Retailers display Arcade 360 ads
by Justin McElroy 
{ Oct 11th 2007 at 8:49AM }
They say that if you don't talk to your kids about drugs someone else will. What you may not know is the exact same thing holds true for video game consoles. For example, Microsoft still hasn't announced that they'll be phasing out the Core 360 to replace it with its sleek, cooler cousin, the 360 Arcade. Meaning we have to get our info ... from strangers. Exhibit X (or is it Y yet?) is this retail stand-up captured by Gamespot, that makes mention of (shock!) the 360 Arcade! All the features are the same as the ones you've heard rumored: five free games, 256MB memory card, a wireless controller, etc. What there's no mention of is the system's price. But, since the other details have held up, we'd bet the $280 we've heard before is spot on. Now, Microsoft, would you kindly announce this thing instead of forcing us to learn about the Arcade on the street?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
daddycool @ Oct 11th 2007 9:03AM
They should make it $250.
dunlop @ Oct 11th 2007 9:17AM
i read that in Europe it will also include 1 year of LIVE membership (Gold). Will that be the case here?
FrankTheCrank @ Oct 11th 2007 9:41AM
I agree with DaddyCool(AKA-Scorpion)...
As bad as some of the crap Sony has pulled Microshaft has pulled some big dumb dumb moves themselves. Not telling anyone till product hits is STUPID.
On the other hand, this Core is much more attractive than the old core. No doubt.
Jason B @ Oct 11th 2007 10:04AM
I'm sorry but this combo is infinitely more valuable at $280 than the Wii is at $250 with or without the 1yr gold membership.
Doc @ Oct 11th 2007 9:21AM
i agree 100% if you make it $250 and have a, what's that called, a "commerical" for it, then your playing with nintendo price wise and you'll really watch them fly off the shelfs! the Wii sells for one main reason, price, there isn't a large libray of games, and what they do have for the most part are average at best. Price is the key...just ask sony
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 9:28AM
Yeah... but the difference with Sony is that, the problem is not only the price, but also the lack of good games.
Honestly... doy you think that Ratchet will be a better than Mario Galaxy? Of course fucking not.
Night Elve @ Oct 11th 2007 9:33AM
Hell no! According to Fernando nothing beats Mario, Metroid and Shopping Mama.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 9:36AM
Look this screenshots Night Elve.
http://www.nintendic.com/news/1286
Nothing can compare to the imagination of Shigeru... this is the work of professionals... people with talent. Look what they can create with an "inferior" machine. Just imagine what Nintendo will do if they do a game for the PS3. Thats why Nintendo always sell better than third partys... 'cause they are the best. Period.
FrankTheCrank @ Oct 11th 2007 9:44AM
Ferrrrrrnando...
I'll getting both Ratchet and Mario. hehehehe...the benefits of being a PSWii owner. Even though I think by Christmas, I'll break down and get my free 360 Elite.
You cannot say the Ratchet series is not good...some of those on the PS2 have been amazingly fun games.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 9:47AM
Yeah... I have the four Ratchet games on the PS2 and are not bad games... but the problem is when people compare Ratchet with Mario. That piss me off.
GRANTED @ Oct 11th 2007 10:02AM
mario galaxy could be great. it could also be sunshine. ratchet is always great.
very soon, both the wii and the ps3 are going to have very, very good quality games. it's just that the ps3 is going to have games in HD, and decent online capabilities. mario and brawl will probably be awesome, but the uncharted and the orange box will be better adventure and multiplayer games, respectively.
ssuk @ Oct 11th 2007 11:06AM
Price and the fact Nintendo is targeting a broader market spectrum than MS and Sony. MS thinks it's doing enough by putting Disney content on the Video Marketplace which regions outside the US do not get. The Wii is accepted between the elderly, female gamers and the broad term; 'causal gamers', on a vast scale. The price helps enforce these new customers but doesn't mean it's the determining factor.
Matt B @ Oct 11th 2007 9:27AM
Does the Core have BC with the just the memory card?
Badboy1979 @ Oct 11th 2007 11:37AM
Nope, the hard drive is required for BC on the 360. Everything else works tho with a memory card I believe(Live, Media Center extender, etc.)
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 9:36AM
Very tempting to trade in my old premium (with no HDMI) for one of these (with HDMI) and just keep my HD.
techyted @ Oct 11th 2007 12:50PM
Totally agree, my refurbished 04-06 box is loud as heck my original 11-05 box caught the RROD at 12 months old.
the_game_master @ Oct 11th 2007 9:40AM
For the most part HDMI is overratted when it comes to games. The only thing interesting about HDMI on 360 is with that connection it will upscale your DVD movies to HDTV resolutions. Since I already bought an upconverting DVD player that's using the only HDMI port my HDTV has, I am pleased with my non-HDMI 360.
GRANTED @ Oct 11th 2007 10:06AM
but when faced with the choice of $20 component cables and a $6 hdmi from a very inexpensive online retailer, the choice is clear.
well... it's nice to, you know, HAVE a choice sometimes.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 10:31AM
It'll do it over VGA also, but the reason I want HDMI is because I'm purchasing an HDMI scaler http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4174 and I want to plug in my PS2 and Wii into its component video sources, leaving the 360 out of the loop.
If you've got nasty jaggies on your HD display from your Wii, its because you're TV's internal scaler sucks donkey balls. This will fix the problem.
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 10:26AM
i'm guessing MS doesn't want to announce the new one and have everyone wait for it, so the old cores wouldn't sell and make room for the arcade ones
kinda shady, but it's good business
monkeymonkeymonkey @ Oct 11th 2007 11:15AM
What exactly WONT the Core/Arcade model do that the Premium does? I understand that the hard drive is used when downloading content, but does it add feature to regular games? Does it use the hard drive to increase loading times?
blooh (CDF - Ass Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 11:42AM
the hard drive can store saves if you prefer to use it instead of a memory card
no, you don't pre-load 360 games like you do with ps3 games. the load times aren't long
TroyMcLure @ Oct 11th 2007 11:37AM
The target in Ashburn, Va had two arcade units already for sale to my suprise when I went. I made Joystiq aware of this a few days ago....
monkeymonkeymonkey @ Oct 11th 2007 12:31PM
How much were they selling the systems for?
TroyMcLure @ Oct 11th 2007 2:10PM
Monkeymonkey, 279.99. It was in the green go play box. Good deal for a core I guess. You could probably call Target and get the sku number so you can check other stores availablity.
Joe Smith @ Oct 11th 2007 12:45PM
So they are branding the core as Arcade -- tying it to a digital distribution system that requires storage, but only including a 256MU and no HDD? That makes no sense that I can see.
blooh (CDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 11th 2007 7:48PM
just like the wii
h0mi @ Oct 11th 2007 12:56PM
A $250 price tag makes it harder to decide between this or an elite, particularly the elite bundled with forza 2 and marvel UA.
Evan @ Oct 11th 2007 1:42PM
It is replacing the Core Console. On an internal memo I read yesterday at work the Arcade Console will come out on the 23rd of October and will replace the 360 Core. The price will 279.99.
I work at a major US retailer.
Paul Bailey @ Oct 11th 2007 2:49PM
I see the Xbox 360 Arcade is listed as Microsoft SKU: XGX-00001 at $279.99 MSRP.