Leaked back-of-box chart shows Xbox line winnowing down to Arcade and Elite SKUs

And then there were two? After Microsoft got all cute with us and introduced its current lineup of three concurrent Xbox versions, we thought we'd never get that portion of our limited brain matter back for storing more important things -- like the complicated political structures of Frank Herbert's Dune, for instance. Well, if this recently leaked photo of a revised Xbox 360 Arcade box is any indication, the regular "Xbox 360" SKU is on the outs, to make room for just the Arcade and Elite configurations on each end of the spectrum. Hopefully this means the Elite is also going to shuffle on down to the middle SKU's $300 pricepoint, but we'll have to wait and see. Naturally, Microsoft might just want that third slot for a Project Natal-packing Xbox edition next year, or perhaps this whole different box situation is just a Excel spreadsheet mishap that's gotten way out of hand.

[Via Electronista]

[Jf Posted Aug 5th 2009 6:01PM]

I'm not a huge stickler for grammar, but why does this page have spelling errors on it?

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360elitesystem/

"Also sold separatley."

Seriously? The little red squiggly didn't give you an idea you were spelling that wrong? You did compose it in Word, right Microsoft?

[Jf Posted Aug 5th 2009 6:02PM]

Should have said, "I'm not a huge stickler for grammar, but I expect companies to spell things correctly on their web pages. Why does this page have spelling errors on it?"

[EatMoreBread Posted Aug 5th 2009 10:18PM]

"The little red squiggly didn't give you an idea you were spelling that wrong? You did compose it in Word, right Microsoft?"

Uh oh! The irony meter is spiking!

: )

[intrglctcrevfnk Posted Aug 5th 2009 6:52PM]

Looks like the 'new' elite comes with a composite cable? Does anyone else see that?

I mean come on, at least give us the component cable! I can get an HDMI for .38 cents on amazon, but the component cord is like 60 bucks.

My brother's hdmi is fried on his HDTV so component is the only option, thinking of getting him one for his birthday...

[CityZen Posted Aug 5th 2009 11:57PM]

Yes, it does say that both versions only include a standard definition cable.

I agree that that is a step backwards.

[Ignatius Posted Aug 6th 2009 12:37AM]

That is absolutely terrible. They shouldn't just include an HDMI cable, they should include an optical cable too, along with the standard composite/component mix piece. It's not like it wouldn't cost them much, let alone the good word of mouth you'd get from showing that you actually care about your consumers.

[intrglctcrevfnk Posted Aug 5th 2009 6:52PM]

why dont you remember my password engadget! your password system sucks too btw.

[GingerFox Posted Aug 5th 2009 8:27PM]

This best mean the elite comes down in price then:)

[Jonny Posted Aug 5th 2009 9:45PM]

I work at Sam's Club, and our 360 Arcade display has this same exact thing.

We just got the display cards in last week or so too.

[ZeroCorpse Posted Aug 8th 2009 4:40PM]

I don't care so much about this, but I'd love to see them bring larger hard drives down to a reasonable price for the Xbox 360. They're raping people with their proprietary HDDs.

[The Missing Link Posted Aug 12th 2009 7:19PM]

Personally, I think this is faux. Why would Microsoft do this, especially since Natal is over a year from completion.