Rumor has it, that Microsoft will be ending the mass availability of the Xbox 360 Elite console in many parts of the world and plans on positioning it as a "limited edition" console instead of a regular one like it was until now. That's a result of the drop in the interest of the premium priced console. Consumers choose to buy the Arcade or Pro models and do not pay attention to the more expensive model. Microsoft will start winding down production of the black Xbox 360 Elite model in the spring and will eventually leave just the limited editions of the consoles on the market, like the recently introduced Resident Evil 5 Elite bundle for example. To compensate the small crowd of people that want to have the 120 GB hard drive found in the Elite models, Microsoft is said to prepare an upgrade standalone hard drive that's even bigger than 120 GB. Expect more information in the following weeks.

Lian Li has prepared something special which might interest all Xbox 360 owners. This is a pre-production sample of a brand-new custom Lian Li Xbox 360 chassis. Made from aluminium, the enclosure features enough space for all the internal components of the console along with pre-prepared water-cooling holes in the rear. In addition, the chassis has all the necessary outputs like HDMI ready to be connected at the back of the case. There you'll also find a single low-speed 120mm exhaust fan. Release date for this case is still unknown, but expect price around $80 USD when it hits the shelves.

For the current generation of gaming consoles, the Xbox 360 has several reputations. On the positive side, the Xbox 360 is the undisputed leader of online service and multiplayer, but on the negative side, it also holds a track record of being fairly unreliable. At one point, up to one-third of all Xbox 360 consoles experienced the hardware failure popularly known as the Red Ring of Death, which rendered the console unusable. While many from Microsoft's entertainment and devices division have spoken on the Xbox 360's reliability record, Bill Gates was mostly removed from commenting on the issue - until now. Speaking in a BBC Video interview, Gates revealed that it's now Microsoft's goal to make the Xbox 360 "the most reliable" console on the market.

Microsoft today confirmed that it is now giving holiday buyers even more value by including two free games - Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance - with every Xbox 360 console and Xbox 360 Elite, a retail savings of $90. The acclaimed Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance will both be included for the recently reduced prices of $349.99 for Xbox 360 and $449.99 for Xbox 360 Elite. Both bundles will be available at your favorite game retailer by the end of October.

Consumers report that Xbox Live is being pushed to the limits, presumably due to the high number of gamers playing Halo 3 online. Various Xbox Live users have experienced inaccurate game stats, performance slowdown, inability to access friend lists, and an inability to perform system updates. After experiencing trouble on Tuesday night, one gamer reputedly called Microsoft's help line in which a representative responded by saying that Xbox Live was experiencing network difficulties. The issue appears to be intermittent, however, as several gamers reported no problems outside of inaccurate stat data such as number of players online. Hundreds of thousands of Halo 3 owners have flocked to Xbox Live in an effort to play online since the game launched on Tuesday.

Microsoft today announced an estimated retail price drop for its Xbox 360 family of consoles in the UK, as well as confirming the availability of the Xbox 360 Elite. On August 24, new estimated retail pricing will come into effect for Xbox 360 in the UK. The Xbox 360 Premium will be reduced by £30 ($60) to carry an estimated retail price of £249.99 ($497). The entry-level Xbox 360 Core console will also be reduced by £20 ($40) to carry an estimated retail price of £179.99 ($358). Xbox 360 Elite will carry an estimated retail price of £299.99 ($596) when it launches in the UK this Friday. Earlier this month, Microsoft slashed the price of its Xbox 360 console for the U.S. and Canadian region.

Americans have been able to buy the Xbox 360 Elite (for a premium) for quite some time now, while PAL territories and Asia make do with the Xbox 360 Premium. Microsoft decided to make a PAL version of their Xbox 360 Elite, which will make a European debut on Friday, August 24th. It should come with no disabled features, unlike the PAL version of the PS3. It should cost £50 more than the Xbox 360 Premium, which is still £95 more than the PAL version of the PS3.

Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the greatest holiday lineup in video game history by announcing it will reduce the estimated retail price (ERP) of Xbox 360 by $50 (U.S.) beginning Aug. 8. Soon to follow, Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) will release its blockbuster video game title "Madden NFL 08" on Aug. 14. "Madden NFL Football," one of the most important mass-appeal franchises in video games, was the top-selling game of 2006 and is the top-selling franchise of the past 10 years. Only Xbox 360 offers a console for all interests and budgets.

If you're really bored and/or are a Xbox 360 fanboy fan and want to watch a guy unpacking the upcoming Xbox 360 Elite console for like 10 minutes you can watch GameSpot's latest "On The Spot" episode where they do a "hands-on" with the Elite.

The conclusion is that the new Elite version of the Xbox 360 is very similar to the original console except for a few differences, like HDMI out, a 120GB HDD (20GB on the original 360) and obsiously the black color of the console and controller. Additionally all of the cables and accessories are gray.

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The third tier version of Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console went on sale in North American stores yesterday. The updated version of the original Xbox 360 comes in black, along with a new 120GB hard drive and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) output. The Xbox 360 Elite console is currently available with an estimated price of $479, which is $80 more than the 20GB version. Unlike the launch of the PS3 and Wii, the Xbox 360 Elite should not be too difficult to find stocked on store shelves in the days following its debut. The new detachable 120GB hard drive will also be available separately for an estimated retail price of $179.99.

Anyone who's bought the version of the Xbox360 with the 20GB hard drive knows the underwhelming collection of free stuff pre-loaded on the hard drive. The Xbox 360 Elite will have much more free content pre-loaded on it. For the extra money it would cost to get an Xbox360 Elite, you get three game demos, free episodes of popular television shows, and some movie previews. The three game demos are Burnout Revenge, Kameo, and Tomb Raider: Legend. There will be eight videos on the Xbox 360, including one full length episode of Justice League. All this free content sums up to one thing: Microsoft is trying to show off how their machine is more than just a gaming platform.

Although the Xbox 360 Elite isn't officially set to launch until 29th of this month, the first console has already appeared on eBay. Assuming it's genuine, this console was purchased in California from a Target store, and anyone wishing to bid on the item (currently standing at $800) can receive it on 24th April - if they're willing to pay the $99 delivery charge of course. So far, there are no figures on how many consoles will be available at launch, but retailers such as Circuit City have already sold out of their initial allocations, so they may prove difficult to get hold of. For anyone who's desperate to get their hands on the new version of this console can bid for it here.Source: DailyTech

Update: the console has now bee sold for $5,100 US

As we all know, Mothers Day is rapidly approaching. Microsoft has decided to take this annual holiday, and add a fun-filled contest to it. Microsoft is offering flowers and an Xbox360 Elite to anyone who can write a 250-500 word essay explaining how awesome their mother is, and more importantly, how she affects the gaming community. The contest will close May 6th, 2007. Contest entries will be judged based on creativity, originality, appeal to Xbox.com readers, and how well it conveys the feelings you have toward your mother/female legal guardian. If your mother frequently has helped you through those levels you just can't seem to pass, leads World of Warcraft charges, or simply supports your addiction to video games, please write an ode to your mother here.

With the recent launch of Microsofts Xbox 360 Elite and the release its HD-DVD drive last November the hopes were high it will support the latest HDMI profile. But obviously Microsoft decided not to stay on the same step as Sony with their HDMI 1.3 compatible PlayStation 3. For the end-user it means there is no support for:

· non-interlaced fps higher then 60 at 1920x1080 (1080p/xx) and 1280x720 (720p/xx); up to 120fps is possible with HDMI 1.3
· no Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD or TrueHD audio bitstreams (specifically for the Xbox 360 and Elite: no 5.1 PCM output in general, just Stereo)
· lower maximum bandwidth: 4.95 GBit/s vs. 10.2 GBit/s
· lower maximum resolution: 1920x1080 vs. 2560x1440
· lower maximum color depth: 24 bit sRGB or YCbCr vs. 48-bit xvYCC (1.8 times the amount of colors)
· no advanced audio syncing (Lip-Sync) function
· no support for the newly developed mini connector

In general that makes the Xbox 360 far less attractive for the cineasts among us who intended to use console as their favorite HD-DVD player.

When we first heard confirmation of a black Xbox360 with a 120GB hard drive and HDMI from Microsoft, we nearly forgot about our gaming friends in Europe. Europe is also promised the Elite version of Microsoft's latest console. Unfortunately, Europe will be seeing the Xbox360 Elite a lot later than the Americans will. While the USA will get Xbox360 Elite's on April 29th, Europe may not see the Xbox 360 Elite until at least "late summer". This is thanks to some insiders information from European retailer HMV. HMV will have more Xbox 360 Elite details for European customers as they come.

The rumours regarding a new black Xbox 360 have been fuelled even more by game magazine Game Informer. Despite the story appearing the April issue of the magazine, the editors are reassuring readers that the story is true and not a cruel April Fools joke on hardcore 360 fans. If the information is true, the new console will feature a 120GB hard drive and HDMI out (as well as being black of course) - but it does not include a HD DVD drive. The console should be priced at $479, and the article claims that the new larger hard drive will be available to current 360 owners at a price of under $200.

Whether or not this thing comes with a 65nm CPU is unclear. However, it will come with a bunch of other features that the 'Zephyr' was rumored to have. Australian retailers should have, by the time that the PS3 is available to PAL territories, a $750 AUD black Xbox360. This Xbox360 will have an HDMI port, a 120GB hard drive, and a shiny black controller. It may be possible to get just the hard drive as an add on for existing Xbox360's later. The device will ship for $749 AUD ($585/£299/€449).

The Register's interpretation of how this black Xbox360 may look:

Last Friday, we reported that Microsoft had planned to release an upgraded Xbox360. Microsoft confirmed the rumors today, saying that all they're really doing is tinkering around with the original Xbox360. This means that while we may never see the version of the Xbox360 that was pictured in the Zephyr leak, we will probably see something much better when Microsoft has worked out the kinks.

Codenamed Zephyr, Engadget seems to have gotten an early look at the revised version of the Xbox 360. One of the main improvements being anticipated is a 65nm processor, which should tackle heat issues, but it now appears that it is likely to feature a HDMI port and 120GB hard drive. This should allow the Xbox 360 to output high definition 1080p pictures, one of its criticisms, although the 120GB drive may simply be released at the same time rather than being part of the package. There is no pricing information yet but it is likely to be more or less the same - we can expect to get these upgrades "soon" according to an Xbox insider.