Microsoft set to launch Xbox Lite in 2013
360 sees a shrink
Microsoft plans to cash in further on its current-gen console tech through the launch of the Xbox Lite, a smaller, inexpensive version of the 360, it has been claimed.
Renowned Microsoft speculator, MS Nerd, provided details about the Xbox Lite last week and has been quick to reply in depth to questions posted on the Reddit.com forum.
Downsizing again?
The new ARM-based 360 model will apparently launch in late 2013 for roughly £100, with a true successor to the Xbox 360 set to follow shortly after.
The same source reckons there will be a major Kinect refresh in 2015 as well.
A mini Xbox rumour was one the leak-extraordinaire talked up last year, claiming the Xbox Loop - as it was then known - would be cheaper than the 360 and further enable Kinect adoption.
"It will also demonstrate how Windows Phone could possibly implement Win9's dev platform on the lower end," moles said.
One thing we do know for sure is that Microsoft will not discuss its next-gen Xbox consoles at E3 this year. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Yay
Are those big bullies at MS holding a gun to your head, forcing you to buy it? Quit whinging and let the market sort it out - game consoles are hardly life & death.
ARM based 360???
I'm sorry but how is an ARM CPU supposed to stand in for the 360's PowerPC based Xenon CPU? It's not going to happen is it? The instruction set is wrong and there's blatantly not going to be enough horsepower for emulation.
Reading the original rumour it's clearly a Windows on ARM powered set top box with Kinect compatibility and built-in apps like Netflix, not a slimmed down, backwards compatible Xbox 360.
Re: ARM based 360???
Agreed. I call bullsh*t on this rumor.
A new platform based on WOA could be of value for those looking for multimedia and light gaming for a low cost of entry. It won't run Xbox 360 games but quite a few could be ported quickly that were done in XNA.
I expect there is a considerable market for whom the Xbox is overkill but they'd like some of what it does for the right price.
Re: ARM based 360???
whats the betting it'll be a "Raspberry Pi" in an XBox 360 case?
Re: Yay
The Xbox 360 shipped in 2005. Is it still 2010 in the twisted place you live?
Xbox 360 developers were never restricted by the existence of a model without hard drive. It just didn't have much meaning for most games beyond caching and good design takes care of that easily. It isn't like the early days of the PS3 where the new issues introduced by Blu-ray made the hard drive a necessity to compensate.
Nor were developers required to support the Arcade model. Games that required the hard drive, due to very large player data, were released in the first year. Such games are atypical of consoles but Microsoft never ruled them out.
Please point to an example of a game that was impaired due tot he need to run without a hard drive. And make sure it wasn't due to bad work by the developer before you commit to a name.
