Seems iffy as a rumour. The deal isn't a good one if you actually work out the total - so unless they bundle in more with the sub (in terms of content) it just doesn't make sense.

So if this is true I have to image it's:

a) the kind of get into debt lure I dislike that relies on people going "I can get a 360 for $99" when they're not

b) a test to see how the model works

Assuming it's b) and they are willing to make the deal structure better this could be a good way of making the cost of a 720 more manageable - for example the idea of having an option to buy a next gen console at say $199 at launch with a commitment for 2 years to Live would definately appeal to many.

Really though unless your cash flow is seriously challenged in terms of capital purchases this is the wrong way to buy a 360 and pay for 2 years of Gold. I reckon careful shopping around would save you $60 to $80 dollars on the total cost of this supposed "deal"

It's been noted that an Xbox Gold subscription (like the one through Amazon) will not encompass everything that the $15/mo. subscription does.  So when the 2-year period ends, many, if not most, of the subscribers will want their service to continue with the same offerings as before.  Most people don't realize or care that their contract period ends and continue doing what they've been comfortable doing for the past number of years.  Monetarily things can only work out heavily in Microsoft's favor, and in no way are good for the general consumer.

yes but if you get more for 15 than you get for a normal gold subscription, the 15 aren't a scam. you pay more to get more. i still don't see the problem. if YOU wish to pay 12 month longer 15 per month for xbox live + netflix or whatever, where is the problem, if you would have to pay the same with the purchase over amazon?

A quote from me from another post in this thread: "Credit should be reserved for emergencies, large purchases ($1,000s not $100s), and when its building your credit since you're carrying very low balance or paying off monthly."

Two completely different beasts.

I'm telling you that this wouldn't be the only way you could afford a $400 console. You could save for six months and more than likely afford it just fine.

If you can't afford to save like that, then you probably shouldn't sign a two year monthly fee contract and spend $99 up front in the first place.

Side note, congrats on the new daughter. Kids are fantastic little parasites. :) Love my three without bounds.

Thanx bud. Children are definately worth it. Just not wen my 5 year old beats me at tennis on Kinect Sports. Its sign of age I think. ;)

there are the things that people ought to do for their own best interest and then there are the things people do.

two complely different beasts.

Do you think that most of the people that would pay for the subscription-based Xbox bundle are doing so because of any potential extras [on top the the Gold sub.]?  No way, and it's all an idea to confuse consumers into paying more for things they wouldn't have even considered paying for otherwise.  When a parent goes to the store and seed an Xbox for $99, they think they're getting something for cheaper than they are.  They're all being duped.  If Microsoft simply dropped the price of the 4GB model, where's the profit gain for them?  They must offset any loss in profit with a more expensive subscription program [with huge cancellation fees].  Saying that there is a difference between a scam artist and someone running a billion dollar business is silly.  If companies like Microsoft were strictly consumer-friendly then these types of conversations wouldn't exist.  And if the general consumer wasn't so easily seduced by them, these conversations wouldn't exist.  I don't blame Microsoft alone for ripping people off (assuming that this rumor is true), but for the consumer for being so uninformed that they think they're getting a deal.  Salemanship at its finest.

you can say what you want, if someone will pay more for something even if he wouldn't have done it without this offer, it's all legit. you get more for it, if you need it or not. taking $15 imstead of $5 with exactly the same would be maybe a scam but not giving me something for $15 or giving me the opportunity to buy a console +$5 xbox live + $10 netflix or whatever per month where i can chose if i wish to buy both or only netflix or only xbox live. nobody is saying that microsoft doesn't try to sell more consoles or make more money, the only reason we have the consoles is because companies want to make money. this is a new opportunity for people who are interested. like the opportunity to chose between a 4gb xbox or a 250gb xbox or a kinect bundle. with your logic we should only have one product, only a xbox with 167gb or something like that, different opportunities are just there to confuse us.

i can buy a tv with or without tv-tuner. if i buy the one with tv-tuner without using it, it's my stupidness and not a scam or whatever you wish to call it. and i bet there are millions of people who bought the tv model with tuner and then using an own receiver/tuner with exactly the same tv instead of buying the tv without tuner available for 100 bucks less.

2 years is an awfully long time to have a contract. Especially with such a large possibility of a successor on the horizon, plenty of people will fall into it either way, and they will be more than satisfied with what 360 has to offer for the time being, by then the nextbox will be lower in price, and offer less bugs, as well as more games etc.