When Taco Bell contacted me a few days ago regarding a ‘special delivery’ they wanted to send over, I was initially somewhat skeptical. I mean, what could they possibly be shipping to a writer? 30 pounds of raw, uncooked Nacho Fries? A giant, anthropomorphic chalupa plushie? A literal gallon of artificial cheese sauce? A quesadilla Snuggie? As it turns out, the actual delivery was way cooler than any of those possibilities, and still decidedly hot sauce-flavored.
Coinciding with the official announcement of their Fall 2018 gaming console giveaway, Taco Bell was kind enough to FedEx my way what they’re dubbing the Xbox One X Platinum Limited Edition Bundle. I’m lucky enough to unbox it today, right here on my Forbes channel, so all you beautiful readers can get an up-close-and-personal look at what is sure to be one of the rarest Microsoft consoles of this generation. But first: How do you win one of these bad boys?
Similar to Taco Bell’s previous console giveaways, you’ll need to purchase one of those nifty $5 combo boxes, specifically the Double Chalupa variety (sounds good to me) between October 18 through November 21. Then you’ll simply text in the code on the box, or enter it on the official website, to immediately see if you’ve won. According to the press release, Taco Bell will be giving away a bundle every ten minutes, and in an interesting promise, prizes “will be delivered to winners in as early as 72 hours”. So if you hit it big, your new Xbox might be arriving at your doorstep within just a few days. There’s no word on exactly how many of these consoles exist, but I’ll be sure to update the article if I find out.
So if you do manage to snag one of these special bundles, what will you get inside the box? First and foremost, you’ll receive a platinum Xbox One X, which sports an understated gradient (and slightly metallic) paint job, moving from a dark shimmery silver to a sort of sparkly off-white. The bottom portion of the console boasts a similar subdued white aesthetic, minus any gradient, and attaches to the pack-in white vertical stand. You’ll also get one of Microsoft’s new white Elite controllers, which is slick as hell and matches the console well, though from what I can tell, it’s not unique to this Taco Bell contest. In other words, it’s the same controller that you can currently purchase at retail. I was hoping for maybe the same gradient platinum paint job on the accessory, but no dice. Also included are 3 free months of both Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold.
This far into the article and I haven’t yet mentioned the hands-down best part of the bundle—when powered on, this platinum Xbox One X emits the classic Taco Bell ‘ring’ sound. Yes, every time you boot up your brand new system, a crystal-clear Pavlovian bell chime will urge you toward the nearest drive-through to obtain as many orders of Nacho Fries as possible (these are the best item on the menu—why aren’t they a permanent option?!). I know it’s a little silly, but I must have sat in front of this hardware for a good five minutes straight after plugging everything in, just turning the console on and off, just so I could hear the ring. The only things that could have made this limited edition better are a) the Taco Bell logo replacing the Xbox logo on the front of the system b) the disc eject sequence announcing “¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!” c) the controller being uniquely branded, or d) the shipping box being filled with copious Taco Bell gift cards used as packing (hey, game journalists have to eat).
Overall, I think this is a seriously solid limited edition bundle. I think they nailed the hardware color scheme, and packaging the console with the newest Elite gamepad is a solid move, even if it doesn’t technically match the platinum theming. What’s kind of funny is that, during years prior, I played Taco Bell’s console giveaways a whole bunch without absolutely zero luck. Most recently it was for that gaudy gold PS4, but time after time, I walked away from my fast food meals completely console-less. Yet here we are now, the taco gods smiling down upon me, showering me with shredded cheddar, diced tomatoes, sour cream and caramel apple empanadas. I’m suddenly craving Cinnamon Twists and Baja Blast Mountain Dew. Who’s up for a midnight food run?
On a side note, I actually didn’t realize that Xbox and Taco Bell have been teaming up for sweet video game contests since 2001, way back when the original Xbox was launching. I hope they keep it up, because I’m a sucker for hard-to-find hardware variants like this. Best of luck (and tasty Diablo sauce) to everyone playing between now and November 15, and let’s hope that most of these units bypass scalpers and land directly in the hands of legit Xbox fans.
