Author Topic: Xbox 360 console naming  (Read 845 times)

Xbox 360 console naming
« on: May 01, 2016, 01:58:32 pm »
Since I recently got hang of my first Xbox 360 and decided to add it to my collection here, I noticed there's a lot inconsistency in the naming of the consoles. Following the idea behind my previous post of Hardware naming I decided to submit some changes and discuss them here.

First of all, following a short section of Style Guide I changed the names in all entries from "Xbox 360…" to "Microsoft Xbox 360…" which were quickly accepted from which I thank you approvers :). However, changing it was only a tip of an iceberg, and there are still a bunch of naming inconsistencies and lack of details in the names.

After doing my research, since I never had an Xbox 360 and my systems came without packaging, it seems that as far as the fat systems goes, there were 4 main packaging versions released:

  • Core – came in matte white color with matte white disc drive, but it's the only version with no HDMI port
  • Arcade (which replaced Core) – matte white color with matte white disc drive but with HDMI port
  • Pro (which seems to be equivalent of Premium, but "Pro" is a more commonly used) – matte white with chrome disc drive
  • Elite (black consoles)

There was also a name "Super Elite" which indicated an Elite console with 250 GB hard drive added.

Among these were versions with various sizes of HDD drives:
  • Core (no HDD)
  • Arcade - 256 MB memory unit
  • Arcade - 256 MB onboard memory
  • Arcade - 512 MB
  • Pro - 20 GB
  • Pro - 60 GB
  • Elite - 120 GB
  • Elite (Super Elite) - 250 GB

I'm not sure if and how many onboard memory non-arcade models had (I assume that Core, Pro and early Arcade/Elite had none?)

After then there's "S" (Slim) and the latest "E" models which I don't have and didn't researched properly, but they should be similar/easier to rename once the details are decided.

For more details see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_360_retail_configurations#Discontinued_models and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Retail_configurations

Unfortunately Wikipedia isn't comprehensive when it comes to the limited editions variations :(

Based on the information in Official Style Guide (and also what I suggested for PlayStation 2 in my previous Hardware naming thread), the Core/Arcade/Pro/Elite/S/E should appear before the hyphen, while the limited variations should be after it. I guess bundled disk sizes should appear after it as well, so I came up with the following name scheme:

  • Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro - 20 GB [NA] (with Premium being in alt-name)
  • Microsoft Xbox 360 E - Blue Special Edition 500 GB [EU]
(with mandatory space between GB, because of style :P)

There are, however some unresolved issues with this as well. For example, the old FAT Xboxes had different board revisions, which differ significantly:
  • Xenon
  • Zephyr
  • Falcon
  • Opus
  • Jasper

See: http://www.360drives.com/howto and http://beta.ivc.no/wiki/index.php/Xbox_360_Revisions

While the changes are internal, luckily they are possible to be spotted without opening up the console. Now the question is, should these be listed as well, for example:

  • Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro - 20 GB Zephyr [NA] (with Premium being in alt-name)

I guess there are other differences worth listing, such as includsion of bundle games or accessories (Kinect).


Do you mostly agree with the changes I suggest? Also, all input and suggestions on the matter are welcome :). I also don't mind reviving Hardware naming topic to discuss it further, as long as admins/mods don't mind it.
If there's no objection of the suggested format, I will start submiting the changes to the current entries.
Also, thank you in advance for all the replies and suggestions :)