Microsoft Drops Xbox One Elite Bundle Bombshell

It turns out that Microsoft, makers of the Xbox One entertainment console, had another trick to play heading into the busy fall gaming season. Microsoft is planning to release an Xbox One Elite Bundle, made specifically for those who need as much performance as they can possibly eek out of Microsoft’s next-generation gaming and entertainment console. The Xbox One Elite Bundle includes a faster hard driver and the company’s newest wireless controller.

Microsoft announced the Xbox One Elite Bundle this morning in a post on its Major Nelson web blog. The Xbox One Elite Bundle comes as a huge shock to potential Xbox One buyers and the gaming community alike. Microsoft has an extensive selection of Xbox One bundles available already. All of them come with free digital games. In the last two weeks Microsoft began selling the Madden 16 Xbox One Bundle and the Gears of War Ultimate Edition Xbox One Bundle. The Elite Xbox One Bundle will go on sale at Microsoft Stores and GameStop locations on November 3rd for $499, just as the last big title launches of the holiday season are set to arrive.

The Xbox One Elite Bundle is all about high-performance gaming. Microsoft says this newest console includes a Hybrid Solid State Drive. Hybrid SSDs marry the speed of solid state drive with the storage capacity that only a mechanical hard drive can provide. Things that are frequently needed are stored on the flash memory built into the drive. Infrequently used items are stored on the much larger, mechanical hard drive. Microsoft says that Xbox One Elite Bundle buyers should see performance gains of 20 percent faster when turning the console on from its completely off state. Microsoft doesn’t say if gamers will notice performance improvements in loading their frequently played games.

As it’s name suggests, the Elite Xbox One Bundle includes something else that Microsoft only recently announced, it’s Xbox Elite Wireless Controller. The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller has interchangable D-Pads, metal joystick stems, changeable joystick surfaces and paddles on its rear. The entire controller can be remapped depending on what game the user is playing. In fact, there’s a built-in switch for changing between two different control schemes on the face of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller. GottaBeMobile got hands on time with the Elite Xbox Wireless Controller this past June at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Read: Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller Impressions: A Must Have

Launching alongside the Elite Xbox One Bundle is a new custom controller Microsoft is calling the Xbox One Special Edition Lunar White Wireless Controller. Functionally, it isn’t different from the standard Xbox Wireless controllers that Microsoft began offering over the summer. $64.99 gets users an exclusive white design with gold painted D-Pad and triggers on the top-left and top-right sides. GameStop will begin selling the Xbox One Special Edition Lunar White Xbox One Wireless Controller in “late September” for $64.99 exclusively. Microsoft added a headset jack and improved internals to the standard Xbox One controller that comes with the 1TB Xbox One bundle a few months ago. Previously, using a headset with the Xbox One Wireless Controller required a bulky extra adapter.

Read: Which Xbox One Bundle Should You Buy?

With the reveal of the Xbox One Elite Bundle, presumably, Microsoft is done revealing new hardware upgrades for the fall and holiday shopping season. Certainly, Microsoft has at least one Xbox One bundle for each type of gamer. Shoppers looking for the best value will pick up the Xbox One bundles that include a free game. Anyone looking for a little extra performance will likely pick up the Xbox One Elite Bundle.