Rumor: Best Buy done with Xbox 360 core model

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 30th 2007 at 2:22PM }

For those hoping that the expected $50 Xbox 360 price cut would bring the Core model down to the Wii-diculously great price of $250, we got some bad news. According to a source at Best Buy who sent Joystiq these images, the Xbox 360 Core model is dead and remaining stocks are all that's left of the system.

The sheet, according to our source, shows the description of the Xbox 360 Core hardware and underneath it is the word "deleted, meaning it is being taken out of the system." The out of stock date reads 7-29-07 and the larger image (found after the break) shows the pref code "y." According to the source, "This means replenishment of this item is not expected."

In a statement from July 16, when we originally heard rumblings that the Xbox 360 Core was over, a Microsoft spokesperson told us in regards to it being discontinued, "No. Xbox 360 Core remains an important member of the Xbox 360 family." Well, if the Best Buy papers end up being true, an important part of the family is about to swim with the fishes. Like Fredo from The Godfather, it breaks our hearts. We've contacted Microsoft to see if they'd like to revise their "important member" statement.

[Thanks Anonymous]

Update: We heard back from a Microsoft representative who said, "Nothing's changed since last week."

Tags: best buy, circuitcity, pricedrop, target, toysrus, walmart, xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

umm...hello?? @ Jul 30th 2007 2:27PM

...and why would you want the core model anyway?

whatever @ Jul 30th 2007 4:18PM

If you have a banned 360, the core is a sweet deal because the only thing you really need is the core. ;)

Jack of No Trades @ Jul 30th 2007 2:28PM

The core doesn't sell as well as the premium & elite. Why keep them in stock if they don't sell.

Crono @ Jul 30th 2007 2:29PM

Makes sense to me. Same reason sony dumped the 20 gig PS3. Nobody wants it. Its the Xbox 3shitty.

GamerExtrordinaire @ Jul 30th 2007 2:32PM

The core system was a crap idea to begin with. Most Xbox 360 users seem to agree that people can't properly enjoy their system without a hard drive and xbox live.

Kill the core, reduce the confusion to the average consumer, and lower the price. While you're at it, just give the Xbox 360 hdmi and a bigger hard drive and kill the elite, also.

Tony @ Jul 30th 2007 2:32PM

It should be gone, but I think it creates a situation where the Premium should have gone even lower. I wonder if once the Cores disappear that they'll match the core price or something.

Konny @ Jul 30th 2007 2:33PM

Well, they have to clear the Core inventory somehow.. ie. retailers cant have the $350 Premium sitting beside the $300 Core... makes no sense.

And, if MS doesnt flip the bill to clear the Core inventory (with price reductions).. retailers will be stuck with depreciating stock with no hopes of clearing it without a heavy loss.

Anyways, they are going to have to do something about the cost of the Elite as well. Its more expensive and less functional than the 60gb PS3 with WiFi and an HD optical format.

Joshua @ Jul 30th 2007 2:52PM

Konny that last section you said about the cost of the Elite. Thank you for posting the truth as it is, it's not too often someone doesn't go all fanboy when they try to make that point.

Manic Inc @ Jul 30th 2007 2:33PM

It's very important that they get rid of the core. As long as it is being sold, games will not be able to fully use the hard drive to work, which is already creating limitations for developers. If MS wants 360 games to get bigger and better, they're gonna have to let them use the hard drive to help run the games. That, and start using Blu-Ray...PGR4 is having probs fitting onto a single DVD aleady...

TRUTH @ Jul 30th 2007 3:34PM

Manic Inc = FANBOY

Please Provide a link of PGR4 being to bog for DVD?
Ohhh there is none, I thought so.

Blu-Ray & Hd are NOT Needed for this Gen. Everything will fit onto DVD. Just because 'sony claims' that that you will need BR, **You WONT**
That is called Brainwashing the Dumb & Uninformed. The only reason sony would really need it if there console actually went strong for 10 yrs+. Which Obviously it isn't.
How do you like getting something shoved down your throat?
Anyway, Ask Any Devs & they will tell you DVD is Fine for this Gen!!

Jack of No Trades @ Jul 30th 2007 3:42PM

Yea!! Saying we need bluray storage for games is like saying wii graphics are good enough.

Karl @ Jul 30th 2007 4:17PM

actually, "TRUTH", the most frequently asked question as XBOX developers conferences is whether they can use the HDDVD for games. Despite lots of refusals from Microsoft, developers are still putting pressure on them. Do a quick search around Joystiq (yes, here), and you'll find articles detailing it.

Also, "Mass Effect" barely fit on to a single DVD. It was apparently very close to needing a second disk.

There are more examples around here, so search a bit and get your facts straight.

cc123 @ Jul 30th 2007 4:24PM

@TRUTH

"Please Provide a link of PGR4 being to bog for DVD?"

Sure thing! At the following link you can read where the devs said tracks will only be in night or day but not both. They were not able to include night and day textures for each track due to disc size limitations:

http://www.bizarrecreations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14802&p=

cc123 @ Jul 30th 2007 4:26PM

Third post from the top made by Ben.

cc123 @ Jul 30th 2007 4:30PM

@TRUTH

Btw, on a scale of 1-10 how stupid do you feel for posting that rant and then reading Bizarre themselves admit DVD size was a limiting factor?

I'm curious.

Manic Inc @ Jul 30th 2007 4:38PM

Thanks CC123 for posting the link. Least someone keeps up to date...

TRUTH - you're an idiot. Seeing as I don't have a PS3, and often complain about Sony non-stop, you calling me a PS3 fanboy just because I'm stating a known and accepted fact is beyond twatish. There are plenty of known cases where developers have complained the DVD is not big enough to fit everything in. 360 games are restricted - get used to it. As long as they're fun it doesn't matter, but it IS the case. Didn't you know Blue Dragon is on three freaking disks? It's only 40 hours long and it needs 3 disks... Problem is not every game can be cut into seperate parts, so stuff gets cut out.

Sceren @ Jul 30th 2007 4:56PM

Why is it that everything didn't fit on DVD last gen then? God of War II used 2 DVDs :).

GamerExtrordinaire @ Jul 30th 2007 2:35PM

Also, Microsoft at this point should pack-in a game. There's no reason they can't throw in one of their played-out titles that aren't selling much, anymore. For people who don't own the system it would be a nice bonus to consider going ahead with the purchase. That's why Sony is throwing in Motorstorm into their new sku.

konajinx @ Jul 30th 2007 3:35PM

Har har, yes it's nice to know that Motorstorm is already "played out." And everyone had such high hopes for that one, too. Why, I remember all the Sony fans saying it was going to be a big system seller and all. *sniff*

rokerovakero @ Jul 30th 2007 2:40PM

SO is this another clearance sale?

hegemonyhog @ Jul 30th 2007 2:46PM

This is funny, because I just spent yesterday arguing with someone who said a $250 Core model would be a Wii-killer.

It's the downfall of the Core and Premium model - by the time you've geared up to pay $300, $100 more for a better controller and a hard drive, among other things, isn't that much. The scale of value ramps up too dramatically for the lower-cost model to be worth it.

By bringing the cost of the Premium closer to the Core model, even if the Core model drops in price, it's simply drawing more attention away from the Core model.

vidGuy @ Jul 30th 2007 2:47PM

Glad to see it go, all 360s should have a HDD anyway. I'll predict:

August announcement
- Core removed
- Premium cut to $349
- Elite cut to $429

December announcement
- Premium cut to $299
- Elite cut to $349

Jack of No Trades @ Jul 30th 2007 2:51PM

I bet that happens. Alot of casual gamers would buy it if the premium was at $300. Ms already has great games comming out in the next few months. I think the Wii will be hurting.

marcandrer @ Jul 30th 2007 2:57PM

2 price drops in less then 6 months from the company that charges for free DLC.. I highly doubt that..

SoulBlade @ Jul 30th 2007 3:11PM

I doubt the Wii will be hurting - its still going to be bought by audiences not attracted to the 360 (Scene-It FTW!) - a 250 price doesn't mean more people will have an easy time playing it.

It'll just open it up for more veteran gamers who don't have it yet - Ideally, I'd like to see the premium @ 300.. then I'll probably pick it up... until then, I'm content waiting.

vidGuy @ Jul 30th 2007 3:15PM

A $50 drop really isn't that much. Honestly, MS could hold out and just drop it $100 before Christmas, since Halo 3 and GTA4 are going to sell consoles themselves anyway. But a $50 drop would get them in the news and into more homes... and another $50 drop before Christmas would get them in the news AGAIN and into more homes over the holidays. The Premium needs to hit that $299 sweet spot before the next year is out to really move ahead.

I don't think the Wii will be hurting because it plays to a different, though overlapping, market. I have both and play completely different games on them. I think we'll see the 360 sell extremely well this fall-winter, the same with Wii. I could see Wii nearly tieing the 360 by the end of the year and passing it by March 2008 at the latest. The PS3 is my only real question mark this fall-winter; I expect it to pick up in sales but not to be able to keep up pace with Wii and 360.

Jack of No Trades @ Jul 30th 2007 3:29PM

If the casual gamer already has a Wii or is planning to buy one this fall the 360 is a pretty tasty looking console when compared. I know it would be hard for me to pass up Mass Effect, Turok and Two Worlds, but on the other hand SSB and Mario Galaxy looks very very fun. I don't care for Metroid. Sorry.

Who's going to be broke this fall?........I AM!

Triforceowner @ Jul 30th 2007 2:49PM

Why did Microsoft and Sony have to eff up the console thing so badly?

borland502 @ Jul 31st 2007 10:36AM

Because even the mighty overlook changing tides. Nintendo castrated itself for two generations because they didn't grasp how to reach the "casual" gamer.

However, the consequences aren't as severe for the runner-up consoles. The gaming pie is now large enough to accommodate different offerings. And that gives companies like Sony and Microsoft time to correct their oversight.

Matt @ Jul 30th 2007 2:53PM

I really hope they get rid of the core. I would love shorter load times and smoother game transitions.

SuicideNInja @ Jul 30th 2007 2:55PM

Yeah, they shouldn't have bothered with the core to begin with. I'm sure we won't see this multiple packaging in the future, at least during launch. Consumers prove time and time again that they'll go all the way price-wise at launch. There's no need to cater to the minute amount of individuals that will take the no frills option early on.

Even later, manufacturing costs drop, making the original high-cost item low-cost, leaving room for a "better" pacakaging option.

Blame E-bay.

Rob @ Jul 31st 2007 10:47AM

The point wasn't to cater to the people that wanted the core. The point was to be able to say "our console is $299", even if the cheap one is worthless

syco @ Jul 30th 2007 2:59PM

uh, when I was eventually planning to buy a 360, I was planning to get the Core. $250 was a reasonable price, I could buy that. I don't really need a hard drive, do any game actually need it (i.e. none of them can be saved on a memory card)? I mean, the harddrive concept is nice, but not $100 nice.

Tony @ Jul 30th 2007 3:04PM

The problem there is that the memory cards aren't exactly cheap either. You'd be a million times better off buying the HD for a bit more money.

Triforceowner @ Jul 30th 2007 3:07PM

It did become $340 after the memory card, but maybe some people had that as their limit and really wanted a 360.

syco @ Jul 30th 2007 3:08PM

Well that's a failing on Microsoft's part. If I can buy a 2GB USB thumb drive for $30 there's no reason I shouldn't be able to buy a 2GB Memory Card for $30.

Also $100 is not a "bit more money". It's a lot more money. Especially considering most new games for that system are $10 more expensive for no reason whatsoever.

Tony @ Jul 30th 2007 3:30PM

You're talking about saving games here, right?

$100 on top of just the console price is not cheap, sure. That was not my point. The point was that you're saying why get the HD over the memory card and I was giving a reason. I have no control over these prices, but we're stuck with them.

The HD is $100.

They memory card's smallest version is 256MB at $30, the largest is 512MBs at $50.

If you want to save your games, you need one or the other. The HD is 20 GBs at $100. If you wanted the bigger memory card (and if you downloaded any XBLA games, you'd need it pretty fast) the extra $50 is I would say "a bit more" due to the FAR better value.

I'm not really sure what else you could be asking for when you seemed to think the memory card was worthwhile while the HD was not. I would think most people would be interested in paying $50 more for 40 times the space.

Tony @ Jul 30th 2007 3:31PM

Sorry, the cheaper one is only 64MB. Even worse lol.

Mr Khan @ Jul 30th 2007 4:00PM

Speaking strictly for Game Saves, 64 MB is practically infinite, but of course in the days of DLC, game saves go by the wayside

syco @ Jul 30th 2007 3:02PM

Oh, well, I guess actually you need it to play Panzer Dragoon Orta. Which can be blamed on the original Xbox having a hard drive for no fathomable reason...

Evan @ Jul 30th 2007 3:06PM

Maybe Microsoft is doing what Sony did with the 20GB...

Set the wholesale and MRSP so close that retailers get twice the markup on the higher end model than the lower end model. That will discourage retailers from ordering the lower end model. Then they can claim there was no demand for the low end model.

severian00 @ Jul 30th 2007 5:53PM

The markup is almost an identical percentage. The core simply doesn't sell as fast as the premium. You tell someone the differences and they immediately say "I'll take the premium."

Evan @ Jul 30th 2007 6:38PM

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was thinking about the rumored price cuts. I was speculating that, if Microsoft is cutting the prices, they could change the markups to manipulate retailers.

Gillman @ Jul 30th 2007 3:07PM

Or they could just be phasing out the old ones to make way for the smaller processors. This could easily just be a sku change

J.Goodwin @ Jul 30th 2007 7:25PM

I'd buy stock in this idea.

Microsoft is almost certainly clearing out the core for a new bundle, maybe a new console with the die shrunk processor and a memory card / game pack-in.

You add that to a $50 price cut, and suddenly you have a $250 360 / game / mem card bundle that's ready to go head to head with Wii. Particularly if they bundle it with the larger MU.

SoulBlade @ Jul 30th 2007 3:07PM

wow... that's pretty lame. now you won't be able to find the systems without a HD, yet devs still won't be allowed to assume there's a HD in every system because of the cores already out there. Well done M$...

syco @ Jul 30th 2007 3:12PM

I don't see why not. I'm sure the disk can check the system and see if there is a hard drive, and refuse to play if there isn't. As long as it's clearly labeled on the front that the game requires a hard drive it shouldn't be a problem. Not that I want that to happen, but there's not techical reason it can't. Majora's Mask for the N64 required that memory expansion thing to run, for example.

SoulBlade @ Jul 30th 2007 3:19PM

Talking to some former game devs I work with who developed for the original XBox, m$ wouldn't let any company license a game that didn't work with the base SKU - no game was allowed that required some peripheral like a keyboard or whatever.

Basically, m$ wanted all games to run on all platforms, which would mean they'd have to be dumbed down for the Core if that philosophy continues. It's possible it's different now, but if they turn their back on the Core and make them buy a HD to run most games, expect a ridiculing from the competition as everyone knew it was a bad idea, and they'd be shafting anybody who bought it. Imagine if some games started requiring the HD-DVD addon...

KEELr @ Jul 30th 2007 3:32PM

Actually, there is a 360 game released here in Europe that requires a HDD! Fotball Manager 2006! Has a nice sticker on the front that says It requires HDD!

Anyways, I agree with most of you.. MS should've never released a SKU without HDD!

WiNG @ Jul 30th 2007 3:08PM

OK tell me what you think of this song I'm writing. It's sung to the tune of "I want to live in America" from West Side story:

PS3 fanboy:

I want to play on a PS3
Everything looks better in HD
Watch some BluRay on a PS3
No ring of death on a PS3!

(PS3) Its processor is used in space labs
(360) Or shows giant enemy crabs

Fabulous graphics in HD!
...If you can afford plasma TV

I want to own my own PS3
Better WiFi than a stupid Wii
Nothing is 1337er than PS3
Got waggle too on a PS3

I play Motorstorm ever-yday
No other games out you could play

This console cost me the mad bills!!!
You paid 600 for a damn grill?

I want to play on a PS3
No other console is as shiny
I want to get my own PS3
Folding@home on a PS3

360 man jumps in:
I've got 10 mil on gamerscore
Congrats you friggin Gamefly whore

I can use voicechat in Halo
And teabag too.. are you gay, bro?