You know, this reminds me of the Philips CDI and that Amiga thingie (both of which sold about 5 units between them) except for one thing: the world has caught up with making such a device useful. I have to admit, if this turns out to be true and there was an option of a near silent HiFi size and shaped box of 360 juicy goodness complete with HD-DVD I actually might find myself tempted. Very tempted. In fact, I want one. Drool factor 5 Mr Sulu, and step on it.

Posted by: Coffee Plant | January 3, 2008 9:59 AM

Well this sounds pretty hypocritical. What happpend to all you Fan boys and girls who say the Xbox 360 is good the way it is this should just be a waste of time and money.

Posted by: ben | January 3, 2008 12:07 PM

For crying out loud how many versions of the 360 are Microsoft going to flood the market with? We already know the majority of Elites sold so far are people who have upgraded from their previous 360. Go into any games shop and you'll see truck loads of pre-owned Cores and Premiums. I wander how many currently in use 360's there are out there. I've had to buy two because my previous one broke and was out of warrenty just before Micro$oft improved the warrenty so I got another one. HD-DVD is dead, its just no one has told them yet. Given Microsoft said Wi-Fi, HDMI and next gen storgae / film media wasn't needed if this system DOES come out it'll make a mockery of their initial strategy, they simply released an inferior product that wasn't as future proof as they thought and are now screwing their loyal customers for more money in the vein hope they'll still be in the race by the end of 2008. Personally I'm glad I now picked up a PS3 as well.

Posted by: bluesuedeshoes | January 3, 2008 12:51 PM

Awwwww... look at the little PS3 trolls! Aren't they sweet! *tickle* *tickle* *tickle*

I can only assume both of you are world-experts on business, markets and are weighed down under the vast commercial qualifications that you have to make amazing sweeping comments without references, facts or substantial information. If only Microsoft had spoken to you two, we'd all be sooooo much happier.

Some of us buy hardware not because of the hardware but because of the software that we run on it. This is why I chose my 360 rather than a PS3. And if Sony finally figure out a way of actually putting software onto their console that I wish to buy, I'll probably get one of those too.

If Microsoft continue to incrementally improve their hardware and provide a broader range of parts that are suited to different demographic groups then good for them: this generation of hardware is the first that is primarily finding itself sitting in people's living rooms rather than bedrooms. It appeals to a broader range of people and thus potentially deserves a broader range of hardware options.

I'd love to make a start at picking apart the rest of the above, but I fear that I have better things to do such as banging rusty nails into my family jewels.

Oh, and by the way, Mr Shoes, it's Microsoft, not Micro$oft. I wasn't sure if you knew, but the dollar sign isn't actually a letter.

Happy New Year :-)

Posted by: Coffee Plant | January 3, 2008 1:54 PM

It is a mess. Looking how many 360 sku out there? core, core(hdmi), Premiums, Premiums(hdmi), arcade and elite. Six version and keep counting.

Back to ultimate, how much is that going to cost? I bet it will be more expensive than PS3 80gig version. What is next, "cell" too?

The alarm bell rings at Redmond, when Capcom DMC4 PS3 version has better spec, support 5.1 channel which 360 just can't and full harddisc install. M$ feel they have upgrade their sku again.

Posted by: smoothn00dle | January 3, 2008 2:50 PM