Hasta La Gadget!

We knew it was coming, and now here it is: Sony‘s special edition PS3. To commemorate the impending release of GT5 the console is turning blue, and while the rather vibrant version we saw in the official press photos from August didn’t do much for us, seeing the thing in the flesh (admittedly behind glass) gave us quite a different impression. It has the same matte finish as the current PS3 slim, but the rich blue gives it almost a metallic effect. It’s really quite a looker, and while we wouldn’t normally splurge for such “special” editions, how often does a new Gran Turismo come around? Once a decade at most. This Gran Turismo 5 Racing Pack hits Japan on November 3 for 35,980 yen. That’s about $420 of those dollars you’ve been saving for oh so long.

PS3 holds breath waiting for Gran Turismo 5 release, turns blue at TGS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, sure — we’ve seen an Xbox 360 enclosure stuffed with x86 innards, but we can’t say we’ve ever seen anything quite like this. Gaming upstart Origin PC has just shattered every preconceived notion about its potential with the Big O, an appropriately titled luxury machine that combines a liquid-cooled gaming PC with a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 Slim. In one box. A pair of base configurations are available (though customizations are limitless), with both of ’em rigged up to run the PC and Xbox concurrently. In other words, these bad boys can actually crunch SETI@home data while you explore the vastness of Halo: Reach. The $7,669 build includes an overclocked 4.0GHz Core i7-930 CPU, Rampage III Extreme mobo, twin NVIDIA GTX480 graphics cards, 6GB of Corsair memory, a 1,500 watt power support, 12x Pioneer Blu-ray burner, two 50GB OCZ SSDs wired up as a boot drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 and bragging rights the size of Texas Alaska. For those still unsatisfied, there’s a $16,999 version that’s frankly too lust-worthy to spell out here (but is in the gallery below). Hit the source link if you’re feeling ambitious, but don’t blame us for blowing your kid’s college fund in one fell swoop.

Continue reading Origin PC’s Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle

Origin PC’s Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Missing your oldie Xbox 360’s bright and airy white finish? Well, Microsoft’s still not willing to sell you a slimmified 360 in any color other than black (excepting the limited edition Halo gear), but at least you can gaze upon the singular example of what a white one may look like above. This seemingly repainted Xbox 360 250GB (to give it its official, and ridiculous, name) has been lovingly put together over in China and really makes us wonder why Microsoft is depriving us of such snowy good looks. Perhaps it wanted to draw a clear between the old and the new? Either way, hit the source for the cheapest way to peek an all-white slim 360 without giving the Colorware crew a call.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Xbox 360 slimster made over in white, just for the hell of it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This might not be as sexy as its recent physical redesign, but the Xbox 360 is about to take what might be a major leap forward for many gamers. The console’s voice chat codec is going to be tweaked in an upcoming system update to allow a higher bit rate, and consequently better audio, through. Originally put together to run on 64k internet connections with the original Xbox, the codec’s finally catching up with our broadband times and should see itself renewed some time this fall, potentially alongside the retail launch of Kinect. Great, now when 12-year old kids destroy us in Halo, we’ll be able to hear their high-pitched gloating with crystal clarity.

Microsoft set to up bit rate on Xbox Live voice comms, pwners everywhere rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From a supply chain management standpoint, this all makes sense — why have four separate PS3 SKUs with various HDD sizes when just a pair will do? After announcing last week that a 160GB and 320GB PS3 Slim would be making landfall in the US and Europe, it seems as if Sony has decided to phase out the existing 120GB and 250GB flavors. There’s no definitive word on when production on those will stop (we’re surmising that the stop order has already been placed), but it looks as if some retailers are already starting up fire sales on the now-old models. For those curious, that’s a Fry’s installation pictured above, which is selling their leftover 250GB units for just $299, or the same price as the incoming 160GB unit. Decisions, decisions…

Sony phasing out 120GB and 250GB PS3 SKUs, the latter now going for $299 at Fry’s originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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