It’s been floating all over the tech sites that Microsoft is close to announcing a new, beefier version of the Xbox 360, to be dubbed the Elite. The Elite will reportedly sport a 120 Gig drive, which is 100 Gigs more than the first 360, and it will include an HDMI cable and output support. The color scheme will also be different: instead of the white plastic casing that the original Xbox 360 features the Elite will be wrapped inside a black casing. Cost of the Xbox 360 Elite: $479.

The source of the online rumors could be traced back to a scanned page from the new issue of Game Informer magazine, but savvy online readers that had been burned before by Photoshopped pics were wary to take the report at face value (plus, the developer 360s were made in black casing.) Nevertheless, Kotaku confirmed the Informer story with a senior editor at the mag.

Microsoft is still mum on a press release but if the magazine says the new 360 is to arrive in April, the official announcement will be any day now.