According tohttp://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/rumor-microsoft-launching-99-xbox-360-kinect/ Microsoft will be releasing a 4gb 360 + Kinect bundle for $99 next week. The deal is you pay $99 and enter into a two year contract at $15 a month which includes Xbox Live Gold (during the 2 years) and a 2 year warranty.

Seems like a pretty nice deal. You walk into the store, drop down $100 and walk out with an Xbox and a Kinect (and Xbox Live) and you slowly pay it off on a monthly basis. I'd do it if I didn't already have one. Of course you'll have to upgrade the hard drive if you're heavy into DLC, but otherwise this seems like a decent deal. Now I need to convince my girlfriend to get this so we can play on Live together..lol.

Correction: $99 up front plus 360 over two years

It's a really bad deal, especially with current interest rates for savings.

So....$99 + $15 a month for two years = $459.

I see Xbox4Gb+Kinect on sale for about $200-$250 and the Xbox live 12 month for about $50avg. - $300-350 total for 2 years.
I'm not familiar w/Xbox or Live, so anything about the $459 package that you get that you don't get doing it the other way? I'm actually interested, since the Kinect dancing stuff sort of intrigues me.

It's not that good of a deal.

All those components broken out individually:
$300 for 4gb Xbox/Kinect
$60 for Live x 2 years = $120
$420 total

New Deal combined
$99 for Xbox/Kinect
$15 x 24 months = $360
$459 total

Well when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so nice.
It's $300 for the Xbox and Kinect package at best buy and if you were to buy live at $60 per year it would actually be a grand total of $420 compared to the $460 you'd pay with that deal. That is a ripoff.

EDIT: Double ninja'd.

EGM says that that deal cost $470 right now so you save $11 You're not taking into account the extra year warranty.

Option #1

• 4GB Xbox 360 + Kinect: $299
  
• 2 years of Xbox Live Gold: $120
  
• Extended warranty (Xbox 360): $25
  
• Extended warranty (Kinect): $25
  
• Total: $470

Option #2

• 4GB Xbox 360 + Kinect: $99
  
• Two years of $15 monthly fees: $360
  
• Total: $459

But think of it this way, you spend $300-400 on the system and how many games are you going to buy day one? One or two? So now you walk into the store and only have to put down $99, you can now afford more games up front since your cost is spread out over time.

I think that's going to be the main benefit people will see. At least that's how I'd see it. I already have an Xbox and 250gb hard drive so obviously this doesn't appeal to me, but maybe I'll pay the $99 for my girlfriend and she'll pay the monthly fee, or heck maybe I'll do both and then we can game together.

I've been trying to convince her to get one so we can spend time doing stuff together other than Skype, so maybe this will help LOL

Ah...sorry, I saw the $200+Kinect but guess those are just the console w/being Kinect ready. So yeah...both = $275ish here.

Egm is also stupid just like buying extended warranties are. Extended warranties are almost pure profit for the company as they cover less than 2% of failures on average. Also the 360+kinect can easily be obtained for 225, less if you don't want the Kinect.

Oh wow, $11! WOOO!

Well the main advantage is not paying $470 all in one day. If you get paid every two weeks, then you now have 52 pay periods to pay for your Xbox, and again you can spend more money on games on day one. That's what I think they're trying to do, make it cheaper up front so you can spend more money on content, thus they make more money toward the end of the 360's cycle. I think it's a win for casual gamers and a win for Microsoft.

Clever girl.

the only way your making out with a good deal is if you were already going to get a gold membership subscription

Why would you buy an Xbox without a gold membership though? Kinda limits what you can do. Unless you like doing everything alone I guess.

It's a win for Microsoft, anyway. But yes, if one is very strapped for "right now" cash, stuff like this may enable you to get the item you want. It's been a marketing strategy for ages.

Unrelated: If I wanted Kinect for the dance games, but didn't care about online play/competing/services, I don't still need Xbox Live, do I?
(edit: from the post above, sounds like no, I don't? ... I'm not interested in Xbox for "regular" gaming...I use PC for that ... just the dance stuff looked fun...)

They're just relying on people who see the $99 price point and shell out the cash, either not realizing that they have to pay it off over 2 years or thinking that it'll be easier to come by the money gradually.

Either way, it's a win for Microsoft and another way to steal money from the consumer. Then again, if someone doesn't realize how bad a deal this is, they probably deserve to be stolen from anyway .

Repossessions of 360s will be on the rise in a couple of years...

You should be a salesman, you seem to like it.

This deal is basically ripping off people that can't pay up front. It's like any other long term payment plan, you're getting screwed in the end.

I pay $1 a monttyh for Xbox Live. Sounds like a rip off. (I should be posting g this anonymously lololo)

How? In the end it costs no more than if you bought it up front. There's no interest involved. They're just selling it to you cheap in exchange for a 2 year commitment to their services in a sense, just like a phone.

Well okay, I may have used harsh language. Still, in the end you're paying more. I myself would just buy a used xbox, but that's because my poor ass lives off craigslist.

On the plus side though, sounds like a good way to start building your credit rating. Or ruining it.

I'm wondering what happens if you decide to sell the Xbox under this deal if you can transfer the bill along with it. That'd be something I'd look into because I wouldn't want to be paying for a 360 after the 720 comes out. Still, the gamers who don't have a 360 by now probably aren't the people who will be buying 720's on day one anyway.

If you're smart, it costs you over $100 more than it would up-front.

If you're stupid, it'd still cost you a little more than it would up-front.

Only if you're really stupid (and buy into extended warranties AND are too dumb to know how to get stuff at below MSRP) does it break even/favor this deal.

I wonder if this is a marketing test for next Gen consoles or just future products in general. or maybe they know the econo,my is sgonna get a hulluva lot worse so this system is needed.

They're trying to liquidate 360s in preparation of the next generation consoles. By introducing them for a dirt-cheap down-payment, people snap them up, and they're still paying them off for year after the Xbox 720 comes out.