Gray Xbox 360 to make an E3 appearance? [update 1]

by Dustin Burg { Jul 10th 2007 at 9:00AM }

See something a little out of place above? Yup, far left, see that? It's an Xbox 360 ... but gray!

The big Microsoft E3 press conference airs tonight and so the Gamerscore Blog crew took a few pictures of the venue (a high school) where all the fun will be going down later and posted them to their Flickr account. But they obviously posted photos that they shouldn't have and quickly pulled a bunch of pictures featuring the venue and the rehearsal. But Joystiq reader Rickard Gudbrand was quick to take a screenshot of the one gray Xbox image (but we found a higher res one here) before it was pulled. Indeed, it is a gray 360.

So, what does this gray Xbox 360 mean? Well, we aren't sure and will have to probably wait until the press conference later tonight, but we'll go out on a limb and say it may have to do with either a price cut or be a reworking of what the Core system offers. Microsoft ... always wanting to surprise as if it were Christmas in July.

Update 1: We've stumbled upon a higher resolution version of the leaked photo. Enjoy.

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: e3, e307, gray, xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Ross @ Jul 10th 2007 9:08AM

It could also be the lighting thats making it look gray.

Ithilis @ Jul 10th 2007 9:10AM

If it's another SKU, MS has lost their minds. Though, I wouldn't mind a a version that comes with the HDDVD drive in it.

My guess is that it's the new Premium SKU, using the new 65nm chip. If you recall, the original Premium looked different from the Core as well.

Intentless @ Jul 10th 2007 9:11AM

It is not the lighting... Will everyone stop with it being the lighting... Photographer here... it is not the lighting...

Anthony @ Jul 10th 2007 9:25AM

Its actualy white, I have seen this picture from another view-point and it looks a lot whiter then this. not that its important, What is important is why is their four consoles their in the first place? Whats your toths?

YE @ Jul 10th 2007 9:25AM

Duh, it's a devkit.

FordGTGuy @ Jul 10th 2007 9:27AM

Its not a dev kit. The Dev Kit has a bigger HDD then the regular one.

Kicks @ Jul 10th 2007 9:28AM

Maybe it is their IPTV unit finally coming to fruition. Maybe the two white 360s represent a white premium and a white 360 with the 120gb hd. Who knows, but we sure will find out tonight ;)

Anthony @ Jul 10th 2007 9:29AM

Strange place to put a devkit don´t you think

Joel @ Jul 10th 2007 9:38AM

i did think tthe first time i looked at it that one would be the premium, another one the core, the elite, and the gray one would be the new hd/blueray drive but they all have the chrome disk trays which the core doesnt have. maybe its just to show up on the tv, sony had more than one ps3 last year to show their press conference maybe they want to show people some games running on the different xbox 360's.

Arno @ Jul 10th 2007 9:44AM

It still just looks like the faceplate is grey and the side is white but in bad lighting. If you look closely, the side of the box is noticable lighter than the face, and then bad lighting makes the whole thing appear grey without closer inspection.

Matt @ Jul 10th 2007 9:55AM

Well, I'm not a photographer, but that looks like it's in a shadow or something. Definitely lighting. What sense does a gray Xbox make anyway?

MIkey @ Jul 10th 2007 9:56AM

Anyone see this

39. MSG4 may not be PS3 exclusive.
Konami Does not believe the $100 Price cut for PS3 may help. This may be just another nail in the PS3 Coffin. Sony is facing an economic issues from there developers. It just does not make sense to make a game exclusive for the PS3 with it's installed base. As a developer it's like committing suicide.

Konami sees little PS3 price cut impact
Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:17AM EDT

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Corp.'s (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) $100 price cut for the PlayStation 3 is not enough to turn the fortunes of the game console, which has suffered a slow start, an executive of game software maker Konami Corp. (9766.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said.

Sony cut the PS3 price to $500 in the United States on Monday, in a bid to ignite demand. But it still costs twice that of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) Wii console, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of cutting-edge graphics.

"I wonder if Sony can win back user support by the price cut of just $100," Kazumi Kitaue, the head of Konami's North American and European operations, told Reuters in an interview ahead of this week's E3 video game industry trade show.

"I don't expect a substantial impact ... With $500, you can buy a personal computer."

Sony has packed its cutting-edge technology including a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player and high-performance chips in the PS3. The advanced functions enable life-like graphics, but have driven up production costs.

Its high price and a lack of attractive software have been cited as major reasons for the PS3's plight.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0924355620070710

Kitaue said Konami may need to expand the target hardware for its blockbuster fighting game Metal Gear Solid, which has so far been developed for Sony's PlayStation machines, to other consoles in the future to recoup development costs.

Posted at 6:52AM on Jul 10th 2007 by blackrome

Alex @ Jul 10th 2007 9:57AM

My money is on IPTV.

Bishop @ Jul 10th 2007 9:59AM

They all have the same lighting, so wouldn't the others look grey too. And grey doesn't need to make sense, but it sure makes more sense than throwing a blue or green one out there with a black and white already on the market.

Anthony @ Jul 10th 2007 10:04AM

How do you know they all have the same lighting from that close up picture. I have seen a Picture on another site from another angle and not as close to the consoles and its clearly white

YE @ Jul 10th 2007 10:05AM

Tester-only devkits (that allow playing of burned DVDs but no debugging) are without the thicker HDD. This is exactly what they would need to demonstrate work-in-progress games.

Colby @ Jul 10th 2007 10:09AM

I don't know if it is a new model or not, but that color is uuugly!!!

Mythor @ Jul 10th 2007 10:10AM

If it was a tester only devkit it wouldn't be up on stage with the other boxes, would it?

It's in a different light. Whether it's also grey I'm less sure, but it's definitely not in the same light as the other two. If it was the light and shadow on the side would be identical between the three - and it clearly isn't.

My money would be on a busted lightbulb they've not replaced yet, nothing more sinister than that.

mafafu @ Jul 10th 2007 10:14AM

It's an effect of the lighting/shadowplay.

Alan S17 @ Jul 10th 2007 10:21AM

Notice the silver drive tray face plate and hard drive on the grey unit. They are just as shiny and reflective as the other units up on the stage. That's a pretty good indication that it's getting a similar amount of light. I don't think it's in a shadow. Besides... if there's nothing to hide then why would MS take it down?

Jelly @ Jul 10th 2007 10:22AM

I think it's either lighting or a dev kit. Most likely lighting. My reasoning - No core in the lineup.

If they were going to introduce a new SKU (NOT a good idea IMO) they would want to show off the whole xbox 360 "family". What sense does 2 premiums, an elite and a new one make? Why not just elite+premium+new one.

Also...grey? Really?

Tony Bowman @ Jul 10th 2007 10:24AM

i would have said a tester-only devkit, but none of those machines have cables(power, video or network) connected to them, so it's obviously to show the units themselves off and not something running on them.

so, a replacement SKU for something is my guess, not a 4th unit to hit retail beside the others.

Jerry @ Jul 10th 2007 10:26AM

Gray XBOX360 used to be Devkits.

Double Diz @ Jul 10th 2007 10:33AM

Also consider that the 2 models that are clearly white both have the metallic disc trays, so they don't reflect different SKUs since the Core version's tray is white.

Viridium @ Jul 10th 2007 10:37AM

To those people saying it's simply lighting - what are you, half blind or LEGALLY F*CKING RETARDED?

The difference in hue between the middle two (white) consoles is caused by lighting. The difference in colour of the far left (gray) unit is caused by the fact that it's AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT COLOUR FROM ALL THE OTHERS IN THAT PHOTO!

DjChad @ Jul 10th 2007 10:43AM

I dont know what you all are smoking but those 2 middle 360s are CLEARLY orange...

itsburnsie @ Jul 10th 2007 10:53AM

Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb here and state that the one on the end is NOT grey, and not a new Xbox360 at all, but rather an elite with a big ass spotlight on it.

Lighting on those presentation stages is notoriously wonky, and under very bright light I have noticed that the "black finish" on the Elite can look kinda gray.

Plus it makes sense to set the stage up with two "Pro" 360's being flanked by two "Elite" consoles. It looks purty.

ericdrum @ Jul 10th 2007 10:53AM

I'm sorry to say, but that one on the left looks more like my elite than the one on the far right.

Viridium @ Jul 10th 2007 11:46AM

ericdrum, that's at least plausible.

MrKniceGuy @ Jul 10th 2007 11:47AM

DjChad is right. The two in the middle are CLEARLY orange. So Microsoft is bringing 3 new SKUs!!! A CORE with HDMI (gray) and and Elite with BlueRay/HD-DVD (orange 1) and a Premium with HDMI/Internet TV (orange 2). :-/

Face it. None of of us know what the gray one is. It's fun to speculate but stop calling people idiots for not knowing what it is. NO ONE DOES! (except M$ who will shed the light tonight)

Grant @ Jul 10th 2007 11:48AM

the 360 elite is more of a charcoa grey than black, and if you use flash close enough it would probably look a lighter grey color.

if you look at the elite on the end, you can tell it's not very good lighting, because it looks black as night. So the stage lights suck, and the if you use a contrast filter on it, it would make the close elite look light grey and the back elite look black.

but then again, you can see the red podium light on the close one, but not on the far... so it is possible it is a different color.

no matter what the color of the close 360 is, the lighting in that picture is really screwed up.

Robzy @ Jul 10th 2007 11:59AM

LOL it is proberly just Peter or Bill's custom 360 :L "I like mines gray." Or maybe its just a washed out black one. The first unfinished Elite looked grayish...or at least duller than it is now. Or perhaps its the lighting making a BLACK 360 look lighter...2 white 360's surrounded by 2 blacks on ether side makes sense.

rodsky @ Jul 10th 2007 12:25PM

make a freakin lime green one hahaha

SteveMB @ Jul 10th 2007 12:37PM

I don't think the one on the left is black, because if you look at the small black piece on the front of it, it doesn't really blend in with the rest of the Xbox.

http://www.ps3nuts.com (Yes, there is an Xbox 360 section as well)

Sparkstalker @ Jul 10th 2007 12:55PM

# 14. Yes and no. While each console has it's primary lighting from below, the "gray" console doesn't have the benefit of the lighting from the console beside it. Thus the side we see doesn't have the indirect lighting from the other podium from our point of view. Add to it the lighting from above, and what we're seeing is the dark side of the console, so to speak...

xion @ Jul 10th 2007 1:10PM

more interestingly, anyone else notice they ALL have hard drives?

Fabio @ Jul 10th 2007 1:24PM

If this is just lightining why was the photo taken down from the site ?

Joe @ Jul 10th 2007 1:29PM

if it is new model why would they pick gray.... i mean that is not a logical next color. o and i cant wait for assassin's creed!

Jason D. @ Jul 10th 2007 1:32PM

On Joystiq their picture shows that is indeed white. Clearly just lighting.

martyfinkle @ Jul 10th 2007 2:01PM

Anyone notice they all have Hard Drives too. Will the Core have an HDD?

intRvenous @ Jul 10th 2007 2:09PM

Ditto: it's just the lighting. The two center consoles are in a brighter floodlight...nothing more. Who would want gray anyway?

Ben Woodcock @ Jul 10th 2007 3:29PM

cummon guys its not gray/grey - it is

MOONSHINE SILVER

i mean how could u guys be so dumb!

yes there is bad lighting

but WE WILL NOT KNOW TILL E3 so just try and wait!!!!!

more interesting is that they all have hard drives!!!!

im betting IPTV tho it will tk ages to come here (UK)!

ericdrum @ Jul 10th 2007 4:11PM

This picture speaks volumes:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=767589926&size=o

Bishop @ Jul 10th 2007 4:14PM

yeah, it's bad lighting, but they are still getting light and you can still tell that the black one is black and the white ones are white and the grey one(whatever kind of 360 it is) is still grey. And how isn't grey the next logical color choice. All the others are neutral colors...so is grey. So what would be the next logical color in your head?

SRU Platinum @ Jul 10th 2007 4:50PM

Wait hold the phones. 360 fanboy uses IE7, not firefox!!! Now back on the 360. It's probably a pre-installed HD-DVD version. Or a core with a HD, or the new 65nm chip

ray @ Jul 10th 2007 5:13PM

or maybe its like a superXbox360

or something of the sort.

its probably both types of 360's into one(premium and elite) cuz you know. black+white=gray? maybe. just my 2 cents.

John @ Jul 10th 2007 5:40PM

yeah, that doesn't look grey to me... I think its just lighting... the other 2 are lit up while that one is dark, making it look grey.

Grimm @ Jul 10th 2007 7:33PM

You guys must be blind or something. This thing is obviously something different. Not an elite and not just a premium or core under bad lighting. Open this photo in irfanview and switch the colors from rgb to bgr and you can clearly see without all the distorting red hues. That things at least 5 shades darker and much lighter then the elite. Go get your ass irfanview before you proclaim anything.