March 2nd 2010 2:00 pm PT

Good value, I have the MW2 Super Elite.

nice but the question remains, When will the 250 GB HDD be available as a stand alone product?

Please, please, please Major Nelson. If you love your fellow geeks, do everything you can, to allow people to buy a 250GB HDD separately. I’m struggling with my 120GB HDD. I need more space.

Sounds pretty good but with all these bundles coming out they don’t have anything special like the shell for some extra wallpapers & icons. I got the Xbox Halo 3 LE and it came with a bunch of extras, that’s what I want with these FFXIII and Splinter bundles.

Why don’t these special edition bundles come with the special edition of the game? I’d like a second console, I am getting Splinter Cell, but I am getting the SE edition of Splinter Cell…and I don’t want to buy a new console with the smaller 120gb drive.

Awesome! Can’t wait for this game, hopefully Ubisoft is also working on another Rainbow Six!

“nice but the question remains, When will the 250 GB HDD be available as a stand alone product?”

Exactly what I was going to ask. When I got the 120GB hard drive back when it first came out I only had about 8GB of stuff on the then-standard 20GB drive. Now I only have about 30GB of free space at any given time on my 120. It’s only a matter of time before people start running out of room with the constant flow of new arcade games and DLC, and I shouldn’t have to buy a new console just to get a new hard drive.

I thought MS made it clear no 120

I thought MS made it clear that there is no standalone 250GB HDD. These bundles are great. Ok you want Special Editions as well, then the price is going to have to go up. I got the MW2 Bundle and it was great value especially since you are guaranteed a Jasper Model. However unlike the MW2 bundle I don’t see massive Pre-Orders in for the Final Fantasy Super Elite (I would probably had preferred this LE) which makes me wonder if all these new Super Elite bundles out every other month, or now 2 months in a row will shift.

“I thought MS made it clear that there is no standalone 250GB HDD”

Which is BS, considering that as time goes on people will need more and more storage space to house the expanding library of content that is being released. I understand wanting to make a special edition a little more special than the standard consoles, but eventually even the 120GB drive isn’t going to cut it any more. With my PS3, I can use any standard 2.5″ SATA HD to meet my storage needs. With the 360 we have to use what MS offers. And not that there’s anything wrong with that, I actually prefer first-party accessories, but knowing that MS has to at least recognize that there needs to be a new storage option for current console owners.

So to get the bigger HDD one has to by a bundle? How is this fair to those who have owned the system since the beginning. Why should we have to pay for things (another console) we do not need just to have a bigger HDD. Why not bring the standalone HDD out? You guys would make a killing seeing as how you charge absurd amounts for these things anyways. You guys sure do make extremely STUPID decisions sometimes.

I highly doubt that it will sell for US$399 in Australia like Major says. Major, are you sure it will be A$441 in Australia like you say? If its true, it would be super awesome, but I think it was a typo.

Can we haz the 250 GB HDD?

As stated before, I would rather go for 250Gb HDD sold separately !!!
Although, I might buy the FFXIII Super Elite Bundle… Don’t know yet…

@Golani 360
Didn’t they already announce the 250GB standalone Hard Drive for sale in Japan.

I’d rather get the LCE of Splinter Cell. The Elite is nothing special besides the HDD which no matter what they say WILL be offered as a standalone once they get these bundles out of the way. If the Elite was a Special Edition with some Splinter Cell artwork then i’d definitely considered it. But since it’s not, and the bundle comes with a “regular” copy of the game, I don’t see the point.

They won’t sell the 250GB separately, because then they’ll have to drop the price of the 120GB. Ain’t happenin’ anytime soon.

the 250gb HHD is going avaliable sold separtely only in Japan apparently in march or april, hope they get those 250gb HHD for Australia becuase im stuck with a 20gb HHD and i have to always remmove DLC to add new ones also i cant get any of the Games on Demand i want so badly.

I would consider getting this if the console was actually special edition and the game too. I’m better off sticking with my elite and the collector’s edition copy of Splinter Cell.

I don’t understand people who are “struggling with 120GB”. Do you also have large stacks of old newspapers in your living room, that you just can’t make yourself throw away? I have a 120GB drive, and the one time I came close to filling it was because I had over a dozen old demos that I never played and forgot to delete.

Should include wifi adapter as well and/or make it a standard for the xbox if my ps3, psp, ds, printer ect. has it, there is no reason my beloved 360 shouldn’t have it. $100 for the adapter as a stand alone product is ludicrus. Also please sell the 250 gb as a stand alone product (and make it reasonable); I recently upgraded my ps3 to 500 gb hard drive for $75 legally. Thanks for doing great things with my favorite console.

What’s so special about this bundle??? It looks like a regular elite to me. For someone who doesn’t have a 360, this is a good deal. Nothing special about it though. Special Edition bundles = Halo 3 LE, and MW2 console. By the way GameStop has a listing for Xbox360 HD 250GB for $129.99 for pre-order. Ships 3/23/10…??????

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=77266

There’s a new spring 360 elite Bundle with Forza 3 and Halo ODST for $299.99 in Canada
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/microsoft-xbox-360-elite-spring-value-bundle-52v-00380/10139968.aspx?path=a94f3933a819a714ab0403226e28887aen02

Here you go guys, no more worrying – http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=77266

By the way to be Major Nelson or any MS staff do you have to be a compulsive lier?

I applaud you for not putting any ugly decals on the 360 like last time, and maintaining the chrome elements. Now if only we could get that 250GB drive separately at retail!

looks nice, but i gonna get the Final fantasy XIII bundle

Why are these Special Edition bundles getting less and less “special” as more are released? The MW2 one had a custom case, which should be what EVERY special edition console bundle has. The FFXIII one just has a plain white case, but at least it has an engraved HDD and a FFXIII faceplate you can put on it. But this one? It looks just like a regular Elite with a bigger HDD! If you’re not going to make the system itself custom, then at the very least you should include a custom faceplate and special edition of the game (if available). People aren’t going to be buying these special edition bundles any more just for the bigger HDD, since apparently judging by the GameStop link posted here, it’s going to be available separately before this bundle is even released.
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@ tabicat: People like to have these bigger HDDs mainly because they want to install all their games on disc that they play regularly for faster loading and reduced DVD drive wear. Now you also have XBLA games getting bigger in size, more and more DLC being released for games, and 360 Games on Demand and movies available for download. With more and bigger content released, people want to have the most HDD capacity possible to minimize a revolving door of deleting, then later redownloading/reinstalling games every time they want to play them again.

If it was a different colour I’d be all over this one. It’s not, so I’ll stick to my 2006 Premium console (120GB HDD) .

So much to say where to start, first I dont blame Major for lying to us if he wants to keep his job, he says what they tell him, but Microsoft is getting a little out of control with, well their control issues. I (like many others)was saying that they were going to release the 250 as a stand alone months ago, but oh well, I have a feeling that the next wave of bans are gonna gome to those that have the unoficial 250gb hdd’s (dont even go there with the whole “theres no way they can tell” crap) if it is on the 360 and your connected to live then they know.

Anyway on to this special edition bundle… so if your in the market for an elite (299) and splinter cell conviction (59) and a 250 hard drive (130)= 490$ bundles 399$ your makin out by a hundred bucks, but I bought the halo, re5, and mw2 consoles for collectiblity your tellin me they couldnt throw a third escelon emblem on there or somethin? They lost 400$ from me for just plain lazyness…

@ omegamaximus75: Also don’t forget the cost of the extra wireless controller included too. So yes it does work out to be a pretty good deal on paper when you figure the cost of buying all those things individually, but they really should have included something more like a custom console, faceplate, exclusive DLC or other items like the previous special edition bundles have had in order to make this one truly something “special” worth getting.

Omega and Mac are correct…the bundle is a great value, and I also have the RE5 (red elite, then added the RE5 awesome red faceplate…anyone who sees it is jealous!) and the MW2, both of which were well worth the cost (RE5 came with a lot of content to boost the value, MW2 came with over $500 worth of stuff and the custom case, as mentioned), and am singing the same tune…any kind of “collector” or “unique” item/ case/ controller in either one of these would make them sell like crazy. Especially FFXIII, which does not have a CE in the US…they could have easily added the CE and charged $450, and they wouldn’t have been able to make enough of them. I mean, really, people bought the PS3 that was overpriced because it was bundled with the DEMO!! I’ll get a faceplate (I’m sure there will be extras around), but don’t see the point in these bundles if you aren’t starting from scratch (don’t need 2 more controllers, have the 250GB already, and am getting the LE for Splinter Cell)

Not really worth it because I already have two Xbox 360 consoles in my house and they both work fine. I think I will just buy the game.

I am also a Xbox1 and 360 user since day 1. I buy too much games and DLC and I can agree with most people here, that long-time users are forgotten. BUT:

I pre-ordered another xbox360, the special edition with 250GB and Final Fantasy mostly for 3 reasons:

1. the 250GB harddisk (I was greatly in need of more HD space wit all that (bougth!) DLC
2. the HDMI output / new chipset
3. Couting the 250HB HD, the elite, 2 fresh (the other or more then 6 years old!) 2 new controlers, headset, 300 euro’s / dollars seems fair!

I think buying a seperate 250GB HD over time with a game or other stuff, I would pay more.

So… well, I finally think it’s ok. (in other words, the marketing did it’s work)…

Nothing special about it.
Standard Super Elite, extra controller & game.

A limited edition paint job should be on all limited edition bundles imo.

Just sounds like a money making business to me. By suggesting that they won’t sell the 250GB HDD separately, it may encourage some people to upgrade by buying the bundles. The more sensible (or patient at least) of us can see through this marketing ploy and will wait.

I can see why people can start running out of space on their 120GB HDD’s if they buy a lot of GoD and Arcade games. Mind you deleting old content certainly works especially when you can re-download previously purchased content, hence why I’ve not yet upgraded from my 20GB HDD (I’m waiting for the 250GB to be released as that should drive the 120GB HDD down in price, that’s more than enough space for me for now).

For all of you in the UK after a 250gb HD:

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=8708

I’m personally waiting for the Halo: Reach bundle.

i agree with the numerous posters here. sell the standalone 250 gb hard drive. I agree it will be a shame if they start banning people for having DIY 250 gb hard drives because they don’t want to shell out $400 for limited just for the hard drive. I wouldn’t put it past them so I will wait on getting the hard drive. Tired of the “no comment” deja vu that happens like this and it ends up being true after they say it’s not going to happen. hard to figure why after hearing so many people want it Microsoft wants to only sell them in $400 bundles.

250gb hd info here;
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6252730.html

I guess it makes sense it’s just plain black, but all the other special ones had graphics.

I would have loved to get this console since I’m looking to replace my launch console for that HDMI port. But I was hoping for a good limited edition console, like the MW2 one. That one actually has some nice designs around the system, but the Splinter Cell and the FF13 LE Consoles don’t have anything special about them at all other than the larger hard drives.

I’m looking to get a new 360 console, but I think I’ll wait out for hopefully an actual good Limited Edition one, something that separates it from the rest like some real cool designs around the system. Hopefully there will be one for Halo Reach.

Finally. I had been waiting for a regular black elite with the 250GB hard drive. I’m a bit disappointed it’s in a bundle, I’d rather just pick up regular elite package with one controller, the black elite, and the 250GB hard drive. Anyway, I have this pre-ordered at Gamestop. About time though, if you guys would have released a plain black elite 250GB bundle last year in the US, I would have bought one then.