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Microsoft Stacks Up on Christmas Discounts

Microsoft offers a 50 dollar discount for X-Box One.

As the song say, this is indeed the season to be jolly, and not just because of the snow. If you haven’t decided yet what to put under the Christmas tree, that all we could say is that you are playing a very dangerous game. Christmas is just around the corner and the perspective of doing some last-minute shopping isn’t gonna do. But you’re in luck because Microsoft stacks up on Christmas Discounts.

If you’re fancied the X-Box series, then you know how hard it is to part with your old man. And I’m not talking about nostalgia here, but about the prices. Even though we don’t care to admit it, the perspective of buying the new X-Box One is just not meant to be for some of us, because the device isn’t exactly cheap.

But Christmas being the season of miracles, blessing and giving Microsoft plans to bless its fans with a little miracle by showing them what giving is all about. And so, if you thought about buying an X-Box One, this could be the moment.

As of now, Microsoft has announced that it will be issuing a 50 dollar discount for each X-Box One bought directly from Microsoft Store. Moreover, whoever decides to buy a new console will also receive a 50 dollar gift coupon, which he can use in order to buy other items available on the online store.

But wait, there’s more, as Billy Mays used to say. If you’re planning on buying a console from Microsoft store, apart from the 50 dollar discount, you will also receive a free game. So, X-Box One, 50 dollar discount and free games: what more can you want from Santa?

Well, as expected, the games included in this offer are not exactly box-office breakers, but they’re not lame either. When buying the console, each used is entitled to choosing a game of his choice. Yu will be able to choose between Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Watch Dogs or The Crew.

Now, if you’re planning on taking up Microsoft’s offer, you may want to keep one thing in mind: shipping. Be very careful when you choose you shipping method, because, as Christmas is approaching, most shipping companies will have their hands full, and you might have to wait quite a while in order to receive your package.

If by chance you live near a Microsoft store, than you can always opt for the pick at location option. And if the product is available, you will be able to pick it up on the spot. Merry Christmas and happy hunting, kids!

Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org

Microsoft sells one million Xbox One units in twenty-four hours

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Microsoft has almost cloned the announcement Sony made a week ago, revealing one million Xbox One sales in the first twenty-four hours. This is a pretty incredible announcement, especially considering the Xbox One coming a week later than the PS4.

This is a lot more impressive considering the Xbox One is only currently available in 13 markets and has missed out on Japan and other very video-game focused areas of the world that Sony has been able to tap, though both consoles are not available in Japan until 2014.

In addition to the late launch and small regional launch, the Xbox One also costs $100 extra as it comes with Kinect. We are not sure how much Microsoft rounded up the Xbox One unit sales, but on the same side Sony could have rounded up PS4 sales.

Microsoft has always had a stronger foot in the US market against Sony, who normally do better in Asia. This generation, both console manufacturers have left Asia out and Microsoft has put the Xbox One out into the European market earlier.

This may have been vital for early sales in Europe, especially with the move to have the Xbox One and a free copy of FIFA 14 shipped out to all Europeans. Microsoft has been criticised for being anti-consumer in the long run up to the launch of the two consoles, but it looks like the end results pitch both console manufacturers level in sales.

Both consoles are suffering from a lack of games at the launch, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both suffering from a lack of solid exclusives and the ones available have had meagre reviews – leading many to wonder if buying a console in 2013 is worth the money.

This may have made a few consumers sour about the next generation, but with both getting one million sales in 24 hours and a few more million before Christmas, we can see plenty of developers wanting to get their biggest titles out on the consoles.

Day one reports of Xbox One Blu-ray disc drive failures

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The PlayStation 4 did not get off to the most valiant start, many launch consoles came with faulty disc drives and dud-consoles and it seems the Xbox One has its launch problems as well, the same Blu-ray disc drive failures that hit many PS4 users are being reported on day one.

Unlike the previous console generation, both game consoles come with Blu-ray drives and both have day one problems. Xbox One buyers have expressed their disappointment in the failure of their game console with many YouTube videos and Twitter updates discussing the problems.

The typical problem is the Xbox One disc drive seems to be loose or components are not working coherently together, making the game unplayable. We are not sure the extent of this problem, for now we can only measure it on the amount of users complaining and there are more than a handful.

We are also not sure if this is something that can be fixed without having to change the Xbox One – Amazon and other retailers have been quick to say there will not be quick swaps for dud-consoles, simply due to the lack of units available to swap that have not already been shipped out for pre-order.

Microsoft should be able to clasp this problem shortly and after the Christmas flux we will see complaints dying down as more people get replacement consoles or refunds for other things.

The two consoles have had an eruptive start, Sony has already sold over 1 million PS4 consoles and Microsoft is well on its way. We expect the Christmas launch window to grab as many as fifteen million buyers along both consoles, kicking the next generation off to a good start.

We wonder how long it will take before the new generation get bored of what is on offer, the exclusives are not getting the best reviews and the only thing keeping people on the system are the triple-A games available on other platforms, including the previous generation consoles and PC.

Watch Dogs, Destiny, Tom Clancy: The Division and other big next generation titles will be coming sometime in 2014, until then we are still sitting on the previous generation games – not looking that great for both console launches.