Microsoft offering Arcade/Core Xbox 360 owners free and cheap memory solutions

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living the dream since March 16, 2006

9:20 PM on 10.13.2008, Hamza CTZ Aziz

43 comments

Xbox Live

Last week we found out that the new Xbox Experience will to require 128 MB of storage space. Not bad, except for all of the people that own the Arcade/Core Xbox 360s who typically only have the 256MB memory card that comes with the system.

Microsoft feels their pain and have offered up a solution for Arcade owners. Anyone that owns an Arcade/Core unit just has to enter their unit’s serial number at this Web site. From there, Arcade owners will be given the option of picking between a free 512 MB memory card or a refurbished 20GB hard drive for $19.99 after their Xbox 360 has been checked to see if their unit is legible for the offer. This is only good for Arcade/Core units, so don't bother trying to put in your Pro/Elite serial numbers at the site.

Free anything is never a bad thing and $20 for a 20GB hard drive is a great deal. Thumbs up monkey approves of this offer, how about you?

[Via Kombo -- Thanks, Buck F1tches]

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whatisdelicious at 10/13/2008 21:31

Gotta give them props for this, to be honest. Not only was this a really quick response to this problem, but it's coming out of their own pocket, realizing that they fucked up and trying to rectify the situation and do right by their customers.

Nintendo, on the other hand, has been promising everything and delivering nothing.

Really, the only one that had this issue right from the start is Sony (if only they'd just make the damn thing more affordable now instead of just upgrading it and leaving the price).

gamadaya at 10/13/2008 21:33

Wait, core owners can buy hard drives? I thought the core and arcade systems were incompatible with hard drives. In the past, I've always tried to keep the core owners in mind when screaming for hard drive required games, but fuck that.

gamadaya at 10/13/2008 21:36

@whaisdelicious:
Another good thing about Sony is they allow non-proprietary hard drives for the PS3, so even the people who got 20gig PS3s at launch and are running out of room have a relatively cheap solution.

Candy is delicious.

dmgi at 10/13/2008 21:36

I second whatisdelicious. If someone told me this a year ago I would not have believed Microsoft was not screwing the consumer but with their recent behavior Microsoft (Xbox Division) has impressed the hell out of me in the past months.

Zen Albatross at 10/13/2008 21:39

!props++

the GAMEGOBLIN at 10/13/2008 21:41

I tried the serial to my old Arcade machine and it said I already had everything necessary

I wanted a free memory card too :(

NihonTiger90 at 10/13/2008 21:47

Man, now if only they lowered the prices for the rest of us...

deathxrebirth at 10/13/2008 21:56

@whatisdelicious

While I commend MS for extending some help, they really had no other choice in the matter. Is the 'experience' gonna be a required download to be on live? Can you imagine them forcing millions of people to upgrade their systems to run a new interface?

On top of that, again, yes, this is a great deal that is coming out of their pockets so to speak, but don't act like they haven't been raping customers from the start with that extremely overpriced proprietary HD. I am sure they have a little expendable cash in that specific department.

MisterDanger at 10/13/2008 22:05

thanks for nothing microsoft.
Chile is not in the list. But microsoft officially launched and support xbox 360 here. >:(

hpv at 10/13/2008 22:06

So they're going to lower the price of the Pro to $220 to compete with the Arcade, which is now basically the same machine, at that price?

John B at 10/13/2008 22:06

"From their"

Uh ... From their what? Their != There.

Anyway, deathxrebirth is right. Not too long ago, a laptop hard drive from NewEgg was $80 as opposed to Microsoft's $129 for the same capacity. I don't remember what size that was, though.

Personally, I think that Microsoft should have gone a step farther and gave users a voucher towards a purchase of the XB360 hard drive of their choice. I don't know how much a voucher would need to be to get a refurbished 20 GB drive to $20, but I think that a lot of people would have appreciated the ability to use that as an excuse to get a larger hard drive.

Swizzler121 at 10/13/2008 22:11

@whaisdelicious:

Your right on the money, I can't believe how well they are reacting on this situation, if only their OS department would do the same... maybe give advanced users deeper and more detailed configurations like we've been asking for...

...sorry, i'm a computer repair guy, so I hate Microsoft by default!

Luigi takes over at 10/13/2008 22:16

I hate thumbs up monkey.

Xhumation at 10/13/2008 22:20

I have a 20gb hard drive but still its nice to see a company that thinks of its costumers.

Thumbs up to Microsoft indeed..at least one game company is offering a storage solution

Phyraks at 10/13/2008 22:36

So does Microsoft somehow know that I've got a HDD attached to my box? Cuz mine's a core system (I bought a 20GB drive at a later time, but it tells me that I've already got everything I need. Darn it, I wanted that free memory card.

gamadaya at 10/13/2008 22:54

@Swizzler:

Their 360 department doesn't dominate the console industry though. They wouldn't be offering this deal if they did. I mean, just look how many price cuts and cheap electronics Nintendo is offering for the Wii ;)

Aziel13 at 10/13/2008 23:02

Freaken sweet nice one MS

B-Radicate at 10/13/2008 23:13

Now if only they offered a cheaper solution for those of us with 20 gig drives to upgrade to the 60 or 120. THEN I'll be impressed.

falinter at 10/13/2008 23:16

Thanks Microsoft! Your my best friend.

hood_954 at 10/13/2008 23:22

not mentioned in offer: hidden shipping costs, handling, postal insurance, etc. not covered by micro$soft. i refuse to believe that MS is doing something that will take money OUT of their pockets and save it in consumers wallets

Kyousuke Nanbu at 10/13/2008 23:50

@Hood

Take off the tinfoil hat you idiot, also when you write M$, just write Micro$oft.

And I just got an arcade model as my 5th 360, cheap HD woo.

deathxrebirth at 10/13/2008 23:53

@ John B

You got me curious. Currently the Xbox 360 120GBHD retails for $149.99. There are at least 5 laptop 120GBHD's at about $50 on newegg right now. Plus quite a few 120-200GB external drives at about $60 each.

I know this is an old argument, but I still find it funny that everyone is saying how "generous" MS is being here...

deathxrebirth at 10/13/2008 23:56

@Kyousuke Nanbu

Why is it your 5th? You are happy about this?

Anyway... has the arcade ever been offered without the memory card? It could be that the core and only arcade versions that 'didn't' come with a memory card are eligible.

I don't recall if the initial ones shipped with one or not.

Dexter345 at 10/14/2008 00:00

Eh, I don't know anybody who owns an Arcade system anyway...

ScottyG at 10/14/2008 03:50

Definitely a good recovery on Microsoft's part, although I really don't understand why the 360 was ever sold without a hard drive. I mean, wasn't online and downloadable content the big draw in the first place? I can see them wanting to offer a cheaper solution, but imo a 360 without a hdd is a crippled system. When I worked at a game store last holiday all of the staff discouraged people from buying the arcade bundle and always pushed the premium one for that same reason.

Orionsaint at 10/14/2008 03:52

Here's some questions:

Does the new layout totally erase the old layout? How much space does the current XBL layout take up?, and is it more or less than the new layout? Begging the question, will more space be freed up on my 20gb HDD after I install the new XBL experience?

Vitamin Awesome at 10/14/2008 04:36

So it's essentially a $220 Pro system?

Hot damn, They must have dropped the price of production significantly to make this console as inexpensive as it is, even compared to the wii.

Burnt Meatloaf at 10/14/2008 05:19

Note to Microsoft: $30 memory cards are now up in the gigabytes, let alone $50 (MSRP) for 512MB.

Proprietary, low-volume manufacturing or not... making up for loss-leading or not... a memory card really shouldn't cost as much as a wireless controller.

Joe Burling at 10/14/2008 07:04

Most of the Arcade/Core buyers who didn't buy an HDD don't have their 360 hooked up to Live, and therefore will never get prompted to download the new dashboard.

The players that are online have a HDD.

I think this will affect very few people. I expect more people will be taking advantage of the free memory from MS even though they already have a storage solution.

Kryptinite at 10/14/2008 07:18

This is smart as shit.

I wish I could get a free memory card.

Rational Animal at 10/14/2008 08:42

This seems like a great move to some (namely, Arcade owners), but if you just recently bought a Pro system, that's kind of a dick move, no?

EvilElvis at 10/14/2008 09:50

Tried my numbers from the arcade in my bedroom, and it says I have the necessary hardware, which I don't. I have hooked my hard drive into the arcade once or twice but it is not a permanent solution. Has anyone tried to contact microsoft about this yet?

Fat Ryu at 10/14/2008 11:31

I saw this and thought it was some elaborate joke. Just ordered my HDD for the arcade and I'm well pleased. Can't believe microsoft want to do something good for their customers, I can only assume the entire department in charge of this is high.

fetusmilk at 10/14/2008 11:59

now if only they could start offering systems that dont die.

MYL0R at 10/14/2008 13:28

I'm glad this is happy time for everyone else, but I'm consistantly more and more pissed by these things. I bought my 360 a few years ago with a 20gb HDD. Now they come with a standard 60gb HDD and it will cost me another arm and a leg to upgrade. Why is it that the late comers and cheap ones are the people treated well, yet the pro buyers from back "in the day" are screwed over with insufficient hdd's and no cheap solution.

poonster at 10/14/2008 14:33

I NEED A BIT OF ADVICE!!!
my 360 RROD on me,it's a launch system and the warranty has been voided(added a whisper fan) so i need to buy a new rig
should i just get the arcade system or get the one above that one? i have a 1080p plasma and i've already got the component cables. i'm thinking the only reason to get the $299 360 is for the hdmi output.
is there any other reason to get the $299 360 besides hdmi or should i just go with the arcade. i already have my old hard drive to throw into the arcade one.
any opinions would be great..THANKS

TrailerParkJesus at 10/14/2008 15:03

Arcade people get free and cheap stuff, but the ones who bought real systems don't get anything? That's pretty lame. Yeah I might be greedy, but I want free crap too. Where's the equality?!

LsTr_Of_SmG at 10/14/2008 18:32

@ poonster

Though you have technically voided your warranty MS never seem to bother to check seeing as they get inundated with so many RODDed consoles. A mate of mine had the same problem (he was a pillock for buying a whisper fan anyway as are you but I'll let you off) but tried contacting MS anyway. He ended up with a replacement.

Basically put if you don't mention it they don't seem to notice, so you may as well give claiming one a go.

poonster at 10/14/2008 19:46

@LsTr_Of_SmG
thanks for the info but i also did a few other mods like custom paint and made the fan 12v so i'm pretty sure they would notice the paint job right away.
thanks for trying to help, i'll come to a decision just before Gears 2 comes out,until then i'll be putting my PS3 through a good workout,it's not getting alot of use since i bought it a few months ago.

Holyetheline at 10/15/2008 12:52

Glad MS is looking out for us

kara at 11/11/2008 13:01

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