Thing is, I got my Elite years ago. If you plan on picking one up in the future, you won’t be so lucky, as several GameStop employees have told us new models of the hardware hitting stores across the US (new box pictured) no longer ship with a HDMI cable. In fact, they don’t even ship with component cables either, just some SD composite cables, meaning anyone with a HDTV is going to have to pay a little extra. A HD tax, if you will.
Disappointing, Microsoft. How are you going to help kick the HD generation along shipping composite cables? This was a bum move when Sony pulled it in 2006. Pulling it in 2009 is just… yeah, disappointing.
kFox
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 10:56 AMGetting us regular folks to spend longer in shops just for something that should of been packaged in is a nightmare to anyone who has a fear of shops…
Even though the economy is bad doesn’t mean that 60% of people have no money to spend… it means that people need an incentive to buy… getting rid of something doesn’t… unless there is a huge slash in price… does the economy no justice…
tetsuo
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 11:20 AMRetailers love this stuff, now the schmuck salesperson can tell you how great these Monster(tm) cables are and how they deliver a pristine digital image. Ack!
Just buy a cheap HD cable online.
Mr Waffle
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:09 PMrofl, was just thinking the same thing. Every time I hear a co-worker say they went to harvey norman and ‘only’ pay $100 for a HDMI cable, I die a little on the inside.
Chowder
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:32 PMArgh! What a stupid move… I was contemplating getting an Elite once the price drop comes through, but this is just insulting!
Forget it M$!
anthrox
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 12:37 PMI would say this would be a retailer Push becasue they like the value add and they make heaps of cash out of it some say its why samsung stopped doing 3yr warranty on there HD TVs becasue retails couldnt sell extended warrantys
if you want good cheap HDMI cables within Australia check out http://www.ezyhd.com.au/ or go to MSY there 8 bucks but they are very cheap they work on most things
Sing Nguyen
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 1:17 PMInitially I was excited that the Elite would drop to the price of the Pro and replace it, but if it means that they take out all of the cables save for the composite then it’s not much of an upgrade (well save for the black colour and the larger hard drive (correct me if I’m wrong)).
When I really think about it though, what are the chances that the Elite will replace the Pro here at the same price point? Pro’s currently go for $450 with at least one or two decent games (either the Halo or GoW bundles for example), cheaper if you’re not interested in those games (though as people have pointed out you could always trade them in with the free Edge card that you get from EB). If the Elites do replace the Pro, it might be at $450, but definitely without the games, which means adding $50 for the cables puts it close to where it originally was (currently $550, though deals exist).
Same thing will probably happen with the PS3 slim (I’m still hoping for that announcement). In fact same thing happens with everything when I think about it; DS lites came in at the same price point as DS fats (thankfully), but by that time DS fats were coming with decent games (or at least I got mine bundled with Mario Kart for $200).
TL;DR – New models rarely replace old ones at the current price since old models are already starting to be discounted. So maybe I should take the plunge and get something now, or at least settle for the old once the new comes in.
Ding!
Brendan Tonkin
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 1:20 PMBuy both a component and a hdmi cable from ebay from a HK outlet. Will cost you roughly $15.
Waffle: $100 for a HDMI cable… what. Biggest scam ever. Brand makes no difference unless you are running extremely long cables.
Snacuum
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 8:38 PM$100 makes you scream scam? There are $800 monster cables out there
Womble
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 1:59 PMIt is disappointing, yes, especially when you consider it’s the Elite.
Mind you, you can pick up a HDMI cable for $10 from msy, so that’s a good thing (I guess) for people WITHOUT HDMI displays (which is still the majority of gamers).
I think MS bad move ditching the Pro. The Elite should have gone instead, the Pro HDD should have been upgraded to the Elite’s, and the Arcade should be given a 20GB or larger HDD.
mikezombie777
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 3:02 PMMicrosoft must really hate their customer base.
First, they release the most unreliable console in the history of gaming.
Secondly, they take away silver members ability to download demos and other LIVE content as soon as it’s released.
Thirdly, they make people pay to play on P2P servers.
Finally, they preach about how great the HD generation is and then proceed to severely gimp their console by no longer shipping $3 component cables with it. I have an idea – how about they stop the obsession with their propitiatory rip off cables and allow people to use $3 compoenent cables that ship with bottom of the barrel DVD players?
What a joke. No longer does the 360 have ANYTHING over the PS3. This is coming from someone with both consoles.
Paradox
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 4:10 PMI agree, this is a stupid move.
I was initially going to buy a Xbox Elite when I heard about the price drop, but when you take things OUT of the package, that’s stupid, let alone the Component cables aren’t even in there anymore…
When you think about it, if you stack up a Xbox Elite, HD cables, Xbox Live Sub, Play and charge kit and a wireless adapater, it goes ABOVE $600
And THAT’S WITHOUT ANY GAMES.
I think I’ll be going for the PS3 Slim Microsoft. You screwed us over.
Scruffy
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 7:10 PMNext they’ll probably remove the controller from the box too. Greedy bastards.