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Xbox 360 E Unboxing

Last week, Microsoft revealed a new hardware revision for the Xbox 360. This week, we bought one!

Jun. 18 2013

Posted by: Ryan

In This Episode:

Xbox 360

Xbox 360 Controller

183 Comments

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Impossibilium

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Edited By Impossibilium

@moah2jd said:

The optical cable input is gone. It means that anybody who has astro gaming headset, can't use the gaming headset anymore. So no more high definition sound. It looks the same, the price is the same, one of my favorites features is gone (R.I.P. 5.1 surround sound), and technically is the same sh*t.

Makes no difference to the audio quality. It has HDMI. Need an optical connection? Just plug the HDMI into your AVR and connect your headset to the optical out of the AVR.

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avantegardener

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Edited By avantegardener

You have to look at this as the appex of Microsoft perfecting the sourcing of the cheapest components and production, and nothing more, at this stage they are still trying goose maximum retail value out of it, but I would guess by jan 2014, this will be 199 dollar box. To expect any new features would be naive, should probably be grateful it still has all the existing ones!

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RVonE

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This isn't expensive. It's the same price as the latest revision of the PS3.

When that drops in price this will too. I don't know why anyone would expect MS to price this lower than the rival when the current 360 still outsells the similar priced rival.

It doesn't, though.

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Garviell

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Edited By Garviell

They were literally exploding with anticipation....

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Max_Cherry

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This isn't expensive. It's the same price as the latest revision of the PS3.

When that drops in price this will too. I don't know why anyone would expect MS to price this lower than the rival when the current 360 still outsells the similar priced rival.

You just compared it with something else that's expensive!

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richardnixon

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@avantegardener: But it doesn't. As mentioned previously, it lacks an optical output. I still wouldn't buy this hunk of junk at $199. Having spent this generation on PC I'll probably get the GTA V PS3 bundle, which will also costs $299, has double the HDD capacity and has a fucking game.

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avantegardener

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Edited By avantegardener

@richardnixon said:

@avantegardener: But it doesn't. As mentioned previously, it lacks an optical output. I still wouldn't buy this hunk of junk at $199. Having spent this generation on PC I'll probably get the GTA V PS3 bundle, which will also costs $299, has double the HDD capacity and has a fucking game.

Yeah I'm inclined to agree with you too, as almost a full time PC gamer myself, as it's progressed, this generation of consoles, and indeed the next, hold less and less appeal bar maybe absolute killer exclusive. Regardless, this will be $199 machine in less than 8 months, it's final iteration, and the absolute most cost effective to produce, from a purely academic standpoint, its always interesting to see the final swan song of any hardware.

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ripelivejam

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i know it'd be ridiculous but considering the small size of the PS4 it'd be crazy to see an even more miniaturized PS3 soon. i don't personally have one so it may be a good opportunity to jump on.

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jayjonesjunior

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Edited By jayjonesjunior

Prettier, hopefully RROD free and if it is really a bit faster maybe going through the dashboard won't suck so much.

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BD_Mr_Bubbles

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Edited By BD_Mr_Bubbles

@y2ken said:

Wait, this is the same price as the S? I thought that was the whole reasoning behind the redesign.

Either way, it feels a little late in the life cycle to be picking up a 360 if you still don't have one. Although I guess Mattrick's whole spiel about offline gamers "having the Xbox 360" happened, didn't it?

Yes but even pro X1 people hate Mattrick, guy is a total asshat and his comments did little more than add fuel to the fire. On topic this redesign is pointless, less functionality for the same price is stupid.

Edit: I lol'ed at Jeff mocking Mattrick's statement.

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muzzymate

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Edited By muzzymate

Still can not believe they took out the optical audio out. Made it a must buy for me to meh.

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audiosnow

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Edited By audiosnow

That's a nice case design, but Microsoft has no idea how or why to sell this.

Like other commenters have said, they need to drop it to $100, $150 at most, and push it as the "classic" gaming box. If they want to keep that price they should include eight to ten older, great games. An Xbox 360 E with Fallout 3, Borderlands, BioShock, COD 4, Dead Space, and so on is a much more attractive offer as an encapsulated Xbox 360 experience.

The Xbox 360 could be this generation's PS2 if they tried.

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bgdiner

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Edited By bgdiner

Nothing matches the design of the original (which somehow I still have, after 7 years). Too bad the faceplate idea never came into its own. Remember when those were crazy popular (E3 limited edition, Gears edition, etc.)?

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Trilogy

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Edited By Trilogy

So the point of this thing is to be less expensive...eventually? I'm not sure why they would even bother releasing it now. Seems a bit redundant to me.

Oh, and how about YOU have fun at dinner Mr. Gerstmann!

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spiceninja

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Edited By spiceninja

You have fun at dinner, Jeff.

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AZNflaco

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So is there any difference on the inside of the new Xbox? I remember when the 360 first came out, we had to pray we got the best disc drive because there were so many different kinds.

Also, I can imagine all those disappointed kids on Christmas day, unboxing this console thinking it was the Xbone. Poor kids poor poor kids.

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xR3COx

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Edited By xR3COx

That thing is big, i was assuming this would be a new xbox 360 slim/mini. i dont see the point of this thing existing. Im still rocking the modern warfare 2 and halo 3 consoles, but if my MW2 one died id prob pic this thing up

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andymp

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You would think this new 360 would be dirt cheap, what with an entirely brand new console coming along in a few months.

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CaptMagic123

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My question is this: Why would Microsoft release a brand new 360, when the release of the Xbox one is right around the corner? It just seems a bit strange.

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gbrading

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It's.... almost exactly the same. And no HDMI cable.

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Nethlem

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Edited By Nethlem
@captmagic123 said:

My question is this: Why would Microsoft release a brand new 360, when the release of the Xbox one is right around the corner? It just seems a bit strange.

Just take a look at that thing... i doubt it's coincidence that the new 360 has a resemblance to the Xbone. I would guess they overhauled their production lines so they can use some part in both the 360 and the Xbone, to drive down production costs in the long term.

And the 360 won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Just take a look at the PS2 for example, that thing is still going. The 360 had been similar successful so it's save to assume that 360 consumers gonna be around for quite a while, even when most of the mainstream switched over to PS4/Xbone.

@face15 said:

What's wrong with capacitive buttons?

The same thing that's wrong with all kinds of touch controls, lack of tactile feedback. When turning on/off an electrical device or starting any kind of mechanical reaction it's nice to have some tactile feedback on the initiation.

That way you have one less step to troubleshoot when something does not work like it should. A button with tactile feedback gives you instant response if it's working or not, a capacitive surface does not.

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SensuousLettuce

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Edited By SensuousLettuce

Why does Brad wear so much plaid? It is unflattering on his expanding girth.

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Knives

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Who would pay $300 for that.. in November?

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Phoenix87

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Let's think about this for a second. Do I want to pay $299 for an 8 year old console almost at the end of its life, or do I want to pay $100 dollars more for a brand new PS4 in a few months?

Tough call.

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deactivated-5c7ea8553cb72

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With the price being what it is, I don't know who this is for.

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myslead

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Edited By myslead

@redelectric: ? they did unboxing video of everything bro .__.

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yukoasho

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I'm more upset at the apparent lack of VGA support. I actually connect my S with the VGA cable. I imagine, however, that component cables for iOS devices could be used, as it's just a headphone jack video input.

they do make component cables for those things, right?

I'm also left even more bewildered as to why MS isn't going to allow for removable hard drives with the Xbone. It seems that the production of the two units simultaneously with a similar chassis would make it more sensible to just keep using the S hard drives in the Xbone.

My question is this: Why would Microsoft release a brand new 360, when the release of the Xbox one is right around the corner? It just seems a bit strange.

Because the 360 is this generation's PS2 and will likely be a viable "value" console for years to come.

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Levio

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Unless I'm missing something, all they changed was the guts to lower to the cost for Microsoft so Microsoft can make more money per console. So really, the consumer shouldn't care at all about this revision.

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LegendaryChopChop

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I miss the white 360 controllers.

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Max_Cherry

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@knives said:

Who would pay $300 for that.. in November?

No one. It will be $199 by November.

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Makes no difference to the audio quality. It has HDMI. Need an optical connection? Just plug the HDMI into your AVR and connect your headset to the optical out of the AVR.

I don't know, my receiver is decent but just old enough to not have HDMI connections. I know it's limiting to cater to every "outdated" connection, but this seems a tad premature.