Finally thinking of taking the X-Box plunge (had PS2 since the launch, got a Gamecube last Christmas). Just wondering if I should pick one up now, or see if someone has a good deal come Black Friday. Anyone heard any rumors?

I haven't heard anything, but I'd imagine the price would be about the same, but there would be a deal where you'd get some good games for free with it. This is just a guess, though.

Microsoft Announces Winning Holiday Offer

Holiday Shoppers to Score Xbox Console, Two Premium Games and Xbox Live Trial for $149.99!

Microsoft today unveiled a special holiday offer that will provide gift-givers, sports fans and gamers of all ages an unparalleled experience. Beginning October 31 at retail stores nationwide, consumers can purchase the Xbox® video game console, two full premium sports games and a two-month trial subscription to Xbox™ Live™ for just $149.99.

The specially priced holiday package offers an amazing value to consumers who are looking to spread the holiday love by giving family and friends a full Xbox game experience out of the box with full versions of "NCAA® Football 2005" from the powerhouse EA SPORTS™ brand and "Top Spin" featuring tennis star Anna Kournikova by Microsoft Game Studios, both playable on Xbox Live, and the two-month trial subscription to the highly-acclaimed Xbox Live service. The fully loaded console comes equipped with a built-in Ethernet port, enabling online gameplay.

"This is the most exciting holiday season yet for video gamers and Xbox fans," says Mitch Koch, vice president, worldwide retail sales and marketing for Microsoft's home & entertainment division. "Not only are we offering a tremendous value to gamers with the holiday offer, but Xbox has the most expansive and entertaining library of games this season on any platform, with titles like 'Halo 2,' 'Fable,' and 'MechAssault 2' from MGS, 'Need for Speed™ Underground 2' from EA, and 'Dead or Alive Ultimate' from Tecmo."

Xbox is making a 100-yard dash to the top of holiday must-have lists, with the fastest growing market share of any video game console and its strongest games line-up ever. More than 450 games will be available on Xbox this holiday season, including the critically acclaimed "Fable" and the most-anticipated game of the year on any platform, "Halo 2," both by Microsoft Game Studios. Parents will also be thrilled about the incredible value of the new games for the Xbox Platinum Hits collection, each available for only $19.99 at retail, and the fact that Xbox is the only console with built-in parental controls. Several new titles in the collection include "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" from Konami, "The Simpsons: Hit and Run" from Vivendi Universal Games, "Project Gotham Racing 2" from MGS, and "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow" from Ubisoft.

In addition, its premier online console gaming service, Xbox Live, boasts over a million members in 24 countries and 150 Live-enabled games by this holiday, promising gamers the ultimate online competition right out of the box.

"Sales of Xbox consoles and software continue to exceed all of our expectations. The recent release of Fable was incredible and this momentum is set to explode with the upcoming November launch of 'Halo 2,'" said Debbie Mola, divisional vice president of merchandising, EB Games. "With its collection of games that appeal to audiences of all ages, interests and skill levels, we expect Xbox momentum to carry into next year."

NCAA Football 2005 from EA SPORTS
"NCAA Football 2005" is all about home field advantage this year and delivers the real emotion, collegiate atmosphere and traditional gameplay of college football. For the first time in a football game the game-day atmosphere directly affects players' on-field performance. Players can track the crowd's impact on players, take advantage of key personnel mismatches with the new Match-Up Stick, and experience authentic fan celebrations.

Top Spin from Microsoft Game Studios
"Top Spin" is the complete tennis experience. Players define their own tennis playing style, take risks, pull off world-class shots and work the crowd to develop a unique image on the court. Players can also train with a coach to master shots and playing surfaces, and work their way up the online rankings to become the best in the world. "Top Spin" offers singles or doubles matches with 16 of the world's top professionals, including cover athletes Anna Kournikova and Lleyton Hewitt.

Xbox Live Two-Month Trial Subscription
New owners can also join the over one million gamers playing on Xbox Live right away. And because Xbox has a built in Ethernet port and was engineered from the very start for online play, no bulky adapters are needed. The trial grants gamers full membership privileges on the unified Xbox Live service, meaning one Gamertag (network identity) works across all games and makes it easy to find friends online. New Live-enabled titles available this holiday like "Halo 2," "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow," "Star Wars Battlefront" and "Dead or Alive Ultimate" bring the number of online games to more than 150, making Xbox Live the most robust online gaming service available.

Nice deal, but I wouldn't consider NCAA Football or Top Spin system selling titles. Top Spin is a great game, I love it, but the market for tennis gamers can't be that large.

Halo 2 will be coming out, their new cash cow, why not finally bite the bullet and pack in Halo?

The funny thing is that NCAA 2005 is perhaps one of the worst games to give out with an XBOX. It has huge slowdown problems (to the point it made me sell it off)

I just finally made the plunge myself and picked up the bundle that Costco has for $189. You get a Xbox, Mechassault, a second controller and the DVD playback kit.

Yeah, I bought my first Xbox at CostCo also. It was when they had the first price drop. Mine came with a 2nd controller, NBA Drive and Project Gotham Racing.

Glad it did NOT come with the DVD kit, as it is useless to me.

Oh great! I finally buy an XBox for myself (the kids have the other systems) two weekends ago and NOW a deal comes out for it. I got to check out if I can return the system to CC (if it falls with in the 30 day return policy) and get in on this deal on Oct 31st.

Thx for the heads up on this one, as free games worth the hassle. Plus getting to harass CC management about things like this is always fun.

I don't think CC will accept an open box return. Ask if they'll pricematch and you should get 10% off the diff on top of that.

darthlurker:

If you're in the market for an Xbox and you're willing to wait until Black Friday, I'd suggest holding off on a purchase until then. It's a safe bet that retailers such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. will be offering some sort of bundle of their own, most likely as early bird specials the day after Thanksgiving. These bundles are likely to include things such as third-party controllers or other accessories, and/or value-priced software. The Holiday Bundle should be available throughout the remainder of the year, so there's no need to rush out and pick one up the day it becomes available on shelves.

oldone:

Unless the unit is defective, CC may be reluctant to accept a return. The price match (as Gideon68 suggested) won't work because there is no difference in the prices to speak of. The inclusion of software, as in the case of the bundle, does not count toward a price match because they're not part of the standard package.

i don't know if this makes a difference to anyone, but Xbox2 is supposed to be announced Jan. 5th at Bill Gates' CES speech.

i also don't know if this would affect the price or anybody's decision to wait.

Because despite the fact that its a few years old, Halo is still selling copies. Why give away money?!?