An undated handout photo shows the Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120 gigabyte hard drive and other features including a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port and a high-definition cable. Microsoft Corp late on March 27, 2007, said it will begin selling the Xbox 360 Elite, a revved up version of its new video game console with a hard drive six times bigger than its current high-end machine. The new Xbox 360 model will be available April 29 in Canada and the U.S., where it will retail for $479.99. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

     BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Microsoft Corp. is releasing a 480 U.S. dollar "elite version" of its Xbox 360 that includes cables for HD hookups and a 120GB hard drive on April 29, 16 months after the game console's initial launch.

    The Xbox Live Marketplace is adding video content from New Line Cinema, A&E Network, the National Geographic Channel and extreme sports site TotalVid. The digital distribution network allows gamers to buy and download TV shows in HD and rent and download movies in HD.

    The original Xbox 360, which according to Wedbush Morgan Securities has sold 5.1 million units in the U.S. through February, comes with a 20GB hard drive in the 300 dollar Core system and 400 dollar Premium system. Microsoft also will sell the new 120GB hard drive, which comes with a cable and allows gamers to transfer data from the 20GB drive, separately for 180 dollars.

    "This is a new SKU in our lineup," Albert Penello, director of global platform marketing for Xbox, said of the Xbox 360 Elite. "As we introduce the larger hard drive, new people can make a choice. No matter what price point you want to enter gaming, we have something for gamers. It's up to the consumer where they want to enter the HD gaming market."

    Microsoft will continue to support the current 300 dollar and 400 dollar hardware, Penello said. The black-boxed Elite will not include a built-in HD-DVD drive. Penello said the new box has nothing to do with the HD-DVD format. Sony's PlayStation 3, two versions of which retail for 500 dollars and 600 dollars, has a Blu-Ray DVD drive for high-definition.

    "We're completely committed to HD-DVD and have the 200 dollar external HD-DVD drive add-on for Xbox 360," Penello said. "We don't want to segment the user base for games. We don't want confusion that some games might be on HD-DVD. All of our games will be on the current DVD format."

    The Xbox Live Marketplace has become the No. 2 overall online video distribution network behind only Apple's iTunes, Penello said. Video Marketplace is the top video download service connected to your TV, and it's the only service delivering both HD movies and TV shows.

    New Line films available on Xbox Live include such recent fare as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning," "Snakes on a Plane" and "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny" and such catalog titles as the "Austin Powers" films and "Magnolia." A&E will bring such TV shows as "Dog: The Bounty Hunter," "King of Cars," "Driving Force," "Criss Angel Mindfreak" and "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels" to the service. NGC will have such shows as "Is It Real?" and "Taboo" as well as "Air Force One" and "21 Days to Baghdad."

    Other Xbox Live content providers include Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate Entertainment, CBS, ABC, Adult Swim, the CW, Spike TV, ABC, NBC, Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon, VH1, MTV, MTV2, UFC and NASCAR.com.

    "When developing Xbox 360, we thought there would be two trends that would be prominent in this generation," Penello said. "The first is high definition and the second was online. The digital distribution and the online method of getting HD content has really blown us away."

    There have been more than 135 million downloads on Live Marketplace, including the first game, "Uno," to exceed sales of 1 million downloads, said Penello, who added that 70 percent of Microsoft customers have downloaded some type of content.

    (Agencies)