Superb way to steal sony's thunder lol, but I do think the arcade model should come down in price a bit, arcade at £99/$129 would make the 360 absolutely HUGE this holiday season....

Yeah i think i might buy an Elite myself. This is Ms showing there dedication.

They should cut it 'after'. He who cuts his price last, laughs loudest.

i tought 360 Elite is already 299 bucks? At least here in europe

Phase out =/= price cut. The prices of entry for the Xbox 360 console are still the same, their just isn't a "highest" SKU out of 3 models....because there's only 2 left. If Sony dropped the 160GB to $400 and got rid of the 80GB....that's basically what just happened at Microsoft.

Considering Microsoft charges $150 for a 120GB HDD, I guess it is.  Sure is a lot better than the $200 price difference it currently is at.

Probably won't see a price cut on the Arcade unless MS keeps the price of the 120GB HDD at $149.

$149 Arcade + $149 120GB HDD = $299 Elite (base console + HDD - HD cables according to the new boxes).

Otherwise it's a $199 Arcade + $99 120GB HDD = $299 Elite.

If that new box is correct, the new Elite won't include "HD cables" either, which will be one way to shave a few dollars off of production costs in addition to picking up some sales of pricey official Xbox 360 HD cables as well for those who don't opt to just buy a $5 HDMI cable from Amazon, Monoprice or wherever.

As for the hopeful chatter about an Arcade with an HDD in the near future; won't happen. A "free" 60GB HDD would currently cost about the same ($5 more at most) as a 120GB HDD. The additional cost associated with a higher priced SKU would be to include ANY hard drive, not just a larger one at lower range capacities (and yes, 120GB is a lower cap drive by current standards).

Lower capacity hard drives don't cost less past a certain point (barring dumped inventory). Past that point, they become special order OEM items that can actually end up costing more.

That being said, I see no reason why MS wouldn't start offering larger HDDs than 120GB at the same current $149 price or even $99, considering their current strategy to increase dependence on HDD storage (full game downloads, emphasis on more DD content, video, etc.). It only encourages/allows consumers to buy more download content after all.

A 250GB OEM HDD would practically cost the same as a 120GB OEM HDD. Larger sizes (320GB and 500GB) don't command a huge premium over those prices either.

will be interesting to see PS3 and 360 the same price. Since i heard rumors most people dont buy the arcade.

huh, Elite is gonna drop in price, Pro is gonna disappear, and people decide .... to stop buying Arcade ?????

why

this makes no sense to me

Awesome!!! Now we will get to see Sony and Microsoft go head to head with their consoles at the same price...... This is a huge holiday season for Sony.