The bonus free game is also boosting the Madden sales.

X1, Madden & Destiny for $399.99 is a big draw.

The problem with those hidden price cuts (a free game is basically a $60 dollars price cut), the problem is that even if that it's not an official price cut to reassure owners and publishers (because Microsoft pay the publishers for each free game and it boost the NPD numbers), people will only want to buy XB1 at each new discounts.

- Titanfall free game in XB1 bundle
- Madden free game in XB1 bundle
- Free game of your choice during the Destiny launch.

People aren't stupid and will wait to buy an XB1 until the next discount which will be Sunset overdrive bundle and after that probably the Halo MCC bundle and COD bundle. In europe it'll be the Fifa bundle.

Also it's really expensive for Microsoft, most game they sell to customers they basically pay the game for them, it's not a good solution for the long term. And from the start even the kinectless XB1 console is even a bit more expensive than the standalone PS4! Sony could have even more room to do price cuts than Microsoft without kinect!

That didn't happen until the 7th of september

Technically, if the price doesn't officially change its impossible to have a price cut + free game :)

Its either one or the order if the price remains constant. You either are buying a $340 XB1 then paying $60 for madden, or you are buying a $400 XB1 that just happens to come with madden for free. Thats why they are called soft price drops.

Any time I see the Xbox brand winning the US, I'm not surprised. Last generation, they the number one console in that territory.

If you get the Madden bundle, you're basically paying $340 for an X1, which is a lot more justifiable purchase than getting the standalone system for $400. There's also the debate on whether removing the Kinect was a price drop. Some people view it more as a debundling than a price drop, so there's that to consider as well. So no, I'm not surprised at all.