I'd have a core right now if microsoft had reliable hardware and non-proprietary storage. Instead, I bought a wii and might just stick with it the gen. The 360 should be the best deal for customers as it has the best game lineup and a reasonable price, but red lights and stupid (and unnecessary) decisions are holding it back.

There have always been a number of differences between pc gaming and console gaming. One of those differences is that consoles have always had steamlined component requirements (no hard drive) and a single SKU (so everyone gets the exact same experience). Sony and Microsoft seem to be banking on pushing console gaming closer to pc gaming and I'm unconvinced that is a good strategy.

Something weird is going on with the Core I just dont know what..and I really doubt microsoft is getting rid of it either. Because there's no point. They can ever make games that require the HDD now, as they've already sold hundreds of thousands of Cores and they cant leave those people stranded.

I heard rumors it's very hard to get allocations of core now. In other words it's not that stores may not want it, it's that MS isn't making it available to them.

Circuit City.com is all out and all their stores via inventory check, same with Best Buy.com, yet all these stores continue to carry a page for it saying sold out. If they were truly discontinuing, I dont know why they'd still have a page.

OTOH, it's still available and in stock at Amazon and Wal Mart.com, and seems to always be.

If it's not being done away with I have to think it's getting a relaunch or something..something weird is going on.

you're not the only one

I see the long term viaility of the Core as well. The only problem with it currently is the absolute rip off that the memory card is. You are saving something like $30 going with the core over the premium in the end, as the memory card is required in order to save games.

But if they keep the price low, and they drop the price of the memory card or bundle it with the core (they could easily profit selling it for $10) then the core at $199 suddenly looks like a much better deal.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here yet is that the Core system doesn't come with a wireless controller. Maybe that's not a big deal to some (after all, wired controllers have been the norm for gaming up until now), but to me it is. I have a small child, and I know from first-hand experience that small children + wired controllers = disaster. The fact that the Xbox 360 Core comes with a wired controller, coupled with the lack of built-in memory, means that I will not buy a Core at any price.