???? Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Microsoft officially announced Xbox 360 Elite, a black version of its gaming console that has an HDMI port, a 120GB hard drive, as well as a black wireless Xbox 360 controller and a black Xbox live headset. Most of this, faithful readers, you already knew about as we chased the rumor all the way from start to finish. But isn't it nice to hear it straight from Redmond? Of course, not all rumors are right, or complete. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainm...s%5D-247636.php
djOS Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Tis a shame that they didn't also include a HD DVD Drive as standard for the Premium edition.
palmag Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Great day for Xbox fans but bad day fo Hd DVD unfortunatly..... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17824564/
davep Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Not really a huge blow, MS have said from day 1 they wouldnt include a HD DVD drive internally. Its only shock & awe to those who know nothing on console systems, which there are plenty of... d'oh
???? Posted March 28, 2007 Author Posted March 28, 2007 Well... sort of... Not so great if you own an Xbox 360 and have been cursing Microsoft since release that it didn't have HDMI, only option if you want it now is to buy a new (more expensive) version of the console. Happy that the option is there now, but hope the concept of 9 monthly or 6 monthly minor console upgrades doesn't take off like it has in the digital camera world... MS said from day 1 that they wouldn't have HDMI either, then slowly changed their minds... maybe built in HD-DVD drive will be the next little upgrade
djOS Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 MS said from day 1 that they wouldn't have HDMI either, then slowly changed their minds... maybe built in HD-DVD drive will be the next little upgrade Maybe M$ will create an XBox360 "Ultimate Edition" with built in HD DVD.
rezok Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 its great that the two superpowers are going head to head with really great systems. competition keeps the manufacturers on their toes. and consumers the winners!
betty boop Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Maybe M$ will create an XBox360 "Ultimate Edition" with built in HD DVD. I bet you they do. jsut a an ace up the sleeve to pul out at the appropriate moment.
sulimo Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 They are not going to commit to an in built drive before they see which format gains market acceptance and even then they have always stated clearly Xbox is a gaming and multimedia box primarily, it will come but at least next gen of 360 I would think Yeah. Still...I do think the Elite is a bit of a mistake. They should have went and lowered the Core price instead to compete better with the Wii. And US$179 for the 120GB HDD separately? That's criminal imo. You can buy similarly specced drives for less than half that. Goin with proprietary drives was a big mistake imo.
blacknbrindle Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 All i hope for is that the dashboard update that will come with this new Elite machine will allow audio in PCM form to be passed through the HDMI cable . I have the HD-DVD addon and would really like to hear the movies in TRUE-HD , Dolbydigital+ and DTS-HD .
???? Posted March 28, 2007 Author Posted March 28, 2007 And US$179 for the 120GB HDD separately? That's criminal imo. You can buy similarly specced drives for less than half that. Goin with proprietary drives was a big mistake imo. Understand your point, but don't fully agree. Drive speed is of the highest improtance imo - one of the major things still lacking in the computer world... using higher quality and reliable drives cost a premium. Beyond that - Microsoft don't make drives, so they are paying a premium themselves before the consumer gets the markup tagged on (sure they get a deal and all - but that is not as cheap as manufacturing drives themselves).
???? Posted March 28, 2007 Author Posted March 28, 2007 blacknbrindle - dashboard update roughly 2 months away - so we will see, but totally agree - fingers crossed!
-Bishop- Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 MS said from day 1 that they wouldn't have HDMI either, then slowly changed their minds... maybe built in HD-DVD drive will be the next little upgrade From what I read and saw of the original project, the prototypes had a HDMI port, I believe they dropped it to keep prices down, likewise the 'original' plan (before any prototypes were built) was to possibly include a HD-DVD drive, but then the new format did not progress as fast as development of the 360, and the format war had started up, so by the time they wanted to release, it made more sense to skip it and leave it for the next generation of console, I think originally WiFi was supposed to be standard as well on all models. But, along the way it all got striped down as necessary to deliver the product at a price they knew would sell, personally I think they made the right choice, the alternative would have been a $699US and probably around $900Au console at release (that was the strong rumour for the full package with all that), and I think Sony have proved it's hard to sell a $800+ games machine. My current thinking on a 360 with built in HD-DVD, is it may never happen, I don't think there was ever a prototype with the drive, so it will probably stay a external add on, until the next generation. As for the sexy black Elite model, I want one, probally out of my price range though, so I will have to make do with a base model and aftermarket black case...
big_marcelo Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 that sucks to HD DVD supporters though ...... this would have really given Blu Ray a good fight .....
Tweet Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 What gets me is the Xbox 360 styling............It looks like a squashed book. Whoever sculptured that shape must have been out on the turps. It does absolutely nothing for its visual appeal. Let's hope the next generation Xbox actually makes a visual statement of being a classy product. C.M
hypnotoad8128 Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 All I Can say is Well done Micro$haft for releasing something that should have been released ORIGINALLY. Your starting to treat your gaming community like your software community. WITH CONTEMPT! Sony may have waited until a year after you to release a console but at least they got it right the first time, you won't see any PS3 MKII in a years time. Okay fine, you wanted to get to market with a console first, great good on you. But most consumers will see past your rubbish ploy for early sales. Doing this now is doing a great disservice to your installed user base who have already spent a lot of money on your console. And you STILL couldn't get it fully right by adding in a HD drive for all the money. History will show the 360 as a runner up yet again in the console wars because you could not provide the best all round alternative to your consumers! PS3 might have it's knockers but at least it's a superior system compared to your "ELITE" piece of garbage. MS, please look up the word for elite in the dictionary. Because this console is far from elite when it doesn't include equivilent specs to your main compeditor the PS3. Now I know why I never purchased a 360 or an original xbox. Great support to you HD DVD fans too. If they were serious about HD DVD they would have included it. They're being non-committal about it because they have said that a Blu-Ray drive is a possibility if market forces dictate it, so they basically they aren't too sure. HD DVD has IMO got too much against it now to be a viable format in the future, but supporting this unit wholeheartedly would have been a great shot in the arm for a format that needs it. But based on US pricing an "elite" unit and addon would be nearly the same as a PS3.. Sony got the PS3 right all along!
AndrewW Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 blah blah blah Sony fanboi rant ...you won't see any PS3 MKII in a years time. Nope, it's already been released (emotion chip removed and replaced with software). Andrew.
AndrewW Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 What gets me is the Xbox 360 styling I actually like the 360 styling. I personally think it looks better than the toaster oven PS3, and the white finish is actually a lot easier to keep clean than the piano gloss black on the PS3 (what were they thinking there ?) Andrew.
Tweet Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 All I Can say is Well done Micro$haft for releasing something that should have been released ORIGINALLY. Your starting to treat your gaming community like your software community. WITH CONTEMPT! Sony may have waited until a year after you to release a console but at least they got it right the first time, you won't see any PS3 MKII in a years time.Okay fine, you wanted to get to market with a console first, great good on you. But most consumers will see past your rubbish ploy for early sales. Doing this now is doing a great disservice to your installed user base who have already spent a lot of money on your console. And you STILL couldn't get it fully right by adding in a HD drive for all the money. History will show the 360 as a runner up yet again in the console wars because you could not provide the best all round alternative to your consumers! PS3 might have it's knockers but at least it's a superior system compared to your "ELITE" piece of garbage. MS, please look up the word for elite in the dictionary. Because this console is far from elite when it doesn't include equivilent specs to the PS3. Now I know why I never purchased a 360 or an original xbox. Great support to you HD DVD fans too. If they were serious about HD DVD they would have included it. They're being non-committal about it because they have said that a Blu-Ray drive is a possibility if market forces dictate it, so they basically aren't too sure. But based on US pricing an "elite" unit and addon would be nearly the same as a PS3.. Sony got the PS3 right all along! Hypnotoad8128, I beg to differ, Sony did not get the PS3 right from scratch, in fact it is still a 'work in progress', it has had numerous firmware updates (1.6 is the latest I think). it has about 2 dedicated games, on-going compatibility problems with PS2 software , DVD upscaling problems, future incompatibility with Blu-ray disc special features etc. Sticking a Blu-ray drive in a game machine may seem an 'inspired' idea to you but rest assured once that laser diode turns into a LED that game machine will have to be returned to a Sony service centre for replacement. If in warranty... fine, if not then the cost of drive replacement and a service fee might be more than you would expect. There may also be a substantial waiting period to have the thing serviced if others are similarly waiting. Having an external HD drive has its advantages in quick replacement, no down time for the machine, no cost in servicing, and the option of not having a HD drive. I think M$ was very clever not to include a HD DVD drive in the 'Elite' casing as this allows the customer to decide as well as in keeping costs down. Personally, I think the current PS3 has a limited future as it stands and will see a replacement within 2 years when Sony finally gets it right. C.M
Tweet Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 I actually like the 360 styling.I personally think it looks better than the toaster oven PS3, and the white finish is actually a lot easier to keep clean than the piano gloss black on the PS3 (what were they thinking there ?) Andrew. Maybe the next Xbox should be shaped like a 'Big Mac" .........A 6 pounder..... LOL C.M
jules123 Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 I don't see what the big problem with updating to hdmi now is... I didn't have a tv with hdmi a year ago when 360 was released - and an awful lot of people would have been in the same boat. sure hdmi is convenient - but I think, realistically, any quality difference is negligible - compare the xbox 360 hd-dvd add on (through component) with a tosh. dedicated hd-dvd (through hdmi) all the reviews say the quality difference is hard to spot... and that is comparing a dedicated player with a well-made games console... Anyway, what I was trying to get to was the fact that I'm not sure if I would have been willing (even looking back now) to pay a slight premium to have a hdmi output (in addition to a component output - otherwise it would have been useless at the time) when buying my 360 around a year ago. At the time hdmi was still pretty fresh off the horizon - many products were quite buggy, few audio receivers implemented it successfully... let alone being capable of processing audio properly etc.. Anyway my rant is over - for me the only real benefit hdmi *may* show is if it allows uncompressed audio to be sent - rather than simply re-encoding everything into dolby digital (or the soon to be releases dts at higher bitrates). And that, from what I have seen, is unconfirmed.
Kirium Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 QUOTE(Hypnotoad8128 @ Mar 28 2007, 10:31 PM) *blah blah blah Sony fanboi rant ... you won't see any PS3 MKII in a years time. roflcopter...
-Bishop- Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Microsoft made a choice, one that would sell consoles at a price Joe public could afford, Sony made a choice, to force BD on people and price it's own product out of the market, the result is the 360 is a success, but so far the PS3 looks under developed, over priced, and on shaky ground in the market place, so who cares what it's got when it's no longer a market leader. Given that the PS3 will 'always' be more expensive than a 360, it's hard to see how the PlayStation will ever be a market leader again, maybe in the next generation, but certainly never is this one, it's lost this war, time to move on to the next one.
sulimo Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Personally, I think the current PS3 has a limited future as it stands and will see a replacement within 2 years when Sony finally gets it right.C.M Well...about the only thing I could see them doing (aside from other costs improvements like moving to 65nm) would be replacing the wireless G with a wireless N when it moves beyond the draft stage.
AndrewW Posted March 28, 2007 Posted March 28, 2007 Microsoft made a choice, one that would sell consoles at a price Joe public could afford, Sony made a choice, to force BD on people and price it's own product out of the market, the result is the 360 is a success, but so far the PS3 looks under developed, over priced, and on shaky ground in the market place, so who cares what it's got when it's no longer a market leader.Given that the PS3 will 'always' be more expensive than a 360, it's hard to see how the PlayStation will ever be a market leader again, maybe in the next generation, but certainly never is this one, it's lost this war, time to move on to the next one. This sums up my thoughts on the matter perfectly. Sony fans can bang on about the PS3 being a better console because you can play BD, listen to CD, install linux, toast sandwiches , which kjustifies the higher price, but the sales figures just don't back it up. Anyway, back on topic, I won't be rushing out to upgrade to this new version of the 360, I'm quite happy with my current one. If, however, I was in the market for a 360 right now then I would buy the new model. Andrew.
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