Xbox Elite Bundle, Special Edition Controller Officially Announced
will hit late September at $64.99. The controller, aside from looking awfully pretty, features [...]
The focus for Microsoft seems to have shifted back from having the ultimate home media device to having a premium video game console. With the new Xbox One Elite bundle, they are clearly saying games come first. The bundle was officially announced yesterday in a press release after months of rumors, running $499 and debuting Tuesday, November 3, 2015 exclusively (for a month) at Gamestop and Microsoft stores.
The new Elite has a 1TB drive, a much needed boost as games, whether on disc or downloaded from the online store, can take as much as 40gb of space with nothing but a base install (meaning downloadable content or expansions just makes that number higher). The drive they've included is a Solid State Hybrid Drive, meaning it will keep the most frequently-accessed files (see: your main operating system and background apps) on solid state memory, while keeping the big bulky stuff on the standard hard drive component. Basically, that means your system will boot faster, and will have an easier time switching between functions.
The new Xbox Elite controller will be included as well, and is optimized for both the Xbox One and Windows 10. It includes customizable buttons, paddles that can be switched out, and even a D-pad that can be swapped with a true multi-directional circular pad.
If you're into the current Xbox One controller but which it was a little more white and gold, you're in luck, too, as a special edition Lunar White controller (again, this is the standard, not the Elite) will hit late September at $64.99. The controller, aside from looking awfully pretty, features improved grips as well.
An interesting "missing" feature? The once-mandatory Xbox One Kinect is not in the bundle for the "Elite" version of their console. That shift away from the Kinect as a primary component of the Xbox One speaks volumes about Microsoft's plans for the camera/microphone peripheral. While the initial media voice-control features intrigued critics, such features have been increasingly built into TV and Cable remote controls, or into TVs themselves. As far as gaming goes, outside of the standard dance and fitness games, camera devices across the board on home consoles have taken a significant back seat to the more standard focus on better graphics, smoother gameplay, and more bombastic action.