Old-fashioned Your Family Entertainment: The Xbox 360 Arcade System

For many families, $350 for a video game system is a little steep, especially if the children in the family are too young to play a large percentage of the games. Following in the footsteps of Nintendo with its Wii, Microsoft released the Xbox 360 Arcade system in the hopes of providing families with a basic console to introduce the members to the world of video games.

Many gamers, even those not necessarily brand new to the scene, may not need all of the gadgets and updates included in the Xbox 360 Pro or Elite systems. They may simply need the basic tools to play games. The Xbox 360 Arcade system gives families and players alike the ability to play, and play hard, without paying for extraneous add-ons.

Compare and Contrast

The Xbox 360 Arcade system out-of-the-box is ready to play any Xbox 360 game. It comes with one wireless controller, a 256MB memory card, five Xbox LIVE Arcade games and an HDMI output port. Basically, it comes with the basic necessities to plug in, boot up and play. The price tag of $280 is decently cheaper than the next step up, and many families will be attracted to this price reduction, especially around Christmas time.

Microsoft made the decision to replace the Xbox 360 Core system, the originally offering from the line, with the Xbox 360 Arcade system in the hopes of attracting these families to the product. So far, many families and amateur gamers have decided to purchase the console to save a little money, but veteran gamers looking to upgrade or collect systems are not interested in this stripped-down Xbox 360 for a few reasons.

With cheapness comes sacrifice, and the Xbox 360 Arcade system is missing a lot of accessories that hardcore gamers find necessary to the gaming experience. While the average parent might not see the need in a 20GB hard drive, older players do: the built-in 256MB memory card is enough to play the games, but not enough to save the games.

For users hoping to play large-scale role playing games or to download updates and extra levels through the Xbox LIVE function, the Xbox 360 Arcade system default hard drive will not provide enough space. Many of the other Xbox 360 bundles also include a second controller along with HDTV cables, allowing the console to project widescreen-ready graphics and surround sound audio tracks.

A 20GB hard drive will cost an extra $100, and wireless controllers can easy climb to $50. If a family or user intends to eventually upgrade, it might be more cost-efficient to buy the Xbox 360 Pro or Elite upfront. However, if an individual cannot afford $350, but wants to at least get started on his or her video game journey, or does not intend to ever purchase accessories, maybe the Xbox 360 Arcade system will be a perfect fit. Then, when the time comes, and the money is available, he or she can boost his or her system, without first digging a financial hole.