Well the rumors were that good olde Microsoft was looking to release a version of the Xbox 360 for $99 and well those rumors turned out to be true, sorta.
See the deal is that you can for a limited time, pick up an Xbox 360 (4GB) with a Kinect for $99 on contract. Meaning that you also will be agreeing to pick up a 2 year subscription to Xbox Live Gold for $14.99. Now I know you’re probably saying what’s wrong with that as most people will pick up a subscription to Xbox Live anyway. Well for starters it’s only a 4GB version so if you’re any kind of gamer that means you’ll have to pony up another $100 for a 250GB hard drive. But that’s not the kicker….. this is; If you decide between that 2 year period to cancel your Xbox Live subscription then you will be forced to pay a termination fee depending on how long you had the unit. For example if you cancel 1 -3 months you’ll owe Microsoft $250.00, the price of a new Xbox 360 (4GB) or $50 short of an Xbox 360 with the Kinect without the contract!
You can review the termination fee charges at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Legal/xbox-live-contract-terms, they will be half way down the page.
Gamers and parents who happen to see this deal, please think about the long term here as the wrong decision will be costly and I’ll wager thsi is what Microsoft is intending. Bad thought here can cost you; $99 + (2 years of Xbox Live) $179.88 = $278.88 or the bad decision; $99 + early termination fee = $349!
