August 27th 2009 6:00 am PT

Ok!
When the HD120GB price cut?

Yeah, didn’t see that coming like I don’t see a Natal bundle coming to replace that price point. LOL

Larry, How about a comment on the lack of HD cables? You were one of the most vocal figures bashing Sony for not including them. What gives???

For those complaining about no HDMI cable, buy one from monoprice.com
They’re like $4 US for a 6ft cable.

@ Biomonkey: The product page still needs to be updated. Look at the pictures on Major’s flickr. The Elite contents now show only a composite cable is included. And if you look at a closeup of the side of the new Elite box in the Contents list, it only says “Standard Definition” for the Elite.

@ MACPH1ST0

Yes, they are cheap in general, but keep in mind Microsoft also sells a Microsoft branded cable for much more. They’ll hope you buy it, maximizing their profits. It’s business.

1. For $299, the Slim PS3 is still a better bargain. It comes with a Blu-ray drive, wifi, and free online play.

2. It’s lame that if you want a hard drive with your console, you’re stuck with a black 360 since the “Pro” is phased out. Why can’t the black be a special edition, allowing people to choose a white or black elite?

Major, the box pictures are wrong. You should have them remove 1/4th out of each ring on the systems and make it a darker red. That will be truth in advertising.

You know I need to get my digs in right?

Gotta love pretend price drops.

Yes i did see that coming, what with the other drops going on.

Man, it happened so suddenly, I don’t know what to say… other than my Pro is about to become a vintage product…

BTW, dropping all high-def cables from the Elite… well, I kinda understand it because something had to give to get that $299 price point. But still…

Which genius decided to remove the hd cables?

Once again CHEAP CHEAP B@STARDS! all of you, not Microsoft.

Price Comparison from Amazon.com

Spring 2009 Xbox 360 Elite Bundle (still available) for $399 includes Halo3, Fable II, Official MS Component Cable, HDMI Cable.

Fall 2009 Xbox 360 Elite $299 + Halo 3 ($37) + Fable II ($37) + Official MS HDMI Cable with Audio break out ($31.49) or Official MS Component Cable ($34.99), total price: $299+$37+$37+$31 = $404 or to have exactly the same contents +$35 for the component cable, so $439. (but in real life people would either just get the component or the HDMI with adapter.)

So the only advantage is that you can get the Elite bare for $299. If you added the bits that were already available in the Spring 2009 package (that includes games most new 360 users *should* buy anyways… Halo 3 and Fable II) it wouldn’t be much of a deal at all… $25 off, especially if the users didn’t have an HDMI audio capable Receiver or TV, then it would actually cost more.

It’s just crappy MS marketing spin. Does MS just hope that their customers are bad at math?

Add that to the fact that the energy efficient PS3 Slim being released at $299 with Blu-ray and Built-in WiFi, that the Elite can’t have and costs and extra $73… and I’d say that MS’ marketing division made a huge tactical error.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/27/amazon-germany-lists-xbox-360-with-250gb-hdd-forza-3-two-wirel/

@DavidGX

Make more money, loser.

How about a little perspective here, people? So Microsoft lowered the price of the Elite by $100 and everybody is whining about them not including a $4 HDMI cable? So net savings is $96. Skip a latte for one day and you can “afford” that HDMI cable. Otherwise if that’s too much work then you deserve to play the Xbox at 480i with the free composite cable.

Trolls aside, look how cheap these freakin things are: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024008&p_id=3992&seq=1&format=2

There’s really no excuse not to throw one in the box for $200.

Also, G.o.D. prices are WAY too high.

How exciting – now we get to see the PS3 Slim crush it in sales.

@Bubblebear, Amazon lowered the Spring Elite bundle to $299. Elite Fable 2 and Halo 3 bundle for $299 with HDMI and HD Component cable. http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Elite/dp/B002KJ9XDE/ref=amb_link_85030471_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_r=1KAZ39XSWA15N3KYJZ7N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=488903251&pf_rd_i=507846

@ LuKhon: First of all, the Fable 2/Halo 3 Elite bundle is already sold out at that price – no big surprise there, since you could get 2 games with the system and all the HD cables for the same price. And the fact that HDMI cables are cheap isn’t the point. It’s that MS has bragged about how the 360 is “the future of HD gaming”, so if they want to back up that claim, then at the very least, the Elite should continue to be HD right out of the box. Otherwise the name “Elite” just rings hollow.

I like how Microsoft is trying to spin it as a super deal. They drop the price $100 then take away the HD cables and optical audio adapter. So basically it would cost about the same price anyway having to buy MS’s audio cable and the hi-def cables. Granted you can get that stuff cheaper elsewhere. Time for a name change, I don’t think we can call it “elite” anymore.

@CARNAGE RULES

What does hiding my gamercard have to do with wanting to pay FAIR PRICES for things? Digital content = LOWER PRICED THAN RETAIL. It’s a simply concept that neither you nor microsoft seem to understand.

Make more assumptions, btw, makes you sound smart.

@CARNAGE RULES

No, I think they’re trying to get just as much as they possibly can, fairness be damned. They want us to pay more for less.

And they’ll get away with it too if everyone is as stupid as you are and actually goes along with it. If you don’t understand why digital downloads should be cheaper than retail then you need to just go away and stop embarrassing yourself.

Just picked up one of these today. True fact it only has COMPOSITE cables. No Component or HDMI included in the box. It does have the capability, respectively. I found the 3 Yellow, White, and Red wires coming from the main video cable to be quit skinnier and made a lot cheaper than the ones that came with my Pro console. Another cost cutting measure? Also what sort of surprised me. The power supply was much smaller, probably because this console only pulls 12.1V, according to the serial number tag, but what disturbs me is the connector going into the console is no longer of a metal material, but entirely plastic. I personally enjoy metal more than plastic, but for $300, I can’t complain too much.