Spotted! Xbox 360 Elite spied in assembly line

by Christopher Grant { Mar 26th 2007 at 7:05PM }

Of course, the Xbox 360 Elite doesn't actually exist yet; it's just idle, and most likely spurious, chatter floating in a nebulous sea of speculation surrounded by a hard, candy shell of rumor and hearsay. But that hasn't stopped these characteristically blurry spy shots of the HDMI- and 120GB-enabled Xbox 360 Elite from showing up on a Chinese assembly line. Take note: the chrome drive bezel clearly distinguishes the non-entity that is the Xbox 360 Elite from the decidedly corporeal black Xbox 360 dev kit. After the break, a shot of the not-yet-confirmed hard drive barely showing off the "120" printed on the top of it. What does it all mean?

[Thanks to all the spies who tipped us off!]

Tags: Elite, Xbox360Elite, Zephyr

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

t3nguman @ Mar 26th 2007 7:18PM

*BOING*

Must reserve...now

Nova Scotian @ Mar 26th 2007 7:21PM

Hope these are more reliable than 360 1.0 ... else, stay away from the first batch of consoles.

Diman @ Mar 26th 2007 7:25PM

Check the date on the pic.

Beni @ Mar 26th 2007 7:29PM

Who cares about the date? You are away there are a couple million ways to explain that. Let me help with a few.

1.) He forget to set his camera date/time.

2.) He actually got these pictures at that date..

Teflon @ Mar 26th 2007 7:33PM

Somebody is about to lose their job. Only a real genius leaves a time stamp on the photos so security knows exactly what date and time to review on the tapes.

Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 7:36PM

Looks like the work of a camera phone to me.

a ham sandwich @ Mar 26th 2007 7:38PM

im calling dev kits on this one. perhaps the dev kit hard drives were replaced with normal ones and then photoshopped to say "120 gb hdd". and YES somebody would go through all that trouble.

Beni Nkangoh @ Mar 26th 2007 7:41PM

I highly doubt there would be that many development kits just sitting there mass produced.

Its either

1.) Actual Elite 360.
2.) REALLY nice photoshop of some white ones.

deaftly @ Mar 26th 2007 7:43PM

better looking, more games and still cheaper then a ps3 :)

Mike @ Mar 26th 2007 7:45PM

I wonder how much the stand-alone 120gb HDD will cost.

Joshua @ Mar 26th 2007 7:49PM

Those pictures are fo rizzle, I say.

Beni Nkangoh @ Mar 26th 2007 7:49PM

Mike, I'm PRETTY sure it will cost the same as the 20G and the 20G will now be free with the premium and the premium will replace the core after the intial stock of the Elite sell out.

Why?

Because if you go with Microsoft's pricing inflation then the 20G will be over 600$ which obviously isn't the case. Unless the Elite really is just the 120G and you get the actual 360 free -_-.

Rob @ Mar 26th 2007 7:49PM

@ deaftly

and still lacking internal wifi :)

Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 7:50PM

Deaftly,

I would hope it would be cheaper without wireless and hd-dvd capabilities.

Xbots suck @ Mar 26th 2007 10:07PM

LOL, I really don't get, so the orignal xbox 360 was released a just about 18 months ago and you people were bitching left and right about how expensive the ps3 is and now you people are willing to go out a buy a whole new system? News Flash XBOTS! consoles are suppose to last 7-10 years not last than two. but it just puzzles me on how everyone so bitchy about the price tag of the ps3 and then are perfectly willing to shell out more cash to get a console they should have got at launch. everyone I read "hope they fixed the read rings of death issue"...WTF? are you telling me 18 months and people are still having this issue? Now I am not even sure the "elite" realy exists so I am not going to go on much further....but man Xbots are priceless

Digi Smalls @ Mar 26th 2007 7:55PM

the dev kits don't have removable hard drives. had one in front of me the other day.

man are these ugly. the chrome was bad enough. a friend of mine got the Core just to avoid the chrome, and i put a silver faceplate on mine to offset it. i'm sure this limited edition will sell tons though. kids sure love their black. not for me.

may pick up that 120gig separately though, nice option. just hope MS doesn't really charge $200 and ruin the price advantage they have over PS3 in one fell swoop.

like a lot of people did with their PS2s, i'll wait for a 360Slim if i'm ever going to replace this one. rock solid since nov.05.

.

navstar @ Mar 27th 2007 9:57AM

Do I get a trade-in allowance? :)

Mark @ Mar 29th 2007 4:06PM

Who cares that it doesn't have wifi and an HDDVD built into it. Don't people realize how much more secure and faster wired connections are? Especially for online gaming? If I had a choice between wired and wireless, I'll always take wired. As far as HDDVD/BluRay goes, who cares? It has no bearing on video gaming as far as I'm concerned. And yes, these are Video Game systems, not media centers (as much as the companies might want to sell it as the latter).

Mr Khan @ Mar 26th 2007 8:08PM

I couldn't imagine them lowering the 20 gig to free, not from the company that charges you $100 for an antenna (WiFi), but it's been bothering me as to what they will lower it to

$30 would fit in with the ratio of 20 to 120, and certainly sounds acceptable, but since the new system costs more, i don't think they're eliminating the core SKU (which should never have been to begin with), because the core allows them to make the claim "11x the CPU speed, 8x the RAM, only $50 more than a Wii!"

x silence x @ Mar 26th 2007 8:18PM

You guys and your wifi. Streaming HD video aint going to work using wifi. This is a big thing for me. I stream HD using Media Center and I can live without wifi...

Beni Nkangoh @ Mar 26th 2007 8:21PM

Yeah, that bugs me. Why didn't Microsoft make this thing have internal Wifi. That seems pretty stupid for the price increase, sure the extra hard drive space is good, but I live in a wireless world. Everything I own is wireless.

iLLwiLL @ Mar 26th 2007 8:31PM

ALL RIIISE!. Major Nelson, you have the floor to enlighten us all with your epiphany on exhibit A. Thank you, thank you very much!

h0mi @ Mar 26th 2007 8:36PM

I can live without internal Wifi but damn it, charge me only $40 for it (or let me use a different USB NIC instead).

m ike @ Mar 26th 2007 8:49PM

h0mi

u can

dux @ Mar 26th 2007 8:56PM

funny my 360 broke anout 5 days before I heard about this. My PS2 also broke about week before the sleek slim one was announced hmm.

m ike @ Mar 26th 2007 9:04PM

h0mi

some wirelees adpaters will work search google and all wireless ethernet bridges work

hope that helps

Graham @ Mar 26th 2007 9:45PM

The Wifi addon for the 360 is a/b/g. The PS3 is b/g. b/g is significantly cheaper to produce. Hence it's an addon for the 360 - not standard. 802.11a is more reliable for things that require consistent bandwidth, such as streaming content at higher resolutions. It is less susceptible to interference.
At the time of the 360 launch, the cheapest addin PCI 802.11a wifi card that I could find was the same price as the wifi addon for the 360 (over here at least, I actually looked it up - thinking it was overpriced). Of course now they are probably cheaper.
I don't feel it's overpriced. It's reasonably priced for it's capability.

C. Baines @ Mar 26th 2007 10:39PM

Whatever! i refuse to believe this, until I get a offical PR from M$.

BIGGEN @ Mar 26th 2007 10:28PM

@25
yeah, well, the 360 is the best system out there, plain and simple. and just got better. just look at the sales numbers, the people are speaking with their money. AND even willing to pay for an entirely new 360 INSTEAD of a ps3. i would trade my current 360 in for this one. hell, i'm trading my ps3 in for it as well.

me @ Mar 26th 2007 10:28PM

Those pictures are fakes...

ill trooper @ Mar 26th 2007 10:28PM

Thie thing is... I know I'm alone in this... but... I think the 360 is an ugly console. I love the games, the gaming, etc., but the concave 'suck' look is not for me. Looks really bad to me when the 360 is vertical. I mean, a vertical orientation on a pop-out tray loading mechanism? That's gonna make mankind go crazy. But I can handle it horizontal, and I do like the color scheme - the pieces work together with the contrasting materials.

This one lacks that contrast and the material looks cheap to me in this color - glossy black would have helped - and those that keep hoping for a 'Black 360' are likely going to be hoping a little while longer - this looks like it's a 'Dark Grey 360.'

But like everyone, I don't look at the console much when it's gaming time, so it doesn't really matter...

It's just the part of me that market researchers sometimes call the 'Reptile Brain Reaction,' the 'I WANT IT' reaction, isn't sparked by this grey/black box. The part of me that pays attention to industrial design cringes when I see a vertical 360, especially those ugly dev kits in monotone grey, with the Frankenstein-brain connector in place of the hard-drive.

I like the 120gigs and HDMI progression, but I don't see myself getting this one. I'm glad they're making the 360 better, but I feel these things should have been on the first one.

Digi Smalls @ Mar 26th 2007 10:49PM

hey troop.

yo, vertical tray mechanism - you also just described the PS2.

and 120gigs in '05 for $499? trippin. HDMI woud've been nice to have back then, but if component and 20gigs meant being able to put out the 360 at that price in winter '05 - then i'm beyond happy with that decision.

.

Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 11:03PM

Face it. You are all MS's ho's. Time to bend over. You still don't get what the PS3 has to offer, yet you are willing to pay more (considering you bought one already and are considering buying this). Yet you complain about the PS3 price. You 360 boys have ADD or something wrong with you.
In 6 months, I'd be pissed of if there was a new PS3 with better shit for $79 more.
You guys are suckers IMO which doesn't mean anything on a 360 subject being a PS3 guy.
Ho on I guess.

Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 11:06PM

Before you flame me, I know it's been over a year. MS has been able to reduce costos on everything yet you get charged more than the last "premium" edition. I'm not bashing, I just want you guys to wake up to the BS.

D @ Mar 27th 2007 12:02AM

@25

I have to agree with you. All these little kids whine about the price of the PS3 yet they are more than willing to accept the fact that MS screwed up big time with releasing a console that was less than NextGen. I wonder what Xbox Elite 2.0 will look like? I'm guessing it will come standard with either a HD-DVD player or a BRD (probably the latter based on sales). Maybe then, you can get WiFi built-in to the box instead of having yet another piece of lego to add to that iMac wannabe console. lol

Digi Smalls @ Mar 27th 2007 12:01AM

MS isn't replacing anything genius.

its a black limited edition with more drive space, and a more convenient a/v connector...... are you going to p*ssy-ache as hard when the PS3 comes out in silver and a bigger hard drive?

the premium is still the main SKU and it's still $200 cheaper than PS3. try again.

.

Digi Smalls @ Mar 27th 2007 12:04AM

THE MAC GOD @ Mar 27th 2007 12:40AM

The one thing I'm wondering is:
If the output is HDMI, do you have to have an HDMI receiver to get surround sound, or is there going to be an optical audio port or capability. HDMI is great, but I'll bet that most of the people who have HDMI TV's DON'T have HDMI receivers.

Just curious.

Negativecool @ Mar 27th 2007 12:46AM

Now heres the kicker, what percentage of those we see in those pics are going to give their owners the "RED RING OF DEATH!"?
If they truly are elite, then they'll probably only need to be repaired once.

Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Mar 27th 2007 1:37AM

Can't wait to get this!!

ill trooper @ Mar 27th 2007 1:55AM

"you also just described the PS2"

...Which I never kept vertical either, and it was part of the LAST generation. This is a new generation, the 360 still uses it. It's a lazy/cheap solution and bad design. Even Nintendo has it in the Wii, the low-cost entry into

"and 120gigs in '05 for $499? Trippin'"

Not any more trippin' than MS asking $99 for a 20gig HD, and $100 for a wireless adaptor in 2005. All proprietary add-ons, just to grip you by the balls and make you say 'attach-rate.' And STILL asking that much in early 2007. And still with the PS2-style vertical tray loading.

Even typing all this makes it sound like it's HUGE deal to me that the 360 has vertical-tray loading, so let me end this post by saying I'd rather just not have that type of disk loading on my consoles, but it's not a deal breaker in any capacity. If that's what it takes to load LIVE-enabled Rainbow 6: Vegas-style violence onto my screen, then so be it.

ill trooper @ Mar 27th 2007 1:58AM

Wherps... I meant to finish that sentence like this:

"...the low-cost entry into /this new gen./"

baby sea tuna @ Mar 27th 2007 8:15AM

@31, 34, SDF in general:

I think you've got it wrong. When most people mention the price of the PS3 as their barrier to entry, it's not because $600 is necessarily too much money, it's because $600 is too much money to drop on a piece of hardware with little software support, an online infrastructure that's currently sketchy, and a new proprietary media format that the market isn't ready for. I'll be more than happy to drop $600 on a PS3...if/when Sony can prove to me that it's worth it.

In the meantime, I think the 360 is the only resonable choice for hardcore current-gen gamers who enjoy, I dunno, actually playing games. At this point, I'd definitely buy a revised 360 before I bought a PS3...now if only the damn thing came in white...

Neal @ Mar 27th 2007 8:44AM

That thing is ugly as balls.

Xbots suck @ Mar 27th 2007 9:37AM

LOL, oh well,l people seem to forget that the ps3 is only 5 months old versus the 18 month on 360 so of course its going to have better games, the games are not in question but I guess xbots would have to "spin" this in how they are willing to buy this system.....ok xbots a game console is not an ipod or an cellphone or any other hand-held device, they are not even in the same field, so to consider releasing a more "advance" version of the 360 no more the 2 years into is lifetime is unaccetpable. no matter how hard you think gears of war or Halo might be or how awesome your "xbox live" is re-releasing a better console this early is just wrong...but if sony design a console with the intentions of giving it a 7-10 year lifetime(blu-ray to keep up with the growing POPULARITY of high-def, the cell to meet more complicated games) and all the xbots get their panties twisted...again, xbox and xbox 360 were both released in during the PS2 lifetime, 2 xboxs in one playstation lifetime.....I don't know how people can be ok with this? really? someone please tell me, Gears of War is a GOOD game but its less than ten hours is what's keeping it from GREAT, I don't give a shit about how great the mulitplayer or achivments are, is games like this is what's making you all so willing to be prison raped by microsoft?...Don't get me wrong all buissness are out to make money but between sony and microsoft, which are willing and have been screwing the consumer MORE to make a better buck...of course we all know what the xbots are going to say "sony"

Je2037 @ Mar 27th 2007 10:07AM

Wow, some of these comments are like nails on a chalkboard. CALM down and quit the whining!!

Digi Smalls @ Mar 27th 2007 10:08AM

xbox1 joined two years late in the last gen race, they couldn't compete. THATS the reason they sacrificed the xbox1 and get a jump on this generation with the 360.

so far it's been a smart move; if 360 continues its lead, MS has every reason to draw out this console as long as they possibly can. just like Sony has done with every Playstation. Sony lickers always harp on about the playstation's long life, but they can't fathom its in Sony's best intere$t to continue selling millions games to old hardware.

do you guys ever pick up a BusinessWeek or Forbes or do you only read OPM? launching new consoles is massively expensive, the only reason you do it is to make money off the GAMES. the console is the razor, the games are the *blades*.

again, MS didn't replace anything, its a LIMITED EDITION, what part of that do people not understand?

troop, the Wii is still a bad example regarding cost since its insides essentially remain a $99 gamecube. also, many people praise Sony's ability to use 3rd party accessories, but the same applies to 360's wifi. you don't have to use their antenna.

that said, they do charge too much for their drives two years later.

.

Xbots suck @ Mar 27th 2007 10:40AM

Again what part of them releasing the xbox 360 has nothing to do with getting into shape for "this" generation, are you telling me that a multi-billion dollar cooperation couldn't hold off releasing the console 6 months to year when it would have been in better position with everyone else? You are completely naive to think they release the 360 because they were getting ready for this generation, they did it to try and get an early head-start against everyone else at the expense of the xbox1....@Digi Smalls..so let me get this straight, releasing a console and trying to straight it out for as long as possible so that gamers and Developers can get maximum usage out of it is wrong? God of War 2 is in my opinion the peak of performance for the ps2 and that's 7 years after it was release, no telling what the xbox could have done if it was just around for a little longer.....its more bang for your buck not the other way around stretching your dollar and "hardware" to its max, not getting 20 percent out of it and then release something better .... and come on the only release its limited is to create more hype and desire for it...companies do it all the time like NIKE, the release "limited" edition shoes just to drive up sales and hype of the product and you are shitting yourself to think Microsoft is doing anything different....... but of course spin away xbots whatever help you guys sleep at night...

Digi Smalls @ Mar 27th 2007 10:57AM

try some paragraph breaks and it'll make it easier to try and have a discussion.

um, releasing the 360 when they did was the best move they've could ever have done. it obviously caught Sony off-guard, who like you said, were still very much focused on the PS2, creatively and financially.

are you going to argue that Sony was ready to release the PS3? having to put PS2 hardware in the first batch, incomplete online software, limited launch games, no, they would've have much preferred to have had PS3 come out THIS november. with rumble, Home and many more games to launch with.

xbox1 was making money, but not enough for their investment into videogames, so they shot ahead, got a foothold, and now Sony is the one forced to catch up. thats how this business is. NES and SNES lasted a long time, did N64 or GameCube? Genesis lasted a long time, did Saturn and Dreamcast (RIP)?

no, only the platform that ends up on top stays around for as long as possible.

it's not right or wrong, it's just how the business is run. again, its not about selling hardware. the GameCube made a profit on every console sold, but thats not where the money is, its in selling GAMES.

yes, i know why Limited Editions exist. you're right. but the thing is you don't *have* to buy them. its only for the people who want them.

did i mention how clever your name is?

.

Xbots suck @ Mar 27th 2007 12:02PM

I agree, the ps3 in some areas I do feel rushed to the market but isn't it solid enough where they don't have as many units fail as the 360....

I know I can come of as a flamboyant ps3 fanboy but the numbers don't lie, the 360 do and still does have a High rate of "red rings of deat" what I do find strange is the willingness of the Britain TV media to report on it but not one TV USA media to even mention it...

The ps3 at the moment is boring really and that is coming from a ps3 fanboy....But what you don't hear is how often the ps3 failed...you hear people return them because its "allegedly" boring or they can't sell it on ebay...I haven't heard one person said they had to return it because it crashed

So yes the ps3 is rushed but its solid enough for people can be confident that it works..for example Folding@home is about people using their ps3s over a network to boost power to find cures (only when people are not playing it, like sleeping or at work or school)..something like that......

Why not use the 360? I mean according to so many people believe the 360 and the ps3 are the same so they can extract the same amount of power..right? plus the 360 have vastly larger user-base than the ps3 which would mean more power..right?

or maybe just maybe...maybe the CELL is actually what we all have been told it was...a high computing chip