While we wait and see whether the Xbox 360 is getting a Blu-ray drive or not, there’s something else to look forward to. Thanks to a new marketing strategy, you will soon be able to buy the console with the Star Trek or Transformers 2 movie.

Right now it has been confirmed exclusively for the UK. The bundle includes an Xbox Elite, an extra controller and the movie on USB.

One week after Sony’s spacious 250GB PlayStation 3 Slim lands in the States for $349.99, Microsoft’s 250GB Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 bundle is set to arrive with the game and two black wireless controllers. All for $399.99.

Costco and Amazon both list a November 10th ship date listed for the package. You better get your pre-order in now folks. It’s a great buy when you pice everything separately.

Microsoft has announced a new Xbox 360 holiday bundle. For $299 you get an Elite, Lego Batman, and Pure. That’s a pretty good deal. On the other hand, if you already own a 360, you can get a new controller, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Lumines LIVE!, Bomberman LIVE! and Ms Pac-Man for $60.

The new Elite pack is expected to ship to retailers today, but for the controller bundle you’ll have to wait until November. The holiday is looking good so far.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Elite just dropped to $299. That’s a pretty sweet price. But Microsoft wasn’t done. They’ve begun a new mail-in rebate program that brings the cost down to $249. That means that consoles purchased between today and October 5th are eligible.

They must be feeling the heat from the PS3s price. Just visit Xbox.com/eliterebate. This is for US purchases only.

We already knew that the Xbox 360 Elite would be replacing the current Pro model, but a new ad outted by Kotaku backs up those rumors and confirms that the Elite will also be taking over the Pro’s $299 price point.

Obviously none of this is official, but the ad shows the date for the price drop as August 30th, so we will likely hear from Microsoft before that date.

One of Ars Technica’s sources says that the Xbox 360 lineup will see price shifts this fall. They also confirm that the PS3 Slim is still on the way. In September the Xbox 360 Pro (Priced at 60GB, $299) will be replaced by the Elite (Priced at 120GB for $399). On one hand, the Xbox is getting a price cut. On the other, the 360 doesn’t sound like it’s getting cheaper with a lower entry level price.

You’ll also be happy to know that ars has also restated their claim that a PS3 Slim will arrive this fall along with price drops “on the hardware that’s out now.”

Remember that rumored new Elite bundle with Halo 3 and Fable 2? It’s official. For $400 you get a 120GB Elite 360 with the two games. As we told you when this was but a rumor, that’s what the console by itself is selling for at the moment.

After hearing rumors that Microsoft was going to phase out the standard Elite and offer bundled “limited edition” models, we kinda knew this was for real. Go ahead and pick one up if you haven’t already played Halo 3 and Fable 2.

This may be nothing… but ArsTechnica has some info from a reliable source that Microsoft is preparing to ship a new Xbox 360 Elite. This one would come bundled with Halo 3 and Fable 2, while only costing $400. That’s what the console alone costs right now.

We recently heard rumors that Microsoft was going to phase out the standard Elite and offer bundled “limited edition” models, so the info fits.

The latest rumors suggest that Microsoft is considering putting the Xbox 360 Elite on the back-burner, while they take no more orders and allow stocks to dwindle. That way the Elite could be treated as a limited-availability option, on sale on at select European and US retailers. It is believed that retailers prefer only two SKUs, low-end and high-end.

Any remaining Elites on sale would more likely be special editions, like the red Resident Evil 5 package announced last month. Elite packages take longer to sell than the Arcade or Pro 360s, so this is what they want.

Well, this makes it almost official. A new red Xbox 360 Elite is coming. This news came via the usual route. Sort of: First it began as a rumor, then a retailer inventory listing and then an innocent mention in a New Zealand press release.

An MS New Zealand promotion for the upcoming release of Halo Wars, buy a 360, get a free copy of the game, explicitly excluded “the Red Xbox 360 Elite console which is exclusive to EB games.” Yeah, the one that hasn’t been officially announced. Like my other question of the evening concerning color, I ask again: Would you get a new red Xbox 360? Or no?

If you don’t know Ben Heckendorn, the man will modify any game console. Nothing is safe from his artist’s hands, whether he’s making an old Atari 2600 into a portable unit or making an XBox 360 Elite laptop. Basically, the man is a modding God.

Now, he’s turned an Xbox 360 Elite into a laptop, a portable gaming system that can be taken anywhere. The screen has a resolution of 1280×720 which allows for 720p HD viewing, and it has an Xbox camera built in. I’d love to own one, but it’s a custom creation. You won’t be able to buy it anywhere anytime soon. Unless of course you were to commission one.

It seems that Microsoft is reacting to the increased competition from Sony and Nintendo for the upcoming holiday season. In anticipation to Sony’s forthcoming price reduction for its PS3 Microsoft will be releasing two Xbox 360 console and game bundles before the end of the month. The Pro Xbox 360 bundle pack ($349) will consist of an Xbox console (20 GB version) and copies of “Forza Motorsport” and “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance” while the 120 GB HDD Elite 360 pack ($449) will ship with the same two games. Essentially you will be getting two free games when you lay down your dollars for either one of these two systems. Microsoft also probably is hoping that the good will generated will in turn get you to open your wallet further and maybe pick up a copy of “Halo 3″ while you’re standing in line.

If you’ve been toying with the idea of making the plunge into an Xbox 360 but haven’t quite yet decided, Microsoft has put out a pretty sweet deal to entice more purchases of the console. If you’ve recently made a 360 purchase you may want to just stop reading here. As a promotion for this holiday season, starting at the end of October Microsoft will begin throwing in GameSpy’s award-winning Forza Motorsport 2, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance for free when you buy an Xbox 360 Premium ($349.99) or Elite ($449.99). Rumors of this release have been circulating for a while and today in this case have been proven true. Another part of that same rumor which was not put to rest involves HDMI out and a disc with Xbox Live Arcade games on a $280 Core console, but it looks like we’ll have to keep waiting for that one.

For gamers who have been waiting for the third and final chapter in Bungie Studios’ immensely popular FPS “Halo” series for the Xbox you can start counting the days left until it’s in your hands. Microsoft reports that “Halo 3″ has gone gold and the master copy is off to the manufacturing plant to be turned and burned into millions of Xbox 360 game discs. The release date for “Halo 3″ is slated for Tuesday September 25. Barring an act of God there is nothing that will stop Microsoft from reaching that release date and making tens of millions from game sales on launch day.

“This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebration at Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios,” said Harold Ryan, the studio head at Bungie Studios. “This is the game …

It’s finally official after all the rumors, speculations and retailers having a difficult time keeping the news under wraps. Microsoft has now officially announced a price drop for its Xbox 360 game console, which is the first since the consoles launch.

The announcement brings a $50 price cut off the Premium, 20GB system leaving it at $349.99. Microsoft is also taking the black, 120GB Elite system down $30 bringing its price to $449.99 and finally Xbox 360 Core system will be priced at $279.99 after a $20 drop.

You’ll be able to take advantage of these reduced prices at retailers starting August 8th. This price cut will be followed shortly after on August 14th with the launch of Madden NFL 08 for the Xbox, which Microsoft is likely hoping will entice additional console sales.

Xbox Announcement