Black Xbox 360 "Elite" Possibly in April

[Warlock]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?Dispatch=Display&cId=3158132
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/game-mag-says-black-xbox-360-is-coming-245472.php

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/03/blackxbox1.jpg


Reports are flying across the Internet today suggesting the "Zephyr," which we'd believed to be a codename for Microsoft's revised Xbox 360, is becoming more and more real. Two sources have lead credibility to these murmurings ver the past 24 hours -- scans from the upcoming issue of Game Informer and trusted sources sharing info with Engadget.

Based on the multiple posts and blog entries, here's what we know:
The unit will be called the Xbox 360 Elite, cost $479, and launch sometime in late April
The unit includes a 120GB HD, but does not include a HD-DVD drive because the format is "not proven"
The Elite, in black, is considered a limited edition, and will eventually get white casing
This will be the third SKU for the 360, as it will exist on shelves next to the Core and Premium units
The Elite will be cooler, but 65nm chips aren't confirmed

It's still semi-rumor, but with a magazine scan it looks like it could be true. I've been waiting to see if they were going to do this before picking a 360 up myself.

[AtmaWeapon]

$479 is too much for video games but I hear the new Ace Combat is coming out on XBox 360 oh man

Seriously this is a bigger dilemma in my head than that of science vs. religion!

[MottZilla]

The part that most interests me most is the 65nm chips and the 120GB harddisk. Can't say I care about a black case. Ofcourse it's unlikely I'll get that at all, unless my 360 dies and I need to buy another.

[Grasshopper]

I was all hyped up about those rumors, until I read in that magazine was nearly $500. (as mentioned above)

[Warlock]

The part that most interests me most is the 65nm chips and the 120GB harddisk. Can't say I care about a black case. Ofcourse it's unlikely I'll get that at all, unless my 360 dies and I need to buy another.

Yeah, those are the main reasons I want this, on top of the HDMI support (which is good for my TV as I'm already out of Component slots w/ Wii and PS2 taking them up). The price is a little high, but it *does* come with the HMDI cable unlike PS3, so if you factor that into the cost (vs. having to buy one) that's closer to $400 (since those cables usually run *at least* $50). And unlike the PS3, at least this thing has *games* for it :P

[MottZilla]

Yes but I would need some kind of HDMI to DVI cable to use that. Plus the cable would need to outputs stereo RCA jack audio. And my VGA looks good enough even if analog. ;p

[Breaker]

If you're paying more than 10 dollars for an hdmi cable, then you're paying too much. You can find one on newegg for 7 bucks with identical performance to a $100 hdmi cable.

As far as the XBOX 360, I might finally pick one up after they're done marketting this "elite" box and drop the price down to $400 for the 120 gig console.

[Imprisoned]

Rather a black Xbox 360 than a PS3, I say.
But then again, who really NEEDS a 120GB hard drive for a GAMING CONSOLE?

[ctrl-alt-delete]

We gotta keep watching out for April Fools jokes...they are happening earlier and earlier each year.

[Mak-X]

The price is a little high, but it *does* come with the HMDI cable unlike PS3, so if you factor that into the cost (vs. having to buy one) that's closer to $400 (since those cables usually run *at least* $50). And unlike the PS3, at least this thing has *games* for it :P

Try buying HDMI cables from www.monoprice.com. Cables in stores are often way overpriced for extra shielding you don't need. They also sell a DVI to HDMI cable and worked fine for me.

edit: Missed Breaker's post. What he said.

[Warlock]

We gotta keep watching out for April Fools jokes...they are happening earlier and earlier each year.

From the Kotaku article:

Ed's Note: Matt Helgeson, senior editor over at Game Informer, just dropped us a line to let us know that the story is in fact true. As a rule they don't post fake news stories in their April mag. So go celebrate

And yes about the HDMI cable price, but game systems all have their own proprietary connections, thus you have to buy *their* brand of cable. And those are usually always full price.

[MottZilla]

Rather a black Xbox 360 than a PS3, I say.
But then again, who really NEEDS a 120GB hard drive for a GAMING CONSOLE?

The 20GB hard drive currently available is insufficant to get the most out of your Xbox 360, esspecially if you use the Video Marketplace where you can buy movies and tv shows, even in high definition. Even if you don't, if you have alot of map packs, stored music, or downloaded demos and arcade games, the 20GB space will become insufficant soon.

They keep saying that the Elite will be in limited quantities and haven't mentioned anything about after the Elite and what happens then.

[Breaker]

So you can download movies off of this Video Marketplace and it'll play in HD on your TV?

[MottZilla]

Yup. Recently the first High Definition South Park episode was made available and for FREE the first 2 weeks. You can also basically "rent" High Definition movies too. I know movies like Batman Begins is in High Definition. HD versions cost more than Standard definition obviously.

South Park looked amazingly clear and sharp. Just a note, videos are 720p, not 1080p like HD-DVD or Blu-ray, but it doesn't really matter since you've not likely seen 1080p video anyway.

[The_Amaster]

*sigh* I remember the old days when a 2G hard drive was huge.

I can see the memory upgrade as maybe being worth it, but that is rather a lot. At least they haven't goen as high as the PS3.

[Warlock]

They keep saying that the Elite will be in limited quantities and haven't mentioned anything about after the Elite and what happens then.

What I heard was the black one would be limited, then it would be released in white non-limited for $400 (replacing pro pretty much)

[MottZilla]

I'm pretty sure that is just speculation.

[Warlock]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3158254

It's official

[MottZilla]

What's official? We all knew the Elite was coming but it's still not clear what it'll have. All that's for sure is HDMI and the 120GB HDD. They say it still uses 90nm cpu chips, which makes it far less attractive to me. HDMI doesn't interest me, and the 120GB would be nice but it's not needed. They did that the 120GB HDD would be sold seperately for 179$!! o.O

[Warlock]

What's official? We all knew the Elite was coming but it's still not clear what it'll have. All that's for sure is HDMI and the 120GB HDD. They say it still uses 90nm cpu chips, which makes it far less attractive to me. HDMI doesn't interest me, and the 120GB would be nice but it's not needed. They did that the 120GB HDD would be sold seperately for 179$!! o.O

Well one, it's announced by Microsoft. Hence "official"..

Two:

For $479.99, here's what gamers will get (in black -- see picture):

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. (Editor's Note: The component/composite cable already included with the Xbox 360 is also in the Xbox 360 Elite box).
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.

That's what it will have. But yes, the 90nm chip does bum me out too. Maybe they will change their minds before April? :P Or maybe it was reported wrong (I don't think Microsoft *specifically* said anywhere that it would be the 90nm one, so I'm not sure where 1up got that). Either way, I'm getting it mainly because I don't have an Xbox 360 yet and I want one. This seems to be the best package.

[Pineconn lolz]

According to IGN, none of the internals are being changed, which is what i've been hearing from rumors in the past anyway.

[Orion]

Hm... too bad I was hoping for a price drop on the $400 version. Ah well. I would love to get one, but simply can't afford to at the moment (or CS3 for that matter, which would also be nice). I don't think that the new package is worth it for me though... I don't have a TV capable of HD, let alone HDMI ports, plus I use netflix so I don't think I'll need the extra HDD space.

[biggiy05]

I've been thinking about buying a 360 for a while and I might just have to go buy one once they fade into the white. Not a big fan of the black.

Just how much of a difference are we going to see with using the hdmi port?

[Orion]

I've been thinking about buying a 360 for a while and I might just have to go buy one once they fade into the white. Not a big fan of the black.

Just how much of a difference are we going to see with using the hdmi port?

Unfortunately I think the black being a limited edition thing was incorrect. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I read that it was just speculation, and the black one will always be black. Which is a shame, really, white looks so much better. Black is soooo last-gen.

[MottZilla]

I've been thinking about buying a 360 for a while and I might just have to go buy one once they fade into the white. Not a big fan of the black.

Just how much of a difference are we going to see with using the hdmi port?

Depends on your display and conhnection method you use now. If you use Component Video cables, you could definitely see an improvement with digital output. But if you use VGA (I do) the improvement will be there but not nearly as important. HDMI is nice, but VGA offers excellent video quality. Much better looking (atleast on my LCD) than Component 720p. I do have DVI on my LCD so I could use HDMI output, but the quality gain would only be apparant at very close distance where your eyes are fixed on the image quality and not actually playing the game.

[biggiy05]

Depends on your display and conhnection method you use now. If you use Component Video cables, you could definitely see an improvement with digital output. But if you use VGA (I do) the improvement will be there but not nearly as important. HDMI is nice, but VGA offers excellent video quality. Much better looking (atleast on my LCD) than Component 720p. I do have DVI on my LCD so I could use HDMI output, but the quality gain would only be apparant at very close distance where your eyes are fixed on the image quality and not actually playing the game.

I've got all the connections on the side of my tv. Looks like I'll just buy a regular 360 with the hdd and pick up a VGA cable.

EDIT: Anyone have a link to a site where I can buy the vga hd cable? I've found one but the reviews are mixed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874177007