In light of the hard drive-equipped Premium and Elite versions of the Xbox 360, many critics have questioned the very existence of the Core model of Microsoft's console. This is mainly because the Core is continually outsold by its stable mates and that the additional memory provided the Premium and Elite is necessary for Xbox Live downloads - and possibly even to run future games.

Well, if Gamernode's Belgian sources are correct, then it could soon be bye-bye for good to the Core unit... and hello to the new Xbox Arcade model. Yep, rumour has it that the Core system will be completely phased out and repackaged as the "Xbox Arcade: Just Play" pack, which will be bundled with five Arcade games and a 256MB memory card. It is also reported that the console will include an HDMI port as standard and retail for €279 Euro (approximately $275 USD).

Kotaku further claims that the Xbox Arcade will be available in North America in time for this year's holiday season, obviously to take full advantage of the huge leap in sales enjoyed by all consoles at the tail end of the year.

There's no official price other than the suggested €279 Euro cited above, although GamerSquad expects that it'll be priced equivalently (probably cheaper) in the United States.

So that's two years and four versions of the Xbox 360; we're having trouble keeping up.