With the recent allotting of rumors available to savvy web viewers, there seems to be a coconscious among the gaming community that a price drop is imminent for the PS3 and therefore also the 360 as Microsoft will "undoubtedly" counter. Mixed in with this talk of price slashes are yells from the community to do away with the core system package, something that would be in bad taste in my opinion.

Why is that? What am I thinking? I can hear the yelps and screams now among those in the background, but hear me out before you press the back button on your browser and go about your predefined opinions. At the very root of the Core system's purpose is for Microsoft to do two things, of which I'm sure neither is of a higher priority than the other:

A) To make money after the original sale through accessory sales.
B) To empower choice as it pertains to buying accessories.

It would seem ladies and gentlemen that we have the proverbial opposite of a catch-twenty two, a win-win for a change in pace. For both Microsoft and customers. As it were, options presented to the end user, the consumer, allow for currency exchange and increased service. Ok, still with me? Don't give up yet as I haven't even touched on what many will undoubtedly find the most radical and provocative statements of this article which I will undoubtedly get to in a minute, first though I feel the need to elaborate as to where my thought process is coming from as for you, the reader, to better comprehend the end message. We (the gaming community as a majority) are currently split among party lines of preferred preference. And while there on the surface such a thing may seem natural, from an outsider's point of view, the moms and dads -the casual gamers, it seems irate and illogical. What does this have to do with system sales packages? Everything.

Currently, as I observed the other day when my grandmother (god bless her soul) went out to buy herself and husband a Wii for "inside tennis", we (stores) have 6 home consoles. Wait! What? What form of digital blasphemy is this? The kind of the ut-most importance if you must solicit me for such an easy answer. We have thee manufactures in the home console business, each with their own line of consoles, and while this may seem acceptable if you already familiar with each system and what each said systems sub-package includes and doesn't include; its downright confusing for an outsider to approach. Sony and Nintendo have figured this out. Give the people the simplest option and they will be happy, price difference or not. Nintendo did it from the beginning, only selling one system (granny wasn't confused on which box to pick up) Sony soon also figured it out dropping the lower end model regardless of its price point. Microsoft needs to do the same kind of slashing of systems, and what better time to re-allot the systems ecosystem setup than with a price drop?

Others seem to agree with the above statement. Something needs to be done, as currently three options is inexcusable for a company that confesses wanting to target the "casual gamers", the grandmas of the world. Great! I think most agree with me so far, and this is reflected through the calls to arms to cut the Core system down and out. It is that very thing that permeates the point of this article. Here is where yall are wrong. Completely wrong. This inadequate view of the systems structure is both anti-consumer and anti-business. No, the core should stay; we should kill off the standard packaging leaving the core and the elite. Ok- vent a yell for a minute, just don't click back.

Ok, feel better? In a recent interview, the Xbox's director of product management, David Hufford, said to Bloomberg (yes kids a real news source!) that "We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks.'' Peter Moore and Albert Penello, the alpha dogs of Xbox marketing if you will, also stated that the company needs to "expand our demographic". Grandma would be happy, their thinking of her and the other parents of the world! I would also have to agree with this belief, a $199 system, a Core system, would undercut the wii's appeal to the under twenty crowd with its substantially more powerful setup (as compared to what the wii's can do graphically with its antique system structure) as well as appeal to the casual gamer who just want to download those card games from Xbox Live.

Now here jumps the catch twenty two again. In the perfect world of common sense, Microsoft will capitalize on the Core systems expandability with jr. or the Miss's there being able to buy either the 20GB or 120GB hard drive. Instant profit for Microsoft and choice for the consumer on how much they want to invest. Don't want to spend much right now? That's cool, a cheep memory card will work fine for those few games you do have. Want to go wireless with that controller? Microsoft can help you out there too. Don't need the extras? That's cool as well. Have fun with what you got and what you can afford. It's a gaming system after all and it plays the same games with the same performance be it you spent $199 or $500+ on the console.

So where does this leave the standard package with the 20GB hard drive? It doesn't. It dies, as it should. It's a lose-lose situation for people who buy that system as it applies to upgrading things such as the hard drive. Want the 120GB later down the line? Ok, but you already paid for the 20GB. No, there should be only two. The core and elite. A low priced core with options as to how you want to play and pay would appeal to all but the most hard core who can look to the elite with its hdmi and extras to brighten their day.

Having said that, can I sum it up the sparknotes way? Sure I can, but just for yall who have made it this far. With a price drop the standard package is no longer needed to fill that void between the core and elite, and therefore should be removed. After a price drop, the Core will be strategically positioned to sell on today's market, with a cost undercutting Nintendo's console coupled with better performance and larger availability, sales would skyrocket among those who have been hesitant up to now on buying the 360, and allow Seattle to capture that casual market they have been pursuing while providing opportunity for said gamers to become more serious about gaming and their already purchased platform with upgrades in the future -at their leisure- as they see fit.

-D