I am sure many have seen

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/07/rumor-target-done-with-xbox-360-core-model/

and

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/30/best-buy-done-with-xbox-360-core-model/

But not sure if anyone notice that Ebgames/Gamespot seems to be also getting rid of their core 360's. Check out the link below and just put in your zipcode and set to 200 miles and see whats available.

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=020259

For my area most are sold out and do no expect to get new ones. Some do have some but again do not expect to get new ones.  There where some that where sold out and where expecting some more but doesn't even come close to the premium listed below

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=020253

For the premium the only time that they did not want more was because they had 4+ but other than that it was sold out or some had some but ALL had more on the way.

Obviously this is just an observation which I stumble on while checking to see how well the 360 was selling after price drop.  Would be interesting to see how much the above changes lets say at the start of septempber or even a few weeks from now.  My honest opinion is the core is on the way out as it is not worth supporting that version not just for retailers but for Microsoft as well.  If anything the Core might still be available but in very limited quantities though I heard it counts for 20% of 360's sold I would say it would drop down to 5-10%.  Just my guess.

Yeh, now MS will maybe garner more premium console sales in target and best buy.

I hope they kill the Core. Worst mistake MS ever made, besides faulty hardware.

 How is it their worse mistake?

 Don't think low sales is proof. How do you know Core shipments haven't been lowered to match that ratio?

 And can you prove it doesn't make the 360 look less expensive to consumers other than hardcore gamers? I personally have only heard Core bashing from hardcore gamers, not other gamers. 

The core and priemium were just poorly seperated; the Core should have cost $300, came with the 512MB memory card, component cable and whatever promotion was happening with the Priemium ... On top of that the Core should match the Priemium's price reductions untill it became impossible ...

Hypothetically speaking if the XBox 360 Core was $250 with everything you need to play games I could see it being an alternative to the Wii for a lot of people; at $270 + $50 + Cable makes the XBox 360 Core not that appealing.

Everything happening these past few weeks really points towards a second Microsoft Price Drop in November perhaps from $349 (Premium) to a Bundled game or perhaps $299 with no game.

^^^

That's a great idea. I'm sure they'd just love to piss off all the people who just bought it for Halo 3. Not to mention that two price drops within a span of three months would look really desperate.

The core has always been a bad deal for gamers, and it separates the userbase into those with a hard drive and those without, deterring developers from using the hard drive as a standard part of the game, and not just a data cache to reduce load times.

Good riddance, nobody cared for that Core system. It's just a stripped down Premium. The 20 GB Playstatioon 3, which was basically a stripped down 60 GB Playstation 3, was discontinued, because it was missing too many things. Why do they even sell these stripped down versions? People want the real thing, not a cheap alternative. You can't even call the Core system an Xbox 360. You can say that it's 65% of an Xbox 360, or whatever, but you can't call it an Xbox 360, because it's just a stripped down version of the real thing. I never cared for the 20 GB Playstation 3, or Xbox 360 Core, for they only exist for those who don't want to spend an extra $100, which is stupid.

Could this be a bait and switch by MS? Clear out the old, cheaper sku and leave the higher priced one to continue on? Looks like MS is taking notes from Sony these days...