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Leaked Walmart ad reveals Xbox 360 Arcade with $100 gift card, $300 HP G60 laptop
It's not quite a $99 Xbox 360, but if this apparent Walmart scan via Kotaku is to be believed, that $199 Arcade version is getting a $100 gift card promotion going into effect this Saturday. In real terms, that boils down to a $234 Xbox 360 Pro for first-time buyers, seeing as you'll be needing that $135, 120GB hard drive, too. Also listed are a Sony Blu-ray player for $148 (we're guessing the currently-MSRP'd $199 BDP-S360), and a $298 HP G60-519WM, which touts a 2.2GHz Intel Celeron, 15.6-inch HD display, Windows 7 Home Premium, 3GB RAM, and a 250GB HDD -- not a bad followup at all for that Compaq CQ60. Some interesting spy shots from the Slick Deals forum seem to give credence to the scan, although we're still playing wait-and-see -- that $100 gift card with the Xbox 360 arcade is almost too good to be true, even if it is just a clever tactic to clear shelf space in the lead-up to Black Friday. Update: Sure as the sun, an official ad has popped up on Yahoo's front page. Screenshot after the break. [Thanks, just4onepost]
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]
Retailers display Arcade 360 ads
They say that if you don't talk to your kids about drugs someone else will. What you may not know is the exact same thing holds true for video game consoles. For example, Microsoft still hasn't announced that they'll be phasing out the Core 360 to replace it with its sleek, cooler cousin, the 360 Arcade. Meaning we have to get our info ... from strangers. Exhibit X (or is it Y yet?) is this retail stand-up captured by Gamespot, that makes mention of (shock!) the 360 Arcade! All the features are the same as the ones you've heard rumored: five free games, 256MB memory card, a wireless controller, etc. What there's no mention of is the system's price. But, since the other details have held up, we'd bet the $280 we've heard before is spot on. Now, Microsoft, would you kindly announce this thing instead of forcing us to learn about the Arcade on the street?
