Rumor: Xbox 360 Core to be repacked as Xbox 360 Arcade?

  

Time to see what the rumor mill’s brewing and feeding down the grapevines – and surprisingly, it’s something about the Xbox 360 Core SKU being repackaged as something else entirely. Good news or bad news? Find out as we give you the skinny on this little piece of next-gen gossip that’s got everyone talking.

So, what’s this about the Xbox 360 Core SKU? In a move that seems to mirror Sony‘s discarding of the US$ 499 PlayStation 3 package but with a different twist, it looks like Microsoft‘s rethinking how it should sell the barest bundle of the Xbox 360, which is its Core SKU. Say goodbye to the Xbox 360 Core, and say hello to the Xbox 360 Arcade.

Yes, Arcade. Whether it means the core being reduced to something that connects to Xbox Live to download games now and then, or it’s an Xbox 360 built to be more affordable and accessible to a casual audience, we have no way of knowing. It seems a combination of the two, though, as it’s reported to be sold at EUR€ 279, or US$ 376, with a free Wireless controller and five Arcade games. Here’s the exact “rumor” post, from an alleged source over at Microsoft Belgium, verbatim:

The embargo just lifted on some news I got earlier. At an as of yet unknown date, the Core will be completely phased out and repackaged as the ‘Xbox Arcade: Just Play’ pack. It will come with 5 games (I assume Uno and Pac-Man are two since I believe I saw them on the box art shown), a 256 mb memory card, and will be priced at 279. I’m not 100% sure about this part, but my notes say it will have an HDMI exit, but no cable in the box.

While this may seem like a random move coming from Microsoft, it’s actually pretty solid, as it gives the company a fighting chance against Nintendo’s affordable console. The Core Bundle, packaged as a casual gaming machine, could get the folks who’s currently stuck on what console to buy to consider the Xbox 360 as a legitimate purchase. But of course, these are all just rumors until we get the official word from the big M itself.

Updates as we get them.

  

Time to see what the rumor mill’s brewing and feeding down the grapevines – and surprisingly, it’s something about the Xbox 360 Core SKU being repackaged as something else entirely. Good news or bad news? Find out as we give you the skinny on this little piece of next-gen gossip that’s got everyone talking.

So, what’s this about the Xbox 360 Core SKU? In a move that seems to mirror Sony‘s discarding of the US$ 499 PlayStation 3 package but with a different twist, it looks like Microsoft‘s rethinking how it should sell the barest bundle of the Xbox 360, which is its Core SKU. Say goodbye to the Xbox 360 Core, and say hello to the Xbox 360 Arcade.

Yes, Arcade. Whether it means the core being reduced to something that connects to Xbox Live to download games now and then, or it’s an Xbox 360 built to be more affordable and accessible to a casual audience, we have no way of knowing. It seems a combination of the two, though, as it’s reported to be sold at EUR€ 279, or US$ 376, with a free Wireless controller and five Arcade games. Here’s the exact “rumor” post, from an alleged source over at Microsoft Belgium, verbatim:

The embargo just lifted on some news I got earlier. At an as of yet unknown date, the Core will be completely phased out and repackaged as the ‘Xbox Arcade: Just Play’ pack. It will come with 5 games (I assume Uno and Pac-Man are two since I believe I saw them on the box art shown), a 256 mb memory card, and will be priced at 279. I’m not 100% sure about this part, but my notes say it will have an HDMI exit, but no cable in the box.

While this may seem like a random move coming from Microsoft, it’s actually pretty solid, as it gives the company a fighting chance against Nintendo’s affordable console. The Core Bundle, packaged as a casual gaming machine, could get the folks who’s currently stuck on what console to buy to consider the Xbox 360 as a legitimate purchase. But of course, these are all just rumors until we get the official word from the big M itself.

Updates as we get them.