September 22nd 2009 8:00 pm PT

Seems like Microsoft is feeling the heat from Sony. I mean, that’s the only reason they’d offer a deal like this out of the blue.

Still, if I didn’t already have a 360, I’d jump on this deal.

“Purchase AND Xbox 360 Elite”? Needs some proofreading

Too bad this isn’t for Canada too

The value proposition between Sony and Microsoft is pretty heavily skewed in Sony’s favor right now with the built-in wi-fi, the BR drive and free online.

Sony’s only real issue that that the community/service isn’t as well baked in to the console as the 360 and the real lack of voice communication due to headsets not being included with the console.

Greater consumer flexibility is actually a bad thing when your competition matches your price and has a greater set of features.

Typos happen just before going to bed, but both links to the elite rebate information (on this site and on the gamerscoreblog) point to nothing on xbox.com

Why not just… lower the price by $50? Rebates are just silly.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the Modern Warfare 2 ‘limited’ edition with the 250GB hard drive? I mean, why buy a $300 Elite right now when for $400 the MW2 console gives you an extra controller, a 250GB HD, and a copy of the game?

Sorry about that typo…I fixed it before the post was going to go live. Either way, it’s set now.

@DavidGX: They don’t lower the price because a surprisingly large percentage of individuals don’t submit the rebate forms, or submit them incorrectly, so the company makes more money than if they just lower the price.

@DavidGX <— This x10. Too much hassle and they take forever to receive.

@DavidGX my thinking exactly!! why not just have all the retailers sell it for $249.99 or whatever for a month. and with microsoft just doing this in america once again shows who they care for most in regards to consumers, its exactly this reason that i’ve been blasting my PS3 for the last few months and it’s the reason i will not be renewing my gold subscription in december, halo ODST will be my last full purchased game for the xbox 360, and then any game which comes out for both platforms will be bought for the PS3, i’ve already converted one friend to playstation so thats about £700 – £1000 a year spent elsewhere between us. thank you very much m$

Yeah, the PS3 slim is definitely the better value at $300. MS still charging $100 for WiFi is a complete joke.

I think the reason they didn’t drop the price to $250 is they plan on packing 2 games in with the Elite for the holiday as they’ve done the last 2 years. This rebate expires early October. I’d look for a new bundle with 2 games to be announced around that time. Then a $300 Elite with 2 games looks a little better against a $300 PS3 without.

Agreed with the people above. At $300, the PS3 slim is a better value because you get blu ray and wifi and free online. Microsoft doing all they can to compete with the PS3 slims value, and this seems like a really desperate move. Notice in the commercials they say “Xbox 360 Elite, now, $100 off” They don’t want to tell people it’s the same price as the PS3 slim because it’s really not a hard choice to make. PS3 doesn’t break down like Xbox 360.

I have the Xbox 360 of december of 2005.
I look the Xbox 360 Super Elite pack with Forza Motorsport 3.
But in Spain “Microsoft Iberica” (MS Spain) not have intentions of buy it pack.

I this very frustrated and if this continue, i make a change.

Huh?
Just drop the price to $250 then. People hate rebates! But anyway I already bought a second PS3 as a second Blu-Ray player/DVD upscaler for the home theatre. Also Did you know Microsoft Canada raised the price of the 360 Arcade $30 in Canada despite the Canadian dollar being high? It’s now $230 for an arcade unit or $320 for a Elite with Halo 3 and the wifi adapter. The pricing is getting really messed up on the 360.

So, buy an elite, get 1 year XBL Gold for Free… At least that’s how I would use it if I hadn’t bought a Pro back during the launch season.

@SpiralGray I was thinking the exact same thing with the MW2 bundle, getting the game and extra controller which makes up the extra $100 anyways plus doubling the hdd space (essentially at no extra cost)… it would be stupid not to do it.

Ditto on the rebate comment also, they can increase demand and still make a greater profit on the product than just lowering the price.

Nice. Kind of tempting to buy a (Jasper) replacement that shouldn’t Red Ring and keep the other one in the office.

The 360 is a better gaming machine at $300, but they break down way too often. My Falcon broke on Saturday night. My third individual 360 that has died. I kept upgrading to avoid RRoD. Looks like I need to buy a 4th machine now.

All of you armchair economists crack me up. Keep it going, I’m having a great time reading what you experts have to say.

On another note: I do believe the PS3 is a great value but the “free” online gaming is a cruel joke for gamers, right? All of my friends that have PS3s play solo only and use their 360s for multi-player. I’ll keep paying for the superior service, thanks.

And bundled wifi? No thank you. I’d rather spend the extra money on games. Wifi gaming is terrible and unnecessary for many of us. Keep the wifi and lower the price of HDD. Then MS would be right on track.

Hey MN, if I am Canadian and purchase an Xbox in the US can I redeem this?

Will this rebate work on the Modern Warfare 2 consoles??

Nevermind – looks like you need to send in the UPC from the BOX – and this ends before the MW2 consoles will be out. Bummer

No it won’t work on the MW2 bundles…the deal ends Oct 5th, and you can’t “buy” (you can pay in full on a pre-order, but can’t purchase) the MW2 Elite until Nov 10th.

Hmm… An Elite for less than I paid for my Pro last year? Sucks, but it might be tempting to do an upgrade now.

@RazzLee – The wifi argument held water when the PS3 was 100$ more expensive than the 360. The Add-on brought the 360 to the same price and the Blu-Ray/bad online were a tradeoff for dvd/great online for 50$ a month.

Now that they are both 299$ however, why go without a feature that is built-in to the device if you don’t have to. I used to be in the camp that Wi-fi was crap for gaming but I’ve changed my tune since I picked up a PS3 a few weeks ago. It actually works quite well.

The multiplayer integration is really the strength of the 360 but there’s a lot of people out there that would forgo a really tight integration to save 50$ a year.

Man, I really wish they’d give some sort of discount on drive upgrades. When they put in the 20gb drives I don’t think they ever thought DLC would take off like it did. It’s a shame that I could get an elite for what a new drive would/is going to cost.

@Anirask- I totally get the wifi argument and I understand that people want it. It’s time for MS to lower the price on items like that but for me, it’s simply not necessary. The online argument just doesn’t add up for me. “Tight integration” and “not being able to download anything in a reasonable time” are not even in the same conversation as far as I’m concerned. I simply cannot take Sony seriously until they get their online service up to speed. I want a PS3, I really do but I won’t buy one until I start hearing good things about the service.

This Kind of sucks… for me any ways. I just bought an Elite less than 2 weeks ago.

The Ars Technica mole is now saying what I was just saying this morning. Mid-October, MS will be announcing the Elite will be coming with a copy of Pure and LEGO Batman. So, they have the $50 rebate for now. Then the rebate goes bye-bye and you get 2 free games.

He also says that when the 802.11n WiFi adapter comes out, the existing one drops $20 in price. Really MS!!! The thing should only cost $20. $80 is still a ridiculous price.

OMG!!! why not September 16? please let me get 50 bucks back p-p-please

God I such a idiot! I should of wait little longer (hits head on disk)

@tsrblke
[Thumbs Up]

@Hoffer
I bought Wifi Adapter the same day I got my Xbox360 Pro back in April 2007. I rarely use it, only when I go into the living room. $99 was much, do I regret it, not really it does what it is supposed to do. Do I feel jipped? To a point, as I have two extra USB Wifi Adapters for two PCs (one adapter in use)in the house for $49.99 and the Nintendo Wifi USB Connector for $30 (deals with my network security settings simple and easy for my ex-Wii and now the DSi).

Why does Major continue to post these on the blog? It’s fairly obvious that the people who read this site (i.e. informed consumers) aren’t going to pay these outlandish prices.

And I commented on the wrong article, great.

I gotta say, this sounds like a damn good deal. I have heard nothing but people having trouble from the new slim PS3, and this was from a dude who owns an independent game store. I think , i will get this deal and the modern warfare 2 console and possibly a Sony blue ray player, just because i want the bravia sync. Unless I am convinced otherwise very soon.

Lucky!

Not a bad deal at all! Too bad it’s US only.

Pretty good deal. I’d definitely take advantage of this if I didn’t already own a 360.

Just saw the new MW2 Elite SKU at Amazon. 2 controllers, the game, and 250GB HDD! (for $400) Should have thrown in the wi-fi adapter to make it a steal)

Woot! New bigger HDD!

If I am Canadian and purchase an Xbox in the US can I redeem this?

So I just happened to by an Elite package like a week ago. This is FANTASTIC news! Guess I’m screwed, some bs. =/

360 is better then PS3. I own both and while I do tire of my 360 at times and frequently am pissed at MS…I still prefer the 360. Why?
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360 still has better graphics in comparison tests. It still has more exclusive games then PS3. yes PC and 360 are one in the same. It still has more to do on it.
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PS3 does have Bluray. But if I want Bluray I’ll go buy one. If my bluray breaks on my PS3 I am screwed. I didn’t think about that until after I bought it. Your forced into buying a Bluray player with the PS3. Where as 360 when it came to HD-DVD you had a choice. Also the online may be free with PS3 but playing both I think 360s is alot better at times. Free doesn’t always mean better. When somethings free then it means you can’t complain about it. As such Sony knows full well no one will complain about their free online service. Remember PS2s service was horrid IMO.

something funny is going on with all the price cuts and rebates. I think xBox is just trying to push out all the “old” one before the come out with something BIG