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Leaked Ads Show Xbox 360 Revision, New Natal Name

They were right about one thing.

In just a few hours Microsoft will be putting on a show that will serve as the official Project Natal reveal event for the masses. It's expected, at some point between the clown car and tight-rope acts, that the hardware manufacturer will bust out the official name of the motion-control device (see update) and announce the slimmer, sexier Xbox 360 we've been hearing about for a bit. But it looks like we won't have to wait, as a few ads on a website may have just spoiled the surprise.  
 

No Caption Provided
The fine folks over at the NeoGAF (via Game Informer) recently spotted a flash ad, as well as a banner, for a supposedly smaller Xbox 360. The flash ad in particular is the more important, as it details what this new-Alienware-tower-looking piece of hardware has in its techno-tummy: a 250 GB HDD, integrated Wi-Fi functionality, and compatibility with Kinect--the new name for Project Natal, as we discovered tonight.

== TEASER == Here's a YouTube video of the flash ad: 
  
  
If I may get real for a moment: there's no way to confirm if that the Xbox 360 "slim" leak is fact or fiction at the moment. Microsoft, understandably, doesn't comment on rumor or speculation. But if this event is legit, we'll know soon enough.
 
UPDATE:
Microsoft has formally announced Project Natal's new name: Kinect. Read about it here
UPDATE 2: User Berkie is sharing this cool set of high-resolution images from the ad.

310 Comments

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Hitman101

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Edited By Hitman101

If a ps3 and a 360 had a baby.... and it was ugly as shit.....

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BigBoss_Subzero

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Edited By BigBoss_Subzero

i might trade my elite for that one

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gunslingerNZ

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Edited By gunslingerNZ

Lol! I sure as heck hope that thing is more reliable because it certainly ain't pretty. Looks like some sort of terrible "gamer" computer case. Also it doesn't actually look any slimmer does anyone have dimensions?
 
Thank god they've finally seen sense and put integrated Wi-Fi in there as well. I bet all the people who shelled out $100 for the adapter are fuming right now!

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CreativeColossi

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Edited By CreativeColossi
@Hitman101: There's only so much you can do with a box of silicon. 
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bluesun

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Edited By bluesun

Has anyone smuggled a device into the event and is livestreaming/blogging?

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Dom

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Edited By Dom

i prefer the original 360

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gunslingerNZ

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Edited By gunslingerNZ

Oh wow it's actually called "Kinect", that's pretty stupid. I read it first as " Kinetic" and thought that wasn't so bad since it's about motion and all that.

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Skogen

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Edited By Skogen

Color me unimpressed.
 
I guess we should be excited about it not RRod'ing. But I'm still disgusted that they still happen 5 years later....

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Radar

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Edited By Radar

My god... that's something Alienware would design. Absolutely disgusting.

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KingGamer

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Edited By KingGamer

Kinect? Sounds like physics class.

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Brendan

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Edited By Brendan

I actually think Kinect isn't a bad name, it's descriptive and flows relatively easily off the tongue.  I'm not suprised people don't like it, what with knee jerk name hate reaction being the norm for most names in this industry.   
 
The new slim, however, looks stupid.  Someone get Allard to "consult" that ugly baby back into design phase. 
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RobJ

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Edited By RobJ

I like the new name. The old one just didn't sound right to me.

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John

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Edited By John

looks like something from alienware, YES!

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gunslingerNZ

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Edited By gunslingerNZ
@Brendan said:

" I actually think Kinect isn't a bad name, it's descriptive and flows relatively easily off the tongue.  I'm not suprised people don't like it, what with knee jerk name hate reaction being the norm for most names in this industry.    The new slim, however, looks stupid.  Someone get Allard to "consult" that ugly baby back into design phase.  "

There's nothing knee jerk about it. The name is just dumb. Portmanteaus are always dumb and this one is especially so...
 
@John said:
" looks like something from alienware, YES! "

Yes it totally does, that's why most people hate it.
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CharlieTuna

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Edited By CharlieTuna

For the love of all that is holy bring back the name Wave or Natal. Holy hell, kinectaminalsblalalala wtf. 
 
Also the damn copying of Nintendo is beyond shameless. Why do people like the Wii? It was different, this is the same junk we've seen on the Wii. Dammit Microsoft unlike the Move this tech is actually something different, please use it. Hell as stupid as Milo looks to me at least is was original.

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yukoasho

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Edited By yukoasho
That's not a slim system.  It looks like it'll have the same footprint as the Xbox 360 already does, if not more.  It IS, however, fucking ugly.  The irony here is palpable: The PS3 goes from tacky to elegant, and the 360 goes from elegant to tacky.
 
@gunslingerNZ:  Yeah, the Kinetic would have been a far better name than what they settled on.  It just SOUNDS like a stupid gimmick, like a bunch of suits tried to find a name with the same catchiness as the Wii... And failed miserably.
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jonnyp

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Edited By jonnyp

This is what happens when you let the Borg design your console.. 

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Jambones

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Edited By Jambones
@Berkie said:

" The more I look t the pic, it seems fake. It's hardly slim, as many have noticed the disc tray is a good way to judge the size, and it looks nearly as tall as the existing 360. I think its Photoshopped. "

I agree it still seems sizable, but I am not convinced this is a Photoshop job. 
 
Not digging the design, but I won't say it's horrid. I think it's the slope on top that really puts me off.
 
Microsoft have said that previous SKUs will be compatible with Natal, haven't they? I hate the compatibility with Kinect sales point: it makes me a little nervous that older systems will not, or be duct-taped on afterwards in a gruesome patch.
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Kingeptacon

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Edited By Kingeptacon

 Word around the campfire is you have to give a beefy, "HEIL HITLER!" salute to power up your 360.  Sign me up!!!

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Radar

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Edited By Radar
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deactivated-65d51c2303ca6

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Is it weird that I prefer Natal to Kinect?

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MajorToms

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Edited By MajorToms

I actually like the name Kinect. It's far better than Wave. Wave sounded like a rip off of Move, which sounded like a rip off of Wii. But at least we'll have a full range of motion now. 

Wii Move Kinectically: Motion control revolution or a black eye to the video game industry?

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kylenalepa

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Edited By kylenalepa

I'll try and reserve judgment until we get some better pictures tomorrow, but man, that redesign is hideous. Looks like it was designed by Alienware rejects, which, based on the general aesthetics of their machines, is saying something.

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Rasgueado

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Edited By Rasgueado

Wow... it might be a good idea to clean up that story a little bit there. Lookin' a bit like frankenstein.

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Frostler

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Edited By Frostler

Yeah Natal still doesn't strike me as a must buy, plus that slim looks barely thinner than the one now, like they needed another one anyways.

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fugie7

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Edited By fugie7

looks pretty cool, but it still has nothing that interesting that will draw me to buy it.

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EndrzGame

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Edited By EndrzGame

I don't think the name is that bad. Certainly more creative than Move and not as dumb as Wii. I'll just wait till I actually try the thing before I make any decisions on weather it's worth it or not. Hopefully we'll see some other devs put the tech through its paces.

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gunslingerNZ

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Edited By gunslingerNZ
@MajorToms said:
"Wii Move Kinetically"
Dude, that is genius! Maybe there's some sort of conspiracy and they're all in on this together because that is magic.
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KamikazeCaterpillar

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I kinda like the design and now I am somewhat glad that I held off on getting a new 360 since just died.

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carlthenimrod

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Edited By carlthenimrod

Kinect sounds like some kind of off-brand Legos.
 
My mom couldn't afford Legos so I got Kinects instead. It ruined my childhood.

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fillmoejoe

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Edited By fillmoejoe

I wonder what the pricing will be on Xboxes with and without the kinect.

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BionicMonster

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Edited By BionicMonster
@carlthenimrod said:
"Kinect sounds like some kind of off-brand Legos.  My mom couldn't afford Legos so I got Kinects instead. It ruined my childhood."

You're thinking of Kinex probably.
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FuzzYLemoN

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Edited By FuzzYLemoN

That thing is a monstrosity.
And I'm sorry, but when you call it Natal for a whole year, that's what I'm going to call it.

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cspiffo

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Edited By cspiffo

Am I confused or was there supposed to be an event today for Natal?  I looked everywhere for it.

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Zohar

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Edited By Zohar

Looks like one of those cheap "gamer" computer cases made by obscure Burmese sweat shop manufacturers.  Whoa and good to see they are integrating wi-fi X years later...  I could probably find a wi-fi enabled toaster.  About fucking time.

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FluxWaveZ

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Edited By FluxWaveZ
@FuzzYLemoN said:
" That thing is a monstrosity. And I'm sorry, but when you call it Natal for a whole year, that's what I'm going to call it. "
Gamecube was codenamed "Dolphin" for a long time and we got used to the official name.  Same with the Wii being codenamed "Revolution" for about a year. 
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cspiffo

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Edited By cspiffo
@FluxWaveZ said:
" @FuzzYLemoN said:
" That thing is a monstrosity. And I'm sorry, but when you call it Natal for a whole year, that's what I'm going to call it. "
Gamecube was codenamed "Dolphin" for a long time and we got used to the official name.  Same with the Wii being codenamed "Revolution" for about a year.  "
Remember the Ultra 64, LOL!!!
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xyzygy

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Edited By xyzygy

That new 360 looks EPIC.

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big_jon

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Edited By big_jon

I like the new look, modern and more sleek.

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tastyhouse

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Edited By tastyhouse

that "slim"...well....er....it's pretty f*cking ugly.

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irrelevantjohn

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Edited By irrelevantjohn
@FuzzYLemoN:  You call it a Monstrosity but you will never really look at your xbox 360 while you are playing. BUT! I completely agree with you about calling it the Natal after one year of hype and celebrity demos.
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freecajunlove

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Edited By freecajunlove

Anyone know of other twitter accounts talking about this Kinetic event?  Felicia Day is doing a good job.

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sewageking

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Edited By sewageking

It feels weird not to call it Natal.  They should have just kept that name, because of how much traction it had already gained.  It doesn't matter, though; both this and the Move will probably fail.

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ISmoochyI

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Edited By ISmoochyI

well that sounds super gay

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Supermarius

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Edited By Supermarius
@FuzzYLemoN said:
" That thing is a monstrosity. And I'm sorry, but when you call it Natal for a whole year, that's what I'm going to call it. "
no you're not. Everyone said that about the "Revolution", but everyone calls it the Wii now. 
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Brackynews

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Edited By Brackynews
@fillmoejoe said:

" I wonder what the pricing will be on Xboxes with and without the kinect. "

Seeing as the Xbox unit dips in to and out of profitability each year like clockwork, price and SKUs are a pretty crucial decision.  Can't wait to hear what they announce...
I think they already lived through enough flak with keeping their no-hard-drive SKU alive for so long.  If 360s going forward don't all have Kinetal standard they will continue to divide the install base and reduce feature adoption for new software to succeed.
 
If they don't increase the price because of it, they make it a no-brainer for anyone to just get the thing whether they plan to use it or not, rather than worry about attach rates.
 
"Fivehundredandninetynineyouessdollars..."
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Berkie

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Edited By Berkie
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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

Nobody can keep this stuff secret anymore.

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Gregomasta

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Edited By Gregomasta

I'm still hurt over that Red Ring....never again Microsoft...never again.