+ lowering the cost of the new Xbox by not having to do backwards compatibility
- having yet another device cluttering up an entertainment center

I'm thinking more along the lines of forced dash functionality like facial recognition.

I can see it now...

Gamer - I can't use Kinect because I'm disabled.
MS Exec - I don't see the problem. Stop being a lame-o.

Maybe the 720 will be arch shaped, and then you can just slide the mini right in there and it looks like one console.

Mistake?

So the stand alone mini will not play Kinect games?

Is that a big loss?

Maybe it will have a way to connect the old Kinect.

If it has the same hardware as the 360 and Microsoft wants people to download games, I will assume a 250GB hard drive (if not larger) will be standard. As long as it doesn't remove functionality like the Wii Mini and provides backwards compatibility to the "Durango," this should be a slam dunk for Microsoft. Providing they manage to not find a way to fuck it up.

There should be no way this device is physically larger than your standard AppleTV or Roku. Think of it like this: your current smartphone (iPhone 5, Galaxy S3, whatever) has better hardware inside of it than the 360.

I think it'll be a bit bigger than the Roku, and it'll snap into the Durango ( not connect via a cable) or if you have it in a separate room, it'll stream games from the Durango. Total speculation of course, but I think that'd be pretty badass.

Like the original Xbox's locked down bigger drives, at this point it has to be cheaper from a manufacturing standpoint to just go with 500gb. Right?

I'm not sure I understand the point of your question, but the Xboxes I have owned so far have all had disc drives so they know because they read the discs. If someone gets a mini and doesn't have a 720 then I don't understand how it could register that they own the disc version of a game.

I don't think they are implying that you get to download the GoD version of a disc based game. I assume you'll be able to sign into Live on your mini and redownload anything you've already purchased. Any disc based game will require the 720.

why do i need the mini for BC? i should be able to just daisy chain my old 360 to my new 720.

So now everyone is back? I though you guys were ready to play in your PCs.

I can't wait for the actual announcement.

"When used with Durango, it offers connectivity with it for backwards compatibility with both disc based and On Demand games, and it’s no more different than what Sony will be doing with Gaikai for playing PS3 games on PS4, only with Xbox it will be done locally and not through the cloud.

You can control the Xbox Mini under a single interface and not have to worry about switching between devices in a single display input.


These connectivity functions cannot work with existing Xbox 360 units due to the difference in external interface. The Xbox Mini was designed for this along side Durango."

So I am guessing that there isn't a way to connect the 360 to the Durango to do this, and really, if you have a 360, you don't need to connect it to the Durango.

Right, they were referring to any GoD games you have already purchased.

Disc games you need to put in the Durango itself.

About time that somebody says this. It amazes me the amount of money some are willing to shell out to buy a new product along with more money to buy another product to run through said new product to play games that you already own a system to play the games with. Had they included BC in the new unit then great but they're basically getting you guys to drop more bucks to buy the same stuff again and people are getting excited about it. I just don't get it.

I own Star Wars on VHS, Laser Disc, DVD, and Blu-ray. What was your point again?

What do you mean "about time?" Deftones said that only a couple hours after the rumor was posted.

Anyway, depends on how you look at it. From a technical standpoint, backwards compatibility means extra hardware because of architecture differences, which costs more more money. The PS3 backwards compatibility is an example of that. If the rumor of a $500 price is true, would people want to pay $600 so that everyone gets backwards compatibility, or save the money and make it an option? It seems crappy from a consumer standpoint, but given the constant talk about how Microsoft lost money on every 360 sold for years, I can imagine they are in a position where they don't want that to be the case again.

If the rumor is true, I think its nice to at least have a supported option, and one that makes the add on more useful for other purposes to add some value.

So essentialy for backwards compatibility you are willing to pay extra for another component rather than extra for the unit itself to be backwards compatible? It might work out and yet the shelves might stay stocked with a plethora of these as the average gamer might not be interested in spending money on it as many already have a 360.

the one reason why i'd think this as being a relatively cool idea is that if you can use this as a streaming device in another room. I woudln't be totally opposed to buying both, selling my xbox 360 just so i can throw the little xbox in my bedroom to have a streaming device.

I think the add-on will be phased out in 1-2 years. I'll probably pick one up on clearance and pick up the actual system further down the line.

the add on will probably cost less than you can trade in your 360 for...nice swap and it takes up less room than current 360..

also, my xbox live service is down right now, so I planned on vacuuming, but my power went out as well...I knew I should never had bought that dyson...

Xbox Live is down for me too....