Yet *another* Model of 360
- Thread starter Jeremy Ricci
- 180 comments
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Except its a little more than a rumor, as even MS has now admitted that the pics are real, and that they even go so far as to say, "At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing,"
I think it is very clever and smart of MS to say "at the moment, it isn't a real product" and "announcing" instead of "releasing", because it sort of denies that the product is actually coming out, but at the same time if they do release a new edition, they can always say they didn't lie, because at that moment, it wasn't coming out and they weren't thinking about announcing it.... but now they changed their mind.
I agree with Digital-Nitrate. For the more cynical of us, this smells of something ripe with spin-doctoring. It's filled with the kind of doublespeak that corporations are fond of using when they don't want to spoil their surprise.
I think the most damning part of it is the phrase 'at the moment'. To me, that could mean "Well, not today, but maybe tomorrow."
Just to add more fuel to the fire...
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200702/N07.0216.1234.57890.htm
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200702/N07.0216.1234.57890.htm
- 6,009
- Austin, Texas
- D-Nitrate / GTP_DNitrate
I was curious if Duck was actually telling the truth so I looked to see what used XB360's have been selling for on eBay... and got a shock. Out of the roughly 3,000 used XB360's that were listed on eBay the last three weeks nearly a quarter of them were listed as being not working, broken, and or As-Is.Duċk;2609538
Also, even ones that were listed in excellent condition, many simply didn't even sell. Of those that did, the average price looks to be around $250 for a used premium, usually with some extras thrown in like another controller and some games.
OK, so let's see, as far as I know, Microsoft has yet to even confirm that they will be releasing this "Elite" version, but let's assume the rumors are true, and it sells for $480.
$400 + $480 - $250 = $630 for those that want to upgrade from the original premium... and $480 for first time buyers... and still no HD DVD or Blu-ray player, and no support for HD DVD or Blu-ray games, and no WiFi. I thought the XB360 was supposed to be the cheap next gen player?
I do like the matte black finish! 👍
What's improper 1080p? Analog 1080i?
Except for monitors, some do not even have VGA inputs, and many that do do not accept an analog 1080p signal over either component or VGA. Some do, but I have not come across many that do.
Eric.
Premium
- 8,515
- GTP_Eric
- Ebiggs
- 6,009
- Austin, Texas
- D-Nitrate / GTP_DNitrate
Yes, there are a few exceptions... and the AQUOS is a superb 1080p display to boot!
- 21,286
- GR-MI-USA
- YSSMAN
- YSSMAN
I think the big problem is that Microsoft hasn't said anything, and given the season that we are in, you never know if these magazines are making stuff up or not. That being said, it still seems like a good idea for Microsoft to crank the 360 up (eventually), but I'm uncertain if now is the best time. Pete Moore isn't worried at all about the PS3, as it would seem the Wii is a bigger competitor than they had expected.
I think the big deal is the HDMI port and the bigger HDD, but they aren't huge selling points for most people, or at least thats the way I see it. The question of the DVD formats is another one that I think most people don't want to address, as it really only matters to tech-oriented folks for whats there, and Microsoft has been pretty adamant that there won't be HD-DVD games any time soon (as it would screw a pretty big portion of their fanbase). As for WiFi, I don't see that as an important feature either. IMO, I find WiFi to be an unreliable way of transferring bandwidth, so I do the hardwire... But even then, I could go wireless if I wanted to, and Microsoft seems to have some interest in it, but for max performance, wired is the way to go.
It is arguably the best next-gen platform when it comes to games and compatibility to most people's HD setups, and I think that is key for the success of the system. Yes, my TV does have HDMI and a VGA port, but the native resolution is 768p, so I don't need to worry about the outrageous rates like 1080p. Most of my friends are in the same boat, or have yet to even buy an HDTV to go with the 360 or the PS3, as most folks are waiting for prices to come-down further.
Its a difference of what you like and what you need, and IMO, the 360 does the best of the systems as of now. The PS3 is on a slow-start, and I think we are looking in excess of a year before the PS3 really becomes a threat to Nintendo and Microsoft, but that may even be a long-shot. They are sitting on the shelves, and that is a problem, but with additions like HOME and a presumed onslaught of AAA titles in the future (one would think...), things may get better. That is, if their 'exclusive' titles stop jumping ship, and HD-DVD doesn't continue to outsell BluRay in Europe and in parts of the US...
Its very nice looking, something different. It would look better with my silver TV, but then again, the standard one doesn't look bad either. Lets just hope they don't do a "Halo Edition" in green again...
My 'cheap' monitor has VGA and HDMI (as noted), but doesn't show 1080p either way. I'm happy with 720p as the standard fare...
Not too bad for a $550 27" LCD set...
- 6,009
- Austin, Texas
- D-Nitrate / GTP_DNitrate
Good points YSSMAN.
Just a couple things though:
In Japan, Blu-ray dominates with a 95% share of the HD market. As for Europe, due to the high cost of Blu-ray players, and no PS3's available... yet, obviously HD DVD has a slight edge, although total sales are very small compared to the US and Japan. However that's about to change with the release of the PS3.
In addition, it was reported that reps from Warner, and Paramount who used to be exclusive supporters of HD DVD, but changed their minds prior to HD DVD's launch - joined reps from the studios that are exclusively supporting Blu-ray in announcing a joint effort to spread the word in the UK, and presumably Europe that Blu-ray should be the HD disc format of choice. This would leave Universal as the only major studio promoting HD DVD.
These are just some of the problems Toshiba's HD DVD format is facing; many more are mentioned in the thread linked above. Basically though, most analysts are coming to the agreement that HD DVD's days are numbered, at least in terms of market share. There is no telling how long Toshiba and Microsoft might be willing to keep it on life support regardless of how lackluster sales may get.
I should have worded it as such, to make it less confusing:
"With the exception of monitors, many 1080p HDTV's do not even have VGA inputs, and many that do, do not accept an analog 1080p signal over either component or VGA. Some do, but I have not come across many that do."
Just a couple things though:
World wide sales, and total sales in the US, Blu-ray has been outselling HD DVD by a wide margin since Christmas. Every day, the margin increases. I posted some links in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD Discussion Thread that keep track of the sales ranking of both formats on Amazon, and HD DVD is falling way behind, and Amazon is currently the top retailer of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, thanks to their discounts and sales on these formats. Currently, of the top 20 best selling HD titles, all but five are Blu-ray titles, and of the five HD DVD titles, only two are in the top ten.
In Japan, Blu-ray dominates with a 95% share of the HD market. As for Europe, due to the high cost of Blu-ray players, and no PS3's available... yet, obviously HD DVD has a slight edge, although total sales are very small compared to the US and Japan. However that's about to change with the release of the PS3.
In addition, it was reported that reps from Warner, and Paramount who used to be exclusive supporters of HD DVD, but changed their minds prior to HD DVD's launch - joined reps from the studios that are exclusively supporting Blu-ray in announcing a joint effort to spread the word in the UK, and presumably Europe that Blu-ray should be the HD disc format of choice. This would leave Universal as the only major studio promoting HD DVD.
These are just some of the problems Toshiba's HD DVD format is facing; many more are mentioned in the thread linked above. Basically though, most analysts are coming to the agreement that HD DVD's days are numbered, at least in terms of market share. There is no telling how long Toshiba and Microsoft might be willing to keep it on life support regardless of how lackluster sales may get.
I'm guessing MS heard all the moans and groans over the finger print and dust magnet that is the PS3's polished piano black finish, and did the right thing by making it matte. Sony really needs to come out with that great looking matte silver case they kept showing in all the promotional media.
My fault, I didn't word it right. When I said "except of Monitors, I was referring to the fact that most monitors have VGA, although not all of them will except a 1080p signal.
I should have worded it as such, to make it less confusing:
"With the exception of monitors, many 1080p HDTV's do not even have VGA inputs, and many that do, do not accept an analog 1080p signal over either component or VGA. Some do, but I have not come across many that do."
Not bad at all. 👍
Well, if you don't use the movie renting system or need HDMI, it is the cheap next-gen player. $200 cheaper, in fact. Of course, I doubt it'll ever be as technically advanced out-of-the-box as the PS3, but personally, I don't think it really needs to be.
1080p over component.What's improper 1080p? Analog 1080i?
OK, thanks.
Just an FYI, he's not arguing that HD-DVD is better than Blu-ray... he's just saying it's not outselling Blu-ray anymore.
- 6,009
- Austin, Texas
- D-Nitrate / GTP_DNitrate
Less than three months later...Except its a little more than a rumor, as even MS has now admitted that the pics are real, and that they even go so far as to say, "At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing,"
The fact that they admit it exists, and the fact that MS, like many companies is not in the habbit of making protoypes of products it isn't at least considering releasing not only confirms that this new XB360 design exists, but that MS is obviously considering it as a possible consumer product.
One can easily read into this as a smart response to a public outing of their future XB360 plans that if consumers believe it to be true then it would seriously hurt current XB360 sales. After all, if they knew a better XB360 edition was coming out and it wouldn't cost any or much more than the older edition, why would they buy the old one?
I think it is very clever and smart of MS to say "at the moment, it isn't a real product" and "announcing" instead of "releasing", because it sort of denies that the product is actually coming out, but at the same time if they do release a new edition, they can always say they didn't lie, because at that moment, it wasn't coming out and they weren't thinking about announcing it.... but now they changed their mind.
This way they can keep interest in the current XB360, and then create more sales when the new edition comes out later in the year.
While I'm sure executives at MS are VERY upset about the leak, I think their response to it is a well orchestrated one.
Microsoft has finally made it official:
From Engadget:
Xbox 360 Elite and 120GB drive now official
(click pic if it doesn't load)
HD nerds and Xbox fanboys, the moment you've been waiting for: the Xbox 360 Elite we alerted you about way back when it was just called the Zephyr has finally been announced.
As we previously mentioned, it will be black, it will have HDMI, and it will have a 120GB drive (it'll also come bundled with a one month Xbox Live trial) for $479.
Unfortunately, also as mentioned before, it's not going to have the new 65nm CPUs, it still doesn't have integrated WiFi (Xbox said it's because a study showed the majority of their customers use Ethernet to connect -- huh?), and it won't have an integrated HD DVD drive (not that we expected otherwise).
Microsoft did make some marketing decisions since our sources spilled the beans on this thing though: it's not going to be limited edition, as we previously had. Instead, the Elite will be a permanent SKU, the third and top-tier Xbox device. On the solo 120GB drive side of things, that unit will cost $179, and will come with a cable and software to migrate from your old 20GB drive. (MSFT wasn't yet sure if that kit would be sold separately for new Elite users -- sounds like it will be though, and will be priced very reasonably.)
More info:
It's out April 29th, people. Ready for your second Xbox? No? Well, it's still cheaper than that other black game console.
- The console will come with component and composite cables, as well as an HDMI cable. (Take that, Sony and Apple!)
- The console will come with a black wireless controller and black (wired) headset.
- Sorry, the new black controller still doesn't have backlit buttons -- don't let the pic fool you.
- The black controller, black rechargeable batteries, black headset, and black Play & Charge kit will all be available in retail for the same price as the white gear.
- The HD DVD drive will not be released in black.
- Xbox didn't know what HDMI version the Elite uses, nor whether it supports PCM 5.1, TrueHD, etc.; it will obviously support 1080p, though.
- Sorry, no price cuts on the Premium or Core packs.
- Xbox Live Marketplace will also begin vending content from New Line, Paramount, and Universal (and their properties).
- 13,719
- Indiana
- ViperManiac
I want one so bad. 
- 1,499
- Darkest Kent....
- Slackbladder
- DarkSideDaMoon
$179 for a 120GB HDD. How much is a 120 2.5" SATA HDD that can be put into the PS3?
Interesting price. $79 more than the premium yet $179 for the HDD. I guess Microsoft are expecting people to buy the 120GB HDD in droves. There must be a loss taken in the Elite price.
Also the Elite isn't that important in the UK at the moment as we don't have downloadable TV content or films on Live. Maybe we will in time.
I don't think the Elite will be as numerous as the premium.
Ultimately this is a reaction to the PS3. It's certainly an attractive package but is it only the Xbox 360 hardcore who are going to buy it?
Interesting price. $79 more than the premium yet $179 for the HDD. I guess Microsoft are expecting people to buy the 120GB HDD in droves. There must be a loss taken in the Elite price.
Also the Elite isn't that important in the UK at the moment as we don't have downloadable TV content or films on Live. Maybe we will in time.
I don't think the Elite will be as numerous as the premium.
Ultimately this is a reaction to the PS3. It's certainly an attractive package but is it only the Xbox 360 hardcore who are going to buy it?
- 2,348
- murphykieran
250 (over $300!!!) cheaper here in Ireland. The PS3 is being sold at 630 here in Ireland vs. 380 that I paid for my Xbox360 (that's comparing the higher-end PS3 vs. the higher-end Xbox, I don't know what the basic systems cost offhand)Duċk;2609678
KM.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/...Text.camp=TS3-Xbox360Elite&WText.campSrc=Home
Also, you can get a 120GB SATA drive for around $100 on Newegg.
Well, supposedly the Elite will only ship in limited numbers (think 100,000), and then later, they'll return it to its normal white and use it as the Premium model.
Also, you can get a 120GB SATA drive for around $100 on Newegg.
- 21,286
- GR-MI-USA
- YSSMAN
- YSSMAN
I'm really not overly upset or overly excited over the whole thing. To be completely honest, HDMI is great and all, but I don't have any reason for it (My HD can only do up to 1080i, native 720p), and the extra hard-drive space is great... But for what? Yes, you can download movies, but you can only keep them for a certain am mount of time... That is, if Microsoft is planning on releasing down loadable movies that you can keep...
I dunno. I'm not worried about it.
I dunno. I'm not worried about it.
Well, honestly, I think adding a third SKU to the 360 line-up is a big mistake... yes, it has twice the amount of HDD space and HDMI, but for an extra $100 or so you can get Blu-ray, card readers, and Wi-Fi with half the HDD space.
Not to mention, you don't want consumers to associate the 360 with $$$ like what Sony has done. You don't want to confuse your potental userbase and have them see the 360 and think $500. They should've replaced the current Premium with this and the current Core with the Current Premium. I understand their motto of giving people the choice, but you don't want that to backfire on you (like, casuals will get the cheaper Wii or the hardcore would get the more expensive PS3).
Not to mention, you don't want consumers to associate the 360 with $$$ like what Sony has done. You don't want to confuse your potental userbase and have them see the 360 and think $500. They should've replaced the current Premium with this and the current Core with the Current Premium. I understand their motto of giving people the choice, but you don't want that to backfire on you (like, casuals will get the cheaper Wii or the hardcore would get the more expensive PS3).
- 13,719
- Indiana
- ViperManiac
Duċk;2616171
I read that the Elite is going to be a permanent model. I cant remember where I read it at but it supposedly came from somebody at Microsoft.
- 2,248
- dunedin NZ
- Godzilla_GTR
- Godzilla_GTR
omg that's only $672.4 NZ. A PS3 60gb is nz$1200. lol
- 6,009
- Austin, Texas
- D-Nitrate / GTP_DNitrate
Please show us where Microsoft has listed the Elite in New Zealand for $672.4 NZ
You are comparing the US price converted to NZ dollars to the PS3 price IN New Zealand... two entirely different things.
When the official Elite pricing fo New Zealand is released, then you can compare it to the PS3 price in NZ.... and I'll bet any currency you like, that the Elite will list for higher than $672.4 NZD.
If you want to do an accurate comparison right now, then convert the US PS3 price of $600 to NZ dollars, which using the same conversion rate that you used to come up with the Elite price:
$672.40 NZD = Elite
$842.25 NZD = 60GB PS3
- 903
- Knguyen
This is the reason why MS' HDD is so freaking expensive, standard HDD "can't" do this:
http://gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=107528
http://gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=107528
This is the reason why MS' HDD is so freaking expensive, standard HDD "can't" do this:
http://gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=107528
X360 HDD DRM FTW.
OMG.
- 6,009
- Austin, Texas
- D-Nitrate / GTP_DNitrate
One more thing...
As even Duck pointed out, for only about $100 more, in the US, you can get a PS3 with:
- Blu-ray player @ 1080p, w/Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD decoding, and up to 7.1 lossless 24bit/192 kHz PCM audio
- High Capacity Games with as much as 50GB of data (only 7GB per disc for XB360)
- HDMI 1.3 (although MS wont say yet what version of HDMI it will include with the Elite)
- Multi-card Reader
- WiFi
- No Monthly Online Service Charges
- and additional features exclusive to the PS3
Maybe MS is hoping that developers will release larger games for downloading, but in that case, you would need a much larger HDD than 120GB if you plan on having even a small collection of games.
Even so, with the Elite priced so close to the PS3, and the fact that you have to pay $50 a year for XBL, now the PS3 is not only offering more performance and features, but in most cases, it will end up being cheaper in a relatively short amount of time.
- 6,847
- SeismicGravy
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