i know sum people will b pissed at this news but as a loyal xbox 360 fan i say bring it on i want 1 asap

Can't see it happening myself, but there's certainly enough listed here to make this new model sufficiently different from the current ones. And as far as I'm aware there are some issues with the 360's current digital audio output.

I'm not impressed at all. So my 360 is going to be obsolete already, just like my original Xbox was only after 2 years (having been replaced by the 360 and I bought my original late in its lifetime)??

Why not just bring out the Xbox 720 rather than yet another 360. Sorry microsoft but I am very upset having to shell out even more money just so you can try to keep up with Sony. I recently got a high price PS3 (60gb version for £350) but it's looking extremely good value for money now. I'm not going to waste more money on a new 360 just so I can play hi def games (which I should have been able to do from day 1) and HD-DVD player when Blu Ray appears to already be winning the war. I can't imagine game developers are going to be too impressed either when they will be trying to program for a system when they don't even know what the end user will have in their machine. At least with the PS3, developers know for sure that the end user has a hard drive, a blu ray drive, the same processor, wi-fi etc. This is a dangerous game microsoft is playing and it reeks of desperation. I for one aren't going to buy into it when I've spent too much already on 2 Xboxes. I'm just glad the PS3 is now springing into life and I'm going to stick to it as soon as the standard 360 get tossed aside.

@ Mr Angry:

You still need to buy a DualShock3 when it comes out later this quarter, you know. So, Sony are not entirely saintly either. And let's not forget their shabby record on models and lack of backwards compatibility as well as the original extortionate price.

Consoles have NEVER managed to sell upgrades successfully, because developers always write for the lowest common denominator mostly, so MS are shooting themselves in the foot with the Ultimate, unless they offer a fantastic (not to be missed) trade-in deal for older models, like Core.

No developer in their right mind will write a game for Ultimate's HD-DVD driver only, so games will continue to be on DVD format and Ultimate's new drive will be used for film watching pretty much.

I'd rather MS did a CTRL-ALT-DEL on the X360 now and released the X720 instead. Most people could take that pain, if it was backwards compatible with the X360 games.

But to drip-feed a console's technology...

Think you are missing the point. This is the same 360 model as the core and the elite. The Hard Drive is Bigger, it has a HD DVD player inside, rather than as an addon. The games it will play will be Hi Def, just as the core and Elite are now. Adding a HD DVD drive (or a BluRay) makes no difference at all to games. The graphics on a core 360 and a PS3 are very similar. As far as I can see, this new model would be aimed at people who want a larger capacity drive to record TV etc.
Also, remember this - Microsoft are opening up another market for their console. They are adding to it. Sony actually downgraded the PS3 with the latest model by fitting a smaller Hard Drive and took out the chip that made it backwards
compatible. Thefore closing off a potential market.

Bzzzt.

Thank you for playing though.

The HD DVD drive in the box SHOULD make a difference, since it could store larger data files (i.e. multiple DVDs worth of data) than a DVD based game. It could also store larger/more textures, sounds, etc.

The fact that the 360 has limited it to only Video use has crippled future distribution and development for the console (similar to how they kept insisting that games can not be for models with Hard-drives only).

The PS3 may have dumbed down the 40GB model, but the 80GB still maintains a higher degree of backward compatibility to the PS2 library than the 360 does with the original XBOX library. Also, every developer knows they will have the exact same capabilities (Blu-Ray drive + Hard Drive standard).

@ Zed Zee - Oh come on, I need to buy a Dual Shock 3... No I don't. And even if I did it won't cost me as much as a new console. The PS3 comes with a controller and the Dual Shock add just a functionality - rumble. It isn't and won't be compulsory to gameplay. A HD-DVD drive probably will be however in the future. If Sony developers are already filling up Blu Rays with more graphics, high quality sounds etc. then for the Xbox to compete it will need to start using HD-DVDs. Unless you like your sound and textures compressed and long load times etc...

But at the moment, larger files are not required. Therefore the HD DVD player will be more for films. As I said previously, the core 360, with no hard drive and a DVD can display and play games just as good as any PS3 model. Until ( or IF) this changes, then why should anyone be forced to buy something that is not actually needed? The BluRay drive was added to the PS3 to try and help the HD DVD / Blu Ray format war. I think Microsoft would be happier if both formats remained, giving them time to get their digital distribution model sorted, making both obsolete. As to this 'Ultimate' I am thinking this would be a good move if it were a partnership with Toshiba, giving them more credibility in Japan.

I agree largely with the fifth post here, the point of releasing such a machine is not the need to eek more money out of the existing 360 user base. It is to offer an alternative in the market place and at least this, unlike the elite and halo editions that are out there, is a valid and worthy unit.

The machine will not be plaiced in the market in a move to get developers and the buying public into a new format of disc. There will not be 360 games developed on HD discs for this machine. The machine is simply combination of existing components that will give a great 'swiss army knife' style console to the buying public. I for one would be interested in this machine having my HD-DVD drive in built and running silently is of great interest to me.

So all this talk of a '720' or a new generation is just rubbi****'s not a replacement it's an alternative!

Mr angry, your comment is nothing short of stupid.

Firstly, of course its a race, whoever has the best console, wins. End of story.

Secondly, complaining that they are advancing is ******ed at best. " we have our current PC's, but we know how to make them better, but *** it, lets not make our PC's better and wait a few years so consumers dont complain"

also, another comment about "i should have been able to play HD Games from the start" well, you can, just you dont seem to have noticed?

some people need to think before they click submit.

All of u just get a life the xbox 360 ultimate is going to be the best console ever made bring it on i am a loyal xbox 360 fan just like "happy 360elite owner"

terrible bill gate want more money steal for microsoft is a very bad! windows vista is not good crash on my computer. i have xbox360 but it is a very **** and **** addition price thing. i will buy new ps3 ok

i agree a console like this should be needed at the moment in the gaming world but i think it would be intresting to see if it actually works but the price im thinking of would be more than the ps3 depending on that the ps3 was £500 so imaging what this will be ,,,
p.s. dont think its going to happen.......

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