Microsoft has announced a special promotion in which anyone buying a new Xbox One bundle can get the blockbuster game in the making "Titanfall" for free too. Combined with a price cut for at least the UK market, this development should be troubling to anyone who ordered the special "Day One" edition of the console. Apparently, waiting has its advantages.
If you're not clear what's happening here, Microsoft launched its new-generation console, the Xbox One, with a heady $500 price tag that is a full $100 more expensive than Sony's PlayStation 4. Those of us who understand these consoles know that you get a lot more with the Xbox One than you do with the PS4, but then this was the strategy that got the PS3 off to a tough start. More expensive is more expensive.
With the PS4 outselling the Xbox One by a wide margin, Microsoft has seemingly put all its hopes in one basket, a new game called Titanfall that many believe will be the best Xbox One "exclusive" (it will run on Windows PCs and Xbox 360, too, but not the PlayStation consoles) title. The problem? Titanfall wasn't ready for the Xbox One launch, and Microsoft (like Sony, let's be fair) went to market with a decidedly lackluster lineup of games.
But now Titanfall is on the way, finally. Microsoft is marketing the crap out of this game, too, since there's so much riding on the future of this generation of consoles. Microsoft is even releasing its March 2014 System Update early, just for Titanfall, and is shipping a Titanfall-specific wireless controller. Yeah, they got it bad.
And now there's this.
Microsoft is offering a "special, limited time offer," the Xbox One Titanfall Bundle, which will become available starting March 11 for $499.99 (US) at select retailers. This bundle will include a standard Xbox One console and Kinect sensor, Xbox One wireless controller, Xbox One Chat Headset, and one month Xbox Live Gold membership, plus a download code for a free copy of Titanfall. Since that game is worth $60, you can see the savings: The normal Xbox One console costs $499.99.
So what about us fools that ponied up for the Xbox One at launch, paying full price for a console with no free games? What do we get from Microsoft, aside from a couple of "Day One" logos and few months wasted with some pretty uninteresting games?
"For those of you who are already fans of Xbox One, we hope this will encourage more of your friends to join you on day one for 'Titanfall' on Xbox One," Microsoft corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi explains in a new post to the Xbox Wire blog.
If you haven't yet purchased the Xbox One, this is pretty good deal. So head over to the Xbox One Titanfall Bundle web site for more information.
If you have, well. This is pretty outrageous.
