I cannot believe this - I just put down money for another 360. After using this link ($158 before tax) and buying a $100 Dell gift card for $75, it cost me $145 after tax to have one shipped.
The 360 stays home, and since I'm at school ~2/3 of the time I don't get to play it all that much... I didn't think I'd mind, but I'd be crazy to pass this up. Hell, controllers retail at ~$50 ($35 on newegg), and the arcade comes with one. Essentially, I'm buying the console (hardware) alone for $100-110... I just don't see how anybody can pass that up. It's ridiculous.
To think, just a year ago I was committed to avoiding a 360 the entire gen - the hardware was a piece of crap, forced to pay for online play, the library uninterested me, the console was declining in sales (relative to PS3), and I hated the company behind it (Microsoft).
Now RRoD is gone, it's cooler, and quiet with HD installs. Sales deals bring the price to PS2-levels, some great Japanese games are on board / coming, it's pulling far ahead of the PS3, and the 08 lineup (GeoW2 in particular - I admit, previously I never gave a fair look into the series myself) helped draw attention to friends who showed little interest before. In a short time, I transformed from a Microsoft hater into their advertising bitch... you better believe the pressure is now being put on the fools who haven't picked one up yet!
