Xbox One Price Drop Goes Live, Now $350

If you’ve been holding off on getting a next gen console, or perhaps want to sit an Xbox One alongside your PlayStation 4 or Wii U, then now might be the perfect time to bite on one of Microsoft’s newest consoles. The Xbox One has hacked 50 bucks off of its price tag for the holidays, now available for just $349.99.

It’s no secret that Microsoft had a bit of catching up to do this generation. After the huge success of the Xbox 360, the publisher made a few missteps leading up to the launch of their new console, and has since been doing everything in its power to win back favor. A lot of bad ideas were nixed leading up to the launch of the Xbox One, the console is starting to roll out some AAA, extremely well-received exclusives and, for a limited time, they’re even dropping the price of the console by 50 smackers.

We announced last week that the Xbox One would be dropping down to $350 for the holidays and, as of now, you can enjoy that new lower price in retailers and online. If you head over to Xbox.com, you’ll see that the new price point is being offered in a special bundle, which includes Assassin’s Creed Unity. So that’s a new lower price, plus a highly anticipated game, all just in time for the holiday shopping season. Well played, Microsoft. Well played.

There’s no telling if this price change will be enough to completely obliterate the gap between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sales from the past year, but it certainly can’t hurt the situation. And we can’t forget about the recently released and pretty much universally loved Sunset Overdrive causing extra buzz for the console, alongside the not-too-far-off launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. If all of those factors combined don’t put the One nearly neck-and-neck with the PlayStation 4, I’d be very surprised.

It just goes to show that we really shouldn’t count any of the Big Three out of the game until dirt is officially being piled into the grave. People love to talk about the “console wars” and use any excuse available to taught their console of choice as the undisputed champion but, as the past decade has shown, the industry appears to be healthy enough to weather the occasional storm and come back stronger than ever.

The PlayStation 3 had to do it last generation and both the Xbox One and Wii U have had to do it this generation. Everyone was ready to write off Nintendo’s newest home console, then Nintendo launches games like Bayonetta 2, Mario Kart and, soon a new Smash Bros., and suddenly those things are flying off of the shelf.

Same goes for the Xbox One, though nowhere near as drastic a case. The console wasn’t received as well as expected at first but, over the past year, it’s slowly picked up steam. With new games and this new price point, the Xbox One will likely take a high spot on many-a holiday shopping list this year. Let us know if that's the case for you in the comments below.