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After several weeks of rumor and speculation, Microsoft finally "officially" unveiled the Xbox 360 Elite - a new version of the company's system that will come in black, include an HDMI output port and cable, and (probably most importantly to most gamers) include a 120GB hard drive, offering six times more storage space than the current 360 "Pro" system offers. A data retention cable will also be included, allowing gamers to transfer their existing data to the new drive. The price for this new version of the 360 is about $480 US, roughly eighty bucks more than the Xbox 360 Pro system.
This news has already raised a number of questions (and eyebrows) across the industry, with much speculation surrounding in what way this new system will affect Microsoft's overall market share and is it "the nail in the coffin" for the PS3?
It's interesting that so many people think in those terms. In fact it almost seems that everyone in the industry with the exception of Sony believes that the PS3 is dead but is just too stupid to know it yet. I am not one of those. I'm the first to point out that the Japanese giant has made some (well, a lot) of bad calls since the release of the PS3, but the system is far from dead. It will take a lot more than these recent events to completely destroy the PS3 - and who said that anyone is trying to do that anyway? Microsoft or Nintendo can come out on top of the so-called console wars without completely destroying the competition. After all if we look at the last generation of consoles as a console war gone by it is a war that Nintendo lost. Yet they are still here and healthier than ever.
This new console war is being fought a little differently, however, and Nintendo seems to have positioned itself in a separate category altogether from Microsoft and Sony. This new Xbox 360 may not sway the market as much as some think. In fact, GWN recently ran a news story in which market analyst Billy Pidgeon was quoted from a Gameindustry.biz interview as saying "The Xbox 360 Elite may sway some gamers waiting to decide on a new system, but I don't expect the Elite to have much an effect on the 360's market share this year." In short, Microsoft probably can't expect droves of Xbox 360 owners to line up for the new system, shelling out another nearly $500 US when they already spent $400 presumably in the last year. Considerable numbers of current Xbox 360 owners probably will be buying the separate (and overpriced) 120 GB hard drive, however.
So the real question at hand is how does the new Xbox 360 Elite stack up against the PS3? What factors are gamers going to consider when buying a new system that will lead them to one or the other? Let's break it down a little.
Read the rest here, http://www.gwn.com/articles/article.php/id/884/title/Xbox_360_Elite_Versus_PS3.html
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