The Rumor is That the Xbox 360 Elite May be Phased Out

Stash this one firmly in the rumor file, but according to a post that began on Fudzilla.com on Friday and which is making the rounds online, Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite could be in the process of being phased out.


The high end model of the Xbox 360, the Elite has been on the market for about two years, is all black, has a 120GB hard drive and runs relatively quiet and cool, versus the standard Xbox 360 which is white, has a 20GB to 60GB hard drive and is notoriously loud and hot to a fault. Although there was initial talk that the Elite would be made in limited quantities, it also was positioned, or at least seen as an answer to the larger memory capacity and deeper features of next generation gaming console competitor Sony's PlayStation 3. Also, although the Elite has been popular, the tremendous strides that the Xbox 360 system has made in growing its install base over the last year and a half or so is primarily due to the affordability of its low end and middle of the road console versions which are $100-200 cheaper than the Elite's current $400 price tag. Add this to a predicted price drop for the PS3 in April, that even Microsoft has acknowledged is coming and the fact that the Elite has more often than not served as a marketing or bundling vehicle, for example the Resident Evil 5 red bundle, and you can see that there may be a basis for the rumor. When that PS3 price drop comes, expect Microsoft will certainly match it. I'd just be very surprised if the Elite plays a role in that.