Microsoft FINALLY Launches Jasper

And about damn time too. I'll be getting one, for sure. For those who don't know, Jasper's claim to fame is it's 65nm GPU process, as opposed to the hotter-running 90nm Xenon, Falcon, Opus and Zephyr. This, theoretically speaking, is the final nail in the coffin for the 3 red-rings of death, though I won't believe it till I have a unit in my hands.

Plenty of motherboard pictures, and an explanation via the boys over at the Xbox-Scene Forums.

Edit: Apparently it's got (now confirmed) 256 MB onboard Flash memory for savegames as well, in case you're a sap who owns a 360, but no hard drive.

"I'll wager sixty finest English pence that you defeat Big Sister in the end by shagging her to death."

Kikizo.com - Excellence in Journalism

I might replace my 6th dead 360 with one of these.

Onboard memory is interesting.  Does this mean the retail box will be labeled to promote this feature?

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Probably not. I'd say it's just there because the NXE requires significantly more space than the old dash.

when can we expect these on the street, and how would i know if i was to buy a new xbox,

360 sucks

Ok, so 360 doesn't actually suck. I'm just bitter because i've had so many die on me.

I'm on my 3rd, and i want to buy one before it dies, i dont realy fear the Rings, its the drive thats worrying me.

Does this mean the retail box will be labeled to promote this feature?

No. Jasper is being soft-launched. Mircosoft isn't even aknowledging it's existence. If you're looking to find one, check the PSU wattage on the back of the box; it should be about 175w, with a mfg. date of September or late.

Ideally, you're just going to want a unit with a lot number above 0831.

when can we expect these on the street, and how would i know if i was to buy a new xbox,

I've gotten a few phonecalls today from friends who black-friday shopped, and they have little supply pockets of them littered throughout Southeast Michigan. Lansing, Detroit, et cetera, all have them at their big box retail stores.

I can't say for sure when Europe is getting them, but my educated guess is that they have slowly been slipping them into the wild since August or so, since there were a handful of (unsubstantiated) consoles popping up with a new LOT number. It takes a while for them to ramp up the production of a new SKU, so this is probably the first time they've been 10/20% of total units produced.

"I'll wager sixty finest English pence that you defeat Big Sister in the end by shagging her to death."

Kikizo.com - Excellence in Journalism

If you're looking to find one, check the PSU wattage on the back of the box; it should be about 175w,

'

Not 150w ?

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Let me check up on that.

Edit: You're right Ghost. You're going to be looking for one with a 150w PSU.

"I'll wager sixty finest English pence that you defeat Big Sister in the end by shagging her to death."

Kikizo.com - Excellence in Journalism

Meh, my 2nd is still going strong.  I'll wait until it dies, assuming it ever does.  I don't know of a future release that I even want for the 360.  There's Fight Night Round 4, that's it.  Then my 360 can suck a dick for all I care.

PC:
COD 6
StarCraft 2
Aliens: Colonial Marines  
GTA4 PC  (coming soon)
Dawn of War II
Huxley (whenever this is due)

PS3
Killzone 2
GOW 3

2009 is going to suck ass, StarCraft2 and Killzone 2 are the only saving graces.

You know what?  I'm more excited about The Dark Knight coming to Blu-ray in a few weeks than 2009's entire gaming linup.  

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

We got spoiled this year.  The only game I know is coming out next year that I'm excited for is Halo Wars.  I'll probably get Halo ODST too, but I'm not expecting that much out of it.  

StarCraft 2 might not even come out in '09, I think it will though.   Hopefully Huxley is good, I'm still waiting for an MMO where skill matters...

"If you knew how good I am you would think I'm modest."

Call of Duty 6
Resident Evil 5
Yakuza 3
Indiana Jones
God of War 3
Killzone 2
StarCraft 2
Forza Motorsport 3
Aliens: Colonial Marines  
Dawn of War II
Unconfirmed Nintendo IPs [Zelda, etc.]
GTA 4 - Lost & Damned
Huxley
ABP
DiRT 2
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
InFamous
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Overlord II + Knockoff Titles
House of the Dead: Overkill
Operation Flashpoint II

...We'll do just fine.

You know what?  I'm more excited about The Dark Knight coming to Blu-ray in a few weeks than 2009's entire gaming linup.

What model of television do you own?

"I'll wager sixty finest English pence that you defeat Big Sister in the end by shagging her to death."

Kikizo.com - Excellence in Journalism

2009 is going to suck ass, StarCraft2 and Killzone 2 are the only saving graces.

Glad to see you're not setting high standards.

Eddie_the_Hated


Call of Duty 6
Resident Evil 5
Yakuza 3
Indiana Jones
God of War 3
Killzone 2
StarCraft 2
Forza Motorsport 3
Aliens: Colonial Marines  
Dawn of War II
Unconfirmed Nintendo IPs [Zelda, etc.]
GTA 4 - Lost & Damned
Huxley
ABP
DiRT 2
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
InFamous
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Overlord II + Knockoff Titles
House of the Dead: Overkill
Operation Flashpoint II

...We'll do just fine.

You know what?  I'm more excited about The Dark Knight coming to Blu-ray in a few weeks than 2009's entire gaming linup.

What model of television do you own?

That's crap compared to this year.  

"If you knew how good I am you would think I'm modest."

What model of television do you own?

Nothing special.  I just use my 24" monitor (LG).  I dont have room in my uh room for a big screen so I'm just waiting until I move out.  If I wait long enough OLED will be more prominent and they will shit on everything in the market today.   My monitor is pretty good but given the chance I would have chosen one of these new 1920x1080 monitors instead.  I would have saved a few hundred and avoided any scaling issues with the PS3 and 360.  The worst thing about my monitor is that it has HDMI but doesn't have DVI.  This wasn't a problem until I bought my GTX 216.  Nvidia is gay, they can't scale properly when the card behaves as if my monitor is a television as is the case when HDMI is used.  Completely fucked up screen.  I'm not talking about minor cropping issues, I couldn't even see my taskbar.  Completely unusable.  Anyways the solution is to use VGA instead but everything looks very blurry by comparison.  VGA is good enough for 360 but for a high end PC, it's fucking garbage. 

All that bullshit and I can't even answer your question, I can't rememeber the model number of my monitor. 

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Don't worry about it. Your post just reminded me of my gifting plans for this year. I've been planning on treating myself to a PS3 this Christmas, but to be honest, I might just settle for an HDTV. Buying a 400 console/BDR player to play it through composite? No thanks.

That's crap compared to this year. 

Debatable. There were a lot of big name disappointments this year.

"I'll wager sixty finest English pence that you defeat Big Sister in the end by shagging her to death."

Kikizo.com - Excellence in Journalism

Number of actual worthwhile titles this year to those so far announced next year plus the unnanounced ones I'm thinking it will be about even.

Eddie as for HDTVs what type were yo ulooking into? I'm bout to look into a bigger one as well. I came across this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Sharp-Aquos-LC32D64U-32-Inch-1080p/dp/B001338KTQ/ref=pd_ybh_1?pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=ybh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0R3RAF8G37JKKCX2YY5D
Under $700 1080p. HDMI for PS3 HDMI for PC Componant for Cable, and VGA for 360. PIP is always nice to as well.

Don't worry about it. Your post just reminded me of my gifting plans for this year. I've been planning on treating myself to a PS3 this Christmas, but to be honest, I might just settle for an HDTV. Buying a 400 console/BDR player to play it through composite? No thanks.

Whaah?  You do know that you can buy a HDMI cable for like 10$?  PS3 is a good buy.  The value of still being one of the best Blu-ray players on the market and a modern gaming console is unbeatable.  You could get a decent BD player for like 200$ but what's 200$ more for a PS3?

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

Actually Amazon.co.uk were selling HDMI-cables for what estimates to 2 cents. Now it's 3$. So that's no excuse.

ok back on topic assholes...

Jasper looks like they might be the first reliable 360's, worth making the effort to find.

Instructions on how to find a Jasper:

There's all kinds of indicators but the only one that seems reliable 100% of the time is the following:
The Xbox 360 Arcades have an opening in the box where you can see a barcode.  To the left of that just under the cardboard is what you need.
If you look at the amperage (circled in teal).  12.1A represents a Jasper.  Buy it!  



if you look at your own 360 you'll find one of three readings.

16.5A is the first gen code named Xenon or Zephyr- la merde
14.2A is the second gen code named Opus or Falcon -le suck
12.1A is the new hotness

At the moment the Arcades seem to be the ones that are receiving the highest rate of Jaspers.  I don't think any of the Elites have them yet and only a handful of Pros. 

If you live in the US Newegg is selling Jaspers as a seperate SKU. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16868105013

If you want to get one from a store in person many have recommended Best Buy as they stack the consoles on the floor allowing you to sift though them and look for the right Amperage (12.1A). 

They explain everything very well.
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3472&p=2

Added info
http://forums.xbox.com/20/25020068/ShowPost.aspx#25020068

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

My RROD 360 supposedly just arrived to MS for repairs.  Think they'll send me a Jasper back?

"If you knew how good I am you would think I'm modest."

Probably not, I think they try to give back the same shit you give them, unless they're completely fazed them out.  So if you sent a Zephyr, the odds are good you'll get a refurbished Zephyr although likely not the same one.  The best you can hope for is a Falcon.  You might get lucky though...

All you need to do is check the Amperage in the back of the console once you get it back.  

"This is sad. There's no other word for it. The person who invents a way to punch someone in the face over the Internet will make millions from the demand generated by people like this." Youtube comments

$200 bluray players are pure ass btw

All you really need is 8 screws and 32 washers tbh.  Mine's been perfect since.  All MS needed to do was admit they had a faulty design - more sensible heatsink fixation, and more robust materials would've sufficed.

Its nice to have more modern tech available though.  Would like to compare power usage and noise/heat output.