Xbox 360 SKU Rebranding

[tatteredpotato]

Link

Juicy news is making its rounds on the internet this morning with a Belgian Microsoft source revealing details about a new Xbox 360 console, potential re-branding and the extinction of the Core as we know it. Gamernode received the presentation slide you see above (larger version here) from their secret Microsoft source who said that a new Xbox 360 Arcade console will be priced at 279 GBP, replace the Xbox 360 Core and include the addition of a wireless controller, 256MB memory card, five XBLA games and possible HDMI connectivity. Also revealed was the re-branding of all three consoles offerings with the Elite getting a "Go Big" slogan, the Premium losing its name and becoming "Go Pro" and the Core being renamed to Arcade with a "Just Play!" slogan.

It's also interesting to note that Gamernode was told that the new Xbox 360 Arcade console will be a world wide offering and, presumably, so will all the re-branding efforts. And it's not like we didn't see the death of the Core coming. Best Buy and Target have reportedly pulled the Core from their shelves and overall no more Core sentiment has been building among retailers and consumers alike. The addition of a memory card, games and wireless controller make the Arcade console a much more complete offering than the Core ever was. Again, we haven't received any official word from Microsoft about this rumor, console changes, prices, availability or future console plans. So, patience will need to be practiced.

 

[purbeast0]

wow MS sure is starting to alienate the different owners/audience of the 360.

just make the freaking HDD standard and screw the whole no-HDD versions all around.

and more does not mean better! (ie. more skus != better)

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
wow MS sure is starting to alienate the different owners/audience of the 360.

just make the freaking HDD standard and screw the whole no-HDD versions all around.

and more does not mean better! (ie. more skus != better)

I don't really look at it as alienation at all. If you want to buy in cheap then go for it. MS can't be faulted if people don't research the different SKUs prior to purchasing. Some people may never need the HD and therefore never have to pay for one. I disagree with the forced inclusion of Blu-Ray with the PS3 so I can't fault MS for having a core system.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Really the only news here is that they are adding more value to the Core, and it may actually become a viable option. Although lots of people may think more Cores = Bad, but in reality only a few games will run into a problem w/o the HDD (like UT3 and MMOs).

I'm hoping this rebranding (if true) coincides with Falcon so we can tell by the box what were getting.

 

[Queasy]

This is actually quite an upgrade for the Core. Memory card + wireless controller + 5 free arcade games + HDMI and priced at the price-point of the Wii.

I just wish they would hurry up and get the 65nm versions out and drop the price again.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: purbeast0
wow MS sure is starting to alienate the different owners/audience of the 360.

just make the freaking HDD standard and screw the whole no-HDD versions all around.

and more does not mean better! (ie. more skus != better)

I don't really look at it as alienation at all. If you want to buy in cheap then go for it. MS can't be faulted if people don't research the different SKUs prior to purchasing. Some people may never need the HD and therefore never have to pay for one. I disagree with the forced inclusion of Blu-Ray with the PS3 so I can't fault MS for having a core system.

not having an HDD as a standard is hurting it from a devs point of view generally speaking. they can't take advantage of the storage space and IMO in the long run it's going to hurt them.

i just do not understand how they took a step backwards in technology terms. xbox had a mandatory HDD and the 360 doesn't - just makes no sense.

this has nothing to do w/an HD video format supported.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Really they just wanted in at that lower price point. I do think it was a bad move, because there are so few Xbox 360 owners that don't have a HDD, but they can't stop supporting it because that would be alienation.Also afaik, devs can very easily use the HDD, they just need to have a provision for the Core as well.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: purbeast0
wow MS sure is starting to alienate the different owners/audience of the 360.

just make the freaking HDD standard and screw the whole no-HDD versions all around.

and more does not mean better! (ie. more skus != better)

I don't really look at it as alienation at all. If you want to buy in cheap then go for it. MS can't be faulted if people don't research the different SKUs prior to purchasing. Some people may never need the HD and therefore never have to pay for one. I disagree with the forced inclusion of Blu-Ray with the PS3 so I can't fault MS for having a core system.

I'm on the same page here...I don't see how this is alienating anyone. People who get the Core/Arcade always have the option of adding a hard drive.

Getting a 256MB card and wireless controller is quite nice for that price. When this console gets to $250 or less...it will be very competitive with the Wii.

 

[PricklyPete]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: purbeast0
wow MS sure is starting to alienate the different owners/audience of the 360.

just make the freaking HDD standard and screw the whole no-HDD versions all around.

and more does not mean better! (ie. more skus != better)

I don't really look at it as alienation at all. If you want to buy in cheap then go for it. MS can't be faulted if people don't research the different SKUs prior to purchasing. Some people may never need the HD and therefore never have to pay for one. I disagree with the forced inclusion of Blu-Ray with the PS3 so I can't fault MS for having a core system.

not having an HDD as a standard is hurting it from a devs point of view generally speaking. they can't take advantage of the storage space and IMO in the long run it's going to hurt them.

i just do not understand how they took a step backwards in technology terms. xbox had a mandatory HDD and the 360 doesn't - just makes no sense.

this has nothing to do w/an HD video format supported.

It definitely adds a hurdle to the developers...but I don't see how that affects the consumer other than possible situations where a game on the PS3 is "better" because of hard drive cache. the DVD drive is so much faster on the 360 that it really doesn't matter that much. Plus with the streaming technology imployed by engines like UE3...this really becomes a mute point.

 

[Thraxen]

What I'm trying to figure out is how are the 5 free arcade games going to fit on the memory card? I assume the 5 free games will be fairly small and will indeed fit, but I've got to think that that bulk of that 256 MB card is going to be gone right at the start. So you'll start off needing a HDD almost immediately... LOL.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
What I'm trying to figure out is how are the 5 free arcade games going to fit on the memory card? I assume the 5 free games will be fairly small and will indeed fit, but I've got to think that that bulk of that 256 MB card is going to be gone right at the start. So you'll start off needing a HDD almost immediately... LOL.

They're probably games from the old 50mb limit.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: Thraxen
What I'm trying to figure out is how are the 5 free arcade games going to fit on the memory card? I assume the 5 free games will be fairly small and will indeed fit, but I've got to think that that bulk of that 256 MB card is going to be gone right at the start. So you'll start off needing a HDD almost immediately... LOL.

They're probably games from the old 50mb limit.

Yep, there are a number of games that come in under 20mb.

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: purbeast0
wow MS sure is starting to alienate the different owners/audience of the 360.

just make the freaking HDD standard and screw the whole no-HDD versions all around.

and more does not mean better! (ie. more skus != better)

I don't really look at it as alienation at all. If you want to buy in cheap then go for it. MS can't be faulted if people don't research the different SKUs prior to purchasing. Some people may never need the HD and therefore never have to pay for one. I disagree with the forced inclusion of Blu-Ray with the PS3 so I can't fault MS for having a core system.

Yeah! Maybe they should label old XBOX 1s as XBOX360 Prime! Screw the consumer if they don't research / understand.

 

[mugs]

the Premium losing its name and becoming "Go Pro"

I thought "Premium" was never an official title but rather something gamers came up with to differentiate it? I thought the official name of the "Premium" was just Xbox 360... no qualifiers.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: mugs

the Premium losing its name and becoming "Go Pro"

I thought "Premium" was never an official title but rather something gamers came up with to differentiate it? I thought the official name of the "Premium" was just Xbox 360... no qualifiers.

No it was always Core and Premium, but I like Pro better, shorter and more informal.

 

[mlm]

I hope they don't really use those names in the US. They sound too silly.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: mugs

the Premium losing its name and becoming "Go Pro"

I thought "Premium" was never an official title but rather something gamers came up with to differentiate it? I thought the official name of the "Premium" was just Xbox 360... no qualifiers.

No it was always Core and Premium, but I like Pro better, shorter and more informal.

Then why isn't it on the box, or on MS's website?

I'm inclined to think Mugs is right, although I'm willing to bet it's more of a retail marketing gimmick.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: mugs

the Premium losing its name and becoming "Go Pro"

I thought "Premium" was never an official title but rather something gamers came up with to differentiate it? I thought the official name of the "Premium" was just Xbox 360... no qualifiers.

No it was always Core and Premium, but I like Pro better, shorter and more informal.

Then why isn't it on the box, or on MS's website?

I'm inclined to think Mugs is right, although I'm willing to bet it's more of a retail marketing gimmick.

My guess is that they want to show that they think the "Premium" is what they think you should get to play.

Here I dug back to 2005:

the $399 Xbox 360 Premium Edition (which is technically--and confusingly--known simply as the Xbox 360)

Via Cnet

So I guess the Premium has always been the Xbox 360

 

[erwos]

I think this is actually a pretty good move on their part. The core was pretty much worthless before, but the addition of a memory card and some arcade games actually makes it a fairly good competitor to the Wii - better than fairly good, IMHO. My only quibble is that they seem to be using a 256mb card instead of the 512mb one, and that they didn't go whole hog to the $250 price point.

I know some people think we only a premium and an elite, but covering all the price points isn't a bad idea.

 

[RandomFool]

I don't know why they just don't put a hard drive in the thing. Really they should get rid of the core and just have premium & elite or whatever they want to call them or better still just sell one version. I don't know why this multiple versions of the same console thing ever got started.