US and Canada Only. Apparently this had been in the works for a long time in order to coincide with the Madden release in order to try and get PS2 converts.
50$ drop on the Premium, 30$ drop on the Elite and 20$ on the Core. THe Halo ltd Edition is running at the old Premium price of 399, had the old 20GB HDD but features HDMI output.
The only way MS could fuck this up is if they pulled the same thing as Sony and this was a channel clearance of old stock and the price snaps back up come the Falcon chipset.
Major Nelson wrote:Starting August 8th, the Xbox 360 will be $50.00 cheaper. In the announcement made earlier tonight, the price was dropped on all Xbox 360 SKU’s available in the US*
Here is how it breaks down.
Xbox 360 Elite $479.99 now $449.99
Xbox 360 System $399 now $349.99
Xbox 360 Core $299.00 now $279.00
Plus, the Halo 3 Special Edition Console price has been announced as $399.99
A couple of things to keep in mind:
These new prices are effective as of Wednesday, August 8th in the U.S. only.
Regarding any global price drops I am told from the marketing folks that ‘Today we are announcing a price reduction in the U.S. We will announce other regional price decreases at the appropriate time.’
Not big enough drop on the elite, but if the Halo edition has HDMI, I could easily see myself purchasing that one...as long as it doesn't look too fucken' goofy...which, by the pictures, it doesn't look too bad. I actually like that army green color. Are the premiums going to get the HDMI treatment with the die shrink as well?
Kluden wrote:Not big enough drop on the elite, but if the Halo edition has HDMI, I could easily see myself purchasing that one...as long as it doesn't look too fucken' goofy...which, by the pictures, it doesn't look too bad. I actually like that army green color. Are the premiums going to get the HDMI treatment with the die shrink as well?
That's the long term plan. My guess is with the die-shrink redesign of the motherboard, HDMI ports will come standard.
That's kind of what I was thinking, hence why I was hoping the Halo edition is a die shrink console. Plus, since it is a "special edition"...if it does break...they won't be sending you a refurbed white unit, right? so you would have a very high chance of them sending you your same unit back...due to the special case paint, I assume.
I would have preferred a bigger price drop, but a price drop of any amount more than 10 bucks is always nice to see.
I'll run mine with the intercooler until it dies. It was freezing frequently without it but with it it's rock solid.
After that I'll call support and see what the odds are on getting a new model with the shrunk die as a replacement for mine. I'm 15 months with my unit(mfg March 2006, bought in May) and I got the 2 year warrenty extension on the full think so I'm covered for 3 year for everything. If it does die, I may bet a Core on the cheap as a secondary unit.
360 Cores and Premiums with HDMI? An inside source spills the beans
By Ben Kuchera | Published: August 07, 2007 - 02:07PM CT
When I was at E3 I had a chance to get a look at the new Halo-edition 360 hardware, and I asked about the HDMI connection. "HDMI will probably be standard moving forward," I was told. I pushed for more information, but was rebuffed. Now, after the price drop announcement, a mole sent us some interesting information about Microsoft's upcoming hardware plans. If you're thinking of buying, you may want to hold off.
First, a few caveats. This is rumor. I won't name the source, but the information she/he provided me matches up with everything I've been told and understand about Microsoft's future hardware plans. I think it sounds solid, but I'm not willing to say this will definitely happen.
Soon you may not have to choose between the Elite and HDMI
According to my source, Microsoft wants to cut through all their existing inventory of hardware. They will then quietly "soft launch" a new version of the Core and Premium hardware in late August or September that will include an HDMI port. It's also expected that this new hardware will feature the 65nm process for the CPU and quieter DVD drives. The new hardware will ship in boxes very similar to what we saw on store shelves now, but there will be a small "call out" on the box so you know you're getting a system with the HDMI connection.
Much about this information makes sense. We can expect the 65nm machines to launch any time now, and with the launch of the Halo-edition system only the Cores and Premiums will lack the HDMI, this revision will make the connection standard. We also know Microsoft will be fixing the heating issues that caused their costly warranty extension, and bundling all these updates into one product moving forward would be a smart move.
I am thinkng about buying, and I will be waiting another couple of months in hopes of an HDMI version. I've done lots of research about this and I'm choosing a 360 over the PS3 based on price and available games.
Just looking into prices though, you really get raped with peripheral pricing. $50 for an extra controller? Christ. Also, at 60$ a game, I'll most likely be renting or buying used for the most part.
Fairweather Pure wrote:I am thinkng about buying, and I will be waiting another couple of months in hopes of an HDMI version. I've done lots of research about this and I'm choosing a 360 over the PS3 based on price and available games.
Don't forget about the controller! (and a bunch of other things better on the 360 like Live)
After a few hours of using PS3 triggers you'd have no hope of performing any kind of fancy fingerwork that might be required later on that night. I have no idea how Jice could paint an Orc after playing a racing game on the PS3. It's comparable to the old days when Japenese women used to wrap their feet to keep them tiny or the odd practice of skull warping some ancient culture used to partake in. It's not natural!
Seriously though, there's no contest in game support between the two. The PS3 is still at least six months away from starting to get a game flow and probably a year away from developers starting to come to grips with having to work twice as hard to accomplish the same thing on the PS3 as can be completed easily with the 360 SDK. The 360 games are piling up and loaded for the start of the gaming season these next few months.
New Update Prepares Xbox 360s for Wireless Guitars
According to Xbox spokesman Major Nelson, the only thing that the update is doing is preparing systems for wireless guitar controllers (the kind used by Rock Band and Guitar Hero III), saying the regular update that adds features is still coming later this year.
Following speculation and rumors, a retail Xbox 360 Premium console purchased today was found with an HDMI-out port. The console lists a manufacture date of July 4th, 2007, and was bought from a Target in Atlanta, GA. It is unknown whether HDMI will be included in all newly manufactured $349.99 premium or $279.99 core models.
Even after the $50 price drop for the Xbox 360 Premium console, Amazon has decided to go lower. At least for now, you can drop by Amazon.com and grab one for just $329.99!
Hold your horses for a minute though, because it looks like there is a catch. In all likelyhood, these consoles will not include the HDMI port which are now standard on Premium Xbox 360 systems. This discount is probably just a way to flush out the old HDMI-less consoles to make room for the new, super awesome HDMI-full ones. Although this is just speculation, seeing as the product is listed as Xbox 360 Console Includes 20GB Hard Drive instead of a Premium system makes it look like they are in fact just getting rid of old Xbox 360s that cannot officially labeled as Premium any more.
If you are not fussed about HDMI and just want the other features of the console however, this would be the time to jump on a great deal. Just remember that your console may be at higher risk of failure than the new and improved Premium Xbox 360 systems.
I played a friend's 360 the other day (first time I've played the 360) and it was loud as fuck. Today, no lie, his 360 died. He called me bitching up a storm. It's still under warrantee though, so that's good.
Yeah, I believe I'll wait another year for the 45nm chipset.
