Microsoft Confirms Release Date, Price Tag On Xbox One

Xbox_One_Console_and_ControllerMicrosoft has just spent two hours showing off games for the upcoming Xbox One gaming console, but the company waited until the end to announce the information most people want to know.

At the end of today’s E3 presentation, Microsoft confirmed reports of a November release in 21 markets (no specific date given, but we’d assume pre-Thanksgiving), along with a retail price of $499.

The company also confirmed the end of Points as the transactional currency on the console. Instead, the points will be replaced with values in the user’s local currency. So you won’t have to constantly be trying to remember how much 8,000 Points is worth in dollars, Euros, or Yen.

Disappointingly, Microsoft did not address concerns about its incredibly vague plans to let game publishers decide whether Xbox One users can resell or trade-in used games, nor did it disclose the identities of the mysterious “participating retailers” that might be allowed to buy and sell used games for the console.

Over the weekend, some game studios told Polygon that they are just as in the dark about the whole used game thing as we are.

“We’re just now getting more information about Microsoft’s plan and starting to examine what it means for our games,” a spokesperson for Take Two, the studio behind the Grand Theft Auto games, told Polygon. “We don’t have anything new to share right now, but rest assured we’ll continue to focus on providing the best experience for our customers no matter how or where they buy our games.”

UPDATE: On Monday night, Sony finally got its chance to show off the PS4 and made some huge announcements — no restrictions on used games, no requirement to be online, lower price point — that could win over gamers concerned about Microsoft’s controversial updates to the Xbox.

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