Rumorang: New Xbox 360 bundle, Core this holiday
by Jason Dobson 
{ Sep 27th 2007 at 12:30PM }
A "mole" has unearthed a pair of juicy rumors for Opposable Thumbs, detailing not one, but two new Xbox 360 bundles expected just in time for the holiday splurge. The first, described as the Xbox 360 Pro package, will reportedly include a single case featuring both Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, much like what was done with the old Sega GT/Jet Set Radio bundle for the original Xbox. Rumors of this bundle first surfaced last month, and this latest report seems to add a measure of certainty to those claims.
This package is expected to drop on October 9, with a similar bundle for the Elite coming October 23. Unfortunately, according to the aforementioned mole, there won't be a price drop, but two free games is two free games.
The mole's most interesting suggestion, however, is a new Xbox 360 Core model that will arrive "at the end of October," sporting a HDMI port, wireless controller, 256MB memory card, and five XBLA arcade games (Boom-Boom Rocket, Pac-man, Uno, Feeding Frenzy, and Luxor 2) on a single disc. Even better is that, according to the subterranean varmint, the package will carry the standard Core price of $279.99.
If true, these deals look to offer a number of options for those still hesitant to dive into the Xbox 360 pool, making October a month to watch.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
my kickback toddler @ Sep 27th 2007 3:22PM
I demand you change the picture to jetpack George Michael fighting Tobias Mole in Tiny Town.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 12:41PM
Its true... not a rumor. Best Buy is taken preorders.
But still, I will wait fot the 65nm version.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8514299&type=product&id=1186006783676
FrankTheCrank @ Sep 27th 2007 1:32PM
I'm with Ferrrrrrnando...
I want to play HALO3, BioShock, PGR4, GOW and Madden08 as bad as the next guy....but I'm not dealing with crappy hardware that's going to bust down.
I'll wait for Falcon.
Mr. P @ Sep 27th 2007 1:19PM
I don't see anything about XBLA games or a memory card on that page. And it's not $280.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 1:20PM
The link is for the 360 Premium bundled with Forza and Marvel.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 1:23PM
Ey... Best Buy cut the link. =(
Well, at least we know that the rumour its true.
JJ Rooster @ Sep 27th 2007 1:39PM
Guys, the Falcons aren't that important. The smaller size will only bring the temp down 5 degrees apparently. The important thing you need is the 2nd heatsink for the GPU which overheats the board and pulls away from the mobo due to clamps underneath it. The Falcon will save MS money. I don't think it will drastically affect the reliability.
sheppy2.0 @ Sep 27th 2007 1:43PM
This is good news for me because in three days, I get my free Xbox 360 Core voucher from Meijer. I mean, this will make my sixth console but their warranty is very nice. So can I continue to stare at the unopened copy of Halo 3 until October 9th? Yes. Especially since I have the hard drive with all my saves.
Tango Charlie @ Sep 27th 2007 12:41PM
What's the good of offering two free games if you don't want to play either of them? Here's hoping the Elite bundle offers something more appealing, as opposed to just trying to shift old stock.
FOXHOUND @ Sep 27th 2007 12:45PM
Well, you could bite the bullet and do one of those "create-a-bundle deals" (the word 'deal' mentioned loosely) through GameStop, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, et.al.
This does entice me into holding off on buying the Elite though.
Tango Charlie @ Sep 27th 2007 12:49PM
No can do. Am Canadian, they don't do those up here. But seriously. I want an XBOX to enjoy Gears, Halo 3, and Bioshock. Plus Burnout and (crosses fingers) Assassin's Creed. Then there's Mario on the Wii and Zelda on the DS. Who has time for Marvel Ultimate Alliance?
JJ Rooster @ Sep 27th 2007 1:15PM
Walmart Canada is selling the 360 Pro with Forza 2 and NHL 2K8 for $350 if you're interested starting tomorrow.
http://www.walmart.ca/wps-portal/sto...r.jsp?page=sfy
Their sale started yesterday in Quebec, try postal code: J4H 1V1
f you don't want those games, trade them to Blockbuster and you'd get enough to buy Halo. And no need to cross fingers for Assassin's Creed on 360. It was confirmed coming to both systems long ago.
JJ Rooster @ Sep 27th 2007 1:16PM
Link got messed, I'll try again
http://www.walmart.ca/wps-portal/storelocator/Canada-ViewCircular.jsp?page=sfy
Dale @ Sep 27th 2007 1:18PM
Even without all those other games to play, your question still stands. Marvel Ultimate Alliance was graphically underwhelming and involved way too much button mashing to be any long term fun. The RPG elements weren't enough to make it compelling.
FOXHOUND @ Sep 27th 2007 1:19PM
TangoCharlie --- I thought you guys had Fry's Electronics stores up there? Or if all else fails, import...? :x
Tango Charlie @ Sep 27th 2007 1:22PM
JJ - Re: assassin's creed - oh, i just meant I hope it turns out to be a really solid game.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 12:42PM
Is Joystiq going to do an article on the latest 360 rumor going on?
That Microsoft has disabled Antialiasing in the hardware to prevent the 360s from over heating and RRODing? I don't know if its true or not but I can certainly tell you that I have jaggies all over the place...I'm just not sure if they were there before the spring update or not.
This is an issue thats picking up quite a bit of steam lately.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 12:44PM
I think its more likely that they lowered the resolution the games are rendering at rather than turning off AA because the jaggies are too horibble to happen even without AA if it were in 720p rez.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 12:45PM
Maybe your Akai TV sucks.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 12:46PM
Sorry Fernando I've got a Bravia XBR-2.
Jake @ Sep 27th 2007 12:49PM
It is picking up a lot of steam? I have never heard of it. Do you have a link to an article that mentions this?
I haven't noticed any graphical drop.
Badboy1979 @ Sep 27th 2007 12:50PM
Heeeey what u trying to say? I have an AKAI, lol :) It was my first HDTV I got a while back (52 inch, 1080i) and it runs Halo 3 beautifully with no jaggies. Also got a 42 Plasma and they're no jaggies that I've seen so far.
I love the little A/V calibration video that comes with the Limited Edition... helped adjust my color/contrast/sharpness to just the right levels
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 12:50PM
A Sony TV? What a surprise!
PS. I hope it doesn't explode like the laptop batteries.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 12:53PM
Heres a link to the official Hardware thread on the Xbox forums...There is a microsoft hardware guy on there named XeZar who eventually verifies the problem but suggests its happening on not many machines.
However it happens on every machine I've seen that has the spring update. Microsoft hasn't said anything about this issue again since May of this year...we need to make some noise to get them to address it.
http://forums.xbox.com/1/15089670/ShowPost.aspx#15089670
Check out some of Bungies screenshots for Halo 3 and compare it to your actual game being played, its night and day, something is wrong.
Badboy1979 @ Sep 27th 2007 12:54PM
Heeeey, Fernando, what u trying to say... I got an AKAI, lol lol :)
Got it a couple years back and it's survived. It was my 1st HDTV (50" projection 1080i) and Halo3 looks good on it. Also got a 42" plasma doing 720p and there are no jaggies on it either.
Badboy1979 @ Sep 27th 2007 12:56PM
Oops, sorry for the triple post :(
copa @ Sep 27th 2007 1:00PM
Sorry, Shagi, but if you weren't such a troll I would pay attention to your stupid rumor.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 1:11PM
The 360 is my favorite platform, why would I make this up?
Jake @ Sep 27th 2007 1:14PM
Shaggi,
Hate to break it to you bro, but that is a rumor unworthy of Joystiq's attention. Coming for a PS3 fanboy, it loses all street cred. Move along people, nothing to see here.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 1:15PM
You guys are the ones being fanboys for refusing to consider this. You can call me a Sony fanboy all you want but its not true.
I'm not a fanboy, I'm a Wii hater.
Fernando Rocker (NDF - Water Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 1:16PM
You are a Sony Fanboy, no matter what you say. Period.
megaStryke @ Sep 27th 2007 1:30PM
In other words, an anti-Nintendo fanboy. Still a fanboy.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 1:34PM
I can't stress what a disservice your doing to the 360 community by trying to bury my posts by calling me a fanboy.
Why wouldn't you want a problem addressed?
NATO_Duke @ Sep 27th 2007 1:37PM
Wow, you guys are gonna lynch Shagittarius!
Honestly, I have not noticed any change in the consoles since the update patch. I doubt the rumor is true. Also, comparing images on my computer screen with the game as I play it leaves way too many factors for me to say that I was screwed over.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 1:42PM
I'm not claiming that the rumor part of this issue is true, I'm just saying that myself and a lot of other people are seeing jaggies in games that previously had no jaggies not just Halo 3.
Microsoft in that thread I posted said they think the problem is confined to a few consoles but its very widespread from the amount of posts they are getting on that thread.
So Microsoft has verified that it is an issue back in May , but one that they think isn't affecting enough people to do anything about. Thats why people need to let them know if this is indeed the case.
JJ Rooster @ Sep 27th 2007 1:42PM
OMG think for a second. If only 30% of the consoles break down, why would MS affect 100% of the consoles with some sort of graphical reduction and piss even more people off with obvious jaggies? That's just stupid.
megaStryke @ Sep 27th 2007 1:45PM
Because since you are the only one on this site, out of all the posters and staff, to actually think this might be a problem, and since you have a history of talking out your ass, we don't quite jump at this news like you would have hoped. In any case, it SOUNDS like a very, very rare issue affecting a small, small, small number of units. Nothing like, say, red ring issues.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 1:45PM
JJRooster - Maybe they don't want to spend the billions they put aside to pay for the repair of broken consoles?
This is the rumor portion of course. The issue however is what I'm more concerned about.
Shagittarius @ Sep 27th 2007 1:48PM
Lets talk about all the people that are posting on the official hardware forums as well as other places on the net that are experiencing this.
I encourage you to go home and look for yourselves, those of you who have 360s...especially if someone has a 360 that doesn't have the spring update.
NATO_Duke @ Sep 27th 2007 1:49PM
Dude, c'mon...you said "However it happens on every machine I've seen that has the spring update." and so you think its true. Then you keep arguing it. So, if you think its true then cool, but I have not seen it on our machine.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 1:49PM
I dunno WTF you're talking about shagi, but there's no aliasing on my console, and I've installed every update available for the 360.
NATO_Duke @ Sep 27th 2007 1:53PM
"Lets talk about all the people that are posting on the official hardware forums as well as other places on the net that are experiencing this."
You should never believe anything you read on the internets - heck, maybe I didn't even just say this. Its all evil lies.
MooseMuffin @ Sep 27th 2007 2:47PM
No AA issues on my box.
AirIntake @ Sep 27th 2007 2:53PM
I haven't had any issues after the spring update. Neither have my other 3 friends with 360s, one of which has a refurb. I'm interested in the problem, but I've read that forum link, and there's really only a few people there posting many times.
And then there's all the Best Buy, Future Shop, EB, etc consoles that I've seen running. I haven't seen and AA problems on any of them.
jsn @ Sep 27th 2007 3:15PM
I've been playing pretty much the same game nonstop since that update so I have little doubt I'd notice and some of my friends would most definitely have noticed.
If this is true it means that the 360 managed to be out the PS3 in terms of quality on a variety of cross-platform games without two pretty key features. That would be funny indeed...
Badboy1979 @ Sep 27th 2007 12:47PM
If that Core package is true then I'll be picking one up for my home office come this holiday. Getting a media center extender, cd/dvd player, and gaming system all-in-one for $279 is a deal for me.
NOTE: I have an elite and launch 360 so I can live without another hard drive til the 120GB or 20GB hard drive go down in price. Still, a 256MB memory card is more than enough to save some Halo 3 films and game types :)
jsn @ Sep 27th 2007 3:06PM
it's an even better deal when you see the prices on the new pica based media center extenders that were announced yesterday. I think the cheapest one was $289 and it's just an extender. I'd take my chances with a $159 refurb core system to use as an extender before getting one of those.
DemonG @ Sep 27th 2007 12:50PM
Hey.
Its Jet Set Radio Future, not Jet Grind Radio. Both excellent games, but no reason to lie about it.
LiasonAngel08 @ Sep 27th 2007 12:52PM
Uhh they should just get rid of the core now...
1) Give out a free hard drive to any core user who still hasn't bought a hard drive (why they wouldn't have by now is beyond me though).
That we they could have the ENTIRE 360 base have something in common so that bigger and better games that might require the HD can be produced.
And sony trolls and stop there crying.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Sep 27th 2007 1:51PM
Nah, then the PS3 trolls would just laugh at M$ and call them NOOBS for not putting an HD in every console to begin with, thus PROVING that Sony is better in every imagineable way.
Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense, thats fanboy logic for you.