First Xbox 360 Elite pre-order ready for your cash

And in come the Xbox 360 Elite pre-orders. You know when it's coming, for how much, and what you're gonna get, so it's really just a matter of asking yourself whether you're hardcore enough to drop almost five bills on an(other) Xbox 360. Well, that and whether you can sneak that cash out of the old joint checking account without your significant other noticing. (Side note: Circuit City lists all the accessories -- including the 120GB drive -- as being released early on the 25th, unlike the Elite, which is still set for the 29th.)

[Thanks, Cosmin]

Pre-order: Elite, 120GB drive, black controller, play and charge, black battery pack

[Michael Maley @ Apr 1st 2007 2:54PM]

I'm still holding out for my PS3 xD.

They haven't done enough to capture my interests away w/ these upgrades. I still think the PS3 is the better buy (games + blu) and just need to build up some money to get it xD.

[Storm9 @ Apr 1st 2007 2:56PM]

No thanks. I'll hold out for a Ps3, since it has blu-ray.
I'll get it late summer, when games start to come out for it.

[cire @ Apr 1st 2007 3:03PM]

Yawn... No HD DVD or Blue Ray... What is Elite about this?

[Richard @ Apr 1st 2007 3:13PM]

I know an April Fool's joke when I see one! Well played Engadget, well played.

[Matt @ Apr 1st 2007 3:45PM]

How its it an april fools day prank. Click one of the links. Tard.

[greg @ Apr 2nd 2007 12:15AM]

microsoft said they are official, if you come to engadget read the news and you would know!!!

[Dragod @ Apr 1st 2007 3:13PM]

Wow, 1 2 and 3 = PS3 fanboys much?

[Michael Maley @ Apr 1st 2007 5:17PM]

@ Dragod

How exactly? My 25+ PS1 and PS2 games will be playable on my PS3. I'm more interested in the 2 FF games that have been announced for PS3 than any x360 game. This new Elite hasn't risen enough interest in me to buy a x360...and this makes me an unintelligent, fanboy? Ouch.

[Dragod @ Apr 1st 2007 3:15PM]

It's 100% Legit'

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Microsoft-Xbox-360-Elite-High-Definition-Gaming-and-Entertainment-System-882224390118/sem/rpsm/oid/177538/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

[Alex Padilla @ Apr 1st 2007 3:19PM]

See, the thing I don't like is that it doesn't have an HD-DVD drive built-in. I know Microsoft doesn't want to "officially" support a format, but in reality, they do, because you don't see them offering an external Blu-ray drive. So you're spending $500 on an Elite and $200 on an HD-DVD drive. That's $700, obviously.

Microsoft needs to support HD-DVD with a built-in drive if they really want to take this "HD Era" thing seriously.

[Dragod @ Apr 1st 2007 6:22PM]

@Alex PAdilla

Well, Microsoft has pretty much said that it will NEVER include either an HD or Bluray drive in it's systems... They support HD, but they will not "Burden" it's customers with the drives. And it makes Sense to me... I don't have an HDTV tv, unless I were to live with my father, but I love the games on the 360 and don't want to be left out of playing the games that I love because I don't have the money for the system.

I probably would not have bought my 360 if it did cost more and had an HD drive. I like my movies, and my games but I don't want to end up spending hundreds of extra dollars to have slightly better picture when I am watching that $30 DVD on my $1,000 HDTV on my $600 Console.

Just because some people feel that they should have built in drives doesn't mean that they should shove them in every console causing not only those who wanted it, but those who didn't, to pay for it.

[humpty @ Apr 1st 2007 3:23PM]

^MS has seen the writing on the wall, its non-support of HD-DVD (by not building it into their flagship model) speaks volumes about how they feel about the war. When HD-DVD folds, gamers would have been left with a built in HD-DVD drive with no new movies and no use for gaming.

Cant wait for the BD add-on.

[BloodFalcon @ Apr 2nd 2007 9:45AM]

I made that exact same comment on the last Engadget ELITE360 post.

If MS is backing HD DVD - it makes no sense for them not to FIRMLY SUPPORT IT by gambling on it - placing it inside the 360 Elite.

MS also stated that its software was not going to be moved to HD DVD (which wouldn't make sense anyway considering most computers sold with Windows Vista don't include HDDVD drives.

So how exactly is MS backing HDDVD?

[guidedbyvoip @ Apr 1st 2007 3:36PM]

Circuit City says: "No interest until September 2008"

Pretty much sums up how I feel about the Elite. Vote Premium.

[eddyk @ Apr 1st 2007 3:37PM]

Next Gen time has come for me !!
Waiting for the pre-orders in Europe !

[McGinley @ Apr 1st 2007 3:38PM]

There is no easy way out of this for microsoft,because they havent taken either side in the format war.It would be a bad move to put in a HD-DVD drive because Blu-Ray sales are higher at the moment I think(but im not sure,so correct me if im wrong)...

People might say things like "Xbox 360 users want it for games,not for HD video",but that is a ridiculous generalisation.Sure,Microsoft might be appealing to a certain group of gamers but theres also another group who want Xbox 360 AND a HD drive,in one case.

Imagine if they did put in HD-DVD,and then it flopped.That would be interesting.

[Richard @ Apr 1st 2007 3:51PM]

I was being sarcastic. Obviously it's real.

[J @ Apr 1st 2007 3:48PM]

I'll have interest in HD DVD or Blu Ray when:

1) I can buy the discs at a similar price to DVDs (not ~26 compared to ~15). I love my HD as much as anyone, but I'm not going to drop a 50% premium to get a picture from 480p to 1080i.

AND

2) One of the formats is clearly the winner. I don't want to drop $1 on a player or a disc that will barely be around in 3 years and be completely dead in 5.

This is one of the reasons why I prefer 360 to PS3. However, I don't see the draw of a 360 Elite either. I already have 500 GB of videos on my 360, it's called a network. I can stream movies, clips, tv shows, whatever I have on my network to the 360 with no problem. No hacks required! Best part is, it's girlfriend friendly. You won't find that with hacked solutions.

[Matt @ Apr 1st 2007 3:52PM]

Haha ok sorry.

[Derka @ Apr 1st 2007 3:52PM]

Your a bunch of idiots if you think it's an april fools joke, it's been available for pre order for days.

[Dixonij @ Apr 1st 2007 3:55PM]

Id much rather wait for one of those formats to win than be stuck with a dead format in my game system. I'll stick with my PC for the time being and just go play with my friends Wii, 360, or PS3.

[Mike @ Apr 1st 2007 4:23PM]

I sent hardocp the link days ago, but they obviously blocked my email address XD

[cire @ Apr 1st 2007 4:28PM]

Yawn... No HD DVD or Blue Ray... What is Elite about this?

[pyro @ Apr 1st 2007 4:30PM]

That "wireless receiver" bullet is pretty deceiving, it may be able to use wireless controlers, but you need a seperate adapter for wifi.

[Blake @ Apr 1st 2007 4:58PM]

I feel sorry for all those who paid for the old xbox 360 and wanted HDMI.

anyway, i like blu-ray, so the ps3 sounds like a better deal to me.

[bobby @ Apr 1st 2007 5:25PM]

You know its bad when "Black" is a feature

[bob the builder @ Apr 2nd 2007 7:37AM]

lol

[Haanz @ Apr 1st 2007 5:36PM]

HD-DVD is retahded.

To hell with movies, I want a games console and that's it.

[Oknarf @ Apr 1st 2007 6:07PM]

Oh, and by the way... who needs HD DVD or Blew Ray, not that I care who Sony is blowing, but HD downloads are gonna kill both these formats. No media needed thank you.

:-)

[nick @ Apr 1st 2007 6:17PM]

Too bad this wasn't on Joystiq, instead of the pointless crap they're making up for April fools.

[Dragod @ Apr 1st 2007 6:23PM]

No, this is the real deal. Scroll up the comments, I posted a link to it on CircuitCity.com.

[tweak @ Apr 1st 2007 6:35PM]

so if I already have a black case and don't have an HDTV with HDMI, am I really missing out on anything at all?

[Oknarf @ Apr 1st 2007 7:28PM]

Done! Actually, done 3 days ago.

:-)

Bring it!

[camtheman2343 @ Apr 1st 2007 7:29PM]

hahaha wow the 1337 xbox360 is totally awesome I am sooooo totally gonna buy this!! ;)

[DNV @ Apr 1st 2007 9:08PM]

Microsoft is smart for not including an HD-DVD drive:

First of all Microsoft has been promoting digital distribution since the beginning, hence the new 120G drive, and so they don't want their users using ANY next disc format. They want all optical disk media to die off.

Second did you ever think of the impact an HD-DVD drive would have on load times? Theres no way an HD-DVD drive will be able to read a normal dvd-9 at speeds even close to that of a regular 16X DVD drive.

Third, why forcefully jack up the price, they made the HD-DVD add on to do just that, to be added on, at the will of the consumer.

Though Microsoft still sucks for not integrating Wifi XD

[Baronzero @ Apr 6th 2007 2:34AM]

I don't see why some people are so sad that MS didn't put wifi into this thing. Wifi sucks for gaming. Ask anyone who has tried playing an online game off of a wifi set up. Nothing is better that a hardwire for gaming.

[dantes @ Apr 1st 2007 10:59PM]

At the end you will pay more for 360 than a p63. And still you dont get an updated hardware for multimedia solutions. Microzombies Style.

[Richard @ Apr 2nd 2007 10:09AM]

Thanks, read my other post. I WAS KIDDING. I read Engadget everyday and I was making a joke. If you remember, Engadget made a post saying people needed to be skeptical when it came to big news. Once again, I WAS JOKING. Sucks that people couldn't tell... now I'm "lowest ranked". :(

[otsego @ Apr 2nd 2007 12:26AM]

does anyone else find it amusing that black has its own bullet?

[messiah @ Apr 2nd 2007 3:16AM]

what I want to know is does the 'elite' fix all the hardware bugs and the heat related problems! it's ridiculous hearing people having to go through 4 xbox360s, especially since it's such an expensive piece of hardware

[BloodFalcon @ Apr 2nd 2007 9:46AM]

PLEASE HELP ME

can you use a wireless USB adapter like these
http://www.bestbuy.com/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat25300050006&type=category

to connect your 360 to your wireless network?

[Lou @ Apr 2nd 2007 10:23AM]

here's the latest rumors on the 360 elite:

"For starters, the 360 Elite will only support the HDMI 1.2 specification, as opposed to 1.3, which is the latest and greatest (and ships with the PS3). 1.3 adds support for the transmission of Dolby TrueHD, which is a lossless multi-channel audio (PCM) format being used on top-end HD-DVD discs."

"Additionally, when using HDMI the resolution on the 360 will be forced to 1080p, regardless of the display resolution of the device it is actually being connected to, which could result in unnecessary image downscaling or, at worst, lack of picture."

Good luck to M$... why bother doing it, if you do it 1/2 assed?

[Mike Hawthorne @ Apr 2nd 2007 10:57AM]

Since the elite will not do 5.1 PCM, it can only do 2 channel-PCM. Amir from Microsoft over at AVS Forum has stated that the request for hdmi were in the vast majority video related. IMO that seems odd, because it appeared that the people clamoring for hdmi had the hd-dvd drive and were looking for the best video AND sound. It appears that MSFT is trying to take away bullet points from the PS3 but doing a half-assed job about it.

[newskooltrooper @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:08PM]

More like "First Xbox 360 Elite pre-order ready for your c(r)ash".

[Mak @ Apr 2nd 2007 6:10PM]

And if you want to buy ELite this year, and have to buy Elite V2 next year, with HDMI 1.3, Blu-Ray add-on and a 65nm process..

Still It's Microsoft, so i;m sure the lame fanboys will lap it up...

[Craig Shergold @ Apr 4th 2007 11:48PM]

Circuit City just fired 10% of their people and hired new ones, just to make a point about job security. Please don't buy from those creeps.

[calvin @ Apr 6th 2007 11:19AM]

FYI Circuitcity stoped their preorders

[Matt @ Apr 9th 2007 3:52PM]

They haven't stopped them, they just keep going off-and-on. Keep refreshing the page (and be patient, it takes a long time!)

[jackster @ Apr 10th 2007 11:01PM]

For the record I also want a PS3.Be it built in blue ray or hd-dvd, it's the worst idea ever. Scenario "Oh man my blue ray player is malfunctioning, I'll just play a ps3 game instead, oh wait, I can't because my game disc reader is the same as my blueray disc reader, woe is me." now for the 360 "Oh man my HD-DVD player is acting up, At least I can still play games while I get this repaired somewhere and with my 120 GB hard drive I can download Beerfest to fulfill my movie needs, Yayyy!" Need I say more? Yes, just to repeat my intro, I'm no fanboy My goal is to own both the ps3 and the 360.

[Ipodman1234 @ Apr 15th 2007 1:53PM]

Does anybody have any idea how much xbox 360 elites Best Buy will get on the day of release? Just wondering, because when I waited in line for the premium, I got the last one, and I don't know when I should start waiting in line lol XD!!!