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]

Those of you Xbox 360 owners planning to purchase an Xbox 360 Elite this weekend (you know you're out there) will need to transfer your data from your current console to the larger hard drive on your new Elite.

In general, Microsoft expects only new users to buy the Elite, not current owners. But if you decide to buy a second you'll need the hard drive transfer kit. For those of you double dipping, Microsoft told Kotaku that they will provide a free migration kit through the site or customer service.

If you do plan to do the transfer keep in mind that:
Content can only be moved from the smaller drive to the larger one.
You can only do the transfer once.
Any content currently on the larger hard drive will be erased during the transfer
You have to redownload Arcade games and other Live purchases
The 20GB hard drive will be erased during the transfer
Once you load purchased Live games and TV shows you will have to be connected to watch them.
Movie rentals will not transfer, so watch them first.
Depending on the amount of data the transfer can take up to an hour

If you're OK with that you just attach the 20GB to your Elite, plug one end of the transfer cable to your 120GB hard drive and the other end to the USB port in the back of your 360 and then insert the disc the cable came with. Brian Crecente

The Xbox 360 Elite just hit my doorstep in an alarmingly small box. Inside: The sleek black 360 Elite with black accessories and a little cable for transferring my saves from the silver harddrive to the black one. Now to figure out where the hell to put this thing in my already packed entertainment center... ahh, maybe I'll just give to Jason over at Gizmodo to store in his pants. Brian Crecente

Can you feel the excitement?! This Sunday, the Xbox 360 Elite goes on sale in the States. Via retail moles, here's what you need to know:

• Gamestop: Xbox 360 Elite accessories are NOT street dated, apparently. Today, a big shipment of them came in, along with 120GB HDD's, and they sold out pretty quick. Quantities are extremely limited, but employees are prohibited from purchasing, so that should ease things up a bit.
• Best Buy: Many stores are getting somewhere between 20-25 Elites for launch day. The retailer isn't expecting long lines and won't be rolling out as many extra cashiers as with previous system launches. The ticket system will be used *if* there is a line, though. Employees won't be able to purchase the console "until further notice." Black accessories are hitting some stores, but most likely won't be on shelves until Sunday.

There probably will be lines come Sunday, but we're willing to bet dollars to donuts that it'll be eBay profiteers waiting. Though, the fact that Gamestop isn't street dating accessories, that's hot. Would love to snag a black controller, 'cause the standard one hates Cheetos.

We'll keep you updated on any new developments. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks for the warning, Dan. We appreciate it. Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360 Elite [Gamestop]

The Llamma guys got their paws on an Xbox 360 Elite released by accident a week or so early at the local Wal-Mart and immediately set to taking the thing apart.

The Elite autopsy shows that while the console has been retooled it seems to remain mostly unchanged. The Llamma guys couldn't even say whether the new console has the thinner chips. If you're a total tech-head check out the full tear down on their site. Brian Crecente

Inside the Xbox 360 Elite [Llamma]

Now at $600, the item will probably wind up in the hands of the "lucky" bidder as early as the 24th if they go for the next day shipping option (for me, a very do-able $99). My advice? Just go for the ground shipping. You'll probably have it by the 30th. Oh. Wait. Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360 Elite - AVAILABLE NOW! Will ship IMMEDIATELY! [eBay via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Popular complaints from gamers were the system's price and the timing of the Elite's release. But convert detractors to supporters, says BrandIntel, and they'll positively influence the more casual market.

We know that our commenters went so far as to liken the Elite to forced anal sex, which, I'm pretty sure, is a negative. Still, there were plenty of positive statements and publicly announced intentions to buy, so I suppose we'll have to wait and see. Michael McWhertor

BrandIntel: Elite's Fate in Hardcore Hands [Next-Gen]

Burning question: So when will the Xbox 360 Elite hit Europe? No clue, but Tim Ellis, head of games at retailer HMV, says:

All we understand is that it's at some point perhaps around the late summer...I feel sure that there'll be demand for this product, and Microsoft now enjoys the level of brand penetration and player loyalty for it to be successful... There should be quite a few core gamers out there that may want to upgrade or who will at least want the extra capacity now on offer.

Feels sure there will be demand? Enjoying brand penetration and player loyalty? Geez... Does this guy moonlight in Microsoft PR or something? Brian Ashcraft

Elite Hitting Europe This Summer, Perhaps [Games Industry]

While North America will be getting the Xbox 360 Elite in late April, the spray painted console hasn't gotten dated for the Japanese market yet. Microsoft Japan pinged us, announcing that the 120GB hard drive will hit stores June 7th, pricing at ¥18,900 (US $162). Likewise, the 64MB Memory Unit will go on sale in The Land of the Rising Sun and retail for ¥5,775 ($49). With Microsoft Japan already having problems moving the regular system, can't help but wonder: Is there even really a point to sell the Elite? Brian Ashcraft

Chris Kohler over at Game|Life has translated some of the details from the Japanese announcement of the Elite weeding out new details on what Xbox 360 owners looking to upgrade can expect when they go bigger. Things to note include that 20GB disks will be wiped clean after the data transfer process and that data cannot be moved from the 120GB drive to the 20GB drive. So, no backing things up.

More screwjob worthy than that?

You cannot put the data from two or more 20 GB hard disks onto one 120 GB hard disk. If you attempt to move multiple drives, only the last one you move will be stored.

As Kohler wisely points out, that flies in the face of a suggestion from Xbox Group Product Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg, who suggested that folks buy not only a memory unit, but a back up hard drive to store their extra Video Marketplace content. Michael McWhertor

Microsoft: Data From Two Xbox 360 HDDs Can't Be Combined On 120 GB Drive [Game|Life]

I had an interesting conversation with Albert Penello yesterday about the Xbox 360 Elite and Microsoft's changing stance on HDMI. Here's Microsoft's Channel 10 talking him through the announcement and showing off the new console. Brian Crecente

By: Brian Crecente

It's no great surprise that Microsoft has a new Xbox 360 model in the works, but today they made if official and also announced five new Video Marketplace partners.

The Xbox 360 Elite will come with a 120GB hard drive, an HDMI port, a HDMI cable, both component and composite cables, an audio adapter for use with HDMI and a black finish for the console, wireless controller and Xbox Live headset. It will not have, despite rumors to the contrary, the smaller 65 nanometer chips, built in IPTV support or a built-in HD-DVD drive.

While Microsoft declined to comment on specific launch numbers for the new model, they did say it would not be a limited edition run. The Elite is here to stay, as are the core and standard Xbox 360.

The Elite model will hit in North America on April 29 for $479.99 along with a new stand-alone 120 GB hard drive that will sell for a whopping $179.99. The hard drive will come with a transfer cable and software to move the content stored on a 20 GB hard drive to your new drive.

Microsoft will also begin selling black battery packs and play and charge kits for the same price as their white counter-parts.

While the Elite edition will also be selling around the world, Microsoft did not discuss the date or price for other regions.

"Today's games and entertainment enthusiast has an insatiable appetite for digital high-definition content," Peter Moore, corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, said in a prepared statement. "Xbox 360 Elite's larger hard drive and premium accessories will allow our community to enjoy all that the next generation of entertainment has to offer."

Peter Dille, senior vice president of Marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, was quick to point out that all of Sony's consoles offer an "elite" experience.

"The PlayStation 3 is the only elite gaming system on the market. Microsoft is trying to catch up to us at this point. Beyond the benefits of HDMI and a hard drive offered on every PS3 we make, we also provide game developers and consumers the huge capacity of Blu-ray disc, Wi-Fi, free online gameplay, wireless motion sensing controller and the power of Cell," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Our strategy has always been to offer all our consumers a future-proof experience when they first purchase any PS3, rather than continually asking users to upgrade with expensive new add-ons and entire new SKUs."

Speaking with Albert Penello, director for global platform marketing for the Xbox 360, earlier today I asked him why, after months of saying that an HDMI output was unnecessary for high-def gaming, was Microsoft now releasing a console with the port.

It was, after all, just six months ago that Msoft's Shane Kim was calling 720p the "super sweet spot" for gaming.

"That's a good question," he said. "I think what's interesting is that we have proven the point. One of the reasons we talked about that at the beginning was we were competing with a bunch of empty promises. We said 1080p can be done through analog, the picture quality isn't any better on HDMI, and I think we proved that."

" I don't think (HDMI) is necessary, it's not necessary to give a high-def experience," he said. "The HDMI decision was partially something that we have been thinking about how we were going to introduce. And now that there are a lot of televisions that have HDMI, we felt the time was right."

But, Penello is quick to point out, the Elite really isn't about the HDMI out, the big news for the Elite is the larger hard drive.

"I wouldn't encourage a current owner to come out and buy the Elite," he said. "We are releasing the stand-alone 120 GB drive... that's really going to be the primary solution for those who want more storage."

Penello said that Microsoft is working on a way to allow those current Xbox 360 owners who do decide to buy an Elite to transfer their data from their old Xbox 360 to their new one. He added that Microsoft has no intention of discontinuing either of the current models, there will be, he stressed, three Xbox 360 SKUs in the marketplace.

"We still think the 20 gig model will be our volume driver, the one most customers will buy," he said.

The decision to create an Elite model for the 360 was spurred in part by the "explosive growth of marketplace," Penello said.

While Penello acknowledged that the hard drive limitations of the Xbox 360 is a hot topic on gaming forums, he said that Microsoft doesn't believe that's an issue faced by most typical gamers.

"From my standpoint a lot of people still have room on their 20GB hard drives and we are still going to optimize all of the content on marketplace around 20GB," he said.

Microsoft also announced deals with distribution deals with five new video Marketplace partners:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment: They will be releasing its direct to video movies exclusively in high definition on Xbox LIVE simultaneous with their availability on DVD, starting with "Sublime" and later offering "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales."

A&E Network: "Dog the Bounty Hunter," "King of Cars," "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," "Driving Force" and "Criss Angel Mindfreak"

ADV Films: Top offerings from the #1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation ("anime") outside of Japan

National Geographic: The television series "Is It Real?" and "Taboo" as well as programs such as "21 Days to Baghdad" and "Air Force One"

New Line Cinema: "Snakes on a Plane," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" and "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny," plus top titles including "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and "Magnolia"

TotalVid: A broad action-sports offering including extreme skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, motocross, surfing and mountain biking

By way of a site I've never heard of from a reader who's never tipped us come these very hazy Xbox 360 Elite pictures. Could they be fake? Sure. Would real Xbox 360 Elites, which seemingly really do exist, look like this? Sure.

So let's pretend they're real and gaze on in gadget-loving stupification. Brian Crecente

Forums [Thanks Joey]

Xbox 360 Fanboy recently received what they believe to a picture of an upcoming Gamestop ad for an Xbox 360 120 GB harddrive.

The interesting thing is that the ad, as Fanboy points out, doesn't appear to really confirm the existence of the Elite as much as it announces a larger harddrive that could fit any Xbox 360, perhaps. That sounds like good news to me. I was starting to worry that Microsoft would just leave the standard 360 owners out in the cold. But Microsoft would never do something like that would they? Brian Crecente

Xbox 360 120GB HDD Advertising Appears [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

The San Jose Mercury News' Dean Takahashi has a bit more details on the rumored Xbox 360 Elite edition that Game Informer reported on earlier this month.

Game Informer had already reported that the new, black 360 would come with a 120-gig hard drive and HDMI out and sell for $479.

Takahashi adds that the new 360 will habe IPTV capabilities, something I suggested would make sense, and that the new design will also implement the a chip redesign, shifting from 90 nanometer to 65 nanometer, resulting in a significant drop in cost to Microsoft.

Takahashi adds that he thinks the introduction of the new 360, which will be produced in limited quantities, will not effect the price of the current core or 20-gig models.

I suspect that this new model will hit in April, with official word coming as early as next week. I also wouldn't be surprised that if consumer interest shifted to the newer model, that Microsoft drops the price on their current models by this holiday season. Brian Crecente

Microsoft To Announce The Xbox 360 Elite [San Jose Mercury News]

Also included are sexy black variant shots of already released peripherals like the rechargeable battery pack and the very tasty packaging. Far, far less exciting are pics of the new memory card and larger standalone hard drive, which are only distinguishable by their bigger numbers.

Thanks to Consolas own Dani for tipping us! Michael McWhertor

Confirmada 360 Elite: im genes oficiales de la Xbox negra [Consolas]

UPDATE: Yeah, I'm not sure if these are 100% real either and tried to imply as much in the first paragraph. This could simply be the work of Photoshop funsters or the product of the marketing department's junior mock up artist. Still, they're black!