Xbox 360: black, HDMI, late April, $479?

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Superior Member
Dec 31, 2005
Looks like Game Informer's black Xbox 360 rumor wasn't so much a rumor as it was a pending exclusive in their shiny mag. Of course, GI weren't the first outlet to whisper secrets about an elusive revision of the Xbox 360 -- actually, Engadget got pics of the console's (dubbed Zephyr) HDMI port, proving its existence. Now, GI's April issue has the deets.

This news has been floating around for a couple days -- first hitting NeoGAF and subsequently our tips line -- but, Kotaku has managed to get some pics of the page and even confirmation from GI that this isn't an April Fool's hoax. So, without further delay, the specs:

* Uh, it's black
* HDMI port and HDMI cable (oh, you bullies!)
* 120GB hard drive (but you told us 20GB was more than enough!)
* A $479 price tag (ouch!)
* No HD-DVD integration (yup), the "format's not proven" (pssst, and it's being outsold)
* The 120GB hard drive will be available for under $200 (uh, we certainly hope so!)
* It's coming in "late April"

Not quite sure what audience Microsoft is trying to target with this "upgraded" 360. The addition of HDMI is pretty cool and all, but it's just a method of transporting the A/V signal from the console to the television. Component cable is more than adequate to pass a 1080p signal and I honestly feel that the whole "HDMI" obsession is highly over-rated seeing as how the image quality improvements with HDMI are negligable at best, most can't even tell the difference and HDCP concerns do not affect games.

For those who already have a 360, I don't really expect anyone to ditch it just and buy the new model just for it's video-connection...

Ditto for the bigger HD. Do console gamers really need 120GB of storage on their game system? My laptop has a 160GB drive and I've got 100's of photo's, thousands of soundtracks, movies, games, programs etc. etc. and I'm nowhere near filling it. The only thing I store on my 360 are saved downloads and a couple music tracks and that'd be much be all I'd ever put on it anyway.

Maybe it's just me but I think having a HD that big on a game console just seems a little bit "excessive" at this point in time. Maybe one day when demo's and downloads measured 5-10GB in size, that's different, but for the size of downloads we have today, just doesn't seem worth paying the extra cash for it...

If it turns out this version of the 360 is to come out, I wonder how current 360 owners will feel since there's an "improved" version of their console? May not be a big deal for me, but I could understand if there are some new 360 owners who recently bought the "old" version" would be little pissed at Microsoft for releasing an "upgraded" one...

AT the same time, will Microsoft drop the price on the current 360 or replace it all together with the new one? Will there still be two versions? A "base 20GB" console and the "Premium" 120GB version?

Should be interesting to see the public's reaction ...


All I care about is that bigger HD. I like having the freedom to download and save things without having to worry all the time if I have room left or not. I would definately buy that 120GB drive!


Oct 19, 2006
This is all about the bigger hard drive IMO. The HDMI is just a throw-in feature which wouldn't really affect the price.

From the prices being thrown around, I think the hard disk will be $150 if bought separately, and the 20GB hard disk will be $75.
Dec 23, 2005
wasn't this posted earlier in the gamestop reservations thread? Maybe not I don't know.

If this happens and they drop the price of the premium, its great news. However without the price drop, I don't see this making to much of a difference.
Mar 19, 2007
So $80.00 more than the standard Premium version? Not bad, but there's definitely not enough incentive for me to buy another 360. I've had mine since launch with 23 Arcade games, 16 CD's, 4 demo's, an episode of South Park, and countless game saves and managed to take up only 6 or 7 Gigs.

Memory isn't an issue for me, and neither is HDMI. If, by some chance my 360 does crap out on me then I might consider spending an extra $80-$100 for it, but until then I have zero interest in this new and "improved" 360.


Super Bias Moderator
Dec 1, 2005
I personally don't care for any of this. My TV only has one HDMI port which my PS3 already occupies, and I don't have a need for the bigger hard drive because I've never even come close to filling up the 20gigs. The HD movies on the marketplace are garbage, I don't see the point in them being "HD" if they are going to compress them that much.
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