Too bad the "arcade" version doesn't come with a hard drive, which makes it essentially worthless.

I don't have a 360 but can't you play a bunch of games online without a HDD? I mean can you play CoD4 online without it? That could push a lot of systems like that, $230 or something and bam, + other online stuff...

@Zaos: You can. But IIRC you will have to enter all your details manually (to log into your XBL account) everytime you start it up. *Nothing* will be saved... game progress, unlockables, live accounts, nothing. Only data stored on XBL servers like gamerpoints will be saved.

You can do without a hard drive, or memory card, but it is just easier and less headache to get one.

Well, I feel dumb now.

I bought the Elite 360 last Friday from Best Buy, could anyone school me as to whether Bust Buy offers any kind of post-purchase price matching? I would love to get some money back!

(They did let me use a %10 off coupon, but more savings never hurt.)

@dohtem: The Arcade SKU comes with a 256MB memory card.

I need to buy a 360 for christmas, thanks price drop. what's the difference between a regular 360 and an elite?

No kidding. The arcade is a fully functional system, including memory card. Its not as good as a hard drive, but its a long shot from being able to do nothing. This is a great move for MS, as the $200 price point is a major milestone in mainstream adoption.

the elite system has double size hard drive (120 GB vs. 60 GB) and the elite system includes high-definition cables in addition to the standard-definition cables.

So, is this the version "that works"? Being on my 4th 360, I can't recommend it at any price.

The Elite has everything the Pro has and 120GB, HDMI cord, and is Black. The Pro has 60GB (was 20GB) component (HD), composite (SD) and wireless controller, wired headset (to wirless controller), and ethernet cable.

The Arcade has a 256GB Memory Card that is loaded with Arcade games. Though it could probably store a few games saves / Xbox Live info. It has wired controllers.

Overall the Xbox 360 is getting better priced and it all depends how you game and if you desire HD Media from Xbox Live or the Media Center Extender functionality. The $199 Arcade is directed at those who purchase a Wii and does offer great games out of the box for kids etc...

these price cuts are nice, but how about they cut the prices on their accessories as well? I'd like to upgrade my 20 gig HDD that came with my Pro console to a roomy 120 gig HDD, but not for $150! Come on, MS!!!

Meh, I still love my Wii and won't get an XBOX.

@jecowa: The Elite has HDMI and Component cables while the Pro just has component cables. @ LJKelley The Arcade does have a wireless controller now.

Remember, the Red Ring of Death is still free!!
(Although MS is being stand up about fixing them, albeit after the fact).

@Goatweed: You can buy a bare drive and DIY much cheaper than $150. "Google is your friend."

@ChelseaCosta: 22 million Wii's and still in short supply. Somebody at Nintendo has (again) made the right call.

@adamsummers: What are you doing to those things -- keeping them in a locked metal box with a space heater inside? I've had mine since two months after launch and... aw, hell no, I'm not going to jinx it by saying it out loud.

Well they get a bit more reliable and the RROD complaints are way down I may get one for playing some Japanese shmup imports.

At $199, the arcade is a decent selling price, but the Pro is still the way to go. The $100 premium for an Elite is all in the premium-padded cost of the drive, which is horribly overpriced considering the cost of upgrading the drive in a PS3.

I bought a 60GB Pro a few weeks ago (and I'm still eligible for the price match thankfully...) and it's such a relief to have a larger drive in there. The system was a strain having only 20GB when some games commanded 1-2 GB's per title. Map packs and demos sucked up a lot of free space. Now with a 60GB, there's a lot more room to breathe and I don't have to delete demos anymore.

PS3 FTW!!

I have the wii and regular 360 and they are both worth it. Not worried about HDMI or bigger HDD on the elite; my buddy just got one and can't see much of a difference on his nice 1080p tv with this or the old one.

We looked into the PS3, but there's just not even close to enough games on there to not get bored quickly. The wii or 360 have far more and are also more backwards compatible than the new ps3s w/out the emulation chip.

The Elite works great. I think they fixed the problem of the red circle of death or whatever. I think that is why I tend not to buy new tech for a year or two (except for the Wii of course). Good system. Would have gone with the PS3 but I absolutely love Halo. So far so good. Also, the DVD player is quite good (though no blueray, I know).

I just bought a PS3. That's nice that they cut the xbox prices, but I still won't buy one. The original xbox was a piece of crap and really soured me on ever buying another microsoft game console.

3rd x360 - come to papa :^)

hey, Dead Rising alone makes 200$ worth it.

Soul calibur 4 + Halo 3 + $200 xbox = a pretty sweet value for the money.

'Cheaper' or 'less expensive'? I haven't heard of any issues with the Wii whereas the XBox 360 has a higher failure rate than our outgoing president's approval rating.

@Geekybiker: I just can't fathom why Microsoft would market a version of the console for playing the downloadable arcade games where they only give you enough storage space for one or two games (5 if you get the old games).

I remember back in August, Dell accidentally ran a deal for Xbox 360 Elites. $300 + tax and free shipping. I picked mine up with that.

@Brine: unless you don't play online or need to play old xbox games, in which case its just what a person requires

@DeepFriar: But they market it for downloading the arcade games.

@Brine: Just curious, is the Wii "essentially worthless" because it doesn't come with a hard drive?

I don't own a Wii, so I couldn't tell you.

Like I've already mentioned, lack of storage space contradicts the marketing of the product.

@xwildebeestx:

I have to agree with you there my friend.

I love the picture you guys used on the front page.

If they really wanted to start doing something to the Wii they should've axed the Arcade and put the 20GB for $199 and than put the one above it with a 60GB HD. That could possibly move some people over.

Interesting. Someone needs to update wikipedia's article. It says the 20GB premium has been discontinued and the 60GB version will be 350

@Brine: The Arcade is marketed for people who just want to play games and not download a bunch of stuff. Remember back when consoles didn't have hard drives?

When the arcade came out it was genius. It came out not long before Halo 3 and encluded everything you needed to just pick it up and play.

Plus, many people say that the 360 has better games than the wii and ps3.

All in all, this is a great move. The 360 is now cheaper than the Wii. That should move some more systems.

Does the new 60 gig Pro have the Jasper chipset? If not when will it come out?