27,999 Penny Arcade

Microsoft has announced a new, cheaper Xbox 360 package that's ideal for our purposes. The 'Xbox 360 Arcade' is designed for family gamers interested in taking advantage of Xbox Live Arcade - the service through which Wing Commander Arena is available! It costs only $279.99, a full $70 less than the 'full' system. The downside? It has a 256 megabyte memory card instead of a hard drive. It's more than enough to store Arena, but you won't be able to download videos or other large content without an upgrade. The package also includes full versions of five Live Arcade titles: Pac-Man Championship Edition, Uno, Luxor 2, Feeding Frenzy and EA's own Boom Boom Rocket. The hardware also includes a wireless controller, an HDMI output and the 'upgraded' chipset developed to prevent overheating. Xbox 360 Arcades are available now -- if you've been putting off picking up the system to play Arena, now is the time!