XBox 360 Core and Arcade Owners get free memory or discounted harddrive

[AtomSmasher]

"Microsoft has announced that owners of the core version of the Xbox 360 may qualify for a free 512MB memory unit and a refurbished 20GB hard drives for $20. Arcade version owners may buy the same refurbished drive for $30 which includes three months of Xbox Live."

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2008/10/14/xbox-360-users-can-receive-a-free-memory-unit-for-new-xbox-experience/

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/10/14/nxe-storage-solution-free-512mb-memory-card-or-cheap-20gb-hdd/

[Dartful Dodger]

It smacks of sales desperation to me.   

[AtomSmasher]

It smacks of sales desperation to me.   

I don't know why they would be desperate to get sales when the lowering of the 360's price already doubled the sales in the US, more then doubled in Europe, and quintupled in Japan.

http://kotaku.com/5060877/360-sales-have-doubled-in-us-more-than-doubled-in-europe-quintupled-in-japan

[AtomSmasher]

Sounds like they're trying to pump up sales of downloadable content and allow more publishers to sell games that require hard drives to me.   

How is that a bad thing?  It's called a promotional offer and any promotional offer done by any company is not done out of the kindness of their heart, they feel in the end it will make them money.  In this case they're trying to give everyone the ability to use the new live dashboard, which will likely result in people buying more downloadable software.  They spent a lot of money developing their new frontend, and they want to get the largest return on their investment by getting as many people as possible to use it.

[DaveMMR]

They're not that desperate.  They're in second place with a strong lead over the former  of the console wars.  But it sounds like a good deal.  I think an XBox360 is going to have be my next major purchase.   

[pointdablame]

This deal has to do with the new xbox live dashboard update.  It requires more space than would be available to core owners with no memory card or hard drive, so this deal is meant to allow them to update to the new dashboard for little to nothing.

Why is that desperation or some underhanded scheme?

[shmokes]

Yeah . . . it doesn't seem desperate to me.  It just looks like a shrewd business move.  God . . . this makes me want to sell my Wii.  An Xbox 360 with a hard drive now costs less than a Wii.  ---smurfing--- ridiculous!

[DaveMMR]

An Xbox 360 with a hard drive now costs less than a Wii.  ---smurfing--- ridiculous!

I think it's awesome.  This ALL benefits the consumer.  With the 360 cheaper, theoretically, it should cut into Wii's demand (the only thing keeping it at $250 right now).  If enough damage is done to Nintendo's sales, the Wii will drop prices too.  And the circle goes round. 

The bulk of most console's sales are after significant price drops (notably the PS2). 

[DaveMMR]

I don't think they anticipated the newfound demand for the Arcade, and I doubt anyone is gonna buy a premium 360 anymore.  The sales must be *really* skewed towards the low end models.

Just educated guessing, I would agree.  I think the Sony & MS way overestimated the consumer's knowledge of technical terminology with their multiple SKU's.  Otherwise smart people still walk up to me and ask, "Dave, this computer has 120 Gigs of Memory, is that good?"  I think many shoppers may just gravitate more towards the cheaper option when they're unfamiliar with the technical differences (or opt for the "layman-friendly" Wii). 

I wouldn't be surprised if next generation if the consoles went back to selling one basic configuration for all.  You can only really pull off multiple SKU's by adding/omitting easy-to-grasp features like "game" or "no game" in box. 

[shmokes]

Not to mention that it drives developers crazy.  They have to say, "Well . . . I can do some really cool stuff with my game by utilizing the hard drive, but that limits my market to only those users who have hard drives.  I really need to have the biggest market possible for my game."

[somunny]

This looks like a pretty good deal for 360 Arcade owners:

Refurb 20GB Hard Drive and Wireless Controller - $39.99 @ Circuit City