Gamestop Xbox 360 'super-bundle' comes in at $1,200

"... The only way I’d pay half that amount for a pre-order launch console is if Bill Gates himself came and delivered it riding bareback on a unicorn..."

OUCH! Thanks for the picture.

I rather have Adriana Lima deliver it to me wearing a shelf bra and thong in a Koenigsegg CCR.

What a way to make me hate you more gamestop. I thought I had enough reasons (lousy trade in values being a topper on that list). I agree, give us an offer we can't refuse. Sorry, but like others have said, I am gonna have to wait till I can by the system by itself and one game.

Did they learn nothing from the PSP fiasco?

what the hell? I think I'll wait a few years for next-gen gaming this time... the companies are getting too greedy.

:(

"They’ve created a massive bundle of pretty much every decent launch title, as well as a bunch of accessories" - how do we know if the titles are decent until they come out and are reviewed? just b/c a game is pretty doesn't mean it'll play smoothly, or even be fun.

I'll be buying mine through my friend's store which will be selling the system solo.

With all the outcry over the EB Games / Gamestop bundles, I have to ask -- are there no more indie game stores anymore?

I think it's time for all of you to find some in your area and SUPPORT THEM.

#4. Good point! I have no idea why I typed decent in the first place. It's gone.

Cheers, Conrad

Silly, Joystiq. Those insanely priced bundles are for L337 Xbox gamers like JC Chasez, Everlast, and Hoobastank. Duh!

(How I hate how MS has marketed the Xbox and gaming to the MTV generation, e.g. Velocity Girl.)

Hasn't Microsoft qualified launch titles as available in the first week or so of the launch? Does that mean that you will receive the system in chunks or will they wait for all the games to be available and send the whole package?

I went to my local EBGames. Having been on the pre-pre-order list for the X360, I indicated my refulal to pay for the "bundles" offered on the website and only wanted to pay for the regular package and choose the games I wish to purchase on my own. He assured me that those bundles are just a US thing (I am located in Canada). All I know, I have paid $574 Canadian for my Xbox and just waiting for MS to give a release date.

Why hasn't anyone pointed out that buying all these things seperately is a cheaper way to get them? I think they add up to only 1060 US when not in this bundle.

This is getting rediculous....first time ever a bundle goes over a grand?

I love that they have the nerve to charge a $9.99 fee for shipping and handling.

"Due to the unusual size and weight of the Microsoft Xbox 360 Bundle Packs, an additional shipping and handling fee of $9.99 will be added to your order."

Well, the Xbox-on-day1-fanbois have already not blinked at a $400 price, so what the heck, let 'em milk the suckers for all they can.

I'll get mine next year and still have enough left over to pick up a psp.

Some of you guys really have to get your heads checked. Seriously. You are not required, I repeat, NOT required to buy one of these bundles in order to get an Xbox 360 on launch day. The Canadian EB Games clerk (per above) who said that these bundles were only a US thing must have meant that they were only available in the US, but not required. The only base purchase options that are REQUIRED in order to get an Xbox 360 in the US at launch are purchase of either a Core ($299 US) or Premium ($399 US) system. I do not consider the Premium system a bundle, per se, because it does not include games, extra controllers, etc.

For those of you morons that are getting bent out of shape that you have to purchase a $500+ bundle, get your facts straight!

P.S. - though they may not have the stand alone Core or Premium systems available for pre-order on-line, you can get either as a stand alone if you simply walk your fat ass into a bricks & mortar EB Games.

Metalghosts, And there will be tons of them at the stores because it's not going to sell that well at all.

Hah....that kills me funkonaut, since every analyst and there brother expect them to sell out for the holiday season.

I am by no means a fanboy (I personally love my Dreamcast), and for the longer term the vision of the future becomes much cloudier. But hands down, Xbox 360 will sell out this holiday season. Read the article that Chris Morris at money.cnn.com wrote yesterday (he's a very well respected writer). Though I completely disagree with much of his article, even he states with no uncertainty that Xbox 360 will be THE holiday gift this year.

So no, there will not 'be tons of them at the stores'.

Finaally! A big corporation lookin' out for the little guy. Thanks Microsoft!

Hmm... let's look at the facts:

A. Most launch titles = teh suxorz. After the newness wears off, most launch titles are revealed to be: (1) Out-and-out rush developed crap, with crap gameplay, crap AI, crap balance, ect. (2) Pretty, graphics intensive tech demos disguised as games, that really aren't much fun at all to play, (3) Too short, with not enough levels/content, (4) Derivative versions of popular previous-gen titles that offer nothing innovative.

B. A sucker is born every minute.

C. A Fool and his money are soon parted.

I think we can all see where this is going...

Ok kids, now, "This way to the EGRESS!"

Wow, pretty impressive Joel. This is why I 'love' Joystiq....because of all the impartial, intelligent posters with well thought out discourse to bring to the table. Hah!

You say let's look at the facts, and then proceed to discuss games that have not even been released yet. What the hell puts you into a position to state what the launch titles will or will not be revealed as? Not only do you seem to describe games that you have never even played, but you lump about 20-40 of them all together into one (barely) descriptive set of comments.

I swear, it's pathetic excuses for intelligent people like you that bring a bad name to gamers everywhere. Again, I'm not a fanboy (read post 16 above). But obviously after you wrote YOUR post you went back to your bed where you continued to perform unspeakable acts to your PS2, since you love it so much. Oh no no, please don't stop on our account.

Metalghosts, I'm willing to bet you that the 360 will NOT sell out this holiday season. The same thing happened with the PSP. We were hearing all of these stories about how you wouldn't be able to get after it launched unless you pre-ordered it, and lo and behold, it was easy peasy to get one the day it launched and every day thereafter.

The same thing will happen with the 360. Mark my words.

well you can go to the store and drop 50 down for just the console and buy what ever you want... or you could be lazy and preorder the bundle online which sux i say go to store because they do offer solo consoles (im talkin bout eb)

do get so bent out of shape metalghosts...like you said......it isn't even out yet.

GuyManDude....I get bent out of shape over idiots who make dumb ass comments. The crescendo over fanboys making these groundless statements like 'PS3 is going to rule!!!' and 'Revolution is the only console worth anything....whoever buys a PS3 or Xbox 360 is a sucka' is deafening. People who actually can think and are able to formulate coherent sentences need to start calling these idiots out for what they are, a complete waste of space.

So you are definitely right, these guys really aren't worth it, and normally I would give the same advice, but I'm really sick of seeing there dumb ass shit.

Yea Nate....good info. I think that bad information has simply been getting out there about these bundles being required when in fact they're not. I'll admit that EB and Gamestop not having the standalone packages available for pre-order on-line yet doesn't help the situation, but hell, all someone has to do is pick up the phone and call one of them to confirm that yes, you can indeed pre-order the stand alone packages.

...but your PS2-specific post to Joel does make you sound like a fanboy, Metalghosts... As he never mentioned the PS2. You're kind of going overboard yourself with that tirade.

In Joel's defense, I think he's talking about every major system in the past decade only having 2-3 good games and MAYBE 1 'killer-app' at launch. (VirtuaFighter on the Saturn, Ridge Racer, Toshinden on the PS1, Mario 64 on the N64, SSX on the PS2, Halo on the Xbox, etc...)

Back on topic; 11 games in a launch bundle? Sounds ambitious, as well as begging the question: When in your life have you ever needed to play 11 new games in the space of a few days or even a week? You haven't and you won't. You might want to TRY 11 games in a day but you don't want to PAY for 11 games in a day.

I'm not in the mood for all these bundles flying around!

RE #20 Metalghosts:

"You say let's look at the facts, and then proceed to discuss games that have not even been released yet. What the hell puts you into a position to state what the launch titles will or will not be revealed as? Not only do you seem to describe games that you have never even played, but you lump about 20-40 of them all together into one (barely) descriptive set of comments."

Metalsghosts: I wasn't discussing those particular games. I was speaking from a historic perspective. Most launch titles, throughout the history of gaming, once the newness has worn off, reaveal themselves to be substandard. It is a fact. If you had any knowledge of the history of console gaming, you would have understood my statement from the beginning. If you need me to cite specific examples of the types of titles I was talking about, I, and I'm sure many of the other Joystiq readers who have a historic perspective on console gaming, will be happy to name names. Here's just a few...

1) Nightcaster (XBOX, just plain awful gameplay)
2) FantaVision (PS2, tech demo disguised as game)
3) Battle Arena Toshinden (PSX, bland, derivative)
4) Luigi's Mansion (GC, too short)
5) Pit Fighter (SNES, awful, derivative)

I don't care about all your personal attacks or name-calling. I'm not riding any system's jock. If you cannot see that the following is all true, you are out of your mind and cannot be helped:

1) The majority of launch titles for the PSP sucked.
2) The majority of launch titles for the DS sucked.
3) The majority of launch titles for the N-Gage sucked.
4) The majority of launch titles for the XBox sucked.
5) The majority of launch titles for the PS2 sucked.
6) The majority of launch titles for the GameCube sucked.
7) The majority of launch titles for the Dreamcast sucked.
8) The majority of launch titles for the N64 sucked.
9) The majority of launch titles for the PSX sucked.
10) The majority of launch titles for the Sega CD sucked.
11) The majority of launch titles for the Sega Genesis sucked.
12) The majority of launch titles for the SNES sucked

Now, Metalghosts, even with your seemingly-limited capacity for understanding, can't you see a *pattern* here?

yea Joels right metalghost firs of all relax and second of all most launch titles will such and 3rd of all it still will be sold out because of the major hype that everyone is creating for it.

It only comes with one controler...

1.3 Thousand fucking dollars and you can't give me 2 controlers?

I do not agree that launch titles suck. Sure some turn out to be not all that great, but given that consoles that have been out for years have bad games released all the time indicates that launch titles are not better or worse than second or third generation titles.

I can think of many classic launch titles for the SNES that are classics such as F-Zero, Pilotwings, ActRaiser, Super Mario Land, SimCity (this is the only console I have purchased at launch and I feel confident to comment on).

While not every game will be a classic, I would not be surprised to see titles like PGR3, Oblivion and Ghost Recon set benchmarks on the X360 that will be hard to surpass. All I do know is that MS will not releave an incredible console only to have weak software support. I do expect good things from their studios (I cannot guarantee the same for 3rd party, lets get a game out to capilize on the X30 hype, software developers).

I guess we will have to all revisit this thread next year on this date to see which titles have made the list of classics and which ones failed.

Finaly, I do have to agree with MetalGhost. To many contributors to this site are only here to bash each and every single article (be it PS3, PSP, Xbox, Nintendo or X360). This is a free world, if you feel obliged to troll all atircles, then do as you wish. Know that it is does not require any real effort to see the negative in all things and to share them with all to see, but keeping an open mind, can be quite rewarding in the end (and make your comments much more interesting to read)

See, this is my point. Call it a tirade if you will, but many of you are all missing the entire point of my comment, except for Thyron.

To sit hear and 'listen' to people say how this game will suck, and that game will suck, and then launch titles in general will suck. Well, I think it is uninformed and does an injustice to gamers everywhere.

Given your perspective of how, in your opinion, most launch titles throughout console history have sucked, well I can certainly respect your opinion on that, though I do disagree. I would counter, however, that as a percentage, no more titles suck at launch than at most other times. I mean, think about how many games are released for either Xbox or PS2 in a given month, and how many are truely AAA titles worth 50 bones? % wise, probably the same as at launch. But in anycase Joel, given the additional information of your case at least it has the actual underpinnings of an argument now.

And here's the thing, when we are talking about launch titles, give a couple of examples and why you wouldn't want to buy them (I'm saying this in general now, not to any particular poster in here, so settle down people!). At least then others can counter with equally informed comments, and there is real discourse. This shit of this sucks and that sucks? Well yes, I will speak up and call it out for what it's worth. Absolute shit. If that makes me a fanboy (which is hilarious when a person with each console is considered a fanboy) then sure, sign me up.

You are all MAD! MAD! MAD!.....gawd, I can't wait!!