Xbox One Price Dropped Ahead Of E3, New Hardware On Horizon Means You Probably Should Wait


Microsoft is expected to make some new Xbox One hardware announcements at E3 in just less than two weeks. The company primed the pumps Tuesday with a price drop for the current Xbox One, but you may want to wait before jumping on the new price.

The official Xbox website was updated Tuesday to proudly proclaim the Xbox One now starts at a price of $299. This would be for the 500 GB version of the console which previously started at $349. The 1 TB edition of the console now moves down to the $349 starting price from $399, though there are deals available to make both editions cheaper.

For example, Xbox LIVE Director of Programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb promoted an Xbox One 1 TB bundle being sold on Amazon via Twitter. The bundle comes with Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rare Replay Collection, Forza Horizon 2, plus an extra controller for $319. Similarly, the Microsoft Store has 1 TB Xbox One bundles available for $319 featuring the Rainbow Six: Siege collection, Halo 5, and three other games plus more.

These are tempting deals, but it’s probably not the right moment to buy an Xbox One unless it’s something you absolutely have to purchase within the next two weeks. Microsoft’s E3 press conference is scheduled for Monday, June 13 at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT. The console maker is expected to reveal new Xbox hardware that will definitely impact any purchase decisions.

As previously covered, rumors of an Xbox One Slim kicked up in late April. A document leak from a Chinese manufacturer showed a smaller and lighter console is currently in production. New rumors expanded the likelihood of a slim console revision with additional details of a 40 percent smaller console that will include 4K video support, but not 4K gaming support. The new version of the Xbox One is rumored to launch in August 2016, but since these are rumors, it could just as easily come sooner.

In addition to the Xbox One Slim, Microsoft is reportedly working on a generational leap version code-named “Scorpio.” This will be a much more powerful console planned for release later in 2017 with reported performance targets of six teraflops. That is a huge jump from the current Xbox One peak target of 1.32 teraflops and even bests the reported 4.14 teraflop performance of the PlayStation 4 “Neo.”

Oculus Rift Demo Stations Coming To Best Buy This Week
[Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

All of the extra power is not just to play games at a steady 1080p and 60 frames per second (fps) but also to support virtual reality headsets. This is the other part of the rumor where Microsoft is partnering with Oculus Rift to bring VR to its console and compete with the PlayStation VR, which is slated to launch later this year.

Virtual reality gaming requires a tremendous amount of power to support without greatly compromising the graphics. Those interested in what’s possibly in store for both the Xbox One “Scorpio” and PlayStation 4 “Neo” will want to tune into AMD’s Computex keynote Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. The graphics card and processor will host a live webscast from Taipei, Taiwan, to introduce its seventh generation AMD-A series process and the new Polaris GPU. This potentially will provide a first look at the next generation of graphics hardware that will power PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

As it stands, Microsoft has too many balls in the air regarding its plans for the Xbox One in the future to run out and purchase one today based on a price drop. The E3 2016 media briefing will be livestreamed on June 13 at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT and can be watched via Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Spike TV, and the Xbox One and Xbox 360. That will be the start of making an informed decision.

[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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