Xbox 360 Elite

[Yegolev]

Mine still has Chinese air trapped in the case.  keke @ me

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13304

[stray]

Too bad there's a Core, and not just this and the Pro version. Just the fact that people have them (whether they phase out or not) will always spoil the fun on what can be taken advantage of on the other two models.

[Murgos]

Well, crap.

The larger HD I can handle but not having HDMI on my 360 is annoying.  No way I am dropping another 500 bones just to get HDMI though.

[Yegolev]

I don't need HDMI as far as I can tell, so if it wasn't obvious, I wasn't being serious about the sadface.  Besides, I have a PS3.

[schild]

I'll be trading mine in on the warranty. $80 for this particular upgrade? Yes plz.

[Yegolev]

Since I am too lazy to research, what is the solution for savegames?  Do they generally transfer to a card?  Experience with the old Xbox causes me to think "not all".

[stray]

Another thing, if they're mainly targeting this towards hi-def movie viewers, then I have to wonder what would stop anyone from getting a PS3 instead of this. For $20 more, you can get a Blu-Ray player -- and, more than likely, it's own share of downloadable shit later.

Besides that, if they're trying to compete directly with Apple, then it's already over.

..

Hmm, what else?

Still the same hardware that's prone to red ringing, same old loud drive, no wireless (hey, maybe there will be a 4th sku for these things?!  ). HDMI and 120g storage is nice, but it doesn't seem like much of an elite upgrade really.

[Nija]

I'll be buying one when Forza 2 comes out.

[stray]

As much as I have my hate on, I probably will too.


Err... Unless the 4th Sku comes out in June, that is. 

[Morfiend]

I'll be trading mine in on the warranty. $80 for this particular upgrade? Yes plz.

I am going to do the same.

[Tebonas]

Damn, this and the promise of Mass Effect. Quite tempting...

[schild]

You know, the hype for Mass Effect tells me nothing except it's going to be a letdown.

Just like Oblivion.























In space.

[Tebonas]

I certainly hope so. My wallet would thank me. But lets just wait and see. I liked Kotor, I liked Jade Empire, and I also liked the parts of Kotor 2 that were finished. Thats why I think I might like Mass Effect, it seems to be a game in the same vein.

[Azazel]

What's the projected life-cycle of the 360 supposed to be? Wondering if I should consider one this Christmas or wait till Christmas 2008, now, when all this shit is included over here and has had a few price drops...

[stray]

Y'know, I've changed my mind. Forza can wait. I don't feel like rewarding Microsoft for this shit. I'll just wait for 65nm, new drive, and built in wireless.

Alternatively, I'd buy a used Premium if I can find one under $300 (hey, it can happen sometimes! ).


@Azazel

Heh. Price Drops. Don't expect one anytime soon. Microsoft just made console history by actually raising the price.  :-D And then still expects you to hand over more cash for accessorizing.

I suppose if Sony catches up by Christmas though (they're about 3.5 million units behind), then MS would do something (like $20 or $30 off the premium?). But I doubt that's going to happen.

As for lifecycle, I think I heard once that they plan on releasing the successor by 2009 or 2010.

[Big Gulp]

What's the projected life-cycle of the 360 supposed to be?

From what I recall from a gaming podcast newsbit is that Peter Moore said they're shooting for late 2009/early 2010 on the next XBox.

[Azazel]

So add 6 months to a year for Australia for the next cycle.. definately 2010 at the earliest then for me.

@ Stray

Hey, I'm not worried if I go 360-less for a couple of years if it comes to that. It really appears to be just a souped-up PS2 in many ways as far as the software is concerned, and since I don't yet own a HD-TV I can't make use of the main masturbatory aspect of the thing anyway. Which is much how I feel about the PS3, though the 360 looks like it'll come first, as it's slowly dropping here, and is now in the range of an impulse-purchase if I have a particularly good week of work and no bills landing at the same time. Not sure if that's a good thing, though.

[Big Gulp]

Personally I think Microsoft's approach here is colossally stupid.  It would seem that they really want to get into the video on demand business, which is what this thing is tailored for.  To that end, wouldn't it make sense to knock down the price even below what a current premium costs in the hopes that you'll make it up in microtransactions?

For that matter, Sony is at their weakest possible moment right now; they're only going to get stronger as time goes on and their library turns less shitty and matches the 360's for all intents and purposes.  This is when you drop the price on every model you put out and pick up those people who can't get a Wii and won't buy a PS3 right now because of either a lack of games or because they can't afford it.

MS has been staring at a golden window of opportunity for 3 months now, and they've done jack shit with it.

[Sairon]

I think it's stupid of them as well to put out a deluxe version, sure it's less expensive than a PS3 but at the price this new deluxe version is at it's easier to see that you get more value out of the PS3, imo. I think the reason for why there's no HDDVD player in this version is because that would put it at the same price as the PS3 or higher. Just as been stated, there's really a window of opportunity here both for MS & Nintendo because the PS3 is looking weak at the moment. If Nintendo would announce some worthwile software to fuel their momentum and MS steals some more exclusives the chance of the PS3 to catch on becomes smaller.

[murdoc]

Include a wireless adapter and the HD-DVD drive and then you can talk about an Elite model.

Having said that, if there's a way to return my 360 on warranty to Futureshop and get the Elite for $50 more CDN, I'll do it.

[Morfiend]

Just like Oblivion.























In space.

Sold!

[HaemishM]

I blame Sony for this one. Fuck Sony for releasing a $600 console, making a $500 "ELITE!" console palatable.

If Sony had released the PS3 for $400, Microsoft would have already done a price cut with a more polished version of the hardware.

[stray]

Here we go with the money thing again. You pretty much want something for nothing. Either that, or you're blind to what it offers and would rather they needlessly gimp features so it can be in your price range.

There's no way Sony could have priced that machine at $400. Hell, I doubt that they'll sell it for $400 for at least another 5 years.

[HaemishM]

No, I just want consoles that don't cost what I could find a PC for. Consoles are not PC's. Consoles can be set top boxes, but they aren't very good at that yet.

Sony not being able to price the machine for $400 is not my problem, it's theirs. Take out the Blu-Ray and it's how much cheaper? I get pissed off at companies like Sony trying to bleeding edge gaming. It's the same reason I won't buy a $300 video card, I don't see the value in it.

[stray]

It'd easily be cheaper without Blu-Ray.

And what you're asking for is to gimp it. Fuck that. It's a badass feature.

[Roac]

My NES didn't play VHS tapes and I was happy with that.  If I want a movie player, I'll buy a movie player.  By not splitting up features, they have alienated anyone who wants a game console that isn't a movie player.  All of those people are now buying 360s and Wiis instead.  It would also be badass if my console made coffee for marathon gaming sessions.  But I don't want that feature either.

[Strazos]

Thank you Roac.

[stray]

Stripping Blu-Ray would be understandable if it was only for movies, but it has gaming benefits as well. The same goes for default hdd's on both models. Both insure any developer that they can make games that are longer, have larger levels, and include uncompressed audio and fmv.

[schild]

Stray's absolutely right here, if the PS3 didn't use Blu-Ray for games, I could see it as being superfulous. If the PS2 didn't use DVDs for games, I could see it as a waste of extra money on Sony's parts.

Oh wait, Nintendo uses DVD and it can't play movies.

And they're charging more than they should.

Some of you people are fucking bonkers.

Edit: Just wanted to add that the moment someone says a console is "too expensive" is the moment they set that invisible line in their head where their income can't take a hit. Nearly every console, if you're a serious gamer, is an eventual purchase. It's just a matter of when it crosses over that line.

[HaemishM]

Edit: Just wanted to add that the moment someone says a console is "too expensive" is the moment they set that invisible line in their head where their income can't take a hit. Nearly every console, if you're a serious gamer, is an eventual purchase. It's just a matter of when it crosses over that line.

Exactly. However, a $500/$600 price point sets that bar pretty fucking high, so high that, TO ME, that system has to have at least a 10-year shelf life to be worth spending the money, because it isn't upgradeable like a PC. And no matter what Sony says about the PS3 and the Cell, nor about Blu-Ray, the PS3 will not have a 10-year shelf life. By the time it gets into the acceptable $200-$250 range, I expect Sony to be trying to sell me the PS5. Microsoft has already said they are targeting a 2009 release for the Next X-Box version.

Yes, I expect a console to cost no more than $250. That's what the systems are worth to me.

[Bunk]

You know, the hype for Mass Effect tells me nothing except it's going to be a letdown.

Just like Oblivion.

In space.

My current infatuation with Jade Empire tells me that you may be wrong. I wish I wasn't so hyped about Mass Effect actually, I had zero intent to actually get a 360 until now...

[Merusk]

It's always funny watching the line this conversation occurs across.  I keep waiting for Schild or Stray to find themselves on the other side then say, "oh crap."

I might wind-up buying this Elite version.  Been eyeing all the new consoles since I found myself with a bit of extra cash and a jones for one of them.  Can't find a Wii, which would make far more family-sense, the PS3 is a waste - particularly with so many good PS2 games still out there for me to play on my ps2 - so I've been eyeing the 360.  This is a nice little package, and the 360 seems to be picking up a better library than the first x-box, so yay.   Plus it's black, which makes it look so much better than the white version.

[stray]

It's always funny watching the line this conversation occurs across.  I keep waiting for Schild or Stray to find themselves on the other side then say, "oh crap."

What other side would that be? Schild and I have pretty much been in full agreement about this subject. It's a no brainer -- there's nothing to suddenly find ourselves in disagreement about. Having mass storage media like Blu-Ray is good for games. Only in bizarro world is it bad. Last generation, developers were already struggling to fit game content on a DVD. Compress this, tone down that texture, get rid of that clip, remove that level, down res this, etc., etc.. This time around, they can stream high quality data at their hearts' content, and do a lot of it. It makes their lives easier, and makes things look, behave, last longer, and sound better for us.

Microsoft has already said they are targeting a 2009 release for the Next X-Box version.

Yeah, that's Microsoft. Don't get them and Sony confused.

Besides that, if the PS2 can last seven years, the PS3 can last ten (technically speaking..Who knows marketing-wise).

[Roac]

Oh wait, Nintendo uses DVD and it can't play movies.

Oh wait, my PS2 uses DVD and it does play movies. 

...

And I never use it for that.  If my Wii made coffee, I'd still use my actual coffee maker too. 

Stripping Blu-Ray would be understandable if it was only for movies, but it has gaming benefits as well.

For practical purposes, it's not being used.  A bulk of what you see on the PS3 are 360 ports (or vice versa) that are very close to one another.  Hell, *PC* games are barely to the point of wanting anything more than DVD-size storage and you can compress the hell out of them and not worry about swapping disks out due to HD install.  I doubt much of any of the exclusives are using so much content that they couldn't fit just as nicely on one or two DVDs.  Some day they probably will, and when that day comes, I'll consider this as a feature for gaming.

Until then, this is a bloatware tack on.  Sony's intent by selling Blu-Ray players at a higher price point than the damn PS3 is to get movie goers into gaming, and gamers into their movie standard so they can profit.  Good for Sony.  Not so good for me.  It's not even just the cost of the PS3; it's the cost of a HDTV, a PS3, cabling, and cable TV.  It's not there yet.  If it is for you that's fine, but don't say it's a "no brainer".  Quite a few people are just not interested at this point.

[schild]

"That day" came years ago. Saying Blu-ray isn't worth it is a crock of shit. When Blue Dragon comes out as 3 DVDs, it's going to be an annoyance that Sony found a solution for but will still be on DVD due to the platform. You'd be surprised at the number of games that are multidisc on the PS2. Now, if your argument had been that you don't like RPGs and as such, all the games you play are single disc titles, then I could see your point. But sorry, I can't do that.