definitely an amazing deal for consumers but reflects the desperation at MS offices atm..

Jeez, That is almost $800 bucks in USD equivalant...Not a deal for any one importing.

It's distrubing that they want to offer a great console at an amazing deal? Microsoft knows exactly what they are doing. Sell the box...you'll make the money back. This is why Microsoft is a successful business across the board contrary to their financially strapped competitor.

Edit: actually this is a retailer deal and they have a similar deal for PS4. probably clearing stock or trying to attract more business in general.

They play the long game not short term goals even though that is important too. They have the money to lower the price and put in games to do this. It was always and will always be about their will to win. If the believe in the future for the living room, they will do what ever it takes and have the money to back it up.

Nice spin there buddy. No one, and I repeat no one, "complained" about getting "free" games as you put it. People are just pointing out how desperate it looks. And it does, and you know it, but thanks for showing us your level of denial. And if X1 was offering the best value for games this year then people would be buying it, yet its consistently been outsold by 2 to 1 by the PS4 all year long. Funny how all MS fanboys cant understand that.

Oh and to all the PS+ games aint free guys, according to that logic, spicezilla is wrong and these games aint "free" either. That's all, now delusion on fanboys.

Oh look, another denialist/spiner (Bigpappy) and known MS fanboy, funny how this works, eh?

@dantesparda my Xbox live sub ran out...I'm still playing my free games.

@dantesparda

I agree with you that At launch PS4 price point hype and slight power advantage, made it the more popular console. At present time Microsoft exclusives trump the PS4's superior 3rd party graphics and is offering the best value right now. If it wasn't for Europe loving Sony and wanting the better version of FIFA and COD, console sales would be a lot closer.

@BillytheBarbarian

I remember you from Gamepro.com. Nice to see another real gamer on this site.

His comment didn't mention sales, i bought a Vita & Wii-U because i saw games i was interested in. Honestly i'm sick of hearing about sales when it doesn't need to be talked about, it's not like a system selling better makes you enjoy your games better does it?

Ok.. I think ppl by now are quite educated about which console will have what exclusives. If one is ok playing only 3rd party games then it's a great offer to pick one up. Plus it's like they're giving the consoles free.

EDIT: never mind it's the shopto offer. Not official.

Why does it have to make a dent in Sonys lead?

Deals like this are the only reason it has ANY momentum to speak of.

And the fantastic games that have been coming out. Try trolling harder next time, Spotie.

No, the PS4 bundle is a shop thing and the XB1 one is an official bundle created by MS. /S

That is the popular consent here. LOL

Well this just shows how desperate Sony are too going off comments made above.

Haha love comments on this site some times I remember getting my psx with 5 games for £200 I love offers like this great time for people to get an Xbox one and a ps4 looking at the deals.

What I am saying is.. Most people are cost conscious. Parents walking in to buy their children a console for christmas would firstly consider price. If you already knew you wanted a PS4 then you wouldn't care for price. If u walked in and looked at a console with a cheaper price and 5 amazing games included for free, you would more than likely buy it.

You're reading stories from places that have no credibility, nor accurate information. First off, the Division has posted profits for the past 5 years. There's a lot of money in subscriptions and digital content.

The new MS CEO has backed Xbox publicly and stated Xbox is a 'core' part of their business, he even had Phil Spencer (Head of Xbox) do the Mahjong acquisition (Minecraft $2billion deal).

There has been no move from investors to sell off the brand.

So at all levels the brand is solid and here to stay, the company has made all attempts to make this absolutely clear to everyone.... yet there's stories still swirl.

It's all publicly available information, but some chose to ignore it and run with their own biased agenda.

I never said that "moves had been made", I indicated that there were stories, and these stories have been carried in media outside of games media such as Forbes etc.

I also never stated they weren't making money, of course they were profitable over 360s lifetime. For your info buddy, I dont have an agenda, but I am not blind to facts either.

MS gambled countless millions on R&D for xb1 and need to recoup that outlay, having dropped the kinect they also now seem to be selling consoles at a loss, I just think its going to be a tough generation for MS.

On the plus side, if they do release another console in future they will learn from this and I bet it will be an utter beast of a machine.

Just stating the actual reality of the matter. Those articles you're referring to are part of the reason the new MS CEO specifically talked about the future of the Xbox brand, the dates can be checked because after that statement not a single reputable source runs with this story.

You did say 'justify their spending and losses', when the R&D and marketing costs are included in previous years reports, overall still profitable. The cost was already absorbed, although obviously they'll want to recoup that spend.

I wasn't referring to you with 'biased agenda', it was gaming media. Thing is, I spent a few hours one day researching it (due to statements that the XBOX loses billions and it'll be sold off). As you could imagine I was very surprised to learn of the vast profits made in the past 5 years, and they were still in profit at X1 release.

Even more surprising to me was that the PS3 lost $5billion in it's first 4 years, both last gen consoles lost A LOT on hardware, made back on software/subscriptions later on.

Yea it's going to be a tough generation for MS/Xbox due to the poor decisions and leadership early on, they spent a fortune on the all-in-one TV box idea (estimated at 3 billion). This generation is already lost IMO.

And yea I agree if there's another hardware generation they'll go all out, although I expect by that time a full on console won't be required due to the unification of Windows devices and better network infrastructure.

its a hard bet to make. hindsight is always 20/20.

After Driveclub's reception, hard to say it would have done well enough to compete. It's easy to dream of such a thing, but to make it happen? It's taken how long for CoD to be dethroned? And it was dethroned by Hogwart's Legacy and has gained it right back just the next year.

Futbol.

Agree that all you just posted are great games. Expedition 33 is one of my favorites. Spent a large chunk of time on BG3 in 2023. Another for my all-time list.

My point though not well articulated in the OG post is that we would get more of the games of the quality you mentioned if so many valuable resources were not allocated to FTP slop and/or heavy monetization schemes. Some of what used to be my favorite franchises have been ruined by them.

To sum it up, I would like to see games like 33 outperform the profits made by games like Fortnite so more resources are allocated to great games. When heavily monetized FTP games are at the top of the list, we end up being stuck with a significant chunk of games that are not good. Or worst case scenario games that spend years in development, but get cancelled due to industry trend chasing.

Perhaps, and I hope you’re right. A shift is needed IMO