Xbox 360 Slim Rumor Gets Traction: MS Hiring Motherboard Engineer

Oof. This could be the final nail in PS3's coffin.

i don't see another xbox for at least another 2 years

Playstation move is exactly like the wii controller what a rip off sony fails again

@Baalzamon
lol... Another mindless Sony fanboy who have no idea about what can do the Natal camera and comparing it to the Eyetoy or the Wii controller... There is no link between the two technologies at all, especialy with the Eyetoy, just take the time to read up a little before trolling. Also when you want to prove a point at least don't use random number from your hat like this price tag coming from nowhere.

It is like people comparing the Microsoft Surface (search on youtube) and the iPod. It is not even close to be the same thing.

XBox360 slim + Natal? Lights out, PS3.

Now THERE's a slim console I'd spend my money on.

@penguin: I am going to go on and make you angry...Natal is essentially Eyetoy plus the Wii combined with a couple extras. On top of that, the likely $100-$200 price tag for it will make it a complete turn-off to the non-hardcore gamer.

Come back on Earth M$ fanboys. Lagtal or Arc won't change the story of this gen.

I don't think MS need to go slimmer(Other than if it get's manufacturing costs down) simply because the 360 size was never a problem compared to the huge PS3 Phatt.
Sony on the other hand other than having a machine that was far to big also knew the YLOD issue was getting worse and more well known on the Phatts.

LOL at the person comparing Natal to the Eyetoy webcam!!!! you need to read up on some technology.
MS look to be showing the Full Natal lineup at E3 in June and with around 70% of the world's videogame publishers currently working on Natal games this should be very interesting.

If Sony has the same technique dirty business for years and is doing well. Because they will not do microsoft
Imagine 360 + slim + Natal: the hurricane is unleashed and 360 world destroying everything in its path.

i hope that is not it....that is ugly.

Never too late to release a slim although I dont find it important unless it comes with a price cut.

would be interesting to see if it does happen it could be a success if it lowers the production cost for the xbox360 and then you can bundle it with natal and it wont be too much for people.

I think it's too late for a 360 slim. MS will be the ones wanting to release a next gen console before their competetors appealling to both casual and hardcore.

If they want it out in 2012 they'd want to start workin on it now. I see little reason for a slim.

You can't count out a totally new 360. The Xbox 360 is now in its 5th year on the market which is longer then the Xbox lasted.

A 360 slim would be cool though.

If they release a 360 Slim, I would definitely pre-order one. I still think it's coming, but I don't know if M$ can get it done in time for this year. If so, it probably wouldn't launch until November. Microsoft definitely has something up their sleeves. It's either a 360 Slim or the next XBox generation. We'll find out at the E3 I'm sure.

unless, of course, they include wifi + bluray player with it...then it would be devastating...but of course, they will keep these as extras and way overcharge people.

@qmoney88: a slim 360 coupled with halo and natal would be devastating to sony in the United States. I will wager the ps3 will still outsell the 360 in Japan by about 15x and will continue to outsell the 360 in the rest of the world as well. Overall, I would say it will make the 360 tie the ps3 worldwide...not devastating, just good competition.

Add in a price drop by both consoles, and ps3 sales will get even higher in Japan and the rest of the world...still just making it an even battle. 360 has waited too long after the ps3 price cut/slim to do anything hugely drastic such as this (except their own $100 price cut of sorts)

a slim 360 coupled with halo and natal would be devastating to sony, they definitely want to get these out soon. Id probably buy one myself, my elite is startin to sound like my pickup. My ps3 isnt quite there yet, but I would buy one if it were to come out this year for sure.

lol futur Flop.
Without games you are nothing, Sony has many studios, this is the key of the win. good luck M$$$.

I love how many PS fanboys heralded the coming of a PS Slim and now that the xbox is looking at improving its design to better distance itself from the failure rates of a few years back with RRoD, those same PS fanboys sit and claim "copy copy copy," as if the idea of shrinking components strictly begins and ends with Sony.

@hduser The actual connector for the HDD is less than an inch tall. They could keep the same HDD form factor and just have it snap into the horizontal top of the unit.

blue ray games on pc....rofl

@nightsurge

Not too mention that natal is basically a copy of the eye toy. Just as sony seeks to improve the wiimote, microsoft wants to improve the eye toy. Not to mention Ps3 and WOW copied ms 'achievements' feature. Next is blu ray games on xbox and pc. Its and endless cycle of coping, and thats ok, because its the only way the industry is going to stay competitive and be forced to think of fresh new ideas or upgrades.

@Cooltown

Lol no joke! Right after Sony reveals they straight copied the Wiimote/nunchuck, too! How dare they steal Sony's "me too" moment!

if they FIX the loud dvd-rom, maybe I'll get it.
if not, no point.

What's going to happen to the hard drive? The current xbox width is due to the width of the hard drive module.

i would get a slim 360 without a doubt.

@Avarice
I would say it is exactly the opposite. All that extra space and lack of airflow is the problem. It allows the hot air to sit there and cook components. What the 360 needs is less open space and better fan placement to move the air over the heatsinks rather than just pulling it out the back. If they shrink everything down, move it all closer, and optimize the cooling fan placement and air tunnel it would be perfect.

@Opa-Opa

LOL.

I know right, talk about a "me too" moment by MS after the success of the PS3 slim.

I really do not see this happening due to the heat issues that the current configuration is currently experiencing. They really do not need an engineer to "shrink" the motherboard, what they really need is a engineer to come in and help with cooling and ventilation. The 360 has a ton of room and has benefited by having all that extra space due to the heat the components emit. Shrinking it and allowing parts to be closer together would greatly negate advances made to stop RROD and that other error. I believe that they are probably just looking to reconfigure the guts but at the same time keep the casing the same size, i.e. not a slimmed down 360.

They could just bundle a transfer cable with the slim to get all your data off your old hdd onto the smaller slim one so thats not a problem.

@mundus6: Dude, when a company says something like that, it's just for marketing...

if it finally gets rid of rrod problem i will finally get one. but i will still get all my multiplats on ps3. im only gonna use it for the exclusibves

This could be a 360 with built in Natal. M$ even said that Natal will be like a new console launch for them.

It may take awhile

I just don't see how they can work around the bulky harddrives that most 360's have right now.

wow, new slim and more reliable than the fat 360, hell yeah, i am for it, i already had a pro 60gb 360, but i always love slim more.

I like Halo 3, which is probably a strong enough qualification to put my name on the shortlist.

something new for microsoft to market in 2011

Glad to see microsoft using that ingenuity yet again.

Damn, I wish I was an electrical engineer.

Looks like Microsoft might be pulling out their photocopying machine again..... *sigh*

Awesome. Slim solely boosted PS3.

Definately the 360 would gain a nice bump in sales each week with a slim. Good to see M$ using one of their cards they are holding to increase the sales again for 360.

@ numonex

Dude. An Xbox360 slim with Natal bundled would be tippity top notch, that would make it a day one buy for me.

RROD, now comes in the slim variety.

I could not help myself.

I'll be trading in my 360 when/if a slim releases.

Engineers are by no means computer geeks.

So Microsoft are assembling a team of super computer geeks to work on the XBox 360 Slim. XBox 360 Slim is a reality incoming.

I am getting a 360 Slim day one. Hopefully Natal will be bundled with it as well that would help its sales through out the world.

Seriously: this doesn't say anything. MS has already redesigned the 360 motherboard several times. Sony did the same long before they released a slim version.

As mentioned: the 360 hdd is made for the current design, so it's not so easy to just change it. I also think MS is less in need of a reimaging of the console than Sony was.

If MS is planning a slim for this year along with Reach and Natal this Xmas is going to look like one big green tsunami...

I don't no what 2 expect, this year MS seems to be going all out with apparent up coming announcements! Its all seems so exciting :D

Xbox 360 slim, 120 GB HDD bundled with Natal for 249€, one month after Halo Reach released and one month before Fable III with Natal Support will be released.

That would be overkill.

i dont expect a slim in the literal sence, because hardrive is side mounted.

but there will be redesign, i expect it to be smaller and cheaper

I think M$ is going to skip the 45nm chipset and hop right on to the 32nm chipset, because if they had planned on pushing out the 45nm chipset, they would have fielded them late 2009, and certianly by now. Cutting down that far is going to heavily reduce cost and power consumption, to name a few. Ballmer slipped up last year and said a new console design in 2010...did people REALLY think the CEO didn't know?

No where does it explicitly say they are only accepting one person. It says they are seeking qualified candidates with for an Electrical Engineer. The "an" can be interpreted as a single person, but at the same time to me that just means that each candidate is eligible for one position. Just saying. Also, this is one job listing location. Could be more elsewhere.

does this mean that they don 't have enginneers ?

Interesting...

If they call it a slim it will be down right egregious.

Natan implementation for ..... Xbox720

You dont need to hire new inginer to make a slim IMO

If they're still hiring people to get the job done, it ain't coming anytime soon.

That's assuming this position is specific to a 360 slim, of course.

Well i would upgrade my 360E to a slim... Not that my elite isnt perfect, but a new shy xbox is always lovely!

Maybe ms should build a game in lile the old mega drive an alex
kid! Tht was the most mental idea ever!! Lol

Don't rush the console microsoft. ROD and E74 don't need a slim cousin.

@swordy:
Exactly.

Some of you are kinda missing the point, this job ad is just here to confirm that a new 360 is on the way.

ive thought for a while now that the slim 360 wouldnt launch untill at least summer next year. this year for xbox is huge. halo,fable,ME2, and natal. i just dont see a slim 360 fitting in. but on the other hand if a console redisgn come late next year there shouldnt be a xbox 720 untill 2013.

Guys, they just need 1 new engineer, it's not like they don't have any already.

this was confirmed when they said NATAL launch would be as big as a new system

Even if the new engineer start working from now,
his products will be later than 2011.

1 motherboard engineer? I see the new slim is going to be an engineering succes with just 1 extra person slimming it down... ETA: 2043