Xbox 360 Elite confirmed by Microsoft

360 News | April 29th for North America. Winter for Australia.

After months upon months of speculation, Microsoft has confirmed via a press release that the Xbox 360 Elite is on its way. The console will be available in North America on April 29th for US$479 (AUD$594 / ₤243), and, according to Microsoft's Australian arm, will reach down under in "Winter". A Japanese launch will follow later in the year.

The new console will feature a 120GB hard drive and a "premium black finish". It will also come with a matching black wired headset, and a HDMI output port. Unlike Sony's PlayStation 3, a HDMI cable will be bundled with the console, but not a data transfer cable; instead, a data transfer cable will be included with the separately available US$179 (AUD $222 / ₤91) 120GB hard drive.

Albert Penello, Microsoft's director of global platform marketing, told GameSpot, "The standalone drive is the main option we're suggesting to existing Xbox 360 owners," and promised that Microsoft is "working on a solution" for transferring data from current 360s to Elites. Penello would not go into further details.

Both the Core Xbox 360 and the Premium console will continue to be offered, though the new model is a permanent addition, and is not limited. The console will be in limited supply initially however, and Microsoft is urging consumers to pre-order the console now to avoid disappointment.

"Since Xbox 360 launched a year ago, we’ve been listening to customer feedback and, as a result, we’re very excited to now add the premium Xbox 360 Elite to the top end of the Xbox range," proclaimed David McLean, Regional Director of Xbox Australia and New Zealand. "With a large storage capacity for games, music, and high-definition TV shows and movies, the new 120GB hard drive will help to satisfy our customers’ appetite for on-demand, HD entertainment experiences offered through Xbox Live Marketplace, both now and in the near-future."

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49 Comments

drunknmonkey_au

5 years ago

I guess this is great news for those that want this stuff. HDMI and a bigger HDD are really of no use to me so there no way I'll be getting one, unless me 360 dies (touch wood)

Vervain

5 years ago

Well after people have been saying that this comes with HDMI and Component cables I was curious as to ewther or not it comes with composite cables as I don't have a plasma or LCD tv.

NovaPhoenix

5 years ago

Perhaps the 360 Intercooler Fan accessory can solve the heat issue. The black colour would complement the black of the PS3, and HDMI is the future, even if currently there's little graphical difference between Component and itself.

Vervain

5 years ago

NovaPhoenix wrote

Perhaps the 360 Intercooler Fan accessory can solve the heat issue.

From what I've read on the forums those accesories are more likely to shorten the life of your 360 rather than lengthen it.

Jim Dash

5 years ago

I'm guessing it would come with the dual composite/component cable and a seperate HDMI one.

And no, those 360 coolers do more harm than good.

Spanca

5 years ago

^ And it'll void your warranty I believe. I've read of people in the US who have had one, had it melt around the power plug on their 360, and Microsoft has given them no support due to the nature of the 3rd party device they've used.

renegadesx

5 years ago

Spanca wrote

Really? So they say you f**ked it even though the reason you bought the thing is to fix a problem? and they basically go "NO SUPPORT FOR YOU!"

Mind you if you talk to Microsoft support, its not hard to believe. Still that is appauling

Crestfallen

5 years ago

legend166 wrote

Stupid idea by Microsoft. Very stupid.

They've got a great chance to completely put a boot into Sony, and what do they do? Introduce another SKU at an increased price! That will definately get those waiting for it to be cheaper to buy it!

Oh wait, no it won't. If they made this the $400US console, and the current premium the $300US console, that would be a great move. This one, not so much.

Plus, the cost for the HDD is ridiculous. I mean, that's on the same level as Nintendo charging $30 for a Memory Card 59.

Agreed. PS3 has them outdone features wise with the bigger HD, HDMI, Blu-ray, etc. so they should have just played the "cheap" card.

This makes MS look like they're double guessing they're product.

Spanca

5 years ago

Not really, it's a third party device that's horrible designed and thought out. It's like having a car that's not running properly, then hitting it with a sledgehammer and wondering why it doesn't work properly.

I don't disagree that the 360 is far too loud and hot, but the Intercooler devices are total scams.

On topic: I agree with Crest and Legend. I would have been fine if this was a limited edition, but by making this a permanent addition to the lineup (don't even get me started on having 3 SKUs), it validates Sony's position in the market whilst placing Microsoft in a pathetic angle of trying to catch up.

legend166

5 years ago

Yeah, the whole thing doesn't make sense. I don't get who's the target market for this.

The hardcore Xbox fan already owns a 360, so why would they want this? I guess they could be going for the multimedia people, but for $20 extra they could get a PS3 with Blu-Ray player and the ability to upgrade to a harddrive of any size.

Spanca

5 years ago

$20 extra?

I think it's funny that this super-premium in the US is still less than what we paid for the vanilla premium.

Aftershock

5 years ago

hmm, well i dont have a 360 now, want to get one soon, thinking about getting this, a worthwhile purchase or should i grab the current premium one? i dont care about any of the upgrades, just the black paint. lol @ me. will there be a price drop in the premiums?

EvilHayama

5 years ago

I kinda want an Elite, but in Australia there isn't much to fill up a 120g disk yet, so it might be a waste. In the US they simultaneously announced lots more HD movies for purchase which I would actually interested in, but that's not happening here.

Now, if this leads to a cheaper premium pack, that would be very tempting.

Frozencry

5 years ago

bah, the bastards told me early April. Can't believe they pushed it back.

Nevertheless I'm damn certain it'll be $749.

DancesInUnderwear

5 years ago

Bring this sucker down to $650, the premium down to $500-$550 and the Core to $400 and you would roll in the money Microsoft.

I'm interested in this, but not at higher than the current Premium's RRP.

EvilHayama

5 years ago

DancesInUnderwear wrote

Bring this sucker down to $650, the premium down to $500-$550 and the Core to $400 and you would roll in the money Microsoft.

And a pony! I want a pony too microsoft. Give me that and I'll THINK about getting your console.

OK, seriously, they're not going to price any version of the 360 the same as the Wii.

Timmaaah

5 years ago

i'll be getting it as i have been holding off getting the 360 to have the HDMI input as that is the only slot left on my tv that isn't being used (other than a few composite ports).

hopefully this will be able to put me off getting the ps3 for a year or so

Passa

5 years ago

EvilHayama wrote

OK, seriously, they're not going to price any version of the 360 the same as the Wii.

Last time I checked, the core system in the UK is cheaper than the Wii..

Jellyfish

5 years ago

renegadesx wrote

Spanca wrote

The Intercooler hijacks the 360's PSU forcing it to draw more current than it's suppose to. It's like plugging in a very powerful amp into your car and wondering why it won't start.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

NovaPhoenix wrote

Only people who use component would say that

While i can't comment on comp vs hdmi, i can testify that vga eats pieces of **** like cmponent for breakfast (you eat pieces of **** for breakfast?).

VGA is a noticeable upgrade, component is like vga but with an added layer of 'fuzz'.I can then safley assume hdmi will be as good, if not better then vga.

Maikii

5 years ago

Maybe this has something to do with Microsofts push into in India, like having SKU's to suit a caste system. 'Elite' what a pretentious name.

If anything, the 'Elite' justifies the and reiforces the value and future proofness (is that a word?) of the PS3.

NovaPhoenix

5 years ago

No Intercooler for my 360 then. Thanks for the heads up everyone. What it does sounds like when you overclock a PC's CPU. I don't believe that's a safe process either.

So I'm guessing I should stay away from ALL "intercooler" accessories for ALL consoles? Are they all scams??

ittekimasu

5 years ago

I'm surprised that m$ didnt take the opportunity to fix the heating problem since that was probably one of the main problems that needed to be fixed, so i guess m$ has wasted an opportunity to fix all current problems with the 360 to truly make it an 'elite' console and just opted for bigger storage and hdmi outputs which are already avaliable on another console >.>

does the elite at least come with the hddvd drive? or is that an attatchment too?

Vervain

5 years ago

I agree with what Jibbs was sayin in the "360 Elite Revealed in the Flesh" thread. Do you really think that Microsft would say that they had changed things in the 'Elite' so that it ran cooler. They would be admitting that the Premium and Core consoles are damaged and people would be put off buying them and sales might be lost. Just as Jibbs said though I'm not saying this has happened but it does sound logical.

slapshakle

5 years ago

Jibbs wrote

i can testify that vga eats pieces of s*** like cmponent for breakfast (you eat pieces of s*** for breakfast?).

Indeed, vga looks sex compared component. Although I only bought the vga cable because the component imputs on my tv died.

I have seen the light now, never returning to the darkside... unless the have beer.

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