In case the release of Halo 4 or Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 this November does not encourage enough gamers to buy the Xbox 360, Microsoft is now offering a free Xbox 360 for students who buy a $699 PC from participating retailers.

The participating retailers include Dell, HP, Best Buy, Newegg, and the Microsoft Store. Students will need to prove enrollment through an e-mail address or ID number, according to Microsoft. That qualifies them for the free Xbox 360 and a $14.99 price point to upgrade to Windows 8 when it releases October 26. Staples is also offering a $100 gift card, seemingly for products from the Staples store.

The $14.99 upgrade is offer is valid until January 2013, as Microsoft previously confirmed. It upgrades to Windows 8 Pro, probably the go-to version for the majority of consumers. Windows 8 launches on Oct. 26 and represents Microsoft's biggest change to the operating system since Windows XP. Microsoft also announced cheaper pricing for Windows 8 compared to past operating systems from the company -- just $40. A section of users saw the move as a reaction to Apple's low pricing of new OS X releases, recently with 2011's Snow Leopard and June's Mountain Lion.

The Facebook page advertising the offer recommends the Dell XPS 13 ultrabook, the HP Envy 13 notebook, and the Samsung Series 15 ultrabook.

This is a tempting offer for users who will get good use out of a 250GB hard drive between now and late 2013, when the next-generation Xbox is expected to release. With the aforementioned November releases, a host of February 2013 titles including BioShock Infinite, and beyond that maybe Grand Theft Auto V, the current Xbox 360 is not going away yet.

The deal will end on Sept 8.