Rejected Xbox 360 designs -- and for good reason

Remember those leaked pics we got of the Xbox 360 (Xbox 2 as we then knew it) design way back when? We got word that at least one of these might have been just a decoy, but it was touch and go for a while there, and while we're all glad they got a decent design together, we thought you might to see what the 360 could have been — click read to check out all seven of these beauties.

[Via The Raw Feed]

[napalm @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

The one to the far right of that picture actually looks pretty cool.

[js @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

They're all hideous and ugly.

[Anthony Pierre @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I can see why the designs were rejected. My problem is how could they have been conceptualized in the first place?

[donut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Microsoft does have a pretty piss poor industrial design team comparing to companies like Sony and Apple

[AJ @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Those are things I would never even consider putting within 500 feet of my TV. They're pretty ugly. Why did they even have to reject those? They should have never been designed in the first place.

[Anonymous @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

It's called the design process. They are all design 'concepts'. None were meant to be final designs, but part of the process of arriving at the final 360. Sure they may be ugly, but thats why there is a design process, and they don't just manufacture the first thing that comes up.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I coulda sworn we saw that middle one a long time ago as the probable "XBox 2." Boy does that sound wierd.

I don't know about you guys, but the real 360 is kinda ugly too. I mean the whole "contours" thing that they claim is the reason for its bizzare shape... blech indeed.

[KC @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

After all their efforts they could not come up with a good design of their own so they just put the XBOX 360 innards into an old Dell case they had laying around... and the 360 as we know it was born!

[Daniel @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

the design third from the bottom is an exact copy of that low cost AMD Geode powered computer

[aleandro @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

typo
for good reasonS not reason...

[bc @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

i hope the ps3 whips its ass. no hd, no wireless, charge you for online gaming, crazy price, ugly console ....

[js @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

@ #6 (anonymous):

If conceptual designs are hideous and ugly, then chances are the final design does too... KC (poster #8) pretty much sums it up. I'm not suprised that Dell is involved with the project.

Piss poor hardware design.... Microshaft would be better sticking to software.

[Richie @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Doesn't actually look too bad, the lighting makes it look hideous.

[Trejkaz @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

The next generation after these ones will be more interesting. Nobody will want to call their console the XBOX 4 or the PS4, so I guess they'll have to actually come up with something unique. Maybe while they're at it, Microsoft can try coming up with a design that doesn't weigh the same as a brick.

[Peter Chapman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

In Answer to 19, you can almost guarantee that sony will eventually do its miniturization on the PS3 a few years into its life cycle to boost some more sales, at the start no one will care about the size, it'll only be important when they've sold a fair few units so not too important to worry about how big they make it at the start, they'e going to put very few people off by having it a quite large.

[Bob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

if you're gonna put a "clever" $ in the spelling of microsoft's name, you may as well put one in for sony's as well, as in $ony...they're all in it for money, fools.

[Guido @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

#22 Richie:

Needless to say, you didn't answer his questions.

[Varun Seth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

For such a successful company, microsoft's stock price has done shit for god-knows how long. It seems very few people agree with number 15's observations.

[Meltz @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

man, ill ive got to say is:
if youre even gonna stoop down to the level of console gaming (as opposed to PC), at least keep it real with nintendo. whatever happened to good 'ol smash bros or Gaunlet Legends, both on N64? those were the greatest. But anyways, at least nintendo can come up with original names rather than just one name (x box - has anyone ever thought of how stupid a name that is?) and the sequels? whatever.

[gamer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

the far right pic looks pretty cool, but the other two looks like microsoft got ideas from nintendo

[eskimo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Define "decent design." :| I'm still not impressed by either the Xbox 360 or the PS3.

[Eli @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Those are almost all better than the design they ended up using. The one in the middle is absolutely awesome and I would've bought a 360 based on the design alone if they'd used it.

[BES @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

LOLZZ OPEN SOURCE FTW MICROSOFT IS THE DEVIL! EVEN THOUGH I USE WINDOWS BECUASE NOBODY HAS COME CLOSE TO PROVIDING THE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS THAT MICROSOFT OFFERS TO DEVELOPERS, AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF APPLICATIONS ARE DEVELOPED FOR WINDOWS!!!11!!111!1! OMG LOLZZZ

I HATE people who bash on Microsoft, they may have done some screwed up things in there time, but you have NO ROOM TO TALK if you cant even switch from there BLOODY OPERATING SYSTEM!

Fools.

Come back and hate Microsoft when you have a viable reason.

[BES @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

By the way, I have nothing against open source, I personally am a firm believer in the idea.

I was just mocking the fools who praise it, yet have never used an open source application outside of a file-sharing application.

[GregGrunge @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Quote: ch424
"And why, at school have I never seen a broken Microsoft mouse, but almost all the Mac mice are broken or have been replaced with Microsoft mice?"

Because morons at your school get on the macs because they think they look cool and don't know what the hell they are doing and go berserk when they realize there is only one button on the mouse. And I'm probably assuming that the IT department on your campus realizes, and anticipates MicroShaft products breaking down, so they have plenty on inventory, cause have you priced an Apple keyboad? Also, I've used a MicroShaft keyboard, logitech, IBM, generics... I'd say my Apple keyboard is far beyond any of them.

Also to quote ch424:
"please could you explain how one of the most successful companies in the world is also the "shittiest"?"

Trust me, they're not successful because of their product. It's all marketing. Having been a Windoze user most of my life, I know all too well after switching that they are way behind in the game. MicroShaft's business objective: "let's make another billion dollars"... Apple's: "let's make a work of art". MicroShaft's: "let's rush to get this to market, and we'll work the bugs out later". Apple's: "let's get our junk right".

In my office we're upgrading our server and workstations, we would be making a REAL upgrade and getting all Macs, but our IT people don't know how to support it. But, hell, if we had all Mac systems, chances are we wouldn't need any IT people.

[Josh Glaser @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I actually like the one in the middle. It's far too small to be the Xbox 360, though. For a while, I was hoping it would be a miniaturized version of the original Xbox, to be called the Xbox 180 (The handles on it even make a 180 degree curve!) but alas, it was not to be.

Design-wise, the Xbox 360 is my least favorite of the next-generation consoles. It seems to be looking backwards at the PS2 too much - the result being that the Revolution and PS3 have far more "futuristic" designs. I love the simple and sleek styling of the PS3 (here's hoping it launches in black and white!) and Revolution (ditto!). Ironically, Microsoft painted the Xbox 360 "iPod white," but the unnecessary curves and flares are exactly the opposite of Apple's "zen" design.

I'll probably end up with all three consoles (at least a PS3 and a Revolution), and the Xbox 360 is a big improvement design-wise over the original Xbox, but it still doesn't look as "next-gen" as the other consoles. It looks 2005, yes, but the Revolution and PS3 look 2006-2010. I think the Xbox 360 will look "dated" before too long, especially as more companies adopt Apple's simple and clean design aesthetic.