360 Arcade memory goes inside

Microsoft dumps free pack-in storage for internal 256MB card in new units of the hard drive-less $199 console.

In September, Microsoft enacted sweeping price cuts to its whole line of Xbox 360s. Most notably, the publisher repriced its budget-line Xbox 360 Arcade to $199, $50 less than current market leader the Nintendo Wii.

To further entice customers to its hard drive-less Arcade model, Microsoft has moved to including a 256MB internal memory unit with all new Xbox 360 Arcade units, the publisher revealed today. The move means that going forward, Arcades will no longer need a memory card to download the New Xbox Experience. Microsoft is eagerly backing the Avatar-based, Netflix-streaming firmware upgrade, even offering now-discontinued Xbox 360 Core system owners free 512MB memory cards and $20 20GB hard drives so they can download the 128MB update.

"We are constantly updating the console's more than 1700 internal components," the publisher said in a statement provided to GameSpot. "We can confirm that we are moving to internal memory for the Xbox 360 Arcade. The physical internal memory is the same size as the previous external memory units--256MB." The downside, of course, is that the Arcade will no longer come with a removable memory card, meaning players will have to purchase one in order to take profiles and game saves to a friend's house.

Microsoft's new pricing structure for the Xbox 360--which also extends to the $299 60GB Pro and $399 120GB Elite 360s--has paid dividends for the hardware maker. Unit sales have progressively jumped since the September cut, rising from 195,200 in August to 347,200 in September and 371,000 in October, according to the NPD Group.

188 Comments

  • daveg1

    Posted Dec 10, 2008 12:16 pm PT

    so they should be updating the components!!

  • rynmls

    Posted Dec 9, 2008 3:56 pm PT

    waiting the arrival in third world countries!!!!

  • notquitesure

    Posted Dec 9, 2008 10:37 am PT

    well i have a ps3 and was about to buy an xbox 360.. the memory card business wasnt an issue and moke no real difference... the difference is that id have to spend alot jus to make the bloomin thing wireless etc etc

    they should make the important things internal

  • gamer082009

    Posted Dec 9, 2008 2:07 am PT

    This should've been included internally from the get go. In fact, it proves that this is the only negative about the 360 and of course the RROD. But at least Microsoft is making a way and figuring it out as they go along. I applaud them for that. Now back to my Gears of War 2!

  • Vote_For_McCain

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 11:06 pm PT

    512mb memory card? Why they hell would you want that when you can get this for only $29.99?

    http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/hddoffer/default.htm

  • Doc_Proc

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 8:49 am PT

    I called M$ twice and they told me the offer about getting the 512mb mem card was false and not supported by M$. I had them go to the link on here and they said it was not true. It is nowhere to be found on xbox.com either.

  • necronaux

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 10:24 am PT

    Free memory (even if it's 256mb, it's free!), and $20 hard drives? Even at $119 the arcade version is still the best buy out there.

  • ahyumifan

    Posted Dec 4, 2008 8:39 pm PT

    256 isn't much, but reasonable... it's like putting the my little flash drive i have in my keychain inside of machine.

  • trw534

    Posted Dec 4, 2008 4:27 pm PT

    i dont like the arcade as much but i like the xbox in general

  • Spoon_Si

    Posted Dec 4, 2008 12:42 pm PT

    my 360 launch pro is out dated.. Will be getting an arcade next year... with jasper, internal memory & yes HDMI...

  • RajMyster

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 6:19 pm PT

    aight luthor i know what u mean....but all i care is that u said u use ur 360 for gaming so UGHHHH ahhh yah ....btw cooooooom brawl was tiight for the month i played it LOL

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 5:56 pm PT

    Does this mean that all of the Arcade units that include the new internal memory are based on Jasper?

  • no_cultureicons

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 4:14 pm PT

    If you're going to buy a 360, you may as well start with the Pro if you can't afford the Elite because you'll soon want more storage space anyway.

    And to the people complaining about Fanboys... yes it's annoying but it'll never stop. It happened in the Sega vs Nintendo days when people would send in drawings of Sonic cutting off Mario's head and vice-versa... and the console mags would print them.

  • jtthegame316

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 4:03 pm PT

    i have not heard of anybody getting rrod latey but people still go on and on about it. whats wrong with sending it back to microsoft to sort it out instead of whining about it i think they have sorted out newer models of xbox. It seems to me because microsoft had a flautly batch at first no matter how much much microsoft sort out the problem sony fan boys are gonna continue to jump on it.

  • GamerDude3282

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 3:55 pm PT

    fanboys... *sigh*

    many of you are uneducated gaming idiots...

    Who really cares as long as you have fun playing video games....

    I remember when "non gamers" gave "gamers" a bad stereotype... then gamers together, fought back....

    why can't we all just get along? really? Is it really important for fanboys to spew what is often uneducated comments back at each other....

  • MiltoxBeyond

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 3:46 pm PT

    I did that... I sold my 360 in south america for $500 and bought a new arcade and used my old hd and such...

  • Lex_Luthor_XLII

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 3:36 pm PT

    @ RajMyster: my bad, the way you worded your first post made it seem like you don't have a PS3. At any rate, your knowledge of electronics does not inspire confidence, to say the least. particularly the blu-ray vs. DVD comment. Like you, I prefer my 360 for gaming. But I would never diss my PS3. There's no way I want to miss God of War 3 or MGS4...and the fact that there's a blu-ray included..well. Long live both systems (the Wii can burn for all I care). Peace.

  • lilsugardaddie

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:54 pm PT

    @fester420
    Yes, you do that. Stick with what's useless

  • gpgn001

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:49 pm PT

    (OCKASSAR) THEY GOT PS3 GAMES BECAUSE THEY BOUGHT A PS3 AFTER THERE 360 BROKE THEY COULDINT TRUST NIETHER I HAVE 360 AND PS3 AND 360 HAS RED RING BUT I MAKE IT OR MANAGE IT TO WORK

  • grunt_destroyer

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:45 pm PT

    i'd rather they stick to the memory card, i always thought that the arcade was a real waste of money, and the pro was always the way to go, but i have a 20gb model at home and am seriously considering buying the arcade version for my dorm, because its cheaper and i already have all the extras, vga cable, ethernet, headset, controller, aswell as the games that come with the holiday bundles, so i don't need doubles of everything, so it seems like a real good deal to me, but only as long as i get the removable memory to move my saved games over from my 20gb version.

  • okassar

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:34 pm PT

    Rofl,this is hilarious,a lot of people saying they have a 360 red ringing like 5 times and on their profile,they have either all PS3 game reviews or all PS3 game reviews + 1 for several 360 games,sad.

    Anyway,that's besides the topic,I think the memory card was fine,but I guess this works too...I mean,I would discourage buying the Arcade anyway,at least get the pro,but if someone does get the arcade with the memory card,it's not like they're going to lose the memory card.MS probably had a problem with putting out all those memory cards though,it's probably cheaper for them to internalize it,or,like this article says,maybe for NXE.

  • Hedfix

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:23 pm PT

    And as for the 'what use is a memory card over a HD?' thing: Having both allows you to have multiple saves for games that are stingy with how many saves you can have. Personally I've a 120GB drive and two memory cards so I can move profiles and go to different saves without a problem.

  • Hedfix

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:20 pm PT

    Great, so when it RRODs you won't be able to transfer stuff over to another 360 and keep on playing. Genius.

  • Toro_Nev posted Dec 3, 2008 2:16 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    Toro_Nev

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:16 pm PT (hide)

    I still want a PS3 more than a 360.

  • teckim

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 2:02 pm PT

    MS is on fire!

  • lamprey263 posted Dec 3, 2008 1:55 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    lamprey263

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:55 pm PT (hide)

    why are people making a bigger deal out of this than it really needs to be?

  • fester420 posted Dec 3, 2008 1:41 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    fester420

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:41 pm PT (hide)

    you know you can buy a 360 arcade and a 250 gb hdd for $50 less than the elite. why in the hell would i want a measly 256mb card? that is the most useless thing i have heard of. but unfortunately i don't have the expendable income to buy a system that will go bad on me in a year. i'll stick to my old dependable backward compatible ps3.

  • familyguyrokz

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:39 pm PT

    ffffffffffffffffffffff
    RAM = MEMORY
    STORAGE SPACE =/= MEMORY
    Get it right.

  • GSgirl

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:38 pm PT

    It is confirm...... Microsoft finally addresses Red Ring of Death with Jasper-based Xbox 360 consoles

    The long-awaited Jasper-based versions of the Xbox 360 have finally emerged on the market. These new consoles have a redesigned motherboard with the new 65-nanometer version of the ATI (now AMD) graphics chip that doesn’t run as hot as previous versions. There are other changes that improve the reliability and usability of the system as well.........read more in

    http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/28/microsoft-finally-addresses-red-ring-of-death-with-jasper-based-xbox-360-consoles/

  • DoMiNiC147

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:36 pm PT

    This will be nice to know in cause my xbox Red rings

  • YTP_1991

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:27 pm PT

    im not gettin a 360 AGAIN until i know the RROD prob is fixed

  • theMarshell

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:13 pm PT

    You all do know that you don't have to buy the Arcade right, remember its advertised as a family console or in other words the arcade is for people who don't game that much. If you want a bigger harddrive the PRO and ELITE are avalible. If you don't like it then buy a PS3 or WII and stop complaining.

  • Momota77

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:08 pm PT

    OK, fix RRoD, and you've got me to buy one...

  • RajMyster

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:07 pm PT

    i lke lord georgeton hes smrt 8-)

  • xatman911

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:04 pm PT

    Good to see they are doing something... now about that Red Ring of Death.

  • Petri87

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:03 pm PT

    @ocdog45 - Why would they get desperate? I dont really get how you came up whit that. The built in memory just makes it that they save some money not having to add the memory unit into tbe Arcade SKU. Also they are selling really well so it cant be because of that eather.

    So plz explain your point so that normal ppl would understand.

  • LordGeorgeton

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 1:00 pm PT

    xbox owns. all day. every day.

  • Bgrngod

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 12:57 pm PT

    Sheesh... only 256mb? Way to go MS, you cheapskates. 1gig SD cards can be bought for like $8 these days.

  • Cow-Juice

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 12:54 pm PT

    How about people just don't be noobs and not buy the Arcade pack?

    EDIT** And also, Red Ring of Death is still just as big a problem as it always was. The truth is that it is still cheaper for microsoft to use the faulty components and replace the whole XBox than it would be to switch their production lines to good parts. Even at the expense of customer convienience/satisfaction. Good job Microsoft!

  • Petri87

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 12:44 pm PT

    @glennvolio - MS has constantly updated the in box hardware since the Xbox days so this is nothing new.

  • RajMyster

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 12:40 pm PT

    luthor**

  • RajMyster

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 12:40 pm PT

    yo lex lutor i in fact do have all the systems wii 360 and ps3 so yeah.....and phase: i never said it matches but still whats the point in blu ray besides hd? sure thats the + side of it for ps3's gain but it gets crappy load times has to take up gigs and gigs of storage to install game data let alone the 2 gig save data. its better for MOVIES and not keeping games on it.

  • glennvolio

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 12:04 pm PT

    Seems good to me. It's nice to have some internal memory built into the system. And I think it's good that MS constantly updates the components inside the box. It shows that they've learned something from the RRoD debacle last year.

  • lilsugardaddie

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:56 am PT

    LOL @ ThAdEa82, so true!

  • keyhole_romance

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:51 am PT

    ClassicPlayer, depending on the games, somewhere between 3 and 5.

  • CodingGenius Site moderator

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:50 am PT

    ClassicPlayer, if you mean game saves, it varies from game to game. Some are a few megs, some much smaller.

  • VirtuaCast

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:41 am PT

    phase4illini

    Maybe his eyes are fine and it's his display.

  • VirtuaCast

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:37 am PT

    It's not like dropping backward capability like Sony did.

  • ClassicPlayer

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:34 am PT

    So if you bought the 256MB, and it used half of that to actually put the update on, how many games ROUGHLY can you fit into the 128MB or so left?

  • phase4illini

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 11:26 am PT

    RajMyster, no offense, but if you honestly believe that the quality of an upcoverted DVD matches that of downloadable or bluray HD formatted movies, it's time for you to get your eyes checked.

    In the grand scheme of things, I think MS is only meeting consumers halfway... though as they are selling the 20GB HDDs for $20, why not just include that in the new Arcade units rather than a paltry 256MB internal flash card.

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Tags

arcade   microsoft   360

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!

Site Blogs