I think the no harddrive might be a problem because of game caching, but I'm sure MS has figured out a way to do this. The processors are amazing, but I want to see the final product to se ehow this are really implemented. 256MB is 4x that is the current gen so I'm sure it should handle well. I'm not that disappointed with the no hd-dvd... personally I think it's too early to try to introduce it to the market... It would cost way too much, and most people want have hd-dvds for probably about 2 years from now. Anyways they can fit a game unto 9 gigs. Look at the gamecube. It might cause a problem near the later part of Xenon's lifespan, but they'll manage. Plus dvd playback in consoles in crappy at best. If you want a dvd player go play one. It'll be 10x better than anything a console can give you affordably.