Upgraded Xbox 360 in Black, Headed Down the Pipeline

So I’ve been slacking again, but finally here comes another entry. The news is a little bit late, but who knows if you’ve heard it or not. A few days ago Engadget reported that the new upgraded Xbox 360 is indeed reality. It took a day or so and they came up with a whole list of specs, but one of the most important bits of info about the new box, is it’s price. The new Xbox dubbed ‘Elite’ will be selling along side the current two models for an additional $80 over the Premium system at a hefty $479.

The rumor has it that this price is just temporary, along with the sleek black shell, and that after they’ve sold out, the system will switch back to white and the price will also drop. It just doesn’t seem like the right move to me. The slew of new features is smart; it ups the ante and takes a bit away from the PS3, especially considering the mounds of HD content available for download on the platform. But, upping the price is just the opposite of what Microsoft should be doing right now. The number one complaint about the PS3 seems to be that it’s too much money. Then, as a competitor, why would you ever consider closing the price gap by charging more for your console?

Instead, this new iteration, the ‘Elite’ should take the place of the Premium console in price. Meanwhile, the Premium should take a $100 price cut and the Core system should be phased out, this way, customers would be getting more for their buck and therefore there’s more of an excuse to chose Microsoft. They should have kept the new machine under wraps for a little while longer and stopped production of the Core unit and quietly let it sell out. It would have been hard to deny the rumors, but I think it would have been the right move.

The last kicker about the updated 360 is that it still doesn’t offer HD DVD playback out of the box, while the PS3 offers Blu-ray from the get go. However, I don’t blame them for not including this. Cramming in a $200 add-on along with all the updated features would immediately alienate all the customers who just shelled out 200 beans for the HD DVD player. But now, if someone pays almost $500 (the price of a low-end PS3) for the ‘Elite’ and wants HD DVD playback, they have to shell out another $200 bringing the grand total to almost $700, which is more than the top of the line PS3. All of the sudden, the PS3 is looking like the better deal at this junction. Only time will tell if this stunt by Microsoft pays off, it’s certain that some people will be so giddy about the idea of a black 360 that they’ll gladly pay a jacked up premium price for it.