The core is not too bad of an idea for the casual gamer. The main problem is that memory cards are so expensive. The casual gamer wont use xbox live or use it as a dvr or even care much between the wireless and wired controller. for them its a cheaper option that suits there needs... now granted for people who would buy a 360 this is a rather small user base but its a good way for xbox to bring in some new gamers

 Do you guys normally sell out of cores the same day you get them in stock?

normally not but i got a shipment of 2 and one was already put aside for someone so its possible that this shipment would have... honestly i would never trust the website. We get people calling in all the time with something it said we had online but we dont. We've had drastically less cores shipped to us as of recent but there are no signs from the company that we're going to stop. We stopped carrying the 20gig ps3 before sony officially discontinued it.

Thanks for the info for those that work for gamespot. Again I just happen to stumble on it and based on what I saw it added to the core going bye bye. I am with the core needs go croud as I don't want future 360 games to be gimped because the developers had to take into account the core. To be honest the only problem I see the 360 having is the lack of space of the dvd 9 so hopefully the hardrive can make that a non-issue. I know many who argue is not a big deal because of compression etc but it is just my only worry and we will see if it is an issue or not :). In the end it won't matter to me personally as I truly enjoyed my 360 and it has always been worth every penny for all the gaming I have done in the past year.

The only people buying them are the people who are nieve enough to think they don't need a hard drive. Less than a year later they wish they had one so they can download a live arcade game, or the Oblivion content.

Let it go. I don't know many people that are going to buy one anyway.

IMO the core should have come with some internal memory for game saves, the ability to use xbox live and the ability for game developers to use the extra memory... The core can still make sense for people... the wire for the 360 controller is very long so if having the wire doesnt bother you, you will easily be able to sit pretty far from the system and play so the wireless controller may be a non issue for some. plus if in the future you want the hdd you can get a refurb one for $60 and it will still cost less than a premium... it seems quite possible that the core is being phased out since we do get so few shipments but there hasnt been anything official from gamestop..

The Hard Drive is only useful for one thing, DLC. It's not needed for online play. And it's definitly not needed for someone with out broadband which is a LOT of people especially casuals.

Currently most people who buy the 360 are hardcore gamers, early adopters, who do go online. But in the future more casuals who just play a few games and dont hook up online will buy in. Core is for them.

Also there is this:

http://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/396

"However, the most likely possibility is the introduction of a cheaper version of the Core. Microsoft's Shane Kim has said that the Core will not be discontinued and that the 360 must reach $199 in order to penetrate the mass market. What this means is that the Core in its current form will probably be phased out and replaced by a new, fully 65nm Core model that costs Microsoft much less to manufacture. That version of the Core will then become Microsoft's entry into the $199 market."

Something might be going on with the Core but we dont know what just yet. Best to wait and see.

"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"

So what? Not every store stocks Core.

Premium is the most popular sku and most will stock that. Maybe only 50% will stock Core. It just depends. That could go up or down in the future but it's not an indication Core is discontinued.

I definitly think Core will not be discontinued. I know that hurts a lot of people's feelings, those people might cry at night because the Core will be hurting them, but I'm afraid it is the truth.