The Xbox One S launches in just a few weeks, offering a sleek, stylish, and smaller design along with a much-needed storage upgrade. But if you don’t mind playing on chunkier hardware, you might want to buy the original system. Right now and for the duration of the summer, the Xbox One is only $250.
The original Xbox One (without Kinect), complete with a 500GB hard drive, was made available in 2014 for $400, but seasonal discounts and other price cuts have all but guaranteed you wouldn’t pay that much today. While $250 is a mighty fine price for the console, you won’t just get the system — according to Microsoft, this deal applies to “any” 500GB Xbox One package, so you’ll have a game to play right away.
The Quantum Break and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition bundles are mentioned, but the announcement should mean that the Sunset Overdrive console will be cut to $250, as well. The game remains one of the best on the system, and perhaps Insomniac’s finest work that doesn’t have “Ratchet & Clank” in the name. If you want a game not included in a premade bundle, you can do that as well with the “Name your Game” package, which allows you to pick from Forza Motorsport 6, Rare Replay, the aforementioned Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and the stellar Rise of the Tomb Raider. Curiously missing from the offer is Halo 5: Guardians, arguably the biggest exclusive for the system to date and the poster boy for the Xbox brand.
If you want to try some of Microsoft’s titles but don’t want to shell out several hundred dollars to build a PC for “Xbox Play Anywhere” games, this bundle looks like the perfect choice. Of course, with Project Scorpio only about a year away, it might still be best to exercise a little restraint.
