Just because SOMEONE will buy it, its still not a good deal. Otherwise scam artists would be out of a job.

Imagine they made the console free on contract? That would move some units for sure...

yeah i thought about the same. instead of 99+15monthly they could make 20monthly. they would make more with it and more people would get it^^

hate to be the causual gamer who falls for this trap....

Even at 15 per month, once holidays come and a possible price cut they should be getting enough money. If they want to give WiiU the shocker this holiday season in North America I see them introducing something like this. 

What has happened to this community. Some of you are sickened by perhaps the fairest installment plan out there in the market place. Renting to own consoles is not new, and frankly Microsoft is giving a hell of a good deal as far as that is concerned. More often then not such plans end up costing consumers three or four times the retail price of the console. Sure you can go buy used, but I hope we all know that is a gamble. You could buy something hardly used, or it could have been run into the ground bound to explode in a fortnight. Like it or not this does look to be the lesser of many evils as far as this way of buying is concerned.

Yes I know it seems stupid for people to buy something especially unnecessary in this way, but you know what it is going to happen anyway, and if you want to get technical about this. Most of us have bought something like this ourselves. Sure it ain't a game console, but how many of us take out car loans, pay mortgages, or have student loans. Does that make all of us stupid as well. The answer to question is no, because it should be pointed out that this is the kind of thing that can get you a better deal on those other things. It's called establishing good credit, and at fifteen bucks a month this could be a fairly affordable way to do just that.

By the way am I the only one who took notice of the down payment. Maybe we should discuss the real possibility that the down payment reflects the manufacturing cost of the units. I have a hard time imaging that Microsoft has the capacity to reclaim the units in the case of default. Most rent to own outfits will eventually come by to pick up stuff you aren't paying on. After all the same guys who drop stuff off can run the process in reverse. I just find it hard to think of Microsoft writing the losses off. Unless they aren't losing anything or much at all.

I will point out how this is actually cheaper than buying everything all together at the MSRP.

If you go buy the 4GB Kinect bundle W/ 2 years of Xbox live gold that cost you 419.99, but you only get a 1 year warranty included. The one year warranty extension cost $60 through MS (if you bought from Best Buy it cost $80). So your actually paying 479.99.

With this deal your paying 459.99 including the 2 year warranty, so in actuality your saving $20 with this deal at the MSRP or even more if you bought it through Best Buy.

This could be a good option for future consoles, especially for Sony, so they don't have another "599 US dollars!". This way, they don't have to thump down the hardware in exchange for a better price entry point.

Nice one, Microsoft, +1 respect.

how would they gain money though? If they sell it at 99$ and it takes 75 more dollars to make some money back, then they'll have to wait a whole 5 monthes. And by the time microsoft gets their  money back, someone else will buy a 360 and they will be in the same cycle. Not the best business decision here.

Carl2291 said: Absolute rip off

Yup, and too many fools will pay for this believing it's a $99 console.

Oh they are in for a shock when they see those cancelation fees.