XBox 360 "Ultimate" in Autumn 2008

CJackson

Rumours of an 80gb X360 floating around but this might be worth waiting for

Big in 2008 - Xbox 360 Ultimate?

According to Stuff Magazine, a rumored Xbox 360 Ultimate SKU is set to hit in Autumn 2008. This 'PS3 killer' will benefit from three years of Xbox development, featuring 1080p HDMI output, built in WiFi, hi-def audio output, cooler architecture and a near silent fan. It'll also have a built in HD-DVD drive and take advantage of IPTV services with a 320GB hard disk.

This PS3-killer will benefit from almost three years of Xbox development, featuring 1080p HDMI output, built-in Wi-Fi, hi-def audio output, cooler 65nm hardware architecture and a near-silent fan.

It’ll also have the ability to make the most of the by-then established Xbox IPTV service, which will mean recording TV shows to its vast 320GB hard disk and watching live TV shows via your broadband provider.

But the piece de resistance? It’ll have a built-in HD DVD drive. Let Round 12 with the PS3 commence...

from >>>> http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=23956

Gorilla

If it is true then Xbox 360 Elite owners won't be to happy...

Ri_Nollaig

ultimate as in vista ultimate
sounds promising already...

ciano1

Thats probebly Bill Gates 'BIG' Xbox announcement next week at CES

miju

oh that sounds tasty and i'd defo trade my current one in for this. think it actually could well put xbox very far ahead in the console wars if you ask me

thefinalstage

miju wrote: »

oh that sounds tasty and i'd defo trade my current one in for this. think it actually could well put xbox very far ahead in the console wars if you ask me

If the price is right.

If this console is really in development than its going on my to buy list.

grizzly

So will we see HD Only[SIZE=-1]™[/SIZE] games?

thefinalstage

grizzly wrote: »

So will we see HD Only[SIZE=-1]™[/SIZE] games?

I doubt it or Microsoft will have a console upgrade program.

grizzly

Next year after the Ultimate we have;

Unearthly

Don't use 360 on HD tv, wouldn't need a huge harddrive, already have an adaptor for wireless

All I would like is the quieter fan, but not worth buying a brand new one for

GrumPy

I have an old premium console, with no hdmi. Also got the hd dvd ad on for christmas. I would love a bigger hdd, built in wifi and hdmi with hddvd drive inside too. :rolleyes:

But that means all my old crap is already old, noisy, lacking in memory, and has a huge hddvd drive sitting on top


MS are tards.

Ciaran500

Yay, lets all rip into MS over a rumour.

silvine

- A quieter fan and better cooling system? It's about damn time really.

- Wireless networking? Considering the hefty price of the wireless networking adapter, this is another good addition.

- A bigger hard drive? Well the Elite has 120GB and that seems plenty at the moment. Maybe if Ireland had better broadband speeds, we could download those movies a bit quicker...

- A HD DVD drive? That could be the real system seller but it is a little soon to tell whether Blueray or HD or neither will prevail. Microsoft have often said they think downloading movies is the real way forward. Why bother with HD DVDs or Blueray if that's the case?

I've an elite and I would considering buying if the price were okay. When the elite came out there were a number of deals for upgrading premium in the likes of Gamestop. It all depends on the price really.

I hardly call MS "tards" for improving their console. As for releasing a faulty one in the first place... well that's another matter.

Does this mean another downgraded PS3 is on the way?

bucks73

I hear there is also a big push coming from MS about the HD DVD ad on and the free HD DVDs. Chances are they are trying to clear as much of the add on stock before releasing a console with HD built in. Will be interesting to hear if Gates mentions it next week.

faceman

id rather they put money into making xbox live more reliable first. its getting a lot of bad rap lately.

unklerosco

faceman wrote: »

id rather they put money into making xbox live more reliable first. its getting a lot of bad rap lately.

2nd that.....

Doubt they'll bang a HD drive in it... Would be a waste if they did. I'm a believer that downloading movies etc is where it's heading, if only we had the BB speed to do it.

FutureGuy

I remember my brother saying that he read a business analysis stating that the HD-DVD was only release to compete with Bly-Ray until MS had a content-downloading service ready to roll. With a 360GB HD, I would say this could be it. With this in mind, I doubt the Ultimate will have a HD-DVD drive.

xanthor

From what i understand, Ireland isn't the only country in Europe with sluggish BB speeds.

HD-DVD drive may not be necessary... but MS may throw it in there as an inducement of sorts. If this rumored system *does* come with a built in HD-DVD drive, i will probably trade my current 360 in.

grizzly

xanthor wrote: »

From what i understand, Ireland isn't the only country in Europe with sluggish BB speeds.

HD-DVD drive may not be necessary... but MS may throw it in there as an inducement of sorts. If this rumored system *does* come with a built in HD-DVD drive, i will probably trade my current 360 in.

So will I, would like a machine that doesn't shake walls when running :rolleyes:

CyberWaste

Well im glad I didnt jump at the Elite because ill surely be trading in my XBox 360 for this.:rolleyes:

Ah just bought a poxy elite at christmas !!!

Ah just bought a poxy elite at christmas !!!

Zonda999

I'm sure that some of you have heard that the ps3 is getting a dvb tuner add-on soon. So tbh, if this "ultimate" is coming, MS are only adding everything that the ps3 can offer in one system. It certainly sounds like a good idea but then again if you buy a 40gb ps3 for 400, that dvb tuner add on and one of those upgraded hdd's(around 320gb i hear are available), you will have everything that would be in these "ultimate" 360's in the form of a ps3.So if it is coming, its only keeping up with the competition and offering little else new.I'd still prob buy one if the price is right.About 600E ye reckon??

thefinalstage

Zonda999 wrote: »

I'm sure that some of you have heard that the ps3 is getting a dvb tuner add-on soon. So tbh, if this "ultimate" is coming, MS are only adding everything that the ps3 can offer in one system. It certainly sounds like a good idea but then again if you buy a 40gb ps3 for 400, that dvb tuner add on and one of those upgraded hdd's(around 320gb i hear are available), you will have everything that would be in these "ultimate" 360's in the form of a ps3.So if it is coming, its only keeping up with the competition and offering little else new.I'd still prob buy one if the price is right.About 600E ye reckon??

For the disgruntled masses the all in one solution will be the seller. I have met a large proportion of ps3 owners who were scared to change the hard drive.

bucks73

Zonda999 wrote: »

I'm sure that some of you have heard that the ps3 is getting a dvb tuner add-on soon. So tbh, if this "ultimate" is coming, MS are only adding everything that the ps3 can offer in one system. It certainly sounds like a good idea but then again if you buy a 40gb ps3 for 400, that dvb tuner add on and one of those upgraded hdd's(around 320gb i hear are available), you will have everything that would be in these "ultimate" 360's in the form of a ps3.So if it is coming, its only keeping up with the competition and offering little else new.I'd still prob buy one if the price is right.About 600E ye reckon??

Not going to be much good in this country apart from the few people in Dublin area who can receive the DTT test signal and those along the border who can receive the northern signal.

mayordenis

glad i shelled out on an elite and a hd-dvd drive - seems pretty shrewd on my behalf.

quad_red

mayordenis wrote: »

glad i shelled out on an elite and a hd-dvd drive - seems pretty shrewd on my behalf.

Era, I wouldn't be kicking myself if I was you.

First of all, this is a rumour. And Autumn is an eternity away in tech terms.

And lads - 600 quid for a games console? Has anyone learned ANYTHING from the PS3 price debacle?

Sure, a quiet 360 sounds great, built in wi-fi pathetically overdue and we'd all like to see the end of the three red rings. But as has been said already here, BB speeds and caps make 320gb completely superfluous for most people here. The HD-DVD drive would be nice but I wouldn't pay through the nose for it.

I was quite excited when I start reading this thread.

But then I realise that most of my excitement was based on things that I thought/assumed would be included with my old premium 360.

ie. reliable and with an acceptable sound profile.

And by the way, if this is true, it completely vindicates all those who smugly defended their launch day PS3 purchases by saying it'd work out cheaper in the long run.

Who is laughing now?

Captain Chaos

Well the €600 PS3 workouted out cheaper for me than the 360 but I don't use my PS3 at all.

The 360 P cost me 400 + 90 for wifi + 30 play and charge + 50 2nd controller + 200 HD. So far since launch the 360 has cost me €770. For every thing they should have had in it.

So the PS3 was €170 cheaper, an expensive paper weight mind you.

If MS bring out the Ultimate at €600 it will be great value and I think it will sell when people compare what you get compared to the €400 PS3.

Sony are roumerd to be bringing out a 80gb or 120gb model this year priced back in the €600 range and if MS bring out this it will make Sony look bad.

keen

cooler architecture and a near silent fan.

I like the way the use the the improved flaws of the original 360 as a selling point for the newest one. Should have had this from the start imo.

silvine

Six hundred euro seems a bit much to be honest. There'd want to be a few games or movies thrown in for that price.

I like the way the use the the improved flaws of the original 360 as a selling point for the newest one.

The cynical amoung us would say that was their plan all along..

Zonda999

When you consider the price of the 360 premium(around 350euro), it is already bad value compared to the 40gb ps3.However if you're into gettin games on the cheap, you have to have the 360 - 2nd hand games for as little as 7.99euro in shops.Also, having both consoles myself, one has to admit the 360 is a much nicer gaming experience- everythings so much simpler than ps3.The idea of an "ultimate" 360 just sounds like a 360 with everything in the ps3. Despite it probably costing a lot more than ps3, it would undoubtedly be a sales success.People already know that the 360 is a great console so they would feel no doubt in paying about 600euro for one that has everything.When the ps3 came out first, nobody knew what it was like and they would have overlooked it totally when they saw the price tag. Microsoft know the 360 has a dedicated customer base and know already that an "ultimate" 360 would be a great addition to the range.So bring it on i say. I'm gessin it would render the "Elite" redundant????

Biro

If they really want to win the war, they really need to price this at €450 and reduce the Elite to some sub-€400 price, maybe €380.
Even the Nintendo DS has wireless, so they can't use that as an excuse to jack up the price. The newer cpu will benefit them as much as us from the point of view of not having to pay to post and repair everyone's dying 360's, the HD-DVD drive will also play into their court, as they'll want it to win the blu-ray war, I reckon they'll be shipping software for PC's in HD-DVD format soon, and the bigger HD is hardly a big deal, you can get a 320GB 2.5" hard disk now for about €80.
I was holding out till mid year to get an Elite, as I intend to use the hard disk space for downloading HD films, but I'll wait and see what this is priced at. But to be honest, anything more than €450 would be a rip off. I have a feeling they'll aim it at €500 which is a bit dear, but €600 would be rediculous for it.
I'd far sooner the 360 over the PS3, but you have to remember that with the PS3 you get a blu-ray player, HD port, very quiet cpu (and a massively poerful cpu), wireless all for €400, so really all this ultimate would be offering over that is the big HD.

silvine

Biro wrote: »

, the HD-DVD drive will also play into their court, as they'll want it to win the blu-ray war,

Microsoft have said several times that they see downloading movies as the way forward and not HD DVD or Blu-ray.

armour87

Gorilla wrote: »

If it is true then Xbox 360 Elite owners won't be to happy...

Just got a premium for xmas and Im not happy!

Can anyone steer me in the right direction to get my gamercard on my sig?

Ta

miju

just to www.mygamercard.net enter your gamertag ,choose design and click generate and follow the instructions it's relatively straight forward

savemejebus

MS may reconsider the HD-DVD aspect of this 'Ultimate' 360 if this press release is accurate http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080104005575&newsLang=en. It seems that warner bros. have gone blu-ray exclusive, which leaves the future of HD-DVD looking a little shaky.

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

Biro wrote: »

I'd far sooner the 360 over the PS3, but you have to remember that with the PS3 you get a blu-ray player, HD port, very quiet cpu (and a massively poerful cpu), wireless all for €400, so really all this ultimate would be offering over that is the big HD.

Just a couple of points.

Whats this HD port?

I wasn't aware CPU's made noise:p, but the fans on my PS3 are on a par with my 360, though the PS3 is quieter starting up, which seems to make a lot of people think it is quiet, as generally there is sound coming from the speakers before the fans hit full tilt.

This powerful CPU, or rather 5 CPU's, it feckin' brill at running Folding@Home, pity its not so great a running games, and the entire system is pretty lacking in RAM and graphics memory.

Guy:Incognito

Nothing specifically to do with the new release (only got an Elite, HD-DVD drive and wireless adapter at Christmas) but on the HD-DVD front, I'm fairly anti moving to downloads.

I like to have a physical disc. It makes you feels you've got something for your money. Downloading a file just makes me think " meh, I could have decided to go the dodgy route and downloaded it for free somewhere" whereas short of going into a shop and stealing a DVD you cant really get the same feeling you do from an actual disc.

I'd say theres a good few people like me that would think along a similar line.

Biro

silvine wrote: »

Microsoft have said several times that they see downloading movies as the way forward and not HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Yes, but Microsoft aren't a games and movies company, they're a software company. They'll also want HD-DVD to take over from DVD from the point of view of replacing that sliding drawer on your PC/Laptop, so that people will be using them in the future.
I think downloading movies is the way forward, but there'll be cheap media needed for the next few years, and that has nothing to do with movies.

Biro

FuzzyWuzzyWazza wrote: »

Just a couple of points.

Whats this HD port?

I wasn't aware CPU's made noise:p, but the fans on my PS3 are on a par with my 360, though the PS3 is quieter starting up, which seems to make a lot of people think it is quiet, as generally there is sound coming from the speakers before the fans hit full tilt.

This powerful CPU, or rather 5 CPU's, it feckin' brill at running Folding@Home, pity its not so great a running games, and the entire system is pretty lacking in RAM and graphics memory.

There's no need to go nit picking. "this HD Port " is that little hole in the back of your Elite, or the newer Premiums that allows people to plug in a HDMI cable into. Do you really need me to call it the exact name before you understand what I'm saying?
Also the CPU's don't make noise, they make lots and lots of heat, which needs to be dispersed, therefore they need fans... some fans are loud. The newer 65nm chips have better cooling and quieter fans... Are you happy with that? Or do you want me to go further?
You're wrong with your 5 CPU's, the multicore CPU has 8 synergistic cores and one main core. It can allow up to 100 gigabyte/s memory transfer rates. At that rate, the small 256mb of main memory should be plenty if the software it's running allows for this configuration. Also the 256mb of graphics memory is enough too for now.
And saying that the CPU is not so great at running games is a bit silly, if the games are designed from the ground up to run on this particular chip and take advantage at how it operates with it's multi cores and high RAM transfer rates, then there's no reason why it should run such a game excellently well.

Ciaran500

Biro wrote: »

You're wrong with your 5 CPU's, the multicore CPU has 8 synergistic cores and one main core.

It has 6 "synergistic cores" (1 disabled at the factory and 1 dedicated to running the OS and security) and one PPC.

Biro wrote: »

It can allow up to 100 gigabyte/s memory transfer rates. At that rate, the small 256mb of main memory should be plenty if the software it's running allows for this configuration. Also the 256mb of graphics memory is enough too for now.

I don't think you understand what you are talking about.

savemejebus wrote: »

MS may reconsider the HD-DVD aspect of this 'Ultimate' 360 if this press release is accurate http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080104005575&newsLang=en. It seems that warner bros. have gone blu-ray exclusive, which leaves the future of HD-DVD looking a little shaky.

Its not meant to be MS project, the rumour is that Toshiba is licensing the 360 hardware to build a HD-DVD player with a 360 built in.

mickoneill30

I know it's only a rumour and a bit daft to be commenting on it but the advantages that are rumoured are

1080p - Fantastic. Makes little to no difference to anybody. It only makes a difference on the spec sheet so the PS3 Vs 360 Fanboys have something to argue about.

Built in Wi-Fi - Nice addition but I think it's nice to still have the option of buying the premium without it. Not everybody has or needs a Wi-Fi adapter. At least the buyer will have the option of paying for it or not.

Cooler & Quiter - Now I don't make Xboxes but I'd presume if they updated the motherboard and CPU they'd update it in all Xboxes (like they're doing with the current HDMI port). They're hardly going to roll out 2 different boards for two different models. More likely the new 360 will get the new boards as standard and the old boards in the older models will be phased out.

Built in HD-DVD - Ho hum. At least if you want to use it to watch HD-DVD you can pay more for the HD version. PS3 should have done this from the start and if they did they would have been in a much better position today rather than try and convince users that they needed to put in this bigger format player. That turned out great for all the <9Gb games that are ported from the 360. Anybody I know that has a 360 doesn't give two hoots about the HD war and personally I'm of the opinion that neither format will win. Both will limp along for another 5->10 or so years with standard DVDs being the majority of sales. Then there'll be a new format or download will be king. Most of my friends are downloading SD content or still using old fashioned DVDs and are quite happy.

Bigger HDD drive - Another "who cares". I use my 360 for games. In a year and a half I've managed to fill a whopping 9Gb on the HDD. It is good though to have the option for people who will be downloading movies from Xbox Live. But you'd have to be downloading pretty quickly to fill the HDD before your rentals expired.

High Def Audio Output - What percentage of users will that be a benefit for?


At least MS is going the right direction with their Xbox changes. They announce upgrades to the box every so often to give us more (although maybe too many) options. Being a console though at least we can be sure that a game bought for the latest and greatest version will run exactly the same as a game bought for the lowest model (with a HDD, I'm ignoring the Arcade here.)

Compare that with another company that keeps on removing bits or downgrading bits because they desperately need to shave a euro here and there to make it more attractive.

Ciaran500

mickoneill30 wrote: »

1080p - Fantastic. Makes little to no difference to anybody. It only makes a difference on the spec sheet so the PS3 Vs 360 Fanboys have something to argue about.

You can already get 1080p from all versions of the 360

-annex-

Update from Gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26140722&part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6184321

To quote the Microsoft spokesperson from the article:
"We have reiterated multiple times since launching the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player that we have no plans to integrate an HD-DVD player in to the Xbox 360"

mickoneill30

Ciaran500 wrote: »

You can already get 1080p from all versions of the 360

Ah OK. I was just using the info posted in the OP.

Ciaran500

-annex- wrote: »

Update from Gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26140722&part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6184321

To quote the Microsoft spokesperson from the article:
"We have reiterated multiple times since launching the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player that we have no plans to integrate an HD-DVD player in to the Xbox 360"

Again it wouldn't be MS's plan, it would be Toshiba's plan so this doesn't mean anything. We'll find out in a few days.

EDIT: It seems there is two different rumours, that Toshiba is licensing the 360 tech and that MS were developing their own internal HD-DVD drive.

mickoneill30

-annex- wrote: »

Update from Gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26140722&part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6184321

To quote the Microsoft spokesperson from the article:
"We have reiterated multiple times since launching the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player that we have no plans to integrate an HD-DVD player in to the Xbox 360"

I agree it's just a rumour but company spokespersons tow the line. They're hardly going to come out and say it's true. The Elite was rumoured about 4 months before it was announced by MS.

Here's a link of the Sony President denying a PS3 price drop a couple of days before it was official.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32787/98/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/07/08/new-ps3-new-price-drop-more-news-coming/

I'm not saying the rumour it true, I'm just saying the companies will only tell you what they want you to hear. That's their right and I'd do the same.

Zonda999

Despite that quote from microsoft, i could still see it happening in the future. Just remember that the 360 has a dvd drive so game developers have to squeeze their games on to the disc.A HD disk is going to be needed at some point for games if not for movies. The ps3 has no such problem, blu ray discs can hold something like 25gb single layer.Eventually, this ultimate will have to come or else a 360 successor.But microsoft have already said that they can see the 360 lasting at least as their secondary console until 2015

unklerosco

If they bang in a |HD drive for the purpose of movies and games that means every 360 owner that doesnt have a HD drive in their xbox can't play these "new" HD drive games... That aint gonna happen....

Mickoneill got it spot on... Its all minor crap. The biggest change would be a new mobo/cpu/gpu n cooling.

Adding wifi, bigger hd etc.... Pointless. I have always used wired networking(apart from my laptop). Had a wireless adaptor for my 360 but sold it as it wasn't as stable as my wired connection. Bigger HD will just be sold as a add on anyway and with the way microsoft price the hard drives I doubt anyone would pay for it, u'd prob buy a 360 arcade for the price they'd charge for a 320gb HD...

And all this HD drive stuff, after Toshiba pulling HD-DVD from CES me thinks HD is on its way out... Blue ray have 70% of the labels on its side, wont be long before paramount n universal start banging out movies for blue ray which will leave HD with nothing.

Then there's the fact that both formats will never mount to anything.. I honestly believe that downloading is the way to go... Sure look at the music industry, everyone downloads music now over buying a hard copy. Fair enough, an album is allot smaller than a HD movie but BB speeds are getting faster(well everywhere except here!!)

Even at that, i'd pay for a HD movie download(buy not rent) as even with our crap speeds its still quicker than ordering online... Slection of HD movies in Irish stores is crap... BR aint much better, U gotta go online n wait a week to get ur movie. If you could download it you could go online n get it overnight...

Basq

Sounds nice...

But don't know if i'd bother trading in my premium actually.

I'm getting 1080i from my XBOX (over component, no HDMI), and have it outputting over 5.1 surround sound system, have the HD VGA cable for upscaling and also has the wireless adapter.

No real huge advantage for me to be honest!

savemejebus

unklerosco wrote: »

Sure look at the music industry, everyone downloads music now over buying a hard copy. Fair enough, an album is allot smaller than a HD movie but BB speeds are getting faster(well everywhere except here!!)

I don't think that it's fair to compare video downloads with music downloads. The main problem with digital downloads (ignoring DRM etc) is the file size needed for good quality. Even with great future download speeds and high caps it isn't really feasable to download a 30gb movie everytime you want to watch something. The live marketplace currently gets around this by using lossy methods to reduce file size, same as mp3. The problem with this is, that unlike MP3 the resulting loss of quality will be much more apparent as it is visual. I think that especially with 1080p technology becoming the norm (display and video equipmentwise as opposed to broadcast wise), and dropping like stones in price, this will become even more apparent.