MS bundles two free games with Xbox 360 for Holiday Season

Microsoft on Monday announced that it will add two free games to its Xbox 360 video game console, confirming the previous rumors about possible free game titles to be bundled with holiday Xbox 360 packages.

The latest move by the world’s leading software is considered as part of its surging efforts to fend off arch-rival Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii gaming consoles in the upcoming holiday season.

Besides the recent 360 price drops, this holiday season gamers will be able to get Pro and Elite models of the console with two free games packed in.

The two games, Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, will be included with Xbox 360 Pro and Xbox 360 Elite models by the end of October. The two Xbox 360 bundles will sell for the standard Pro and Elite prices of $349 and $449, respectively.

However, the games will not be bundled with the limited-edition $400 "Halo 3" version of the console.

On August 6, the Redmond, Washington-based software titan announced the cut down in price of Xbox 360 in United States. It reduced the U.S. price of the Xbox 360 Premium model by US$50 to US$349.

Besides shaving the price of its high-end version of gaming consoles, Microsoft also slashed the estimated retail price of its cheaper "core" package by US$20 to US$279 and its higher end "Elite" package by US$30 to US$449.

The basic version of Xbox 360 (without a hard drive or wireless controllers) was launched with a price tag of US$299, while the high-end versions were retailed for $US399 (Xbox 360 Premium System with a 20GB hard drive, wireless controller and headset). The Xbox 360 Elite System with a 120-gigabyte hard disk and HDMI connector is priced at $US479.

Last month, Microsoft successfully launched its blockbuster game Halo 3, the hugely anticipated third chapter in the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. Developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios, Halo 3 is made exclusively for Xbox platform.

Halo 3, which hit shelves on Tuesday (Sept. 25), first broke the U.S. sales record for a new video game by generating sales of more than US$170 million within 24 hours of its release, and then became the fastest-selling computer game of all time by bringing in more than $300 million in sales in its first week on the market.

Microsoft hopes the impressive debut of the Halo 3 title would help the company boost sales of its Xbox 360 video game console over the holiday season, and would strengthen its position in the surging gaming console market. Sales of Microsoft’s future-generation game and entertainment system fell 60% year-over-year in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Xbox 360, the future-generation game and entertainment system from Microsoft, represents a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming and entertainment experiences. Xbox 360 has ignited a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized and always in high definition.

The gaming device is facing tough competition from Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the gaming consoles markets. The three biggies in gaming arena are locked in a fierce battle for dominance in the $13 billion U.S. video game market, and for the moment, Kyoto, western Japan-based Nintendo is leading all the way with its Wii video games console, the least expensive of the so-called next-generation consoles that costs US$250.