Xbox360 Payment Plan

[Domination]

Services seem to be the direction they are taking things.

I've even heard a rumor they plan to offer a basic X360 + Kinect for a 2 year $15 monthly subscription fee.

I don't agree with a lot of the moves MS makes, but I believe I have always agreed with the way they price their systems. This move here, some may find it to dumb and a ripoff to the consumers. Me, I find it to be genius. Credit card suppliers do it all the time, and it is why you find more people using them. This kind of pricing targets those who can't afford to cough up a whole lump sum of cash all at once and still maintain college and or living expences. So, in the end, you are getting both the hardcore, casual, AND low level consumers on board without anyone have to wait until the price is right nor sacrificing the hardware like Nintendo did with with the Wii in order to get more consumers on board. Had Sony did this with the $600 PS3 or Vita, I believe they would have had more room to get more users in the beginning.

[Viper]

My only problem is what happens if you miss a payment?

It's also only half the upfront cost of a console now. $99 + $15 for first month's Xbox Live = $114 upfront. I can go online and get an X360 with Kinect for under $200.

Live Gold can be found on sale for under $40 and the renewal fee is now just $30.

So while $114 up front is nice, you end up paying $460 overall against $270 if you look for it.

[Segitz]

Yeah, I thought it looked expensive. For those costs, the upfront cost should be 0USD and a montly fee of 15-20USD. Would make more sense.

[D3adcell]

Same thing as Rent a Center or Aarons. Viper you probably can't miss a payment as it's tied to a credit card.

[Viper]

I just think it's a little late in the console cycle to bring up such an offer.


The 2 main selling points of this plan are Kinect and Xbox Live. Kinect will appeal to those looking for the 'apparent' savings. But those that are interested in Live probably know a new console is coming pretty damn soon. Who wants to get locked into a 2 year contract on an X360 when Next X will launch before the contract is up?

That might work on phones because they are usually very small upgrades and you can usually trade in the old phone and get a new phone free or very low cost. I highly doubt MS is going to give those 2 year contract people a major discount on a Next X.

[D3adcell]

Well anyone stupid enough to do the 2 year contract deal, probably won't even know about the next x until it's been out for 4 years. It's likely the same group of people that ask if their playstation 2 can play playstation 3 games. Yes it can, and my NES can play Wii games.

[Segitz]

It's probably also the demography that doesn't CARE that a new Xbox might come, too...

I still think that this isn't a bad idea, but came too late and is much too expensive. Sony should follow suit. And (in my opinion) PSPlus is worth quite a bit more than XBGold. For a VERY casual gamer, the stuff you get via PSPlus might be enough, even.

But this also makes me think that MS will not show the follow up to the 360 this year... at least I think that this is contraproductive.

[Viper]

As a payment method, it's a good concept.

But timing, price and platform are all bad.


Timing - Don't introduce this at the tail end of a console life with a new console coming. 2 year X360 contracts will conflict with the launch of the Next X.
Price - Still a big upfront fee ($114) and much more expensive over the long term).
Platform - This will do little to increase Xbox 360 sales and the concept should have been debuted with the Next X instead.

[masteratt]

Timing - Perfect as they 'sucked the market dry' so are seeing if they can reach new ones with this model. And as D3adcell said, this market won't know/care about the new Xbox for ages (since they didn't care about this one until now).

Price - They win, consumers lose in boiled down math. But some might like the drawn out payment.

Platform - You can't know until you test it. MS is testing it and maybe it IS a testing ground for the next Xbox's launch. Testing price, people's interest, what they get out of it etc so they can make the most appealing payment plan for the next Xbox.


I guess I can get with it. More ways to pay, the better. I am always "let me pay whatever, but let me pay it once" kind of guy though, can never stand ongoing payments. Let the product burn a big hole in my pocket but so what, I don't have to worry about it again. I know many people love buying what they can't afford though and this way it'll be easier to afford in smaller bits.

So this is not for me, but kudos for testing new ways in the gaming market.

[Domination]

My only problem is what happens if you miss a payment?

It's also only half the upfront cost of a console now. $99 + $15 for first month's Xbox Live = $114 upfront. I can go online and get an X360 with Kinect for under $200.

Live Gold can be found on sale for under $40 and the renewal fee is now just $30.

So while $114 up front is nice, you end up paying $460 overall against $270 if you look for it.

Well that' the point. There has to be some kind of penalty for those who can't simply come up with that kind of cash all at once. So by locking yourself in such a contract, you basically sign yourself up for all the extra fees. Its no different from what a credit card does. By them loning you $100, over a 2 yr period of keeping that $100, interest wouls have built up well over the amount you borrowed, but at the cost of you taking that route, you got what you needed to get without breaking your wallet upfront.

If you miss a payment, I'm sure just like your phone or cable, all of your services get canceled and it goes on your credit. Since it is rumored that ALL next-gen games will constantly be connected to online to mainly control the used game market, I'm sure a lot of this will have an affect on that. Either way, they are making more off you by charging you a pretyy good chunk upfront.

I kind a hope Sony is listening in on this as it could get users on board a lot quicker, leading to more devs supporting their platform much faster. And it's great too because such a move doesn't alienate earlier adopters/those who have the ability to pay up front and avoid all the extra fees.

---------- Post added at 12:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 PM ----------

As a payment method, it's a good concept.

But timing, price and platform are all bad.


Timing - Don't introduce this at the tail end of a console life with a new console coming. 2 year X360 contracts will conflict with the launch of the Next X.
Price - Still a big upfront fee ($114) and much more expensive over the long term).
Platform - This will do little to increase Xbox 360 sales and the concept should have been debuted with the Next X instead.

I agree with the last minute approach, but before you can tell whether it'll work or not, you have to first start by testing it. The pricing is how Microsoft plans on covering their ass in case the consumer backs out, I'm thinking. It helps them win as well as the not so better off consumer (I beit at a small degree). Although I'm not a fan of a long term approach like this, I say do it. It's going to push the gaming industry, not hurt it.

[Segitz]

Well... what is it supposed to do? It should do one thing only, and that is expanding the market. And by "halving" the initial pricepoint, it sure does exactly that... although (as was said before) I think the overall price is MUCH too high for what you get.

[D3adcell]

Well... what is it supposed to do? It should do one thing only, and that is expanding the market. And by "halving" the initial pricepoint, it sure does exactly that... although (as was said before) I think the overall price is MUCH too high for what you get.

Right, but you won't find many customers willing to go on a 2 year contract after paying 99$. Especially when there are deals so frequently where you can get an xbox with a giftcard or buy used and get one for like 120$.

[Segitz]

Might very well be... but are those the people that are in need of such a bargain? Thing is, most people, besides "gamers" like us don't know better. They go into Target or Best Buy and think it'll be the best price there is, because the marketing suggests it is. Then the 200USD price for a Kinect'd 360 or the 100USD upfront with a two year contract are two very distinct offers.

[D3adcell]

Might very well be... but are those the people that are in need of such a bargain? Thing is, most people, besides "gamers" like us don't know better. They go into Target or Best Buy and think it'll be the best price there is, because the marketing suggests it is. Then the 200USD price for a Kinect'd 360 or the 100USD upfront with a two year contract are two very distinct offers.

Right but you have to go to a Microsoft B&M Store to get the deal anyhow. Nobody that may go to that store is hurting for cash (except the employees).

[Segitz]

Microsoft has their own stores in the US?

[venomv]

I've never heard of them...

Just checked it out and there are only 21 with the majority being in the western US. Closest one to me is a 4 hours away.

[Viper]

They don't have many. 15-20 store total but they plan to open another 75 in the next couple of years.