We keep going back on if this thing exists or not, and there really is no point in arguing about that, it's more a matter of if it will appear around the time that has been suggested, or not. There may not be a "Zephyr" out there, but there is unquestionably something different out there that will see the light of day.
It isn't rumor, it is recorded, certifiable fact, that the 360 will go to a 65nm chip sometime this year, that's been confirmed since early last year. The HDD is also academic, it's just a matter of when. We are just over a year into it's life cycle, people are already screaming for more space for downloads, the file size of demos is huge already and growing, with HD quality trailers, TV shows and Movies now all added to the available mix on live, it's a must, and every day more and more people join the HDTV legion, which means more and more people will start using up space downloading everything in HD instead of the the much smaller spaced STD.
PS3 already has a 60 gig, so there is competition, and it's just a matter of when. There is no way that MS or any gaming console is going to launch a new HDD and not make it part of a console package, it would be stupid for them to only offer the 120 gig or whatever size it may be, as a standalone unit, and keep the premium as a 20 gig unit, it's a no brainer that if there is a larger HDD, it will be also part of a system package, and there is also very little chance that they would increase the HDD size 6 fold, and not increase the bundle price. They are not making that much profit on the unit yet, to pass that one by.
The other situation, is that the system has some reliablity issues, a quieter DVD drive which has been rumored, that may fix some issues, but they already have made 3 different drives available in the system so far, so that's not a big thing. There are other internals though that could use some work, and any body change to aid the overheating or any other issue would likely warrant a new SKU anyway, like a Playstation 2 = PS2 thing.
The HDMI port is another thing along the lines of HDD space. Look at almost all HDTV's, especially LCD flat panels which are the gamers HDTV of choice, all the 2006/2007 models, thier all adding HDMI ports and using them as a selling point, many of them have atleast 2 now and some 3 and there are a few with 4. HDMI is phasing out other connections. Microsoft worked with Samsung to develope thier popular Game Mode on thier LCDs, and thier a very popular gamers TV, and most of thier new TVs coming out, they have just a single Component hookup, and a single VGA port compared to 3 HDMI ports. It's what the Hi Def gamers are going to not only want, but need to have for thier 360.
I know, many people do not have HDTVs yet, but there are plenty that do, and that number is only growing, and we are talking about a system that likely has atleast another 3 or 4 more years of a lifespan if not longer. There is now and will be even more of a demand for HDMI on the console, and it's a perfect idea to have a Premium of the Premium units to support it.
Most of these features are just academic as I said, they will be included some day reasonably soon to the xbox 360, I think the only reason they were not, is because they knew they needed to get the jump on Sony this gen, I mean the original xbox only had a 4 year life. They had to have sacrificed a few things that maybe they wanted to do in order to get the system out. That also forced them to misjudge what the demand would be for some of these things. I mean look at 2 years ago when a lot of the critical choices for the system were being made just before it's launch.
The VOD style of movie watching was just catching on, people were not downloading HD material in any substantial way. HDDVD and Blu Ray didn't even exist on any tangible plain. HDMI was pretty much just something tech geeks jabbered about, and HDTV's maybe had 1 port. There just were too many things coming on that there was no way to tell how people would react to all of it. It's a rare time in technology right now, and all the rules for what a game console did 20 years ago means nothing. Until the original xbox, no game console ever had a hardrive to begin with, and now it's a major focal point.
The only remaining question, is whether or not the console will be black or not, and personally I hope it is, since it would match my A/V equipment better.
BTW, does anybody have a link on this rumor about how "several stores report new SKUs"? I heard about the Maier stores in Australia, but other than that, I have not heard about other stores, but people keep using this rumor that many store chains are saying that they have new SKUs. Which stores, and where?
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