Xbox 360 Elite Finally Official

Microsoft finally confirmed the rumors; the Xbox 360 Elite will be available on April 29th for $479.99. As previously leaked, the new black console will feature an upgraded 120 GB hard drive and HDMI port, finally giving Microsoft’s console a true digital output for those with digital HDTV displays. The 120 GB hard drive will also sell separately for $179.99, while seems somewhat high, and would only seem reasonable next to Microsoft’s $100 price tag for the 20 GB drive. It is also somewhat disappointing that Microsoft’s “Elite” console only comes bundled with a month of their Xbox Live Gold service; it would seem an inexpensive way to increase the value of the bundle to include a full year. At least the bundle includes an HDMI cable, something Sony decided not to include with the PlayStation 3. In addition to the new bundle and hard drive, Microsoft will also be selling black versions of their accessories to go with the new console, so that gamers don’t have to worry about their wireless controller clashing with their game system. While this bundle offers a lot to new purchasers of the Xbox 360, it seems hard to justify to existing owners. It also seems disappointing that when Microsoft promised that they would make an HDMI connection available when the time was right, it kind of seems hollow that the connection requires a whole new console.

Microsoft’s full press release continues after the jump.

 

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Game Crazy POS Shows Black Xbox 360 Date, Price

A post on the Cheap Ass Gamer forums indicates that a new Xbox 360 SKU has been loaded into the system, appearing as

GM-XBOX 360 (black/ 120GB) $479.99 NEW $439.99 USED

. The release date is currently listed as 5/1/2007. Some of the posters in the forum were able to confirm this, and Kotaku was able to get independent confirmation from various Game Crazy stores as well. Now, this could be just a phantom in the system, an update created based on speculation at Game Crazy, so one can’t really describe this as a confirmation that there is a black Xbox 360 coming out, but this, along with the previously released alleged box art would seem to be tipping the scales further and further in favor of its existence.

Read More | Cheap Ass Gamer via Kotaku

Gallery: Game Crazy POS Shows Black Xbox 360 Date, Price