DMeisterJ is right...
 you did take a few stabs at the ps3 madskillz

Also it is a known fact that buying the core is stupid. Once you buy it you get a harddrive. theres at most 10% of people still out there with out a Hardrive for 360. gaming needs a HD now we all know it.

Also microsoft is telling devs not to make games big (Street fighter HD anyone) or require a Harddrive because not everyone has one. thus making the games load longer... not he best option for someone like me with an elite..... Thats why i have my affordable playstation and with a 250 gig HD. its STILL very close to the elite price and it comes with the new standard for DVDs (which it will be soon) Blu-ray.

Yeah I know what your saying, and I wasn't exaggerating :( I saw all 5 models yesterday >

That is a great point which is why the arcade has such low sales but sales noneless.  It is aimed at the casuals and it just looks good on paper.  You seen the PS3 commercials where they says it starts at $399 though the hardcore would probably get the 80 gig at $499 since they want the extra space and play ps2 games etc (this is just an example).  It looks nice on flyers and tv whe you say starting at such and such. 

All I'm saying is that it's pretty hypocrit for Microsoft to tout the Xbox360 as the online machine with all their advertising around XboxLive and exclusive DLC content and then turn around and sell people a machine that can't do those things without separate upgrades....

Basically the Arcade lacks the features which are usually the ones that make some players buy an Xbox over a PS3....

Make a list of the reasons why some prefer an Xbox360 over a PS3.

I bet ya at least 3 of them are missing on the Arcade.

Beside like others pointed out in this thread it is bound to make people buy the wrong thing as parents buying an Xbox for their kids probably aren't Xbox features specialists like we are and some are bound to buy the cheapest one, not knowing it may not be what the kid want... 

Your post made me laugh.

I will have one when MGS4 launches [June 12, 2008]

Before you hate on the PS3, why don't you play one?  Mr. I-have-thirteen-games-for-the-PS3-but-have-played-none-but-I-stil-know-it-sucks.

I love your posts.

I only do that to you, because you, like others on this site, have such a hate for all things Sony, and I just do not understand it.  If you don't like something, then don't like it.  But don't bring it up in each and every one of your posts, like you, and the others like you do.  Instead of taking subliminal shots at SOny, stay on subject.

That said, Microsoft does not care about core/arcade owners.

Why else would they name it the XBOX 360?  The 360 in the name was supposed to mean that it was the center of all of your entertainment purposes.  Movies, games, music, and the like.  But how can someone who doesn't have a hard-drive download their HD movies?  Uh... they can't.  Of course they could have a dead format hooked up to their system, but will that be able to play releases after people stop making HD-DVDs?  Nope.  They'll be stuck with old movies.  They could always watch DVDs... yeah.  But an upscaled DVD doesn't look as good as a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray release, no matter how hard you try.  Also, said person would be missing the extra's of HD/BD, like web features and the like.  So any core/arcade 360 owner will *have* to have at least two devices hooked up to their TV, the opposite of what Microsoft wanted, which was to be the center of your entertainment universe.  Seems kind of backwards... huh?

There's no need to ever buy a hard drive unless you want to play Xbox games or get downloadable content. And for a used one checking in at $199, you can still play Halo 3, Gears, Bioshock and Mass Effect.

The hard drive is nice to have, but it won't stop you from playing 360 games one bit. It's a choice - and I happen to like choices. 

I don't like it. But different strokes for different folks.

I have a cousin that bought Burnout Paradise on 360 and he owns a core. His mom picked it up for him (she doesn't know the slightest thing about gaming)and he didn't know that the core couldn't play Burnout Paradise online. So needless to say, he was furious after opening and playing it. And Walmart (like most stores) won't let you return opened games, etc., so he was stuck with it.

Now, I personally, feel it was his fault for being a moron and not doing his research. But that's easy to say from a forum junkies perspective--we tend to be on top of gaming news. How many other non-hardcore gamers did the same thing?

Once again, not a big deal. But I do think MS would have been better off not creating a core 360. I'm not going to crucify them like a lot of others, but I just don't like the core. It seems like a gimmicky gimp unit to get cheap gamers to buy their product.

Again the general public knows how to read and can ask questions .  All the information you need is right on the box.  People typically don't buy electronic blindly without at least look at the features of course doesn't mean they will make the choice but it is there.  Honestly I just don't see how hard it is to buy a console especially if there are people at the stores that can read for you if your not able to etc. 

I'm thinking about picking up a 360 Arcade and opting for the cheap HD.


I've been a Sony fanboy from the get-go, but I'm thinking about checking out 360 for XBL.

Anyways, my point is, I think it's cheaper to grab the 360 Arcade with a 20 GB HD then putting down the 350 for the SKU with the 20 GB HD.

As I mentioned at the end I would prefer hard drive as a standard but can understand why they at least tried to do the arcade.  That does suck that the mom picked up the game without reading the box since it is on there that the hard drive is required.  I can see that being an issue.