UPDATE: These bundles are both UK-only Paramount says.

Each bundle comes with an Elite console and an extra controller. What it doesn't come with is an actual DVD — the "movie" part of the bundle is on a USB stick. Additionally, the Star Trek bundle includes 800 Microsoft points "to download Star Trek PDLC."

MCV also reports:

Pricing is not yet known, nor is the exact release date or price. it is assumed the packs will appear once the respective movies' DVDs are released, which are November 16th for Star Trek and November 30th for Transformers.

We've got a query in with a Paramount Pictures representative on whether or not the US might be getting one or both of the bundles. Mind you, Revenge of the Fallen is already out Stateside and Star Trek doesn't hit shelves 'til November 17. Which would you rather see in your living room?

New UK 360 bundles revealed [MCV]
Image Cred

For $299 a happy gamer can land themselves a PS3 Slim or an Xbox 360 Elite. Let's go to the numbers to see how they compare.

Looking at just the hardware the PS3 Slim seems to win the match-up offering both built-in WiFi support and a Blu-ray player for the same price as the Xbox 360 Elite, which has neither but does include backwards compatibility.

Of course, the bigger, most important deciding factor will likely boil down to game selection. And that's a whole other article.

But I guess it helps to add Best Buy to Wal-Mart and Meijer's upcoming ads showing a price drop for the Xbox 360 Elite and Pro.

According to our Best Buy tipster, the price drop hits next week. The ad lists the white 60GB Xbox 360 Pro as $249 and the black 120GB Xbox 360 Elite as $299, matching the Playstation 3's size, price and even color.

[Thanks Fave]

With Meijer's catalogue also advertising a $299 Elite for August 30, let's end the conjecture right here. This is definitely happening.

What's fascinating is not the fact the Elite is $100 cheaper, it's that we now - finally - have the 360 and PS3 going toe-to-toe in the marketplace. Both consoles are $299, both have 120GB HDDs, both have HDMI, both are...black.

Be interesting to see what impact each console's bullet-point deal-breaker - Blu-Ray for PS3, Netflix for 360 - has on sales.

Thing is, I got my Elite years ago. If you plan on picking one up in the future, you won't be so lucky, as several GameStop employees have told us new models of the hardware hitting stores across the US (new box pictured) no longer ship with a HDMI cable. In fact, they don't even ship with component cables either, just some SD composite cables, meaning anyone with an HDTV is going to have to pay a little extra. An HD tax, if you will.

Disappointing, Microsoft. How are you going to help kick the HD generation along shipping composite cables? This was a bum move when Sony pulled it in 2006. Pulling it in 2009 is just...yeah, disappointing.

According to Fudzilla, citing retail sources, Microsoft may be making the decision to whittle down its hardware lineup to accommodate retailer concerns and as part of a reaction to the economic climate. Perhaps those $400 USD Elites aren't moving as quickly as retailers would have hoped.

Fudzilla claims that the Elite flavor of the Xbox 360 would likely only be sold in North America and Europe, thereafter, and possibly only in limited edition packages. Microsoft is currently offering a Resident Evil 5 version of its Elite, bundled with a copy of the game and a unique hardware color scheme.

We'd think that if Microsoft does plan to let the Elite die off, it would also do so as part of reaction to a PlayStation 3 price cut. If Sony does drop the price of the PS3, it would likely be below that of the Elite model, a hardware configuration that starts to have a weaker value proposition.

Fudzilla has been on target with its Microsoft-based rumors before, accurately pegging the announcement of DirectX 11 and laying out plans for cutbacks at the company. Microsoft later said that the outlet's figures were "exaggerated."

We've reached out to Microsoft for comment, but have yet to receive a response.

Could sales of the Xbox Elite be ending? [Fudzilla]

It sounds like, if you read between the lines of the attached press release, that Microsoft might finally be officially rolling out the Xbox 360 Arcade edition next Tuesday... or maybe not.

The press release, found on the Hispanic PR Wire, is really more about the importance of giving Xbox 360s to your family, regardless of your background. That's right, even poor people can play games. Thanks for clarifying Microsoft.

To be fair Microsoft is donating two of the 360 Arcade consoles to each Para Los Ninos center on Skid Row in LA and throughout Southern California. I hear the Elites are all going to those Beverly Hills' children centers.

WHAT:
The biggest day in family entertainment this year is taking place on October 23. The new family-friendly Xbox 360 Arcade is being launched just in time for the holidays and features a price that is more affordable for parents. The new console comes with five new video games, a wireless controller, parental controls and more memory.

The selection of family-oriented programming for Xbox 360 is also being expanded with the release of a library of more than 200 games and 700 television episodes in English and Spanish from Nickelodeon and Warner Bros., ranging from "Dora the Explorer" to classic "Looney Tunes" and "SpongeBob SquarePants".

In addition, to encourage parent-child relations in households of all kinds, Xbox is making a major donation to low-income families.

WHY:
Microsoft believes every family, regardless of background, is deserving of the best in family games and entertainment. For this reason, on October 23, Microsoft is partnering with Para Los Niños, a nonprofit organization serving diverse children, youth and families of very low incomes.

Each of Para Los Niños' centers on Skid Row in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California will be equipped with two Xbox 360 Arcade consoles, given access to a full library of educational programs and entertainment games in English and Spanish, and provided with technical support by Microsoft.

WHERE:
Para Los Niños Youth Center
846 E. 6th St. (at corner of Ceres St.)
Los Angeles, CA 90017

WHEN:
Tuesday, October 23 - 3:30 p.m.

WHO:
Gisselle Acevedo, President & CEO, Para Los Niños
Juan Posada, Director of Global Marketing, Xbox

PHOTO OPS:

— Unveiling of the new family-friendly Xbox 360 Arcade
— Live demonstrations involving Spanish-speaking children, teens and parents
— One-on-one interviews for media in English and Spanish

Microsoft this morning confirmed part of the bundle rumor that's been ravaging the Internet for weeks: All Xbox 360s and Xbox 360 Elites will now come with free copies of Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, a $90 value.

Better still the price for the consoles will not be going up, which is very much like a price drop in my mind. According to the press release, posted after the jump, both the bundled 360 (at $350) and the bundled Elite (at $450) will be available by the end of the month.

The fact that this is called the Holiday Bundle, makes me think it's not going to last. So if you're in the market for the 360 now might be a good time to jump on board.

Hot on the heels of a price reduction for all Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft is now giving holiday buyers even more value by including two great games with every Xbox 360 console and Xbox 360 Elite, a retail savings of $90 for consumers. The acclaimed "Forza Motorsport 2" (Microsoft Game Studios) and "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" (Activision) will both be included for the recently reduced prices of $349.99 (U.S.) for Xbox 360 and $449.99 (U.S.) for Xbox 360 Elite. Both bundles will be available retail-wide by the end of October.

Xbox 360 offers the best value this holiday and is the only place you can play all the titles in the greatest holiday line-up of video game in history. This line-up includes "Halo 3" (MGS), which became the fastest-selling video game ever and is making history as one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.

"Halo 3" (MGS) is just one title in an incredible holiday line-up that are all only available on one game platform, Xbox 360. Starting with "Madden NFL 08" (EA Sports), Xbox 360 has an unprecedented string of no less than seven blockbuster titles, each of which we expect to sell at least a million units, including "BioShock" (2K Games), the record breaking "Halo 3" (GS) "Project Gotham Racing 4" (MGS), "Mass Effect" (MGS), "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" (Activision) and "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" (Activision).

Xbox 360 is home to the most critically acclaimed next generation games according to Metacritic.com, the leading aggregator of game reviews from more than 100 publications. Of the top 30 next generation game titles on Metacritic.com, 21 are on Xbox 360 and five games exclusive to Xbox 360 score above 90 out of 100. In fact, "Forza Motorsport 2" (MGS) has received an aggregate review score of 90, producing a "Universal Acclaim" rating.

The most-respected game reviewers have spoken and according to them, Xbox 360 has more than double the games of the PlayStation 3 and Wii receiving a score of 90 or higher.

The pair of MILK Elites are currently being auctioned off at the HK edition of Yahoo! Auctions, with current bidding at 7544 Hong Kong dollars (about 964 bucks US). The proceeds from the auction go to the World Wildlife Foundation, meaning anyone looking to be elite among the Elites can feel good about their excessive purchase.

More shots of the MILK Xbox 360 are available at the auction, MILK magazine and the Think Silly blog.

As of last night I have officially had nine Xbox 360s die on me, which means when I get this replacement, I will be on my eleventh Xbox 360 (counting debugs and retails).

Over the weekend we had a little neighborhood party at my house and in the midst of it I decided to show off Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. We played it for a bit, maybe 30 minutes and then I went to turn the 360 off and turn the music back on. When I pressed the power button on my Xbox 360 Elite it started making sounds like a blender. This lasted about 10 seconds and then it powered off. I found the news a little bizarre, but didn't think anything of it until Sunday night.

Last night I found a bit of free time on my hands and went down to the 360 to finally check out Vampire Rain (which should totally be better than Chocolate Rain). I turned the 360 on and popped the disc in. The console made a whirring noise for a second and that was it, just sat their displaying the Xbox 360 menu. I hopped over to the game blade and down to the place where it should say "Play Game". No dice. It just had an option to open the DVD tray. I tried a different game. I tried a DVD, No luck.

Then I hopped onto the Xbox 360 forums and discovered I had just become a member of the broken DVD player club. So that's eight dead because of a Red Ring and one dead because of a bad DVD player. Microsoft really needs to get their shit together. As I pointed out to Peter Moore back when they announced the new warranty for the 360, warranty or no, customers are still going to be annoyed if their new or relatively new consoles keep dying. It's an inconvenience and certainly shakes confidence.

If you're one of the few who decided to double invest in the Xbox 360 due to your love of HDMI, a free (FREE!) transfer cable is just a PDF away. Simply fill out the migration kit order form, then mail it off to Microsoft and wait patiently.

This is a limited time offer, only open to residents of North and South America who own both Xbox 360 (Core or Pro) and an Xbox 360 Elite. If that's you, make with the form filling! Michael McWhertor

Hard-Drive Transfer Kit for the Xbox 360 Elite System [Xbox.com]

Hexic, of course, is the freebie game, but you also get a chance to check out Burnout Revenge, Kameo and Tomb Raider Legend.

The videos are mostly a collection of commercials, previews and shorts, but you do get a full 23-minute or so episode of the toon Justice League Unlimited. There's also three of those kinda cool Adidas soccer commercials, previews of Warren Miller and Step into Liquid, a crap Viva Pinata commercial and a 10 minute episode of UFC All Access.

Not bad for a first taste of the 360's video content. Of course you lose all of this if you already own a 360 and you transfer your old data to your new drive. So make sure to watch the stuff first. Brian Crecente

Fortunately, for bundle-haters, the options aren't that bad. The "Elite Obsidian Bundle" only forces a Wireless Controller, Charge Kit and Rechargeable Battery, all in matching black. The "Elite Rock Bundle" simply packs in a copy of Guitar Hero II with the guitar controller. Shame about that white guitar controller, though.

Thanks again to eagle-eyed reader Dan for the notice. Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360 Elite Pre-order Bundles [GameStop]