Images of Halo 4 Xbox Console

Want to get some really slick looking shots of the new Halo 4-themed Xbox 360 console that was officially announced at Comic-Con? Well, feast your eyes on the slideshow above. As you can see, the translucent console and controllers look absolutely great with the Halo 4 paint job. Not only that, but there are game-specific start-up and eject sounds that you can check out over on the Halo Bulletin.

Speaking of the Halo Bulletin, 343 Industries offered some insights into how the design for the limited edition console came about. One of the more interesting tidbits are some of the concepts that the team went through that had to be rejected in order to keep the console actually functional:

“There were dozens of iterations with hundreds of changing elements, but it’s kind of a continuum of progress and refinement. We landed on the final design as we went through all of the goals – create a Forerunner-themed object that differed significantly from prior consoles (which is why we ended up with translucent gray plastic – in part to differentiate from the simple metallic finish of the Reach console, which would have been an obvious direction otherwise). Now, interestingly, you can do certain types of paint, finish, and material – but structure is dangerous. We’d talked about bevels, bas relief, extrusions and carvings, but the reality is these three dimensional elements can have serious issues with heat dissipation, Wi-Fi signal strength, and more. So lots of our more hair-brained schemes ended in the cold reality of you know, making sure the console actually works.”

The post also mentions some details that “you simply can’t see in photographs—including paint and finish on the interior of the console, a touch that provides a subtle depth and detail like insect wings, and the inclusion of blue LEDs on the power button and the jewel on the controller.”

The post also explains some of the differences between the two different themed controllers—one made to resemble Forerunner tech, and the other to evoke UNSC imagery.

“We decided to make a Forerunner and a UNSC-themed one, given the fact that one would be made available separately and therefore didn’t have to match the Forerunner aesthetic, but we made sure it looked appropriate tonally as part of a set. The Forerunner controller is simply a logical graphical extension of the console itself, but the UNSC one takes elements from Spartan-IV, Infinity and redesigned UNSC liveries. The UNSC branding has undergone a revamp in the wake of the Human/Covenant war – with the starship Infinity leading that resurgent human vanguard, and the imagery is bold, strong, and ascendant. Although the UNSC eagle has a slightly different design when you flip it from positive to negative – a straight reversal resulted in a very snooty looking eagle, so we tweaked it for negative use.”

As far as special edition console load-outs go, this one looks pretty tight, for sure. It comes out on November 6, so if you’ve still not gotten yourself an Xbox 360, I can’t think of a better time to snag one. Plenty more details over on the Halo Bulletin, so head over and check out the full explanation, won’t you?

Source: Halo Bulletin