Microsoft Launches New Xbox 360 Console for Families

[Peench]

Microsoft Launches New Xbox 360 Console for Families

New console includes five games, wireless controller and storage to save games — all for the incredible value of $279.99

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 22, 2007 — Just in time for holiday, Microsoft Corp. today released a new Xbox 360® console that delivers games and content to everyone in the family for an incredible value of $279.99 (U.S. estimated retail price)*. Available in stores beginning today, Xbox 360 Arcade console is the first Xbox 360 console to include five family-friendly games, a wireless controller, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection to enable high-definition output if desired and 256 MB of memory useful for storing games and entertainment content. At $279.99, the Xbox 360 Arcade console will include five best-selling games: “PAC-MAN Championship Edition” (NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.), “Uno” (Carbonated Games), “Luxor 2” (MumboJumbo), “Boom Boom Rocket” (Electronic Arts Inc.) and “Feeding Frenzy” (Sprout Games).

“As families gather together this holiday, it’s the perfect time to launch a new low-priced, high-value Xbox 360 that plays games, TV shows and music for everyone to enjoy,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “In addition to offering an incredible all-in-one package for families to get right into the fun, the Xbox 360 Arcade system features the industry-leading Family Settings, which allow parents to control what their kids are watching and playing — and we know how important that control is to families around the world.”

Karen Dodge, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer at Toys “R” Us, added, “We are excited to offer this new gaming experience to our customers — children and families — who can now enjoy the fun of Xbox 360 together. Many of this holiday season’s hottest items provide Internet connectivity, and with the online entertainment options available through Xbox LIVE®, Xbox 360 Arcade offers families a great mix of online content and traditional gaming in one console.”

The news of Xbox 360 Arcade comes as part of a broader initiative by Microsoft to bring the Xbox 360 experience to families everywhere. Microsoft also announced today that it is significantly expanding its catalog of high and standard-definition family fun content that is available on demand direct to the consumer’s living room. This includes the addition of everyone’s favorite characters such as “Bugs Bunny” and “Daffy Duck” from Warner Bros., which will be delivering the first ever “Looney Tunes” cartoons for download on Xbox 360, starting today. In addition, Nickelodeon is adding three new shows to its already large library of more than 300 episodes of TV shows on Xbox LIVE, Microsoft’s premier online gaming and entertainment service, with the inclusion of “Blue’s Clues,” “The Backyardigans” and “iCarly.” “SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam™” (THQ Inc.) and “SHREK-N-ROLL™” (Activision) games will also be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE Arcade, the place to download games for Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE, adding more fun for everyone in the family.

Microsoft’s commitment to family entertainment is complemented by the largest next-generation library of “E”- and “T”-rated games, more than 200 in all, available at retailers nationwide this holiday, including “BEE MOVIE™ GAME” (Activision), “Guitar Hero III®: Legends of Rock” (Activision), “Naruto: Rise of a Ninja” (UbiSoft Entertainment), “Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action” and “Viva Piñata®: Party Animals.”

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is a superior video game and entertainment system delivering the best games, unique entertainment features and a unified online gaming network that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 will have a portfolio of more than 300 games and will be available in nearly 40 countries by the end of 2007. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

[namehater]

when is this gonna be in stores?

[GoatMother]

"Available in stores beginning today"

[Peench]

It has been slowly popping up in stores for the last several days, but should be available wide-spread starting today.

[namehater]

im just thinking, my dad is gonna buy my boys their own 360, we were gonna go with the premium, but this looks like it might be a better deal for them, my wife and i are buying them each their own live accounts and maybe we could just pick up another small memory card so they could each have their own profile saved to it, anybody familiar with using memory cards for profile storage? if they each had their own memory card, would they be able to store their individual profiles on it and say, plug their memory card into any 360 and hop online?

[The Milk Man 09]

Yea you may have to help them put the account on their memory cards first, say you do it through your xbox, but then they can take it anywhere or hop on with you and play coop. I bought one right before getting rid of my first 360 it made it really easy to transfer my account to my new box along with game saves, you will probably want to buy them a hardrive too though because you know they will want more storage for games and such.


To me this is a genius idea by Microsoft, and it shows that now they are more likely trying to compete with the wii. Some of those arcade games have more playability that half of the games that come packaged with the wii anyways. I expect to see big sales for M$ this holiday.

[namehater]

no doubt, im not to worried about space for them tho, that memory card should hold tons of saved games, im not really worried about arcade games tho, those things get expensive and i dont see me buying them any muhaha!

[The Milk Man 09]

I believe that those arcade games come loaded on that memory card and if they do then they may take up most of the space on it them being 50 mb a piece.

[namehater]

well, we needed more gifts more gift ideas for the boys anyhow, maybe getting them a hard drive would fit in there, i need to crunch some numbers, premium might be my best bet after all

[JParker0105]

Originally Posted by The Milk Man 09

I believe that those arcade games come loaded on that memory card and if they do then they may take up most of the space on it them being 50 mb a piece.

Actually, the games come on a disk. so it wouldn't be a problem.

[The Milk Man 09]

I would say that an extra controller and hardrive would be a good bet on extra gifts.

[namehater]

just called my local bestbuy and they have them in right now, if the games do in fact come on a seperate disk, thats probably the route im going to take, anybody know how much space an xbox live profile takes up? im thinking a 256mb card should be plenty to hold a live profile and an adequate amount of saved games

we have 4 controllers, so we are covered there hehe

ah hell, i just realized to get on live you HAVE to have the hard drive dont ya?

[The Milk Man 09]

I think that mine took up 9mb so you have plenty of space if you dont want to go the route of a hardrive but I believe that each mem card can only hold one profile. You may also want to get an extra controller so there is less fighting over it.

[JParker0105]

"On top of all that, the console includes a disc that's preloaded with five games: Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pack-Man Championship Demo and Uno."

Site

[JParker0105]

Originally Posted by namehater

ah hell, i just realized to get on live you HAVE to have the hard drive dont ya?

I think that is correct. sounds like premium is the way to go my friend... lol

[namehater]

wait for it...

Xbox LIVE: Xbox LIVE is where games and entertainment come alive, the only unified place where you can play with anyone, anytime, anywhere. And the best just got better. Connect Xbox 360 to your broadband connection, attach a storage device (hard drive or memory unit) and get instant access to Xbox LIVE Silver. Express your digital identity through your gamertag and gamer card, talk with others using voice chat, and access Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

so memory card will work out!