Xbox 360 Elite already snapped in the wild

Engadget pal and Xbox Live Director Of Programming Major Nelson has already snapped the first pics of the Xbox 360 Elite -- hey, better he than the rest of us taking more spy shots, right? At least these weren't done with a cameraphone, you know? Check 'em out, and hit up the Maj's site for the latest from Redmond game HQ.

Gallery: Xbox 360 Elite already photographed

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[Stoked x 10 @ Mar 28th 2007 12:54AM]

ill trade sum1 my rusty van and a pack of gum if they buy this and decide they dont like it

[Frankenstein Black @ Mar 28th 2007 12:54AM]

Built in High Def drive and WiFi missing?
Who is this for exactly?

[kingofwale @ Mar 28th 2007 1:03AM]

built-in HDMI port.. but no next gen DVD???

No 65nm?? here's the question, how soon will we hear the first black ring of fire?

[Mike @ Mar 28th 2007 1:07AM]

Why would they show the "coming soon" games on the back of their box? They must not have very many good games.

[Shmoe @ Mar 28th 2007 1:35AM]

I want gigabit ethernet in this. I don't care about built-in wifi. MS is right to leave it as an external option. Wifi is too unreliable for HD-streaming. A built-in HD-DVD drive would have been smarter than not having a black external option. Also, price is too high. $450 would have been preferable. Solo 120 gig hard drive overpriced too. I still want one, but MS sure knows how to keep the Sony fanboys crowing about their price and everything built in.

[Josh Warner @ Mar 28th 2007 1:37AM]

According to EXIF info, the Major uses a Canon SD800 IS... good taste in compact digicams, Major!

[Mike @ Mar 28th 2007 1:43AM]

Microsoft made a bad move with this product. Now people can more easily justify paying $499 for a PS3 that offers more features and more potential rather than an xbox with a larger hard drive and graphics that probably wont be much better than the current 360. I doubt it will even have HDMI 1.3.

[CRASHLOCK @ Mar 28th 2007 1:52AM]

IT'S GREY !!!

[wslcrew @ Mar 28th 2007 1:54AM]

I hope they have the console in other colors like metallic blue or titanium/silver! This makes me wanna return my 360 that I bought from Costco a couple of months ago. It's got the noisy first-gen Samsung DVD drive, and it gets quite annoying...

[Reuben @ Mar 28th 2007 2:03AM]

Well I guess we can throw the foolish April fools comments out the window. This is going to be a huge blow to Sony; the ball is in their court and this can only mean better gaming for all of us in the end.

[djbarry @ Mar 28th 2007 2:04AM]

Let me explain this again. HD-DVD drives are way too slow reading DVD-DL disks. The would cause game loading problems if they changes the 12X DVD to HD-DVD.

Wifi is going through a major change with 802.11n. MS will have a 802.11n adapter once 802.11n is certified. Nintendo and Sony won't.

But I am quite glad MS covered the problems of HDMI video with optical audio.

[Frenchy @ Mar 30th 2007 2:16AM]

sony will have 802.11n

[dvmrp @ Mar 28th 2007 2:41AM]

warehouse-related decision....?

[Andy @ Mar 28th 2007 3:45AM]

Hmmmm - difficult choice for space-hungry hard-core gamers / iptv users and downloaders. Do they spend all their cash on a new Elite or just get a new 120g hd?
Is it me or does this "upgrade" seem irrelevent to most gamers? Since there is no HDef drive why the hdmi? I might be cynical but might it be due to future plans for an external blu-ray drive? Although I'm sure that there are enough people out there who will want one of these elites I cant help but feel MS would have been better of highlighting the quality of the gaming experience and the price differential between PS3 and the 360 (imo the controller is a big selling point over PS3) - this makes sense to most people, especially if they included a quieter dvd drive and cooler running chips. This increase in the cost of a top end 360 package could drive more consumers to flock to the Wii or spend a little more on a PS3. I do remember the silver PS2, clear xbox and slimline ps2 being released to the same cries of why? but they still sold well - Will people buy the elite just because it fits the colour scheme of their nice new HDTV? I guess some people just have money to burn and no common sense.

[James @ Mar 28th 2007 3:53AM]

HDMI for the external HD DVD drive perhaps?

I think Xbox 360 Elite is irrelevant for most 360 owners. Just get the larger HD as the upgrade. For those that bitch about Microsoft screwing owners of the Basic and Premium. All I have to say, take a look at the iPod. How many variants have they gone through with increase storage with each minor refresh or new sku?

[Andrew @ Mar 28th 2007 7:59AM]

Why are you guys geeking over HD-DVD and Blu-Ray?! The next big thing is downloadable content integrated into MCE systems/servers. In not much time, diskettes will be a thing of the past. Microsoft doesn't give a damn about either format because, quite frankly, there's no point in investing in something that's going to be obsolete in 5-10 years.

Looks pretty, but why the hell didn't this get the 65nm upgrade? If I remember correctly, with the 65nm upgrade/more efficient manufacturing system, the price was supposed to drop by now...the premium box should have dropped in price, this should be $400.

[freduk @ Mar 28th 2007 4:47AM]

Why the fuck most people want build in HD DVD drive microsoft support HD DVD but don't forget they said if blu ray wins they will provide a solution which mean a blu ray addon. At this stage blu ray got more support. So what's the point of having the drive build in, and no one knows if the format will win. Don't tell me it can be use for better graphics and longer games, that still can be done on dvd.

[monark @ Mar 28th 2007 4:50AM]

What a waste! So all you get extra is a 120 gig drive you can add on to a PS3 very easily and "Black" color. WoW! Not.. Hope you know that even Microsoft will offer BluRay instead of HD-DVD now. No chip! So Sony just may beat them out with the 65nm chip. Not to mention that RSX offers the 128bit HDR Lighting coming with DX10 and Crysis.

Well that's if Nvidia and DAAMIT (AMD/ATI) even get drivers out for that loser OS!!! LOL I have it and hate it back on WinXP! So now we have the Zune failure, Vista pissing in the wind and Xbox 360 doing all the things they said they didn't need to do. Increase Hard Drive, use BluRay and HDMI! Well.. well.. well things have indeed changed!

And on the PS3 we have Bluetooth, built-in Wifi, Free Online Gaming and browsing and a supperior gaming future B3yond just tomorrow!!! LOL

When will Xbox Live start looking like "Home" and when will they have XNA games that look like what we can do with "Little Big Planet" in a very short time! Hate to say it, but "You all should have bought a PS3"! heehee

[bxbailey @ Mar 28th 2007 6:19AM]

Wow that's a rip, I'll be keeping my original 360, the 179.99 HD price for existing 360 owners is ridiculous.

Newegg
$104.99 for a 160GB hd upgrade for my PS3 $80 bucks for $120.

Now that's Living :P

[semi @ Mar 28th 2007 6:27AM]

welcome to the next generation... from Sony

[Oknarf @ Mar 28th 2007 9:01AM]

Perfect. Now the White 360 with componant cables can be moved to the basement with the older projection HDTV. The Elite will move upstairs to connect via HDMI to the 1080p LCD TV.

Bring on IPTV.

[Jason @ Mar 28th 2007 9:25AM]

Everyone who thinks that Microsoft did this to make the console more like the PS3 is just stupid... There is no HD DVD drive in there because that isn't the direction MS is going with HD content. The Video Market place is where its at! Just the other day there was a post about all kinds of new content coming to the VMP more studios signing on, etc...

Its HUGE for these studios to NOT HAVE TO PRODUCE DISCS AND PACKAGING for the HD content... much of the content is already available for the HD movie networks like HBO/Cinemax, etc... This is by far the easiest way to get HD movies to the consumer for a studio... and with more than 10 million people running the 360 and more than 6 million LIVE subscribers this is only going to get bigger and bigger...

Remember... we are going to see LIVE on the PC now... I'm sure that isn't just so we can play games with each other... that opens up the Video Marketplace on PCs as well... I bet we see and update to Windows Media Center in vista that adds support for the Video Market Place... that would expand Microsofts offering to millions of more people!!!

You don't need the bigger hard drive for games... or music.... you need it for HD movies... period... I would be the initial launch of the VMP was just a trial run and now we are going to see this thing really start to take off...

Just last week:

1.) Netflix dude joined the MS board
2.) more studios sign on to put out HD content
3.) new 360 will be available soon to hold that new content w/HDMI
4.) Major "network" upgrade done to the Live service

Think about it... this new console doesn't add ANYTHING to change the gaming experience on the 360... its all about the video marketplace!

And also... the 360 will probably not come down in price... we will probably see a Halo 3 bundle for the same price as the machine now... essentially reducing the price 50 bucks or so and forcing new people to buy Halo 3 at the same time... this holiday season will be a huge one for Microsoft! There are TONS of cool games coming to the 360 by the end of this year...

And really who buys movies anymore? I am crazy about HD stuff right now but I wouldn't buy either of the disc based formats when I can record stuff on my HD Tivo from DirecTV without paying for it!!! there is tons of stuff that isn't available on disc right now that you can see over and over again on TV... ie. Star Wars!! I have the entire series of movies recorded in HD on my directv tivo!!!

Oh and remember like a year ago they started talking about a deal between MS and DirecTV and it had something to do with a Black XBOX360??? It was even in XBOX Magazine...

[kingofwale @ Mar 28th 2007 9:39AM]

if people think Digital content will replace DVDs (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray disc), I have a few letters for you.. "MPAA", "RIAA" and "DRM". As long as MPAA and RIAA are still in business, there will never be a unDRMed system, and with DRM the way it is right now, it will NEVER be wildly accepted by the public and therefore, never dominate the market.

and if you think 120GB is enough for HD video. well, you're mistaken.

[Roger Rees @ Mar 28th 2007 10:48AM]

Yeah, because, you know, look at how unsuccessful iTunes is.

[h0mi @ Mar 28th 2007 10:31PM]

I see your RIAA and raise you an Ipod.

[Oknarf @ Mar 28th 2007 10:14AM]

"Oh and remember like a year ago they started talking about a deal between MS and DirecTV and it had something to do with a Black XBOX360??? It was even in XBOX Magazine... "

It had nothing to do with a Black 360, it was a deal that was announced at CES 2006 that so far has amounted to nothing. DirecTV has not allowed cable card or any other integrated tuner to be placed into a Windows PC for distribution of media to 360's.

Having said that, they should. Can IPTV run over DirecTV's satellite network?

[nigel @ Mar 28th 2007 11:17AM]

andrew, have u ever tried downloading an hd flick?

[nexusfx @ Mar 28th 2007 2:30PM]

Is it just me or does this thing look familiar...ah yes, the Original Xbox looked like this.

To be perfectly honest the way the pricing scheme works you do save money buying htis little "Black Blast fromt he Past" but who the hell wan't to pay $179 for a standalone 120 GB Hard drive.

Despite the criticism about Sony's PS3, at least it's $500 price tag gives you a next gen format and the ability to buy ANY off the shelf Notebook hard drive and install it without voiding hte warranty, they even tell you how to do it int he instructions.

I recently purchased my 360 so I will take it back and get this one for the added value though I don't care for the black too much. For anyone who own's the current 360 though and can't just do a swap out of the store I wouldn't recomend it.

[sharif @ Mar 28th 2007 2:39PM]

Wii: Keep fit, live long.

Xbox 360/PS3: Get fat, die young.

[josiah @ Mar 28th 2007 9:39PM]

Did the wireless controller packaging have that 'rumble' logo at the top before?
Looks like a dig at the PS3's controller to me.

[James Mack @ Mar 28th 2007 11:46PM]

And I bought a 360 Premium two weeks ago...*sigh*

[poseidongroove @ Mar 29th 2007 12:58AM]

All you Xbox fan boys are mugs. Typical lifespan of a console is 10 years hardly into it's second year, you're being mugged for more money and yet you squeal that PS3 is expensive. Fact is MSOFT is busy R&Ding away trying to match PS3 form factor and features and you "cheapos" that claim you have no money are able to buy new ones. What next Xbox Ultimate with BlueRay drive when they run out of encryption algorithms for all those HD games? Perhaps that's why we in Europe can't be fooled by all this stupid confusing skus. What's it called again? Elite? more like Xbox 360 Dumbo !!

[Oknarf @ Mar 29th 2007 3:39PM]

"What next Xbox Ultimate with BlueRay drive ... ?"

No. Media is dead. HD downloads are where it's at. That's why HD DVD doesn't need to be integrated, and both formats will be DOA in a matter of months. Who needs them when you can VOD or download to own?

" Perhaps that's why we in Europe can't be fooled by all this stupid confusing skus. What's it called again? Elite?"

I guess you missed the announcment that Sony was releasing a new sku with a larger drive and that the European version was a different sku than the US version and is even less compatible with previous gen games. Now who's stupid eh?

[poseidongroove @ Mar 29th 2007 6:31PM]

Yeah right, which games publisher in their right mind will ask anyone to download a 50GIG game not even with a 4Mbits per second broadband connection. You must be having a laugh. So it's a state of denial now.
? Fact is who needs a 80GB drive when your PS3 manual tells you how to upgrade your drive to a bigger one. Media isn't dead it's the Xbox that's a dodo elsewhere maybe alive and kicking in NA. Sick as a parrot rest of the world. Something called the world series comes to mind only played in the US.

[Doctorspoof @ May 28th 2007 12:35PM]

Is it just me, or do Sony fanboys insult 360 users (not nessescarily fanboys) in a much more childish way than the opoosite way around? Hell, 360 users barely insult sony fanboys at all, yet sony kids still use simple and stupid terms, such as 'LOL' (note the block caps) and repeated grammar ('??????', for example). What you like is what you like, don't go stuffing it down other people's necks.

[onionknight @ Jun 25th 2007 5:52PM]

is it just me or is this not a little silly they are releasing this with its bigger HDD and HDMI now thats nice but still theres no HD drive fair enough you can add one on for a price but it still does not deliver HD visuals it still only upscales its disks are not either HD format(correct me if im worng by all means)so all the HDMI out put is going to do is upscale i'll admit that there dosent seem to be too big a visual diffrence but its not true HD(again corect me if im worng)and on another note people are complaining about the price of ps3 being too high well its full (true) HD out the box and with blu-ray i use the term loosly proper next gen then you take into acount the price of a 360 not as high but after you add the price to add on a HD drive to get the same quality as ps3 out put theres not much in the price at all and then the disk providing im right in thinking that if the disk isent HD dvd or blu-ray it wont carry HD info on the disk so even with the HD drive it would still upscale only unless they bring the games out on HD dvd's and then the HD drive will be manditory and might as well just come intergrated.

again if im worng correct me as specualtion is always just a bad thing

but non the less i'll be getting a 360 at some point it wont replace my ps3!!! but i want to play fable 2!!!