Kinect price is $150; new 360 hardware coming August 3

Microsoft has finally made it official: the Kinect hardware will retail for $150 when it's released on November 4, and will come with a copy of Kinect Adventures included. That's not the only news today, however, as Redmond revealed a new version of the Xbox 360 that will hit stores on August 3 for $200.
The new Xbox 360 will feature 4GB of flash storage, and will follow the recently released Slim's styling, albeit with a matte finish. With the ability to store and save games on USB sticks, this is perhaps the most able entry-level 360 ever released, and the $200 price point is certainly attractive. Just like its big brother, it has WiFi via the 802.11N standard.

Here's the bundle

Just in case that wasn't enough to get new gamers on board, later this year a bundle consisting of the new 4GB 360 hardware, the Kinect hardware, and a copy of Kinect Adventures will be available for $300. Just to make sure the announcement gives the company some sales momentum, if you preorder any of these bundles today and you'll receive "a token to download three exclusive game levels for Kinect Adventures, the game included with Kinect," at launch.
Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Kinect Joy Ride will retail for $49.99 when they're launched alongside the hardware, so at least the first-party games should be slightly cheaper than standard Xbox 360 games. Will third parties follow this pricing structure? We hope so.
While the $300 bundle is a great deal for gamers who haven't already invested in the 360 platform, the Kinect's $150 price tag may be a hard sell for those of us who already own a 360. What Microsoft has done with these bundles and new hardware is to give casual gamers a very attractive way to buy in, while hoping the enthusiasm of existing customers will get them to cough up the $150 for the motion controller.