at the same time very very clever and extremely stupid

Microsoft's pricing move for the Xbox 360 is at the same time very very clever and extremely stupid. It's stupid, because to actually get a decent console from the $299 version, you'll need to buy about $100 worth of upgrades anyway - therefore the pricing difference is pointless. But it's also clever, because it means they can sell a $400 console but put "$299" on the advertisements.

They're selling 64MB memory cards for about $40. I can but a 256MB memory stick for £20 which is about $30. What's the point? Why, in fact, doesn't this console accept anything other than proprietary memory formats? Wouldn't it be better to accept the use of standard things like USB memory and Memory Stick and what have you, so that people can use media they already own and save themselves some money? That'd be a major selling point.

And why are they selling wired controllers? Nobody WANTS a controller with a wire! It was my understanding that wirelessness would be standard in the next generation. It's looking less and less likely, and this is a BAD THING.