Conversations in the Back Room: XBox 360 Elite

The following conversation is top secret. It was transcribed from an actual (not really) conversation at Microsoft on the new direction of the XBox 360, more specifically the XBox 360 Elite.

Engineer1: Hey, did you hear about Luke.
Engineer2: I sure did. I heard he got canned for badmouthing the Zune. What an idiot. Just wait and see...that wifi feature we thought of is gonna take the world by storm once everyone wisens up.
E1: Well...he didn't exactly get fired. He actually just signed on over at Apple to work on the new iPod.
E2: You gotta be kiddin me. That lucky mother f*@cker. I send them my resume at least once a month.
E1: Yeah, but whatever. I think we're doing big things here.
E2: Damn skippy. I happen to think we did a pretty good job with this new XBox.
E1: We'll see. Just gotta get final approval from the big man.

Enter Bill Gates

BG: Hello gentlemen. So...what do ya have for me.
E1: Check it out. We call it the XBox360 Elite. It's black. It comes with a 120GB Hard Drive, HDMI, a wireless black controller, and a black headset. It's gonna cost $480.
E2: It's priced a little high. But we're aiming at the hardcore downloading gamer here.
BG: I think I like it.
E1: But, that's not all. So we don't alienate our base of gamers that already have a 360, we're offering XBox-to-XBox hard drive transfers when you upgrade via cable.
E2: And...for the clincher. For the cheap gamer downloader out there, we're offering an add-on 120 GB hard drive for a very competitive price of $80.
E1: I think the hard drive price will really make people happy.
BG: You guys are idiots. Of course the hard drive price will make people happy. They could get a core system and the hard drive for $20 less than the premium system, and $100 less than the Elite.

(long awkward pause)

E1: (speaking slowly) We could...um...make the hard drive...cost...um...$180.
BG: (thinks for a minute) Fine...sell it.

(exit Bill Gates)

E2: We're gonna get fired.