You're being literal when the OP obviously says "essentially". A gift card is free money. They're giving you money to buy this console.

I'm not disputing that it's an amazing deal.  I'm disputing anyone who's trying to argue that $329 with a $30 gift card = $299.  In no universe are those two things the same.  If my debit card is getting charged $329 instead of $299, then the deal is $329.  I wouldn't have even clicked on this thread if the title hadn't mis-represented the deal, as I'd already seen the black friday ads come across my Twitter this morning.  I only clicked into here because I thought maybe the OP had seen something in the Walmart ad that I had missed.

It is the same deal than target... not the same game but the same deal... $329 with $30 gift card.

well i guess xbox will get what it's always wanted for xmas. an npd win. i wonder if it will ask for another next christmas?

Whatever man, you're trying to complicate something so simple that even a kid can work it out in their head.

No, the deal can last longer than an hour if they have the supplies. The "one hour guarantee" means if you are there and in line within one hour after the sale starts, you are guaranteed to get the product by Christmas. It's actually an awesome promotion Walmart has been running for a couple years now. So essentially you can get what you want, without having to camp out for days. At a Best Buy or Target they'd have limited quantities of this. At Walmart they also have limited quantities, but if you're there within the one hour, you will get it by Christmas at that price, guaranteed.

That was rude.  I guess when you can't dispute someone else's argument, you resort to insults.  I was merely stating a fact, which is that $329 with a $30 gift card is not the same thing as $299.  Had the OP stated the deal correctly, a lot of us wouldn't have even clicked. 

Every single poster here before you understood what the  $299 meant after seeing the OP. There was no debating after they clicked.

Lacing up my trampling boots now!

Usually when there is a sale, the manufacturer will reimburse the store the difference for lost profits. So if Walmart has a rollback on a game down to $40 from $60, someone will pay Walmart the lost profits, if any, on every copy sold. Black Friday is sometimes different, as stores usually add in lots of stuff that they can discount and still make a profit on, and just rely on selling a ton of them to make a lot of money. But this is a pretty big discount, plus a gift card, plus a free game. AND it is a one hour guarantee item, so they should sell a TON. I cannot imagine Microsoft is not reimbursing here.