Microsoft' rumored holiday sku repackaged, games pack in and Arcade sku

[liolio]

Um, they already made the Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle official today. Read above. The bundle is only available with the Premium and Elite SKUs. They made no announcement about the rumored Arcade SKU.

Tommy McClain

My bad I missed the elite annoucement.

May be Ms will push out a wii360 combo @499$ ... LOL

 

[iceberg187]

 

[rabidrabbit]

What's with MS and Sony these days.
If I were shopping for a new console today, I'd bee baffled on all the available options and different naming; Pro or Elite, what's the difference, Pro with Halo for $388 or Elite with Forza2 and that other game for $449, or will I just buy palin Elite.. or Pro, what about Premium. Which of these have what features,
I'm sure if I was to go to store now I'd feel unsure and certainly not ready to make an impulse buy.
Same with PS3 and the 40GB no BC model. If I was to shop for the PS3 now, I'm sure I'd have to think long and hard whether I want/need the extra usb and BC, or would a more silent PS3 be more lucrative.

These decisions only make shopping harder, when it should be easy.
Choices, choices, they say!!!!
I think they've gone crazy with choices.
Give me one core unit (not the MS "Core"), whit different game bundles, but not different technical specifications with different bundles.

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/awaiting/update-+-new-halo-3xbox-360-bundle-hits-europe-308454.php

It looks like Europe will be getting a Halo 3 bundle instead. This doesn't surprise me as this is exactly what they did with Halo 2.

 

[Dave Baumann]

What's with MS and Sony these days.
If I were shopping for a new console today, I'd bee baffled on all the available options and different naming; Pro or Elite, what's the difference, Pro with Halo for $388 or Elite with Forza2 and that other game for $449, or will I just buy palin Elite.. or Pro, what about Premium. Which of these have what features,
I'm sure if I was to go to store now I'd feel unsure and certainly not ready to make an impulse buy.

First off there is no "PRO" there is just the 360 or the Elite. Second, the bundles are most likely regionalised. The Forza 2 / Marvel bundle has been announced for both standard 360 and Elite packs, but this appears to be US only. There's no official confirmation, but I suspect that Europe will be getting Halo bundled on both models.

Whats confusing you is the internet which blurs the boundries of regions when reporting.

 

[pipo]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/awaiting/update-+-new-halo-3xbox-360-bundle-hits-europe-308454.php

It looks like Europe will be getting a Halo 3 bundle instead.

Several European countries (including my own) already have it since the 26th of last month.

And the other bundle (also already in full effect over here) is the one with FM2 + VP for free.

 

[AzBat]

Last week it was confirmed, but tonight the announcement is official...

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/10/22/554124.aspx

Xbox.com says they are 5 FULL games.

Interview with Aaron Greenberg...

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7650&Itemid=2

50 Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck HD cartoons on Live Marketplace and 3 new Nickelodeon TV shows. Plus, SpongeBob and Shrek Live Arcade titles coming. Big family push this holiday for Microsoft it seems.

Tommy McClain

 

[pipo]

Pal version by the end of this week: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=29859

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/news-features/news/Introducing-the-Xbox-360-Arcade-23102007.htm

 

[Zaphod]

Pal version by the end of this week:[/url]

It's been quietly stocked here by online retailers for a week or two. Hasn't shown up at B&M stores yet.

As for now it's too expensive as there's (virtually) always a premium one 'on sale' at one of the B&M chains for not much more money. It's also 40% more expensive than the aggressive holiday bundles MS offered last year on the old Core.

 

[pipo]

As for now it's too expensive...

I don't agree. They're aiming at a different consumer with this SKU...

They need to get that message out though.

 

[ferro]

So what's going on with the Pro bundle in the US?

It's available, costs the same as the version without the bundled games, and yet it ranks lower on Amazon? Are people even aware of this bundle?

 

[TheChefO]

Big family push this holiday for Microsoft it seems.

IMO it's a bit early as they aren't quite there with the price yet, but better to be early on the casual/family front than too late. Besides, I think they are trying to capitalize on what will likely be a shortage of Wii's this Christmass.

Smart move.

 

[AlphaWolf]

So what's going on with the Pro bundle in the US?

It's available, costs the same as the version without the bundled games, and yet it ranks lower on Amazon? Are people even aware of this bundle?

Amazon's rankings don't mean very much, you should take them with a truck load of salt.

 

[scooby_dooby]

So what's going on with the Pro bundle in the US?

It's available, costs the same as the version without the bundled games, and yet it ranks lower on Amazon? Are people even aware of this bundle?

Well, it's not lower anymore

 

[TheChefO]

Is that ranking based on sales or clicks?

If sales, @ Elite!

 

[DuckThor Evil]

But the dongle is typically completely unnecessary unless you are converting to DVI or something. The vast majority (>90%) of hdmi TV's also include a digital out which you would connect back to your receiver. It's also not a problem if your lucky enough to have an hdmi capable receiver. The dongle is available for the unlucky few who don't fit the above and aren't bold enough to do some mangling: http://www.chadledford.com/?p=50

Hmm I'm getting back to this as it appears that not too many TVs can actually send Dolby Digital or better through that digital out though. So if you have a home theater setup, recycling the sound through the telly is not an option. Also there are receivers that only pass the HDMI signal on without picking up the sound in the process.