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Xbox 360 Elite Officially Announced
It should come as no shock that Microsoft has finally announced an upgraded version of the Xbox 360: the 'Elite'. The worst-kept secret in the videogames industry is now official, offering a 120 GB HDD, an HDMI port, and a smooth black finish for $479. The new sku drops next month, and to fill up that new hard drive Microsoft has lined up seven new partners for their Xbox Live video distribution service. Outfits like Paramount and Warner Bros. are nice to hear about, but I'm equally excited about the likes of National Geographic and ADV Films. 1up has the market cornered on commentary at the moment, with reactions from the staff there, a comparison of the new 360's value vs. the PS3, and a few words from Sony's Dave Karraker. If you're looking for even more coverage, there are several links available below.
What a worthless bundle. First of all as we already covered in a previous XBOX 360 Elite article, there is no benefit to using HDMI instead of a component-cable. Second, by using HDMI, you are actually submitting to HDCP (DRM, content control stuff).
So what you're really getting out of this product is a larger hard drive. Whether a bigger hard drive is worth an extra $80 to you is for you to decide. I fail, however, to understand how nothing more than a larger hard drive and a black paint job makes it elite.
I'm going to guess there will be a flood of idiots rushing out to buy it - even to replace their existing boxes - because they think HDMI is some nifty high-definition thingamajig and then they'll rush home and plug it in and convince themselves that they really do see a difference.
If you really want to make it elite, make it quieter, cooler and less prone to dying.
That said, you haven't lived till you've played a real NES on 62" screen tv or a >100" projected screen
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
I'm a huge believer in the XBox 360 as a platform, and I'm delighted to have owned one since launch day. Wii's anemic release schedule and PS3's pathetic lineup of 360 ports / shitty first-party content (Resistance excepted) means that it's the best system out there.
I'm one of those dorks that buys everything videogame-related, but I'm not motivated to upgrade at all. An HDMI port, quieter operation, and shiny black skin isn't enough to attract me, and I'm an enthusiast for their products. If they'd integrated the HD-DVD drive and the wireless adapter that would be one thing, but this is much too little, far too late.
I mean, the PS3 comes with Blu-ray and wireless built-in on the high-end model. Meanwhile, the 360 costs $100 extra for 802.11 (an adapter that has shit range, by the way, on a shelf next to my wii and ps3 the 360 can't pick up a signal), and $200 extra for a hi-def video drive.
So: Elite 360 + Wireless + HD-DVD = $780.
PS3, with built-in wireless and built-in Blu-ray: $600. Way to destroy your price advantage, Microsoft!
Obviously I'm not the target audience for this product, but I can't for the life of me figure out who is.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
Still no slot-loader?
Not only is this new version missing two features the PS3 has and will end up costing more than the PS3 with them added...
IT CAN'T EVEN CURE CANCER
Seriously though, if I'd just bought an Xbox 360, I'd be *very* pissed off right now.
Summation 2
I have a 360 with HD-DVD drive and wireless adapter and a pair of wireless pads. If I was to switch to this just for the sake of HDMI and a bigger drive, bearing in mind that my HDTV doesn't support 1080p over HDMI, only over component and also I can't even see a difference between component and HDMI on the thing, I would also have to replace all the white extras. Oh, and I actually think the 360 looks better in white. Mind you, when I came to buy a new iPod Video I bought the white one because I didn't like the look of the black one.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
That would have been a better name. For real elite gamers, L33T or 1337 is the right hyped choice.
-- Rastignac was here.
That's right, audio. While HDMI clearly presents a slight improvement for video (analog vs digital...), its real benefit is next generation audio support. While HDMI is a true digital picture and will give us a slightly better image, this improvement is negligible for the vast majority of people. With HD DVD content sporting DD+/TrueHD, and DTS HD audio that currently can't be handled over optical, HDMI provides us with a way of supporting that... Not that there's a whole lot of receivers that support those yet, but they'll be more available soon enough. You may think your A52/AC3 5.1 dolby digital compressed surround sound is good, but uncompressed TrueHD/DTS HD BLOWS IT AWAY. With even a half decent sound system, movies spring to life with the new audio formats.. Once you watch a film with a TrueHD or DTS HD audio track enabled, you wont be able to go back to "crappy" compressed Dolby Digital. Obviously, it depends on the mixing and the original soundtrack for the film your watching, but from what I've heard so far it's a real improvement across the board.
And, as much as I hate DRM, ultimately the decision to flag HD DVDs to downconvert over component is up to the movie studios... And... should they go that route in the future (I don't see it happening, especially now that HD DVD is compromised...), M$ will be ready with HDCP compliant HDMI.
appleguru.org
I understand they weren't gonna canibalize sales of their $100 wireless adaptor, but c'mon, they could have included HD-DVD in the thing... $80 more for an extra 100GB and HDMI?
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I would be happy to agree that the XBox rocks, but I have one glaring problem: I hate the controller. I have never liked the XBox controller and it's not for the lack of trying. But it just feels clumsy compared to the PlayStation's. I know that others will not understand this and probably think it silly if they don't have the same problem, but really the controller is the interface to everything. And if one doesn't feel comfortable with it, then everything else is moot. I think game machine designers should take note of that and consider offering a variety of controllers types.
:T:R:A:N:S:
Feels like Microsoft is taking a page out of it's Windows business and putting it into the XBox 360. Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate... sound familiar? Not to mention tying in games development with Windows so developers feel the need to appeal to a greater audience and therefore develop for the Xbox/PC platform. All this sounds to reminiscent of what it's done to the PC market to the detriment of other platforms like Linux.
One of the complaints I had about the PS3 was that, once you bought the cheaper SKU, you're locked into it, unable to "upgrade" it to the more expensive one, which contrasted with the difference between the two versions of the Xbox 360. With this addition of this HDMI port, one that can't be added to the console that's sitting on my shelf, however, the Xbox 360 loses this advantage.
However, this probably won't affect sales of the Xbox 360 one way or the other. Current owners aren't likely to run out and buy a second Xbox 360 because of it, but they won't be getting rid of their old one either. The real problem, however, will be in a few years when it's time to release the next generation of consoles, and customers start saying "I'm really looking forward to the next Xbox, but I think I'll wait a year or so after launch for the 'elite' version to come out."
Except err, some sites are now reporting that ISN'T the case despite that being touted as part of the rumour on gaming sites everywhere)...
From Gizmondo:
Microsoft told us there would be no new hardware inside the Elite except for that 120GB hard drive, alluding to the often-rumored cooler-running processors manufactured with the 65nm process
I wanted to get one, and was going to give my existing 360 to someone I know who has kids but can't afford a console, and having it run more quietly was a big part of the attraction for me bothering to get a new 360. My TV already handles component well, and that leaves the bigger HD as the only compelling feature (I filled up my 20 GB for the first time ages ago and that's just with Live! games, demo's and trailers - TV/Movie downloads won't be available here in the UK till later this year).
On it's own, a large HD (that I could get separately) is not a compelling enough reason for me to upgrade. The thing is, I like my 360 and I'm happy to pay a bit more for an improved version of the hardware.
As a long-time PC gamer, I can't bring myself to buy an XBox 360 at all. Every time I look at one, I'm reminded that under the fancy plastic casing, it's just a rather non-upgradeable PC inside. There's *never* going to be a single piece of software developed for XBox 360 that can't run identically on a modern PC, because they're using the same architecture. (Of course, the modern PC could very well have a *superior* video card and more RAM....)
I did, however, buy a PS3 - because the hardware is different. A Blue-Ray drive is something I didn't own yet on any of my hardware, for one thing. And the PowerPC cell architecture is sufficiently different from any PC or Mac I own to make me feel like I'm not just buying the same old thing again, repackaged in a different shell.
I agree that PS3 content is sorely lacking right now - but it sounds like Sony is taking a pretty long-term view for the PS3 consoles. The last line of their quote in the original article commented on the "value" of buying a PS3 that you'd keep "for the next 10 years". Sure, some of that is just marketing-speak, but it also indicates they envision the PS3 as hardware that will be around for a while.
I wouldn't say the ports of XBox games for PS3 are "pathetic" though. NHL Hockey '07 was highly rated in every online review I saw. I bought it and I'm impressed with it too. Same with Tiger Woods golf. You're certainly not seeing evidence that it's a "poor" port. Runs every bit as well as the 360 version.
You can capture from HDMI just fine, if it's not HDCP, which games wouldn't be.
Check out the Blackmagic Design BHDINT Intensity board ($249).
My video compression blog
Why did you buy ports of the XBox 360 games for the PS3 when you, as you stipulate, could have bought them on a PC?
Is it because playing some games on a console is more fun? If so, then what is the difference between a PS3 and an XBox 360 again?
Of course the PS3 will be around in ten years, it'll just be two hardware cycles behind the PS5.
A pendantic note:
The Xbox also uses PPC cores. Direct X API's make it easy to port but the hardware is not the same as a PC. Although 360 games tend to be PC style games, I can understand what you mean. The details however is that both the Ps3 and 360 and Wii use PPC cores. Likely due to their power efficiancy, thermal efficiancy, and size.
PS. I own a PS3 and I like it very much. Now if only FFXIII and MGS4 would come out tommorow.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."