Microsoft confirms 60GB Xbox 360
No longer dubbed the Pro?
Microsoft has broken its silence and officially unveiled the latest addition to its Xbox 360 line-up: a 60GB HDD-equipped console.
Register Hardware reported last week that a leaked email – supposedly sent to retailers by Microsoft’s Xbox division – outlined the firm’s plans to launch a new model with an integrated 60GB HDD.
Official word now states that the machine will ship for $349 (£177/€220), the same as the cost of the current 20GB model. However, rather than replace the 20GB model, Microsoft’s reduced the lower-capacity machine to $299 (£151/€188).
Prices for all other models remain unchanged, so that’s $279 (£141/€176) for the Arcade (that’s the one with a 256MB memory card) and $449 (£226/€283) for the Elite – the flagship model with an integrated 120GB HDD.
Although the leaked email said the new machine would be called the Pro, Microsoft’s official announcement of the 60GB model didn’t use any such uplifting title.
The bad news is that – at least for the time being – the 60GB Xbox 360 will only appear in the US and Canada when it goes on sale next month.
COMMENTS
@ Steve & @Monkey
@ Steve:
Um... it's actually "6 of one; half a dozen of the other". It's not all of us "Console Kids" that like to cock wave (although I do like to 'stoke' the fire every now and then! ha ha!)
@ Monkey:
You might notice that one minute 'Mark' is giving reasonable comments, and then the next he isn't. It's another case of duplicated usernames (as there is also someone with my name posting on here too, aside from me). So one poster becomes two :o)
As for HD sizes, who cares... until a PVR materialises, it's pointless to upgrade.. No point in pushing moveis down to the PS3/Xbox as it can be streamed quite nicely. The cost of upgrading is significantly more than the power it takes to run a PC which you'll already have on anyway (well, if you are that way inclined I suppose. If not, then I suppose you'll have to stump up the 50-80 quid to upgrade).
Again, cock-waving aside, who cares...
Paris, because she is the Queen of judging cock waving.
@Greg
The point is that 20Gb 2.5" SATA drives aren't competitively priced in comparison to the 60Gb ones any more, so Microsoft are switching. Having the same size drive as the PS3 is probably a useful tech-spec bonus for people who make their console investment based on such things, and it also may be tied into the Netflix announcement, which generates something to put on all that space.
Steve
In fairness it's not all PS3 owners. Just the odd couple of morons who always do the console cock waving gestures. 360 morons do it when the shoe is on the other foot.
Mark, making the opening comment, is the absolute prime pro PS3 knobber and most people ignore him for that very reason.
This is the man after all who stated that the latest PS3 firmware enabled native HD-DVD playback....
And besides, most PS3 owners with more than half a brain and an income are likely to own the 360 as well.
I'm with the AC
Why would you need all that space? Seriously? I bought an Elite to get the smaller chip/black box. Downloaded a couple of shows (Robot Chicken Star Wars), a couple of videos, tons of saved games, got a couple of the downloadable maps, an Xbox original game... And I still haven't used 10gb. So I have about 100 gigs of space sitting idle. As for other content... I use my box as a media extender, but I have a server with TONS more space... so I just stream via ORB to ANYWHERE in the house, world. Why store it all on a proprietary machine? PS3 or Xbox? About the only use I can see for a HD of that size is if Xbox Live starts offering Pron that isn't a rental... Then it might fill up rather quickly. Or if the game discs become huge zip repositories and the game needs to unload and install on the HD like PCs... Then maybe...
As for the Console Wars... Both Sony and MS are huge, evil empires. Both insist on proprietary formats, do everything they can to control the marketplace, and spend more time trying to stop copying than trying to innovate. Both sourced proprietary hardware, and when you consider the cost of a PATA HD, neither should probably come with one, rather should come with a hotswap slot and allow you to plug in your own... Or SATA, I don't care which.
Sony appears to be in a downcycle at the moment in my mind despite winning the BR-HDDVD wars. PS2 was amazing, wanted one from the day they came out, didn't get around to get one until 2007 when someone gave me theirs. PS2 4tw because they had the most games, the most versatility, and networked gaming and were first to market... Hmm... Xbox 360... Most games, most versatility, first to market...
I'll probably pick up a PS3 when I decide that I need some of my movies in HD, rather than upscaled 1080i...
Boring Boring PS3 flamers...
I do not generally comment on sites as you get really tired of the same old fanboy rubbish posts. Why oh why do ps3 owners feel obliged to constantly flame any points to do with X360 or Wii? Do you not feel like schoolkids? The only reason I can think of is fear that the once mighty sony have fallen down the technology ladder and are just a run of the mill company now. Sad.
