There's a rumor circulating that the Xbox 360 Arcade and the Xbox 360 Pro will receive storage upgrades in the near future. According to VGE Utopia, the Arcade will either get a bump to 512MB of internal memory or a 20GB hard drive. The Pro hard drive will get an upgrade to 80GB or 120GB.
If the reports of the Elite becoming limited are true, then the rumors make a lot of sense. I truly hope that the Arcade gets the hard drive, because its current incarnation is too limited. The Pro hitting at least 80GB also seems like a prudent move; this would keep its storage in line with Sony's base model and cause some consumers to see it as a better value than the 80GB PlayStation 3.
The storage upgrades were expected some time this year, simply because cost per GB constantly goes down and Microsoft has to refresh its SKUs. However, the purported demise of the Elite accelerates matters, particularly for the Pro. If Microsoft is going to push the Pro as its main SKU, then it needs to match the 80GB PlayStation 3 as closely as possible while still retaining a cheaper price. Regardless of what you think of their respective capabilities, mainstream consumers will focus on the price difference, believing that, "These two game boxes both have 80GB hard drives. This white one is $100 cheaper. I'll get that!"
For anyone that hasn't purchased an Xbox 360 yet, are you going to delay your purchase based on these rumors? For everyone else, do you think these upgrades are likely? Do you even think they're necessary?
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