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Week of August 23, 2009
Xbox 360 'Super Elite' with 250GB HDD glimpsed in South African retail ad
>> From engadget.com:
[QUOTE]
So much for secrecy. South African Xbox 360 distributor Comztek has told local gaming news site XboxGaming.co.za that the a 250GB "Super Elite" model is due there in October. Additionally, the Forza 3 bundle we saw heading to Germany is also en route to SA, retailing for R4,999 (US $646), or around the same price as the Elite before its recent global price cut.
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Full Story: engadget.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft Xbox 360 price cuts to come later for Asia
>> From itworld.com:
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People in most of the Western world will start seeing price reductions on Xbox 360 game consoles Friday, but Japan and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region will have to wait.
Japan, home to Microsoft's biggest rivals in the game console wars, Sony and Nintendo, may see price cuts to Xbox 360 consoles next week, but Microsoft is keeping the official time quiet. The company plans to hold an Xbox news conference in Japan next Wednesday, according to Julie Leong, at Microsoft in Hong Kong.
Other parts of Asia-Pacific will begin enjoying lower priced Xbox 360s on Sept. 10, the company said Friday.
The suggested retail price of an Xbox 360 Elite console with a 120GB hard drive will be lowered by around 28 percent to US$305 in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Microsoft has taken the HDMI cable out of the Xbox 360 Elite, one of the reasons for the price reduction. Amazon.com lists a number of HDMI cables for sale for between $10 to $20.
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Full Story: itworld.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 with 250GB HDD on Amazon Germany
>> From engadget.com:
[QUOTE]
Amazon Germany, who previously listed the PlayStation 3 Slim a good 20 days before the official debut, has gone ahead and posted a new Xbox 360 model, ASIN in tow, with a 250GB HDD, two wireless controllers, and Forza Motorsport 3. Price is listed at 279 euros ($397), a good 30 euros over the current Elite price. No release date, but Forza 3 isn't due out until at least October 23rd so we'd say you got awhile to wait and see if this pans out.
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Full Story: engadget.com and amazon.de
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xbox 360 Not Even At Halfway Point, No Slim Planned
>> From kotaku.com:
[QUOTE]
There are no plans for a slimmed down version of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku.
"We feel like our system has done very well for us in the current form," said Greenberg, director of product management for the Xbox 360. "We have no plans for a slim."
"We feel that we're not even at the halfway point (of the Xbox 360's life cycle)," he said.
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Full Story: kotaku.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft: Dropping HD-cables gives Xbox 360 consumers 'flexibility'
>> From joystiq.com:
[QUOTE]
Microsoft's VP of Interactive Entertainment Business in Europe, Chris Lewis, tells GI.biz that the removal of the HDMI cable from the Elite packaging was to enable more "flexibility to consumers who can then decide which type of cable they want for their specific gaming and TV screen set-up." Pardon us, but that's like saying Sub-Zero ripping out your spine gives your body more "flexibility." Of course, the drawback is that you're dead.
Adding insult to injury, the new Elite bundle isn't just shipping sans HDMI cable, it has no HD cables at all; meaning that consumers now have even more flexibility to purchase better cables.
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Full Story: joystiq.com and gamesindustry.biz
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Official: Xbox 360 Drops Elite Console Price to 299USD, 250EUR, 199GBP
>> From the Microsoft Press Release:
[QUOTE]
REDMOND, Wash. -- Aug. 27, 2009 -- Xbox 360 today invites you to experience more fun, more entertainment and more ways to connect with friends and family at an even better value. Beginning Aug. 28, the price of an Xbox 360 Elite console will drop by $100, now priced at just $299.99 estimated retail price (ERP) in the United States. On top of that, the Xbox 360 Pro console will now be priced at $249.99 (ERP), reflecting a price reduction of $50, while supplies last. Starting at just $199.99 (ERP) for the Xbox 360 Arcade console, Xbox 360 puts all your entertainment in one place so you can play games, watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, and, coming this fall, keep up with your Twitter and Facebook social circles, all from your Xbox 360.1 And, as announced earlier this year, the Xbox 360 you buy today will work with code-named "Project Natal" and controller-free gaming in the future.
"With the holiday season right around the corner, it's already time to start looking for entertainment and gifts that everyone will enjoy," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of strategy and business development for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. "If you're looking for deep experiences that don't require deep pockets, now is the time to purchase an Xbox 360. We've got the best games, a vast library of TV shows and movies, new music experiences, more ways to connect friends and family, and so much more on the horizon including 'Project Natal' -- no controller required."
Having an Xbox 360 at the center of your living room provides entertainment for any occasion. Whether you're a casual or hardcore gamer playing single player or with friends, you can enjoy hundreds of titles that fit your gaming style. Watch thousands of movies and TV shows, listen to music, and view photos in the comfort of your home. And share the fun with friends and family around the world through Xbox LIVE:
· Games for everyone. Enjoy Xbox 360 game favorites such as recently released EA SPORTS "Madden NFL 10" in high definition and continue the fun through the holidays with a lineup that is sure to entertain every type of gamer. Families and friends can get together to build a famous foursome and relive the music of the Fab Four with "The Beatles: Rock Band." For those who crave action, players can tear up the tracks of "Forza Motorsport 3"; jump back into the "Halo" universe as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper in "Halo 3: ODST"; or deploy for combat with this year's highly anticipated title from Infinity Ward, "Modern Warfare® 2," the sequel to the best-selling first-person action game in history, "Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare."
· More ways to connect. Xbox LIVE, the industry-leading online gaming and entertainment network, will soon offer its 20 million community members even more blockbuster partners and features, introducing a whole new era of social entertainment in the living room. Starting this fall, you can interact with friends on Facebook and share photos and real-time status updates right from your television, or stay connected to Twitter by reading, posting and replying to Tweets.1
· Movies and music. For the first time, you'll also have access to high-quality streaming songs from Last.fm using the best speakers in the house. Plus, Zune video on Xbox LIVE will offer the selection of a video megastore in 1080p clarity for many videos and the convenience of on-demand, coming this fall.2
· Your Xbox, your way. In the meantime, visit the Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace for the latest fashions, download full Xbox 360 titles to your hard drive through Games on Demand, and with a Netflix unlimited membership and an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership, browse and add movies and TV episodes to your instant Queue, and connect with friends for a Netflix Movie Party3 -- all from your Xbox 360.
With all of these experiences available for the holidays and the future addition of "Project Natal," which will work with every Xbox 360 sold today and tomorrow, the Xbox 360 system provides more fun for less.
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Note: The Elite also drops tomorrow in Europe to 250EUR or 199GBP and the news also confirms the price raise of the Arcade in UK from 130GBP to 160GBP. In EUR-countries the Arcade system stays at 199EUR.
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Microsoft: Xbox 360 failures 'well behind us'
>> From gamespot.com:
[QUOTE]
Despite Microsoft's attempts to improve manufacturing quality, the Xbox 360 was recently accused of still having an alarmingly high failure rate by a Game Informer survey. Some 54.2 percent of 5,000 subscribers to the magazine said they had at least one Xbox 360 fail, with 41.2 percent saying they had at least two hardware failures.
"I can tell you the consoles we're making today have lower-heat chips and better cooling, and we're seeing fantastic quality in those consoles today," Greenberg (Xbox Live and Xbox 360 director) told GameSpot today. "That said, I know people have had issues with systems which were bought earlier in the life cycle and that's part of the reason why we implemented our unprecedented three-year warranty for anyone who gets the three red-ring flashing light error or the E74 error."
He continued, "So I think we've made it clear we stand by the quality of our product and we will make it right by fixing the problem at no extra cost to you. But at the same time, we've been working hard to make improvements in the products we're currently making, so I really feel like most of this is well behind us."
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Full Story: gamespot.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Xell DHCP 1024x786 VGA Xenon Kernel for JTAG Hack
>> A pre-made ready-to-use bios/kernel replacement image has been released for Xbox360 Xenon/v1 boards to work with the recently released JTAG hack to boot ur Xenon Xbox360 right into Xell (the linux bootloader). Note that this image will ONLY work on Xenon/v1 boards and only if you didn't update to the newest official MS kernel/dashboard with the new 2BL and CB lockdown. As said before the JTAG hack works on newer motherboard revisions too, but they will each need different images ... which will probably be released in the near future too.
From the readme/nfo:
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Original Xenon_Hacked.bin, updated with the xell-1f.bin file that adds DHCP, and 1024x786 VGA out and Support for composite RGB
Still no sound
RCA cables do not work
You need either VGA or RGB(component) Cables
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Download: n/a (might be illegal under DMCA/EUCD)
News-Source: xbins.org
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
Analysts split on chance of slimmer Xbox 360
>> From joystiq.com:
[QUOTE]
"I think it is a question of when not if. However, the when part is a big uncertainty ... rumors have been going on for a long time. I think people were asking me the same question last year at this time," David Cole of DFC Intelligence told IndustryGamers. Others are less convinced, like Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee who said, "It would be nice but I don't think they have to. I think Natal will be killer app that will help keep the momentum for the 360 next year. I do think they need to cut the price by at least $50."
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Full Story: joystiq.com
Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
New Bootloader found in newly manufactured units
>> From tmbinc on xboxhacker.net:
[QUOTE]
User "jc" in #free60 found that his Jasper, built June-30th 2009, already contained the new bootloader (but with a 7363 Kernel).
We don't know when Microsoft switched it in production, but this discovery means that they did this at least over a month before the update.
So far, we don't know what Boxes are safe to buy. If you want to check your box, dump the flash, at look at the "CB" Version (offset 0x8202, the two hex bytes after "CB"). For Jasper, CB Versions 6750 (and up) are bad, CB Version 6723 is still good (at least we think so), CB Version 6712 is good for sure.
If you find that your jasper is still either "good" or "bad", please post the mfg date (and CB version) here so we can determine the cutoff date.
Let me remind your that we are not completely done with the adaptation of the hack to jasper yet. We've sorted out most things now, so we'll release it soon. The recent build.py changes will make an adaptation easily possible, and nandpro already supports jasper. Remaining things are the SMC and the J1F1-replacement points. We're working on this, don't worry.
My Jasper, built 2008-10-10, is "good" (CB version 6712).
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Discuss this news item on our forums: forums.xbox-scene.com
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