The Xbox 360 has been out for quite some time and with Sony having finally released a slimmed down version of their titan-sized Playstation 3, it was only a matter of time before critics began to wonder if Microsoft would do the same. The 360 launched in the United States, Mexico and Canada on November 22, 2005 and less than a month later in Europe and Japan. Ultimately, the console would see launch in over 36 countries worldwide. The first iteration of the 360 came in two flavors, core and premium, which would eventually be replaced by the arcade and elite editions. Microsoft wanted to give their potential users choice and while options could be obtained at a certain premium, it wasn’t long before the price dropped. The premium package, initially released at $399 was the top tier price; however the current elite edition may very well soon see a price drop to $299, if not lower. Despite hardware issues, it is easily visible how there are now over 30 million consoles in the hands of gamers worldwide.

So, why not introduce a slim 360?

After all, it would be nice to have the same power in a smaller package. Really, who wouldn’t want a slim 360? A smaller memory unit could easily be attached and the whole body could be streamlined allowing for owners who have a premium in regards to space could easily be comfortably owning an Xbox 360 that is half the size of its current incarnation.

Except there is a problem with the fact that there  are over 30 million consoles in the wild right now, nestled in entertainment centers, shelves and standing proudly on desks ready to be played at a moments notice. With so many consoles out, and Microsoft having fazed out the pro edition of the console in favor of the arcade and elite, why would they invest in technology to slim down a console that is still selling? The Elite, which was once the highest end 360 to come into existence has since become the standard. By doing this, Microsoft has essentially told new customers that by adopting into the gaming experience that they have to offer, gamers will get the best product they have to offer for a minimal one-time premium. Combine that with the fact that there are currently 478 backwards compatible Xbox titles, including classics like Halo, Black, Knights of the Old Republic, Phantom Crash and Psychonauts among the already huge library of Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade titles and that’s enough to keep anyone filling there Gamerscore forever.

Simply said, when you have a good piece of hardware that works it becomes easier to focus on what makes that equipment great and that’s the software and network infrastructure. Daunting flagship franchises such as Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect, and Fable have all been able to move systems. Microsoft is at its very heart a software company. They’ve been writing it since before many of the current Xbox 360 players, including myself, were born. As a business, they know what they’re doing via the focus they have place on the competitive price cuts to keep them on the cutting edge and stay just a step ahead of their competitors in certain areas of the industry. Thus at the end of the day, what a slim 360 becomes is an answer to a question Microsoft doesn’t especially need to be answering right now.

This piece was originally written for PlanetXbox360.com where you can read other jumbles of words that may seem coherent and possibly written by me.

 The Xbox 360 has been out for quite some time and with Sony having finally released a slimmed down version of their titan-sized Playstation 3, it was only a matter of time before critics began to wonder if Microsoft would do the same. The 360 launched in the United States, Mexico and Canada on November 22, 2005 and less than a month later in Europe and Japan. Ultimately, the console would see launch in over 36 countries worldwide. The first iteration of the 360 came in two flavors, core and premium, which would eventually be replaced by the arcade and elite editions. Microsoft wanted to give their potential users choice and while options could be obtained at a certain premium, it wasn’t long before the price dropped. The premium package, initially released at $399 was the top tier price; however the current elite edition may very well soon see a price drop to $299, if not lower. Despite hardware issues, it is easily visible how there are now over 30 million consoles in the hands of gamers worldwide.

So, why not introduce a slim 360?

After all, it would be nice to have the same power in a smaller package. Really, who wouldn’t want a slim 360? A smaller memory unit could easily be attached and the whole body could be streamlined allowing for owners who have a premium in regards to space could easily be comfortably owning an Xbox 360 that is half the size of its current incarnation.

Except there is a problem with the fact that there  are over 30 million consoles in the wild right now, nestled in entertainment centers, shelves and standing proudly on desks ready to be played at a moments notice. With so many consoles out, and Microsoft having fazed out the pro edition of the console in favor of the arcade and elite, why would they invest in technology to slim down a console that is still selling? The Elite, which was once the highest end 360 to come into existence has since become the standard. By doing this, Microsoft has essentially told new customers that by adopting into the gaming experience that they have to offer, gamers will get the best product they have to offer for a minimal one-time premium. Combine that with the fact that there are currently 478 backwards compatible Xbox titles, including classics like Halo, Black, Knights of the Old Republic, Phantom Crash and Psychonauts among the already huge library of Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade titles and that’s enough to keep anyone filling there Gamerscore forever.

Simply said, when you have a good piece of hardware that works it becomes easier to focus on what makes that equipment great and that’s the software and network infrastructure. Daunting flagship franchises such as Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect, and Fable have all been able to move systems. Microsoft is at its very heart a software company. They’ve been writing it since before many of the current Xbox 360 players, including myself, were born. As a business, they know what they’re doing via the focus they have place on the competitive price cuts to keep them on the cutting edge and stay just a step ahead of their competitors in certain areas of the industry. Thus at the end of the day, what a slim 360 becomes is an answer to a question Microsoft doesn’t especially need to be answering right now.

This piece was originally written for PlanetXbox360.com where you can read other jumbles of words that may seem coherent and possibly written by me.

how about because it's not that big to begin with

I think I can explain why Microsoft won't slim the 360 in far fewer words than you, my friend. Goes something like this:
 
Microsoft is cheap.
Microsoft knows that it's cheap.
Microsoft does not care.
 
Don't think the above statements are true? Then you probably haven't had a 360 Red Ring on you. In fact, I think there would be outrage if Microsoft revamped the aesthetics of their console without fixing its hardware issues (unless the revamp addressed both issues simultaneously) first.

i don't understand the need to do it really. most entertainment units are big enough to house a console easily. people don't have an entertainment unit don't need a smaller one anyways.

The 360 already is small enough and looks better than both the fat and slim ps3.  If they made it any smaller (like Wii small) dumbasses would put them in dumbass places and start fires and ruin the fucking console. 

Maybe because putting the heat-generating components closer together would be a very bad thing on a 360. 
I've broken three 360s. I can only speculate how bad an idea this would be. 
 
On the other hand, it's made Sony a lot of money so far.

Personally, I don't know - the X360's construction is an extremely rushed and crappy one, with most of RROD coming from dumb choices to speed up production (like the laser problem in early ones). A slim version could be a good reason to restructurize the entire system and make it a more stable one.

They don't need to, Sony does it so they can re-sell consoles MS doesn't need to do that. Thats what the RRoD is for : ).

Talk about waffling on for no real reason, and then getting the answer wrong?!?
 
 
 
H E A T.

They dont make a slim version because Sony is the only one that does that. Contrary to what some would think, slimmer versions of consoles are not industry standard not should they be expected.

I think this may be their new plan if they are smart, They are about to start pushing Natal to an audience they are not "in" with next year would be the perfect time to release the Xbox Natal - and it would simply be a slim 360 with Natal packaged in and it would become the new lone standard it would streamline the sku's and put it in line with the Wii and would attract a good portion of the hardcore who would buy a new system instead of Natal by itself.

They dont need a slim version,its a waste of money and the Xbox 360's size is just fine the way it is

They wont "slim" the 360 because it would be pointless.

It would just look like a blatant rip off of Sony. 
Also, redesigning your console just proves the old design was bad.
Microsoft does not want to do either of these things.

IF MS decided to slim the 360, it would blow up (thus probably blowing you up at the same time) after turning it on for the first time-- can't have that!
MS can't be taking the liability risks on these things.
"I turned on my 360 slim and I don't have a face anymore!"

Well this was a retarded read.  You could say the same about any system the does well.  Uh... the DS, why would Nintendo put out yet another design of it?  The PSP?  1000, then 2000, then 3000 then go.  Granted the first 3 were not that different but still.  The PS3, it was doing ok.  The price drop was needed more than the slimming, which I think made it uglier and not slim enough.  The GBA, why so many versions? PS2 slim, sold super good too.
Reasons for redesign or slimming.  Better look.  People may buy it if they see it is new and different from what was out before or what they have.  Proof, this moved PS2 and the DS Lite caught like wildfire.  Hard to find for a time.  The PS3's sales picked up incredibly.
Redesigns like this make the console cheaper to make as was the case in the PlaySation 1,2 and 3s redesigns.  Lead to price drops and more sales.  Better reliability.  MS should definitely want to do a redesign, because god knows the 360 needed an internal one as soon as it hit shelves.

  @Everyone - Yes, this was written for an Xbox website and does have the sound of a fanboy to it. The best comment I read was that it sounds like a Microsoft PR piece because it's true. Point being, this was the first piece that was published on PlanetXbox360 that I wrote and is by no means my best writing. On the contrary, I believe it to be some of my weakest and I'm glad that I can publish stuff like this here if for nothing else than the sole fact that the community can keep me honest in the capacity of a writer.

Truth be told, Microsoft would be absolutely insane to slim the 360 and to everyone who hasn't had a RROD yet, count your damn blessings.

microsoft would not to do that because there would be even more problems. i can see a the same problems that it already has. i don't think they want to spend the money on a smaller version just to have the same problems happen.

A slim Xbox would be nice but how about one thats quiet!  My Xbox has to be the loudest console I have ever owned.

I was actually thinking about this last night while in my room.
 
I think one huge issue is the detachable hard drive. It would need to be able to fit on this slim 360 model, and with the size of that thing alone, the slim one couldn't be all that slim.
 
Also, slimming down consoles is more of a Sony thing. Nintendo only does it with their handhelds. Microsoft never did it with the original Xbox.
 
@trophyhunter: Hahaha, this is a fine point too. The original Playstation 3 is freaking enormous, oh my God! I finally got my hands on one recently and just can't believe how big it is.

I think 360's already have trouble with overheating as it is, introducing something with smaller airflow and more tightly packed components isn't really going to help. 

  @Geno said:

" I think 360's already have trouble with overheating as it is, introducing something with smaller airflow and more tightly packed components isn't really going to help.  "

It's been said about 100x here, but just in case it was missed, the answer is HEAT:
 

" I was actually thinking about this last night while in my room.
 
I think one huge issue is the detachable hard drive. It would need to be able to fit on this slim 360 model, and with the size of that thing alone, the slim one couldn't be all that slim.
 
Also, slimming down consoles is more of a Sony thing. Nintendo only does it with their handhelds. Microsoft never did it with the original Xbox.

Personally I don't have any wish for them to bring out a slimmer 360. The console isn't really oversized to begin with and even if I did have the cash I wouldn't want to pay more money just for a different sized version of the same product.

I can't see why it would need to be any smaller than it is now. It's the nicest console, physically, than any other that I can think of.