This one also comes after longtime rumors.  On April 29 in the U.S, Microsoft will release the Xbox 360 Elite at a suggested retail price of $479.  It will be a black Xbox 360 that comes with a 120GB hard drive, an HDMI output port, and a HDMI cable (as well as the standard component cable).  The larger hard drive will also be sold separately for $179 with a data transfer cable (the cable does not come with the Xbox 360 Elite).  There are some restrictions on data transfers that will irk some.  Those are on the Joystiq article linked below.

What’s really odd is that Microsoft is so willing to practically forfeit its price advantage over the PS3.  The Xbox 360 Elite will be selling for only 20 bucks less than the 20GB model of the PS3, and won’t come with next-gen disc capabilities.  It does have a much larger hard drive, and something tells me Sony will have to do that in the not so distant future too, but the PS3 does play Blu-Ray, a next-gen disc format that is gaining momentum, due at least in part to sales of the system.  The Xbox 360 has a $199 HD-DVD attachment, but that’s it.  If you wanted to get both systems with the same capabilities, the Xbox 360 would cost 100 bucks more than a 60GB PS3 with more memory on the hard drive.  Not that this will hurt Microsoft in any way – sales of their newest console have been brisk and many were hoping for a larger hard drive to store all of their marketplace downloads.  But just by virtue of the price point I believe it significantly improves Sony’s position in the minds of many.  Maybe they won’t have to lower the price of the PS3 by the end of the year as many have suspected?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6168182.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;2 (XBOX 360 Elite)

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/28/new-xbox-360-120gb-hdd-comes-with-a-lot-of-conditions/ (hard drive transfer conditions)