$99 60GB Xbox Live starter pack to be released next week

Hints of a 60GB Xbox Live Starter Pack popped up in Europe in August, but according to GameStop and a leaked Circuit City ad, the $99 upgrade should land in American stores sometime next week. Just as we'd heard, the bundle will include three months of Live Gold, a wired headset, and a 60GB hard drive -- just the thing to meet that new 128MB New Xbox Experience storage requirement. Too bad Microsoft isn't going to discount this bundle quite as heavily as that $30 20GB package for Arcade owners, but we won't complain too loudly -- hell, if MS would just cut the price on that ridiculous $149 120GB unit, we'd be all smiles.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

[Baba Booey @ Oct 28th 2008 8:31PM]

sweet deal for those who bought the low-end 360.

[Mike Cerm @ Oct 28th 2008 10:51PM]

I disagree... at that price, it should also include the USB Wi-Fi adapter.

[Flashpoint @ Oct 28th 2008 11:03PM]

I bought the wifi adapter at $89 because I didn't believe Microsoft would lower the price on it. That was back in Summer 06'.

It makes no goddamned sense for the wifi adapter to be $99 to this day. Microsoft sucks when it comes to peripheral and accessory pricing. Especially for a key accessory like this. PS3 and Wii have built in Wifi's and the price of those chips and antennae's is almost neglidegable nowadays.

As for this starter pack, This isjust a way to squeeze more money out of cheapskates buying the ARCADE obviously.

[Dave Chappelle @ Oct 28th 2008 11:52PM]

I also disagree this is not much of a good deal.

"[Incredible value] includes a 60 GB Hard Drive, Headset, Ethernet cable, and a 3-month LIVE Gold subscription. "

60gb hard drives are barely on sale anymore but as a 80gb costs under $40 we can infer that a 60gb would cost around $30 (this is retail, obviously cheaper on wholesale $20).
Second the headset costs a horribly inflated price retail, a wired headset costs again around $35, costing M$ somewhere around $25, maybe even less.
Ethernet cable, do I need to justify a $5 manufacturing cost?
the holy grail '3 months of LIVE GOLD!!' = $0.

for something that M$ pays less than $50 for, they sell @ $99? thanks but the claim of 'INCREDIBLE VALUE' on the link is just pathetic. Xbox is a very attractive console, Microsoft have worked very hard to get such cheap consoles and good games but people do not realise the downside of t all.
Horribly price inflated peripherals.

[kal326 @ Oct 29th 2008 12:33AM]

@Dave Chapelle
Even accepting your numbers as anywhere near accurate, companies usually need to sell almost any product with at least a 30% gross profit. So what costs them $60 to make they better have at least a price of $100ish to cover fixed expenses. Now a 30% net profit, that's a bit harder to justify. Welcome to business 101, companies are out to make money.

[Enduro @ Oct 29th 2008 12:32PM]

Can't they just toss in a 12 month Xbox live membership? That would be a whole lot easier for me to swallow... oh and a transfer cable. After all, if I'm upgrading I'm going to be spending more on XBLA and renting movies.

[SimbaDogg @ Oct 29th 2008 9:39PM]

@ kal, you're absolutely right about that 30% gross profit margin, w/ accessories...generally the more the better...even upwards of 40-50% margin

@dave chappelle
$25 to make for that headset? no way man, look at the thing, its a POS headset, there's nothing fancy or expensive about it, down to the cheap foam cover. $4.50 tops, made in taiwan, china or bangladesh.

[Sneakz @ Oct 28th 2008 8:32PM]

Isn't it better to buy this and a Xbox 360 Arcade instead of just buying a 60GB Pro? A 60GB Pro console doesn't come with 3 months of live.

[Thomas @ Oct 28th 2008 8:40PM]

No becasue I believe (correct me if I am wrong) the Arcade does not have an HDMI port. Where the Pro does.

[Sean @ Oct 28th 2008 8:42PM]

I believe all 360's have HDMI ports.

[Sneakz @ Oct 28th 2008 8:43PM]

Nope, Arcade does have HDMI.

[OfficerDaddy @ Oct 28th 2008 8:43PM]

You don't get the component cables. But if you plan on using HDMI that does not matter. Also the pro system comes with a couple of games- I think it is Kung Fu panda and Lego Indie. I guess you could sell them on ebay or something.

[h0mi @ Oct 28th 2008 8:50PM]

The arcade comes with a memory card, a crummy tennis game and 5 decent arcade titles. This adds 3 months of xbox live.

The pro comes with component cables, kung fu panda and another game whose name I can't remember at the moment. It depends really on what features are more important to you and if you can utilize the HDMI off the bat or not, and if the games appeal to you or not. IMO the 5 arcade games with the arcade are better than the other pack in games that come with either system and the arcade lacks the awful chrome DVD bezel so it's a nicer looking unit.

[ugotamesij @ Oct 28th 2008 8:33PM]

Will any of these packs be coming to the UK? I could really do with a bigger HDD for my 360, the 20GB seems to fill up ridiculously fast.

[maveric101 @ Oct 28th 2008 8:35PM]

"hell, if MS would just cut the price on that ridiculous $149 120GB unit, we'd be all smiles."

seriously, the markup on those things is ridiculous.

[grull27 @ Oct 28th 2008 8:36PM]

It's a good thing I bought an Elite a long time ago that came with a 120GB hard drive. $99 for 60GB?! Seriously Microsoft? I saw a regular 1 TB hard drive at Costco for $99. They need to make these hard drives much cheaper.

[Sean @ Oct 28th 2008 8:42PM]

The drive you saw cannot be unplugged and plugged in to a new computer and work 100% without drivers or setting up anything.

I am in no way saying the price is reasonable, but you can't compare it directly to an internal SATA drive like that.

The 120GB should be in this bundle, and a 60GB should be $50.

[Skrying @ Oct 28th 2008 9:20PM]

Sean, you do realize that the drives Microsoft use are your standard 2.5" SATA drives, correct? A computer modern OS (read OS X, Linux, Vista) doesn't need a special driver for it to function. They're included. On top of that Microsoft purposely blocks hard drives besides their own in order to be able to charge the prices they do. Peripheral mark up is one of the key ways console manufacturers make money.

[TheAxMan @ Oct 28th 2008 10:39PM]

@Skyring:

The drive isn't deliberately blocked. There's a lot of prep-work that goes into the drive before it's ready to be plugged into a 360 -- it's not like you can plug the drive in, do an OS install, and be ready to go..

[EUP]-[ORIC @ Oct 28th 2008 8:38PM]

Why is it that everything MS sells comes with those same old earphones. I have like 3 of those already as well as the wireless one. They need an Xbox360 headphone donation box, kind of like Toys for Tots.

[El Capitaine @ Oct 28th 2008 9:57PM]

I'd take some of yours..

the things really aren't reliable.

I have 4 pairs of Official Xbox 360 Wired Headsets - only 1 works properly.

2 have broken mics, and the 3rd has a broken speaker.

[grull27 @ Oct 28th 2008 10:18PM]

I gave up on wire mics. I had to buy a new one every 3 months so when the wireless mic came out I bought it. It's about to be 2 years since I bought the wireless mic and it still works perfectly.

[OfficerDaddy @ Oct 28th 2008 8:39PM]

The 120gb should be $99.

[Steve-o @ Oct 28th 2008 10:43PM]

$99 tops... I think $75 should be more like it, especially considering people will be using at least some of the space to purchase XBLA games so it should only make sense that Microsoft provide the means to purchase said games at as reasonable a price as possible.

[Peter @ Oct 28th 2008 11:23PM]

According to me it should be free; but that's just me.

[Apitt @ Oct 29th 2008 10:20PM]

It is...........at the MS store =)

[Jesse @ Oct 28th 2008 9:03PM]

does it come with the data transfer cable?

[Rob @ Oct 28th 2008 9:27PM]

This doesn't sound like too much of a good deal at all. $2 network cable. $5 headset. $10 worth of Live Gold. $83 for a 60gig hdd.
Come on MS, give your loyal customers a break man. Considering that people still haven't abandoned you after the pain in the rear the whole RROD ordeal is speaks volumes about their loyalty. So, as a sign of gratitude, you decide to rip them off even further.
I have a Core and an Arcade, and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. Oh, my Core's dvd-rom doesn't work at all. But, that's not covered.

MS, try again for $60.

[Tmacfan4321 @ Oct 28th 2008 9:48PM]

Try $20.00 on the LIVE subscription. $20 for 3 months and $8 for one month. I'll STFU if you know of a place that sells it for $10.

[Rob @ Oct 28th 2008 9:56PM]

Do your math dude. You can easily find a "12+1 months" Gold Live subscription for $40. Divide $40 by the 3 and you get $10. The card included in this "package" says 3 months of Gold Live.

[Rob @ Oct 28th 2008 9:59PM]

My bad there. It should read $40/12(months)=$3.33 x 3 (months)= $10.

[EUPHOR1C @ Oct 28th 2008 9:28PM]

Grull while I don't agree with your thought on whom should be the next president, I do agree $99 is way too much for a measly 60GB drive.

[Kspraydad @ Oct 28th 2008 9:41PM]

So $299 for a 60GB Xbox and a few meh games, with a wired headset, no wifi and $35-50/year online...

Or $250 for a 80GB PS3 with no headset, but with wireless and free online. (sonystyle.com)

Choices choices.

[Tmacfan4321 @ Oct 28th 2008 9:49PM]

Or I could just buy the 360 and not have to open up a credit card account with Sony.

[Drew @ Oct 28th 2008 10:17PM]

Yes but one of these systems plays games.

[Hawk Pidgeon @ Oct 28th 2008 10:46PM]

$250 for an 80GB PS3? Where? When? (Honest Question)

[Nomi @ Oct 28th 2008 11:12PM]

You need to get the Sony credit card....

[Dave Chappelle @ Oct 28th 2008 11:55PM]

@Drew

"Yes but one of these systems plays games."

yes. the Playstation 3, and get this it actually lives up to its expectation and you do not end up with a useless $300 overpriced red laser pointer.

[Kspraydad @ Oct 29th 2008 12:01AM]

Low rank for pointing out that another console is in the same price range? tsk tsk.

Yes..you need to get a SONY VISA...big deal.

No Annual Fee.

No Interest for 12mos...pay it off in 11 just to be safe.

What's the issue?

[fastharry @ Oct 28th 2008 10:04PM]

Good Call...voted up

[nxp3 @ Oct 28th 2008 10:28PM]

My god are they serious...I just bought a 270gig hard drive for my ps3 for 79 at Fry's. So I guess the 20 extra dollar must be for xbox live....oh and not to mentioned I got 210gig extra!!!!

[UnKnownViper @ Oct 28th 2008 10:49PM]

Will I be able to transfer all my data from my 20GB hard drive over to this 60GB?

[DeadPlasmaCell @ Oct 28th 2008 11:11PM]

@ UnKnownViper

It doesn't mention anything about the data transfer kit being included... so you might have to pick one up from MS or get one off eBay for cheap. Personally I'm going to pick this bundle up and Sell my 20GB on eBay for $30. Not a bad deal at all.

[Overgauss @ Oct 28th 2008 11:32PM]

@ Drew

Yes. And the other system works while playing them.

[Neuco @ Oct 29th 2008 10:39AM]

I’m sorry but this is ridiculous. $99 for a 60 GB hard drive, and it doesn’t even come with a transfer cable for people who want to upgrade from the 20 GB? Just plain stupid and a complete rip off. I’ve been dealing with my 20 GB from day one (almost 3 years now) and even with all the deleting and maintanence I’m doing to keep it under 20 GB, it’s going to get to a point where I can’t delete anymore. I didn’t want the 120 GB because it was WAY too expensive, and now this one is just as bad. A $60 price point (the price of a new game) would have been much more attractive. It’s crap like this that makes me want to mod my 360 and say screw Microsoft.

[Joe @ Oct 29th 2008 11:36AM]

sounds cool but we need a lot bigger then 60gb for copying games

[Woody @ Oct 29th 2008 6:03PM]

Wow, that is a deal? That's horribly lame.