Since it won't go anywhere near the Wii Fit balance board and is extremely likely to die during a heated workout, your obese Xbox 360 isn't going to get thinner in its lifetime. No, that's what the "Xbox 540" replacement is for, claims TG Daily. The site reckons that Microsoft will release a "mid-cycle refresh" of the system in Fall 2009, one built around a new and more compact "Valhalla" internal chipset. (Have we introduced you to Jasper yet?)The shrinking of innards will reportedly allow a redesign of the system's exterior, much like the PlayStation 2's second iteration. Our fancy next-gen games may be getting bigger on the screen, but much like our Wiis, it seems we'll end up with something smaller to play with. On. Play games on. Multiplayer games. Curses! is there any way out of that one?
Update: Microsoft says it has "no plans to release a new console in 2009."
[Via X3F]
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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And here they confirmed its non-truth: http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/13/microsoft-says-no-new-xbox-360s-in-2009/
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Well, it did use a 3.5" HDD vs 2.5" in the 360.
The Gamecube was already compact itself.
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I now this is going to sound crazy but maybe his system is louder than yours. Quality control and consistentcy has not been Microsoft forte with the 360. I had a couple of 360's that were loud out of the box. The most recent one I have is pretty quiet in comparison. Its like a game of craps.
A friend of mine has a 360 that's much more quiet than mine.
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I think Microsoft has to slim down the 360 to achieve any sort of sales in Japan. And I think it'll spur sales elsewhere as well.
The original 360 design was nicer than the Xbox, but still bulky, and I thought overall they could have done a better job.
The only problem with a redesign, would be the faceplates. But, I'm not wedded to them.
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that isnt the answer to succeeding in Japan. they need to steal some big name Japanese devs to do that. if they could get Monster Hunter or something on 360, it would sell like hotcakes over there.
a hardware revision will certainly re-spark sales, but it wont fix their "outside the US" problems.
It could be a few issues related to MS's relative failure in Japan:
1) With the first Xbox, they didn't try as hard in Japan as they are now.
2) Marketing failure. The Japanese 360 ads have been just... dumb.
3) RRoD... Seriously. While we Americans are (mostly) willing to put up with replacements/repairs, I don't know if that'd fly over in Japan. And if the hardware's reliability has hit the news over there (dunno if it has), that would severely hurt its credibility.
But a redesign could give the 360 quite a push in Japan. It worked for DS and PSP.
But you can't get wide developer support if the hardware sales are abysmal.
The problem is more than just the hardware design. I've always said the cost should be subsidized more greatly there UNTIL a sizable base occurs. I don't think they have enough of a base in Japan. It almost seems as if Microsoft is content with their sales in Japan, but I think it's more of an indicator of a problem they've failed to address.
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seriously tho, i could see the same exact design, only smaller. kinda the size of the hd dvd add on. which was a little bigger then the wii.
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Just put the power brick inside, give us a transfer cable if the HDD is different, and go from there. I'd gladly throw my 360 from 2006 on ebay for $150 to go towards a better quality slim 360. I did the same with the slim ps2, even though my fatty ps2 was just fine.
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