Freaking XBox and Game Cube are $500!

[Citadel535]

I remember reading all those articles. Xbox will retail for $299. Game Cube will retail for blah blah blah. Now you have to buy these bundles everywhere at $500! What is going on! This isn't illegal to have to buy something else when you want to buy one thing?

 

[csiro]

Not every place is selling them in bundles though. If you look around, you can find just the systems only. I think stores like Target and Walmart are selling just the consoles themselves. But hey if there's enough demand, retailers are going to bundle away. The profit margin on a console by itself is low so they have to make up for it by selling the games and accessories with the console.

 

[Phoenix15]

I hate the bundle thing too. Just go to a Wal Mart or K Mart. They sell just the console. I picked up a Cube, Rogue Leader and Luigi's Manson Monday. This is the most fun I have had with a console since the SNES.

 

[LiQiCE]

BTW- Bundling is not illegal when there isn't a monopoly. Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer is technically speaking illegal because Windows has a monopoly over the desktop OS market. Microsoft's bundling of the X-Box with games isn't illegal because you can choose to buy the Playstation 2 instead or a Dreamcast or a N64 or something else with no bundle.

 

[bozack]

I bought my xbox in a bundle and didn't mind the cost as my CC has no interest until august of next year....figured I would get three games anyway and an extra controller and the price difference was minimal.

also much easier to find the weekend after launch in a bundle as all the other stores were sold out and not expecting more in until after thanksgiving.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

<< Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer is technically speaking illegal because Windows has a monopoly over the desktop OS market. >>



bad comparison because ie's not making the "bundle" cost any more.

no one would be complaining if MS "made" us use their games by giving them to us already installed!

JB

 

[Deeko]

At Circuit City, we pay something like $315 for the XBox. We then sell it for $299. That is why they force bundles. We only did the bundle for a day though.

 

[boyRacer]

Anyone remember the 3DO? Hahaha...that thing costs $700 and it wasn't even bundled.

 

[Sugadaddy]

<< At Circuit City, we pay something like $315 for the XBox. We then sell it for $299. That is why they force bundles. We only did the bundle for a day though. >>




Really? I thought only MS was losing money on the consoles, not the stores too. I guess it makes sense though...


In Canada, the only place selling the Xbox in a bundle is Future Shop. (Xbox+2 games of your choice=600$ CDN or 400$ US) The other stores all sell it alone. BTW, it's the stores that make the bundles, NOT MS.

I don't know why people complain so much about the bundles. Almost eveybody is gonna buy 2 games or more, and it usually costs the same thing as buying them separately.

 

[LiQiCE]

Johnny Blaze,

The comparison that I was trying to make wasn't in regards to the cost out of your pocket, it is in regards to the legalities. wiredmike asked if it is illegal to bundle things together and force you to buy a game with your console. Legally speaking it isn't because Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly on the video game market (not even CLOSE to a monopoly). Windows on the other hand holds something like 90% of the desktop OS market so it is considered a monopoly, thus bundling is illegal... Even if it is free. (At least according to our Anti-Trust laws, and if you assume that Internet Explorer is a separate product from Windows instead of Microsoft's assertion that Internet Explorer is simply a technology innovation for Windows).

In any case, bundles suck if you only wanted to buy 1 game ... But if you're like me and you wanted to buy 3 games anyways, its not so bad. The problem of course is finding the right bundle with the games you want! Thats why I liked EB's B&M (aka brick and mortar) bundle which let you choose which games you wanted in the bundle.