The Power Review

E3 Rumor: Xbox360 Slim More Likely Than PS3 Slim

This isn’t an argument about which company needs the additional SKU more, but rather an assessment of which is more plausible to be announced at E3 in June.  Once the facts are reviewed it becomes pretty clear that both of these are in development, but the 360 version is more likely to be released first.

• RROD seems to have been solved – After a very bumpy start, with the release of the Jasper chip in 360 models, Microsoft seems to have finally put the RROD problem behind them.  Although this isn’t to say that another error (E74 or something else) won’t pop up to plague future systems.  Having a slim chipset, and being able to redesign the case entirely should also allow them to approach the “overheating” issue from an entirely new angle.  I fully expect that a redesigned 360 should have failure rates well within industry standards (1-3%).  Especially with the power brick being the size that it is, there’s no excuse this not to be the case!

• Xbox 360 has a 1-year lead on PS3 – The 360 has been around for three and a half years now, while the PS3 has been around for only two and a half.  Considering that the 360 has taken a page out of Sony’s book for the PlayStation 2 regarding their approach to this generation, it would only make sense that they would continue to do so in this respect.  That having been said, the PS2-slim model was announced and released during the fourth year of the PS2’s lifecycle.  Why not emulate the most successful console of all time?

• Microsoft has been TOO quiet so far this year – At last year’s E3 they dropped the Final Fantasy bombshell, and it shook the gaming world.  But at this point last year, they already had numerous announced titles that we slated for a Q4 release (Gears of War 2 was announced at GDC).  Because this isn’t the case this year, it leads me to believe that their bombshell this year will be a hardware announcement rather than a software one.  Sure there are also rumors about them entered the mobile gaming market with an announcement at E3, however I feel as if a 360-slim one is much more likely.

Like I said before, I fully expect that both companies have these SKUs in development, but which is more likely to be announced once you consider all the above information?  Sure, Sony needs to have this announcement, because a smaller model usually means less expensive chipsets, fewer components, and cheaper production costs.  What does all of that add up to??? Price drop!  But, just because one company needs it more than another doesn’t mean that they are ready to announce/release it.  Ideally both companies will come to E3 and announce slim models, however this seems highly unlikely.

In the end, regardless of what is announced, the gamers come out as the winners.  Looking forward to seeing what these companies can bring to the table in two weeks!

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