Saw this posted over on Gaf

The company plans to make the $99 offer--which combines an Xbox 360 videogame console and a Kinect motion sensor with a two-year service contract--also available through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), Toys "R" Us Inc. and all GameStop Corp. (GME) shops in the coming weeks.

The expanded program will also offer an Xbox 360 with a 250-gigabyte hard drive for $99. In addition, Microsoft will, for a limited time, offer the console with 250-gigabyte hard drive and a Kinect motion sensor for $149.

Selling the Xbox with a two-year subscription required Microsoft for the first time to create software to check and approve customers' credit scores. Initially, salesmen in retail stores were required to enter customer's private information into a specialized website, a process that took about 14 minutes. Today, Microsoft said, many customers will be able to enter the information themselves from home, and they should be able to finish within eight minutes.

When purchasing in some stores, such as GameStop, customers will simply need to print out a voucher to hand to a clerk that indicates they were approved for the program. Others, such as Wal-Mart, will offer to ship the Xbox to customers as well.

David Dennis, a company spokesman, added that there advertising for the deal will appear both in stores as well as online. "It will be a big push," Mr. Dennis said.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/microsoft-widens-xbox-subscriptions-20121022-01330#.UIXgG2_A_ng

Did they ever announce the added features the plan will have? I remember specifically it was suppose to have additional things above XBL. Did they scrap that, or delay it or something?

this could be huge for the holidays.

Let's see if this turns into something all three will be doing next gen.

XBox 720 $249.99 w/3 year XBLA contract and a ton of new XBLA services/media integration/cable TV stuff ... totally can see this happening.

I would really like to see how it has effected sales. Can we get the $99 deal vs the retail numbers? I am betting we can't, but it would be very interesting.

But there will always be people that default. Then you have to get after them, and that creates ill will. I know people that worked with Balley's and Sears that hated how they treated their customers with collections.

I would really like to see how it has effected their numbers. I guess we will see more with the Holiday. If numbers shoot up to last years numbers, than it would be a wow!

Unless we can get them direct from retailers or from Microsoft then it's unlikely, I assume NPD and Vgchartz just track them all in one lot.

As for collecting, I doubt it's an easy thing to do for employees from any company, it's a risk the consumer creates for his-herself though.

Also really interested in seeing holiday numbers, looks like Microsoft has a decent amount of faith in this program.