More evidence for HD-DVD drive Xbox 360?

[Game_boy]

mrstickball said:
Ori, IMO, I tend to think that the HD-DVD Xbox 360 will just become the new elite.

IMO, when the elite came out, it seemed great - HDMI, huge HDD, all the bells and whistles.

Fast-forward 6 months: the premium now has the HDMI, leaving the Elite to cost $100 more for just a black finish and the larger HDD: it's not a great value.

Because of this, I think MS will just cut the current-spec elite (everyone said from the beginning that the elite was going to be LE). And add the HD-DVD to the Elite, with a 150gb HDD or even 200gb HDD. Remember, those HDDs don't cost alot more to make. I doubt the current Elites cost MS more than $350 to make. Adding a $50 HD-DVD drive would be easy, allowing MS to cut prices on the Prems and Cores next year, keep the elite at that price (or even drop it to $400 to compete with the PS3), and add the HD-DVD.

Think about this in early 08:

$249.99- Arcade Bundle
$309.99 - Pro/Premium Bundle
$399.99 - 150gb Elite HD-DVD

In that sort of configuration, MS has the corner on alot: it'd force Nintendo to drop it's prices or see it's value-priced Wii at a disadvantage, it'd allow the Prem another decent drop, and would kill the 40gb PS3. Merely because that PS3 would lose any and every advantage as a blu-ray player. Wouldn't you rather have a HD-media capable system with 110gb more space for the same price?

That sounds reasonable. Elite does need a boost in feature-set in order to remain competitive.