Stripped-down Xbox due in late 2013 - Report

Wonder if they will adress the RROD issue this time around...

i wonder how successful it'll be

@jcp234 Tolerance. Learn it?

Yawn

@inversepolarity If you're that impatient why not invest in a gaming rig? That way you don't have to wait for the next console :)

Enough with Kinect already. A stripped down console isn't a bad idea, you can find a lot of great Xbox Live Arcade games to play... and presumably it still has features like the ability to be a music player and to use services like Netflix. All of that for a low hardware price would be fairly impressive to be honest... it's not as full-featured as a PC but it isn't at a PC-price point either. I think it would be very smart for it to have cross-compatibility with Windows Phone games. They'd have to work out how to move the touch screen to standard console controls but if they could do it, it would be a nice touch.

The rep is a d1ck! I don't want consoles to defy there lifespan. I don't want to keep playing games on what is now 7yr old technology! i want next gen now!! :)

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for me sounds like MS is creating those rumors to avoid a decline on xbox sales. who's gonna buy an Xbox 360 console if the next gen is around the corner. I doubt Microsoft would do anything like apple tv. too risky even for Microsoft's standard.

Who wants a console for arcade games? From all I've heard Kinect doesn't seem very popular either. 360 has dated hardware, just look up some skyrim mods and see how awesome it could have been if it wasn't designed for 6 year old consoles. We need next gen consoles soon. 2 years at most. That's what they should be focusing on.

It is almost as if he works for MS. He was doing the Xbox Loop thing like it was the next console, now he is saying it is a light version.

The slim version of the slim

Isn't that what our pcs are for?

So your going to shoot yourselves in the foot!!

Microsoft DirectX Box 360 Slim Slim

So The WiiBox?

could MS actually be launching 2 consoles next year, one basically good for nothing but netflix and arcade games, and a next gen console? just denying the next gen till next year. Stop 360 production like they did with the original (or get rid of the core) when it launches so that there's no cheap 360 to compete with this new stripped down console and have this one and a next gen at the same time.

As far as a netflix player/kinect game player/arcade games/chat/social crap, this might actually sell.. not to me, but i could picture many people buying this.

Very smart move on Microsofts part to wait till 2015 if the rumors about the ps4 are true. Let Sony destroy themself then here comes the new Xbox to save the day!

.... Congrats, MS! You've stolen Sony's title for most boneheaded moves in a generation.

Anybody Remember the PSPGO? The DLC only PSP that was released about a year before Next Gen handheld 3DS came out. Guess what happened to the PSPGO.

Wow, that's bad news. Really bad news. Sounds like no next gen in 2012 or even 2013? If Kinect isn't updated until 2015, I have to wonder if the next gen xbox will be out any earlier. Looks like it's time to sell the xbox and switch back to PC games. Current gen consoles just don't cut it any more, and it sounds like the wait for a decent upgrade will be a lot longer than expected. Funny how MS commented on this even though they "don't comment on rumours". Obviously they are trying to push out the next console release.

So its goin to be a tinner version of the Xbox 360 Slim

@emperiox except that it makes the company more money as an exclusive since they are the ones that made the game. if they made the game multiplat they would lose out on sales. multiplat is fine for 3rd party titles but you can't expect first party to bend to that as they sell well enough as exclusives already. making games multiplat isn't that easy either.

I thought the xbox was already a stripped down version of the ps3. What's the point of making an even more crappy version?

The beginning of the end

Can it play original xbox games? If it can that would be nice.

Thank you Microshaft, but you still suck hard!

@OHGFawx I don't really know about the MSN.com part, but I can tell that in my 360 there are almost 200GB of trailers and that the trick I suggested works with all of them and not a single video was ever cancelled from my hard drive unless I decided so. The incompatibility with Zune shouldn't be a problem with my method because it doesn't actually open or use Zune. The only minor problem that I had so far with trailers is restricted to a few trailers that I downloaded with a U.S. account because they were never released on the european marketplace. Those video didn't start and reported an error message if I tryed to start them without being connected to xbox Live, but the problem disappear the very moment I connected my console. If this isn't your problem I'm afraid I don't know how to help you, I'm sorry!

>2012 >using reddit hueheuheuhue

A stripped-down Emma Stone would be far more pleasing.

Next gen consoles are going to be over priced anyways. If you want better graphics and a stronger console start saving your money from now. I predict a 600 dollar price increase, in that case i would rather put it towards a new built desktop =)

@jcp234 Stop complaining, you play online for free and sony is not forcing you to do anything.

I hope this is false. I was looking forward to the next Xbox. At the moment, I have 0 interest in the Wii U and I refuse to get a PS4 because of Sony's desperate and overly restrictive schemes to fight piracy. I regret buying a PS3 and will not make the same mistake again. Sony does an exceptional job of screwing over its customers.

Interesting. I have an Apple TV and, despite the lovely interface, it's a pain to navigate. After getting spoilt with the iPhone and iPad, it feels like a step back to scroll through menus slowly using cursor keys on a remote. Apple TV would be a much better experience if it had motion sensing support. Apple's strategy will be to get you to buy an iPad and use the mirroring as the controller which is ok but not great. So, in the battle against Apple, you can see why MSFT might go this way, even if the concept doesn't appeal in the slightest to the readers on this board.

Just the latest "dead on arrival" zune attempt...

@Slyfalco Likewise, not many people buy an expensive console just for a couple of games though. I guess it's a double-edged sword. ;)

What is Microsoft trying to achieve with this new Xbox? Do they want to break into the mediaplayer market? If so this seems like a massive mistake. It will create confusion about the Xbox brand. Is it a media center box or is it a console? On top of that there already is a fierce competition in the streaming media boxsets market with Boxee, Apple TV, WD devices and the rest of the low-cost brands, most of which offer support for tons of file types, network connectivity, hard drives and the possibility to stream media off Youtube, etc. Offering costumers more choices in terms of purchasing options and budgets is always a good move but from what I gather this system will be Xbox only in name, its main purpose will be that of an entertainment center and not that of a console. Not to mention, as some have already pointed out, that in all generations of consoles (with the exception of the SNES generation) all first movers in the market have enjoyed a great advantage in comparison to their rivals. If, on the back of this new simplified Xbox, Sony will release a new console Microsoft stands to lose most of the good work it has done on the Xbox brand with the 360. Only time will tell.

@emperiox Not sure I agree with your argument. I see what you are saying but with console exclusive IP games, the consumer's choice of which console to buy might be based on what games they can play on it. If Mario was available on all consoles would you pick the Wii knowing the Xbox/PS3 version would be better graphic etc? if that were to happen sales of the Wii would fall dramatically quicker. I have all three current consoles and when a game comes out across all platforms I tend to pick the version that its best on (PS3 wins for free online gaming, Xbox wins the rest of the time). IP is even more essential now than ever before because with all the different emerging ways to play games (PC and Console-less ways included), IP's will be essential for the Console Manufacturers to stay relevant.

@shadowysea07 Yes, but the idea of exclusives is stupid. Put it this way...if God of War was released on the Wii and the Xbox360...how much more money would be made? See where I'm going with this? Just because it's first party doesn't mean it should stay an exclusive...therefor I'm sure you agree with me that the people in charge of Nintendo aren't making bright business decisions.

your loss then.

The best way to extend the life cycle of a console would be to let us change the graphics cards and RAM and so on and so on. That's the only way to extend an consoles lifecycle. It is time for a change and as much as I love my xbox, I will pick up another console if they beat MS producing the next-gen console.

No way MS is waiting till 2015 to launch the next-gen console. The Kinect, a new dashboard and some free pc apps don't extend a life cycle. Games have progressed beyond what the Xbox is capable of already. In 3 years it'll seem like a PS2. Developers have to do all they can to squeeze every last bit of power out of the thing and so it's not a 5-disk game. I think they're launching next year.

Kudos to Microsoft for having a (what looks to be) 10 year life cycle on their hardware. Hard to believe it came out in 2005 and is still able to match the PS3 in almost every category.

Well you know that MS is not doing so well with its mobile phone and tablet market. PCs are not selling as fast as they use to and getting slowing down every year. So Microsoft needs to find new ways to make more money and stay relevant.

Its not the Xbox360 you have now. Its XBOX TV with kinect not a new XBOX360 Arcade.

Disregarding that Microsoft should launch its next-gen console earlier to keep pace and stay competitive, most of you don't seem to get the purpose of an XBox "Lite" console. You're viewing things from a more or less "hardcore gamer's" perspective. But not everyone out there is a hardcore gamer. And even if they are, they don't necessarily want or need to buy an full Xbox 360 for gaming. However, the Xbox has something which other consoles do not have: Excellent streaming internet TV services. Even now, people access Xbox Live more for streaming TV than they do for games, and users spend an average of 80 hours a month using Xbox Live. Most of the features being touted in the future Apple TV (an actual TV this time, not an internet streaming box) are already present in Xbox Live. Currently, Xbox Live has access to more services than Apple TV does. On top of all this, an Xbox Lite would, of course, have far more capacity for casual or perhaps older games than anything else out there. So is this product aimed at most of you? OF COURSE NOT. It would be for people who care first and foremost about access Xbox Live's internet streaming TV, and the capacity to play some hardware-light games is a bonus on top of this. But yeah, sucks for you that Microsoft is taking away resources from developing their next-gen console. Sorry.

That doesnt make sense the more versions of the X360 are available the lower the sales go. Take the X360 Pro with the detachable 120gbhd when that was released the sales for X360s actually went down.

2015? I guess they weren't kidding about the ten year cycle.

They can call it xbox 1/2.