Console Iteration Review #1:
The Xbox 360 Series: Core to ‘S’
by AXIS of Reality
© 2010 Alex Baldwin
It’s getting to be an expectation now. A console will launch and we’ll happily part with our money for the latest and greatest, only to be presented with the new, improved version barely a year later.
While Nintendo popularised the introduction of new colours, Sony took the radical step of redesigning their PlayStation console into the smaller, lighter and more reliable PSone form factor to great success.
Over the next few years as the Gameboy Advance SP and PS2 Slim were released it was cemented as a successful business move to reiterate a console’s design in looks, features and size in the hopes of not just tempting new customers but encouraging their existing ones to hand over a second wad of cash.
As of now, the only current game hardware not to have more than a single re-release under its belt is the Wii, but even it received a long-overdue black version.
This series of articles will take a look at the lineup for each console, starting with the Xbox 360, and re-review them with the benefit of hindsight to see exactly how necessary and successful each iteration has been in addressing the problems of its forerunners.
Note that these articles will not include software, including game selection, or online features, and is purely related to the hardware itself.
#1: Xbox 360 PRO (20gb) & Core (sans HDD)
[Ed Note - Some early history first - The life of the 360 started as early as 1999 alongside the creation of the 1st-gen Xbox.
Not long after the 1st-gen Xbox was a 'work-in-progress' within Microsoft, the lead designers knew that it needed to be taken further, knowing that in order to make the long haul, they needed to come in strong in about 5 years from the first iterations release.
So work on the "Xenon", as it was originally known, started when the 1st-gen xbox had yet to hit the shelves around the world. Then work began in earnest a few months after the release of the original 1st-Gen Xbox in November 2002.]
I had one of these until recently. The iconic white Xbox 360 launched to great fanfare with its unique (although questionable) approach of having two versions immediately available.
The more expensive Xbox 360 Pro shipped with a 20gb removable hard drive, although only 14gb was usable, while the Xbox 360 Core was simply packaged with a 256mb memory card, a wired controller instead of wireless and lacked the chrome highlights of the Xbox 360 Pro.
Visually they were definitely successful in making something instantly recognisable and appealing with the unusual concave “Inhale Style designed” (their words) silhouette and ability to be placed horizontal or vertical (but inability to switch between the two during play – more on that later).
The off-white colour matte plastic hid fingerprints and grime quite successfully and mirrored the new, friendlier Xbox branding that was in stark contrast to the original Xbox’s imposing blacks and supercomputer marketing image. 
The controller was perhaps the most praised aspect of the Xbox 360 brand, using a new rounded ergonomic shape that has seen it hailed as the most comfortable controller in history and demonstrated that Microsoft had learned from the Xbox’s ‘Duke’ and ‘S’ designs of the previous generation.
It has been so successful that it is the only aspect of the 360 that has stayed consistent over the iterations, although the d-pad still leaves much to be desired for precision control in fighting games. [Ed: the two Analogue Sticks and adjustable 'D' pad have received 'attention' in the latest announcement of a new monochrome controller design launching soon se details below.] 
Being the first HD console on the market, Microsoft chose to give the Xbox 360 a resolution limit of 720p/1080i through component cables which was quickly pounced upon by the PS3′s claims of 1080p (aka: ‘True HD’).
While Microsoft later issued a software update to 1080p through VGA, in the end it mattered little since 99% of games on both platforms are rendered in 720p or lower with simple upscaling being employed for 1080p connections.
What was more questionable however was the lack of digital output via the new standard of HDMI being introduced. The Xbox 360 surprised many by continuing to use DVD in opposition to the new HD formats of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, with an optional HD-DVD drive available separately.
This hasn’t been as much of a drama as initially expected however, with games using multiple discs able to be counted on two hands. However the DVD drive presented two more major issues.
First was the noise. When loading up a game the sound of the disc spinning brought noise levels above noticeable and into distracting range. No-one wanted to have quiet game moments ruined by the vacuum-like sound of the disc drive spinning up in addition to the fans.
The second problem was the disc scratching if the console’s orientation was changed between horizontal and vertical while the console was turned on, although there were enough warnings about moving the console during play to make it a non-issue for anyone with common sense.
A slot loading drive may have improved both these issues however, but the later software update allowing all games to be installed to the hard drive was also a perfect remedy for those with a sizable hard drive. The biggest issue with the console is also the most well-known.
It didn’t take long for word to spread of the Xbox 360′s unnervingly common tendency to get the dreaded ‘Red Ring of Death’ where three quadrants of the green ring on the front flash red signifying a ‘general hardware failure’.
This was found to be caused by overheating causing the thermal paste on several board components to dry out and lose sufficient contact for drawing away the heat, and was experienced by an unacceptably high percentage of owners including myself.
In response Microsoft extended the warranty up to 3 years with an apology free month of Xbox Live Gold for anyone who experienced the issue, but it still indicated a lack of sufficient pre-release testing on Microsoft’s part to last minute changes made to the hardware prior to release.
FINAL SCORE: 5/10
#2 Xbox 360 Elite (120gb)
The introduction of the Elite seemed mainly in response to customer demands by adding HDMI and a larger hard drive ideal for the ever-expanding Xbox Live Arcade and downloadable content selection.
That’s not all we got however, with the new not-quite-matte-black colour scheme bringing it back in line with the original Xbox’s look. Later on the iconic red Resident Evil 5 Xbox 360 Elite and (quite ugly in my opinion) green and bronze Halo 3 console also hinted that Microsoft weren’t totally attached to the entirely white styling that had been used up until this point.
There were some other smaller changes in this and following models that weren’t advertised, such as the quieter series of DVD drives and the much more stable Jasper chipsets that came later and proved more resilient against the dreaded Red Ring of Death.
They also used slightly less power and demonstrated Microsoft was actively working towards remedying the hardware issues that plagued early 360s, albeit not as fast as we would have liked.
Later Xbox 360s included in this series are the Pro 60gb, and the rebranded Arcade consoles that accompanied aggressively low pricing undercutting even the Wii. The most prominent omission from the updated consoles was the lack of WiFi despite its ever-increasing popularity in homes and inclusion in the PlayStation 3.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
#3 Xbox 360 S
Now we’re talking. I was initially sceptical of the new 360 S when I saw it for the first time at E3 this year; it’s hardly the ‘slim’ console that had been predicted with Microsoft’s own advertising hailing it as only 15% smaller, and under the thousands of brightly coloured lights on the E3 floor and coating of fingerprints it didn’t look to be the most attractive beast. How wrong I was.
After unpacking my own 360 S ready to replace my aging launch 360 Pro (which had experienced the Red Ring of Death once before) the first thing to strike me was the beauty of the machine.
I’m not very superficial with consoles, but this thing looks fantastic with the chrome rim around the top and bottom and the very subtle gradient in the grill blade spacing getting closer together towards the rear. The slight pinch in the sides maintains the concave look of the 360, but combined with the hard lines and glossy coat it gives the impression of a high-end sports car.
The controller has also removed any sign of grey on the thumbsticks or d-pad in favour of an entirely black affair. Simply put, the 360 S looks much more like a premium product and it’s fitting it has been accompanied by new graphic design for the Xbox 360 brand marketing.
In recent days, Microsoft have released the new controller for the new X360′S’ console which was announced by Major Nelson at the end of August 2010.
I know the Xbox and 360’s d-pad was designed circular to get around Nintendo’s patent of the ‘+’-shaped d-pad, which is also why the PlayStation’s is split into those four segments to be unrecognisable enough.
Microsoft’s solution of having the circular part lower into the controller if you twist the d-pad 90 degrees is quite genius, as it allows the ‘+’ shape that is ideal for precise control to be emphasized without infringing on Nintendo’s patent.
Plus, it allows you to choose which style you prefer by just twisting the ‘D-pad’ for the height you’re most comfortable with. You can also change the style of the ‘D-pad’ to allow for ‘sweeping’ actions or direct 4-way action for fighting games now.
Apparently the thumbsticks are also more concave to be grippier, although I’m a bit confused about the monochrome action buttons . . . . removing the colours from the buttons could cause some serious confusion because I know for any people unfamiliar with the Xbox controller they will identify buttons with the colour instead of the letter.
Luckily they are still monochrome shades of their original colour so they’re all different shades. I’m just confused why this new controller wasn’t launched with the Xbox 360 S?
Unless MS’s lawyers were still busy making sure the new d-pad design wouldn’t be close enough to Nintendo’s patent to be a target for litigation.
The size of the new Xbox 360 ‘S’ is now somewhat smaller, measuring in at a ‘Slim’ 270 x 75 x 264mm and weighs 2.9 kg, compared to now superseded Xbox 360 which came in 309 x 83 x 258 mm and weighed 3.5kgs. Making it now smaller and lighter than the PS3 Slim which now stands at 290 × 65 × 290 mm and weighs 3.5kg.
The major changes for the current X360 ‘S’ however are on the inside.
Finally we have WiFi built-in, and the ‘N’ standard for that matter which is capable of speeds approximately 3 times faster than the previous standard ‘G’ used by the PS3 and Wii; perfect for media streaming.
The generous 250gb hard drive has also been stuck inside the bottom of the unit like the PlayStation 3, but is still removable inside proprietry casing. As for the case itself, one of the major changes has been the removal of all vents and fans from the rear in favour of a single large-diameter fan and grill on the right-hand side (the top when laying horizontal).
This makes a lot more sense for home theater units and gives it more breathing room instead of the air being pushed out into the wall.
Air is sucked in through both the top and bottom of the vertical unit to be expelled through the side, and by simply placing my hand in front of the side vent it feels to be a much higher volume of air being moved which should help keep heat down.
Be warned however that if intending to use the console in the horizontal position ensure your 360 S will always be the top of any stack it is on since the air will be pushed upwards.
Around the back is the addition of many more USB ports, making 5 all up as well as the very welcome inclusion of a dedicated port for Kinect that is able to power the entire device by itself, while older 360 owners will need to use an AC adapter for the wall.
The power and disc eject buttons on the front of the console are now capacitive touch sensors, something I initially thought would be a change for the worse but I am happy to report work flawlessly.
An immediate ‘bing’ sound (I see what they did there…) accompanies a touch instantly from the console itself so I was never unsure of whether I had touched it correctly or not.
While the giant silver power touch area is obvious, the disc eject is a hidden little indent near the upper-right of the drive. What I found was this encourages a simple sweep with the finger of the upper curve of the console to activate, something strangely effortless and quite satisfying.
Sadly the disc drive is still tray-loading rather than the more sensible slot-loading drives of the Wii and PS3, but it works without a hitch although disc-scratching is still apparent if you move your console around during play.
There is one design change I find very questionable however, and strangely has not been mentioned by other reviews.
In place of the four rubber feet on the bottom of the console is a long, large rubber pad at each end. This actually makes the console feel less stable in its upright position, as of course they are unable to be completely flat.
The four smaller feet of the older 360s never had this feeling and I wonder what the reasoning for this undesirable change is.
The final teeth-grinding issue of the original Xbox 360 (lessened in the Jasper-series) has thankfully been remedied by the Xbox 360 S: the noise. Gone is the jet-engine in favour of a still-audible but far nicer and almost refridgerator-esque sound which makes playing games off the disc perfectly fine but playing games installed on the large 250gb hard drive almost silent.
It really shows Microsoft totally re-engineered the internals after the Red Ring of Death fiasco in not only using smaller manufacturing processes to greatly reduce power usage and heat but also opting for a single larger fan spinning slower to reduce noise.
The faster but quieter DVD drive is also very welcome, and was also able to better read a severely scratched preowned Dead or Alive 4 disc my old launch Xbox 360 console had no hope with.
All in all the Xbox 360 S is by far the pick of the Xbox 360 series of consoles and with more USB ports, a Kinect port, far quieter and more reliable hardware, large removable hard drive, sexy industrial design and the only console with built-in WiFi N it’s definitely a contender for the best console hardware ever.
Also note that the upcoming Xbox 360 S Arcade with 4gb memory will have a matte black finish instead of the current glossy finish, and the limited edition Halo: Reach console has a custom matte-silver paint job on both console and controller, with the console sounds for powering on and opening the disc drive replaced with iconic Halo sound effects.
• Download the Xbox 360 Motherboard codename PDF
FINAL SCORE: 9/10
© 2010 Alex Baldwin
Filed under: Console gaming, Hardware News, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | "xbox 360 review", 360 Arcade, 360 Core, 360 Review, 360 S, Halo Reach Console, Microsoft xbox 360, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Arcade, Xbox 360 Console, Xbox 360 Core, Xbox 360 Elite, Xbox 360 S, Xbox Arcade, Xbox console, Xbox Core, Xbox Elite, Xbox S
I just unpacked & updated my Reach Console & was extremely disappointed by the low volume of the sound effects. You can barely hear them. I hope there is a way to raise and lower volume.
Yeah I noticed that too. I was hoping for a halo-esque gregorian chant but just got some laser charging noises. At least the console looks fantastic!
Sounds are dependant on your ‘sound system’ be that the standard in-TV unit or a special 5.1/7.1 sound system. They are not dependant on the unit its self, all have full 5.1 min support.
The sounds for the registering of actions are minimal at best, but in reality, is that the reason one gets a system for? . . . it’s simply an added feature. Personally I like the very quite sounds rather than higher sounds from opperational actions. But that’s just me.
Actually, they were referring to the power and disc tray button sounds made by the unit itself (not speakers), new to the Xbox 360 S models.
The beeps made by the regular 360 S console are a decent volume, but I have not been lucky enough to try the Reach console yet.
yeah man, I had checked out the 360S, it was a gift for a friend before I got my Halo Console, & was shocked to hear the satisfying beep. My Halo console’s power & disk tray sound effects are way too quiet for such cool sounds. More quiet than the S, as I recall. Again, not a deal-breaker by any means, but it is such a tease cause’ many fans would love to hear it loud & proud when they fire it up for a session.
You know what would be awesome is if developers could customize those sounds with themes… so if you got a theme it would replace the sounds as well as the background
Amen to that. It would be nice indeed. I wonder if they will add options allowing for that kind of customization but probably not. Something tells me that they are embedded deeper than we think.
The 360S should have been 10/10.
It is beautiful and pretty much flawless, the tray loaded DVD is far more practical for gaming, especially since you can always get your games out of it if some unforeseen hardware failure should occur.
I lost my MGS4 disk after my PS3 YLOD and had to be sent to Sony.
No product is perfect, and a 10/10 would indicate that the item was perfect. There are issues it does have, which does seem to highlight that fact that game discs do play differently to DVD movie discs.
My ‘S’ plays all movies as quiet as a lamb, almost no noise whatsoever. 805 of the games play extremely quite, yet there’s a number that no matter what I do, be that running it horizontal or vertically, or making sure that it is stable, nothing touching it etc, some games get a substancial noise about them.
A grinding noise, not an actual grinding per-se, but a noise, almost as if the disc is unbalanced. When checking, I can see that the art on the disc is generally heavier on one side than the other, and seeing that a game disc is played, read, played, read and grabbing content from different section all the time, you can see why it ‘could’ develop some sort of vibration, leading up to a grinding noise.
So no matter what iteration it might be, there will be issues, no matter what the platform.