Microsoft Officially Announces Xbox 360 Arcade

October 22, 2007 | By: James Brightman

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Much like the 40GB PS3, which leaked in advance, this came as no surprise. Microsoft's new Xbox 360 Arcade SKU seems to be positioned to go toe-to-toe with Nintendo's Wii this holiday season. Microsoft says the system is all about families.

Last week, Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, essentially confirmed the existence of the oft rumored Xbox 360 Arcade hardware package. For some reason, however, Microsoft let the days pass without any official announcement. Finally, today the company announced the official launch of the new SKU.

Available immediately for $279.99, Xbox 360 Arcade is basically a core system, which also includes five "family-friendly" games, a wireless controller, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection and a 256 MB memory card. The five games selected from some of the more popular Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) offerings are PAC-MAN Championship Edition (Namco Bandai Games America), Uno (Carbonated Games), Luxor 2 (MumboJumbo), Boom Boom Rocket (Electronic Arts) 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."

Although the Xbox 360 has been pegged as a hardcore gamer's machine, Microsoft has been making efforts to engage a wider audience. Part of that initiative comes from the wide array of games available on XBLA, so it's not surprising to see the company bundle those in. As Microsoft stated in the release, "Xbox 360 Arcade comes as part of a broader initiative by Microsoft to bring the Xbox 360 experience to families everywhere."

The master plan includes much more than games too. The popular Xbox Video Marketplace has been consistently adding "family fun content." Along with the announcement of the Arcade SKU, Microsoft reiterated that it's bringing Looney Tunes to the video service and announced that Nickelodeon is adding three new shows—Blue's Clues, The Backyardigans and iCarly—to its library of more than 300 episodes of TV shows on Xbox Live.

At $279 the Arcade bundle will likely be seen as a good value by consumers this holiday season, and it's only $30 more than Nintendo's Wii. It'll be interesting to see how the Arcade SKU fares against the Wii during this all-important fourth quarter.