Black XB360 120 Gig HDD + HDMI = $479

[archangelmorph]

360 only has an external HDD, ever.

Anyways on this sku, if it's going to be the new permanent premium, they should have gone ahead and included HDDVD for playback. It would have given that format a big boost. And made Elite a much more attractive purchase.

Well, I dont know, maybe that would have made it TOO attractive relative to the other sku's, made the other sku's useless, and put them basically in the same boat as PS3, stuck with an expensive DVD format in a games machine.

I can say with total certainty they should have included wireless, though. Really tacky on that.

Why black??

It really makes the console look cheap and tacky.. I MUCH prefer the default colour and it's terrible that if you now wan't to purchase the new premium (elite) then your stuck with it..

Price wise I agree this was a stupid move.. For $20 more you get free online, blu-ray, built-in wifi, media centre functionality without the PC dependancy, the anticipated Home service (free) AND a Linux computer,
with the only sacrifices being you'd have to wait a bit longer for the games library to expand (In the meantime you have more than enough functionality and software to keep you occupied...) and you get less storage space (not too much of a problem since you can upgrade yourself by searching for a good, cheap 2.5")

This move was very bad IMO and only works IN FAVOUR of justifying the value of the PS3 over offering anything truely worth it;s weight over the already established (& much better looking) platinum SKU..

Whatever were they thinking..?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Can you answer me? does the download and purchase of stuff like Movies, Series etc require XBOX Live gold? or is it free?

Gold account is not needed to make purchases, it is only needed to play online and some demos are released to gold accounts first.

I don't understand why MS gets so much hate, because of this announcement. It's just one extra option in the lineup, maybe it's not meant to directly compete against PS3 in a sense people are discussing here. Maybe it's for the people that have already decided to buy X360 and are just looking at the different options to make the purchase.

I do agree that the 180$ for the 120GB drive is really high, but that's what it basically needs to be, because Core+120HD can't be cheaper than the Elite, despite the HDMI. I think Elite over premium offers better value than PS3 60GB over PS3 20GB, so it's not that bad of a deal. At the moment MS does not need a price cut to compete with Sony, especially in NA. It's true that a price cut would but more pressure on Sony, but I think many arm chair analysts doesn't fully understand how drastic measure a price cut is in the long run. We are talking about really big numbers on the bottom line. 100$ of the price * 10 million units means 1 billion just vanished into air. Everything needs to go 65nm before that should be considered.

I personally feel that MS should not be the one making the first move on price cuts, but if Sony makes a cut then MS will have to respond to it. 2008 January would be a good time to drop the price 100$ on all SKUs imo. MS has such a strong lineup this year, so I don't see price cut as a smart financial move at the moment.

 

[Vic]

Why black??

It really makes the console look cheap and tacky.. I MUCH prefer the default colour and it's terrible that if you now wan't to purchase the new premium (elite) then your stuck with it..

Price wise I agree this was a stupid move.. For $20 more you get free online, blu-ray, built-in wifi, media centre functionality without the PC dependancy, the anticipated Home service (free) AND a Linux computer,
with the only sacrifices being you'd have to wait a bit longer for the games library to expand (In the meantime you have more than enough functionality and software to keep you occupied...) and you get less storage space (not too much of a problem since you can upgrade yourself by searching for a good, cheap 2.5")

This move was very bad IMO and only works IN FAVOUR of justifying the value of the PS3 over offering anything truely worth it;s weight over the already established (& much better looking) platinum SKU..

Whatever were they thinking..?

Agreed. If there are people questioning PS3's value, they're more likely to view it in a positive way in light of this SKU.

Dr Evil--It is one extra option, one BAD one.

 

[-tkf-]

Gold account it not needed to make purchases, it is only needed to play online and some demos are released to gold accounts first.

I don't understand why MS gets so much hate, because of this announcement. It's just one extra option in the lineup.

I think it was expected that MS would do everything the PS3 did at a reduced price, and yes it´s another option, but HDMI is the future and i guess Microsoft knew that and just did the talk while they had to and then added the option when they could. Btw, the PS3 @ 500 dollars is also "just an option" but it´s never that price that is discussed

 

[Vic]

Looks like I was right.

According to http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/03/27/543284.aspx, the 120GB HDD will be £120 in the UK. Elite will be a whopping £349.99.

What a rip-off...

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I think it was expected that MS would do everything the PS3 did at a reduced price.

Imo it has always been that It'll do the "same" as a game console at a reduced price, but would also be upgradable to match PS3 features if one desires those features. I'm not saying that I find the peripheral pricing ok, but the lower price of the standalone unit demands a different sort of price strategy.

 

[Tolkyn]

inclusion of HDMI again proves that the Xbox 360 was rushed to the market

 

[PARANOiA]

inclusion of HDMI again proves that the Xbox 360 was rushed to the market

And all they got was a 10,000,000 console head start

 

[Graham]

I wonder what tomorrows announcement will be.

 

[Paul_G]

I really can't see a market for this outside of the US yet. That said, i really can't understand the hostility some of you have towards this. It's clear to me that while the Elite unit is close to the price of the 20GB PS3, it's going after a different market. If you're happy with 20GB of disk space, you'll buy the Premium. Since the price of that hasn't changed, you can't really argue that there is now only $20 price difference. I see the market the Elite is going after as those people who have been downloading HD movies and TV episodes off of Xbox Live, that's why it has a large HDD. Once that service is launched elsewhere, then it might be worth it.

Why black??

It really makes the console look cheap and tacky.. I MUCH prefer the default colour and it's terrible that if you now wan't to purchase the new premium (elite) then your stuck with it..

Price wise I agree this was a stupid move.. For $20 more you get free online, blu-ray, built-in wifi, media centre functionality without the PC dependancy, the anticipated Home service (free) AND a Linux computer,
with the only sacrifices being you'd have to wait a bit longer for the games library to expand (In the meantime you have more than enough functionality and software to keep you occupied...) and you get less storage space (not too much of a problem since you can upgrade yourself by searching for a good, cheap 2.5")

This move was very bad IMO and only works IN FAVOUR of justifying the value of the PS3 over offering anything truely worth it;s weight over the already established (& much better looking) platinum SKU..

Whatever were they thinking..?

Colour is very subjective, and there is nothing to stop you buying a faceplate for it, or just buying a core and the drive, all you lack is HDMI which isn't the end of the world, and is something I would expect to be added later to all the models.

As for your PS3 comparison, I don't think it's accurate or fair. You don't get wi-fi in the 20GB model, yes online is free, but whether it's any good is open to debate and it doesn't have an HD-DVD drive, but you get access to a lot of HD content as I said above, that's why it has a 120GB HDD. It doesn't NEED a high definition drive to watch HD content. As for Linux and the Home service, that's down to the individual. if consoles were all the same, we wouldn't be here arguing about it. If you really want to use Linux on a console or interact with other people and your media in a 3D space, then get a PS3, but there are things the 360 does that the PS3 doesn't too. Also, some might consider the ability to stream content off of a PC a good thing.

I don't think this in any way changes the fact that if you want to get into HD gaming, it's $299 vs $499. Further, I don't expect this price point to be sustainable for too long. As Joshua I think pointed out, it's been about 16 months on the market without a pricedrop (if you don't count the £10 one in the UK) and i should think we'll see a drop by the end of the summer.

 

[pipo]

What a rip-off...

Not as bad as Sony's dual-shake controller (56 Euro over here)...

The price of the HDMI cable alone almost makes up for the price difference between the Premium and the new model.

Note to self: why bother?

 

[archangelmorph]

Colour is very subjective, and there is nothing to stop you buying a faceplate for it, or just buying a core and the drive, all you lack is HDMI which isn't the end of the world, and is something I would expect to be added later to all the models.

True colour is subjective, thats exactly why i expressed my personal malcontent with the black version and never intended to speak for everyone, if it came across that way then next time i'll have to say it explicitly..
As for faceplates I personally think it was a nice idea on MS's part but make the console look worse (especially for the standard 360 colour) since it ruins the consistency and sleekness of the look with tacky, decals and images I don't care about.. This is just my oppinion however..
And if you buy the core + the HDD then you're also lacking the headset, HDMI cable, 1month XBL subscription, HD component cable and you get a sucky wired controller over a wireless one.. I'd say thats a pretty big deal my friend..

As for your PS3 comparison, I don't think it's accurate or fair. You don't get wi-fi in the 20GB model, yes online is free, but whether it's any good is open to debate and it doesn't have an HD-DVD drive, but you get access to a lot of HD content as I said above, that's why it has a 120GB HDD. It doesn't NEED a high definition drive to watch HD content. As for Linux and the Home service, that's down to the individual. if consoles were all the same, we wouldn't be here arguing about it. If you really want to use Linux on a console or interact with other people and your media in a 3D space, then get a PS3, but there are things the 360 does that the PS3 doesn't too. Also, some might consider the ability to stream content off of a PC a good thing.

Thanks for the reminder about the 20gig ver. lack of wifi (I forgot about that..)
Of course it doesn't NEED a HD drive to play HD content but it still sh**y not to have one when for $20 more you could (AND still be able to download, transfer HD content onto the console through other means)..
I agree that not all the PS3 features are for everyone but IMO thats an irrelevant arguement.. It terms of bulk features (through which I determine the context of value regardless of whether I ever intend to use them or not) this SKU fails considerably when compared to the PS3 and no matter how much you feel they can't be compared they sure are hell will by the vast majority of consumers who are considering it for purchase..
I agree that there probably isn't a market for this outside of the US and I also agree that there are probably people who can look at this SKU in isolation and see the value in it.. The problem is that its very difficult to understand where the value in the new SKU actually is now with respect to both the PS3 and even the platinum 360 and such a comparison will be made consistenly by many just as they did the platinum SKU and the PS3..

I don't think this in any way changes the fact that if you want to get into HD gaming, it's $299 vs $499. Further, I don't expect this price point to be sustainable for too long. As Joshua I think pointed out, it's been about 16 months on the market without a pricedrop (if you don't count the £10 one in the UK) and i should think we'll see a drop by the end of the summer.

I hope so,
I'm personally looking forward to buying an Xbox360 this year and so i'm eagerly awaiting a price cut on the platinum SKU hopefully before the release of blue dragon and mass effect (I wanna get some quality time with gears and lost planet before i sink my teeth into them)..

 

[Vic]

Not as bad as Sony's dual-shake controller (56 Euro over here)...

The price of the HDMI cable alone almost makes up for the price difference between the Premium and the new model.

Note to self: why bother?

Well the SIXAXIS can be bought for £28 off Amazon (RRP £35). The black 360 controller will be £33 RRP. Virtually no difference. Its good that they're actaully including the HDMI cable (which Sony should have done), but that only cost £18 anyway. It certainly doesnt make up for the £55 wireless adapter. MS say they found that most 360 users currently use ethernet cables, umm...perhaps thats because the wireless adapter is so damn expensive. The Elite model should include Wi-fi (even if £20 more expensive) but I guess MS doesnt want to ruin its meal ticket...

So for British gamers, its £405 for Elite with Wi-fi. Worth the money? You tell me.

 

[bangalter]

Well the SIXAXIS can be bought for £28 off Amazon (RRP £35). The black 360 controller will be £33 RRP. Virtually no difference. Its good that they're actaully including the HDMI cable (which Sony should have done), but that only cost £18 anyway. It certainly doesnt make up for the £55 wireless adapter. MS say they found that most 360 users currently use ethernet cables, umm...perhaps thats because the wireless adapter is so damn expensive. The Elite model should include Wi-fi (even if £20 more expensive) but I guess MS doesnt want to ruin its meal ticket...

So for British gamers, its £405 for Elite with Wi-fi. Worth the money? You tell me.

Wireless is always useless for online gaming, atleast fast pasted gaming like FPS games.

Even if you have maximum signal strenght the wireless connection will cause hickups in the game from time to time. wired is the way to go for games.

 

[Titanio]

I want this, personally, but..

..I am surprised to see MS building up this side of the value chain, rather than the opposite end. They're running quite a lot of risks here. The main one being if this makes the other packages look inadequate in the same way the core already was, and people feel this is the SKU to get. I personally feel that way now, chiefly because of the proprietary nature of their peripherals - I was happy to get the 20GB PS3 because I know I can upgrade it without being ripped off, but I'm not happy to do the same with 360 because their upgrade routes don't make sense..they really do push you to try and buy the most you can from the start. That was their problem with core, and that continues with Elite imo.

The other, and related, reason this is risky is because MS's range, and Sony's range, are now connected at two ends, something that never was the case before. There was always a gap that psychologically put a greater distance between them, but now with Elite, you're a small $20 hop from a PS3 and a Blu-ray player. It's not too difficult to imagine the elite being $399 for the holidays, and the 20GB PS3 being the same price.

Of course, you've also got Sony being a bit dumb by seemingly gravitating away from the 20GB model They should smell the opportunity here and make it the centre of gravity IMO.

 

[Synergy34]

So If I wanted to upgrade to the HDMI model how is an existing 20gig owner supposed to transfer his files?

 

[Ben-Nice]

So If I wanted to upgrade to the HDMI model how is an existing 20gig owner supposed to transfer his files?

Buy another accessory. It's all about choices

 

[NavNucST3]

So If I wanted to upgrade to the HDMI model how is an existing 20gig owner supposed to transfer his files?

Titanio is correct...sorry old info

 

[sumdumyunguy]

Has it been confirmed that the HDMI cable will be sold as a stand-alone accessory? If so what is the price? Also what version of HDMI?

 

[Titanio]

There is a transfer kit included with the Elite model which will move all of your data and the MSFT data to the Elites hdd, it will also blank your previous drive.

It's actually not included with the Elite models since they figure most purchasers will be new owners. It will come with the peripheral, but not with the Elite unit. You can ask for one (for free) from MS.