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EBGames & GameStop Prepare Price Gouging Wii Bundle

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Wii

Wii BundleEBGames just sent an e-mail out to their mailing list subscribers describing their online pre-order program. On Thursday evening CST, the company will place a limited number of Wii bundles online. Each bundle will sell for $699, and will be limited to 1 per household. EBGames’ official statement is this:

This Thursday evening (CST), November 9, your opportunity to get in on the excitement arrives when our Wii bundle becomes available for pre-order online at EBgames.com. You’ll get the best games, accessories and more in one convenient package delivered right to your door - all for under $699 plus tax and handling!

Quantities are extremely limited and there will be a limit of 1 Wii bundle per household, limited to US delivery only. Ordering a bundle does not guarantee shipment at launch and orders will be shipped on a first-come, first-serve basis. The bundle will be removed from the site as soon as we have reached our expected quota.

$699 for an online bundle that doesn’t guarantee a console at launch seems to be folly, particularly when so many other retailers seem to be getting a plentiful supply of the console at launch.


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Microsoft Japan Offers Lost Planet Bundle

Lost Planet BundleWhen Lost Planet: Extreme Condition launches in Japan in December, Microsoft will offer a hardware bundle that includes the game, Xbox 360 console, 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, HD AV cable, remote, a 3 month subscription to Xbox Live, and a card that will allow gamers to download an additional stage for Lost Planet. The bundle will retail for 44800 Yen ($381 US). This, put together with the Blue Dragon bundle shows that Microsoft is trying hard to penetrate the Japanese market. The Lost Planet bundle seems to be less of a draw, however, and one wonders if this will drive that many more console sales.

Read More | Famitsu

UK To Get Xbox 360 Bundle

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Driving, Xbox 360

Project Gotham Racing 3 Microsoft announced today that starting on September 23, they will be offering an Xbox 360 bundle in the UK, including an Xbox 360 Premium system, an extra wireless controller, and a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3 for £299.99 ($565 US). This new bundle sells for £30 more than a standard Premium system, and may help to entice more gamers to choose the Xbox 360 platform this Holiday season. So, in the past few days, Microsoft has announced bundles in both Japan and the UK to try and rack up sales, but so far US gamers have been left in the cold.

Read More | Eurogamer

Blue Dragon Core Bundle Offered In Japan

Blue Dragon Bundle AnnouncementFamitsu is reporting that there will be a Blue Dragon Core bundle available in Japan when the game launches on December 7th. The core bundle price will be 29,800 Yen, the same price as Microsoft’s other Core System bundle that includes Project Gotham Racing 3 and Ninety Nine Nights. Blue Dragon definitely has strong Japanese RPG DNA at its core; famed Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi created the design for the game and game art has been provided by Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball artist Akira Torayama. Microsoft certainly hopes that the release of the game will allow the Xbox 360 to rise above its 1,000 unit sales doldrums in Japan.

Read More | Famitsu

Sony Confirms Contents, Pricing For PSP Entertainment Bundle

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PSP

PSP Entertainment BundleAfter discussing plans to release a new bundle for the PSP in an attempt to highlight the multimedia capabilities of the console, Sony today officially announced the details of the PSP Entertainment Bundle. The bundle will be officially available on September 13th, and will include the standard black PSP, ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails, the UMD Movie Lords of Dogtown, and a 1 GB memory stick. The whole package retails for $249.99, which seems like a decent deal compared to the retail costs of each component.

The 1 GB memory stick is nice, but the “free” game and UMD movie seem like questionable choices. Lords of Dogtown got mixed reviews and has been available on DVD for nearly a year. While ATV Offroad Fury got decent reviews when it was released, the game was one of the first released for the PSP. ATV is also plagued with pretty horrendous load times, which may sour the out-of-box experience for the new PSP user somewhat. If Sony were truly serious about taking marketshare from Nintendo they could have upped the included content with things that gamers would actually want; a PSP bundled with Lumines would be much more appealing. As it stands, the “free” pack-ins feel more like they were intended to entice the Holiday purchase by a family member that doesn’t know any better. It is interesting that Sony will launch this bundle on the same day that Nintendo will release their Onyx Black and Coral Pink Nintendo DS consoles.

Read More | Gamasutra

Sony Announces PS3 Ratio, PSP Bundle

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3, PSP

PS3 According to a report on GameDaily, Sony has started to set down the details of their Playstation 3 product launch this November. The ratio of PS3 Premium to Core units was announced, with the $600 Premium consoles taking up roughly 80 percent of the launch quantities. While final assembly of the console isn’t scheduled until the end of September, Sony still believes they will be able to ship another 800,000 units by the end of the year to the United States. Given that Sony plans on having 2.4 million consoles shipped by the end of 2006, this would indicate that Japan will see another 1.1 million Playstation 3 consoles delivered between November 11 and December 31. If Sony can’t scale up Blu-Ray diode production to match demand, though, this number would be in jeopardy.

Sony also announced that they planned to focus on highlighting the PSP’s non-gaming features, and they planned to release a new bundle by the end of the year. No pricing was set on the bundle.

Read More | GameDaily

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