There was a time last month when people believed the Xbox 360 would not come with AV cables of any kind right out of the box. Thankfully, those days have passed, what with the announcement of two separate system packages for the 360 and their AV-inclusive accessory lists. Personally, I can deal with missing out on a wireless controller and maybe a hard drive if I can save $100. According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities, however, I'm not only not "hardcore," but also a "complete idiot" for saying so (see GameSpot's story for the details). Everyone has a right to his own opinion, but what about those AV cables? My main beef with Microsoft right now is that they skimped on the cheaper $299 "Core" system by bundling high-def AV cables with the $399 model alone and leaving Core owners with only standard AV. HD era, my foot!
This contrasts with the component/composite hybrid cable originally reported for inclusion with each 360 released, but now limited to the pricier model instead. Granted, only one package was officially announced at the time, but that doesn't make the switch any more palatable. All I know is that if I can't get component standard (and for free), then I would've loved to have gotten VGA. Considering that you can get "near HD"-quality visuals from a computer monitor (480p and 1080i are quite doable), a standard VGA connection certainly would've saved money for those of us who can't buy a decent HD TV or the premium package. (Fellow Vdigi users, you know what I mean.) At least they're offering VGA as an aftermarket option this time around, but it'll cost ya: a VGA cable will go for an MSRP of $39.99, the same price as a component one. Since future Xbox accessory adaptors may need to reverse engineer a security mechanism to work with the system (as MS probably will not allow a licensed third-party manufacturer to make them legally), it's highly doubtful there will be a reasonable way (that is, a cheap way) to reuse my current Xbox component cable with the 360.
Microsoft, why must you split the market so? I'm guessing it has something to do with accessory mark-ups and profit margins, but I expected better from my man J.
Update: The page referenced from Xbox.com below has changed since this entry was first posted. Does this now mean the Core system will come with HD AV cables as well? I'll try to dig up some earlier screenshots or cached versions of the site (to prove that I can still click on links and read them). I've now got a follow-up to this story posted here.
