$299 Xbox 360 Elite official, Pro 'phased out'

[UPDATE] Microsoft confirms $100 price cut of 120GB console begins Friday, 60GB model $249 "while supplies last"; 31 million 360s sold; HD cables no longer packed in; avatar store "exceeding wildest expectations."

$100 off = no HD AV or HDMI cables.

Following months of rumors and weeks of retail leaks, Microsoft has made it official. Starting Friday, August 28, the 120GB Xbox 360 Elite will only cost $299.99, down from its current $399.99 price point.

[UPDATE] The new model will remain largely the same as the previous configuration, other than the fact that, like the PlayStation 3, it will no longer be bundled with either an HDMI or an component HD AV cable. "We have found that many Xbox 360 customers were not using the HD cables included in the Xbox 360 Elite box, so we removed them," said a Microsoft rep of the change. While HDMI cables can be purchased for under $10 online, the 360 component HD AV cable is $39.99 new.

Also, as rumored, the 60GB Xbox 360 Pro is being "phased out" at a $249.99 price point, down from $299.99. "It's being put to bed," Xbox 360 and Xbox Live director of product management Aaron Greenberg told GameSpot. The executive believes stocks of the Pro, which will be the last white 360 with a hard drive packed in, should last until just after the holidays.

Endangered species: The now-$249.99 Pro will be gone by year's end.

With the Pro's demise, the Xbox 360 will have two SKUs: the $299.99 Elite and the $199.99 Arcade, which has 512MB of built-in memory for game saves and Xbox dashboard software installs. The price of the latter console will remain the same, and Greenberg said there were no announcements regarding the prices of the individually sold 360 hard drives, which currently cost $99.99 for the 60GB and $149.99 for the 120GB. Greenberg also had no updates on the cost of the 360's wireless adapter, which sells for $99.99.

The Elite's reduction comes exactly one week after Sony announced the $299.99 PlayStation 3 Slim at GamesCom in Germany. However, despite the fact the Blu-ray and Wi-Fi-equipped PS3 now matches the Elite in terms of memory and price, Greenberg still feels the latter is a better value. He pointed to 360 software exclusives, like Halo 3: ODST and Forza MotorSport 3. and Xbox Live's online features, like Netflix and the forthcoming Last.fm, Facebook, and Twitter integration, still set for "this holiday season." He also said price was a major factor for the 360 selling well.

"You cannot underestimate the fact that we have two consoles. If you have $200 in your pocket today, you can go buy an Xbox 360," he explained. "I think a big part of the reason why--at a time where Nintendo and Sony are seeing double-digit year-over-year declines, and we're actually up 17 percent--is due to that mass-market price point."

At $199.99, the Xbox 360 Arcade is still the cheapest console on the market.

While Greenberg did believe the price drop will increase Xbox 360 sales, he declined to offer a full fiscal-year forecast for the console, which has now sold over 31 million units worldwide to date. (Sony has said it expects to sell 13 million PS3s by the end of its fiscal year.) He also declined to comment on whether or not Microsoft was planning a hardware revision of the 360 similar to the PS3 Slim, which now boasts an improved cooling system and a smaller and more energy efficient 45nm Cell processor. Without getting into specifics, Greenberg did say that Microsoft made internal improvements to the Xbox 360 hardware long before Sony did, declaring, "We're ahead on that."

In terms of recent Xbox Live initiatives, Greenberg said the recent launch of the premium avatar item store "has exceeded even our wildest projections," although he, again, declined to give hard numbers. Although Splosion Man is currently the only title to reward players with avatar items, he said many upcoming 360 games will have such unlockables. "I think it will become fairly common in games going forward," explained Greenberg.

Last but not least, Greenberg said the freshly minted Games on Demand store has been "more in line with expectations. Like digital distribution in other industries, there's a lot of trial and error. But for the most part, it's performing well."

1217 Comments

  • puffadell

    Posted Sep 16, 2009 6:06 am PT

    nov.10 codmw2 360 console 250gbs 399 bucks

  • jetstopia

    Posted Sep 15, 2009 8:11 pm PT

    I am a wii owner but now seems as good a time as any to get on the xbox horse or maybe i should just spring for the PS3 and blue ray player

  • 24k_Solid_Gold

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 6:50 pm PT

    Ya, the 360 failure rates are much lower now, so everyone can just calm down. Jeepers...

  • Darth_Slayer

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 12:18 pm PT

    According to a study by warranty provider Squaretrade, the RROD rates has fallen with the introduction of the Jasper chips:

    http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/02/study-xbox-360-rrod-on-the-decline/

  • angelucci75

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 1:47 am PT

    Want to increase PS3 sales worldwide? Tell the developers to give out how to run backups... it will skyrocket, guaranteed. If I'd live in the U.S., I'd already own a PS3 over an Xbox 360 for sure. But as that isn't the case, when my Xbox 360 fails for the 2nd time (it's already refurbished from the 1st RROD, and already giving signs the GPU is failing) I will probably sell it for scrap and buy another one... stupid? Don't think so. Again, calculated risk... although, there's always e-bay for those "expensive" originals.

  • angelucci75

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 1:46 am PT

    Well, it's pretty simple, actually. The only reason worldwide Xbox360 sales are larger than PS3 sales is because it sells a lot in the so called "3rd World Countries". Why? Because it can run backup games downloaded in private torrent sites. Original titles are simply unaffordable in 3rd World Countries. For example, a new release in the U.S. costs between US$50 and US$ 60. The same release in, let's say Brazil, will cost between R$220 and R$230 (R$ = Brazilian currency). Converting that to US dollars will equal approximately US$110 and US$115. More than the double of the price, that's how 3rd World governments tax imported goods: 2 times the original value, then double the price again (although the 2nd part is due to the current Exchange rate). Well, thanks, but no thanks... I'd rather have a console which will someday fail, but I can get games for it, than have a console with a way lower failure rate, with no games. It's called calculated risk. It's easy to have a PS3 in America. You have a so called "product circulation" (another thing to teach the 3rd World). You buy a new (original) game, finish it in 2 weeks, or dislike it... you can trade it for another one, or buy an used one for less money. Or rent it. And somebody will surely buy your former (now used) game. In the "3rd World" you spend more than the double of the price in a game, and if you don't like it... well, your loss friend...

  • jj_wrecks

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 1:08 pm PT

    Oh excuse me my numbers were a little off.

    The initial failure rates of all three consoles are:

    Xbox:54.2% PS3:10.6% Wii:6.8%


    Percentage of owners who suffered a failure after original repair:

    Xbox:41.2% PS3: 14.7% Wii:11%


    Also repair times for consoles:

    Microsoft- 2-4 weeks
    Sony 1-2 Weeks
    Nintendo 1-2 weeks

    Percentage of 360 owners who bought a second console after failure: 36.4%


    need i say more?

  • 43n1m4

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 6:40 am PT

    @Rasmita

    But check the numbers again, there are appr. 23 mill. PS3s out there, not 13 mill. The article talks about fiscal year expectations for Sony, not the total sales (although poorly explained in this article)

  • ahmed_009

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 4:10 am PT

    @ Rasmita
    you're totally right...they said the failure rates is lower in PS3 but in average they are much more than the rates in 360.
    360 Rules

  • Rasmita

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 2:07 am PT

    the rates of failure is high in xbox 360 because there are 31 million xbox outside as compared to 13 million ps3

  • Rasmita

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 2:05 am PT

    xbox 360 is the best. Fu Ps3 And its slim version

  • 43n1m4

    Posted Sep 1, 2009 12:24 am PT

    Just to clarify the numbers I've posted earlier - of the consoles the repairshop in question got for repairs, 60% of them were Xbox360s and 40% were PS3s. Not 60% or 40% of all consoles, just those they've got. The 54% failure rate that was/is floating around the internet seemed like a highly inflated number, though, all things considered.

  • AlmostHaslem

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 11:20 pm PT

    Well I got the ps3 slim on the day it came out and i gatta say its not all that great! it over heats so fast just by leaving it on for a few minutes! i mean i love how its quieter than my 40gb ps3 (that one is louder than any xbox i have owned believe it or not)but still hotter than my elite! and my elite is quiet as hell! my ps3 slim turns off every now and then but i guess its part of the new mother board idk its weird and if its not than i guess i gatta send it to sony

  • BananaMann05

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 10:48 pm PT

    I personally have always leaned toward Playstation more. But recently I have started to lean more towards Xbox. I will admit, I, like many others have got the RROD, but it was fixed, and so far I haven't had anymore problems. Yes Playstaion is the better value, mostly because of Blu-Ray and built in wireless, but I believe that if Microsoft can manage to get its surplus of old systems with the old chip sets sold, and get all consoles with the new Jasper chip set, Then Xbox will begin to dominate. Especially considering what they did at E3 this year. That's if they can live up to what they presented, and keep costs down.

  • Darth_Slayer

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 10:30 pm PT

    XBOT 360 FANBOYS ARE THE MOST IGNORANT GAMERS MY SYSTEM IS THE BEST YEAH!!!!! LETS FORGET THE SYSTEM BREAKS DOWN 54% OF THE TIME

    As opposed to PS3 fanboys that take an inconclusive survey as the absolute truth?

  • astro_viper

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 10:15 pm PT

    Out of my 22 consoles and 4 handhelds...I still prefer my PS2...NES is a close second.

    The libraries of both X360 and PS3 are nearly identical. Very few of the exclusive titles would tilt me in either direction as to superiority. They are both great systems (RROD and cheap a$$ parts aside). If you compare ratings from multiple sites, PS3 actually has a very SLIGHT edge, but I personally don't subscribe to ratings as a deciding factor. RPG's decide it for me, and microsoft has a long ways to go to beat what is already avalible on both pervious consoles and the PS3...

    meh...flog each other sadistically if thats what turn's your crank. Just enjoy the games and quit b!tching

  • BLEEDGREEN27

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 10:08 pm PT

    XBOT 360 FANBOYS ARE THE MOST IGNORANT GAMERS MY SYSTEM IS THE BEST YEAH!!!!! LETS FORGET THE SYSTEM BREAKS DOWN 54% OF THE TIME

  • ccmaster86

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 6:48 pm PT

    I have a 360 and have loved it for 3 years without a single RROD but I have to admit I've been drueling over the PS3 with Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, MAG and many others. The only reason I haven't gotten one was the ridiculous price, but, I think Sony may have one more customer pretty soon!

  • 43n1m4

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 5:03 pm PT

    @justforfun44

    Thanks. It makes a bit more sense to me that both consoles are struggling under certain circumstances (one being the placement of the console, as you are saying). Anyway, the article may stop some of the usual namecalling/banter etc. Yes, the PS3s are failing too, according to the repairshop, at a 60/40 percentage (Xbox360/PS3)

    @flint247

    I think I have an explanation for the inflated prices of the HDD. Its basically about not making the arcade console cheaper than the Elite. If the HDD price was much lower, there would be no reason to buy the Elite console, instead you could just buy the Arcade + HDD for a lower price. So, they inflated the HDD prices to make the Elite seem like a better deal and make a profit from the higher end model. At least so my theory goes.

  • Justforfun44

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 1:20 pm PT

    43n1m4 - Good article. It makes perfect sense. PS3 and Xbox 360 are both beasts of computers stuck in a small box so cooling is going to be a problem. I am betting the consoles kept in the coolest environments are not failing, but most gamers play in rooms that are warm and many consoles get locked away in a cabinet with poor ventilation.

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 1:12 pm PT

    MSFT needs to cut down the price of the hard drive.
    Increasing the HdD space won't make the X360 technically equal to the PS3 (BD, wireless, universal hard drive, Blue tooth, etc...). They need to stop ripping us off. I still don't understand why the Hdd is so expensive.

  • Flint247

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 11:54 am PT

    @hatecandie

    Couldn't agree more, after I get a 360, I will plan to buy a PS3 in the future, Lord Willing.

  • 43n1m4

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 11:34 am PT

    About failing consoles, interesting perspective on Eurogamer.

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-system-failure-article?page=3

    It seems its not only Xbox360's, that are breaking down over time.

  • hatecandie

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 10:59 am PT

    all this really means to me is more people will have both consoles after this holiday season. good games come out on both consoles so why limit yourself to one if your able to have both.

  • iloveflash

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 9:34 am PT

    Sorry, 360, but only the games matter to me, and no price drop is gonna stop me from getting a console to play GoW3, FF Versus 13, Heavy Rain, Drake 2, and all the other exclusives for the same $299 I could've used on you. Get some new exclusives, Microsoft, and then we'll talk.

  • its-2fast4u

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 8:27 am PT

    ppl need to stop being such fan boys and open their eyes to the bigger picture, what cost more (thts everything not just the consle), can you rely on it, does it have game you like on it, payments, features etc. basically whats better in the long run, a ps3 thts guna last for 10 yrs (apparently) or an xbox with the rrod, i had an xbox360...well 3 which all got rrod so i decided to try ps3, neva looked bk but thts my opinon :3.

    Dont hate on a consle because you don't have it or tht u have the other one, i mean i don't see how bad either of the consle are to get so much hate tbh 0.o my only hate for 360 was the rrod but apart from tht it was great! and with the ps3 it has a blu-ray player which will soon take over dvds like the dvd did to the video tapes r what eva they were and has upgradable hdd so dont need to wait for only ms to bring out bigger ones so i can get a 1TB 1 thts me settled for my ps3 for life and has so much features along with psp tht seem better for me then on xbox ^^ like access my ps3 from anywhere in the world (y) tht i like as my family put photos and that on it :3
    be happy with what you got and no1 will complain ^_^

  • Wookiemonster12

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 3:20 am PT

    @ KingDustero im not comparing games im just saying there are different types of games and they are usually the most compared for some reason. i had the 1st xbox and i bought metal gear solid 2 i thought it was freaking sweet and i thought it was a bit of a shame they just kept it going only with sony even tho yes sony have made a console that is blu ray making it better graphics but i dont think game designers are using it as much as it should be like fallout 3 xbox had better graphics and i thought that ps3 should have them because of blu ray. look they both have their advantages and disadvantages but in the end its what u think is better because ppl that had the 1st xbox usually stayed with xbox and the ppl that didnt have either usually went with xbox mainly coz it was 1st out and started out costing less and ppl that had ps2s went with ps3 because they prefered it

  • Wookiemonster12

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 3:13 am PT

    @shadowhunter0
    i wasnt naming all the games i was just thinking of 2 off the top of my head because i dont have a ps3 and if i made a list it would be incredibly long and im not saying ps3 is crap but my friend had a ps3 and thought it was awesome but no one else really had one so he bought a 360 as well and he prefers it so much and i dont know y but he said "ps3 is rarely used now because i dont think there is a great selection out now" but i personally think that there is a awesome selection on both systems but i suppose its what u prefer more because personally i think that 360 has more shooters than ps3 but ps3 has more adventure and roleplaying games

  • hatecandie

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 12:28 am PT

    this isn't really news. its just a microsoft executive peddling his product. thanks.

  • RE3_UBCS

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 12:26 am PT

    With 299$ PS3 and X360's...Wii will stop selling as fast as it did, and now the majority of PS2/GC/XBOX owners will finally move onto Next-Generation gaming.

  • willtopower

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 9:46 pm PT

    @ Flint247: No, but gamers are notorious for rampant fanboyism and froth-at-the-mouth hate-ons for anything that runs counter to their love of a product. It's bloody hilarious. The 360's poor cooling aside, it's a great system with a great library of games. Just like the PS3...a year ago or so I might have said "and the Wii", but, uh...yeah, that console's dead in the water.

  • spartankiller84

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 9:34 pm PT

    ps3 also needs to figure out a way to play rock band & guitar hero without having 2 plug in a sensor for each insturment

  • samissleman17 posted Aug 30, 2009 9:24 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    samissleman17

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 9:24 pm PT (hide)

    my dad works in microsoft and he says starting Jan 1st online will become free, and adapter to all. dont believe me if you want, but its true. take that, PS3 fanboys!

  • spartankiller84

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 9:22 pm PT

    @flint247 no problem with it just the people who spent almost double on a system that took 2 years to introduce rumble, no hi def connections packed in have hate on the better cosole

  • Flint247

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 8:40 pm PT

    Everytime I mention purchasing a 360, my comment gets marked down. Is there a problem with buying one?

  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 8:24 pm PT

    Totally agree Ruffin316. They just want a little more money,.

  • shadowhunter0

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 8:21 pm PT

    @ johnnyjh89 same here I'm sick of it ps3 has allot of great games it just some people are to blind to see it

  • Ruffin316

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 8:17 pm PT

    Something bugs me about the prices: $249 for a Pro while the Elite is only an extra $50 and comes with a hard drive that's twice as large?

    I predict that the Pro will last longer than many will anticipate for this reason alone; after all, when comparing the specs, you get more for your money by purchasing the Elite over the Pro, so what would be the point? Am I right?

  • Flint247

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 7:50 pm PT

    I hope the 360 I get does not RROD on me for a LONG time.

  • Excedra

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 7:45 pm PT

    they should make an upgraded (thinner) 360 console with no rrod, then that would match the slim's standards.

  • johnnyjh89

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 7:44 pm PT

    Assassin's Creed is a multi-platform game so i dont know why people say that 360 has that over PS3

  • johnnyjh89

    Posted Aug 30, 2009 7:36 pm PT

    PS3 does have good games WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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