Xbox 360 Elite and 120GB HDD Revealed!!!

[Wiseguy]

http://www.xboxaddict.com/news/view.php?News_ID=7982

Gamerscoreblog.com reports on the announcement with official pics of the new Elite 360
http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/03/27/543284.aspx

Major Nelson's blogcast interview with Albert Penello, head of the Xbox platform marketing team
http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/03/27/the-one-about-the-xbox-360-elite.aspx

on10.net's exclusive video of the 360 Elite
http://www.on10.net/Blogs/tina/exclusive-video-first-look-at-the-xbox-elite/

Official link for the Xbox 360 Elite from Xbox.com
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/xbox360elite/default.htm?WText.camp=TS3-Xbox360Elite&WText.campSrc=Home

Official Press Release

Microsoft Unveils Xbox 360 Elite

Premium black console includes 120GB hard drive and line of new accessories.

REDMOND, Wash. — March 27, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the upcoming availability of Xbox 360™ Elite, a new model of the video game and entertainment system that will include a 120GB hard drive, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a high-definition cable, and a premium black finish for the console, wireless controller and Xbox LIVE® headset. Xbox 360 Elite has enough space for a library of Xbox LIVE Arcade games and thousands of songs, as well as downloadable high-definition TV shows and movies available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The new 120GB hard drive also will be sold as a stand-alone accessory to give current Xbox 360 owners greater choice and flexibility in their games and entertainment experience. Additional Xbox 360 Elite accessories, such as the black Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit and the Xbox 360 rechargeable battery, will be available separately. The Xbox 360 Elite and its accessories are expected to begin arriving in U.S. stores on April 29.

“Today’s games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Xbox 360 Elite’s larger hard drive and premium accessories will allow our community to enjoy all that the next generation of entertainment has to offer.”

Distinguished by its black finish and signature metallic detailing, Xbox 360 Elite will have an estimated retail price1 of $479.99 (U.S.) and will come packed with components and accessories for the ultimate high-definition entertainment experience:2

· Xbox 360 Elite console. The console is equipped with a premium black finish and three powerful core processors capable of producing the best in HD entertainment (up to 1080p), 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, anti-aliasing for smooth textures, full surround sound, HDMI output and DVD playback with upscaling capabilities right out of the box.

· Xbox 360 120GB hard drive. The 120GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.3 The hard drive is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $179.99 (U.S.).

· Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black). This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller, now in black, features the Xbox® Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $49.99 (U.S.).

· Xbox 360 headset (black). Now available in black, the headset lets gamers strategize or trade taunts while playing games and send voice messages to friends on Xbox LIVE.

· Xbox 360 HDMI cable. New to Xbox 360, HDMI allows consumers to get HD video (up to 1080p) and multichannel surround sound, all from one cable.

· Xbox LIVE Silver Membership. With this, gamers can chat with friends online, collect achievements and gamerscores, send and receive voice and text messages, and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace content such as game demos, HD movies and TV, as well as the best in downloadable games from Xbox LIVE Arcade.

· One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold. An Xbox LIVE Gold Membership provides a complete online entertainment experience. Those who subscribe to this premium service can engage in competitive online multiplayer matches, tailor their matchmaking via feedback and accomplishments, chat with more than one person at a time, and take advantage of unique privileges in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Xbox LIVE Arcade.

The following accessories for the Xbox 360 Elite console will only be sold separately:

· Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit. Complete with a charging cable and a black rechargeable battery pack, the Xbox 360 Play & Charge kit allows gamers to recharge their Xbox 360 Wireless Controller without interrupting their gameplay. it is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $19.99 (U.S.).

· Xbox 360 rechargeable battery (black). The rechargeable battery pack provides more than 25 hours of gameplay per charge. It is sold separately for an estimated retail price of $11.99 (U.S.).

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox LIVE online gaming network and unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a catalog of more than 160 high-definition games and is available in 37 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

[Rhiannon]

I am so glad they are releasing an HDMI cable!! I have been waiting for this since the release of the 360.

[Whisper]

Will the HDMI work on the regular 360, or will it be elite only?

I would like an HDMI connection as well, my TV only has one source of highdef plugs (well two, but one source curiously allows no audio- wtf?), so I have to swap my plugs when I want to watch hidef TV or play the system in hidef, only one at a time.

Doesn't seem like it from reading the whole post :(

This upgrade is useless for anyone other than Americans. The 120GB HD is useless for everyone else, who don't have access to the TV and movie downloads.

[Taters]

Of course, still no plans to change that god awful D-pad.

[Wiseguy]

Will the HDMI work on the regular 360, or will it be elite only?

I would like an HDMI connection as well, my TV only has one source of highdef plugs (well two, but one source curiously allows no audio- wtf?), so I have to swap my plugs when I want to watch hidef TV or play the system in hidef, only one at a time.

Doesn't seem like it from reading the whole post :(

This upgrade is useless for anyone other than Americans. The 120GB HD is useless for everyone else, who don't have access to the TV and movie downloads.

From my understanding, HDMI will only work on the Elite, there are no plans on making it work on the other 2 skus.

[Shawn-XBA]

From my understanding, HDMI will only work on the Elite, there are no plans on making it work on the other 2 skus.
Thats the way I understand it as well. I haven't read anything yet that says MS is going to bring HDMI to the premium or the core consoles

[CrazyCougar]

MS stated in a podcast that they have NO plans to bring HDMI to the Core or Pro consoles. You can only get the cables and the HDMI port with the Elite.

[HaZarD SFD]

THAT 120G Drive is my next purchase so is the black remote!

[pjh13]

that black looks nice. i wonder if any video game stores will do a trade in promotion with the other 360 so you can get this one for a discount

[MrGTI]

I love it. I'll be buying this for sure.

There's no mention of the new, cooler CPU's. When is that being phased in?

[Jackyboy]

i dont have an hdtv, i already have a black controller (case mod), and i dont need the 120gb harddrive so i will not be buying one

[Scorpion X]

Its horrible how they didn't use the 65nm processor, it was supposed to be in this revised console, I dont know whats taking so long

[wasabi_]

I honestly dont think its worth it. Ooh, a bigger harddrive and black color scheme and HDMI, oooh.

I mean really, how many of us actually need 120gb of harddrive space. And HDMI, Im sure something for core and premium will come it, it has to.

[bcbbanga4l]

I dont have hdtv but i will later on but i love the black and bigger hardrive im def getting one i cant wait.

[ll Mista GT ll]

Well, I can just buy a black 360 case ( I am going to get one really soon ) and black controller mods. Like Whisper said, this is stupid for us Canadians. I still havent filled up my 20 GB lol.

[Dr_J]

OK...........ALL of this is great.

BUT!

What I was waiting for was the cooler processor. It was not mentioned in this article. Is it coming out later or has it been scrapped?

[Wiseguy]

OK...........ALL of this is great.

BUT!

What I was waiting for was the cooler processor. It was not mentioned in this article. Is it coming out later or has it been scrapped?

They have not annocunced, nor will they, that a 65nm chip has gone into an Xbox 360. To MS, this is not a selling point and according to them will not effect the performance of the system. Now, this may be them saying this so that people will continue to buy 360's instead of waiting. But I tend to think that this move to 65nm, if and when it happens will be transparent to the end user and therefore is not a reason to wait.

It won't make your experience on the 360 significantly better, IMO.

[swivel]

They have not annocunced, nor will they, that a 65nm chip has gone into an Xbox 360. To MS, this is not a selling point and according to them will not effect the performance of the system. Now, this may be them saying this so that people will continue to buy 360's instead of waiting. But I tend to think that this move to 65nm, if and when it happens will be transparent to the end user and therefore is not a reason to wait.

It won't make your experience on the 360 significantly better, IMO.

The move to 65 nm is very important to Microsoft, it means increased profitability as you get more cores per wafer. And it is potentially very important to customers as it means a cooler, more reliable unit. A game console that can go back inside the AV cabinet. Reduced power usage for people that are sensitive to that issue. Many people are clamoring for it, and I know dozens of people that have not bought a 360 yet because they are waiting on it. So the demand is there, which means that it IS a selling point.

This is not something that they will put in elites, or create a new SKU for. They want the smaller fab to be in every 360, tomorrow, if possible. It just takes time to move to a new process, so you will see them gradually phase in by late summer, and hopefully be in every 360 sold by Christmas. There is a ton of 360's in the supply chain right now, so it will eventually be a pot-luck system, like getting an older-firmware PSP a year ago.

Microsoft needs to make this a priority. The 360 and the PS3 are both expensive. The $100 extra for the PS3 doesn't seem so bad when you hear the noise difference between the two, and feel how much cooler the PS3 runs. Now that the difference is $20, Microsoft's arguments about price, HDMI, and complexity are muffled by the foot in their mouth. Then again, after seeing them roll out 24 flavors of Vista, we should have been expecting at least a dozen XBox revisions within it's 5-year lifespan.

[ll Mista GT ll]

swivel, your a smart guy :)

I kinda feel ripped off, but whatever lol. My box is in the repair center as we speak, and i haven't really missed it :P Plus, I always have the big black modded box ;)

[Soda Jones]

I find it disappointing. When they finally do release the new cpu, I'll just trade mine for it at Best Buy. Gotta love those warrenties.

[Wiseguy]

The move to 65 nm is very important to Microsoft, it means increased profitability as you get more cores per wafer. And it is potentially very important to customers as it means a cooler, more reliable unit. A game console that can go back inside the AV cabinet. Reduced power usage for people that are sensitive to that issue. Many people are clamoring for it, and I know dozens of people that have not bought a 360 yet because they are waiting on it. So the demand is there, which means that it IS a selling point.

This is not something that they will put in elites, or create a new SKU for. They want the smaller fab to be in every 360, tomorrow, if possible. It just takes time to move to a new process, so you will see them gradually phase in by late summer, and hopefully be in every 360 sold by Christmas. There is a ton of 360's in the supply chain right now, so it will eventually be a pot-luck system, like getting an older-firmware PSP a year ago.

Microsoft needs to make this a priority. The 360 and the PS3 are both expensive. The $100 extra for the PS3 doesn't seem so bad when you hear the noise difference between the two, and feel how much cooler the PS3 runs. Now that the difference is $20, Microsoft's arguments about price, HDMI, and complexity are muffled by the foot in their mouth. Then again, after seeing them roll out 24 flavors of Vista, we should have been expecting at least a dozen XBox revisions within it's 5-year lifespan.

You make a lot of good points that I already knew about, a cooler processor, cheaper to manufacture, etc, etc... But the point I was making is, why wait? Will this new machine magically make the games you'll be playing any better? I guess in some peoples minds it will since they'll think the system is better. But we can argue each and every point about whether or not a 65nm chip will make a difference until we're blue in the face. The point is, if you want to play videogames now, buy the system. If you want to wait around for the "magic remedy" or whatever you want to call it, fine. But don't be surprised when a new set of issues pop up around the 65nm chip because of smaller yields or other unforeseen technical issues that are out of the consumer’s control. Meanwhile I'll have played all the games that came out in between those sitting on their hands.

And the bit about it running cooler and being quieter, why does there always have to be a debate against another console? I mean, I don't really give two craps about what Sony is doing or how their machine performs if it doesn't have the games I'm interested in playing or the services I want to use. Right now, Xbox 360 and Live have these very important things called GAMES that I want to play and they have a very important SERVICE, Xbox Live that is already established and a great community. I'd rather focus on these than compare Fahrenheit temps and decibels.. I mean, I can nit pick anything to death about everything, how about the Sony's controller being the same one they've used for years for example?, but let's not go there.

Anyway, if you really want to get technical, I know someone that measured the sound levels with and SPL meter and they said that the Xbox 360 was quieter that the PS3, does it matter to me? No. I play with the sound on so I can hear the games audio and after a while you don't notice any background noise anyway. So in conclusion, why do we always have to look at the negative aspects of something when we can be enjoying the positives right now? I’ll tell you why, because we're spoiled and we don't always appreciate what's in front of us. I know that I try to appreciate what we already have, will you?

[Ainokeatoo]

so anyways what's the second exclusive thing that was supposed to come out?

[swivel]

You make a lot of good points....

..... because we're spoiled and we don't always appreciate what's in front of us. I know that I try to appreciate what we already have, will you?

No need to get testy. Just offering my opinion on the thread topic. I'm a die-hard gamer that wants all systems to do well, the more the merrier. I'm just thinking about market strategies from the fanboy perspective because there are a lot more of them than there are of me.

Another reason to want to hold off for the 65nm box is long-term reliability. A smaller, cooler fab process is going to result in a box that lasts the 5-year cycle of software support. There has been a rash of 360 failures recently from the launch batch. Either this is due to immature hardware, or it is a heat issue. Over-clockers in the PC world make the same trade-off. They get more power, but they also get reduced life cycles. Heat and silicone don't play well, and the 360 is a very toasty unit.

This isn't an attempt to bash the unit, it is just my observations.