March 19, 2010 12:45 PM PDT
Top 10 must-have features for Xbox 360 Slim
All signs point to "yes" for an Xbox 360 console refresh after what appears to be a leaked motherboard photo surfaced on a Chinese gaming forum.
We first dropped the notion of such a move last August; we're hoping Microsoft uses this opportunity to address a number of complaints, annoyances, and other hiccups most of us have experienced during the first 4.5 years of Xbox 360 ownership.
Nothing has been confirmed by Microsoft yet, but we'll probably know more in June when the company hits the stage for its annual E3 press conference.
Make sure to check out our slideshow of the top 10 must-have features for Xbox 360 Slim and let us know if there is something we didn't mention that you'd like to see added.
Before covering games and gear for CNET Reviews, Jeff Bakalar dabbled in film and video production. An avid writer, reader, and gamer, Jeff is also an obsessive New Jersey Devils hockey fan. Catch him live every day as the co-host of CNET's infamous podcast, The 404. 
My biggest wish is I would love for the Xbox 360 to get more 1080p movies for purchase on Zune. The lineup of movies on Zune is excellent, I just wish they were all HD. That's up to the movie studios though.
As we all know ... it's not the hardware that makes money for companies, it's the software. So, I don't know why Microsoft still charges $90-$100 for a 60 Gig hard drive. You can now get 1 Terabyte drive for less money. I refuse to pay for the Microsoft brand larger hard drive. What does that mean to them? It means I won't buy anymore downloadable content as well. My 20 Gig drive is practically full. Microsoft is probably losing a lot more money because of that.
This is especially bothersome since the price difference between the Arcade and Elite is only $100. You get two full games with the elite plus a 120 Gig drive for that extra hundred. Again, why does the 60 Gig drive cost $90? Okay, you get a cheap Ethernet cable, a cheap headset, and three months of Gold access (which basically costs them nothing), but still.
They probably won't include Wi-Fi in these new 360s either. I know people who aren't even on Xbox Live Silver because they can't connect to the internet via Ethernet and they don't want to spend the money Microsoft charges for their Wi-Fi add-ons.
I hope whatever happens ... the RRoD would finally be resolved. I still hear people getting it with 2009 units, though not nearly as often as first gen.
Cloud is not for save games its for making consoles obsolete and for totally commoditizing all media and content while massively improving choice and end user power.
3d will come with Natal guaranteed, it will be there without Natal but even on standard sets it will be high quality glasses free TV with Natal. Plenty of companys already offer such camera based approaches to glasses free TVs and some companies even offer glasses free TV without cameras orginating with 3M and Phillips and being pushed by Toshiba. But look at irrelevant Sony trying to push glasses based stuff. 3d is not Sony next socially useless toll road but a mere given to be handed over for the customary IT attrition price. Oh and the cloud, it does 3d out of the box- the best of it really.
No the 360 should not be remaded in the image of PS3. PS3 need a more fleshed out CPU/GPU from the start, a less segmented memory and a faster optical drive. 360 issues included RROD, getting momentarily stupid with ads and being slow to integrate the Zune service even now- also HDD size and alternative storage options. The optical disk could be made optional as a modular upgrade- slot loading may never be necessary it adds expense. MS could make a cloud based version of 360 that marries a micro console and a Natal and it should integate that in to phones.
- by GentleNation March 20, 2010 2:16 AM PDT
- Pretty much the only one that has a chance of happening in that list is the slot loading DVD drive. The point of a redesign is to make the console cheaper to manufacture. The airplane taking off sound is the sound of a really fast DVD drive spinning at full speed. PS3 doesn't have that noise because it uses a slow spinning Blu-ray drive which also loads games very slowly and requires HDD installs for some games as a result. If you want to get rid of the "airplane noise" on your 360 then install your games to the HDD. Otherwise just appreciate the fact that the 360 is able to load games and levels so much faster than the PS3. The only thing they can do to reduce noise is make the system run cooler so that the fans don't spin at high speed. The new chipset will result in a cooler system that uses less power and requires a much smaller power brick. Hopefully this will also result in even greater reliability though the chipset launched last year already improved 360's reliability drastically.
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(8 Comments)I have no desire for Blu-ray. Xbox 360 has movies and TV shows streaming in 1080p w/ 5.1 audio through the Zune marketplace. All adding Blu-ray would do is make the console more expensive. Netflix being free for silver members has nothing to do with hardware and was dumb to include. Blu-ray can never be used for games on 360 so there is no way to ever justify adding it to the console.