Leaks Reveal New Xbox 360 Package

Gamasutra reports on hints from around the internet adding up to a new sku for the Xbox 360. The new box, the 'Xbox 360 Arcade' pack, is essentially a core pack with an emphasis on Xbox Live Arcade titles, for a low price. "Now, a new listing on Amazon, and a separate page at on Toys "R" Us' retail site that has been consequently removed, indicate an October 25th release date and $279.99 price point. The package shot shown at Toys "R" Us prominently features the five-game Xbox Live Arcade pack-in, with icons for Pac-Man and UNO lending more credence to the Ars Technica rumors. Microsoft has yet to confirm any details of the new model, nor has the company officially declared that the Core model - which originally was marketed with no hard drive, external storage, or HDMI output at the same $279.99 price - has been discontinued."

Not another one.....

[Swordopolis]

>>256MB Memory Card
>>5 XBOX Live Arcade Games

This feels like a lame attempt to try and steal some of the Wii's thunder.
Microsoft should know better than to release another SKU without a hard drive.

Microsoft has to focus...

[doyoulikeworms]

This'll be probably modded as a flame, but MS seriously needs to focus. What's with all the damn SKU's for their products? Between the absurd number of Office and Vista variants, and now with potentially four versions of the XBox 360, is their strategy to confuse the money out of the pockets of consumers?

I'm buying one.

[Krodren]

Don't know about the rest of you, but this is the first 360 that I'll buy. It now has a wireless controller (over the core). I bet it will have the HDMI port. I'm guessing it will have the new internal heat fixes. It should have the 3 year coverage.

My friends have all had 360s for a while, and I've been tempted. This pushes me over the edge since I can grab one of their replaced 20GB drives to add on to this one. It also has the save card that none of my friends have sprung for, so I can copy off saves from their boxes that they've let me play on. I'm probably not the only one in this position.

I've thought about the core, but all the stores locally have been out of them for months. At least to me, this seems like a planned and decent move by MS.

Re:I guess you didn't get the memo ;)

[jollyreaper]

I did some poking around online. The Halo-branded consoles were supposed to have the Falcon improvements (Falcon being the code name for the less broken design) but some people are still reporting red rings of death.

When comparing the three consoles, the 360 has the biggest library with the highest ratings but damned if the hardware doesn't give one pause for concern. I honestly haven't looked into it much until recently. I'd passed on the original Xbox out of anti-microsoft sentiment. The PS3 this generation is just too insane of a price to contemplate and the Wii cannot be found -- but none of them have the kinds of hardware complaints as is vexing the 360. That's a shame because there are some games I'd like to try out.

And to whoever modded me a troll above, you can call me a troll but it's still the truth.

SKU?

[mollymoo]

What is it with calling products SKUs? It has more syllables and is less descriptive than the options already in common usage (product, model, package, version...). Even TFA calls it a new model, not a new SKU. As far as I can see "SKU" has zero advantage over the other options for anyone who isn't deeply involved in stock-keeping. It's a cumbersome catch-all technical term which has no relevance to normal people. The fact that it's a new model is the real news here; a new SKU might just mean a different game bundle or different packaging.

Re:Google is your friend

[GrayCalx]

It seems like from reading that the 33% number can from a "former EB Games employee." So it definitely could be accurate for his one store in his one town. It also could be some 17 year old who has a hard time calculating fractions.

There was also an account of a Best Buy Manager who said it was between 25 - 33%. Which is a significant range there, and again his experience for his one store in his one town.

Now I obviously have no idea what the failure rate is, so it definitely could be 33%, but I find that extremely hard to believe that its that high when you think globally and not just the estimation of just two employees.