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Make your vote count: $100 360 Core system
Proving that rebates are for suckers, Amazon has started a new promotion in which users vote for crazy deals. Whichever deal wins the vote will be officially offered by Amazon. The biggest deal on the ballot: a 360 Core system for $100. Now, listen closely, because the deal is not available, but it can be. All you have to do is vote for it at Amazon (you must have an account with Amazon to vote). Assuming the 360 wins the vote -- and it looks like it will -- the deal will be available Thanksgiving Day at 11:00AM PST, You'd better hurry, though, there will only be 1,000 units available.Our friends at Joystiq have done the math and the total cost of this Core system plus all the premium accessories (wireless controller, HDD, HD cables) will run you $280. That's a huge savings off the Premium 360 and you'll have an extra wired controller, not bad. So, get voting and good luck.[Via Joystiq. Thanks, Matt]
Ninety-Nine Nights to require Hard Drive? [update 2]
The wisdom of releasing two Xbox 360 SKUs -- one with a hard drive and one without -- will be debated for years to come. Adding fuel to that constant flame will be things like this: highly anticipated games that require the Hard Drive. The Canadian Xbox.com page for Ninety-Nine Nights lists the Q Entertainment/Phantagram brawler as "Hard Drive Required." There's a couple potential explanations: It's the first one; see Update 2 below: Some overzealous, click-happy Xbox.com worker bee got caught up in the moment and clicked one too many boxes. Oopsie. The game actually does require a hard drive! The HDD-less Core system isn't even available in Japan so this requirement wouldn't have proven to be a burden for that audience ... that and the fact that not many folks are picking up 360s over there. Seeing as how Microsoft obviously has a "Hard Drive Required" tag, we can logically deduce that some games are going to, in fact, require a hard drive. Problem is, why NNN? When the expansive Oblivion managed to get the deed done Core-style, why couldn't they?We imagine Microsoft is reasonably sure that even those who did get stuck with a Core system due to holiday shortages have since outfitted it with the optional hard drive. But what about the gamers rocking 360s sans HDDs. Tough luck then?[Via Gamer Andy][Update 1: The US Xbox.com page lists the vague requirement of "Storage Device" while the Canadian Xbox.com page still lists "Hard Drive Required."][Update 2: Microsoft blogger Cesar Menendez over at Gamerscore checked in with the Xbox.com production team and reports back, "It's true, you'll be able to play this game and hack down hordes of enemies, with or without a hard drive. As for the confusion: I checked with the Xbox.com production team on this one, and the site was listed with "hard drive required" incorrectly - now it's fixed." He's right, it's all better. Looks like potential explanation number one was the winner! Congratulations!]
Rumor: 360 wireless gaming receiver $20; wheel $130; headset $60; camera $40; Halo and Forza faceplates $20 [update 1]
Thanks to a reliable source from Microsoft, we've learned some important details about the new peripherals announced for the Xbox 360, including pricing and a few Halo faceplate (non)specifics. Check out the leaked info and prices below: 360 wireless gaming receiver (which enables wireless 360 controllers, headsets, and wheels on your PC): $20 Wireless racing wheel: $130 Wireless headset: $60 Xbox Live Vision Camera (with headset, one month of Live Gold, and one arcade -- presumably Xbox Live Arcade -- game): $40 New faceplates for Halo (with the Master Chief on 'em, but not Halo 3 specific) and Forza (no word on connections to the sequel): $20 each 256 MB portable memory unit (MU): no official price yet, but definitely not four times the cost of the older 64MB MU Besides acknowledging that the PC is "the biggest gaming device of all," MS appears to be setting an agressive price for its most relevant new PC accessory, the wireless gaming receiver (at least in comparison to the outrageously priced 360 wireless networking adapter). Unfortunately, no price was revealed as of yet for the USB-based HD-DVD add-on.We've speculated in our recent podcasts as to what would happen to the various 360 SKUs when price drops inevitably occur. An interesting theory bandied about by prolific Joystiq Contributor epobirs (on our earlier bump-to-256MB-MU post) was that a $20 price drop for the Core system, coupled with a $20 price drop on the 64MB MU, would finally allow folks to pick up a capable non-Premium bundle for the original $300 Core price point. (Not a bad way to undercut PS2 memory card prices, too.) We hope to get official confirmation on this info in the not-too-distant future.[Update: Sorry, had the camera price wrong in the headline; it now matches the price of the bundle listed in the body of the text below.]See also: 360's Mem Unit getting a bump to 256MB? (Comment from epobirs) Use 360 wireless peripherals with a PC Engadget & Joystiq's live coverage of Microsoft's Xbox 360 E3 event Joystiq / Engadget podcasts from Day One and Day Two of E3 2006
