As initially reported by TechCrunch on Friday, jasonclarke.org can now confirm from a source with knowledge of the situation that Amazon.com will soon begin selling the Xbox 360 gaming system for just $100 in time for the holiday shopping rush. The move drops the price of the “Core”, or base model, of Microsoft’s popular gaming platform 66%, down from its current price of $300.
The source, who declined to be identified, confirmed the rumor via an instant messaging conversation just moments ago. The source did not confirm any details regarding time frame or whether any other products would be discounted along with the Xbox 360.
The move comes just a week after retail giant Wal-Mart announced slashed prices on many electronics in time for the holiday buying season. Competition for the Xbox 360 from a new Nintendo gaming system, the Wii, is another potential motivation behind the agreement. Nintendo recently announced a more than $200 million advertising blitz for its new system.
Although we’ve heard no specific time frame for the announcement, one party indicated it was likely to take effect “very soon.”
Keep an eye on jasonclarke.org as this story develops.
UPDATE: This past Thursday, the news broke on this. Online retailer Amazon.com has announced it will put up “deals” for customers to vote on once a week until Christmas. Each week, product with the most votes will be discounted. The Xbox 360 core system is included in the first week’s round of products, and if it wins, 1,000 units of the system will be offered at $100 each. Although my post clearly avoided specifying any time frame, my post is still not completely accurate in light of the news that Amazon.com customers must vote on the Xbox 360 discount (rather than it being provided immediately by the retailer). In any case, I apologize to the readers of this site for publishing information which did not accurately represent the actual situation.