Xboxist

Is Xbox 360 Slim Arcade SKU Really Necessary?

Why won't the Xbox 360 Arcade SKU die? Microsoft's bargain-basement hardware bundle has arguably hamstrung games development on the platform, since it forced developers to ensure that all of their games would work on systems lacking a hard drive. Of course the company may see things a different way, believing that the value-priced proposition enables more households to buy in to the console and boost marketshare. While Microsoft's strategy of invading living rooms no matter the cost may have worked out for the company when it launched its somewhat pricey new console back in 2006, there is less justification for the Arcade line to continue now, when it is clearly holding back the rest of the console user base.

Nevertheless, the Arcade SKU just refuses to die. Amazon Germany has revealed that there will be a new Arcade bundle rolled out in the new Slim design, priced somewhat cheaper at €148.99, or around US$190. Bizarrely, the hardware is rumored to come equipped with only 4GB of internal storage, possibly as flash memory. That is probably the bare minimum that the system will need in order to be interoperable with the Xbox 360 dashboard and peripherals like Kinect. The Arcade bundle is expected to be released on August 20th, smack dab in the middle of the European GamesCom event in Germany.