Xbox 2 comes in three flavours

News has surfaced today about the possible product differentiate strategy of Microsoft Xbox. According to the source, the next generation console will be offered in three different versions. The 'Xbox Next' is a low cost solution with no built in hard drive. Xbox Next HD unsurprisingly is the same plus a HD.

But the third variation is something a little different. Xbox Next PC aims to bring somewhat full PC functionality into living rooms. This means stuff like CD recorder, full keyboards & mouse, ability play most PC games and so on. This is quite fascinating as the Xbox 2 is running on IBM CPU:s, not on Intel x86 or compatible clones.

The presentation, understood to have been given to analysts and market researchers in the UK earlier this year, plots a timeline for the introduction of the systems. Xbox Next and Xbox Next HD are planned for Autumn 2005, whereas the Xbox Next PC is pencilled in for Autumn 2006.

Source: The Inquirer

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 15 Nov 2004 9:11

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18 comments

punx777

sounds cool, but didnt playstation come up with this idea like 3 months ago? lol... 1 person comes up with an idea, the other takes that idea and puts a different name on it. always happens:)

i know xbox is better... id much rather spend my 300 dollars on a new xbox then a new playstation. but i think playstation are much stupider and easeir to backup. o well.

15.11.2004 09:31 #1

brad1102

Easier to backup? - what rock have you been sleeping under? I guess you have never fitted a 23 wire chip into a console before.

Xbox is inarguably the easist console to ever mod !!

15.11.2004 09:38 #2

ozzy1

Yeah but backing up games is alot harder.

15.11.2004 10:35 #3

nastynath

It may be hard at 1st to initially set it all up!

But the setup can be in less than 30 sec for me!

15.11.2004 10:49 #4

spooky2k

hard to back up?LOL!
your brill. you need a talk show.
Spooky2k/Dan
p.s: xbox as 2 good games...halo and halo 2, and i emphasise the 'good' (see, i didnt say great). PS/PS2 has hundreds of GREAT and SUPERB games. :)

15.11.2004 11:16 #5

Toiletman

Interesting strategy, but here is what I PREDICT will happen:-

1. Xbox Next takes over 90% of the XBOX Console Sales. HD is released later in the year and it gets snapped up fast.

2. Xbox Next HD takes over 8% of the XBOX Console Sales.

3. Xbox Next PC takes over the final 2%. No one uses it as a PC.

4. People still bitch about Microsoft.

15.11.2004 11:17 #6

Pop_Smith

I think that 70% of the sales will the the HD flavor,
then 20-28% will be the 'neXt' flavor, finally,
2% will be the PC version as most people already own a PC.

P.S. what will stop PC version neXt owners from copying there games? Isn't that a dumb move?

15.11.2004 11:56 #7

domie

I plan on going to bed for 5 years and when i wake up i will buy my new PC with 30" TFT and 10 GHz processor complete with 200 terrabyte HDD and media recorder with 500GB violet ray discs and playstation 5 which makes you a cup of tea in the morning and xbox 10 which magically transports you to uranus.
think of all the money and waiting i will save ;)

15.11.2004 14:22 #8

punx777

this subject has alot of debating.... i think its much easier to backup a ps2 game because all you need to do is read, and write..... with backing up games to a hard drive you have to what...... read it to xbox hd.... transfer it to computer hd... patch it, then burn it? ( i wouldnt know ive never actually done it...... i reaize the mod chip is much easier to install in an xbox... but for us who have a fobia of solder can just use fliptops....

(correct me if im wrong about the xbox backing up, ive never actaully done it)..

i agree, xbox has halo and halo 2..... lol, and i wish we could just sleep for 5 years..... then we wouldnt be attracted to buy every console by the coprerate nazis(microsoft and sony)

15.11.2004 16:34 #9

pcshateme

id probobly cheap out and get the one without a hard drive and buy a memory card- it would probobly be alot cheaper to do that than buy the xbox next hd.

16.11.2004 13:50 #10

Ne007

I'd rather buy the one without the hard drive....slap a mod chip in it and also a super huge hard drive......

How can it be easier to "back-up" a game than to stick it in the X-box and put it on the hard drive.....why make a disk when you have a 200 gig hard drive or bigger?

16.11.2004 16:35 #11

punx777

what if you want to take the game to a friends.... instead of lugging around your xbox, you can just put it on a disk.

another thing,,, i wouldnt be so positive about modding the new xbox,, i thought of a genius idea that would 1. help microsoft, and stop piracy... they could develop a way to make the xbox self destruct if you open it:).... i meen would it be that hard? they could say, make wires tear so the xbox woulndnt work anymore... only they could open it so if something happend to it nobody could fix it themselves... they would have to send it in to microsoft and pay for repair.... and for the people who opend up the xbox.. would have a ruined xbox. they would have to buy a new one....

HA i just came up with a multimillion dollar idea!

16.11.2004 17:58 #12

spooky2k

in theory...a good idea. in practice...if micxrosoft can get the box open withuot breaking it, or even break it then repair it again...anyone can. All i t would take is one fired employee, or someone that 'knows' someone, and it'd be ruined. Though, i got a suggestion for microsoft...don't make the xbox so damn easy to mod.
PS2 is hard to mod. Xbox is NOT. It has the set up (contacts, wire holes etc) for the mod chip to be installed. DUH!
i bet those microsoft execs that pu tthe contacts there are kicking themselves now.
Spooky2k/Dan

17.11.2004 04:00 #13

spooky2k

just incase anyone didnt understand what i meant by having the wire holes etc:
in the PS2, you have to install the wires into already utilised holes/contacts etc. In the X-Box, The holes/contacts for wires are there for absolutely no other reason apart from for the mod chip.

17.11.2004 04:02 #14

spooky2k

17.11.2004 04:02 #15

Toiletman

1. You double posted.

2. There is a thing called the edit button!

Just trying to help! =D

Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.

17.11.2004 11:36 #16

xxopenxx

XBOX Is To Modchips As Cable Companies Are To Cable Scramblers. The Employees Who Design The XBOX Are The Ones Who Leak Out The Info To Design Modchips, Just Like The People In The Cable Companies Who Make Scramblers.

[Reffering To Modding In Poor Countries]
PS2 Is Harder To MOD A Console, But It Is Pretty Easy To Make A Backup. (However The Initial Cost Is A Lot More, You Need A DVD Burner And DVDs)

XBOX Is MUCH Easier To Mod, But More Difficult To Backup, As You Need To Worry About Getting Programs And Then Backing It Up, But You Can Store Games On A HD And Delete Them When Nexts Years Game Comes (Upgrade MADDEN 04, To 05)

But However In Some Countries There Are MANY People Who Sell Backup Copies Of Games At Markets.

30.11.2004 18:07 #17

doyler23

its almost like all of you have not looked into what your talking about. everyones sitting here saying that the xbox is "easier" to mod but difficult to back up...what? its absolutely the easiest thing technical i have ever had to do to back up a retail copy. are you all forgetting that all you have to do is drop in a HD? why would anyone want to back the games up onto a dvd? half the games - including nfsu2 are 1.5 gigs on average. throw a 120 gig in there and forget about it. it takes literaly 5 minutes to copy a game over to the box flawlessly. then the load times are considerably faster and i have copied at least 30 games on mine and never have i had a bad copy. and as far as wanting to put a game (like halo2) onto dvd, its as simple as any other ftp process then burn away. tough tough stuff.

1.12.2004 04:55 #18

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