Microsoft confirms $99 Xbox 360

375+99= $474

just as expensive if not more in most cases -____-

I can buy the same Xbox model with Kinect on Amazon for $284, and a year of XBL costs $48, which would be $96 for two years. That totals $380. With this deal, you're paying $80 more, not $40.

pretty soon they will be handing out 360s at a homeless shelter lol! hey maybe then I'll get one... maybe

this is really stupid microsoft, when i saw the notice i though o shit, i own a ps3 but for 99$ i can have me1, alan wake and gears o CHIT!!! but after all youre greedy bastards thats why i never buyed a 360 i have a ps3 instead....when 360 is at 99$ new without shiity deals i will buy one...

It would be better to not buy an XBox this way, I know many wouldn't have much money on hand, in which case just go buy second hand and save yourself being scammed.

Sheesh, really, it doesn't even make since, all the money Microp*nis makes, and they do stuff like this, you know what's worse than a scam? Scamming when you don't even need to scam, greedy bastards. I don't even wanna know what they're gonna pull with their new console.

Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves; taking advantage of the stupid or those too lazy to use a calculator.

Isn't XBL going to be free soon anyways? lol

Not a good deal imo.

"The deal would cost less up front, but consumers will wind up spending more in the long run"

oh, that's why. still micro$oft

With only 21 places in the entire country you can get this at it seems more like a promotional thing to get "360 is the cheapest console at $99" in peoples heads. I have to admit whoever at Microsoft thought this one up is a genius. Sadly that is the mentality of the American consumer these days, I could sell a 360 for $1 but it would cost you $300 in gas to get here to get it yet people would still jump all over it.

tduhon07 is totally right, this will be a very amazing deal ONLY IF the two year condition gets cancelled

I need to pay to use the internet that i already pay for,microsoft,hope you burn in flames and lose the dam money u gain.

I fail to see how this is a good deal, the only way it could be a good deal was if you didn't have enough money to buy one up front, otherwise you'd be better off just getting one seperately and not being tied down with a mandatory two year subscription.

This sounds like the Annual pass for WoW.

If they let you use the discounted 12 month cards, this would be a pretty sweet deal.

Who in there right mind would pay 15 dollars a month for live service, that comes to 180 dollars a year just for live, I can get a 12 month card for 48 on amazon.

They must think we're stupid or something. This is a scam, a way to finance an X360 and end up paying a lot more than it's really worth. This is disrespectful and... aaagh! Sometimes I really wish we could use some swearing here in GameSpot.

just release an xbox for 100 $ With everything in it. Your system is only going to be bought by people replacing it have a little respect for the major atrocity you've caused us Gamers. Kinnect is like like a paper weight to most of us gamers, Hardly significant . this deal is for the moron lol. good for them see ya on live for the next two years of whoppingggg.

Most gamers demand a mulitplayer option is a game these days so they probably won't think twice about having to sign up for a basic XBL subscription. Sounds like Microsoft just wants to sell a few more units before their next gen platform is availble.

I'd rather spend my $99 on PS2 at least you still get a reliable and fun console with thousands of games to play than XBOX 360 S it just simply hopeless.

It's really not that bad. If you can't afford 3 x $5's a month, you're too poor to even buy a single used game, ya B

Stupid ppl. This is called installments. You get to use the money you saved up front to do other stuff. Its called opportunity cost. So what if you end up paying more? Heck if this was a large sum of money, you could have invested the money you saved and end up profitting from this deal.

No trickery from MS here. They plainly state the price of the console and the price of Xbox Live. If you're looking for a low cost console, get a used one. The Xbox 360S doesn't have the problems the original model did, so no worries there. This here is still a good deal when you take into account that it has the Kinect bundled with it. Eh.. if you like the Kinect. I personally do not.

How can you even put "99$" in the title.

It is definitely not 99 dollars, if we have to subscribe to xbox live gold. Why would I want xbox live if I'm trying to just get a cheap system??

When I quit Xbox live, I had to call somebody in another country and argue with them for almost an hour. I don't know if that's everybody's story, but that's what happened to me. If you get it, buy the point cards. Don't give them your CCard! You can sign up easily online; quitting is another story.

The sad thing is some people might actually fall for this "99$" 360 scam.

There is always a catch.

too much maths, but it doesn't matter anyways, it is too late to get swayed into a console this late in the generation, it is like trying to sell the PSP or DS for dirt at this stage.

I guess it could be a good deal for people that don't have the cash at the moment, and prefer to pay in payments. Personally, I wouldn't find it appealing if I didn't have an Xbox though.

With the addition of Kinect it doesn't seem like an entirely bad deal - until you check the numbers more carefully that is. The numbers in the article don't seem accurate; the difference between buying separate and this deal is actually greater.

Based on Amazon's pricing, the 4GB Xbox 360 + Kinect bundle costs just under $285 while 1 year of Xbox Live Gold costs just under $50. So 285 + (2 x 50) = 385. If you take the deal in the article, then in the long run you pay almost $80 more than if you were to take the deal separately.

I don't know why the price of the Gold is so inflated. Why anyone would pay $360 dollars for 2 years of Gold when you can get it for less than $100 pretty much anywhere else is beyond me.

I understand that for someone who can't afford to pay almost $300 for the Kinect-equipped console or even $200 for the basic 4GB model, $99 for an Xbox 360 with Kinect doesn't seem too bad on paper. I get that part.

However, you end up paying almost quadruple the rate for Xbox Live Gold which is pretty much mark-up + interest for being allowed to take home the product at such a discount. The idea seems to be that people do the same thing with a phone contract so why not consoles? But this seems like exploitation to me.

Frankly, I'm shocked that a company of Microsoft's stature would offer such a blatant rip-off and call it a 'Special Offer'. It's a huge insult to the intelligence of the consumers.

But then again, if people do end up going for this and it becomes a success, what does that end up saying about the intelligence of Microsoft's consumers?

Well GameSpot broke it down for you: $460 vs $420.

So the obvious answer should be "NO."

The only problem I really see with this is if it's seriously successful, there will be another sad practice that will prevail over console gaming: CONTRACTS. It's one thing that they have subscription based content, but making someone commit to a contract leaves much to be desired. I am off my cell phone contract and need a new phone and I'm loathed to go back because once in, the only way to get out is to pay a crazy severance fee; I can see console companies adding that factor in and that ain't cool. It's bad that it'll cost you more in the long run, but worse that you are locked in and have no choice but to pay more. All I have to say to anyone who buys this is make sure you know the ins and outs of the contract. Hopefully though Microsoft won't go that route with it and punish unsatisfied customers.

I remember back when the PS2 came out and there were some store promos stating that you could get the system for like $100 when you signed with an ISP for two years. I quickly learned what a scam it was back then, and it's the same thing now. Hopefully, people will do the math before making a big mistake like buying this "deal".

$460 then in total..

That seems pretty steep for 4GB console, especially considering the reason people have XBL is to play decent online games - not Kinect. I could understand $99 for the 4GB console, but making 2 years of XBL mandatory is harsh.

There's only one winner to this and that's Microsoft..

You all fail to see the bigger picture when you are poor,your only interest is the money you save now ($99) not the money you will save 2 years later ($40), poor folks fall for this all the time, we pay the full price for every 1 item every month instead of a cheaper 2 for 1 every two months, WHY because we don't have money so we get the cheapest thing at that very moment, we have no time to do the math what is cheaper in the long run

I bought one for $149 almost 3 years ago. I would say that microsoft is being very careful about lowering the price on this console.

do not buy it...

$99 dollars? If they paid me $99 dollars to take an XBox 360 I still wouldn't play it. As hard as they may try, I'll let get go of my PC gaming rig, the day they pry it out of my fingers. Console gaming....will never be for me!!! Long live the few, the proud, the elite of the gaming world, PC Gamers!