first, i wanna know what the versions mean and how they differ from each other.

second, i wanna know what's the point of making them different.

third, i wanna know how much they are at the present moment, and which one i should buy.

fourth, i wanna know what game(s) i must buy without getting jaded from repetitiveness.

fifth, i wanna know if forza 2 (which i want because gt5 is taking so damn long to release) and ace combat 6 (which i want coz i'm a huge fan of the series) are actually good enough to be AAA in their respective genres.

thanks in advance!

(Edited for fifth)

1. First all models are basically the same. They may contain a few differences on the inside, like new Jaspers or whatever, but I don't know the details of that. Here's the difference. Arcade=No hard drive and comes with Xbox Live Arcade disc. Pro=20GB hard drive, which is being phased out for a new Pro model with a 60GB hard drive. Elite=Black console with 120 GB hard drive. Buy the Pro.

2. They have different size hard drives to match the needs of a variety of customers.

3. Arcade=279.99, Pro 20GB=299.99(No longer produced so get it now if you want it), Pro 60GB=349.99, Elite=449.99

4. Kameo, Dead Rising, Call of Duty 2, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Tomb Raider Legend, Perfect Dark Zero, Gears of War, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Forza Motorsport 2, Scene It!, Bioshock, Viva Pinata, Eternal Sonata, Ace Combat 6, Beautiful Katamari, Culdcept Saga, among others.

4. Ninja Gaiden II. Its freaking AMAZING.

Everything else has already been answered.

@ onyxmeth, M$ have said that the 60GB is not coming to the UK

1. Go to
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/compare101.htm
for a comparison chart for all the SKUs. A 60GB version will replace the Pro version very soon (some stores already have it for sale) and that will retail for $350. You'll probably want to get one with a hard drive (either the 60GB or 120GB) if you will be doing a lot of downloading. Also you will be able to copy the entire game onto the hard drive later in the Fall for faster load times and no disc spinning. If you have a HDTV get the Pro or Elite model to use HDMI (the elite comes with the cable)

2. It offers a choice for the consumer. Some people may not have the internet, so they won't need to download anything so they won't need to pay extra for a hard drive. It also makes the console look more inexpensive to get the consumer more interested.

3. Arcade-$279.99
Pro 20GB(while supplies last)-$299.99
Pro 60GB-$349.99
Elite 120GB-$449.99

4. It depends on what types of games you like. Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, and Gears of War are some of the best shooters available. Forza and Project Gotham Racing are really good racing games. Viva Pinata is a really fun game and the sequel is coming out in September. Bio Shock and The Orange Box are game you might want to check out too. There are a lot of really good games that are coming out this holiday season, so you might want to save your money for those games.

If you havent bought yet I'd get these games in this order.

Gears Of War
Halo 3
Lost Odyssey
Ninja Gaiden 2
Eternal Sonata
Forza 2
Mass Effect
Bioshock
Dead Rising
Blue Dragon


And dont forget you have these coming so save your money:

Fable 2
Tales of Vesperia
Gears of War 2
Ifinite Undiscovery
The Last Remnant
Star Ocean 4
Halo Wars
Too Human (if you like diablo you will love it)

Among others.

I just assume everyone on these forums lives in America. I mean come on, where else would you want to live?

Is Europe keeping the 20 GB around then or is it going to just be the Elite and Arcade SKUs?

The 20GB is staying. I think everything is out of sync because there was the price cut here in the spring

thanks for the responses! i'm fixing to get ace combat 6 (which is the reason i'm getting a 360, after waiting in vain for a ps3 port to arrive), then forza 2 first coz i'm a racing fanatic (and bastard sony refuses to release gt5 full), but i don't know if they're really any good. are they?

um.. do you really need a lot of gigs for a 360? i have no idea how the whole install system works (wait, do you actually need to install games here?). can i actually just play the games without a hard drive?