14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is a pretty happy company these days, as its Xbox 360 console is very popular and, thanks to its low price tag and multitude of online features, it has been dominating its Arch rival, Sony's PlayStation 3 in a lot of territories that were previously loyal to the Japanese console.
The number of Xbox 360 versions is also a big plus because players can choose from the three models the best one for them. Casual gamers and beginners can pick up the Arcade model that doesn't come with a hard drive, more experienced ones, who download titles and other things from Xbox Live, can choose the Pro one, while hardcore gamers will go for the Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120 GB hard disk and a more exclusive look.
But according to Fudzilla, hardcore gamers will soon be left without the Elite model of the North American console, as Microsoft will slowly but surely retire the version in the following weeks. This doesn't mean that it will disappear, as sources close to the company say that it will be a part of high-end bundles, similar to the current Resident Evil 5 one, which sports a red Elite model together with a copy of Capcom's latest survival shooter game.
This new model, which will appear only in limited editions, will also receive some high-end components, including a bigger hard drive that will attract people who still haven't bought a console yet and are on the fence about which one to go for.
The same sources claim that responsible for such a decision is the economy coupled with the fact that people who are bent on buying an Xbox 360 will usually go for the lower-priced Arcade or Pro models and, as such, Elites usually gather dust on the store shelves for quite some time. But Microsoft is sure to follow up on the sales of the Red Elite with Resident 5 bundle in order to see what decision will be made in the end.
Although this is still a rumor, if you wanted to buy an Elite model for a while, this is the best time to do it as there is no guarantee that the stocks in stores will be renewed once they are sold out.