Xbox 2 to be revealed on May 12th...

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Xbox 2 debut 

 

Microsoft's next generation machine to debut on MTV, May 12

 

Microsoft have announced that their new console will first be revealed to the general public, not game industry representatives (at E3), courtesy of a deal with MTV.

 

"MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed," to be hosted by Elijah Wood will show various elements of the new machine, including game footage.

 

Peter Moore, the man in charge of Xbox marketing, said Microsoft felt it was important that fans got to see the system "at least at the same time - if not before - folks who work in the trades see it."

 

The marketing will extend beyond the half-hour program. In addition to MTV promoting Xbox, he said Xbox could promote MTV in game play and elsewhere.

 

The MTV special is to air May 12 at 9:30 PM on east coast USA, and on May 13 elsewhere in the world.

 

EDIT - Full MTV airtimes list:

 

North America:

Thursday, May 12, at 9:30pm (21:30)

 

Japan/Asia:

Friday, May 13, at 11:30

 

Europe:

France: Friday, May 13, at 19:00

Germany: Friday, May 13, at 19:00

Italy: Friday, May 13, at 23:30

Netherlands: Friday, May 13, at 19:30

Poland: Friday, May 13, at 21:00

Portugal: Friday, May 13, at 20:00

Romania: Friday, May 13, at 20:00

Scandinavia: Friday, May 13, at 22:00

Spain: Friday, May 13, at 21:30

UK: Friday, May 13, at 20:00

 

Australia:

Friday, May 13, at 19:00

 

Credit: PALGN

[edotherocket 0]

That's actually pretty clever.

[Anya 0]

I hope there's some surprises in terms of launch titles shown, because so far I'm not all that impressed with what we know is coming for Xbox 360. Perfect Dark? Godfather? No thanks. I would like to see DOA 4. It's a B list fighter, but at least it's something.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I have zero interest in this system if it's not going to have a hard drive.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Apparently the hard drive will be optional, although it'd be rather difficult to see what dipshit will buy the one without the hard drive when he realizes half the games that utilize it won't work...

 

And I'll chirp in and agree that this is a really fantastic idea. The idea is getting the casual gamers to latch on to the new system, chipping away at Sony's userbase. Still seems like they're rushing things, though. I wouldn't bother with a launch until late 2006.

[Ripper 0]

well, the new SLIM PS2 OMG!!! has proven that people will sacrafice a better machine for a sleeker looking one so its actually kinda smart for Microsoft to make the Hardrive(which will add to functionality yet take away from the design of the machine) optional.

[AndrewTS 0]

MTV? That doesn't fit in with the older gamers the Box had traditionally been shooting for. Meh. Doesn't matter anyway. It's not like you can tell the MTV douchebags from G4 anyway.

 

Isn't Rare supposed to be working on Killer Instinct 3? Would make sense for it to come out on the Box. Although I think it was first announced late last year, and it seems too soon for them to have TWO games ready for a system's launch. They've turned into perhaps the laziest developers on the planet.

 

well, the new SLIM PS2 OMG!!! has proven that people will sacrafice a better machine for a sleeker looking one

 

The Slim PS2 is, overall, better than the old PS2. It's smaller, quieter, and has a built-in network adapter. The only downsides is that it doesn't support the HD (which is irrelevent unless you gotta have FFXI) and there's no cooling fan (which isn't a problem unless you game for 8 hours straight or something).

[Anya 0]

Isn't Rare supposed to be working on Killer Instinct 3?

No. It's never been annouced.

 

Someone in the press reports that it's possibly coming like 4 times a year or so but rare continues to deny it. According to them the KI team is split up, busy and doesn't really have any ideas to improve KI so they have no desire or plans to make it.

[AndrewTS 0]

Ah.

 

So KI3 is one of those gaming equivalents to "Bret Hart is coming back to lead the Invasion" or "Yokozuna on Raw" dealies. I didn't realize.

[edotherocket 0]

 

 

New Xbox 2 controller pictures surface backing up previous 'leaked' hardware pictures

 

Currently doing the rounds on the internet are two blurry photos of what is claimed to be the next-gen Xbox's controller.

 

While the authenticity of these shots remains uncertain, they do seem to confirm persistent rumours claiming that Xbox 2's controller will banish the black and white buttons and will be wireless.

 

The pictures also indicate extra PS2-style shoulder buttons placed just in front of the analogue trigger buttons, thus making up for the lack of black and white buttons while offering the familiar four-shoulder-button arrangement found on PS2's DualShock controllers.

 

The pad also seems to be devoid of memory card slots, backing up previous claims that Xbox 2 would do away with such a system altogether, using removable hard drive-based media players (like Apple's iPod) to store games and Xbox Live downloads.

 

While the controller looks to confirm all the good things we've been hearing, we're a bit worried about the colour. And not just because the joypad itself looks like the product of a steamy love affair between a Sega Dreamcast pad and one of those white 'ray-gun' things featured in retro sci-fi TV programmes such as Lost in Space or Star Trek.

 

Credit: Gamesradar.com

[Anya 0]

Ah.

 

So KI3 is one of those gaming equivalents to "Bret Hart is coming back to lead the Invasion" or "Yokozuna on Raw" dealies. I didn't realize.

Yeah, exactly.

 

In fact it's about time for it to pop up again. Usually it comes up around this time hyping how it's going to be at E3.

[AndrewTS 0]

Huh? The first "leaked" X-Box 2 controller I saw looked nothing like that. It was basically the smaller current XB controller.

 

As for this one--much better. I hated the X-Box controller--both versions. The black and white buttons were placed horribly. Loved the D-Pad though.

 

Here we go with the silly "consoles white in color are doomed" schtick. Coincidence of course. Plus it ignores the original Famicom.

[chirs3 0]

I seem to be one of the few people who liked the original X-Box controller. I would've preferred the diamond placement of ABXY, but I got used to it the way it was.

 

Plus, the small controllers that DO have the diamond placement moved the White/Black buttons to the worst possible place. They were fine on the original.

 

That said, I've got no immediate complaints about the controller they showed up there, other than the fact that it's ugly.

[AndrewTS 0]

Exactly. They should have just shrunk the X-Box Hosstroller, rather then changing the layout like that.

 

Ugly doesn't matter if it feels good and the layout is good.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

And Pepsi is going to give away 1 new X Box every 10 minutes for 9 weeks straight, which turns out to be about 10,000 of them before the official release.

 

I might have to scour garbage cans at work for the codes so I can win one and sell it on Ebay.

[Guest Vitamin X]

That's silly. "I'm going to pay 900 dollars for an unproven system with no games!"

 

And yet people will do it.

[Anya 0]

The original Xbox controller had the best layout, but it was too big. Controller S sucks.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Remember the old Sega Megadrive controllers? Those were the days.

[haws bah gawd 0]

Who could forget the Atari Jaguar controller and its 3000 buttons? I like the controller S with the exception of the D-Pad which felt a little stiff.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

If it's actually called "Xbox 360" I don't want it.

 

Xenon > *

[Anya 0]

Xenon makes no sense. Why would the next Xbox be named after a gas?

 

I've gotten used to Xbox 360.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I equate it with Xenon: Girl from the 24th Century, not gas... though I'm not really familiar with the former and I'm probably wrong about the title... some stupid Melissa Joan Hart I didn't see on the Canadian Family Channel years ago... not important, the hting is I read Xenon for a while in magazines and thus referred to it as such when speaking with people.

 

Xbox 360 is just too weird a name, especially for the 2nd system... it implies that it's

 

A. Doing flips

B. Gone full circle, thus ending up back where it started and offers no change at all

C. Gone full circle in a different direction - in this case meaning is the total opposite of before. That would mean instead of a good, powerful system with a harddrive, we have a piece of garbage system with no harddrive.

 

Only option A is attractive.

 

Yeah, I'm being way to literal over the name, but that's DrVenkman for you.

[AndrewTS 0]

If they go with 360, and the machine is square-shaped, I call bullshit.

 

(although technically--a square is 4 right angles. Right angles are all 90 degrees. 4 x 90 = 360)

 

Maybe it'll look like the Gamesphere.

[Anya 0]

I'm pretty sure 360 is the real name. The logo is probably just a circle with Xbox 360 in the middle.

 

I guess the idea behind the name is that you can play people all over the world or something. Supposedly the reason for 360 instead of 2 is that MS was afraid people would think PS3 is superior because 3 is more than 2.

 

As long as it has some good games and a controller that isn't fat I'll buy it.

[Guest Vitamin X]

If it has a handle, and is sphere shaped, maybe we can use it for weight-lifting as well. That would be a neat option.

[edotherocket 0]

Looks like it will be called Xbox 360 after all - and it's going to be in fetching platinum white

 

Xbox 360 will be the name of Microsoft's next console and will look nothing like its current-gen predecessor, according to reports currently winging their way around the web.

 

The machine will apparently be concave, platinum white in colour (which matches the colour of the supposed Xbox 2 controllers that we saw recently) and will feature a simple round logo. It's also being reported that, like PlayStation 2, the console will be able to stand vertically as well as sit horizontally.

 

The Xbox 360 name has been rumoured since the start of the year and, while there have been a number of hints since then to suggest that it would be the official name for Xbox 2, this is the closest we've come thus far to it being confirmed. It's also been suggested that 360 will feature at the end of many game names.

 

As for the console's price, analysts at Goldman Sachs reckon on Xbox 360 debuting at between $249 and $299 (which will no doubt translate to £249 to £299 in the UK). They're also expecting three million of the next-gen machines to be sold by the end of the year.

 

Xbox 360 will be unveiled for the first time during an MTV special which will be broadcast in the US on 12 May and in the UK on 13 May. The console is expected to go on sale in November.

 

Source: Gamesradar.com

[Use Your Illusion 0]

GAY

 

I wanted Xenon.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

I'm pretty sure 360 is the real name. The logo is probably just a circle with Xbox 360 in the middle.

 

I guess the idea behind the name is that you can play people all over the world or something. Supposedly the reason for 360 instead of 2 is that MS was afraid people would think PS3 is superior because 3 is more than 2.

 

As long as it has some good games and a controller that isn't fat I'll buy it.

Don't you just love the intricate petty bullshit that goes on around console launch times?

[edotherocket 0]

I'm pretty sure 360 is the real name. The logo is probably just a circle with Xbox 360 in the middle.

 

I guess the idea behind the name is that you can play people all over the world or something. Supposedly the reason for 360 instead of 2 is that MS was afraid people would think PS3 is superior because 3 is more than 2.

 

As long as it has some good games and a controller that isn't fat I'll buy it.

Don't you just love the intricate petty bullshit that goes on around console launch times?

And 360 is a lot more than a mere PS3~!

 

Atari 7800 > everyone else.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Xenon was a robot from Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad.