Hear me out.  Thinking about this when either Slim version or Natal launches.

With the recent introduction of using USB flash drives. Should MS stop the sale of a 360 with the HDD and simply sell the Arcade with an included USB drive (say 4GB or 8GB).  Sell the HDD drive with bundles and stand alone.

Would allow advertising of Xbox 360 for only $149.99.

Sure hard core gamers would complain, but you could easily just purchase a HDD along with the 360.  Yet for most people they dont need the HDD at least on day 1.

the prob is microsoft wants too much for the hdd and you need an internal hdd to play some games online...downloads add up quickly...the 360 is not gonna sell for $150 with natal...if a 200 (or 150 with gift card as of recent) isn't helping 360 sales....a $150 360 is pointless...if natal fails...360 will be destined for 3rd place faster then you think...not that 3rd place is a failure as some people like to put it

Thought is most people gravitate towards the $300 unit. Going by average sales price of 360 that is occasionally leaked by NPD most 360s sold are Elites. The general consensus is that the lower cost 360 isnt really what you want. Also as for space the Wii does perfectly fine (sales wise) without a HDD.

For most people the USB stick will be plenty at least for awhile. So eliminate the $300 dollar unit and the whole advertising changes.

I was nothinking of $150 with Natal.

No MS wants people to buy stuff of their marketplace so not selling a 360 without a HD doesn't make any sense.

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