Allard hints at multiple Xbox 360 configurations

Sometime this holiday season, the Xbox 360 will hit the market and usher in the next generation of video game consoles. In the lead-up to that yet-to-be-determined date, there will be never-ending speculation about the pricing of the 360, as well as of its brethren, the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Revolution.

One of the chief elements of the pricing discussion surrounds the specs of the various machines. And while there seems to be pretty good understanding of the basic specs, many have mused about the possibilities that Microsoft and Sony, at least, might futz around with those specs.

Further fueling the speculation, reports Gamasutra, is an interview Xbox chief J. Allard recently gave Game Informer magazine in which he hinted-- largely as a warning to developers--at the possibility that there might be multiple hardware configurations of the 360.

"We've said, 'Hey look, don't bank on the hard drive always being there," Allard said in the September 2005 issue of Game Informer. "There may be a scenario in the future where we don't want to have a hard drive, and in that case, we have to make sure that the games that you've created are accessible to the broadest possible audience."

Microsoft, of course, will never say what its advance plans are, so for the next few months, at least, the frenzy will just grow and grow. But for now, next-gen console watchers will have to get by on vague allusions to something interesting in the future like this one.