There's rumors that there are two usb ports on front of the xbox, and that you will be able to charge the wireless controller, via a usb extension cable.

There is some validity, since M$ has already stated that x360 controllers will be Longhorn(next version of Windows) compatible.

There HAS to be an option for wired controllers. I'm all for wireless out of the box but if you've got issues with the signal you've got to be able to hook them bastards up old school. My two cents.

Well, this is all still preliminary stuff, but it got me thinking about the color...

If the unit itself is silver, we might be getting controllers that match.

I WANT wired controllers.....never been a fan of wireless....losing charge or batteries....blah...junk.

I have no doubt there will be an option for wired controllers as well, but I'm sure that will be extra.

Maybe wireless refers only to the machine's internet capabilities and not the controller's functions.

Is the XBox 360 the same as XBox 2? Or are they going to release XBox 2 on 2007 as I read somewhere. Is XBox 360 the "next generation" from Microsoft or just the same but with fancy colors?

Xbox360 = Xbox2 = NextBox = Xenon

gamesindustry.biz
Weekly Update
05/05/2005

What links all three of the next-generation consoles? While the most obvious factor may be that they're all set to sport IBM-designed CPUs, arguably the most important common ground for all three systems is something you can't see - which is entirely the point. The HD Era be damned; the next generation of consoles will usher in the Wireless Era.

On the surface, the change is simply cosmetic. Your control pads will probably be wireless. You won't have to plug in a network cable to get online. It certainly doesn't sound revolutionary - but sometimes, it's the smallest changes that precipitate the biggest shifts in perspective for consumers.

Wireless controllers, for example, will go an exceptionally long way to making game consoles into an acceptable part of the living room for families, for women, or simply for the style conscious who aren't keen on lengthy cables snaking around their sofas and over their coffee tables. That's hardly a frivolous thing, when you consider how desperate some of the players in the next-gen race are to have their devices seen as home media hubs and family-friendly devices - something that will never happen while consoles continue to be designed like tentacle monsters from bad horror movies.

Wireless network connectivity will be even more of a radical change. It's not simply that people who currently connect their consoles up with network cables won't have to bother any more; wireless connections should introduce a whole new set of players to online gaming. Few households are prepared to run network connections into their living rooms, and even fewer have the capability to do so; but wireless routers and hubs are becoming a standard part of home computer setups, and are rapidly falling in price and becoming increasingly easy to install.

Right now, very few console owners play their games online, and the complexity of getting their systems talking to the Internet - combined with the perceived low value of online play for many gamers - is a key factor in the slow uptake of services such as Xbox Live. In contrast, consoles which pick up on existing wireless networks and simply offer gamers the automatic option of going online with minimal configuration will be a huge driving force behind online gaming and content downloads in the next generation.

Then, of course, there's the question of connecting up to existing devices wirelessly. For Microsoft, this means Windows PCs - from which Xbox 360 will almost certainly be able to stream media files. For Nintendo and Sony, though, their next-gen consoles will simply be new additions to an existing family of Wi-Fi enabled gaming devices, as both PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS both sport this capability, and both are expected to commence online gaming services later this year.

Those connections raise fascinating possibilities. Games which utilise both handheld and home console play to get the full experience; the ability to log in from a wireless hot spot on your PSP or DS to check the status of a massively multiplayer game (or similar) that you've been playing on your PS3 or Revolution; perhaps even the ability to stream videos and music from your PlayStation 3 console in the living room to your PlayStation Portable in the garden or the bedroom.

Better graphics, bigger game worlds and - maybe- some innovative control systems are what gamers will notice first about the next-gen consoles. Within a few years, though, it could well be the absence of wires, not the presence of faster hardware, which will be really changing how we use our game consoles - and to whom the industry is selling its games.


Chris

It's all good!
Bring on the wireless era!

Just to confirm that Xbox is indeed wireless and the controllers are as well.
My friend from work came back from the release party taping to air on MTV and he pretty much told me that the thing is wireless and apparently the outside is customizable. He also said the games he saw were super life-like. He said that there is a Grand theft auto type game called something "streets" I thought it might be True Crime 2: Streets of LA, but he said no. Also there is a splinter cell type game that looked really good. He said some lady brought out in a backpack and just pulled it out. So it looks like it's fairly portable.

That's all he pretty much told me.

A big from this neat freak.


And a to that as well. The games I've enjoyed a lot recently have been some stuff on the DS and the Konga games on the GC. The innovative control makes the games feel fresh and not like the same old thing.

You mean I'm going to have to buy a wireless HUB or ACCESS POINT to play games on LIVE????

I already have a cable run through my basement and into my router. Hopefully they add the option to go hardwired and not just wireless. I guess I can just plug a wireless access point into my router

I'm sure it will have an ethernet port but it's wireless out of the box. No need for a wireless adapter.

He said the show didn't explain very much it was just a coming out party so to speak.

I'll still need something to connect it to the Internet though, right? I would need a wireless hub for my internet, correct? Thus, more equipment to buy.

Not if it has an ethernet port, you could just plug the cable in.

It's just likely that wireless will work out of the box (assuming you have a wireless hub etc) not requiring you to buy a wireless adapter like you have to with the X-box or PS2 now.

But technically....I could do this:

Have my Internet plugged into a WIRED ROUTER, then connect a WIRELESS ACCESS POINT to the router to have the XBOX and a WIRELESS Notebook to access it, correct?

Internet->router->wireless access point


I know it sounds cumbersome...but it seems easy enough to me. I guess I could just get a wireless router. I just don't deal with wireless much, so I don't really know enough to switch everything at my house. I take it your modem still plugs into a wireless router to share the connection?

Yup, that should work.

The official unveiling of Xbox 360 is supposed to be on May 12th but they actually filmed the event yesterday (May 5). Microsoft's lawyers have been in a frenzy ever since trying to silence some of the people who were there and have leaked what they saw on the internet. So far here's what I've heard from various places on the web:

Perfect Dark Zero was shown and was playable. Has 22 weapons. In Xbox Live you'll be able to import your own skins so you can make your player look like yourself.

The hard drive version will have TIVO-like capabilities and a DVD burner so you can burn recorded video to disc.

Controller has a "Xbox Live" button on it that pulls up a menu with live options.

The system itself will have customizable faceplates.

Most of this comes from this site but now Microsoft has made them take down their audio recording of the unveiling until May 12...

so what you either get the hard drive version or you're screwed? you can't get it as an addon later? oh well i can't wait to see this thing on MTV.

I wish they weren't selling two versions.
I wonder how much they're going to sell the 360 with/without the HD and whether or not they will be losing money [again] on each console sold.

Perfect Dark Zero!

This is really a damned if you do damned if you don't, you do realize that? People will bitch & moan either way.

hard drives cost like $.25 cents now. WHY MICROSOFT?!?! Why charge us out the ass!

Posted from Engadget.com

Xbox360, Wireless Controller, Matching Live Headset, and Web Camera. Pretty much what everyone was expecting.

Incase you aren't following the OurColony crap, here is the lastest reward image which shows possible different skins for your console.



I like the idea of skins, but would rather have the cabability to make customized skins rather than using the same crap everyone else is.