14 DAY TRIAL // Many probably thought that after the Elite was officially announced, previous models of the Xbox 360 system, such as the Core and the Premium would see significant changes like price or retailer supply and so on. Thing is, Microsoft is going out of its way to tell Eurogamer that people will have three choices, concerning their gaming system, and none of the SKUs will be left aside, particularly the 20GB Xbox 360. Microsoft's Kate Szlendak stated: "At the moment there are three models of 360. They are separate models, and the Elite will not influence on the other model's availability."
And, as the director of global platform marketing, Albert Penello told Xbox live director of programming Larry Hryb in a podcast, the 20GB model will not at all be forgotten: "The 20GB is still a sweet spot, we're still going to make sure that's what we're optimized for."
Why don't they forget the 20GB 360 anyway? The Elite will be packed full with features and a 120GB hard drive to go with it (but it will be an additional US $179) and come to think of it, Sony's not giving up on their 20GB PS3 either, although nobody seems to want it, including retailers recently. What's driving the two companies into doing this? It's not about the price as much as it is about the gamers' priorities. Consoles with bigger hard drives don't retail for much more than the ones with smaller hard disk capacity, but gamers like their way and if disk space isn't a priority, why pay the extra buck?
All this being said, Xbox 360 fans should know that Microsoft will continue to distribute all three Xbox 360 models and the new, black Xbox 360 Elite will hit North America on 29th April, retailing for US$ 479. Europe still has to wait for its launch date.