Contract Deal for $99 Xbox 360 Confirmed at Microsoft Store Website

It seems the rumor from last week—that Microsoft would soon be offering a $99 Xbox and Kinect Bundle with a $15 a month, two-year contract—was true. Over on the Microsoft Store, a printable coupon for the deal has gone live, keeping in line with almost everything that was reported last week: the $99 entry fee, the two-years, the Xbox Live Gold service, and the cancellation fee.

The fee appears to be on a sliding scale depending on when you cancel. Take a look:

After snooping around the offer and the Terms of Service, I don’t see anything about the supposed two-year warranty, though maybe I’ve just missed it. Either way, if you haven’t gotten in on the Xbox yet, this might be a good way to do so if you like to spread things out. Of course, in two years, when the contract is up, we may have a brand new version of the Xbox staring us in the face.

On the whole, it’s a pretty great experiment on the part of Microsoft—it’s a way to continue selling the same console they’ve had for years, expand their install base, and make a pretty attractive offer to those who’ve balked at the higher price tag—even though, when you add it all up, the total cost of everything they’re offering is higher than what it’d be if you bought everything all together. It has all the benefits of a price cut without the drawback of, you know, actually cutting the price.

Microsoft Store via Joystiq