Conservatively predictable would probably be a better description.

This is more or less exactly what I was expecting to see, with the addition of Kinect Adventures, although common sense dictates MS would be shipping something that showcases Kinect in their new bundles. If SCE can throw Sports Champions into a $99 Move bundle, MS can give away a game in their console bundles.

Surprised there was no mention of a 250GB/Kinect bundle at (presumably) $399. Maybe because it's practically a given.

From a profit margin standpoint, this makes the most sense. MS really wants consumers to adopt Kinect, both new users and current users alike. If the prospect of the hardware revision with a better set of features (with presumed better reliability) wasn't enough to get current owners to replace their current 360, then a $50 discount off Kinect could make the decision a bit easier.

Selling bare Arcades at $149 made little sense unless MS was managing to still pull a decent profit off each unit sold.

Even at $299 and $399 Kinect bundle pricing, I think retailers may have some trouble keeping them in stock over the holidays, which would only illustrate the lack of need for slashed prices many of the Xbox faithful have been predicting.

Why would they sell for $250 or even $199 what stands a good chance of near 100% sell through at $299?

Kind of surprised to see that the new Arcade didn't have at least 8GB of flash storage, but... I'm guessing this was more or less the bare minimum they could include to keep the console functional. No need for anything more as consumers can always add USB memory sticks if they don't want to drop $100 (or whatever MS charges for the 250GB HDD cartridge) for more storage.

Good to see that the pricing on the Kinect games (the casual ones) is a more reasonable $50. $60 was too much for short production pipeline casual affair titles.

And yeah, it's official: I'm not buying a Kinect upgrade kit for my old 360 for $150. I'll buy a Kinect bundle to replace it when someone releases a Kinect game I "must" play.

I'd love to know the margins on Move and Kinect.

I mean if you take into account big marketing expenses, I wonder if significant net profit can be made in the first 50,000 units or whatever.

Didn't selnor post several hundred times how, thanks to his insider knowledge of the GAME preorder system, there was no way Kinect would cost more than £70-80?

£130 is an awful lot to swallow when you can pick up the console itself for a tenner less.

Can't get over how expensive the games are, either - £40 is incredibly steep.

It's a good thing the general public and casual audience doesn't share yours or even any of our gaming forum goers' opinions, then.

It's been priced at $150 this whole time WITHOUT a game included and still been rocking the preoders like crazy.

Exactly. I don't know why so many people were just assuming MS would be practically giving away their hardware, five years into product cycle just so they can inflate their numbers at the expense of profits.

By now, all consoles should be well past the "sell at a loss" phase and be making a decent profit on each hardware unit sold in addition to revenues generated through soft and peripheral sales.

We will see. Preorders are horrible representations of retail sales.

And I did say it will sell way, and that it is good for profit - which many do agree with.

The only subjective bits are the 'not enough' part and the PS3 outselling part.

LAWL..better go talk to those friends at GAME selnor :P

$150 with a game seems just about right.  After kinect preordering well at $150 w/o a game, it is no suprise it is $150 with a game (actually, this is even better)

This looks good for both MS and Sony.  Both can now leave their prices where they are (at least for now) and bring in a good profit margin for the rest of the year.

No pricedrops this year basically confirmed (and this is a GOOD THING).  Time to heal their wounds (MS and Sony) and recoup their overall losses.  This should make for one hell of an interesting Xmas.

Btw: Vgchartz should consider trying to track these accessory sales (Kinect bundles vs. Move bundles)  Would be interesting to see, that is for sure.

The Ball is now in Nintendo and Sony's camps.

At the moment : 2 PS Moves PSEye Sport Champion = Same price as Kinect

But I'm not sure if Move an Kinect can success if Wii price is cut to 149 $

£130 is confirmed.

The UK has got ripped off by basically everyone this generation, especially PS3 prices.

$299 and £250 is just ridiculous.