Black Xbox 360 confirmed

360 News | HDMI, 120GB, and really, really black.

Engadget has confirmed with "trusted sources" that the black Xbox 360 is definitely coming. This matches reports by Game Informer, who insist it isn't an April Fool's joke.

Named the "Xbox 360 Elite", it will be a limited edition version of the 360, with a limited production run of unspecified numbers (potentially as low as a few hundred thousand). It will include a HDMI output, a 120GB hard drive, and will apparently run cooler than the current 360s (although it has not been confirmed that it will use a 65nm fabrication process). There are no current plans to integrate HD-DVD or WiFi into the Elite or future Premiums, but it is expected that the Elite will eventually replace the current Premium lineup, most likely to maintain pricing at current levels by bundling in additional features.

RRP will be US$479, which works out on a simple exchange rate calculation to approximately AU$600 / £245 / €360. The usual $100 markup for shipping, GST, and local warranty / marketing support takes the local price to a likely AU$700 - AU$750. Launch date has not been specified, but it's expected that the 120GB / HDMI bundle will replace the current Premium featureset sometime in Q3 / Q4, suggesting that the Xbox 360 Elite is likely to launch within the next few months. If the small production run estimates are correct, it is highly likely that very few will be available in Australia, if any.

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Related Content

Xbox 360 Elite release date and price announced
17 Aug, 2007 Coming August 30th.

Xbox 360 Elite Australian date revealed?
12 Aug, 2007 As well as price. Halo Xbox 360 also priced.

New Xbox 360 on the way?
06 Jan, 2007 Codenamed Zephyr.

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55 Comments

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

crestfallen wrote

ObsoletE wrote

crestfallen wrote

How do our 360 gamers feel about this??

i think the best response to the (at the time) rumour was something along the lines of "Well, by the time this comes out i'll have had 1 year of next-gen gaming, so i can't really feel bad about that"
(apologies if this was you, i know the quote, but not the writer, and i cbf going through it all to find it again).
and i feel it's true. if you're honestly really annoyed at having bought a (presumably) Premium XBox 360 to find out about this one, then i think the disappointment is more on the platform as a whole, not because you missed out on some hardware update.

Sounds too wise to be Jibbs, but yeah it was him who said that and I agree with that point of view.

Guffers

5 years ago

hrmm. im not really that annoyed. i have had nearly 12 months of hi def gaming already. although the extra hard drive space and the cooler running would be quite choice. nah bugger it ill just stick with my current 360 til it dies and then upgrade. hehe could be tommorrow with its track record. "touch wood"

Crestfallen

5 years ago

Jibbs wrote

crestfallen wrote

ObsoletE wrote

crestfallen wrote

How do our 360 gamers feel about this??

Sounds too wise to be Jibbs, but yeah it was him who said that and I agree with that point of view.

Whoops! Must be that Jobbs character going around, causing all this trouble.

realitybites

5 years ago

True, your right and I stand corrected you can do 1080p on component.

Problem 1 - HDCP / AACS doesn't support 1080p on analogue connections making it a difficult point. So you would need two cables essentially one for HD-DVD playback and one for games. Impractical.

Problem 2 - you need a very good quality (and short) component cable and definitely support on the plasma or LCD (most don't).

So I was being brief but as you correctly stated you could do it if you had a quality component cable, just played games and had a LCD/Plasma to support the resolution.

Probably need to do some research if new full 1080p LCDs with HDMI and component actually support 1080p on the component cable.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

crestfallen wrote

Whoops! Must be that Jobbs character going around, causing all this trouble.

Lol! Nice recovery! Damn that Jobbs....he's a sneaky bastard!

See the problem I have with this whole scenario is actually the 120gig hdd! Personally I think the 20 gig is not enough because I have to delete a lot of content to make sure I always have room for new stuff. Also with tv shows and stuff being available for download....you don't wanna have to delete anything ESPECIALLY if you've paid for it! Also it's not like I can just buy a 120 gig hdd (if it's even gonna be available seperately) and transfer my 20 gig hdd stuff over to it (not without the XSATA anyways which costs $80 - $100)....so this is a slap in the face for sure. Yea the Xbox 360 has been an awesome machine....but i've also had to send it back for repairs.....as a current proud 360 owner...i'm looking at these Elite machines and I can't help but feel jealous or hard done by!

Aftershock

5 years ago

so after this is released, or shortly before, do you think there will be a price drop for the current premium or standard packs? or after this (in white presumably) replaces the current 360, prices for that would drop right?

please.....

Mr Blimson

5 years ago

The one thing i dont understand is that Microsoft opted not to have an inbuilt HD-DVD drive because it is an 'unproven format' which makes sense. Though what if Blu-Ray wins the format war, Microsoft couldn't support a format pionered by Sony could they?

Jim Dash

5 years ago

Aftershock, I don't think there will be a price drop, but as Evan said, just extra features for the 'same price'.

Ugh, I too keep wondering about the transferring content/saves over issue - I'm not fussed by the Elite console, but want that big Hard Drive..Microsoft need to get something going with that, and yes, need to get and upgrade system going for early adopters. We support you, so you help us, you know?

Yes, the original 360 should've had all of this in the first place, but I don't feel hard done by at all. Since launch,, my gaming experiences have been awesome. As Jibbro said, to have missed out on those experiences would be a crime.

Spanca

5 years ago

To those 360 gamers who are seriously annoyed by this... wtf?

You'd really choose to wait 18 months with no 360 gaming for an HDMI port and 90gig more, if you'd known back then that this was coming? I really don't see what there is to be annoyed about. If you didn't like what the 360 was offering when you bought it... why did you buy it?

That said, I do find the 'running cooler' thing to be annoying, although to counter that, it's not like Australian gamers didn't know what to expect from the 360. It'd been out for months in the US with many reports coming out about it's reliability/heat/noise, yet you still decided you wanted one.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

^ It's not that Spanca....it's more the fact that it's coming out with a couple of upgrades. I would rather they wait a little bit longer.....maybe release a slimmed down version or something a bit more substantial like with Wifi built in aswell. The problem is I want this new Elite edition but I don't think it's worth buying a 360 again. If there were more improvements I would be able to justify it. Also like I said...it's the HDD....I want a frickin' 120 gig....infact I NEED one!

Spanca

5 years ago

So you're annoyed at who or what? Microsoft or yourself for being such a consumeristic whore?

Jellyfish

5 years ago

Sony did it with the PS2 multiple times (with the PSP on the horizon), Nintendo's done it with the GBA and DS. Nintendo also did the reverse with the Gamecube as well... So it's not like it's a rarity these days.

Souless

5 years ago

I guess this will replace my broken 360 once released. So how many months of pure ps3 and wii gaming untill this gets released? Also anybody have any pics of the black 360? Probably prefer a white one though.

Jim Dash

5 years ago

Exactly right nik, but its not like anyone is surprised by this. I'd just like the be able to upgradde for minimal cash, or at least have that hard drive issue sorted.

And yes, ugh thats exactly right - if they're going to upgrade, do something more substantial, not a HDMI port, bigger HDD and make it black. The HDD could be easily released on its own.

NovaPhoenix

5 years ago

If I knew this was truly 100% legit (which I know it is now) then I would not have bought an Xbox 360 back in August.

I am glad to hear that it is confirmed now. The Joytech HDMI Trilink Switcher (due for release somewhere in April) will have all 3 slots being used now (first 2 for the PS3 and Phillips STB).

So I will have to buy a Memory Unit and use it as a bridge, to get all of my current gamesaves over to the new 360. Unless I can use a USB pendrive to do that?

Frozencry

5 years ago

I've known of its existence for well over a month now to be honest, I was just told not to say a single word, as I could get my sources into trouble. The price'll be $749.95, Early April is the release.

Jellyfish

5 years ago

That then puts the next Dashboard update to be late March/early April

NovaPhoenix

5 years ago

Frozencry wrote

Then I will have to get a Memory Unit sooner than I thought, if your post is true, which it looks to be btw. Convenient too, because that's about when the Joytech HDMI switch is released too.

I'll be at the local EB Games tommorow, for the PS3 launch, so I'll enquire some more then too.

Crestfallen

5 years ago

Frozencry wrote

Isn't that like, next week??

DancesInUnderwear

5 years ago

The black mockups that were posted here a while ago did look rather snazzy.

Personally I'm interested to see what happens to the Premium's price between the release of the Elite and the eventual termination of the premium alltogether.

Klawrence

5 years ago

So Elite is the limited edition of zephyr or zephyr is codenamed Elite? Because it looks to me like zephyr is white... So maybe zephyr is the unlimited edition that i will end up getting towards the end of this year

bluejay

5 years ago

TBH, I really don't care about it that much - and I only got my 360 ~2 weeks ago

it would be nice if 360 owners were offered something like a 'send us your hard drive and $50 and we'll send you a 120GB drive' offer though ...

NovaPhoenix

5 years ago

bluejay has the right idea. An exchange-for-less type offer would be preferable to current 360 owners.