$299 Price Drop Xbox 360 Is Refurbish? (Bwah?)

Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku says, "Previously, we posted a Kmart ad indicating a price-drop in the Xbox 360 line-up. The ad, purported to hit July 6, shows that the model that comes equipped with a 20GB hard drive, formerly known as the 'Pro' version, will be priced at $299 US. That's a $50 price drop from its current MSRP. A Gamestop employee has tipped us with what looks like further confirmation that the lower priced Xbox 360 is hitting. Pictured is the $299.99 Xbox 360 SKU in the Gamestop inventory screen. While the tipster isn't sure what the bundle contains, we imagine it will be everything that's in the "Pro" version. Here's the kicker: Apparently, this cheaper Xbox 360 is a refurbished console as the product description reads..."

[TheHater]

is that even legal? Those xbox 360 are just going to get the RROD again if they weren't fix right. I hope people are inform when the buy these systems.

[MikeGdaGod]

if this is true, that's pretty f*cking disgusting

[mikeslemonade]

In their defense these refurbs might be more reliable since they already been broken and then fixed with the new heat syncs and then tested.

But where's my free online!? $300 doesn't sell me without the free online.

[Whoooop]

.

[beavis4play]

it's legal as long as ms makes it clear on the box that what is being sold is a refurbished product. if they are trying to resell them as "brand new" then that's illegal.

[SL1M DADDY]

Mike, have you had to send your console in for repair? You get one of MS's famous refurbs back when you do and typically, it is those consoles that die within a short period of time. Sorry, but there is no defense for MS's poor refurbs, only heartache for those caught up in the runaround of having to constantly send their consoles in to MS for yet another poorly repaired Refurb console.

[flexbox360]

i love my xbox 360. but thats disgusting for real. there is nothing to disagree about here. only the MS themselves would disagree with that comment lol

[GodsHand]

Im sure it will be marked as a refurb, but wont be clearly seenen. If anything smells like a law suit.

[killax3563]

Buying a used Xbox 360 is worse than buying used underwear.

[Genesis5]

It looks like their just trying to get rid of their junk. Oh well have fun.

[Condoleezza Rice]

Why am I not surprised

[f789790]

All the reject consoles that are doomed to drive you insane. I'm not saying they all will fail. Some probably never will. But for most they have been sent to owners of failed 360s and eventually go through the cycle again and again. Thats why some people on youtube end up shooting it.

[dktxx2]

So is refurbished going to be said on the box or are they going to screw over consumers even more?

[pwnsause]

it has to say on the box that its a refurbished console. Sony use to do it with the PS2 i think. i remember going into sony stores seeing a white PS2 packaging stating that its a refurb, you get a long warranty though. at the end of the day its replacing the broken chipsets, hopefully better ones that dont RROD. they have to give you at least a 3yr warranty for it.

[beavis4play]

aren't you trying too hard to put a microsoft spin on this?...... and i've never seen refurbished ps2s on sale anywhere. and if sony had done that; every single x360 fan would've already ripped them for it. and i have never seen any posts talking about it until you mentioned it.

anyway, this may not be true about refurbished 360s. too many stories on this site end up being fake, and this sounds like one of those. i can't believe ms would think they could avoid major pr backlash when doing something so cheap.

[t-0_ot-]

@beavis4play - Not sure about refurbished PS2's.. but, the PS2's certainly had problems, but ALL the PS fanboys play it down like it never happened.. Me and my brothers went through 5 PS2's. Three of them stopped reading PS2 games, only. One stopped working all together. And, the last one had many problems.. The PS2 dvd player wouldn't spin with the top down, the screen stopped working, the audio cord stopped working, and no memory cards worked on it.. -.-

[RevN8r]

t-0_ot- I'm sure you're not going to enjoy this reply, but I'm also pretty sure you and your brothers didn't know how to take care of your stuff. That's seriously either the worst case of bad luck with hardware, or some seriously poorly-taken-care-of hardware, my bet is the latter.

[iggypop123]

this is pathetic. M$ is really going in a negative direction lately

[sevanig]

What else are they gunna do with all those RROD 360's?

[Polluted]

You know what? Selling off those thousands upon thousands of refurbs they have lying around is actually a good idea. I'd pay $200 for one of those. Now $300, that's just rape, but $200 would be nice.

[karlostomy]

The price for a refurb needs to be lower.

Still it's a good idea. I'd be sold too at a lower price.

[CrazedFiend]

I'd have to hit AT LEAST the $100 mark for me.

Refurb or not, I'm not out to waste my money unless the problem is ABSOLUTELY fixed.

[Bathyj]

From the original article "Consider it rumor for now, but we'll be getting in touch with them to learn more."

Heres a thought, why not get in touch with them to learn more BEFORE you put it into print and return a little credibility into your joke of a profession.

HAHA Koksukto were in such a hurry to report a little positive XB news they weren't about to let a little thing like it being true or not slow them down.

Has for refurbished units my brother in laws store has a whole wall full of them. Looks like M$ is dumping them anywhere. The thing is why buy a machine thats already proven itself faulty once to save 50 bucks, and dont say they've been fixed they should be more reliable be he had one guy bring his reburb back 4 TIMES getting a new refurb each time, only to bring it back again.

Reminds me of Bart Simpson with the electric prod. Tzzz, ow, Tzzz, ow, Tzzz, ow. Will he ever learn?

[iggypop123]

online blogs dont require the source checking to see if a rumor is false or not so it just gets posted and later they check

[Filanime03]

Wow if this is true this is pathetic for microsoft to do screwing over customers by selling broken down used 360 that was refurbished but what can you do this is a smart business thing to do. I feel sorry for people that's gonna buy this.

[meepmoopmeep]

Microsoft Corp has always thought of the consumer before profits. They are generously helping the environment by giving consumers refurbished consoles at retail prices all in the name of keeping our Earth "green" in order to cut down on production in their factories.

However, Microsoft Corp has declined to answer questions from scientists who claim the tremendous heat dissipated from the Xbox 360 console due to RROD is the culprit for the Global Warming phenomenon.

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[meepmoopmeep]

well, all those RROD returns have to go somewhere, right?

seriously though, i don't think this news is true. MS isn't that dumb.

[beavis4play]

they made a console that uses the limited standard dvd. it was fine for a couple years but showing it's age now in year three.... so their that stupid.

but i agree with this not being true. ms certainly wouldn't try something so cheap and desperate...would they?

[supaet]

The low IQ of n4ger showing up again.

what does a 299.99 refurbish 360 at EB GAMES/GAMESTOP has anything to do with a 299.99 premium 360 at kmart?

just because they're same price? unlike eb/gamestop, kmart do not sell used systems.

[Whoooop]

I would buy it... $200??? naaaa

Way too risky.

[Bathyj]

Is this new to most of you people? because my aforementioned Brother in Laws store has been selling them (slowly) for about a year. They have more refurbished stock then new stock. Thats pretty wrong right there.

I wonder if every refurb SHIPPED counts as a SOLD unit like the new ones. Since they dont subtract breakages from their SHIPPED/SOLD numbers wouldn't that mean they were counting them twice? Once the first time they shipped them and then again when shipped with the bandaids on.

[GUNS N SWORDS]

i'm ok with this rumor being posted because all RUMORS get caned one way or another.

usually when you buy something used at stores 3 things happen.

1 they tell you it first hand.
2 you can see for your self that the box has ben repackaged
3 they usually give you an extended warranty because it's ben used.

(usually when your talking about a price drop, your talking about about a price drop that effects ALL NEW MODELS in the future, not from the past)

[dragunrising]

I think people might be jumping the gun. Unless there are further confirmations of "refurbished" systems being sold at retail, this is rumor at best. Aside from Gamestop/EB, who else sells refurbished consoles? It doesn't make sense is all I'm saying. The reason why this rumor smells even more fishy is because Gamestop already sells refurbished systems. Why would they jack up the price when they are already selling them a $219.99? Here is the link:

http://www.gamestop.com/Bro...

Edit: Both of the listed refurbished models DO NOT come with a hard drive.

[name]

Now that's just hilarious.

[DiabloRising]

I work at Gamestop. We sell both traded in consoles, aka USED 360s without an HDD, for $220, as well as now the $300 REFURBISHED VIA MS consoles. It's the Pro model, but it lacks the Free Live Month I believe, everything else is in there. The box is clearly marked refurb. We've had them for at least 3 weeks now, mixed in with the normal units.

[RINGOFDEATH]

either way,the RROD will catch them soon.

first 360 problem was the RROD,then wasted millions of their HD-DVD hard drive player,now refurbish 360's.Microsoft are losing billions of dollars compared to Sony's 3.3 billion.

[dragunrising]

I would believe you if you were able to provide one. I remember M-soft making a profit Q2 and Q3...imagine that? Here is the source:

http://www.gamedaily.com/ar...

[Azurite]

Does the guarantee cover Microsoft's support or do they have to call Kmart if anything happens?

[titntin]

At least in the US you are told you are buying a rufurb!

When the price cut was announced in Europe, lots of stores reported that the units they were getting were refurbs, but there was no indication of this at all to the consumer.

[tudors]

Just because it is a refurb does not make it a RROD job, the mainboard will be completely up to date, one of the bosses at MS stated that when you send in a Xbox-360 for repair it gets a full refurb, plus what sort of attitude is it in life not to recycle, you cannot just bin old stock, where do you put it? for all I know I might have a refurb but it does have the new board with HDMI and works fine, there are too many doomsday bringers on this site.

[Captain Tuttle]

Lame if true. Could be Photoshopped.

[SaiyanFury]

If MS releases those consoles as refurbished, I would have to say that's pretty greasy even for Microsoft. I realize that American corporations love their monies, but this would be a true stab to 360 buyers. Especially if those buyers are being led to believe they're buying a new console. I realize that just because they're refurbs, that doesn't mean a RROD, but still. Marketing a system as new, and selling it at a reduced price because it's a refurb, is pretty greasy. I sincerely hope that MS doesn't stoop to such a low.

[t-0_ot-]

@SaiyanFury - "I realize that American corporations love their monies" All companies love their money.. That's the point of business. To make money.

[SaiyanFury]

True, but American corporations especially love their money. I can't speak for companies I don't know about, but I do know that a great many American corporations outsource their tech support to India so they don't have to pay minimum wage to people here for that job. Not so interested in helping the consumer, a great many people have complained, myself included. But nothing's changed. They won't listen so long as they all worship at the alter of the almighty dollar.

[tudors]

you likely have many gadgets that have come from remolds of casing or even if they re-used all the old casing screws but nothing else is that not still a refurb? all I am saying is that we should recycle by any means possible, why would a person feel screwed if what they own refurbed or not is still in line with the new stock. IMO this is not even news worthy.

[Mutley416]

That sucks, Still waiting for a good SKU then I`m in-

[Tunerboy8732]

I bought my xbox 360 pro brand new at gamestop back in march for the regular $350 but atleast its new (manufactuar date Feb 2008).I know MS keep those monkeys confused at the chinese sweat shop.Put the Elite over here,Arcade over there and pro buy the old rrod ones.They wont know the difference lol.

[dale1]

they have done the same in europe now tell me these don,t count as two sales,they must give the customer a new one at point of sale or microsoft would not be reselling them.now if these are the hdmi 360,s then it seems they still have big issues with there hardware

[t-0_ot-]

I love how rumors get some much attention on this site. =P

[BIGELLOW]

I recall that when the RROD hit its peak, Microsoft poured a bunch of money into the problem. Perhaps some of that money went into fixing the broken units in such a way that they would not break again. Perhaps these are THOSE refurbs (as opposed to earlier refurbs that would just RROD again.)

I'd rather give them the benefit of the doubt and see if there are actual complaints of these units getting a RROD before jumping to conclusions. Not all refurbs need to be the same.

With that being said, I would never get a refurb (or a used console for that matter.) I like the new console smell. I want to know that every little scratch or smudge on the case was one I put there. I'm anal like that. To each his own. Of course, I feel sorry for those whose parents or other family members might unwittingly buy them a refurb one, not taking this into consideration. I mean, a gift is a gift... free is free... one should be happy... but sometimes, the level of happiness diminishes just a little with the realization that it's a hand-me-down.

[jkoz]

I work at Gamestop and we received a bunch of these refurb systems as well. $299 is the asking price. Have fun, everyone. I'll stick with my Expertzone $329 bundle, 2 wireless controllers, Gears of War, Viva Pinata, premium system.

[himdeel]

...that someone could be picking up one of my brothers old 360 units. He's on his third and I'm on my 1st unofficially :) (took one back to store).

Oh well I hope people pay attention to the fine print, which they never do, and that the units give years of gaming fun.

[PS3ALLDAY122]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA

[Darkwolf]

As always Microsoft fuucks up a product, then tries to resell it at a cheaper price..They should just give up and stick to making crappy software programs as they obviously dont know how to make a decent gaming console..My WII gives me more fun than my garbage box 360..

[MANCREEP]

If these "refurbs" are being outfitted with the new Jasper Boards, they'll be fine. If not, then I am SURE the 60gb Model will have the improved chipset inside it. I still think MS should cut the price on the Elite too.

[DX F3NIX]

too little to late don't ya think

[Pain]

New XBOX in 09.

[Montrealien]

it is a store special that they have been running for a while, do you guys even read the articles? Or just the titles?

[reccodog]

Only for "Special People".

[dolomite]

Well, they got to do something with the rest of the refurbs out there. I'm not surprised.

[evilmonkey501]

so thats what they did with that x box I sent back 7 times!

[SDS Gamerfiend]

This story was posted by a ps3 fanboy who hates xbox 360! it says refurb because gamestop sells used 360's that are in fact refurbs! They have been doing this with all systems for years so this story is lame and is an attempt by a bias fanboy to start a flame war!

[reccodog]

I think the pic says it all. Soooo its not fake.

And do you have any proof of a PS3 fanboy post this? Nope, typical 360 fanboy, no proof.

[SDS Gamerfiend]

Previously, we posted a Kmart ad indicating a price-drop in the Xbox 360 line-up. The ad, purported to hit July 6, shows that the model that comes equipped with a 20GB hard drive, formerly known as the 'Pro' version, will be priced at $299 US. That's a $50 price drop from its current MSRP. A Gamestop employee has tipped us with what looks like further confirmation that the lower priced Xbox 360 is hitting. Pictured is the $299.99 Xbox 360 SKU in the Gamestop inventory screen. While the tipster isn't sure what the bundle contains, we imagine it will be everything that's in the "Pro" version. Here's the kicker: Apparently, this cheaper Xbox 360 is a refurbished console as the product description reads:

Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro, Refurb 299.99

If true, some price-drop, huh.

Update: Several Gamestop employees have altered us that the retailer has been running this refurb deal for the past month or so, thus negating anything it has to do with the rumored price-drop Xbox 360. Nothing to see here! Move along, move along.

[RevN8r]

First of all, I'm not a PS3 Fanboy, I'm proudly a 3 console guy, and I have no preferential treatment toward any of them, I just appreciate the games. If you had checked my profile, you would have seen all 3 of my gamertags, so no flame war from me.

As for the update, the story was posted pre-update, and was obviously worth posting as it's gotten me 500 points. So stop your M$ Fanboy flaming and get on with your life.

[SDS Gamerfiend]

Uh, I have a PS3 and an Xbox 360! Will have a wii as well but can never find one that's not over-priced! I'm a gamer hence the name gamerfiend! Thanks buddy!

[RevN8r]

My point was that if anybody's doing any fanning of the flames, it's you. All I did was post a story, you brought up the concept of it being fanboy biased, which it was not. I never said anything about you not having more than one console, only that you have a lean towards M$ Fanboyism. And I'm not your buddy, guy.

[OJ_juice]

I don't care. They all blow up in the end anyways.

[likeaboss302]

I don't see Wal-Mart selling refurb Xboxs for $299. If Gamestop is doing that well that's on them.

[nightfallfilms]

Bubs for sds gamerfiend one of the only smart comments on this thread.

"Update: Several Gamestop employees have altered us that the retailer has been running this refurb deal for the past month or so, thus negating anything it has to do with the rumored price-drop Xbox 360. Nothing to see here! Move along, move along."

[SDS Gamerfiend]

Bubs for you as well.

[4D]

Update: Several Gamestop employees have altered us that the retailer has been running this refurb deal for the past month or so, thus negating anything it has to do with the rumored price-drop Xbox 360. Nothing to see here! Move along, move along.

Damn you little Sony kids are ignorant. I guess thats why you have to have your PS3 Blu-Ray player so you can watch the games instead of playing them. It's gotta suck that MGS4 was more movie than game. You guys got ripped off. Your better off trading in your movie player for a real videogame console refurbished or not.

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