YESSS! Unbelievable: at Friday last week I got a parcel - I'm the winner of a drawing by lots happened at the recent BASTA! So equipped with my experiences with the older XBox I started yesterday to get it work (the XBox 360 Core Set) - and my frustration growed over the time. Plugging all the cable was not an issue as I had help from my child's . But then: turning on - the usual configuration screens are displayed: create a profile, connect to XBox Live etc. - crap, switch over to just gaming!

Me: "Oh, it's loud. OK, Laura - can you provide your favorite game CD? Yes, just put it in - it is as easy as it was with the old one..."
Me (a half minute later waiting that something happened): "Laura, you don't flipped the sides of the CD?"
Laura: "No - the cover is at top."
Me: "Mhm, seems the old Cd's are not working..." (I guessed that before, because the older controller's did not match the new hardware)
Maike, Laura: "Oooah. We cannot play with the dancing pad anymore? And all the cool games we just played...?" - "No multiple players anymore? There is now again just one controller...".
Me: "Yes, sorry. Looks like you are right... BUT: let's start try the other new cool features..."
Maike, Laura: "But we want to start gaming...!"
Me: "... like Video and Audio streaming!"
Maike (the younger): "What's that?"
Me: "Listen: ..." (longer talk here, cut).
Me, meanwhile trying to create a profile we needed: "Crap. Looks like I cannot create a profile without the memory unit. But look: there is a USB slot - let's get a memory stick and put it in - then we can go on successfully." I was totally wrong: it does not accept any USB stick as a memory unit replacement! And the best: there is no memory unit in the core package! I really have to bye a memory unit for around 34€ (64 MB) to successfully start anything on that crappy new console! The same amount of money I need to bye a memory stick of 1GByte!
Laura: "It's boring..."
Me: "OK, wait. I will get my Laptop, plug in the network cable - and then we can start doing all the new cool things..." As the laptop starts up, I navigated to the network configuration dialogs on the XBox - "Look, there is a web address we can look at how to get it work!"
Maike: "Dad, can you read what's there?"
Me: "Yes, it is English. But no problem: I can read it...  Ah, we have to install streaming software... named Zune. We have to download the file." (I just saw the small "international" green on gray link today, where I can switch the language, but not at the time I installed)
Laura: "It's boring, how long it will take?"
Me: "Mhm, around 5MB - two minutes only."
Maike: "How long it will take?"
Me: "Look at this progress bar, if it is at 100 percent, it's done."
Maike: "Oh, such a long time -- and then we can start gaming?"
Me: "No, but we should be able to listen to music and videos that are on my PC!"
Maike: "Why? We can just start them there with the Media Player..."
Me: "For gaming Mom has to bye a game branded for this new XBox."
Laura: "It's boring. Can you call, if we can play something?" (both went up to start playing with their Barbies)

Summery: without a memory unit, without a starting game, without a (wired) Internet connection, without a PC running at least Windows XP or Media Center, without a men /woman able to read English - the core package is just a dead piece of hardware useful for nothing really new - play a CD (we already own a CD player) is the only (untested) feature you can use immediately! I was so excited - now I'm really frustrated. Mostly about that required (and expensive) memory unit! If there is a USB port: why I cannot use the USB memory sticks I already own? Maybe I should really start reading the f****** manual - maybe I can? But it was easier to just bye the unit (and a game) yesterday evening - at least: now we are "in".