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Analyst: Xbox 360 Slim “A Question Of When, Not If”
DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole expects a major Xbox 360 redesign next year.
"I think it is a question of when, not if,” he said when asked whether Microsoft would introduce a slimline Xbox 360.
“Rumours have been going on for a long time. I think people were asking me the same question last year at this time. As cost efficiencies allow smaller and more reliable is always a good thing,” Cole told Industry Gamers.
“However, you also have something like Project Natal which could also tie in with hardware redesigns. There are a lot of questions Microsoft must weigh internally and there are always going to arguments on both sides of the fence around timing. So I don't know, but in our DFC forecasts we anticipated a major redesign in 2010."
Cole’s comments were made shortly after Sony announced the upcoming release of the PS3 Slim.
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Wouldn't be surprising, given Microsoft's unassailable status as the most shamelessly, relentlessly "ME TOO" company in the history of the universe.
RROD pt 2 here we come!
Well if they do I expect it to be ALOT smaller than the PS3 slim. I reason this as Microsoft own the rights to the GPU this time around (360 backwards combatablity anyone). Although I don't know if Sony have the the same deal with Nvidia. I would presume this to be unlikey concidering the timeframe they worked together.
Sony will see a huge spike in sales and MS will rush a slim design, as they rushed their original 360 design and we'll get rrod part 2. Sweet.
I think need plays a big part in this.
If Sony sees serious traction on Slim units this holiday season, I think we'll see a Slim Xbox. They've, probably, been able to shrink this for some time. Natel launch makes sense. They're competing with 2 companies, & it would be quite cost-effective to answer them both at once.
if MS could shrink the 360 they would've done so by now
Not necessarily, remember this can of redesigns have a boost not only in sales of the hardware but also the awareness of the console among people that haven't bought one yet so if the 360 had been consistently outselling the PS3 month after month there was no need for a redesign Microsoft could just save it for a moment that they feel needs to counter any momentum that Sony might get.
So now Sony unveiled the Slim, Microsoft can let them have the spotlight for a while then after the thunder has died they can release the new redesign console and have all the the press and attention to themselves.
if MS had a slim waiting in the wings they would've countered Sony's announcement the following day and taken all the hype away from the slim PS3, MS has been trying to crush Sony the day they entered the industry, suggesting that would "take turns" and allow the PS3 any chance of catching up with the 360 is not only inconsistent but very unrealistic
I don't believe this. Tech leaks have already suggested that MS have got the processors on a single die - same as Sony with the PS3. I think they may wait til Natal is ready or just before - to release a more 'casual' friendly design. It may already be ready, we'll not know with MS. THey wouldn't want to be seen as having a 'Me Too' announcement - they don't need to, to be fair.
Just like Indrema pointed out, this move has generated press but how it will affect sales? We still don't know if it will be enough of a push to catch up with the 360 because as I mentioned before its been consistently outselling the PS3. So why will you show one of your aces if it might not be necessary in the first place.
The slim might be enough to close the gap but the 360 might keep outselling the PS3 so you save your announcement for a time where you could get more benefits, right now Microsoft lowered the price of the Elite system so you have a 120 GB HDD with HDMI cables included plus a headset for chatting online all for the same price as the slim so obviously MS is banking on their status as a hardcore console that includes all you need for HD gaming at the same price as a slim. Can you see? Why risk of getting the bad press and internet backlash that Sony got when they unveiled their sixaxis controller right after the Wiimote and being labeled a copycat?
Why not wait next year when natal comes out and show off your new slim console? By that time Sony will have nothing to show to the press and to hype about. The answer is the same as why the PS2 didn't push all the way with more online games when the original Xbox showed Xbox LIVE, its simply because they didn't need to they were winning as it was so there was no need to have an answer to everything the competition did.
PS. Catching up to the 360 will take "years" not a couple of months, unless people completely stop buying Xbox's to get the slim, saying that Sony releasing the slim and having all the hype will be enough to catch up to the 360, THAT'S unrealistic.
That's Sony's strategy, & the Sony style hasn't worked well lately. There's no proof yet that this move will do anything. It might be an unnessecary investment, whether they have the ability or not.
Take Intel, for example, they've been stalling their entire mobile CPU line for a year now. They fully have the technology to improve, (they've said it themselves), but with no real competition they feel compelled to wait.
Please make it more attractive than the PS3 Squashed (sorry, slim).
It's the most charmless piece of design i've seen in years...
in fairness, the 360 does look like an early 90's fan-heater.
The best thing to do for MS is to stretch out the news-makers. They already have ODST coming out this year (no one can argue that's not a big news release this year) and a price restructuring. Those are good enough to tide them over to the next time they need some momentum. It's likely Sony will see a large surge initially and a strong holiday but sales will slow down to 50-80k above what they are now and level-out. MS has plenty of room to let Sony beat them slightly over the next 4-6 months. After that sales will be very similar then MS will be able to release Natal packed with a slim (i.e tiny) 360 to steal the momentum right back. Sony can only answer with another drop (slim v2.0 anyone?) and not another redesign. That will swing the momentum right back to MS.
In other words MS doesn't need to worry about the PS3 at all. We all know it'll surge and eventually taper off to marginally above what they're seeing now month-to-month. MS knows this too and they don't need to rush all their moves right away. Someone said they rushed the 360 to beat Sony which I agree they did, but they NEEDED to then because Sony had all the momentum. Sony does not have that same momentum; MS is in the driver seat this gen and have no reason to panic because Sony will be a bit more competitive for the next half-year.
Oh, and I'm sorry, I think the 360 looks damn good compared to the oversized binder the PS3 slim is. And is it really that slim? It's barely smaller than the 360.