Why do I get the feeling that you somehow think the person buying the 360 would never find out that you have to be in a contract to get that price? It's absolutely no different than any other contract based product or service. That asterix is the norm and you will find out about the 2 year contract before the product is bought.

I guess you never heard of "read the small print" lol. People know what they are getting into. This is just more feasable for lower income families. 

In other words, they don't find out about the contract until *after* they have gone to the store planning to buy one, and after they've already made their decision. And while I'm sure people can change their minds after learning of it, many will take the "well, might as well, anyway" attitude that comes with spontaneous decisions.

Usually, when there's a contract involved in a deal, they actually tell you all of the financial elements of it. When they sell you a phone with a "lock-in contract", they tell you the price of the phone, and then the rate charged for the service. So it becomes "$100 upfront + $29 a month for 24 months", or something like that.

Anything less than that, and it's underhanded marketing techniques, intended to rip off customers. And I find it hilarious that people defend this sort of thing. On a side note, I'm also very much against "fine print" - it's a way to hide information from most people until the very last moment. It's OK for there to be conditions on a deal, but if they're not being upfront about it, then they're using misinformation to manipulate the market.

The fine print doesn't generally contain 75% of the price of the house.

I'm sorry but that's EXACTLY how it works.  When you buy a $100,000 and you pay $800 a month for 30 years (all realistic figures),just do the math.  Same goes for that car you bought for "no money down" or that "Free" cell phone you got because you subscribed to the $30 unlimited data plan in addition to your normal service.

My problem with this deal is that, for the money people are paying (Three times the normal rate of Xbox Live), the console they're getting should be lower. I'd say $65 or so. Either that or throw in a bigger HDD and a couple of downloadable games. I mean, $99 isn't really that much of a deal considering how there's a love/hate relationship with Kinect.

Of course, I've always felt that this is just an experiment. I think Microsoft is going to go the PS3 route with the next Xbox console. It's going to be so packed with features and options that it's going to cost $800 at launch and the only way anybody is going to go for it is if there's some sort of contract. That's how I got my cell phone. Without a $199 payment and the promise that I'd keep the phone for two years AND get the $30 unlimited data plan, it would have cost me $500 on the spot.

Yeah... that's when you get a loan for the house from the bank. The downpayment is your contribution, and then you pay off the loan. And neither the bank nor the real estate agent lists the house as costing only $100,000. They list it as costing, say, $250,000, and that $100,000 is the downpayment, with it made quite clear that the remainder, with interest, is to be paid off in monthly installments.

Because that's how it works - you tell them how much it costs, either by listing the real price and then letting them know they'll pay in installments, resulting in paying interest.

In fact, you just said it - they say it's a "Free" cell phone, yet they are quite upfront about it only being available on a $30 plan. And same with the car - they don't go "come in today, get a free car", they go "come in today, get a car for no money down - just $xxx a month".

No.  They say it costs $100,000.  If you have the money then and there, you have nothing more to worry about.  If you don't, prepare to be raped by finance charges.  I've beeen there time and again.  I'm buying my home, bought more than a couple of cars, bought my own land, and even signed for my mom's house.  Yeah, when you finally sign that contract, you finally see the total amount you'll end up paying but, when you look at the sale paper, deal with the real estate agent, or see that deal for the $19,000 car (plus tax, tag, and title) you get the deal you wish you were getting.  The actual transaction is never that (at least where I live).  I've been through it too many times.

honestly if i had an xbox live subscription this deal would annoy the hell out of me....

Two more things before I log off for the next eight hours:

They do let us know that it's a $99 Xbox as long as we sign up for XBL at $15 a month ($10 more a month than normal--it's not like the customer isn't getting anything at all. They're getting XBL Gold.) Would I sign uo for it? Hell no. Still, there's no deception involved. The terms are very clear.

Secondly, this isn't the first time this is being done. Sega gave away the Dreamcast (for free if I remember correctly) as long as people subscribed to SegaNet. I can't remember if it was for one or two years but, at the time, SegaNet was $20 a month. Again, I wouldn't (and didn't) take the deal but there was no secrecy involved.