New Xbox 360 Controller, $200 HD-DVD, 1080p, ...

New Xbox 360 Controller, $200 HD-DVD, 1080p, And Jukebox?

From all the PS3 and Wii related news nowdays, several updates regarding Microsoft's next-gen console have boldly come to our attention this week. They tell about a new, more precise Xbox 360 controller for hardcore shooters players, about a rather cheap price for the console's upcoming HD-DVD drive (just $200), and about a couple of other things which we'll be touching on below.

The most plausible of these stories is the one about a new Xbox 360 controller. According to DigitalBattle, at the Gamefest event in Seattle from a couple of days ago, Microsoft's product unit manager, Robert S. Walker suggested that they might be creating an advanced version of the Xbox 360 controller. The new controller would have an improved and more precise right analog stick for games requiring higher precision (such as first person shooters), however the plan is to make this controller a second choice for gamers, instead of replacing the original one.

Next up we have that external HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360, that no one knows exactly when it's coming out and how much it's going to cost. Well... maybe somebody does. A story on the Taiwan-based DigiTimes website clearly states that "Microsoft will launch external HD-DVD drives for its Xbox 360 at a retail price of US$200 by Christmas of this year". I wouldn't be surprised if this also turned out to be true, given that the $200 price point is very reasonable for a drive that will only include the optics required to read a HD-DVD disc (the console will handle the actual image and audio processing).

Finally, [H]ard|OCP says that the Xbox 360 looks to already support 1080p resolutions, so if you can afford a new 1080p panel, go for it. The popular hardware website also mentions some sort of "media jukebox" coming to the Xbox 360 next year. It's vaguely described as a "Xbox 360 meets Media Center" product for handling tons of movies, video, pictures and music, without having to rely on your PC for streaming content.

So far, Microsoft refuses to comment on these issues, so we'll just have to wait and see how much truth there is to them.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)