless they drop the prices of the rest of the lineup. I don't see them adding an HD drive, wifi, and almost triple the HD space for only a $50 premium over the elite. Or they may add some of these features to the current line up. I don't think at least adding wifi and a 120Gb HD would be out of the range of possibility. Hopefully if this is true the drive will be quieter as I find it much more annoying than the fans in my falcon.

Oh and the name is stupid.

[SkuToV]

Thats good but I've always been against microsoft and x-box. However, that does look kinds cool...

[EmAn]

So microsoft may actually have a good product on their hands?

...is it really so?

[SkuToV]

It would appear, I have no intention of buying it though.

[FudgeNuggets]

too many SKUs this sucks, next gen regardless of the price there should just be 1 model from each company.

[thideras]

too many SKUs this sucks, next gen regardless of the price there should just be 1 model from each company.You know that will never happen...

[EmAn]

You know that will never happen...


but we all can have wishfull thinking! :bang head:bday:

[deathman20]

Man another version. All these versions get confusing. But would be really intrested to see if the drive acts quieter.

[Oni]

Um, this is still a rumor. It is absolutely in no-way confirmed.

http://kotaku.com/339793/stuff-specs-out-the-xbox-360-ultimate

[deception``]

Still very much a rumor. If this were to release it would likely kill the sales of all other SKUs given that (a) they couldn't price the Ultimate too high and (b) it offers quite a bit more than the current sets.

If this turns out to be true I'll just upgrade again :)

deception``

[FudgeNuggets]

You know that will never happen...

Why not? There was only 1 version of every console up until this gen. Granted you may have had a couple of redesigns making things smaller or building in the ethernet adapter like the PS2 or several redesigns like the Atari 2600 or top loading vs front loading NES, but there was never a functionality difference or spec changes like these. I hope there is enough backlash for this to stop.

[thideras]

Why not? There was only 1 version of every console up until this gen. Granted you may have had a couple of redesigns making things smaller or building in the ethernet adapter like the PS2 or several redesigns like the Atari 2600 or top loading vs front loading NES, but there was never a functionality difference or spec changes like these. I hope there is enough backlash for this to stop.Ah, good point with the old school consoles. Didn't think of those. I was refering to the ps1 and newer era, but I didn't specify >.<

[John G]

I like the simplicity of a single version of a console, but it's really not that big of a deal to me having different versions with different conveniences and features so long as they all play the same games.

What is a bigger deal to me is the lack of emphasis on dropping price points. Instead, they keep re-inflating the prices by pumping in more expensive features. Cheaper price points bring in more consumers…who buy more games…which funnels money into game developers/publishers…which brings us more and better games to play.

[rainless]

Fat chance.

[Midnight Dream]

As stated by Oni, this is still just a rumor, and honestly I hate when somebody makes speculation like this, given from a "reliable" source or no. Rumors are rumors, and when one gets out, everybody starts spouting out this and that about it. Rumors get out of hand, they grow and change, and then everybody is fed more and more misinformation.

[FudgeNuggets]

These rumors have been coming true quite often lately, especially when Kotaku or arstechnica reports it, so we'll wait to see what they have to say.....

[John G]

I think MS is pretty into this IPTV idea…

I think they have this vision of the future where people buy an MS "box" that they take home, plug into a widescreen, sound system, and broadband connection…and then watch TV through it like a Tivo, watch movies on disk, download movies/shows/music, play modern games, talk on the "telephone" with video, browse the web, send email, shop online, and do light computing….and everyone will have one. Real PC's like we're accustomed to will be for specialized computing.

So, TV through a 360 is a stepping stone towards that vision. Watch for a future generation of Xbox to take that vision further…even the name "Xbox" was probably chosen with that sort of eventual vision in mind.

[FudgeNuggets]

Count on it being true:
http://kotaku.com/339793/stuff-specs-out-the-xbox-360-ultimate

[Rydis]

As stated by Oni, this is still just a rumor, and honestly I hate when somebody makes speculation like this, given from a "reliable" source or no. Rumors are rumors, and when one gets out, everybody starts spouting out this and that about it. Rumors get out of hand, they grow and change, and then everybody is fed more and more misinformation.

I dont see why it should. Rumor or not, speculating on such still has reason, whether it comes true or not as long as, as you said, people dont talk as if it

Myself though, find it rather dumb to have so many versions of each console. Just make it more expandabile and allow those who want more to pay for the extra stuff they want. Get new and better technology for whats currently out, just start putting it in the new systems and leave it alone. Bigger HDD, HD-DVD, ect should just be addons.

As far as 1080p, should of not comeout without producing a full digital signal to begin with. Honestly....but thats just me.

[Illah]

Why not? There was only 1 version of every console up until this gen. Granted you may have had a couple of redesigns making things smaller or building in the ethernet adapter like the PS2 or several redesigns like the Atari 2600 or top loading vs front loading NES, but there was never a functionality difference or spec changes like these. I hope there is enough backlash for this to stop.

I tend to agree...I'm seriously considering one console or another for a variety of reasons, but one big reason was that I could avoid the constant upgrades of the PC world.

It now looks like the console world is starting to mirror the PC world more and more...I can soon see 360.1 systems coming out in a year or two to support the latest and greatest graphics or whatever.

Ugh...

--Illah

[benbaked]

I tend to agree...I'm seriously considering one console or another for a variety of reasons, but one big reason was that I could avoid the constant upgrades of the PC world.

It now looks like the console world is starting to mirror the PC world more and more...I can soon see 360.1 systems coming out in a year or two to support the latest and greatest graphics or whatever.

Ugh...

--Illah

Sort of like the 32X and Sega CD? So MS comes out with games that require an HD-DVD drive, few people buy such games because they either don't have the HD-DVD add-on, or they don't want to buy the add-on, or they don't want to buy the $X99 Ultimate console. Such games also come out for the PS3 but use Blu-ray, all PS3 users rejoice because they all have the ability to play such games. MS loses.

[FudgeNuggets]

The 32X and Sega CD were utter failures and a bit different because the 32X was meant to be their 32bit system until they realized that it was nowhere near the PS1s power and rushed the Saturn to production.

[John G]

Sort of like the 32X and Sega CD? So MS comes out with games that require an HD-DVD drive, few people buy such games because they either don't have the HD-DVD add-on, or they don't want to buy the add-on, or they don't want to buy the $X99 Ultimate console. Such games also come out for the PS3 but use Blu-ray, all PS3 users rejoice because they all have the ability to play such games. MS loses.

MS isn't going to do any such thing with the 360. All the new features and changes to various versions of the 360...none of them have been at all associated with the ability to play or not play certain games. Built in Wi-Fi, IPTV, bigger HD, HDMI....none of them needed to play the games. Even the HDDVD drive add-on that everyone always mentions...supposedly the interface to the main system is insufficient to support playing games anyway. (Too slow.) The closest we have ever come to such a situation is that Oblivion plays poorly without an HD. That's probably as far as we're ever going to get.

The situation is more like iPods and such. New versions come out with new features and capabilities, but all the way back to the very first one they all play MP3's.

[FudgeNuggets]

correct as usual John. It's more than Oblivion though, that is just one of the more noticeable games. I believe the sports games do not have saved highlights or replays with no HDD as well. The HDD is used for caching in many games, you just don't notice any in game hickups as you do in Oblivion. My guess is that when GTA4 comes out a lot of 360 Arcade owners are going to be ****ed and crying.

[John G]

Yeah, I only mention Oblivion because it's the only one I can think of where a person might go as far as saying, "I can't play this game because I don't have a HD and it runs bad." Even that's kind of a stretch because the game does run and play. :)

So far, most games just offer nice perks to users that have HD's.

[IR1]

too many SKUs this sucks, next gen regardless of the price there should just be 1 model from each company.

It won't happen because of marketing. They make different version to cater to different segments of gamers out there. If they just make one console then some people who got the Xbox 360 arcade might have just gotten a Wii instead because of the price. This is a trend that will only continue, it will not go away.

[Hazaro]

$599 $599 $599 $599 $599

lmafo

[Seven]

There's actually no way. Like I'm almost glad I saved my xbox 360 elite's reciept then, because it's going back to best buy if they release a new one.

I mean, somebody stand up and say you honestly need 320GB on a console. This reaks of bull****, and they've been saying this forever. It's just wishful thinking really. Fine, MAYBE an updated elite with integrated wifi and some cooling system mobs, but a new SKU and the ULTIMATE branding simply won't happen.

Either you're going to see an updated elite and the rest of the main line updated (prob. not, considering the arcade just arrived), or nothing at all really.

My guess: STEEL BATALLION 2

7

[jmsanders2]

I could see this happening and it should in some form if microsoft is smart, if it's fall 08 they have plenty of time to drop prices/ eliminate other insignificant skus and make a more 'direct' competitor at low price to the ps3 by adding a hd player. It is a ways away, maybe won't happen, but if it was my company (hopefully will be someday) I would push in this direction as it is natural and would help boost hd disk sales (deal possibly with toshiba) to help overtake blueray. There should be a more clear winner in the format wars by end of 08. And then I would buy a 360...

[Hazaro]

320GB is a selling point.

"Wow! 4 TIMES THE STORAGE SPACE!" - Average Joe Consumer

Also would allow more upcoming games to write stuff on the HDD for better loading times, maybe up the size limit on some Live download-ables as well.

[rainless]

There's actually no way. Like I'm almost glad I saved my xbox 360 elite's reciept then, because it's going back to best buy if they release a new one.

I mean, somebody stand up and say you honestly need 320GB on a console. 7

You don't need it now... But you will.

I've been saying that for like 2 years now. People seem to have short-term memories. Five years ago people were talking about how you'd never use all the space on a DVD for anything. Even some PS2 games take up a full eight gigs. Hard drive installs are the way of the future. Actually... in the future... they'll probably get rid of discs altogether.

But they'll start with Hard drive installs and of course Microsoft is going to get big into direct download media transfers. Turning the TV into an all-in-one entertainment system was the whole point of this generation in the first place. Microsoft's end goal? Getting the Xbox to run Windows.

[Seven]

Rainless: It already runs a modified version of it.

Okay but you guys are also missing my point. I have an elite, I think at some point 120GB of space just gives me a cushion, as opposed to 20. But honestly, what are you looking at, having a second CD in every xbox game box that you throw in to the xbox once, uploads a bunch of non-essentials, and leaves it there?

BOTH the PS3 and the 360 (every single version) is limited by 1 factor: the 512MB of RAM. Fine, maybe you'll cut down on going to the disc for some stuff, but you can really only commit about 400 and change to the ram, since the dashboard is always using some of that RAM.

I think Microsoft realized that while the first xbox was cool, since it had the load-reducing features of that hard drive, it pushed the price point beyond what some people could afford. Now personally, I think they should still have those sorts of things as an option for people with hard drives. Not neccessarily designing games around the hard drive, but taking it into consideration when a new game is loaded. Like, "okay do you have a hard drive here?", "okay then let me throw this stuff onto the disc".

Now, if you ask me, I wish there was an option to just throw in the disc, install the game and forget it, but obviously this doesn't work for antipiracy reasons.

I agree, I think the age of the disc is coming to a close, really beyond HD-DVDs prospects are pretty bleak, and I think the next life-cycle of consoles will be users of some HD-DVD technology in their games. Beyond that though, I think the hard drive will take over.

The problem is that VERY few end users actually have powerful enough internet connections to warrant such a thing. Retailers would be in trouble too, think of all the gamestops and best buys people wouldn't have to go to. In addition, you're cutting out partners that used to make things like the disc readers and assorted things.

In short: I think an updated 360 Elite or maybe a replacement for it (it was supposed to be limited run) is inevitable, but I doubt that it's going to have 360GB of hard drive space and include all of the bells and whistles everybody has been expecting.

Bigger Harddrive: Maybe
Wireless: Absolutely
Updated Cooling System: Absolutely
HD-DVD Drive: Maybe

It's all a toss up, I wouldn't put it past Microsoft though. They have basically infinite funds to devote to things like this. Bill Gates is determined to make the 360 succeed. And right now he's doing a pretty good job.

7

[AngelfireUk83]

If this is going to be a really project and they do release it there going to have to shrink that blo**y GPU first since it sits right underneth the current DVD player. The inbuilt HD-DVD drive would obviously cost more to install over the current (crappy DVD drive) if the GPU will be the same imagine the amout of money lossed when repairing these.

Also if it is true I may start saving up for one but I was thinking about a PS3 as well for it's Blu-Ray drive and Heavenly Sword cause I love that game. And I agree Bill Gates wants the 360 to succeed I mean what better way to give the world 1 last product as he's supposed to be stepping down in July and just acting as a chairman.

[ratbuddy]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned (maybe it's too far off topic?) is why the hell can't Mickeysoft make a 360 'emulator' for the PC? I keep reading how they lose money on the console and make it back selling games, well, for those of us with hardware powerful enough to run the games, why not just sell us a 50 dollar software package that lets us play the games, and make more money to begin with? I'd buy it.. Even in the form of a $100-150 PCI card..

[Seven]

It's more like this:

Bill Gates wants the 360 to succeed because it means that Microsoft has a foothold in the living room, an area they've TRIED to breach many times before (*cough* media center PCs). If he is stepping down (i'm skeptical), then I agree he'd be proud to have put his company on the right path.

But on topic, I just think that they're going to slowly update the elite, and let the upgrades and hard drives and things from the elite trickle down to the other xbox SKUs in time.

7

[g0dM@n]

wow!!!

this sounds awesome, but I just bought an Arcade... oh well. :)

[Jsan]

...now if they would/could give it DX10.1 THEN they would have a MACHINE!


still cant believe M$ knew dx10 was comming and still pushed the 360 out the door a year before its availability.

360+DX10>PS3@$600

yes i know that means a new VC, but with the "new" r620s' power consumption it might be worth it.
...if not calling it "Ultimate" may be over-stating things a bit.

[FudgeNuggets]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned (maybe it's too far off topic?) is why the hell can't Mickeysoft make a 360 'emulator' for the PC? I keep reading how they lose money on the console and make it back selling games, well, for those of us with hardware powerful enough to run the games, why not just sell us a 50 dollar software package that lets us play the games, and make more money to begin with? I'd buy it.. Even in the form of a $100-150 PCI card..

You can't so easily emulate 3 3.2GHZ PPC cores and a Radeon 520 core GPU

In other words your machine is not powerful enough, now maybe an 8 core Mac Pro with a Quadro graphics card could but how many people have those?

[g0dM@n]

You can't so easily emulate 3 3.2GHZ PPC cores and a Radeon 520 core GPU

In other words your machine is not powerful enough, now maybe an 8 core Mac Pro with a Quadro graphics card could but how many people have those?

and the entire board is PURELY dedicated for gaming... our PCs are a bit different, though I've thought about Jsan's point as well.

[FudgeNuggets]

and the entire board is PURELY dedicated for gaming... our PCs are a bit different, though I've thought about Jsan's point as well.

Well Microsoft studio games will eventually come out for the PC like Fable, Halo and I dunno what else but 3rd party players aren't going to spend the TONS of cash for the meager payback the PC gaming markey will give them. IF PC players are lucky then they'll get Mass Effect in a year or so like they did with Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire.

[Burninate]

Has the ultimate or anything like it (larger hard drive and built in wireless) been confirmed? I kinda doubt the addition of an HD-DVD player into a 360 ever. Isn't HD-DVD kind of on the way out?

[FudgeNuggets]

Has the ultimate or anything like it (larger hard drive and built in wireless) been confirmed? I kinda doubt the addition of an HD-DVD player into a 360 ever. Isn't HD-DVD kind of on the way out?

They came out and reiterated once again that they will NEVER sell a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive.

[uberwoot]

Wow MS and AMD should team up. Seems like they bolth love polishing a turd.

[g0dM@n]

They came out and reiterated once again that they will NEVER sell a 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive.
I wonder why?
Wow MS and AMD should team up. Seems like they bolth love polishing a turd.

LOL... that's hilarious.

[FudgeNuggets]

I wonder why?


To stop the rumor mill and to stop those that are saying: "If they're bringing this out in a few months, then I'm not buying a premium/elite and waiting."


LOL... that's hilarious.

Really, since when did trolling become funny?

[g0dM@n]

Really, since when did trolling become funny?

Trolling? Who said trolling was funny? I was laughing at the "love polishing a turd" phrase...

[asusradeon]

looks good, i'd like to see the UK prices.. i bet it'll be £450 -> £500 most probably the later...