Xbox 360 Pro (250) and Elite (300)

[BreakABone]

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/aug09/08-27RedTagPR.mspx

Taking a semi-page out of Sony's book, MS has announced a price drop on the Xbox 360.

Though from the way its worded, seems like they are phasing out the Pro console, and we will be left with an Elite and Arcade unit.

Now where's Nintendo's hand?

[TheGame]

Yeah its pretty obvious this was going to happen. It'd have been bold if they kept the price higher... That's more of a Nintendo move. We'll see what happens with Wii haha.

When the 360 Elite is down to $199 I may grab one, for now I'll just keep holding off indefinently.

[magus113]

But they phased out the Pro and left the Elite with no HD cables whatsoever. That's ridiculous. Not even component cables for the Elite system? Sony made a mistake with not including those with their PS3 and I would have hoped Microsoft could have done better.

And I'm not even talking about HDMI here. I'm sure there are much better HDMI cables than what came with the Elite. Most people end up replacing them anyway since they might not be the right length.

[Vampyr]

I got an HDMI cable for my 360 just a few days ago. The colors look slightly better, but other than that not a big difference. But I love getting some of the clutter behind my TV cleaned up.


If only Wii supported 720!!!

[Dyne]

If only Wii supported 720!!!

My new receiver has an ABT1030 upscaling chip. It upscales Wii to a glorious 1080p. It's not quite native, but it's truly an awesome sight to behold when you play Mario Galaxy. It also upscales all my 720p PS3 games to 1080p - me and Typhoid were comparing RE5 on both consoles and there wasn't many differences, but before when PS3 could only do 720p, it was pretty substantial.

Anyways, yeah, if you're ever yearning for Wii HD, it's certainly cheatable.

[gekko]

HDMI is a standard cable and can be found for cheap. The custom component cables is what they should be including. Shame they took it out.

Reminds me of Apple's products, like the iPod and iPhone. As they get cheaper, they keep losing accessories.

[Angrist]

My new receiver has an ABT1030 upscaling chip. It upscales Wii to a glorious 1080p. It's not quite native, but it's truly an awesome sight to behold when you play Mario Galaxy. How does that work? I know that Wii emulators could do that, but a Wii in itself?

[Typhoid]

Now where's Nintendo's hand?

http://news.gotgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/gamecube.jpg

[gekko]

How does that work? I know that Wii emulators could do that, but a Wii in itself?

The Wii outputs its regular signal, say 640x480. The receiver then uses various algorithms to guess the color of the pixels being added. Better chips use better algorithms, but you still can't know ever add detail, it's simply not possible.

Since LCDs, plasmas, and many other display types are fixed-resolution displays, they are already doing this. However, you can find better chips out there in various devices, but nothing is a substitute for having the larger resolution in the source image.

[Vampyr]

What kind of reciever are you guys talking about? Is it just a box that you plug a wii component cable into, then plug an HDMI or component cable from that box into your TV?

Could you link me to a place where I can buy such a thing with the good chip that Dyne is talking about? :ohreilly:

[Typhoid]

I witnessed what Dyne's talking about.
We marvelled in the beauty that was Mario Galaxy, and Wii Sports Resort.
They look fantastic when it's modified.

[BreakABone]

I would marvel at Mario on a 9 in screen.

Anyhow, some Xbox deals. Not that everyone doesn't have one by now.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_85203431_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000420621&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=0G50R6PCA11FRFK6XYR2&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=489511411&pf_rd_i=B0029MAXS6#arcade
Arcade with Banjo or Lost Odyssey

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_85203391_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000420621&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=11ZNBZMVBH0D1EF88F7T&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=489511371&pf_rd_i=B002KJ9XDE#elite
An elite with 13 months of live.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_85203411_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000420621&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=1FKHSS6BK5BGBDBE5H4S&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=489511391&pf_rd_i=B001BZ3PY6#pro
Pro with either Halo 3, Wars or Fable 2

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_82966671_7?ie=UTF8&docId=1000420671&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0EB835HBNYRNRJ4C2NW8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=489508331&pf_rd_i=468642
Buy 2 get 1 free on Plantinum hits

Gears of War
Mass Effect
Forza 2
Ace Combat 6
Bioshock
Viva Pinata
Rainbow Six Vegas 2
Assassin's Creed
Burnout Paradise
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition
Call of Duty 3
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Lego Star Wars
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Batman
Spiderman 3
Cars

[Vampyr]

I wish orange box was a platinum hit.

[Jonbo298]

I'm disappointed with how Microsoft did this. While its great the Elite is $299, chopping out the Pro was not a good move. They should have went for both Sony and Nintendo's jugular by putting the Pro to $199 and phase out the Arcade or drop the Arcade to $149 to really make Nintendo piss their pants.

This is Microsoft though and they won't do it even though they are making pretty healthy profits now off the 360 (and the absurdly overpriced accessories still). Sony had no choice but to make a drastic cut like this to try and gain back lost market share. Feature wise, the PS3 is the better deal now. Microsoft wins with online and some additional DLC exclusives or XBLA only games but that could be lumped into the online advantage.

[Dyne]

What kind of reciever are you guys talking about? Is it just a box that you plug a wii component cable into, then plug an HDMI or component cable from that box into your TV?

Could you link me to a place where I can buy such a thing with the good chip that Dyne is talking about? :ohreilly:

Yep, Denon 790/1910. It can be found for around $500, but way cheaper on Amazon I believe, maybe even $400. For the same class receivers(Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha), they only have older upscaler chips. It's a heck of a deal anyways.

And gekko, the detail might not be improved but the jaggies sure as hell are. :cool:

[Vampyr]

That's a little too pricey for me, especially considering that I don't have speakers to truly utilize it.

[BreakABone]

Seems like MS may be sweeten the pot a little bit,

The Mole has also chimed in with some more info on Microsoft's plans. Starting in the middle of October we'll be seeing an Elite system bundled with copies of both Pure and Lego Batman, giving you a little more value for your $300 through Christmas.

Though, it seems to be a tradition with them at this point anyhow

[Angrist]

LEGO BATMAN!!!!

:rolleyes:

Edit: And I don't even know what a Pure is.

[Linda_mr]

Meh.. Not going to try and convince you.

Personally, I can be without Xbox Live Gold, but prefer not to.

I like to play against/with human players, AI players get boring after a while. I mostly play shooter and sports games online.

What kind of games do you play, Nick?

[Combine 017]

Wasnt that guy a spammer before?

And convince who about what?

[BreakABone]

Wasnt that guy a spammer before?

And convince who about what?

Well obviously, he is talking to NIck.... not sure who that is. :lolz:

[Angrist]

I guess we can expect a spammer called Nick really soon.

Welcome Nick! :) Make us laugh.