Elite unveiled
After months of rumor and speculation, the Elite is finally here. In addition to being announced on Xbox.com, Channel 10 had a sit down with Microsoft’s Albert Penello to talk about the console, and the stand alone 120GB hard drive, and to get a close up look at all of the goodies that come with it. Good news and not so good news behind the bump.
Most of the rumors you’ve been hearing are true. The Elite comes with the bigger hard drive, an HDMI port, and as Penello makes a specific point of noting in the Channel 10 interview, an HDMI cable. You’ll also get you’re standard premium setup with a black wireless controller and headset, along with component cables and a free 1 month Gold subscription to Live. The console will also ship with an audio adapter that will allow HDMI users to split the audio off with optical or RCA cables. Additionally, the hard drive will come preloaded with some videos and playable demos. The whole package will be hitting stores on April 29th, at a price tag of 479.99$.
Microsoft will also be releasing the 120gig hard drive separately for a price of 179.99. The drive comes with a migration kit that will allow you to plug the new drive into the USB port on your 360, and the included software will transfer all of the data to your shiny new hard drive(for those of you planning on buying an Elite to replace your premium system beware, Penello warns that as of now.there isn’t a way to transfer everything to your new Elite from the Premium although they’re working on the issue.) While the sale of the hard drive separately is nice, the large price tag is a bit of a bummer. Tycho over at Penny Arcade said it best.
I’ve also heard (as you may have) that the standalone version of the 120 gig drive is going to clock in at around two hundred dollars, which reveals a company in the throes of brain fever. The machine is locked down so hard that virtually all you can do with a drive this large is load it to the brim with premium content! They should be subsidizing the Goddamn things, not raising them overhead to scourge early adopters.
Unfortunately, Penello couldn’t get away from the luxury car references, and compared the Core, Premium, and Elite versions of the 360 to the 3, 5 and 7 series BMW. There’s no word on the rumored IPTV capabilities, but overall the Elite is looking like a steal for people who are still on the fence about getting a 360. The Elite will not be a limited edition release, as was rumored, and it looks like it won’t be replacing the premium console any time soon. Start saving now, and look to pick up your Elite on April 29th.
Thanks to shavedham2kg, Roy Johnson, cypher skills, Thryon, Guy, DarthBALLZ45 and nofear360 for submitting.
Also of note, as was said in the MajorNelson Podcast, the decision about the price of the seperate HDD. Basically the drives that are mass produced for the Xbox 360 have to go through more stringent tests than say picking one up for your PC. They have to perform at certain levels, wheras a job lot of seagate drives will throw back varying performance data from drive to drive. The 360 drives are just more expensive to produce because of the stringent parameters they have to run at.
Also, the HD-DVD drive will not be coming in the black, nor will the quick charge, play and charge, the wireless headset, or the vision cam.
Not the Play and Charge? You got your info wrong there:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US...hargekitblack/default.htm
Im sold. Have a premium but am gonna trade it in towards this black beauty. I am wondering, however, what they mean by not being able to transfer everything. So long as I can transfer game saves, arcade titles and my gamertag im fine
This is a joke. The car referance it stupid. They are fucking 11 million 360 owners. We paid $400 to beta test the fucking 360. Sony and the PS3 now have the biggest piece of ammunition they ever had. For only $30 more look at all you get. This was a horrible decision, and Microsoft will realize it next generation when no one buys their console on launch because they dont want to get ass raped again.
I swear I did not type that in with so many grammatical and spelling errors. I am pretty tired though. Anyways, sorry for the mistakes. You get my point. Fuck Microsoft. Sony here I come.
bye…..need less whining little girls here anyways.
Why is it that people are “pissed” at MS?????
They’ve upgraded a piece of technology. This happens EVERYDAY retards. If you’re only going to cry about an upgrade, don’t get the Elite either. Or the PS3 or any new tv or new speakers or a new car or new clothes because you know what? A better console WILL be released. A nicer and cheaper tv WILL come to market. Better speakers WILL be on the shelves. And better cars WILL be on the road in the future.
Bottom line: don’t be a crying little bitch becuase of an improved piece of hardware. Personally, I’m happy that I’ve had my 360 since launch. If I never had one, I would consider the Elite, but my launch one is just fine for me. While it would be nice to have a bigger HDD there is no point crying about it.
Think you’re pissed now? Wait till next year when they release a 360 with HDDVD built in.
It’s going to happen. When they start seeing what developers are doing with the additional space of ps3/bluray MS will get penis envy and copy. You’ll see.
I totally agree, not only is it overpriced, it’s a stab in the back for us loyal consumers.
Ofcourse over time things will change on a console, like the added IR port on the newer PS2’s.
But this is a fundamental change. Not so much the harddrive but the HDMI port is. I can’t help but feel left in the cold by Microsoft… I once stood behand my 360 proudly, but no so anymore.
The car reference would only be valid if you put it this way:
you buy car X, with wooden wheels
1.5 years later there is car X-elite with rubber wheels for a slightly higher price
BUT you can’t fit those rubber wheels on your old X
Rubber wheels? I dont mind having rubber tires but I prefer my wheels to be metal.
Jeez when are people going to get it.
HDMI 1.3 SPECS WERE NOT COMPLETED UNTIL JUNE 2006. MICROSOFT COULD NOT, IN ANY WAY, HAVE DELIVERED IT ON THE FIRST XBOX 360, LAUNCHED IN NOVEMBER 2005 AND BEING MANUFACTURED ABOUT A FULL YEAR BEFORE THE 1.3 SPEC WAS FINISHED.
Please stop the whining about a small and insignificant upgrade like an HDMI output being a stab in the back or anything. It’s not a CPU upgrade, it’s not a memory upgrade, it does not break compatibility in any way with existing machines, hence there is no reason for the bullcrap whining.
All reason aside, please go sell your Xbox 360 now because of your disappointment in Microsoft. Don’t come whining back when your PS3 or Wii are also outdated by the inevitable PS3 v2 in less than 2 years, and the Wii v2 will even hit stores sooner.
PS2 did not have DVD at first. Slimline PS2 broke compatibility with PS2. Wii v2 with DVD playback was already announced before the Wii itself hit the market. Oh wait, those are less fundamental changes than a simple output plug right? Believe what you want, whatever.
OMG - I can’t believe Im seeing you explain again….
OH MY GOD
When M$ want to rip you they do it in style, do all yourselves a favour and go by a PS3 cause i never actually thought i would say this but its going to be cheaper
OGC SnakeEyes = I have some go fast stripes on my Xbox it makes it go faster want to uy it for $300 bucks
Might get the bigger HD eventually, but only if the price comes down (eBay might help) and only if we ever get the Video Marketplace - I’ve never even come close to filling my current one. The USB transfer cable is a nice move though.
They’re talking about making this the new “top of the range” model… that’s a bit of a kick in the teeth to those of us who thought we already owned the best one.
First of all:Fuck a PS3 ! I own one and it is inferior to the 360. And second: Ha to all you idiots who wasted their time anlyzing the leaked photos. Especially the press release ones. “Look the letters on the disc tray are backwards!” Man that was annoying. The amount of time and effort that would have gone into photo shopping those images would not be worth it. If memory serves me correctly, the pics werent even watermarked so you wouldnt even get name recognition for the hoax. We all know MS is shitty at keeping secrets. Im sorry for the rant but that shit really bothered me…
If you ask me those previous pictures were still fake as hell.. just check those fake pics in this post above and then look at this official pic.
http://img.gamespot.com/g...dware/x360_elite/0001.jpg
big difference to me..
Looser get a life, First blame your mother next time, if is true that you own a PS3 any stupid know is a better Hardaware in all aspects MS is only trying to imitated what they can Black Color, HDMI, and Bigget HD but with all that The PS3 is better machine for the CPU Power - BluRay, HD-DVD id usless in all aspect now an ever so good luck with you piece of crap
better hardware, yes. but keep in mind that the gazillion core processor isnt good for developers. it can do a lot of math, but it takes longer to make a game to meet the damn needs of the thing. not to mention that the blu-ray isnt much faster as a drive, it can just store more data on a disc. if you ask me, sony fucked over their publishers to make a better console. you can even tell because of all the so-called “exclusives” are all going multiplatform or xbox360.
Than how on earth do the developers do it?(because games WILL and are being released simultaneously on 360 and ps3)
OH YEAH!!! The multiple cores isn’t actually a problem!
Developers LEARN. oooooooo
BTW Not ALL ps3 exclusives went multiplatform. About 20 did not. So that’s a few. Stop exagerating.
And Scorn…talk about being ripped off; try spending over 800 dollars on a ps3 with two games and a hdmi cable (with one of the games being used and with an employee discount at gamestop) only to find that I just bought a glorified psp that is so big if I put legs on it, it would make the nicest endtable you ever did see..
Not being funny guys you bought your 360 and i assume you were happy with the fact that there was no HDMI or 120gb HD at the begining otherwise you wouldnt have bought it, right?
This is all optional no ones breaking your arm to get it, the games will all still play exactly the same! Stop being dickheads about it and be glad the MS is flexible with its additions and gave you the option to change if you wanted rather than sticking the extra $200 harddrive on the console to begin with.
All you people do is bitch, jesus. I hope some of you do by a PS3 and fuck off to the PS3 section of these blogs.
Oh man, this rules! Black 360?? Kick f’ing arse!
why would I want a HDMI port or a bigger HDD…?
component gives me the same quality
I have no use for a biggger HDD as I stream off my PC
when I’m after a second 360 console for the bedroom then maybe…..
Component does not give you the same quality.
Yeah but you need to be 5 ft from the screen to notice the very marginal difference. For 99% of users, hdmi is not going to deliver any noticeable quality enhancements. I am not an expert, so feel free to prove me wrong, but I am pretty sure the main drive behind HDMI is copy protection, uncompressed audio, and slightly better video. Most people are going to run optical to their sound systems anyways, so it doesn’t matter. I think this system is intended for IPTV, and I also think that hard drive is a goddamn ripoff.
What I don’t understand is why they are adding an HDMI port now. Isn’t HDMI 1.3 being developed at the moment?
click
Even 1.3a (bugfix on 1.3 essentially) has already been released last November.
Long story short…If your current 360 still works, then you’re set. Consider the Elite if your current system gives out and your warranty is up. If your TV doesnt even have HDMI…then there is no reason for getting the elite. The bigger HDD…how much stuff do some of you have? lol. If you don’t have a 360 yet…then get the elite. If your looking for a second 360 then get the elite. If your looking to just upgrade while the one u have now still works…maybe you should think it through.
PLAYSTATION 3 is the best Hardware if you cant’t afford it Find a better Job or Sell Drugs but please don’t hate the thing because u don’t have the money to buy it
Simple fact is, it isn’t the best hardware. Both consoles have their strengths and both have their downfalls. Don’t be saying that people have not bought it because they haven’t got the money, you are just showing yourself up as a pompous prick. I do not want a PSÂŁ because everything I need is on the 360, Excellent online service with voice chat across ALL games, including cross game voice chat. Many games available right now that enables me a choice of what I want to play.
I might eventually get a PS3, but for the time being I am happy with what I have, a console that is just as powerful as the PS3 but with more games and better (even if it is paid for) online service.
Who cares number when the quality is the only important MS:Gear of War, End of list PS: Resistance, Motorstorm (2:1 for a machine practically new in the Market) I’m nore than happy to play my Online games in a Free Network intead of been rip off by MS for a servie which is givin by the Game Developers
Yes, but soon enough, devs and publishers are going to be charging per game, as they are losing money by running their own servers.
PS, you might want to go back to school and learn some punctuation too, I find it hard to read your posts without giving up.
Sorry but have you even played them.
Resistance- Shit.
Motorstorm- Graphic showpiece with no real substance = shit.
Stonie, you are a poor slob who can’t afford the PS3. admit it!
Bru nasty, keep saying the PS3 has no games, not much time left for that. So do it while you can!!!
There are about 20 quality 360 games that are now out on PS3. there will be 20 more in a month
Mike, you are on drugs. I would rather take my money and buy three elites, then give them to homeless people then buy one PoS3. It’s not a matter of money, the price difference is less than the price of one game. Who buys a system with no games? People who already have games for that system!
“if you cant’t afford it Find a better Job or Sell Drugs ” - the voice of a true PS3 knob jockey
Fuckin hell,
Will one of you dickless wonders please tell me where the xbox is technically superior?
Granted live is a better on-line system at the moment but i can promise you that it wont have that advantage for ever.
Both are great gaming systems that’s a given but to say that technically the PS3 isn’t more advanced is well bollocks. I think that’s the whole point in M$ bringing out this upgrade to try and catch up.
All they have added is an HDMI port that doesn’t make the picture any clearer or more defined, and a 120GB HDD. Tell me where M$ is trying to play catch up? it is $ony that is in essence trying to play catch up.
Let’s not forget one of the features that $ony said would be included in the final system, and that is dual screen output using 2 HDMI sockets ,that is not on the final release, but you can probably guarantee in around 12-18 months time that will be put into the system when the price of manufacturing comes down.
Who’ll be fucking moaning then, knobend!!
Dont think that because the ps3 costs more it makes you more superior than me because I WONT buy one. It just makes you sound like the fuckhead you are.
oknow wheres preorders lol
PS3 is an inferior machine at present and techinical information has nothing to do with it.
Also, Scorn, please stop making promises based on your opinion. Sony desrve the bashing that they are getting. They fell short on a lot of levels which they ‘promised’ so its time to take the shit, sorry.
for whoever asked why about HDMI, its for IPTV. and why a black 360? no reason, they are fucking UGLY…though the black controllers dont look bad…so mix and match it is, black HDD, premium 360 and elite controller…sorted
You will not be able to buy a seperate black HDD, the seperate 120GB HDD comes in the regualar colour that your 20GB HDD resembles now.
Ive already pre-ordered one….
Don’t get me wrong, the Elite and separate 120GB drive are nice, but I’m not getting either as I don’t see the need for it. The only thing I have on my drive are arcade games, a few videos, some extra content, and around 5 or 6 demos, and I still have 4.5GB left. My 360 works fine as it is, and for all of my music I just plug my 80GB external drive into the 360, so I wouldn’t need it for that either. It’s nice for the people who need it or want it, but I’m not mad about it coming out after I just got my 360 this past christmas. I bought a game console to play games, and I don’t need a new system that does the same thing my current one does.
if i had the money i’d buy it…but for now i jus gotta deal, man i need a job!!! o ya, n PS3 sux balls ^_^
I’m not a fanboy of anything, but I do enjoy the games for my 360. Some people forget to mention how hard it is to get a $499 ps3 at this time. Something else to consider. The 360 elite has 6x the hard drive space of the ps3 and it comes with an hdmi cable. So for the ps3 60gb you have to buy an hdmi cable and get half the disc space. of the 360 elite. This is a good move for MS. I think most of the backlash is from bitter current owners over the price of the 120 gb hard drive.
6x the space of the 20 gb ps3 (sorry for not clarifying that)
What has PS3 got to do with the 120 gig HD? Nothing. The HDMI socket? Nothing. PS3 is just another machine trying to compete for the same customers. Microsoft seem to think that they can continuously improve their products, Sony just promise the earth , then gradually scale back to what they actually give you. I prefer the microsoft way. I have had over a year of faultless performance from my 360. I have nearly filled up my Hard drive. I will be buying the Elite and giving my son the 360 I have now. We are both winners. If I had decided on a PS3, I would have had to wait a year, then buy a machine that had lost most of the reasons I would have bought one for. (Split Screen. 100% back compatibility , 7 USB ports, joypad with added 2nd fuction as sex toy,burglar proof design(no-one would steal a George Foreman grill) etc.etc.
All of u chut the f### up, sony came out with the ps2 like a hundred time no 1 said shit, now ms does it every1 cry; why why why!. If you have the premium and you need more space just get the 120gb hdd, and if you have the core system you need a hard drive anyway so make your choice. Hdmi ain’t sh1t unless you have a 1080p hdtv,That shit cost over 2000$ for a descent size. To me 720p is the way to go this gen.
Why all the fighting. This is simple. You buy it if you want it. When MS released the Wireless Racing Wheel, did everyone hav eto purchase it? WHen they released the Live Vision Camera, was it a requirement? Did everyone purchase the HD DVD add-on? The answer is NO. The Elite is no different. For those who want such a unit, go and purchase it and be happy. For those not as rich, there will be a huge number of regular Xbox 360s for sale soon at a discount price. If you do have to have it black, then get a case decal (I have a Gears of War one that looks great).
I will be getting the Black one, not because I have too, but because I want to.
Scorn=Troll
Hi Scorn!
Please go back to land of trolls. We like to play video games, not live vicariously through them. Perhaps a girlfriend(or boyfriend, it’s ok with me if you swing either direction) should be in your future.
Regardless, please move along.
The same can be said for Mike True.
Have a nice day.
MKeller = cock
move allong
this is hardly a stab in the back to 360 owners as some of you are making this out to be. if you already own a 360 you’ve been enjoying it for a year and a half now. what Microsoft is adding to the Elite isn’t even that great anyways. You’re playing games in HD regardless of the new fangled HDMI port the Elite includes. You can download plenty of demos and videos with your 20gb hard drive. If you can afford it I say go ahead and buy it, but all I care about are the games. I’ll be passing on the elite, but the fact that the elite is out doesn’t make your old 360 antiquated.
lol….
MS imporves on a product a year and a half AFTER their intial launch and people are complaining…..
I know you can’t please everyone all the time but this is just a stupid thing to cry about ladies….
pretty expensive but why were so many people comlaining about this, the only considerable “update” is the 120 GB HDD which is available seperately!
And wow, the colour’s different…doesn’t mean you should have waited a year does it?
120GB HDD price is pretty high though, not extreme, but much better than the 20 GB one!
A slower 2.5” SATA HDD costs just around $100 so a faster, more secure HDD should cost more and it’s a console accessory so you should expect to pay a bit more
If Microsoft really cares about the early adapters, they would give us a trade-in option for the Elite. I’m already on my fifth 360, and hope this newer version runs better than the current premium hardware.
Microsoft should open up the USB ports to allow any external hdd to be used.
‘a migration kit that will allow you to plug the new drive into the USB port on your 360, and the included software will transfer all of the data to your shiny new hard drive’
If the USB port on the 360 will allow us to transfer data to the hdd, is MS going to allow any external hdd to be used now? The USB port were read-only previously; hopefully this allows us to use our own external harddrives.
I would imagine not since MS makes so much money off of accessory sales. The kit is probably such that the USB port will only write to a “certified” device (like MS’s own HD).
But yeah, given that the PS3 can take any USB drive, MS should realize that allowing the same for the 360 would make them more money in the form of increased sales on the marketplace.
I hope for the life of me that game shops do trade in deals IF we get it over here. That still isn’t confirmed (I think). “trade in a 360 and get the elite for ÂŁ100″ seems a fair deal to me!
I’m not really too bothered though. Only the bigger HDD is what’s appealing to me the most
We are deffinately getting the Elite, but what you need to think about is that when you take your 360 back in, you will need the HDD with it, so unless the shop you buy it from allows you to do the file swap to the 120GB HDD in the shop, you will lose all of your saves.
I honestly can’t see them doing that for every trade in they get. Other than that, they probably will give you a trade in on the new unit, but don’t expect to get much for it.
I’ll probably buy the 120GB HDD, but I sure as hell aint buying a second 360.
bottom line… fu’ckn good enuf for me… =)
im gettin this cuz i need to buy a new console cuz first broke and il want to get the 120gb hdd witch will cost me 580 bucks so ill get the elite and save $100
EB Games in the states is offering 220 bucks for 360 plus 20gig HDD 479-220 =259$ difference… if there are any available???
but what also happened to that talk of a redesigned mobo and stuff that would be cooler and quieter? i think that is the real deal maker for an elite. assuming that new the hardware redesign actually worked you probably save yourself that 80 buck difference in shipping charges from dead 360’s over time. i just wish the trade in value wasnt so crappy. something like 180 at gamestop. otherwise i might consider going for the upgrade, just for the HDD and the chipset redesign, though we should all probably wait till this is the regular top-tier 360 and has the 65nm chips in it as well before we buy it. unless you really need an elite for some reason…id wait for 65nm CPU’s to come packaged with this setup later this year.
Im getting a black one, then I’ll sell my white one on ebay with prob some old games, bump up the cost.