Sony’s launch of a slimmed down PlayStation 3 last September at a lower price led to a sustained sales lift and Microsoft would welcome a similar boost for its smaller version of the Xbox 360.
There are no price cuts with the $300 Xbox 360 S, announced at the E3 show in June, but added features such as built-in wireless connectivity mean better value for money.
Swapping it out with my existing three-year-old Xbox 360 Elite and putting them side by side (pictured), the S could stand for “Shorter”. The S model’s power supply is also shorter than its house-brick-sized predecessor.
The squeezed shape, piano black finish and silver trim give the console a classier look than the Elite. The outdated memory card slots are gone from the front and there are touch-sensitive controls. USB slots are concealed, as with the Elite.
The 250Gb hard drive is in a smaller format, so it would not be possible to swap over the Elite’s 120Gb drive. However, setting up existing gamer tags on the new hard drive was easy to do.
On the rear panel, there are the same HDMI and ethernet connections but three extra USB slots have been added and an S/PDIF digital audio connection.
The S model is much quieter than the Elite – no loud fan noise – it has the same wireless black controller, but adds built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi – the fastest available for internet connectivity.
Where users may feel short-changed is on the cabling. The Elite came with component and HDMI cabling, but the S has only a red-white-yellow composite connection, meaning users will have to buy extra cables to enjoy HD gaming.
The biggest complaint with the 360 has been its unreliability, much of it appearing to be caused by overheating. Hopefully, there will be fewer returns of this cooler, quieter model and its appeal should grow in the autumn with the launch of the Kinect motion-sensing camera that can plug into the back (the Elite has the same port for this).
In summary, with no next-generation consoles in sight, the Xbox 360 S is an eye-catching “refresh” for the original 360 that may tempt new buyers, even though it does not come bundled with any games at this stage. However, the performance should be the same for playing games and watching content so existing owners may not see any compelling reason to upgrade.
