Microsoft cutting Xbox One price for Black Friday Weekend
Remember all those great deals on the Xbox One that were going to run Black Friday Weekend? While the deals haven't gotten any better, they're going to be more widespread: Microsoft itself is temporarily cutting the price of the console by $50 at all retailers.
This means the price of the base console — which comes with one controller, sundry cables and a 500GB hard drive — will be just $299 from Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 26) through Cyber Monday (Nov. 30).
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Even better, Microsoft's own Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb says that the $50 price drop will apply to all 12 bundles in effect this holiday season. Those bundles include:
• Halo 5: Guardians [1TB Ltd. Ed.]
• Elite Bundle [1TB hybrid hard drive and Elite controller]
• Rise of the Tomb Raider [1TB with both 'Rise' and the "Definitive Edition" of the 2013 reboot]
• Fallout 4 [1TB with F4 and downloadable copy of Xbox 360 "Fallout 3"]
• Holiday Bundle [1TB with "Rare Replay," "Gears of War: Ultimate Edition," "Ori and the Blind Forest"]
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition [500GB with downloadable "GoW: UE"]
• The LEGO Movie Videogame [500GB]
• FIFA 16 [1TB with one year of the EA Access download program]
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition - Special Ed. [500GB white console and controller]
• Kinect Bundle [500GB with downloadable "Kinect Sports Rivals," "Zoo Tycoon" and "Dance Central Spotlight"]
• Forza Motorsport 6 [1TB Ltd. Ed. blue console and controller with racing stripes]
• Madden NFL 16 [1TB Ltd. Ed. with one year of the EA Access download program]
The price cut will be applicable to both online and in-store purchases.
One thing to keep in mind: the Xbox One's current base price of $349 started out as a "temporary" price cut during the Holiday 2014 period before becoming permanent in January this year. Could this price change follow suit, being extended and extended until it eventually becomes permanent? There's no question that $299 is one of the magical price points in the eyes of consumers when it comes to video games; $299, $199, $149 and finally "clearance out" at $99.
Call Star online editor Channing King at (317) 444-8073. Follow him @ChanningKing.