err0r Posted June 6, 2012 Report Share Posted June 6, 2012 About a month ago, Microsoft started offering a deal to customers of its brick-and-mortar stores: you can get a 4GB Xbox 360 with a Kinect sensor for $99, if you also buy a two-year service contract for Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold at $15 per month. Today, Microsoft announced that US Best Buy and certain (but not all) GameStop stores wouldn’t be left selling $299 versions of the same hardware bundle. Those outlets will be allowed to make the same offer. A Live Gold membership usually costs $60 per year (or $5 per month) with a $299 Xbox bundle. If you’re going to buy an Xbox with a Live Gold membership and you don’t like the idea of locking yourself into a two-year contract for a gaming console, then you should probably just put down the $300 up front and save $40 for the same service. If you’d rather not pay that money up front, then the discounted hardware plan is the way to go. Perhaps getting used to such a system isn’t a bad idea—Microsoft has consistently referred to this new pricing scheme as a “pilot program.” This may be the way the company wants to position Xbox pricing in the future. “A new content plan could help position the Xbox much more directly as a full-service living room entertainment center, rather than primarily as a video game system,” Ars Gaming Editor Kyle Orland wrote in May. “That's a transition Microsoft has been signaling for years with its slow accumulation of online entertainment apps, and one that seems somewhat natural given that entertainment apps are already more popular than online gaming on the Xbox 360.” At any rate, the pricing plan isn't going anywhere. As Don Mattrick (head of Microsoft's gaming business) told Nasdaq.com: "Customers have so far responded well to the new pricing program, though it's still in its pilot phase." Source: technica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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