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See the original image at arstechnica.com —

Microsoft undercuts Wii value with $20 Xbox 360 HDD promo

arstechnica.com — As we head into the holiday season, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will try every trick in the book in order to maximize sales. One of the best weapons Microsoft has is its price point; after the September price drop, the least expensive 360 model is selling for $200, $50 less than even the Wii. While the Arcade unit doesn't come with a hard drive,

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  • GeeksSpeakFont, on 10/14/2008, -6/+37nice deal!
    • r3zonance, on 10/15/2008, -19/+6You can't polish a turd.

      It's still an Xbox360, no matter how cheap it is. And cheap really is the operative word.
      • ericrous, on 10/15/2008, -1/+4Nonsense. I polish your mother every night and she looks just fine.
    • enclaved, on 10/15/2008, -0/+6Just got this is my email shortly after reading this article

      http://www.ecost.com/Detail/Xbox+360/Microsoft/XBO ...

      20gig premium 220 - 20 MIR, tis a refurb with only 30 days parts/labor though
      • MrBabyManSTFU, on 10/15/2008, -0/+9I'd rather buy a new arcade that comes w/ a full 3 year warranty for RROD and get only a refurb HD from MS. Something about refurb consoles make me nervous
      • enclaved, on 10/15/2008, -0/+5I absolutely agree with you on that point. However I'm ok with MBM continuing to speak. I've had good luck with refurbed products but the risk was tempered by much higher savings. I was more or less posting that as a comparison of how good an offer MS has created.
      • Myztry, on 10/15/2008, -7/+3At first I thought where are they going to get so many second hand hard drives
        Then I remembered the xbox 360's amazing failure rate.
        Microsoft must have hundreds of thousands of reject xbox 360's warehoused.
        I suppose it's one way for Microsoft to get value out of the junk pile.
      • XTrek, on 10/15/2008, -2/+2Looks like this model does not have an HDMI video out. If you don't care then it's a good deal. Of course it will have the original very HOT running chipset. I'd rather spend a little more and get the latest mobo/chipset version.
      • xino, on 10/16/2008, -0/+1@XTrek You don't have to spend more to get the latest mobo/chipset because they put the latest ones in all the SKUs. Also, HDMI is included on the Arcade SKU. You just don't get the HDMI cable.
    • Stonekeeper, on 10/15/2008, -10/+10Free RROD included with every model!!!!
      • guttertalk, on 10/15/2008, -1/+3Don't you know you can't say the unfortunate truth?

        RROD nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah I can't hear you nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah Did you say something nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah .
    • FUMPH, on 10/15/2008, -3/+2blind Fanboyism
  • Elranzer, on 10/14/2008, -22/+9Too bad it's only for the 20GB HDD, and a refurb at that.
    • aeroguy80, on 10/14/2008, -6/+21It's only $20. What more do you expect?
    • truspector, on 10/14/2008, -7/+34Seriously? $20 for a refurbished 20GB 2.5" drive is a ***** steal.
      • mywhitenoise, on 10/14/2008, -15/+9***** no it isn't. I guess when you're used to paying Microsoft $150 for a 120GB drive, it's considered a "steal".

        Sort of like how people think gas prices are reasonable now, even though we were paying less 4 months ago.
      • identitymatrix, on 10/15/2008, -2/+14Just checked newegg.com:

        80GB 2.5" drive for $40 (2GB per dollar)
        160GB 2.5" drive for $60 (2.667GB per dollar)
        320GB 2.5" drive for $90 (3.556GB per dollar)

        But yeah I guess it depends on what you plan to store on it, for some people 20GB will be plenty. For others, 20GB will be used up in a few days.
      • otdvash, on 10/15/2008, -0/+620+ GB is just for people that want to hoard demos and crap. I'm also a 20 gig owner and have 8 gig left..

        however don't I need that much just to use the netflix feature alone? It says something about that at the promotional link.
      • KibibyteBrain, on 10/15/2008, -3/+5@mywhitenoise It's not fair to think about game console accessories like components for your beige box. You can get a 360 for $200 with processing power and bandwidth still unrivaled by most $1k+ PCs and costing MS a large amount of money to make(if not still over the sticker price, close enough to make selling it alone not viable). So of course they have to make up the money somewhere. Now I can respect using this to say you don't like the idea of a console platform, but clearly based on sales most people don't agree.
      • IndigoMoss, on 10/15/2008, -4/+6@KibibyteBrain The only problem with that whole theory, is that the PS3 can easily be upgraded with components from your "beige" box. And I either way, 2.5 form-factor is a laptop standard, not a desktop, so the beige box analogy doesn't even work.
      • pixelate, on 10/15/2008, -2/+6@IndigoMoss - his point was that Microsoft used the accessory pricing to make up some of the money lost elsewhere. Sony chose not to do this. Microsoft's console has been profitable for a while now. Sony's still is not.

        Microsoft has since been able to make significant price cuts. Sony will not. It's a tradeoff, and one that some consumers would find acceptable.
    • WhereAmI, on 10/14/2008, -14/+14Wow 1$/GB. Thats a deal right there. Totally owns the 28 cents/GB that I paid for my PS3 drive.
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 ...
      • PStheOne, on 10/14/2008, -4/+19You still paid $70 more... Good luck finding ANY 2.5" HDs for less than $30.

        I've had a 20GB drive on my 360 since launch and not once needed any additional space.
      • truspector, on 10/14/2008, -3/+8@pstheone

        Owner since launch as well. ~8GB left.
      • WhereAmI, on 10/15/2008, -12/+6You want me to find a 20GB laptop drive? Do they even make those anymore? I think the 360 is the only thing that still uses them. I paid 70$ more but got 16 times the space. The price for the storage was great so I went for it.

        I don't know why you guys don't use your 360s for media but I love copying movies over for when I goto friends houses. Mediatomb streams and allows me to copy them over. Great *****.
      • vocalyouth, on 10/15/2008, -2/+9why do they need to be on the hard drive at all? stream it all using tversity (win) or connect360 (mac). i use my 360 for media constantly and the 20 gig hard drive is more than enough room.

      • WhereAmI, on 10/15/2008, -5/+3@vocalyouth
        As I said I prefer my Mediatomb streaming. http://mediatomb.cc/
        However, I still like to keep media on the PS3 for when I goto friends houses and when I goto my parents house (on dial up internet because VERIZON ***** WON'T GIVE US DSL). So a bigger hard drive of my choosing was my choice. If 20GB is big enough for you then 80GB is big enough for you (PS3 lowest).
      • otdvash, on 10/15/2008, -3/+5lol @ Sony fanboys trolling this thread. What purpose do you think they'd have in commenting here? Hmmm

        Actually, I'd rather have a DS right now than a PS3 so I could play tactics. God I just want that ONE GAME SERIES Grrr

        I want it bad, but not bad enough to pull the PS2 out of the bottom of the closet LOL
      • VacantThoughts, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4Pretty sure my PS3 came with a 40 gig hard drive, which means 80 is not the lowest. I thought the lowest/cheapest system you could get came with a 20, but I don't expect my PS3 to give out anytime soon so I never check prices.
    • mugupo, on 10/15/2008, -0/+8Compare to Wii storage moron.
  • chaosblade77, on 10/14/2008, -7/+31Very tempting.

    Now that we've seen Microsoft's hand, what tricks are Sony and Nintendo going to try? I can't picture either of them doing anything since Sony is apparently relying on it's "best holiday season game lineup ever" and Nintendo won't even have enough consoles on the market to meet demand anyway.
    • stoanhart, on 10/14/2008, -3/+11I've been contemplating getting a console for Christmas. Originally, I was going to get a PS3 for Blu-Ray support. However, I am starting to wonder whether Blu Ray is really worth it, as it seems the format is flopping at the moment. I'm only a casual gamer, so spending $400 on something that will get limited use seems a bit extreme.

      Then again, I would love an HD player to match my TV, and if they studios drop Blu Ray disc and player prices, the format could still replaced DVD. Then I'd feel like an idiot for getting the 360.

      Choices, choices.

      If Sony cuts the PS3 to $300, though, they've definately got a sale.
      • chaosblade77, on 10/14/2008, -3/+10I don't think the blu-ray format is going to totally flop, especially since it's still young. I think Pioneer has developed 400GB blu-ray discs that have yet to really be utilized, so assuming something happens with that there is a ton of potential for it. I doubt it will take over as the general medium for movies anytime soon since the players are still $200 or so for a low end one, but once we see sub-$100 players and $20 movies I think a lot of HDTV owners will make the move. Just my opinion though.

        I don't own a PS3 yet, but I'm in a different position. It's an issue with Sony removing features - I want backwards compatibility since I don't have a PS2 anymore, and finding a used 20/60GB console for a reasonable price is difficult. Considering almost every game I want is a 2009 (or later) release, I'm not ready to pay a premium price for a used console.
      • jacksons98, on 10/14/2008, -12/+9Blu-ray is here to stay. Here are a few links for you:

        Disney predicts Blu-ray surpasses DVD in two years
        http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20 ...

        Acer Adds Blu-ray to notebook lineup
        http://www.smartbrief.com/news/cea/storyDetails.js ...

        Xbox 360 head Greenberg actually wrong - Blu-ray doing just fine
        http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/10/12/xbox-360-head-g ...

      • schultenick, on 10/14/2008, -13/+7The xbox 360 upconverts DVDs to 1080p through VGA and I think HDMI but i'm not sure on that
        they also have the largest HD movie library and if you have netflix you can watch any of their over 10000 streaming movies after the fall update on Nov 19
        oh yeah, when is home coming out again...
      • jacksons98, on 10/14/2008, -4/+15@schultenick
        -Upconverted DVDs are not the same quality as Blu-ray. Native 1080p and Upscaled to 1080p aren't the same thing.
        -The movies from the X360 store aren't in 1080p either, they are in 720 resolution, they are expensive to rent and have lower quality audio as well.

      • Philophobic, on 10/15/2008, -0/+14400GB? Oh dear, I can't begin to imagine the Final Fantasy movie with cutgames.
      • adveyes, on 10/15/2008, -1/+5Blue-ray is still young. I think that before it dominates the market, blue ray players will be very cheap. That's how market works. So, in my opinion, the right choice is XBOX 360, just because of the price.
      • Wisgary, on 10/15/2008, -9/+2I think 360 bluray adapter was announced somewhere.
      • Azuroth, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4@Philophobic - It will still be only half the length of the next Xenosaga episode...
      • smoger, on 10/15/2008, -2/+4a 360 seems like a solid choice, and the buzz is getting louder than MS will have a ~150USD Bluray add-on soon.. that way if it does catch on, you can go that route. and in the meantime, it does a respectable job upscaling your DVD's and also works as a media extender for your Xp/Vista pc.
      • FUMPH, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3I own all 3 consoles this generation, and I have collected a total of 5 hi def movies. These things are expensive! Unless the price of players and media come down soon, I do not see Blu-Ray surviving or beating out DVD. My up-converted DVDs will do until the price of the movies come down to about half. I use my Wii for parties, my PS3 for occasional movie watching and a few games and my 360 for hardcore gaming over Xbox Live. If anyone is on the fence about a 360, it really is the best gaming choice out there. My 2 cents.
    • mywhitenoise, on 10/14/2008, -10/+12You mean like Sony letting you use your own HDD instead?
      • chaosblade77, on 10/14/2008, -8/+10What does that have to do with trying to sell consoles this holiday season? That's been an option since launch, I don't think Sony is going to sell many consoles this year by trying to market that feature.
      • mywhitenoise, on 10/14/2008, -5/+8I couldn't tell if you were talking about storage solutions, or selling consoles.
      • FrankTheTank17, on 10/15/2008, -2/+4Yes they are actually, you can use the Samsung Spinpoint M6 and get a 500GB hard drive for your PS3. You just need a HD that will fit in the little tray and it should work...
      • zip000, on 10/15/2008, -3/+2I'm probably not buying either a PS3 or an XBOX 360 this year, but I'd say that allowing me to use any hard drive rather than their proprietary one would be a big selling point for me.
      • chaosblade77, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1I didn't mean it's not a selling point at all (it's a great feature), I meant they aren't going to sell consoles this holiday season just by marketing that fact. My original point was about how each console maker was planning on getting people to buy their consoles this holiday season.

        Sony seems to be relying on it's big releases. MS is trying to make the Core model a more viable option, on top of it's price drops last month. Nintendo apparently isn't doing anything since they know their consoles won't even reach the shelves anyway.
    • getatmedigg, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3Sony can't drop the price on the PS3 b/c they want Blu-Ray adopted and it would really undercut Blu-Ray drives.
      • enclaved, on 10/15/2008, -2/+4But PS3 sales for the purpose of Blu-Ray would still count as adoption, no?
      • IneffablePolk, on 10/15/2008, -3/+2Remember that time Sony came out with the PS2 and it was the cheapest DVD player on the market? You'll have to remind me. How did that one turn out?
      • pixelate, on 10/15/2008, -0/+5Sony has industry partners that helped Blu-ray become the accepted next-generation optical disc format.

        Some of these partners produce their own standalone Blu-ray players, and if Sony were to significantly reduce PS3 pricing, it would cannibalize those potential sales. There's probably a formal agreement that they won't do this in the near future, but it's still speculation.
      • getatmedigg, on 10/15/2008, -0/+5@ enclaved-Are you telling me that PS3 owners have more Blu-ray discs than game discs?However,I bet that Sony PS3 sales are counted as blu-ray players sales.
        @ IneffablePolk-dude Sony didn't make the cheapest DVD player and when the PS2 came out. I bought a DVD player b/c there were some many titles. I don't own a PS2 or PS3.
    • ericrous, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1Considering how ***** Sony's first two Christmas lineups were, it wouldn't exactly be hard to top it this season.
  • kylef, on 10/14/2008, -2/+22This actually makes a lot of sense for those who opted for the Arcade, and now are realizing that the 360 has more to offer than just poppin in a game disc. I wonder if we are eligible here in Canada?
  • jacksons98, on 10/14/2008, -18/+15Refurb and Harddrive... that's a bad idea.
    • crownedgriffin, on 10/15/2008, -2/+12...meaning that they took a working hard drive, formatted it, and put it back in a box. Who cares so long as it works.
      • r3zonance, on 10/15/2008, -7/+5Me. It definitely depends how long it worked for before. Because the longer it has been used, the less life it has left in it now.
      • smergs, on 10/15/2008, -2/+6For $20 who give a *****. If you are one of the eligible and you don't take this offer you are an idiot. Microsoft has always overcharged for the HD's and they are finally giving an option to make one what it's actually worth. Refurb will be fine. It's not like these hard drives have been spinning away in PC for years. The Xbox 360 wouldn't be accessing it that much while playing most games I wouldn't think. I'm pretty sure other components of the 360 are going to go bad before a hard drive. This is a great deal!
    • YojimboJango, on 10/16/2008, -0/+3They have to do something with all those RROD'd boxes. Might as well pull the harddrives out and resell them.
  • HippyJM, on 10/14/2008, -16/+35Now I know where the HDD from the Red Ring box went
    • 4Prophecy, on 10/15/2008, -2/+19You're not supposed to send the HDD in with the unit. They provide a nice paper-plastic sheet in the box listing simple and precise instructions for sending the thing in. Discarding said instructions is totally your own responsibility and fault.
      • jason210, on 10/15/2008, -8/+5the fact that the problem is so widespread that you say this so matter of factly as though you've done it 5 times... is the real heart of this matter.
      • drewbudd, on 10/16/2008, -0/+1Does it take you 5 attempts to remember how you did something?

        I'm sure almost everyone else that has sent their 360 in before, even just ONCE, remembers that they had to take the HDD off.
      • NexFrost, on 10/16/2008, -0/+1hear hear
  • kinseyincanada, on 10/15/2008, -3/+2anyone know if i can get one even though i dont own an arcade version, it would be nice i have another one.
    • Akaziel, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4I didn't read the linked article, but the one that I read last night off of Gamespot says no. You have to put in your serial number and model number, and it'll tell you if you're eligible.
    • DiNoZoNE, on 10/15/2008, -0/+6Tried it and it doesn't work. They just tell you that the NXE will fit on the Pro and Elite so you won't need additional storage. Would have been nice to have a free 512mb memory card so that I don't have to recover my profile at friends houses but other than that, I still have 80gb free on my Elite so it's okay. One of the few better things I have to say about the PS3 over the 360 is their use of non proprietary storage. Memory is so cheap these days that there is no excuse for the ***** that Microsoft is offering customers
      • smergs, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2You could always pick up one of the 64 mb cards (if you can find one) to store your account. I found one at a sears for $7. I realize that you can get 1 gb flash drives for just a little more now so again that is a way Microsoft is over charging, but it was worth it to me to be able to take my account with me where I go.
  • neonoodle, on 10/15/2008, -7/+11Wii doesn't need to drop any price to keep selling out.
  • Seann7656, on 10/15/2008, -3/+14If they just lowered the insane price of their wifi adapter and/or included it with the system, they would absolutely own the market.

    I hate having a 50-foot Ethernet cord running across two damn rooms, when I have a wireless router...
    • smergs, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2Totally agree with that statement.
      They should just put the Ethernet adapter in the box from now on for free. Either that or do something like Nintendo used to do back in the day with Super Mario All-Stars. For the people who want it just cut out the bar code from the box and mail it in with an attached coupon on the front of the box. That way they (Microsoft) might actually save a little money in the long run because not everyone would get (or need) the wifi adapter.

      I personally own a home that I had a wired network installed. So I have a port in every bedroom and one behind my TV. Not too many people out there are that lucky though. :)
    • sremick, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2The USB wifi adapter was problematic on a good day. It was discontinued by Nintendo almost a year ago and is no longer supported.

      Why have something that requires your PC to be booted up and Windows running perfectly just for your Wii to be online? Get a $30 wireless router and be done with it.
      • chaosblade77, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1I'm pretty sure he was talking about the 360 wifi adapter, not the Nintendo USB thing.
  • Spliced88, on 10/15/2008, -18/+7$1/GB is ridiculous.

    Seeing as you can get what, $0.13/GB nowadays. What a "Deal"
    • crownedgriffin, on 10/15/2008, -6/+3Digging you back up because it's true.
    • Millsee, on 10/15/2008, -2/+2No need to throw your toys out of the pram.
  • Cherubim, on 10/15/2008, -1/+16Did microsoft recover these Xbox's from the crashed freight train ?


  • crownedgriffin, on 10/15/2008, -5/+10Damn you Microsoft. I think this may be the straw that finally makes be buy an XBox 360.
  • jshriver, on 10/15/2008, -7/+10Still prefer Wii though. I had thought about getting a 360, if the funds were available, after playing Dead Rising. Though w/o a nice HD TV it's not going to looks as great and stability is a big issue. Never had my Wii crash. To each their own though.

    I recently shelved my DS though and bought a PSP. Must admit I like it better.

  • nshady, on 10/15/2008, -1/+20Nintendo, take note. This is how you do a "storage solution".
  • jshriver, on 10/15/2008, -8/+3Curious how do these systems work without a hard drive? USB key for save games? Does the lack of the hard drive essentially wipe out a good reason to even buy these systems (Sony's and MS's version of Virtual console) etc?

    I can make a great car too and sell it to you really cheap, oh btw it doesnt have an engine. But for only 1/3 the price of the system you can get that too.
    • lcmatt, on 10/15/2008, -0/+8Arcade consoles come with a memory unit to save games. The current dashboard is stored on the actual console however the new update will be too big to fit so MS is solving that problem with a larger memory unit for free or a 20GB HDD.
      • Frostek, on 10/15/2008, -3/+2Microsoft software that's grown too big to be easily manageable without having to upgrade? Say it isn't so...
    • slstudios, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1The analogy is all out of whack. A car's engine is more like the processor. Storage would be akin to interior cabin or trunk space.

      A memory card is all you need, although I have a 120 GB drive with a 650 GB external connected to it for movies, music, etc.
  • tama00, on 10/15/2008, -1/+4Its already $80 less than the Wii in Australia and about half the price of a PS3.
  • getatmedigg, on 10/15/2008, -1/+4It would be nice to have USB storage for the Wii. I'm just waiting for all the new game to drop below $50.
    • sremick, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2On NewEgg, Wii games have been below $50 for a long time now, with free shipping. Where have you been?
  • DeviantDragon, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2So if Arcade now has a hard-drive option, what remaining differences are there between it and the Pro? Are they things like wireless controllers and the like? I'm still not sure if I should consider the cheaper Arcade+HDD or just spring for the Pro.
    • coryroo24, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3Arcade comes with a wireless controller, the only difference I know of is you get a composite cable, and no silver accents.
    • SillyRabbits, on 10/15/2008, -0/+5The pro comes with a 60GB HD as standard now. Nothing has changed with the arcade, you were always able to add a HD to it, it's just really cheap to do it now (but it's a 20GB one).
  • strikethemdown, on 10/15/2008, -12/+4Dear lord, how many of these had RROD's
    • aladrin, on 10/15/2008, -2/+6None of them. The units are brand new. Only the hard drive is refurbished.
    • slstudios, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1Dear lord, how many ppl did not completely read the article?
  • dddavid, on 10/15/2008, -14/+71 - It still comes with the RROD eventually.
    2 - It still isn't a Wii, so it lacks the BROAD appeal of the Wii. MS doesn't get it if it thinks the appeal of the Wii has anything to do with price. The Wii is popular because of the playability of the games (for the masses). Yes, the graphics on the PS3 and XBOX are beautiful, and there are some very cool LOOKING games on it. But for my FAMILY (with young kids) a Wii is a much better fit.
    • MrBabyManSTFU, on 10/15/2008, -3/+7The appeal of the wii was they had innovative controllers and it was fun for the whole family; unfortunately the appeal quickly wears off when you realize the games suck balls at which time you'll put the Wii away and break out the 360/PS3 again.

    • slstudios, on 10/15/2008, -0/+21 - My launch 360 has been used more than Bangkok streetwalker on social security, never once RROD'd. Current units have the new chipset and heatsinks. RROD's are yesterday's issue. Get with it.

      2 - Got the Wii on launch also. It now serves as a dust magnet.
  • barnett25, on 10/15/2008, -3/+8What I want to know is when I can get a Jasper based Xbox 360, and how I can make sure that is what I am getting.
    • username9000, on 10/15/2008, -3/+5Falcon motherboards do not Red Ring, but if you really want to wait check this site and wait for the jaspers to show up.
      http://www.360drives.com/list?v_videomode=ntsc&v_d ...
      • guttertalk, on 10/16/2008, -3/+2That is not true, especially since I have a Falcon that went RROD. One of the causes of RROD is the graphics chipset overheating, which is still at 90 nm for the Falcon. It might reduce the percentage of RROD, but it hardly eliminates it. There's a reason for coming out with Jasper.

        3 years and 4 chipsets before even coming close to manufacturing something resembling a quality product.

  • MrFurious2k, on 10/15/2008, -2/+3This is a really smart move. If they'd just release a Blueray Drive (and improve their DVD playback software), I'd be in heaven. :)
    • SillyRabbits, on 10/15/2008, -0/+8Why do people keep asking for a silly Blueray drive? You can already buy a stand alone blu-ray player for $200 and that price is only going to drop. Anything MS could put out would cost more than that. I've never found a DVD player, on any game system, that comes close to the ease and efficiency of a stand alone player interface and remote. If people want a Blueray player, just buy a damn player - an inexpensive solution to your problem is already on the market.
      • MrFurious2k, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2You have to understand that Bluray has been a moving target for a while. They’ve been changing the specs essentially to support different “profiles”. Profile 2.0 requires things like Ethernet, local storage, and secondary video processing. Considering this moving target, the PS3 and (potentially) Xbox provide a packaged solution with the capability to evolve as the profiles do. In a sense, they’re a means of future proofing our investments.
        A lot of us have Xboxes (or is that Xboxen?) already. I don’t want to waste additional inputs or have to support yet another device in my home theater. I already have a ton of things connected. It’d be convenient and helpful if I could just get a drive for it. Microsoft has a lot of work to do to improve DVD playback, but the Xbox could be a nice already in-place solution.
      • SillyRabbits, on 10/15/2008, -0/+5@MrFurious2k

        Profile 1.1 also required secondary video processing and local storage. The only thing profile 2.0 added was the ethernet connection (which many 1.1 players had) and upped the storage requirement from 256MB to 1GB - those are pretty minor things. All you have to do is buy a player that is compatible with 2.0 and you'll be future proofed for a number of years. I, and many others, actually prefer having the inputs/outputs separated. It sure makes switching between activities much easier (unless you use the same audio surround settings to play games as you do for watching movies). Anyway, I still don't see why people want MS to sell them a $300 blu-ray drive that needs a xbox360 before it will even work, when they will simply be able to buy a full stand alone player for
    • slstudios, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1Will not buy BluRay. Please do not include it in the 360.
  • cypherstream, on 10/15/2008, -9/+220GB for $20? $1 per GB? Can't they do a little better on that? Just saw a 160GB 2.5" drive on pricewatch for $10 with free shipping. .0625 cents per GB vs. $1 per GB? Microsoft, get over yourself.
    • myranttoyou, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4First off, it's called an ACCESSORY don't buy it if it is so bad.

      Secondly, the console has a 3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core CPU? Lets see you buy that for a PC for $200.

      Everyone has figured out at this point you pay a premium because the hard drive works on the 360, not the size of the hard drive. The same thing goes for "MP3s" you buy for Rock Band, which cost less on iTunes.

      Buy it or don't, but either way STFU about the hard drive price. The 360 is an incredible value. For the anti-MSFT Ars site to admit this, it has to be true.
    • paulvq, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4That's not how it works. You're buying something that works only with the 360 from the only company that makes them. Of course it's going to be more expensive than a standard desktop hard drive.
  • o0joshua0o, on 10/15/2008, -9/+4The only reason I haven't bought one yet is the RROD issue. I don't care how much they cut the price if that is still around.
    • slstudios, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1My launch 360 has been used more than Bangkok streetwalker on social security, never once RROD'd. Current units with the Falcon chipset (or Jasper) will not RROD. That's an issue of the past. Still, you get 3 yr coverage for it anyhow.
  • smoger, on 10/15/2008, -1/+9this is a very good deal, especially now that arcade's are packing in Sega Superstars Tennis.. so for $220 you get the console, 5 arcade games, SST, 20gb hard drive, and 512mb memory unit.

    but on the other hand.. it won't hurt the Wii's sales much at all. people aren't flocking to stores just looking to buy "a videogame".. they're flocking to stores to buy "a Wii". If price had anything to do with it, they wouldn't be selling for over MSRP everyday of the year on ebay and craigslist.
  • shaneomac27, on 10/15/2008, -9/+320 bucks for a refurbed 20GB HD is a ripoff but id do it anyway
    • mjm65, on 10/15/2008, -1/+1no, $150 for a 120GB hard drive is a ripoff, and a bad move. I think the xbox marketplace would do much better if the hard drive prices/sizes were reasonable. The xbox team could have just offered a much bigger hard drive at a slight increase in price. For example,

      $200 for a 500GB hard drive sounds much more reasonable than $150 for 120GB

      offering refurbished drives at $20 is a step in the right direction, assuming the failure rates are not alarmingly high like the product its attached to.
  • myranttoyou, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3Anyone try it? I have a launch core (yah no RROD) and it didn't accept my console ID/info.

    Is it because I bought my own hard drive, and it knows it's been used on it before? Despite that purcahse, I still want to take advantage of this offer.
  • emazur, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3$220 for the system/hd/mem card + game in soon-to-be-released bundle is a really good deal. I only have an original xbox and was thinking about buying a Wii so I could play Fire Emblem and also the Gamecube Fire Emblem. This announcement definitely makes me reconsider at least a little (but I REALLY like the Fire Emblem series)
  • capecareys, on 10/15/2008, -2/+5Anyone else have a repaired/refurbished replacement unit from Microsoft and have the codes rejected even though their original broken unit was an arcade and eligible?

  • opensourcer, on 10/15/2008, -11/+2no thank you...i'm willing to pay more for a console with bluray and a HD
    • KobraKommander, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2so how long is going to take you to save up for the pos3 since your making your money pimping your mom out?
  • nazsco, on 10/15/2008, -10/+2But my wii does not requires towels.

    thank you.
    • KobraKommander, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2apparently it doesn't need games either to get dumb asses like yourself to buy them huh?
      oh and your welcome felchmonkey....
  • guttertalk, on 10/15/2008, -9/+3As a 360 owner, I can say that at $200, it's overpriced because you're practically guaranteed to see it get the RROD within a year. I've had 3, and my brother is on his fourth. I'm in a 360 LAN group, and everyone is on least their second 360. Sure, there's a warranty so you get to sit and wait for several weeks while your subpar console is fixed or replaced.

    • ociris, on 10/16/2008, -0/+0I call BS on you. Just the fact that you stated that the 360 is subpar shows that you don't own one. If you really own a 360 you know for a fact that it has the MAJORITY of the most awesome games out there.

      I have all three consoles. I think the 360 is so AWESOME that i have two of them. One in my living room, the other in my bedroom. Both have experienced the RROD at least once (last time was over a year ago), and yet IMHO the 360 still bests the PS3 in my book.

      PS. I dont think you own a 360. Seeing your friends 360 RROD doesn't mean they think the 360 is subpar. Also waiting 2 to 3 weeks is not as painful as you think. Unless if it happens next week when Fable 2 comes out.
      PPS. Have you ever seen or heard a PS3 LAN party?
  • rickyroca, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4Dont forget to add $20-$50 for the audio adapter for optical audio (if you're not HDMI audio capable) when using HDMI for video.
    Microsoft Xbox 360 HDMI AV Cable. Even still, this is a fantastic deal.
  • XTrek, on 10/16/2008, -1/+2I was just commenting that the link you gave is to a refurbished unit that will probably be not be the latest mobo. if you want make sure you get the new chipset you should probably get a new off the shelf unit.
  • Rioracer916, on 10/16/2008, -0/+1It's nice to see these machines falling in price like this.

    $199 sounds good to me. $20 extra for a HDD beats paying $99. Too bad I already have a Halo 3 edition Xbox 360 or I would jump at this.

    Nintendo needs to step up their game, get 3rd parties to take the Wii seriously. I've been playing more old Gamecube games on mine than Wii games in the past 6 months. I like the Animal Crossing games, but I can't see myself spending $50 on a game that will no doubt be the excatly same as the last two.

    Sony has the hardware, but seems to be floundering on the software side of things. This new angle of game development that encourages multi-console ports doesn't really work in Sony's favor. I don't need or particularly want a blu-ray player, and I don't want to buy tv shows/music/and movies from either Microsoft or Sony
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