New "better" Xbox 360 coming?

[Warlock]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156216


When it comes to hardware, Microsoft hasn't been the best at keeping secrets, which is why we're inclined to believe Engadget may have legitimately been leaked a picture of an impending revision to the Xbox 360 hardware, reportedly codenamed "Zephyr" (for reference, the original 360 was dubbed "Xenon").

Murmurings of an Xbox 360 upgrade have lingered for some time, with the general consensus being it was a matter of when, not if, Microsoft would announce the details. Engadge's source claims Zephyr includes a cooler 65nm processor that should reduce noise, a 120GB hard drive, which would make space for HD movies a thing of the past, and an HDMI port for full-fledged 1080p support -- a feature not currently possible via component cables.

God I hope so. If they do release one with an HDMI port I will finally buy it. That would make it worthwhile for me (esp if the price is the same as the current premium model).

[MottZilla]

I think it's makes sense that when they revise the design for the new 65nm cpu chip they would consider the addition of the HDMI port as well. Honestly though, VGA is good enough for games. Unless you want to lpay HD-DVDs in 1080p digitally, you don't need to wait. But who knows, maybe there are more people out there like you that really want HDMI from their new console. I know if I had HDMI, I'd want it too. But my LCD has DVI which does support HDCP, but I believe some kind of special cable would be required to go from HDMI to DVI.

[Warlock]

I think it's makes sense that when they revise the design for the new 65nm cpu chip they would consider the addition of the HDMI port as well. Honestly though, VGA is good enough for games. Unless you want to lpay HD-DVDs in 1080p digitally, you don't need to wait. But who knows, maybe there are more people out there like you that really want HDMI from their new console. I know if I had HDMI, I'd want it too. But my LCD has DVI which does support HDCP, but I believe some kind of special cable would be required to go from HDMI to DVI.

Well the only reason I've been waiting so far is there are not really enough killer-app titles out there for me to warrent the purchase. I am seeing enough that I'm *interested*, but I want to wait some more (at the very least, doesn't hurt to wait for a price drop). But if they come out with a new model that has an HDMI port, that would be worth it since the games would look amazing on my 50" plasma :D Besides which, I'm sure more titles will be out by the time that thing is actually released.

[AlexMax]

Your 50 inch plasma lacks component input?

[Warlock]

Your 50 inch plasma lacks component input?

HMDI > Component -_-

[AlexMax]

HMDI > Component -_-

Not necissarily true. It depends on the device and television type, and both HDMI/DVI and Component have their advantages and disadvantages. I really highly doubt that you would be able to tell the difference between Component and HDMI at normal viewing distances, and when the new version of the 360 comes out, assuming Zephyr exists in the first place, the upshot is that the Component-only version would come down in price.

[War Lord]

I did a side-by-side comparison of HDMI and Component from my cable box, on HD channels. My cable box doesn't send sound like it's supposed to through the HDMI correctly, so before I took that cable back I checked it out.

I saw no visible difference between the 2. So yes, HDMI is superior to component, but if I can't see the difference, I really don't care.

[MottZilla]

There was a video released today showing off the Xbox 360 with HDMI port. The guy used a HDMI to DVI adapter (which I would have to use too) and then a DVI cable to his LCD.

Depending what your "normal" viewing distance makes all the difference though. Component would look just fine at 5 or 6 feet away. When I play Xbox 360 on my LCD though I'm sitting between 2 and 3 feet away I think. I can see some issues with the signal quality that I do wonder if digital (DVI) would resolve. But it's not enough to make me want to replace my system in the near future.

Anyway, I'm guessing the big thing about the HDMI port really is that now HD-DVDs can be played back in 1080p via HDMI so future HDDVDs that may enforce protections will still play back without downsampling crap. Again, I don't care I run my 360 via VGA very near 1080p already. And HDDVDs and Bluray movies don't interest me.

As for good Xbox 360 games these release dates may be incorrect but oh well.

Lost Planet - January 12th
ShadowRun - Jan 26th
Crackdown - Feb 23rd
Resident Evil 5 - March 1st
BurnOut 5 - April 1st
Halo 3 - April 27th
Assassin's Creed - Sept 1st
Unreal Tournament 2007 - Oct 1st
GrandTheftAuto 4 - Oct 10th
Fable 2 - Oct 27th

Those are all upcoming releases and there are already some top tier games out like Gears of War.

[Warlock]

Yeah call me picky :P I'd rather have HDMI - besides the fact that both of my component slots are used up (Wii + PS2). I do play pretty close to the screen, so that combined w/ my TV's size makes such things fairly noticable for me. I'm not sure if for TV there *would* be much of a difference.. I doubt even HD signals are as clear as something coming strait from a console for example, given all the distance and that other things probably have an effect (i.e. how good the camera the show was filmed with is, how good the cable box is, etc).

Anyways, I have heard good things about Assassin's Creed. I know that's coming out for a few (PS3 and PC as well I think) but I remember hearing that supposively the 360 version is superior.. I guess it has superior AI due to hyperthreading (not really sure why they can't replicate that on the PS3, but it's amusing that they're basically saying "it's too hard") and I also heard something about how when climbing it uses the rumble effect either to indicate footholds, or to indicate unstable terrain (I forget which it was) which I thought was a cool use of the rumble feature. Obviously, PS3 *can't* have that because Sony stole Rumble from that company and refused to settle, so PS3 has none - love how they of course threw out the "well it will interfere with the motion sensors" excuse which of course is BS :P

Don't care so much about the others as I'm not a huge FPS guy and I never really got into the other franchises (GTA, RE, etc). Though I would probably check out Halo due to popularity - I do think I'd enjoy online play for that.

[AlexMax]

Whelp...this was more than just a rumor, apparently

clicky (http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEylpyZkVpwzemjZKk.php)

[Warlock]

Whelp...this was more than just a rumor, apparently

clicky (http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEylpyZkVpwzemjZKk.php)

Awesome.. I hope this is coming soon.