Xbox 360 Arcade officially $199

M$ Got cornered and did the only thing that could save their market share!unfortunately this diminishes the value and life of the 360!

vaya que si es el ganador por su consola xbox 360 arcade (consola austera), por el momento no tiene competidores, al menos que nintendo como sony saquen alguna consola similar, podran competir=....

xbox360 is the winner man...wicked exclusives, great price. And u can get the 20gb hard drive and a 3 mo. xbox live membership for $29!

Wait, what js0823 I've obviously never owned a 360 for that fact kept up with the details, "Arcade" is just a Xbox 360 that doesn't come with a hardrive or from the sounds of it doesn't even have one?

Hmmm, where i live, an Xbox360 (elite) cost 690$. Its kinda sad tp think how we gets things here. At least its flashed and games cost only 5$ :P

@gijerky Those people who doesn't download 3GB games on their Xbox hard drive and could care less about downloading movies. Those people who just play 360 games will buy one for cheaper price.

who is going to buy a 360 without a hard drive?

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nanaki21 - I wont even bother with the rest of your rhetoric, but as far as the 360 not having "True HD" like the PS3, that is a complete farse. FYI - The 360 and PS3 are capable of the SAME resolutions, the 360 simply excels at scaling said content where the PS3 has had a rougher time at doing that. Really, I get a kick out of people who follow Sonys "magical names" sales practice, and think that because Sony tries to call things something strange that they are somehow better than the competition. HD is HD, it is 1280x720 or 1920x1080 both either being progressive or interlaced. Both video cards in both systems support both resolutions (among others), and are both in fact "True HD" or "Full HD" or "Magic HDness", whatever you choose to call it. However, one question... How are those dual HDMI outputs doing for you?... Oh thats right, the PS3 didnt have the power to drive both at once, so they cut one. So much for forward thinking... EDIT - And before the response of "But it didnt have HDMI to start with", I will respond to that too. HDMI doesnt make HD. HDMI is simply another cable to connect your device to a display. People using VGA have had HD and higher resolutions for years and didnt need HDMI to do it, same goes with the consoles. Cables dont make the picture, they just carry it to the display.

We have a winner!

I think failure rate has been dropped significantly!

Good News. What i really wanna hear is that the system is RRod free :)

EXCELLENT!!! just in time for Gears 2

this is a good thing that microsoft dropped the price of the 360 , making it even more affordable. its the most affordable system with the best game line up. and those people that think 360 is running out of steam are totally wrong. the 360 is capable of alot more.microsoft is also adding in new features like hard drive install of the games so it can load faster. which ps3 depends alot on. to run games on par with the 360.and still alot of games on the 360 look much better than ps3.no matter how much processing power the ps3 has it will always be limited by the gpu. the 360 was out for 3 years and still the ps3 hasnt fully caught up in terms of graphics. the 360 also has the best online gaming. i keep hearing people say ps3 is the future.? future of what exactly, the ps3 could barely run games on the same level as the 360 and people say its the future. thats the kind of crap you hear from the ps fanboys that dont know anything. hardware along does not make a console future proof. its also the software.

Xbox 360 has the biggest and best lineup of games in every genre. Xbox 360 now has the lowest price. Bottom Line: If you are buying a console for games, the Xbox 360 is easily the best system. If you are also into downloading your favorite TV Shows in HD, then you can also buy the Pro system for only $299 (and it comes with 2 awesome games!). The Pro system now has a 60GB hard drive, which is more than you would ever need to store all your favorite stuff. The $199 Arcade system comes with a big memory card that can hold lots of Xbox Live Arcade games, and save all the stuff you need it to.

nanaki thats some wall of text you have there!

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people talk trash about the wii? not a fan of it, but i really enjoy the wii. and if i remember correctly, it sold more consoles then both 360 and ps3. anyway, if 360 didnt have so many bugs and microsoft wasnt that stupid in trying to beat sony to the release date, they would have one amazing system, not saying its not a awesome system, but they could have done better. bad besides, all the systems have their ups and downs, so cant really say which is better, it all depends on the person whos playing it.

@nanaki21 What is with that wall of text?!?

ps3 is the future ladies and gentlemen, lol I know some of you people don't want to hear that and you can try to shut me up but let the sales and capabilities speak for themselves. The fanboys are rampant on this, all I see is tons of disagreements everytime someone mentions that the ps3 is good, or the wii, that shows you xbox fans, some losers actually spend their time clicking disagree throughout all the comments, that is pretty sad. You can feel good about yourselves when you disagree on here but it doesn't change the truth and the life of the ps3 is just beginning. Microsoft is ripping you people off, when they first released the xbox they were skeptical of the ps3 but now its apparent that they are getting scared of it. The xbox is plagued with probably the most errors of any console ever released, if you don't believe me then look it up. Everything from the 1 Ring [complete death] warranty doesn't cover the 1 ring so you can't get it fixed for free. The 2 Ring and the 3 ring of death. Xbox 360 also has a history of scratching discs because it was cheaply made and rushed, and the cooling system is horrible leaving many with a melted board. And I think whats funniest of all is that they know they didn't have TRUE HD so they figure they would add it in an update and guess what people, they can't even do that right leaving alot of people with a bricked system because of the update. The list of errors with this system just goes on and on, its unbelievable. Think about it, Microsoft is making you go through trouble and making you pay for things that aren't necessary, they are so dumb they actually tried releasing this garbage without a hard drive, obviously you will be coming back to get one later. Reliability goes a long way, it will come back to haunt microsoft. As for the wii, I will state once again, Nintendo continues to amaze, and despite its casual audience it is still kicking ass so get over it people, respect Nintendo for it introduced the world to gaming, I am not saying you have to like Nintendo but atleast respect what it has done.

@Yuck_Too, I absolutely agree. Apparently a lot of people have never heard of Cat5/6 cables nor that gaming on an ethernet connection is superior to wireless. There may be a small percentage that for some reason can not run a cable, but I'm guessing those people's parents won't let them run one or they are "stealing" the Internet connection from a neighbor. For everybody else, spend the time to run the cable. Even if you have a long way to go between rooms, it does not take that much work to run a hidden cable. It is well worth it.

Thanks, maniac77! Pretty much what I figured and even stated in my previous post. I will eventually get the XBOX 360 again because aside from the hardware failures I really like the games and the controller, but I will wait until all the kinks are taken care of! In the meantime, I'll just finish the XBOX and PS2 games that I never completed, as well as play the new ones I have bought at very low cost! My PS3 I will keep for the exclusives, eventually buy a HDTV, and then when I do get my XBOX 360 I will trade in my XBOX and PS2 along with all the games that are not backward compatible. You know what I really wish, but know it will never happen, that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony would all join forces, share their technologies, etc..., and make 1 incredible system that could be expandable/upgradeable! The software companies, game developers, etc..., would then just have to focus on making games for 1 system which would make it easier and better for everyone! But, that's kind of like John Lennon's song; "Imagine", which will never happen due to the love of money, power, and even the enjoyment of competition! Oh well, thanks again. Peace and Happy Gaming to All!

$199 is the sweet spot if you don't take the hard drive into consideration. They should have bundled the arcade version with a 20gb hard drive but they probably don't want to manufacture 3 HD sizes simultaneously.

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the second best for less, really.

artson you seem to have a real lack of knowledge on the hardware of both the 360 and ps3. the ability to natively display 1080p comes from the gpu the 360's gpu not only can produce 1080p natively but is a far more powerful gpu than the gt 7800 based ps3 gpu. dont talk smack unless you know what your talking about. also 200k units is a drop in the bucket when your looking and numbers in the millions and a reduced sellthough of at least that much is more than expected when info is leaked on a big price reduction in upcoming months. the 360 still has well over twice the installed base in the US (the most important market) with 12.27 mill compaired to 5.7 with the ps3.... THATS HUGE!

$199 is a great price for the Xbox Live Arcade. $199 is one of the really key price points for consoles. Over 75% of console sales occur at the price of $199 or lower. The fact that the Arcade version of the Xbox 360 includes a big 512MB Memory Card means that you can play your Xbox 360 games and have the ability to save your games and download a lot of Xbox Live Arcade games the instant you connect your system. Plus, the $299 Pro version of the Xbox 360 now includes a 60GB hard drive that is more than most people would ever need to download all of their favorite TV shows and movies. I'm pretty sure the $299 version of the Xbox 360 even comes with two games--Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. That is like saving another $100 if you can find one that has those games included. Last year the Xbox 360 outsold the Wii when Halo 3 launched, even though the Xbox 360 was priced so much higher. Now that the Xbox 360 is priced lower than the Wii, I fully expect the Xbox 360 to outsell the Wii during the 4th quarter, especially when Gears of War 2 is released.

your right on the 4.5 million, but that is over a 2 year period........as for the 360 slighly out selling the PS3 if 200,000 per month is slightly my goodness math must be a poor subject for you ......even better to back up my aurgument then with the 20 gig price cut........ For a system that cant produce natieve 1080P your claim on the graphics chip is lame. the PS3 doesnt need software to upgrade to 1080p. But all this is apples to apples my whole point is that with the 20 gig price cut i read lines and lines of fanboys claiming that its the end for the ps3 now at that time it was 19 million 360s vs 13.8 million PS3's 2 months later the PS3 makes up a 1/2 million units on the 360.we started this year with the 360 having a 6.6 million advantage and a year head start and in 9 months the ps3 has made up 1.5 million units. I just don't think the price cut will make that much of a differance if it does great but if the price cut in europe 4 months ago and 2 months ago in the usa hasnt made a Differance then what is this really going to do. The arcade as i mentioned requires several upgrades to make it worth while hense more would rather purchase the elite. If the elite is at the same price point as the PS3 with this years line up of games I and many pundits believe this will be the PS3's year as was 360's year in 2007 I own both systems and thier is a big differance on a good HD TV As a recent aticle stated the 360 is coming to its cap on game development where as the PS3 is just begining. either way I will still enjoy games on both systems But with only ! must have title for my 360 this year and 5 for my PS3 I believe that all the hype of how the PS# is dead id false hope on your parts. Good luck on the bets. But my money is on the WII even though I really hate the system.

"Predictions" from analysts almost always mess up. Metal Gear Solid 4 is perfect proof of this. MGS4 was ranked #1 in sales in June of 2008, but in just one month's time, MGS4 dropped out of the Top 10. In fact, in July of 2008, MGS4 dropped all the way down to #34 in terms of sales...that was a surprise, because it shows Metal Gear Solid 4 was actually a sales disappointment.

It is over for micro$oft. They should throw in the towel and go back to making crappy operating systems.

jigil8- Honestly, I think you are good either way. RIGHT NOW I'd say 360 is the way to do. Better games and more of them. PS3 is catching up. The price is coming down to a realistic level and some cool games are coming down the pipeline. As blancobo put it... its a great time to be a gamer. As to the technical problems with 360... they are still there but not nearly as bad. MS has moved to a 65 nm process and made motherboard revisions to stabalize things and keep the 360's innards cooler. There is still a chance you will get a RROD but not nearly as much with the newer models. And from what I understand the console replacement now is quick, about a one week turnaround with no questions asked if things go smoothly, which they dont always do. Bottom line: You can get either system and be enjoying some awesome games. Just a matter of preference. (ie exclusives and whether or not BD playback is important to you)

The thing is, it sounds like a good deal but you still have to shell out $100 for the hardrive to make the thing any good. No one wants to use those dinky memory cards.

This is a great move. It will enhance the 360 marketshare all while subtracting sales from its competitors.

Sorry to post again, but just thought I'd try to get some feedback from all you gamers out there. As I stated in my previous posting, (briefly), I have an XBOX and a PS2 that I am playing games I never finished, and bought new ones I missed out on. I also have a PS3, which was a gift, but just a few games for it. I had 3 XBOX 360's die on me before the extended warranty came around, so I gave up. Now, I'm 53, disabled, don't play online or with others, just single player, and don't have an HDTV, but I love video games, (going back to the Atari days), and spend most of my time playing games. If I had to choose 1, and only 1 system, with my situation, which system do any of you feel would be right for me between the PS3 or the XBOX 360? Please, I don't want to start a mess here with what they call "fanboys", just some sincere opinions, advice, etc..., ok? Also, no offense to Nintendo or it's fans, but no Wii for me. If this is not the place to discuss this, can you tell me where I can go for input on this subject? One final thing, have they fixed the problems with the XBOX 360's hardware? I know there's an extended warranty now, but I still don't wish to go through the grief I was put through 3 times already. Thanks in advance, Peace, and Happy Gaming!

Clarification: the Red Ring is still a problem. That is why the warranty is still for 3 yrs. Secondly, the price points is a very competitive one, though a HDD is a must and there are a couple of bucks required there. Fact- the PS3 still gives you a great BD player (which none other system gives you. But in the end, having a cheap 360 is a great kick for all new comers, considering the library of exclussives the 360 has. These are definitively great times to be a gamer. I just wish I would have waited to purchase a cheaper 360 console.

The PS3 has Blu-Ray, Wifi, Free Online and DS3 (finally). What they don't have is HDMI cable, Headset, 100% Trophies/Achievements, B/C and a enormous amount of quality games like the XBox 360. People will be able to get a Xbox 360 Arcade this X-Mas with 2 games for under $300. You won't be able to do that with the PS3 at retailers. The 360 Arcade is not pointless. Not every gamer plays online. The Arcade is a good starting point for younger kids and people who just want to play these games at home with family and friends. You don't need Wifi, XBox Live, Blu-Ray or a HDD to do that. There is so much damage control in this thread, it isn't even funny. Cows trying to find a reason why a price drop on the XBox 360 is a bad thing. LOL!! Typical.

OK... this is stupid. Bluefalcon... your "facts" are skewed. Badly. You list a "cooling fan" and "xbox live points"? And a "wireless rechargable controller"? Sounds like you are reaching here. You also list "HDMI" on the PS3 as "free"? What, its not "free" on 360? Oh thats right... I brought my 360 into the shop and had it put in. Only set me back about $3000. Damn HDMI. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Yes, the 360 has had technical problems. Plenty. MS rushed the console out to beat Sony to market. The RROD issue, while still an issue, is much less these days. And it has to be said MS stepped up and said Yeah.. Our Bad.. and has been replacing broken consoles with a 3 year warranty. I have never had problems with mine, and I think all these people who say "Oh I'm on my uh... 34th Xbox 360!" are full of crap. Exaggeration is the hallmark of a good story I suppose. I'm no fanboy.. I have a 360 and like it. I am also very interested in the PS3 now that Sony has pulled it together and has some good games rolling in. I might pick one up soon. Just dont try and distort the facts. I wish the 360 had built in wi-fi too. Its really dumb that they do not. And to pay $100 for the stupid thing is not cool at all. Oh yeah... and this whole "BLU RAY!" thing.... Dont get too excited yet. Blu Ray suffers from the disadvantage of being a PHYSICAL media. Technology = Convenience, for better or worse. This is why Hollywood and Blockbuster video stores are shutting down left and right. Yes, Netflix is partly responsible, but hell... why even have movie discs mailed to you, blu-ray or otherwise, when you can just download or stream movies? Nexflix has seen a lot of success with their PC streaming service. Microsoft making a deal with Netflix is suddenly looking like a smart move after the HD DVD fiasco. OH and yet another thing. MS does not "bully" developers into making games. Xbox 360 has a larger installed base right now. Fact. Its very profitable for a developer to make games for the 360, particularly in the US, Europe, and Canada. Yes, MS greases some palms to make things happen, but Sony has been guilty of the very same thing. To deny that is to ignore how business is done.

@BluFalcon you should just buy a wi-fi adapter for your 360. You should know this man!

wow'' 6th comment, and one of my comments already have 7 people disagree, ahahahaa, technically, I'm not a fanboy, I just hate Microsoft, and I won't bother typing a huge list of why I hate Microsoft, because it'll take me 2 hours of hardwork typing, and get deleted my the moderator, coz they're real facts. @marginalvalue I'm sorry to say, but the RROD is still on, that's for the early models, ur right about that, but the future ones will be rainbow, that'll be so cool. Personally, @ 07, I was about to buy a 360 for christmas, until Halo 3 came out, Learning all the 350 technical problems and hardware problems. Next it was the death of the HD DVD, finally I calculated the price total of buying a 360, and a PS3 360 Console £250 Wi-Fi £30 Cooling Fan £20 Game £50 Xbox Live £35 Xbox Live Points £30 Wireless rechargable controller(no motion) £32 Total = £447 + £100 for 2 more games PS3 Console £300 HDMI £Free 2 Games £Free Blu-Ray movie £Free Sixaxis £ Free It has Wi-Fi built in and Free online Total £300 + £50 for 1 More game so which ones more worth it for xmas a Xbox 360 for £547 = $1194(roughly) or PS3 for £350 = $700(roughly) and that leads me of buying a PS3 after all the stuff crammed full of entertainment and quality in that heavy box, personally, I hated the PS3 like mad until I got it. It has MGS4, Tekken 6, and FF13 but wait.... Isn't FF13 for the 360 as well??? That is when I've learned the way of Microsoft forcing video game developers to release exclusive games for the 360, and that made me so angry towards Microsoft, and since that day, I will hate MGS forever, but on the bright side, I still use Windows Vista, so I still like some part of Microsoft, I just don't like their consoles

Lol Don mattrick only cares about beating Sony

the 360 has a far better gpu than the ps3 and will always have graphical superiority over the ps3 because of that and the better memory layout the 360 has. so lets see better graphics half the price and better games with a far larger library... seems like a reason to buy it to me.

the amount of fan boyage on this site...is just abominal it may be useless to you but its not to someone who dosent want live or a hard drive and just wants to play the game..i personally see nothing wrong with that, i like both systems but i own a 360 and im not going to sit here an argue over a product I DIDNT MAKE im just here to play it....seriously why the f*** did the sony fanboys click on this link this s*** has nothing to do with ps3 you all just wanted to come in here and pollute with useless nonsense

Off topic here, but is anyone else experiencing "weirdness" with the comments section? Posts keep disappearing and then reappearing on me.

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Still a total con.

No matter how many consoles Nintendo or Sony sell it dosen't prove anything other then that people are stupid. Me included. I bought both (and an Xbox 360) and both (Ps3 and Wii) SUCK! I NEVER play them. I did the first few weeks I had them thinking these were going to be great consoles. WOW! I was DEAD wrong. PS3 even with it's Blu-ray player is no better then 360 and in fact has things about it that ARE worse PSN being the MAIN culprit. People tend to realize their mistakes AFTER they make them and after I bought a PS3 and Wii I learned my mistake. How to waste money on hype.

artson1966 - you might want to do a little fact checking next time. It was the 20 gig SKU that was reduced to clear out that inventory for the new 60 gig SKU - not the Arcade. Also, the first Gears game sold over 4.5 million copies - MGS4 shipped (not sold) 3 million. GoW2 will easily eclipse sales of MGS4 (only GTAIV will likely end up topping Gears in sales this year and that's because it's multiplatform). Software does sell units which is why it's important to note that both Wii and 360 dominate shelf space at retailers with their appreciably larger game lineups. More importantly, 360 has more quality games currently in its lineup. There's plenty of good games on PS3 too (and more on the way), but your arguments aren't backed up by facts. Don't mix subjective opinions with objective facts.

ya its true artson1966 the ps3 has slightly outsold the 360 since word of the coming price break leaked out... i wonder why??? before that the 360 was pounding the ps3.. cry all you want but once the price break hits again ps3 will be a distant 3 again in monthly slae and of course the ps3 is way behind the 360 in cumlitive sales. ps3 15 mill 360 20.5 mill. i have a ps3 had a ps2 and ps and would be happy to support their lastest effort if it didnt have such poor hardware.. usinging the low power gt 7800 tech for there gpu was a terrrible choice and makes it so they will never have the graphic prowess of the 360 priod ...

this is great, know you are getting A LOT for the price....

ff7isnumbaone what has a better library Wii Ps3 Ha a Joke really