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The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

With E3 on the horizon, Microsoft slashes 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle to $299 UPDATE: Target says "our bad"

By | May 31, 2011, 6:00am PDT

Summary: Microsoft is making really hard for consumers not to pick up its latest console. With a $299 Xbox 360 and Kinect bundle, will the PlayStation 3 stand a chance?

With E3 approaching, console manufacturers are really trying their hardest to make their consoles the most compelling offer for consumers. Right on the heels of the newest PS3 bundle, Microsoft, too, seems intent on offering gamers a convincing bargain of its own.

According to Target’s online store, the 250 GB Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle is getting a $100 price cut to $299. The cut, however, does seem a bit premature, as the savings do not carry over when customers actually attempt to buy the console, making it possible that the cut is actually an error.

It’s also unknown whether the savings will carry over to other versions of the console. Would Microsoft be so bold as to drop the 4GB version of the 360 to $150?

With the price cut, the 250 GB bundle is priced competitively with the PlayStation 3 Call of Duty: Black Ops Bundle, which Sony announced last week. With E3 less than a week away, things are already looking pretty busy.

UPDATE: Looks like the price cut was actually a typo, though something of a pretty significant one. Target has released the following statement:

“Target recently became aware of the mispriced Xbox 360 250GB Kinect Bundle shown on Target.com’s main video game page. The page will be updated shortly to reflect the correct price. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.”

Typo or not, a price cut like that doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s likely Microsoft will make an official announcement next week. So we’ll just have to sit tight for now.

[Via GamesBeat]

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Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications.

Disclosure

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton has no investments that may conflict with his work with ZDNet. Similarly, he has not worked with any companies that he may write about in his technology coverage.

Biography

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications. He lives in New York, and is a graduate of Amherst College.
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RE: With E3 on the horizon, Microsoft slashes 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle to $299
ditkazbearz 1st Jun
@A Gray
Yes 53 millions gamer with xbox 360 and 10 millions gamers with ps3 and 40 million ps3 sold as bluray players that dont even game because it was/is the best bluray player out there lol
I was in Target yesterday. The 4 gig Xbox was $199 but came with a free $50 giftcard.

So its likely that there is a pricecut coming.
0 Votes
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or maybe
Linux Geek 31st May
M$ is getting out of the game console business and there are the close out prices.
@Linux Geek Yeah right! More likely they're about to move into that price point where consoles fly off the shelves and Sony losing Billions last year cannot afford this price war!

It is good to see Ms being competitive again and going for the throat!
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*Sigh*
A Gray 31st May
@Linux Geek I really have no opinion if you dislike Microsoft, Apple, Google or whoever, but I do care that you waste people's time with worthless posting. I will no longer even read any post you make. Maybe ZDNet will give us an ignore someday.
So Microsoft is finally admitting they are falling behind in the console war? I am sure that going from first place to third was tough on them, but really, why not just hire a few more groups to perform DDoS attacks on the PSN again?
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So, according to you...
itpro_z 31st May
@Rick_K ...being #1 in sales is falling behind?
@itpro_z ignore Rick, he is just clueless as to the fact that console prices fall all the time and when you hit that point where you have the competition bleeding red you pounce!
@Rick_K
XBOX live is so incredibly better then sonys attempt. Right there it wins bluray or not,
Cool they need to slash the price of the 250GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle. What I can't wait to see is an Android phone that has Xbox gaming controls on the slide out just like the phone that Sony has put out with Playstation controls on it. Imagine logging into Xbox Live on your phone and playing games with your phone using Xbox controls, or being able to hand the phone off to your tween child for their entertainment during a long trip...no more packing up the big game systems. Didn't the Xbox Kinect bundle outsell the PS3 over the christmas season last year?
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According to Wikipedia...
A Gray 31st May
@bonnie@... If you consider wikipedia to be accurate, XBox 360 outsold PS3 so far 53million units to 50million over all. But there are still lots of PS2s that people play.
@A Gray
Yes 53 millions gamer with xbox 360 and 10 millions gamers with ps3 and 40 million ps3 sold as bluray players that dont even game because it was/is the best bluray player out there lol
0 Votes
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XBox Live on your phone?
itpro_z 31st May
@bonnie@... they already have that. It is called WP7.
Can't seem to confirm the price at the source hotlink. Target online store today is advertising and cart'ing that bundle at price point $399, so it may have been an earlier typo error quickly corrected. I can't afford either price anyway.
I'm really an atheist when it comes to the Evil Empire (Darth Ballmer and Darth Jobs) however, I love my new Xbox 360 S, is there another gaming console out there?

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