One shopper was recently surprised to discover that a store was still selling a new, never opened Xbox 360 headset. And while this relic of the seventh console generation isn’t quite old enough to be fairly called an antique, it definitely seems to have been collecting dust for quite some time.
Microsoft released the original Xbox 360 in 2005, with the more advanced Xbox 360 S and Xbox 360 E released in 2010 and 2013. While not the best-selling console of its generation, it was undoubtedly influential, popularizing things like achievements and spearheading both online console gaming and digital distribution. Its PC-like architecture also boosted the performance of certain games, while the Xbox 360’s library of exclusive titles helped make it a serious competitor to the PlayStation 3. While the Xbox One launched in 2013, the Xbox 360 continued to see new games until 2016.
Reddit user Exquisitum was shopping in the on-base store at a U.S. National Guard camp when he noticed an unopened Xbox 360 headset. It was hanging from a peg in the clearance section, with the Reddit poster guessing it must have been in the store for at least a decade. Amusingly, the Xbox gaming headset had been marked down to 50% off when it was first moved to clearance. Since then, the price had actually gone up to only 40%. As one commenter pointed out, this implies that the item has been in the clearance section so long that the item’s price is no longer being tracked by the store’s system.
The National Guard store is operated by The Army & Air Force Exchange Service, or AAFES, a government-run department store for soldiers and their families to shop at while on base. And while an unused Xbox 360 headset is a rare find, it’s reportedly not unheard of to find similar items lingering in these stores years after they are out of date. One commenter noted that the AAFES near them is still selling an Xbox 360 Kinect at a discount of only 10% off the retail price.
Regardless of how it ended up forgotten in a military Exchange store, users on the Xbox subreddit were quite amused to find this headset turning up. One commented that it is the rare “virgin” Xbox 360 headset that has never experienced the traditional string of squares and racial epithets from angry children on Xbox Live. Many others reminisced about their own experience with the peripheral, which came free with most versions of the Xbox 360 console.
Source: Gamerant