Ever wonder why Microsoft hasn't released an
HDMI cable for the
Xbox 360, or whether the AV port was really capable of digital out? Well, here's your answer: we landed pictures of what appears to be the second Xbox 360 -- the Xbox 360 v2, if you will -- codenamed Zephyr. (The original Xbox 360, if you recall, was codenamed
Xenon.) The long rumored about and awaited update to the console won't just feature a new, cooler 65nm processor, it's also finally added an
HDMI port for full digital 1080p pleasure, as well as a 120GB drive, just what the doctor ordered. The 120GB drive may or may not come bundled with the kit, we don't yet know, just as we also don't yet know how much a Zephyr 360 is going to run (we imagine it'll go for the same price as currently so they can keep up a little on their expanding margin). But our very kind Xbox insider seemed happy to let us know we'd be able to get them "soon."
I don't know why 360 owners so upset...just eBay them. Someone out there hasn't read this yet or some just don't care. No one's stopping you except yourself.
I see all the Xbots are rushing to defend Microsoft.
Are you blinkered to how badly they have screwed the early adopters?
120 GB HDD: Great! 20 GB is BS for a HDD, especially at the price they sell it for!
What I really want to see in a version 2: built-in Wi-Fi!!!
I don't have a 360, yet. I am definitely going to wait for the version 2 to get released before I get one. I would be so happy if Wi-Fi got included! It probably won't though, how else will they get away with charging $100 for a freaking wireless adapter.
The one major thing that has kept me away from the 360 is the fact that EVERYTHING is a freaking accessory! You can't save without HDD or memory card.
HDMI? Don't care, component looks great as it is on my HDTV. Bigger HDD is a plus! Especially if they expect people to buy all the HD goodies from Live
So obviously the 360 was not finalized last year, and now that ps3 set the bar so high, 360 couldnt stand having their product be so far behind the ps3. so they joined the party as well. and yea, ps2 did the same thing as well, but it was 4 or 5 years later, when ppl actually got a good use out of their product. i feel bad for anyone that has bought a 360 in the past month and saw this.
Wow... and all these talks about how less than 2% of household in U.S. own HDTV set and how stupid of people to buy PS3 when it release. All this crap from fanboys only like 2-3 months ago. Now Xbox360 is walking the exact same path as PS3 and people are upset! Hilarious!
You guys need to stop your b*tching and grow up. I've had my 360 since the first day they were released and it has been awsome. I use my 360 more as a Media Center Extender then playing games and the HDTV comes in perfect on my 65" HDTV.
I have no use for the HD-DVD player since I would rather download an HD movie then go pay the same price at a video rental place.
HDMI is a nice addon, 120gb hd is really nice, a cooler running processor is nice also , but I'd love to have HD-DVD built in instead of an exterior addon. also a quieter DVD drive would be a bonus.
as many others have said. if the price is right with those options I'll be switching and my little cousin can have my current box.
Hey code smoke I was also one of the first buyers of the 360. And the $800 I have spent so far has been BEYOND worth it. The people bithcing about microevil upgrading there product arent true gamers.
I guess I don't understand all the haters in here. So if your pissed that Microsoft updated their machine now and did not include those things in it at launch, when would it be ok? 2 years from now? 3? or just include all the updates in the Xbox 720? The problem is your too use to spending someone else's money. Its all to easy for you to waste a billion dollars just because %10 of your user base will use a feature that the company would just loose money on. Why not include what people will need, and then when the cost gets driven down start including things people want to keep them comming. Its called smart business.....learn about it.
the dashboard doesnt run from hard disk and therefore (to save on space) is being upscaled on the 360. i thought that was pretty obvious.
the games run in different resolutions (none as low as the dash) and get scaled according to your output settings.
i really dont see the big deal (running the dash in a natively high resolution - software issue fixable by f/w update anyway).. and if you can't tell/see the difference between xbox360 dash and a game, then maybe you shouldn't be commenting on signal quality and resolution.
They are punishing early adoptees' of the console!!! The bastards!!!!!!! I can't believe i just bought a 360! ZOMG!!
None of this will really matter if they haven't done something to cool the GPU. A smaller CPU won't do it. An aluminum heatsink and no cooling = more fried GPU's.
I want to see a completely redesigned interior as well.....
i swore i remember hearing something on engadget last week about Sony admitting that they were working on a PS3 v2 that was going to be more of an all in one entertainment center device? idk ... so i wouldnt be making any decision yet about switching over to PS3 from Xbox 360.... and i wouldnt be saying that MS will be the only one dealing with pissed off customers if that thing about the PS3 v2 is true.
All i know is I think its disgusting how these companies are getting away with this crap. The 360's been out what? a year? In the console industry once you introduce the console you dont revamp it and then sell a pimped out version a year and a half later... this is just BS... and its just gonna force me to forever second guess my decisions when i do purchase a new console.. i was waiting to see all next-gens come out and see everything before i made a decision and now they pull this crap.. its gonna forever be a loose loose situation just like computer buying. I say BOOO to this new console industry formula.
Nick, your so called PS3v2 is meant for a completely different crowd. It's targeted for a very small niche market, people with money to burn. It is not meant to be a revision to v1.
Good to see Microsoft is also pushing a format on public. Go ahead and bash Sony some more people! Geez..
@Nick
The V2 PS3 which is more of an all in one entertainment center device, is pretty much what the PSX was (I dont know if you remember?) but it was a ps2 mixed with a dvr and some other functions but it was more of a sony branded product than sony playstation branded product and the cost was over $1000, so this new v2 ps3 you are refering to is much of the same its really not a revision to the current ps3, but just a sony entertainment product that includes a ps3 built in. so I would be afraid to purchase a ps3 because they wont have a revision for atleast 2 years it seems.
Well then, foot in mouth.
But we'll never see a price drop then. Why would MS drop the price if people will buy it and they can make a profit? And if these consoles are even cheaper to produce, then MS is making even more dollars.
@canuck
My understanding of the situation is that the xbox 360 has done better basically because it came out first. the 360 has sold 10 million in a year and the wii has sold (i forget exactly) somewhere between 3-5 million (since it came out a little over a month ago). I really dont get how u can say 1 system which has been out for a year, is doing better when it has only sold somewhere between 2 to 3 times more than a system that has been out for a matter of weeks?
Curiously, the VGA cable does not unlock the 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution or any resolution near the WUXGA standard, leading us to believe that when the Xbox 360 outputs 1080i using the HD component cable, it only does the old 540p-upconvert-to-1080i trick. That has been my suspicion from the beginning
from ex: "Curiously, the VGA cable does not unlock the 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution or any resolution near the WUXGA standard..." Liar it does indeed unlock 1920x 1080 I have the cable and I have chosen the resolution that you state doesn't exist, so your full of BS.
On the subject of all the people crying foul at MS for this upgrade, well now I have on my gaming shelf with all my other systems (Wii, 360, PS3 and Xbox) an original PS2, this one doesn;t have the built in IR of the later revisions, and isn't a slimline profile like the current ones, so by some of your standards Sony should have ponied up some sort of upgrade for me, or wait yeah the PS2 was rushed to market because later revisions included new features...Anyone else see how utterly stupid this argument is?
when they do release this they should get rid of the core put the premium down to the core price and sell this at the premium price
Am I the only person here that has heard of Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD? The HD-DVD Add-on for the current 360 can't output these formats because they can only be sent over an analog connection (read: HDMI). Optical doesn't provide enough bandwidth for the transfer.
The only people that should give a damn about the lack of HDMI on the 360 are those with the HD-DVD add-on. We're the ones that are losing out. Not those who think it's going to make a difference over component video. . .
Am I the only person here that has heard of Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD? The HD-DVD Add-on for the current 360 can't output these formats because they can only be sent over an analog connection (read: HDMI). Optical doesn't provide enough bandwidth for the transfer.
The only people that should give a damn about the lack of HDMI on the 360 are those with the HD-DVD add-on. We're the ones that are losing out. Not those who think it's going to make a difference over component video. . .
I hope purchasers of the premium 360's get their 360's recalled and replaced.
PWNED by version 1!!!
MAN I knew this is what MS was up to with all the cash backs and rebates going around this holiday season with the 360... They were clearing out their v.1 inventory.
I picked up the 360 last month with the $100 Microcenter rebate and the $100 cash back from their CC. Sweet deal, but not sure if I would have went for it if I knew an HDMI version with a larger harddrive was forthcoming... Oh well... I'm playing GEARS right NOW, not 6 months from now.
For all those complaining that the HDMI port "should have already been there" and that "they'd better release a cable", what did you think you were buying? Weren't you aware that there was no HDMI out available? Did Microsoft fool you? You received exactly what you paid for. Products improve over time. That's just the way things go. Earlier PS2s were bigger and more expensive than later versions. Earlier Xbox1 systems had a smaller harddrive, bulkier controllers, and were more prone to catch on fire. I bought a TV a few years back for $800 that I would now have trouble giving away.
If you own an XBox, you have had the pleasure of using it. You got what you paid for. And, if you want the bigger hard drive, go buy one. If you want the HDMI port, go buy another 360. If you want that new 8-slice toaster, ditch your 2-slicer and break out your pocketbook.
Actually, yes, MS did fool people. Everyone knew there was no HDMI cable, but all MS would ever say is that they would support HDMI "when it is needed". That would have been fine except for the fact that they never came out and admitted that the current model can't even do HDMI. They obviously did that so sales wouldn't drop due to people holding out for a new model, but they had to essentially fool current customers to do it. They directly implied that HMDI might be supported in the future while leaving out the not-so-minor detail that current models wouldn't be able to enjoy that feature when they did choose to support it.
thanks wal-mart, for having a 30 (or is it 90?) day no questions asked return policy.
i think ill just return and buy a new 360 until this comes out.
Guys, this was all announced this summer (if you read between the lines). MS announced a new partnership for the 65nm chips and said the would be out early '07. It is obvious that they were going to do this. Over the past year or two HDMI has gained tremendous momentum (look at all the HD TVs - they all now have a connection, even the cheapo ones). I have been dying to play these games since the summer but I waited as soon as I read the announcement from MS about the new processor in July. Obviously if they are going to redesign the box they might as well include the HDMI and a bigger HD to better position themselves against the PS3. Do I feel bad for the early adopters? Not at all. You have all been enjoying great games while I sit in front of my TV watching reruns like a dope. These changes are necessary to position the 360 as close as possible to the PS3 as far as specs go. I don't think HDMI is a big deal at all and I have a 1080p TV. The bigger HD is what I like. Not to sound like a prick, but two minutes of searching would have yielded Microsoft's new CPU info and thus their plan. Only a fool would announce a new 360 before Xmas, the biggest sales season all year. I bet many sites have known this for quite some time and MS probably bribed them to keep quit until Jan '07, I would have. It all makes perfect business sense. I look forward to getting this but as one posted just posted, the 65nm CPUs have been delayed until the summer so we may have to wait a while. I hope that is not the case. If I see one more quote on how good Gears of War is I may just go buy one for the wait.
Except when the slimmer PS2 came to market it was more than a year after the original PS2 launch. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was actually 20-50 dollars cheaper too.
I don't feel like I got screwed at all. I've enjoyed the best gaming over the past year while you slackers sat on the sidelines. I'll buy a new 360 in a heartbeat if I can get it all in a single box. Why buy an $100 hdmi cable when you can get it built-in? Boneheads.
WOW!!! WOW!!!!!!!!
Boy, you guys really need to CALM DOWN!!!
First, if you have an XBox 360 then you "more than likely" have it properly connected to your TV.
Second, they are adding NO NEW FEATURES!!! Read that again NO NEW FEATURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HDMI is not a FEATURE, it is a type of connection to your TV!!!! (for Christ's Sake!)
Will your games play differently? NO!
Will your existing games cease to work? NO!
Will future games not play? NO!
Will future features be limited to the new system? NO!
When you bought your XBox 360 was HDMI a significant force in the market? NO!
When you bought your XBox 360 was HDMI even a concern? NO!
Is HDMI required for 1080i or 1080p? NO!
Where there any 1080p sets when you bought your XBox 360? NO!
Stop this nonsensical whinning and get real folks. The XBox 360 you have was designed for the 2005 market. The market you bought it in, and the market your existing devices at the time were made in.
Now, the XBox 360 has to compete in the 2007 market against the PS3 which has HDMI and a larger drive. If you want a larger drive, I am sure you can upgrade yours! If they build in HD-DVD and you want it, you can buy the add-on! If you want HDMI - then buy the new system!!!!
Do you expect the car companies to provide you with an upgrade path when they add "Traction Control", "ABS", "Airbags" to your car in a subsequent year? HELL NO!!!
The XBox 360 is an outstanding system. Had Microsoft not released it when they did, they would not have the commanding lead over the PS3 that they have today. You would not have "Gears of War" or any of the other outstanding titles.
Give it a break and STOP WHINNING!!!
You are absolutely wrong on several points here, Peters....
>>When you bought your XBox 360 was HDMI a significant force in the market? NO!>When you bought your XBox 360 was HDMI even a concern? NO!>Is HDMI required for 1080i or 1080p? NO!>Where there any 1080p sets when you bought your XBox 360? NO!
Andy -
READ about the 360 capabilities. The media center exrtender functionality on the 360 is YEARS beyond the PS3 offering. I have both and besides a cheap ass Blu Ray player my PS3 is USELESS for the time being. With the xbox 360 and TVrsity its not worth the trouble of trying to get the half ass sony software to work right. Resistance was fun but i gotta say Sonys new toy doesent have much to offer right now either in games or media center. In a few updates i am sure they will expand on many of the features but by then the 360 will also have evolved.
As for the 360 HDMI..... I really wonder why this is such a big deal. The market share of HDTVs in homes not only lack 1080p but also usually dont support HDMI anyway. This system revision (which nintendo and sony do ALL THE TIME) is clearly aimed at the market segment represented here in this forum. Geeks that NEED the latest and greatest regardless of how marginal the improvement is going to be.
Have fun bitching and selling off your old 360s... the real news here is the 120gb drive.
FURTHER RUMOR HAS IT:
- IN BLACK? YES!
- BUILT IN (QUIETER) HD-DVD OPTION? YES!
- 120GB HD? YES!
- BUILT IN POWER SUPPLY? NO!
Man that’s gotta sting those early adopters. Well you know the saying:
“FOOLS RUSH IN”!
Well folks, welcome to the new generation of gaming consoles. Hey Sony it’s the “Apple n Auto” model stupid! Small innovation steps, frequent spec changes, low prices and speed to market. You WILL NOT get 10 years out of the PS3 so stop dreaming of the glory days of yester year. THE NEW CONSOLE GAME IS SHORT PASSES AND NOT LONG BALL! Which kinda suxs for us consumers. Thanks Apple for bring this automotive industry nonsense to the consumer electronics space, Jerk offs. I kidd, I kidd ;^)...
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LDM
Water-bending Master
http://www.eternal-champions.com/images/ldm_master_builder!.jpg
WTF MS!!??!? Skrewing us early adopters you gae fahgs. You should die bill.
This is complete BS, if you already have one. If they release this and don't have some sort of trade-in deal, I will never buy another xbox again.
There's no way in hell they are adding a built-in HD-DVD drive.. stop spreading lies! I doubt there will be a black version.
Everything in my 360 is fine... the hard drive and the CPU really wont make a difference to me. Though an HDMI output would be nice considering HDMI spits out the highest quality image(a little better then VGA in videos but during gameplay sessions you probally wont notice any difference like you dont really notice the difference between component and VGA for your games really.).
Hmm, I've sent my 360 off to be repaired recently. It would be nice to get a v2 back in the post.
Just buy a Wii and have a shitload more fun.
End of.
Seriously, there great!
All of you bitching about this are nothing more than a bunch of drama queens.
Wow, that's great news. Now I just wish I could get one of those instead of my v1 Xbox 360
Am I missing something here or is it the folks that finally invested after a full year of the system being out. Sheesh, with the original XBOX there were four versions by the time the 360 came out. Only makes sense that Microsoft would continue to add to the game console verses competitive solutions like PS2 which has not seen anything besides an increased processor in the last five years.
Those that b*tch about an investment you made over a year ago is quite silly. Curious how many of you went out and bought iPod Nanos when they came out a while ago and was pissed when suddenly three months later the color screen version came out....come on don't be pissy about technology advancing and the consumer ultimately benefits.
Sorry for the rant but I am frankly excited...I have one 360 now and will use it as a Media Center Extender once the 360v2 comes out.
XBOX 361 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA FUCK
I hope they send you this new 360 when you send your old one using the 1 year warranty
Probably not - you'll most likely get a reconditioned V1 Xbox 360.
Hopefully they send you this new 360 when you send your old one with the one year warranty
Seriously. the people on here who say they will sue Microsoft b/c they bought the first xbox 360 must be in ages of 4yrs old -12. If you chase technology you will get burned. Early adopters always pay premium and get less. But if you guys sue and win please let me know because I would like to sue BMW and have them replace my 2003 5srs for a 2007 since they updated it.
idiots....
So does it have intergrated HD-DVD playback?
no. the hd-dvd will most likely always be an add-on until they really see a clear cut winner in this format war..