Expert: Andrew Crome - 9/19/2008

Question
Im looking at getting a xbox 360
for the 199 price tag is it worth it to get the arcade version. what cant it do compared to the regular one.
I'm a reacreational gamer that likes to play hi def football games

Answer
Hi Nick,

The major difference with the Arcade model is that it lacks a Hard Drive. While it does come with a 512 MB memory card (preloaded with 5 games), this isn't big enough to store more than a few Arcade games (or perhaps one demo). Whether it's worth it or not comes down to what you want to do. If you just want to play games, and don't plan on downloading any demos (or too many arcade games) then you won't be missing out. However, if you do want to download these things, or take advantage of renting hi-def movies, then you won't be able to do that without purchasing a Hard Drive. It also means it won't play old Xbox games (i.e. Xbox 1 games) - but that is less than essential these days.

Personally, I think the Hard Drive is essential if you want to enjoy the full experience available. It might be cheaper in the long run to pick up the system with a 20GB drive (or even a bigger model) and take advantage of the additional features. Alternatively, if you do buy the Arcade, you can always buy the Hard Drive later.

Other than that - there is no difference between models. The most expensive "Elite" model outputs through an HDMI socket, which isn't available on others (and is black as opposed to white), but other than that they are the same.

Get back to me if you need any more info!

Andy