Author claims 360 team working on portable Xbox

Here's a juicy morsel for you: in his new book, Xbox 360 Uncloaked, gaming industry author Dean Takahashi claims that half of Microsoft's original Xbox 360 development team began work on a portable console immediately after the home system launched, while the other half was tasked with driving down the 360's production costs. Takahashi goes on to say that the big M plans to follow Sony's lead and release the handheld Xbox halfway through the 360's life span, which would help offset hardware cycle costs and maintain buzz about the brand. The supposed Xbox2Go (that's what we'll call it for now, anyway) would likely be released into a competitive landscape filled with PSP2's and who knows what kind of crazy Nintendo portables, but Microsoft has certainly shown that it's in the videogame, uh, game, for the long haul, so we wouldn't be surprised to see them pump these kinds of resources into the project if it does in fact exist. Oh, and before you start commenting on the device's "design," please note that the above picture is simply an artist's conception created before any word of this got out.

[revanoncomba @ Feb 19th 2008 2:06AM]

all i have to say is this, when i got my first xbox i was like in heaven of gaming, xbox rom microsoft is the best. I would realy like to see this xobox portabl really come out. Also ive always trusted microsoft for gaming on computer and such.

[TareX @ Mar 1st 2008 9:17AM]

I'm waiting for the X360 handheld as well. The PSP is great, but maybe 2 years ago. Now, it seems like everyone won't settle for anything less than a next-gen handheld.

The mock-up design is UGLY and PAINFUL. The best mockup concept design is there:
http://www.digitalbattle.com/2006/05/31/xbox-to-go-portable-in-200708/

It's so beautiful, sometimes I just open up the photo and keep staring :)

[Caesar Cais @ Mar 4th 2008 1:57AM]

I don't see why there are so many negative comments on this, I think a portable xbox would be interesting to see. Sure, it might not be the greatest game ever, but, who cares? Nintendo is getting it's mainstream moola from it's portables. Thats the very thing they started out wiht was portables. All Microsoft needs to do is watch carefully what games they include on it and make sure they don't put something stupid. And just like Mike up I have a friend whos had ps for a long time. He's never had an xbox but plays it a lot, (Store demos, friends house, etc.) He is about to get an Xbox 360 and is ready to pee his pants of excitement.

[chase brekke @ Apr 15th 2008 9:48PM]

whic one r u guys coming out wth the concept one or the 180 xbox portable

[chase brekke @ May 19th 2008 7:08PM]

i always thougt that playstations were the best until i got a x360 its amazing PLEASE make a portable 360 id buy it and make it have things the psp doesnt have and when is it coming out?

[chase brekke @ Apr 15th 2008 10:23PM]

i hope microsoft make it with 360 graphics to blow out the psp

[chase brekke @ Apr 15th 2008 10:21PM]

i want sony to finally feel beat

[Sarge @ Aug 18th 2008 8:50AM]

Honestly, i love the PSP i own one by the way but when it comes between the xbox360 and PS3 and presuming i had the $ to buy a PS3, i would rather buy an Xbox360 Elite. Microsoft has way better games and far more than the PS. im not trying to offend any ps3 owner here but when i went to a games shop and saw the ps3 games compared to the xbox360 games....the PS3 looked like so much honey roasted peanut dust that everyone leaves behind when they just eat the nuts. Plus i believe that microsoft will beat other companies in the gaming arena. True, nintendo and sony came up with game consoles first. The gameboy colour, gameboy advance, ps1, ps2, ds but i would say that even though microsoft was a late runner in this race, it has caught up with other companies and i also believe that the xbox 360's hardware power is equivilent if not better than the ps3 or nintendo wii

[vidGuy @ May 8th 2006 2:51PM]

With 360 GWAR's graphics? I don't think so. I hate how artists always put the newest, best-looking game on the screen, not realizing what it alludes to.

[Loban @ May 8th 2006 2:54PM]

Ahh yes, another portable looking for a beat down by Nintendo. Sega's GameGear needs the company I guess.

[Paul @ May 8th 2006 2:55PM]

God how much I hate Microsoft...

[oshean @ May 8th 2006 2:57PM]

I'm still going to comment on the design. The artist conception is fugly.

[BOB!!! @ May 8th 2006 3:04PM]

1. Oh yeah, a new turok game that hopefully won't reek as bad as Evolution. Turok 2 and Turok Rage Wars are great games, they need to do something like that again. Even turok 3 was better than evolution.

Posted at 10:21PM on May 7th 2006 by Scott 0 stars

2. N-GAGE???... Didnt know that thing was still kicking!

Posted at 10:23PM on May 7th 2006 by Patrick 0 stars

3. I thought is was stranglehoLd not stranglehoOd? Anyways stranglehood does sound pretty killer regradless. 'Little Red StrangleHood' anyone? Sounds like the scariest lil' girl lost in the woods eva!
Anyways Tu rok or not Tu rok?
I can't say how jealous I am of you dudes and all your being at E3.. anyways..
I wonder how much those Neverwinter Nights guy paid for that...

Posted at 10:24PM on May 7th 2006 by Angus 0 stars

4. As a big potential Turok fan (I love the idea, the executions have been less than Stellar...), I'm hoping this next one is great as well.

Evolution could've been enjoyable but the horrible load times killed the ability to hop in and play it, even to tough through the bad parts, it just wasn't worth it when I had to wait 3 minutes after dying witin 2 minutes of gameplay.

Posted at 11:02PM on May 7th 2006 by Goober 0 stars

5. Ahem... breaking news: PS3 price will be "between $300 and $400" according to Sony reps.

Translation: $399.99

They acknowledged that they will be taking approximately $400 loss on each console sold, but they want Blu-Ray penetration.

This is right from the Sony Rep's mouth a few hours ago, and as my confidentiality agreement is with my retail employer, and NOT with Sony, I see no problem with revealing this... Especially since they'll confirm it soon.

Posted at 11:10PM on May 7th 2006 by The ZeroCorpse 5 stars

6. aww, sucks that link isnt on the stairs anymore.

Posted at 11:13PM on May 7th 2006 by feezy 0 stars

7. I can only hope for a price tag around $400, thankfully we just have to wait about 19 and 1/2 more hours.

!!! Sonys press conference is at 4:00 PDT for those that don't know yet.

Posted at 11:26PM on May 7th 2006 by David -1 stars

8. Would somebody please stab a steak through the N-Gage's heart, already? Please?

Posted at 11:29PM on May 7th 2006 by Jonn 2 stars

9. Chris you lucky bastard, have fun at E3!!
P.S. Don't get caught playing with your wii, ok!?

Posted at 11:43PM on May 7th 2006 by bv 6 stars

10. I think you mean "stake". A steak would be gross.

Posted at 11:44PM on May 7th 2006 by gozirah 0 stars

11. Thanks bv! This is like a religous experience!

Posted at 12:50AM on May 8th 2006 by C. Grant 0 stars

12. ah E3.......a gamers holiday. i live 4 mid-may. i envy you guys so much 4 getting 2 go. maybe ill get there sumday. just waitin 4 4:00 2morrow now (4 those details on PS3!).

(oh yeah, that N-Gage sign was the first thing i noticed 2. i thought they gave that up already. oh well.)

Posted at 1:11AM on May 8th 2006 by B1gC72 0 stars

13. Sooo cool. You guys had better be having fun on my behalf.

Posted at 2:57AM on May 8th 2006 by Simon 0 stars

14. I guess they put up all the posters of stuff no one cares about first?

but really, it looks indescribably cool. have fun, and give us posts every 30 seconds! I'm going to be such a Joystiq junkie this week, it's not even funny.

Posted at 3:50AM on May 8th 2006 by Vladimir 0 stars

15. E3 - The paradise of geeks worldwide .... thanks for the pics, wish I were there too ....
Very excited to see and hear the upcoming news with Aegia and their PhysX processor as well - can't wait to add another card to the gaming machine ....

And Sony - give us what we all want to hear !!!

Posted at 7:23AM on May 8th 2006 by Overseeker79 0 stars

16. Ahh, brings back memories. The first one is the feeling of my eyes burning stepping out of LAX. Anyone else ever notice that?

Even with that, I'm so very jealous. This year is going to be mind-blowing.

Posted at 8:09AM on May 8th 2006 by Moogle 3 stars

17. Thanks for the teaser, I hope everyone from Joystiq (and the lucky readers) whom are going to E3 have a great time.


tis a good week to be a gamer...

Posted at 9:54AM on May 8th 2006 by jaemz 7 stars

18. "The first one is the feeling of my eyes burning stepping out of LAX. Anyone else ever notice that?"

Yes. It's a combination of the heat and the smog, I'm sure; not one or the other. You come from a place like NYC (where it's currently 57 degrees), step into an air conditioned airplane, out into an air conditioned terminal, then all of a sudden you're smacked in the face with 90 degree smog. It's a shock to the system.

Honestly, after my first E3 I swore I never wanted to go again. But seeing these pics and knowing it's a year of major announcements and new systems, I wish I was there.

Posted at 11:02AM on May 8th 2006 by Jeff 7 stars

19. Man With the launch of 2 systems and a more depthy look at a current gen system, not to mention all the great games comming out. This is perhaps going to be the best E3 by far. So many anticipated previews and titles comming out. Im so excited it makes me wanna wii my pants

Posted at 1:09PM on May 8th 2006 by Shane-o-mac 0 stars

20. Anyone know of any good places to go at night during E3? Im in nyc, heading to LA wednesday night, so i have no clue of what events/parties are being held from wed to sat.
Hopefully i can get pulled into the e3 access party or vivendi party, but if not, where to go?

Posted at 1:46PM on May 8th 2006 by whathapp 0 stars

[Donar @ May 8th 2006 3:06PM]

Microsoft has been liquidating all its dead weight since it's huge stock loss and Entertainment Earnings "Loss". I really doubt we'll see a portable system. And I would put money down the 360 will be their last console.

[LongshotX @ May 8th 2006 3:31PM]

You don't have enough money, Donar, to make that claim. With all of the investments Microsoft is making don't believe just because they are taking a loss that it's over for them as far as video games. I'm sure that through all of their hard work the Xbox brand will succeed. This is not Sega, or Phillips, Neo-Geo, SNK, or Panasonic. This is Microsoft. In order to make progress one must first toil through blood and sweat. Trust me their efforts will pay off substantially. And for the first time ever the Western World will have a brand to compete against the Japanese gaming giants. I just wish we as Americans would share in the same pride as our Japanese counterparts do. Maybe one day we will re-develop a sense of nationalism.

[shaquille @ May 18th 2008 11:10PM]

I agree 200%

[Loban @ May 8th 2006 3:32PM]

I doubt the Xbox 360 will be their last console as MS has plenty of money to burn. However, it really SHOULD be their last console as the thing is a piece of trash, a real engineering disaster.

[SD @ May 8th 2006 3:43PM]

Hmmmm - I wonder if the UMPC platform is part of this grand plan... Makes sense, they beta test the whole concept of a portable XBox by releasing the UMPC now and work out the kinks for an eventual XBox Mobile in a couple of years.

[SRD @ May 8th 2006 3:44PM]

Why is it in engineering disaster? I have no issues with mine what so ever. Runs great and games look great. as for the PS2 it had its share of issues at launch. Xbox will survive. As for sony while i love the PS2 i think PS3 might tank the company I hope not though they make some cool stuff.

[afrokenjonny @ May 8th 2006 3:48PM]

um, i think our respective north american nationalisms are that we're not ethnocentric/ superiority complex racists that try to kill other races/ other ppl from other countries just because they're not japanese.

[bc @ May 8th 2006 3:51PM]

I cant wait to see its power supply!

[Armin @ May 8th 2006 4:19PM]

Does it make sense for Microsoft to go portable? With the PSP and DS being so popular? And with the new GameBoy launching in December? No, it makes no sense. Unless they want to loose even more money than they are loosing on their Xbox business.

[Jerome Demers @ May 8th 2006 5:19PM]

Why not?

They have the money and why not give it a try?

I am a real Sony fanboy and I would be really interested in the console.

[Donar @ May 8th 2006 5:22PM]

#8, if you haven't been following, they're almost 5 billion in the hole now. They've passed the point of no return when it comes to making any profits as far as i'm concerned. Remember, Microsoft has no control when the shareholders start calling the shots after they see the PS3 and Wii outsell their latest offering.

[john florio @ May 8th 2006 5:29PM]

Hoax!!! check out mobile magazine about a year ago...same rendering for a contest.

[Jonas @ May 8th 2006 5:33PM]

I think this will be a great idea after there recent profit earnings this would be a good way to invest so of thier money. I certainly think it has every chance of doing well, the Xbox has some great games hopefully the Portable Xbox would as well :)

[Brian @ May 8th 2006 5:36PM]

what's going on with these posts?

[fahmi @ May 8th 2006 6:10PM]

#17

idiot. just because Xbox department puts 5 billion down the drain, every shareholders will put out their investment? if they do, im more than willing to take their places considering when Vista launched, money rain falls on redmont, washington.

oh how bout their OS domination of every thing that has screen? LIVE service that's going to compete with ANY online service? look at how many lawsuits their got? and M$ is still going strong.

good god, youre a moron.

[mike @ May 8th 2006 6:29PM]

Why not?
They have the money and why not give it a try?

---

I love how you think publicly traded companies can just throw money away (xbox).. the shareholders will run for the hills.

Furthermore, the reason you wouldn't do this is because XBOX exists only to put WINDOWS on TV's. There's no reason to create a device like a DS-imitator.

This.
Won't.
Happen.

[prickly pete @ May 8th 2006 6:30PM]

Dean Takahashi WHO?

Sounds like another Gizmondo claim.

[Godfather @ May 8th 2006 6:48PM]

to #17: Who cares if Microsoft's in debt up to their asses? In America, extremely rich people/corporations don't care if they loose a few billion dollars. The Bush adminsistration has had a multi-trillion dollar deficit for years, but you don't see them making any attempt to conserve funds!

and to #20: Given that you have no apparent knowledge of capitalization, grammer, or spelling, and that you seem to be unaware of the existance of the apostrophe (') or the comma (,), you really aren't in a position to criticize poor #17. Idiot.

My opinion is that if Microsoft actually has a plan going for a portable Xbox, they'll go through with it and they should go through with it. I would love to play Halo 2 online in my hands while I'm surfing the web and watching TV at the same time. It would also be great if the portable Xbox ran Linux. :)

[Anonymous (He who does not forgive) @ May 8th 2006 7:11PM]

Alright, 17. If you really, honestly think that the PS3, which no one has seen any real graphics for by the way, and the Wii, which is a great buy for the word-play-enthusiast/pedophile, are going to outsell a platform with a great design and proven graphics, as well as good games (although that hardly matters in today's market), then I would like to buy whatever variety of narcotics you are currently enjoying.

[Brendan @ May 8th 2006 7:25PM]

Here's a better looking one: was on the latest edition of T3

http://static.flickr.com/48/143062037_11b0766c71_o.jpg


I'm really awaiting the PS 3 though ;)

[TZK @ May 8th 2006 8:06PM]

They arent working on shit, they got the intellectual prop that is the gizmondo wide screen hand held.

you can thank me later.

[I25 @ May 8th 2006 8:15PM]

yeah this is going to be good but it will be hard for microsoft to match sonys psp and they will need next gen graphics. and need to not hype up the systems graphics and not declare it next gen when it is only a slight step up like the 360

[John @ May 8th 2006 9:08PM]

I knew that wasnt a real picture, it actually looks something like this http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/oakleydoakley27/xp.jpg

[shnoz @ May 8th 2006 9:36PM]

There's no way in hell that thing's legit. How the f*ck could anyone cram the power of a 360 into something the size of a ham sandwich. Wait for it...de....de...denied! NO! That's not possible!

And even if it was, Nintendo would still rape Microsoft in the handheld arena.

[Rick @ May 8th 2006 10:47PM]

Benjamin Heckendorn, GO!

[steve @ May 9th 2006 2:45PM]

that would be awesome
but i hope they dont go with crappy umd disks
i prefer rewritables

[sango @ May 9th 2006 10:12PM]

This was an old online rumor that appears to gain momentum again. I know that Transmeta has been working with Microsoft on a secret project for a while. Transmeta skill is creating low-heat chips so they don't over heat.

[Woolly Mittens @ May 11th 2006 7:07AM]

Nobody can design something *that* ugly.

[ZOOEX @ Oct 18th 2008 4:08PM]

first of all I'm sure that its not the final look of the portable xbox(just look at the joysticks and arrows which they are not as eye candy as the other Microsoft products).
now a day NOKIA reach the 369MHz F for the mobile CPUs...so we can expect some more for future hand held console.and also with the new come,the Nvidea new CPU which it designed for hand held console.and it run video and pics in full HD,we can really ready for some thing new from Microsoft.
in my idea there are 3 thing that for sure we will see them on the portable xbox which are
1. the style of the joysticks and arrows keys like xbox controller.(and also 2 joysticks)
2.the logo of the xbox in the middle of the console (as the home button or sth)
3.better graphic than PSP also
and maybe it would be use some multitouch tech too.

[brandeenoh @ May 16th 2006 11:22PM]

What would be it's name ? The POX?

[AnimeJoe @ May 20th 2006 3:11PM]

People get off on slammin' MS, that's fine. But I've been impressed with what they've brought to the console market over the past several years, especially their online initiative. I think, especially after this year's E3, they're in a good position to take on Sony and Nintendo. If they decide to release a handheld console in a couple of years it will be because they think they have something to offer that noone else can. I could see them offering a device that makes full use of Live, Live Arcade, and communicates with Windows Media Center and the 360.

[Linx @ Jan 7th 2009 8:20PM]

It is now 2009 and still no word on the portable xbox.
BOW BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Come on MS... It can't POSSIBLY be worse than the PSP! Go ahead!

[ballin @ Jan 11th 2007 11:42AM]

Im sure if they came out with this everyone would buy it. By looking at the success of the xbox 360 and even the first xbox, This would be very nice. But, can they match the free online and wireless 2-player that a PSP has?

[Jesse @ Feb 15th 2007 9:13PM]

Hell Yes Microsoft, go for it. It must fold (like the ds, so it doesnt get scratched like the psp just by putting it in your pocket, or get finger prints everywhere because the controls are so close to the screen), have 2 analog sticks (like in the picture would be great) or slides (like the psp, but they would have to be larger), idc bout a d-pad, but a keyboard would be very nice, not like the phone-typing on the psp, it would have to be HD, or damn close, music playback, a video player, somewhere to save pictures, wi-fi to connect to live, wire-less play like the psp (gamesharing or not) and to make everything work, a much larger, stronger battery, who cares about charge time, so long as it plays for about 6 hours.

[adel @ Apr 18th 2007 9:31AM]

is this thing real
can u mail me to answer me on [e-mail]

[peyton @ Nov 8th 2007 4:53PM]

when this xbox 360 due to come e-mail me when u know and the price of this little thing

[seth @ Dec 2nd 2007 9:29PM]

that looks really tight is it going to have xbox-360's graphics and when is it coming out