Yesterday it was "rumour and speculation" but today Microsoft finally coughed up its plans for the Elite Xbox 360, HDMI, beefy hard drive and all. Except a European release date.
The updated system arrive in North America on April 29 for $479 USD (£244 GBP), with European and Japanese releases following later in the year.
Storage Shock As previously speculated by the world and its dog, the Elite system will come with a number of improvements over the vanilla premium package, the most notable of which is the addition of a 120GB hard drive.
This will undoubtedly prove more and more useful as Microsoft's ever-growing Xbox Live Marketplace vision expands. In the US HD movie and television downloads are already available (and promised for Europe "in the coming future"). Xbox Live Arcade games games are also going to be hogging more and more of your hard drive space now that the limit's been upped to 150MB.
Does the world need a bigger Xbox 360? We don't right now, especially here in Europe where Video Marketplace is yet to emerge.
We thought the best chaps to ask about filling hard drives would be those bums over on Official Xbox Magazine - who by law have to fill their drives with every last gamer pic and theme on Live.
Apparently they feel the same as us; that unless you're going to go a bit mental on Marketplace you can live comfortably with 20 gigs. For now.
Some people will happily download a truckload of game demos and still rip every last album Phil Collins has ever made. It's clear the demand for a larger drive is there, but considering that current core or premium owners can shell out $179 USD (£91 GB) for the boosted hard drive why should anyone upgrade to the whole Elite console?
Could it be for the built-in HDMI port, which other than a very slight improvement in visual quality offers the convenience of having both audio and visual signals through a single cable.
We've tested both HDMI and Component connections side by side (on a PS3, mind you) and only when you've literally got both pictures together on a picture-in-picture set-up can you notice the slightly sharper picture of the HDMI connection. Definitely then, a purchase decision on the merit of this new connection is going to be made by hardcore TV enthusiasts only.
Inevitable comparisons The question everyone will be asking is how the Xbox 360 Elite stands up to the slightly pricier PlayStation 3. Of course the most blatant omission to the package is the Xbox 360's HD-DVD support, the equivalent of Sony's built-in Blu-ray.
Seeming as the 360 doesn't - and most likely never will - use HD-DVD for games (and of course it's $130 cheaper) this is a somewhat of moot point, but if you absolutely must match the PS3's movie playback capabilities the extra £130 for an Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive will bring you roughly upto the same spec, and price as Sony's console.
It should also be noted that US gamers are getting considerably more gigabytes for the $79 they're paying over the 20GB premium console, than if they were to pay the extra $100 over the lowest PS3 model for the extra 40GB.
So with the neat price difference consolation for no HD movie play back considered, the Elite stands up quite nicely alongside the PS3. What it's missing is the ability to charge wireless controllers out of the box and all of the PS3's wireless internet capabilities. But then the PS3 can't actually be hooked up to a HD TV out of the box, can it?
There's also the many little things the PS3 does that even the Xbox 360 Elite doesn't; the dozens of media card ports scattered across the front of the system, the four USB ports and - oh yes - you don't have to actually pay to play games over the net either.
The PlayStation 3 is undoubtedly the most capable piece of kit of the pair, but with a truckload of storage and a fantastic selection of games the Elite makes the 360 look even more attractive alongside Sony's console - and for current owners at least that new hard drive is bound to be a necessity soon.
Is it worth Core and Premium owners shelling out for an Elite though? We're not convinced.
So the PS3 has a few extra bits and bobs built in, so what? You can add a card reader, a usb hub or an hd-dvd drive to the 360 if that is what you want. Plus Americans have much faster broadband connections than we do here, so downloading TV and Movies might not be available here for a very long time, if at all. X-box 360 Elite? It's like admitting that the 360 isn't quite good enough already.
20 gigs is absolutely sufficient for demos, music etcetera, but it's when you start plonking on HD episodes of say, Lost or Rome (HD episodes of Rome are about a gig in size..)when twenty does start to seem a bit short.
I know that MS are going to be supplying separate 120 Gig hard drives with a posh cable to move your game saves, but that's when you're using the same 360.
If you want to move your game saves to a new HD AND a new 360 things aren't so clear.
Mind you - I'd want to upgrade via a trade-in, but if I do that I don't have both machines in the same place to do the data move anyway. So I'd have to buy an Elite, assuming I can move my saves, and then sell my 360 on eBay. With all the other coveters of shiny new toys out there who will no doubt be doing the same I'll probably get ten quid for it...
I'm just hoping it won't have the hardware issues like the previous version. Its already bad enough a lot of us are on our second 360. Hopefully there won't be more people with their second 360 elites.
The question everyone will be asking is how the Xbox 360 Elite stands up to the slightly pricier PlayStation 3.
slightly pricier????????? Just yesterday I was saying that if the 360 dropped in price to about 250Ł and those issues with the 'RED LIGHTS OF DOOM' were sorted then I would really consider getting one. now all the console needs is the games to grab my attention, blue dragon is a good start but I need more than that, perhaps in two years I will get one then. but xbox360 elite is an absolutely bloody stupid name on a level with the wii, I would be embarrassed to go into a store to ask for one.
Not again - MS keeps upgrading xbox 360. Xbox 360 now is like PC, not home entertainment console anymore.
your forgetting about the ps1, psone, ps2 went thorough about 14 changes in its hardware some of the first models released didn’t even have the DVD player, then there was the slim line one and the psx, and the ps3 has only just been released so we have a whole host of upgrades to look forward to. yay for upgrades.
whats p**sin me off is being stuck with the mingin white one. It looks stupid. I wanna black one but why should I have to pay. They should do a straight trade with me and I'll just pay the difference for the hard drive and stuff. f**kas.
I got an Xbox 360 about 2 months ago and I will be buying an elite when it comes out as a second console for local multiplayer games. I dont care much for the HDMI output as there aint much difference between 1080i and 1080p (Im sure I'll get flamed for saying that - but its true). Im not a fanboy of any sorts and sorry to go off topic a bit (I have a wii, 2 psp's, 2 nintendo DS's also); but I think microsoft have done a great job with this console. I wouldn't touch the PS3 yet because of the p**s poor effort they have made with the PSP's - the PSP had soo much potential and they wasted all their time locking out homebrew. I think the extra space on the elite (or the new hard drive) will be handy for when homebrew XNA software hits the market place.
whats p**sin me off is being stuck with the mingin white one. It looks stupid. I wanna black one but why should I have to pay. They should do a straight trade with me and I'll just pay the difference for the hard drive and stuff. f**kas.
whats p**sin me off is being stuck with the mingin white one. It looks stupid. I wanna black one but why should I have to pay. They should do a straight trade with me and I'll just pay the difference for the hard drive and stuff. f**kas.
20 gigs is absolutely sufficient for demos, music etcetera, but it's when you start plonking on HD episodes of say, Lost or Rome (HD episodes of Rome are about a gig in size..)when twenty does start to seem a bit short.
We're going to see a new trend here for the console gaming space that will finally follow other electronic device spaces such as portable audio players. As time goes by, more capacity is added while either keeping the prices relatively the same or slightly reduced. I`d prefer if they`d ship without HDD and let the buyer choose a model him/herself.
whats p**sin me off is being stuck with the mingin white one. It looks stupid. I wanna black one but why should I have to pay. They should do a straight trade with me and I'll just pay the difference for the hard drive and stuff. f**kas.
I think I'll be upgrading to an elite when my X360 starts to die (love the machine but it's not exactly renowned for it's reliability). It all depends on the price point though, if Microsoft introducing it at Ł299 and push the price of the other models down (it'll almost be 2 years old by then so a price drop is likely) then I'll get one. I hope they don't release it for any more than that, they'd be stupid to follow Sony's mistakes now.
At least we're going to be 18 months into the 360's release by the time elite goes to stores. Sony is already trying to mimic Microsoft as usual and working on a secret 80 GB version of the PS3 which will probably see light before 18 months is up with PS3's release. They also have been getting alot of claims from consumers for lag and other defects with the entire bluetooth setup of the PS3, which Sony is also going to be repairing on newer versions of the console. Between the 20 GB and 60 GB American versions with the PS2 chip, the 20 and 60 GB Euro versions without the PS2 chip, and this new 80 GB version, I tally 5 consoles, 4 of those consoles within 4 months of the launch. I wouldn't bag on Microsoft too much for releaseing a black, 120 GB system for people who want to download HD movies and tv shows...
I heard Microsoft are fazing in the HDMI port across all versions of the 360, could it be because of the TV and Film industry do not lik it that the 360 can play HD-DVD and HD downloads without their HD copywrite protection(thats what the HDMI conection was invented for)? I guess we'll find out when this "elite" 360 comes out. My guess is it will only let you watch HD TV and Films if you use the HDMI conection. And probably only region 2 HD-DVD's here.
If you want to move your game saves to a new HD AND a new 360 things aren't so clear.
http://www.xboxyde.com/news_4145_en.html
You won’t have to swop your hard drives at all. When you buy a 120 GB Hard Drive you’ll also receive a migration cables which will allow you to easily copy all the data on your old hard drive onto your new one. It’s really easy!
I won't be surprised if Sony decide to release a PS3 without the Blu Ray player. I for one don't need it, I don't even own a HDTV. i will be definately buying the Xbox360 Elite.
my mate owns a PS3 and he keeps going on about the size of the hard drive! so what he can keep more demos than i can! when the game comes out you wont keep the demo or the trailer so your constantly changing what you have on there! 20G is enough unless you download movies but i just prefer dvd's atm
Hi, reply to the first post: yes they are making them so they will be quiet, and to all the others you are saying what is the point in making them. I don't have an xbox360 yet but i am getting the elite:you do not have to buy it and it is merely a choice
why go spend 60 pound more on the console coz its got a 100gb more hard drive i havent got a xbox 360 atm i have a PS3 but shud have one the end of next week but im going to get premium and buy an external hard drive 500Gb for 60 pound and it will work with both my ps3 and xbox so its a cheap way of saving space if you want more information on how to do this feel free to email me at killinme4life@hotmail.com
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