Microsoft sort of owns up to the Xbox 360 Arcade

Well, it looks like Microsoft has acknowledged what we've known for almost a week -- the Xbox 360 Arcade is real and shipping. When asked by the Financial Times, Microsoft's Robbie Bach said the $279 console was designed to draw in gamers who are "more casually focused, they're looking for a new family experience or they're more price focused." Robbie might want to tell the rest of Microsoft that the cat's out of the bag though -- their PR reps are still telling our buds at Joystiq that they don't have anything to announce.

[Via Joystiq]

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 18th 2007 6:29PM]

The only reason I could see it thinkable to by the Xbox360Arcade is that though it lacks a hard drive, you can go directly for the 120GB HD instead of the 20GB.

Strangely, it comes with HDMI and Composite cable but lacks COMPONENT?
That is wierd cause most low end HDTV's have COMPONENT cable links and lack HDMI. Why bother making a brand new cable without Component? all this cable costs like $3 in China anyway.


What MS should have done was left out HDMI and thrown in a Wifi adapter. If Nintendo Wii has one and PS3 has one, there is no reason 360 should be stuck with that stupid antenae attachment.

[TeknoKid @ Oct 18th 2007 6:43PM]

It has an HDMI port not the cable.. all the new hardware revisions of the Xbox 360 have added the HDMI port..

I am buying this because I already have a Premium which I have upgraded the hard drive on so I have a spare 20GB hard drive.. plus the TV in the rec-room has HDMI inputs.. this is exactly the package I have been waiting for..

As far as wireless goes.. I wouldn't want to be forced to buy wireless networking which I am never going to use with a gaming system.. I'm much happier leaving it as an optional add in..

[jroc @ Oct 18th 2007 7:34PM]

They all have HDMI because it is cheaper to create new processors around a similar mobo. It is like buying yellow and blue skittles, you save money if you only offer one colour.

[JAmerican @ Oct 18th 2007 6:45PM]

Its funny because the Wii doesn't have Ethernet built in and the 360 doesn't have WiFi built in, but PS3 has both.

Don't get me wrong, I got a Xbox 360 Premium and love it. Thanks to a few mods... http://www.jamerican.net/?p=48. No freezing or RROD :). The games are great too. COD4 for the Win!

JAmerican

[DickHardknocks @ Oct 18th 2007 6:55PM]

I can't tell you how pissed I was when I found out that I had to spend $80 on a Wifi adapter for my Premium Xbox360 wherein the Wii already had one - at that time the PS3 specs claimed it would too.

And my question is WHY? Why do you have to spend 300% more on a wifi adapter that shoulda been built in? The Chinese make this stuff dirt cheap and sell a typical wifi adapter for $25 in China.

And what is really stupid about it is the fact the 360 has a USB port in the back specifically for the wifi adapter. Why include a USB port you know will be used by a component that will stay installed 99% of the time?

And then...they didn't integrate a Wifi into the Elite... and then they didn't make a new BLACK colored wifi adapter for the Elite.

GODDAMN YOU MICROSOFT.

That's why Apple is kicking your ass in 2/5 markets.

[Manuel @ Oct 19th 2007 9:42AM]

DickHardknocks, go back to play with your iPod.

[Alan @ Oct 18th 2007 6:48PM]

It is a great idea to have a new console, although I believe that having no memory is not a very good dea, anyway xbox 360 rocks and it has amazing games like halo 3 and upcoming ones like GTA IV

[The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 18th 2007 6:51PM]

The hardware in ALL current XBox 360 models is identical, except for different DVD drives. They couldn't "leave HDMI out" because that would require building a whole separate console, with different parts, and would require more factory space/time, more workers, different parts, etc.

The differences in the XBox SKUs is the amount of accessories they pack-in, and the color of the DVD tray cover. That's it. IN the Arcade they omit the hard drive accessory, add a memory card, and supply only the most basic of cables to cater to the lowest common denominator.

In other words, this console is for people who want to play games, but don't necessarily have an HDTV or broadband Internet access. It's upgradable to be identical to a Premium/Pro, and to an Elite (save for the color). You only need to buy the accessories as you need them.

Some people do not have the capability to use XBox Live, or simply do not want to go online with their game console, and as such the hard drive is almost useless for them. They won't be downloading demos, movies, tv shows, or XBox Live Arcade games. They only need a memory card for saved games.

Some people don't have an HDTV, or might have one but don't let the kids play video games on it. They only need composite connections because they are still the most popular connection for SDTVs. If they decided to upgrade to HDTV, they could simply buy an HDMI cable, the VGA-HD cable, or the Component cable and their XBox 360 would do the same as any other XBox 360.

The only reason they market the Arcade SKU is to get people who aren't on the bleeding edge of technology to try the system. Clearly, the lack of HD support hasn't hurt the Wii, and MS knows that there are a LOT of people out there who just want to get a video game system, hook it to their old 23" TV in the back room, and plays some games off discs just like they did with the previous generation.

Broadband and HDTV are not as common as you think.

Sure, I have those things-- Most of us geeks online will have them-- but Bubba and Emma Goober from Cow County, Alabama don't have it on their farm. Little Billy Watson doesn't have those things in his room. Grandma Jones doesn't have them in her assisted-living apartment. John & Mary Doe in the middle of the suburbs might not have these things yet, either.

But they all MIGHT still want to play Bioshock.

[JAmerican @ Oct 18th 2007 7:30PM]

"Sure, I have those things-- Most of us geeks online will have them-- but Bubba and Emma Goober from Cow County, Alabama don't have it on their farm. Little Billy Watson doesn't have those things in his room. Grandma Jones doesn't have them in her assisted-living apartment. John & Mary Doe in the middle of the suburbs might not have these things yet, either."

Reading posts like this on Engadget just crack me up.

[hn333 @ Oct 18th 2007 7:09PM]

I rather have a PS3

[Alex Padilla @ Oct 18th 2007 7:20PM]

I'm gonna get flamed like hell for saying this, but...

...I think MS totally screwed up with the Xbox 360. They rushed it to gain marketshare (and ultimately, profits). This was a serious issue with serious ramifications. Look at how much they've spent repairing consoles due to faulty engineering and manufacturing?

And the idea of different levels of console (Core/Arcade, Premium, Elite) is a total joke. Give everyone what they want and offer it at an affordable cost. One system, one price, many audiences. It worked with every console generation before it, why not now?

[stephenbratz2 @ Oct 18th 2007 8:48PM]

Do you think that different levels of the PS3 is OK? There was a 20GB and a 60GB. The 20 was missing wifi, a card reader, and had a smaller HD. The 60 had all of those but you could not upgrade the 20 to the 60. The 20 was dropped because sony said that nobody wanted a crippled version, or that it was confusing to the user (depending on which exec was speaking at the moment). So they stopped selling the 20. Later they introduced the 80GB with a bigger HD and said that they were phasing out the 60 which did not go against their not more than 1 SKU/crippled because you can upgrade - or so we thought as they removed hardware backward compatibility from the 80. So we were technically back to 1 SKU. Now they introduce the 40GB, fewer USB ports, no card reader, and no backward compatibility at all. And do you want the black version, or do you want white. So this means that there have been 5 different versions. If you buy the lower end version, you cannot upgrade to the higher version. You are stuck unless you sell the machine and buy a new one.

But Microsoft screwed up? I bought a core when it first was released. I bought a HD and a couple wireless controls. The difference between my core and premium? The plate on the DVD drive was a different color. I will probably buy this so that I can get a HDMI port and move the old one up stairs with a HD DVD drive connected to watch movies there. And that is the only difference between the different versions - HDMI. I don't need a secret decoder ring and a sony fanboy standing over my shoulder to figure out which options are available and which one I will need for the future (which is the 60GB, something they no longer make). If somebody buys the wrong 360, you just buy the part to upgrade.

[John Cavanagh @ Oct 18th 2007 7:37PM]

Street date on the Arcade is the 26th, anyone selling it before then is breaking the law. Sorry, no photo proof, but they're sitting in Gamestop stock rooms around the country.

[Chris @ Oct 18th 2007 7:46PM]

Breaking street date isn't against the law.

[John Cavanagh @ Oct 18th 2007 8:03PM]

Actually, yes it is. Usually fines for breaking street dates are around $3000 per infraction.

[Kyrra @ Oct 19th 2007 2:03AM]

Gah, it's not against the law. If anything, it would be in violation of a contract which could have consequences tied to it. But it is not against a law set forth by our government.

[Twist @ Oct 18th 2007 7:50PM]

I am still waiting to hear if these are Falcon based or not.

[mrdeis @ Oct 18th 2007 9:00PM]

Does the manufacture date of 9-4-07 imply it is a falcon board? Anyone?

[Castaa @ Oct 18th 2007 9:37PM]

I'm been following the falcon chip saga on the official Xbox 360 Hardware user message boards.

It's still a crap shoot whether you get a falcon or not. There is no definitive way to tell without opening the box, looking through the bottom grill and counting the inductors (round copper wire coils). 3 inductors for zephyr and only 2 for falcon. This might require a flash light to see them.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Oct 18th 2007 8:25PM]

Does it play doo.. wait it does...

[Fyrewerx @ Oct 18th 2007 8:47PM]

My family is one of those that only play vid games occasionally. However, we do have HDTV, and an Hdef certified powerline ethernet connection near that TV.

Therefore, would this Arcade version be suitable as a Windows Media Center "Extender" ???

The HDMI connection is perfect, and I certainly don't need the wifi.

[Castaa @ Nov 11th 2007 1:51AM]

No because it doesn't have a hard drive to store media into. it. Just a 256 MB memory card.

[Maestro @ Oct 18th 2007 9:54PM]

He said Extender. My Xbox does not store anything locally. It is all networked from my media center PC. I dont know if MS requires an HD for the 360 to work as an extender, but I don't see why it wouldn't work without one.

[Nick Catalano @ Oct 18th 2007 10:05PM]

Family-based games... Hmm... I wonder what platform is designed, and excels wonderfully, in that arena...

[smite @ Oct 18th 2007 11:15PM]

xbox arcade is on xbox.com now

[tehpyro @ Oct 19th 2007 12:42AM]

Shipping?!?1 I work at best buy canada and we've had it on the shelf for a week!

[aoeu00 @ Oct 19th 2007 11:29AM]

Main thing that's held me from buying a 360 is it not having a built-in HD-DVD support. I would even pay a little premium for that.. but, it may not even be possible because of compatibility issues? /shrug

[problematik @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:56AM]

@ joseph

WHAAAAT???

[gatdammit @ Dec 7th 2007 11:08PM]

@Castaa


http://forums.xbox.com/15804553/ShowPost.aspx

well this link just tells you that there is a way to tell whether you're getting the new chipset without opening the box. Basically, look for the PSU to be supplying 175W instead of 203W.