As annouced by Microsoft earlier in 2008, a smaller version of the Xbox 360 will be released with a smaller mainboard, CPU, and GPU. The smaller system will also consume less power. The smaller Xbox 360 configuration is expected to be released in 2009. Lite-On and Asus have leaked information about possibly integrating optical drives into the Xbox 360 that are capable of reading Blu-Ray discs. It has been said that in Japan, Asus has been given permission to start manufacturing BD-ROM drives for the Xbox 360. However, Microsoft and Lite-On have not released specific details about future Xbox 360 consoles.[29][30][31] Can't say I care for BD, because I also own a PS3, but smaller is sexier
I've heard of this before, back when HD dvd kicked the bucket, MS announced that they were not going to use BD drives in their 360's though. source
This idea has surfaced before and been denied many times, im still not sure what to think, i would say it a bit late in to consider this now but thats my opinion.
Well I hope they release a BD add-on for the x360 soon so I can play PAL movies too, luckily the few movies I got so far are all region free.
Would be too great. I'd sell my current XB and buy a new one, no reason to own a PS3 anymore at all for me
I don't know why this keeps coming up. For one it would be adding my fuel to the fire in the Xbox 360s internal problems like RROD, errors etc. Also the first thing that popped in to my mind is how could they make it smaller because if they did the hard drive wouldn't fit :/
Maybe a reduce of size would also mean a reduce of sound. That's the biggest weak point about the X360 I think, apart from other sub-weak points such as consoles dying one after the other I mean.
Please consider the following. A new 360 will have its two main chips in a chipset (on a single chip). This means that less heat is given out, allowing for a more compact design, similar to what sony did with the PStwo.
Normally, I'd have thought that it was a bit early in the 360's lifespan to be looking at a total hardware redesign/shrink, but given the reliability issues that the current design has given it wouldn't surprise me that this is an option that is at least being considered. As Barcode says, a smaller design with less chips could mean less heat. Note that I said 'could' - they'd still need to do a better job of heat dissipation & of power management (more power consumed = more heat & as Taucias pointed out, less space to dissipate it from). Having reached this conclusion, they may have decided to look more seriously at a total redesign. The other card that may come into play is storage density - wasn't HD-DVD going to provide a route to allow games > 4.5Gb to be on a single disc? With that route now closed (and the add-on HD-DVD player getting a lot harder to obain in retail channels), they may had decided to include a BD drive as part of a redesign. On the other hand, if titles did start to come out on BD, they'd also need to provide an add-on BD player for existing 360's. And presumably, Sony wouldn't exactly be eager to have their direct competitor using BD? But, until there are authoritive sources on this, it's all still conjecture.
Supposedly they are packaging both chips at 40nm, but I didn't think that was until 2010. I'd guess that 2010 is a more realistic launch time for this rumoured machine, when BD drives are much cheaper also.
Microsoft was always adamant that no games would appear on HD-DVD, even if a hybrid Xbox 360 with built in drive were released in the future. Required hardware add-ons for systems have never gone over well (64DD, 32X) and to require a new drive for "early" adopters would: 1) piss them off to the point where they may jump ship and/or 2) make it so that no one else makes the mistake of buying the next system too soon after release.
Sometimes I thing you must live in another dimension to the rest of us. I've never come across a Dreamcast that's louder than a 360. A PS2 is louder than a Dreamcast at times. Yakumo
Were they not also adamant that they'd not be supporting BD? :110: But, I agree about your point on required add-ons - that'd not be popular with existing owners, unless it was real cheap (like the HD-DVD player quickly became, once the end was nigh). Right at the beginning, they said that compression techniques would suffice, although I can see some games being a tight squeeze onto a regular DVD, given the way that software eats greater resource on each generation (more graphics/larger play areas). On the other hand, it does encourage tighter programming methods, so maybe not a bad thing. I guess they may also move towards a greater on-line model too, which would reduce the need to cram more & more stuff onto a DVD.
I think Microsoft are gung ho about downloadable movies and TV Shows and couldn't give a flying **** about Blu Ray. A lighter smaller sexier quieter 360 would be very nice though.
