The xbox arcade is capable of going online, however there is no hard drive sold with this model so you have to save your games that you are playing online on a memory card not the hard drive. This console is great if you are not planning on purchasing games and/or songs for simulation games or whatnot off xbox live. It is a good choice for someone who just wants to play the games that are sold at the store. If you intend to use it for online play, I would recommend the xbox pro or elite. These are available for $100/$200 more, but it is cheaper that way than purchasing the arcade version and then purchasing a separate hard drive. Hope this helps!