Leaked Photos Hint at Slimmer, Cheaper Xbox 360

March 17, 2010 By Nick Mokey

A refreshed Xbox 360 with a radically condensed design could be on the way, potentially making the next model both slimmer and cheaper.

Envious of Sony’s slender new frame, it looks like Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has been pounding diet shakes to slim down, too, and we even have the tabloid-esque photos to prove it. The Chinese gaming board A9VG recently posted leaked shots of what appears to be a new, slimmer Xbox 360 motherboard.

From a geek perspective, the big news here is that from all appearances, the CPU and GPU have been rolled into one unit, allegedly code-named Valhalla. From a more practical perspective, the same two-in-one magic has the potential to significantly shrink the physical size of the unit, and because the two chips and associated hardware (like heatsinks and coolings fans) have been consolidated, reduce the price of the console.

What chance is there this is real? A pretty good one. With the five-year anniversary of the Xbox 360 console coming around in fall, along with Microsoft’s goliath Project Natal launch, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft launch a refreshed Xbox 360 console around that time frame. Microsoft has a job opening for a motherboard design engineer for the Xbox 360 console development team right now – a team whose stated purpose includes “aggressive cost reduction of the console throughout the life of the product.” If that’s not a good indication this is real, we’re not sure what is.

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Good Info Guide at 10:08pm 21st October 2010 Best Xbox 360 Games...Best xbox 360 Games by Burhan Shooting game is considered as a game that will give an interesting experience in comparing other types of games. therefore, shoot a game quickly became one of the most popular game in comparing other games. Some of the t...
Dan Gaul at 4:12pm 17th March 2010 You have a point. I sure hope that any new consoles are backwards compatible. Seems like they should be able to do that now-a-days.
Ian Bell at 9:33am 17th March 2010 I have heard that there could be a PS4 in the next year or two. Any truth to that Nick? Every time I see manufacturers start to release slimmer versions of existing consoles, it's usually a sign that a newer system is on the way. Remember the PS2 Slim? That came out around the same time that the PS3 was announced if I remember correctly.