Next Generation Consoles Thread

[ChipNDale]

here are some photos of the Xbox 360 from the taping of the MTV event
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...&a=31749750&f=

[MagicWDI]

Yep, that is the same thing as the photos that were leaked earlier last month, seen here.

I really love the look and thank M$ for going with a smaller design, even with the hard drive attached. One of the things I am really happy about is the wireless controller out of the box! How cool is that!?

[Tron 2.0]

The current rumor is that Nintendo's Revolution will launch mid-2006. With E3 only a week away, expect to hear a lot about the upcoming consoles.

--Mark

[koobar]

just a reminder the MTV Xbox2 Special airs this thursday (5/12) at 9:30pm. It is hosted by Elijah Wood and features a performance by the Killers.

[ChipNDale]

www.ourcolony.net has a great 5 min movie to watch about the new xbox. Free to all! the movie not the system

[Tron 2.0]

Yes indeed. The Xbox 360 was unveiled tonight on MTV and GameSpot has an excellent article detailing the new console inside and out.

Next week we should start hearing a lot of specifics on the next round from Sony and Nintendo as well.

--Mark

[MagicWDI]

TeamXbox.com also has an in-depth look at the Xbox 360 here.

I am just at awe with what I've been reading and seeing about it! I feel so giddy.

Oh, and now my sig makes sense.

[Mortimer]

Um yes, it looks pretty darn cool. The big unanswered question for me though is backward compatibility. That is a pretty huge deal considering I have several Xbox games now. The wireless stuff is cool, but I imagine all three platforms will have that technology too.

Interested in what Sony has to offer too. I think Nintendo is dead in the home console market. Don't see them coming up with the online content/network and hardware the 360 has to offer. You can bet Sony's machine will be pretty amazing too, the blu-ray drive is a pretty big deal in my mind, making it truly a next generation all-in-one type of device.

[Tron 2.0]

Um yes, it looks pretty darn cool. The big unanswered question for me though is backward compatibility. That is a pretty huge deal considering I have several Xbox games now. The wireless stuff is cool, but I imagine all three platforms will have that technology too.

That is the question. The main problem with backward compatibility for the Xbox 360 is that it would require a hard drive, which appears to be optional. The machine is powerful enough to emulate Xbox games, though. We may see it as a feature that one pays extra for.

I think Nintendo is dead in the home console market. Don't see them coming up with the online content/network and hardware the 360 has to offer.

Microsoft and Sony have written off Nintendo when talking publicly. Hopefully that is not the case in their private plannings. It's tough to talk about the Revolution, because we just don't know much about it. Nintendo has promised to do something completely different than we've ever seen, and I would never count them out. Remember, these guys have a phenomenal software library, and they're the ones who invented handheld and the touch screen (with the DS). I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating them. It's just that they have played it pretty close to the vest. I have to credit them for trying a different spin, and we'll see what happens. My guess is that they're going to make their box sufficiently different that it could drive dual-console ownership in a much larger percentage of households. That way, Sony could end up with 55 percent, Microsoft with 35 percent, and Nintendo with 35 percent penetration (these add up to 120 percent).

You can bet Sony's machine will be pretty amazing too, the blu-ray drive is a pretty big deal in my mind, making it truly a next generation all-in-one type of device.

Rumors are that the PS3 will be three times as powerful as the 360.

--Mark

[MagicWDI]

Um yes, it looks pretty darn cool. The big unanswered question for me though is backward compatibility. That is a pretty huge deal considering I have several Xbox games now. The wireless stuff is cool, but I imagine all three platforms will have that technology too.

Interested in what Sony has to offer too. I think Nintendo is dead in the home console market. Don't see them coming up with the online content/network and hardware the 360 has to offer. You can bet Sony's machine will be pretty amazing too, the blu-ray drive is a pretty big deal in my mind, making it truly a next generation all-in-one type of device.

Here is what TeamXbox has to say about the Backward Compatibility:

Backward compatibility with the current generation Xbox has not yet been determined. We hear that Microsoft is trying hard to include the feature, but only time will tell if things work out. We don’t expect any new details on backward compatibility until well after this year’s E3.

It would seem difficult to accomplish this due to the extremely different hardware Microsoft has opted to use for the 360. Also, it has been said that enabling backwards compatibility may force for additional hardware or limit current hardware to enable older generation discs to work fully. It would be extremely nice for Xbox 1 games to work on the 360, and I think Microsoft knows this.

One of the things I extremely like is that the 360 will be wireless out of the box!!! I can now run my 360 on Xbox Live without any wires! On top of that, to now know that a lot of the Xbox Live features will be free out of the box (like live chat, Live Marketplace, stats, etc.) is a huge plus.

I also like the ability to turn on and off the system from the wireless controller. Nothing big, but something very nice for us couch potatoes.

On a side note, it is finally known that the "three different versions" of 360 speculation is put to rest. Even the two separately sold versions (one with a HDD and one without) is not going to happen. At launch the 360 will come with a detachable 20GB HD and have the option to upgrade it. We have seen the 40GB on Our Colony.