In May, Microsoft announced it was offering a new Xbox 360 game console for sale for just $99 in its Microsoft Store locations. The catch? The console, which comes with the Kinect add-on and a 4 GB hard drive, also includes a mandatory two year subscription to Xbox Live Gold at $14.99 a month.
Today, Microsoft"s Larry Hyrb, via the Major Nelson website, announced that same "deal" is now available more widely at Best Buy and GameStop store locations.
It appears that the terms and conditions are the same as with the Microsoft Store offer. That means people can get a full refund, as well as a cancellation of the contract, without penalty within the first 30 days of purchase. Microsoft will still charge customers $14.99 for the first month of Xbox Live Gold service. After that, Microsoft will charge an early termination fee for any cancellation of the contract, starting at $250 after the first two months and going down every month until the end of the contract.
As we have pointed out before, people will end up spending $458.76 for the deal over two years. However, consumers can also choose to get the same Xbox 360-Kinect hardware bundle for $288.39 at Amazon.com, plus purchase two one-year Xbox Live Gold pre-paid cards for $49.32 each; that comes to a total of $387.03.
Source: Major Nelson