The folks at Computer Choppers just love dipping consoles in gold, like this 24-karat Xbox 360. With a plain jane Xbox you just have to worry about the Red Ring Of Death. With this $5,000 purchase, you have that to worry about and plus you might die at your wife’s hand.

The Xbox and its controller have both received the beautiful golden sheen. You don’t have to be filthy rich, but it helps. In which case, it goes well with all of your other blinged out stuff.

We all know that good flight sims on the Xbox 360 are few and far between, but for some reason Mad Catz wanted to create this flightstick for them. This is basically an updated Cyborg X flight stick for PC, but for the Xbox 360.

It has almost all of the features of the original stick and they’ve added some buttons, a removable lap rest and wireless functionality. The Cyborg F.L.Y. 9 will cost you about $100, flyboy. Now go find a good flight sim.

Okay, this is not confirmation of what the slim Xbox 360 actually looks like in any way. What this guy is holding certainly looks like a slimmed down Xbox 360, but really it could be anything dressed up to fool us. Whatever it is, it is small and Xbox-like.

The Dutch site Gamekings.tv had this dropped in their inbox. If this is the real deal, it looks pretty awesome. And of course, much smaller than it’s predecessor.

Xbox Live is having some problems. Apparently a new Modern Warfare 2 map update has made a number of Xbox Live features unusable or unstable, including online MW2 gameplay. Not good news for those who wanted to get some gametime in.

Word is that the Xbox Live Marketplace is off-and-on, and even Microsoft admits that several other things are acting strangely. However a fix is on the way, so maybe if you try again later it will be alright. You’re probably supposed to be working anyway right?

Gamers love their consoles. When a console dies, it’s like mourning a dear friend who you have spent years with. So you have to bury it appropriately. When the Red Ring of Death strikes, don’t just throw your Xbox 360 in the closet. Bury it.

This coffin, designed by Alexis Vanamois, will allow it to rest in peace in video game heaven. It even has space for an accompanying controller, even though your controller will likely outlive the console.

According to some leaked documentation and confirmed with two Joystiq sources, “USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360″ will soon be a reality. The document is authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, and says that due to “increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update” will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices.

The update is apparently coming in Spring 2010. After the update, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox Live Indie games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates to the storage device.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a casual remark about the future of the Xbox. He hints that there might be new form factors, options, and price points coming:

In the case of the TV we’ve got both strategies. We actually have a TV implementation in some senses built into Windows,” Ballmer said. “It works really well for small screen TVs that you might call a PC, but for that big screen device here’s a piece of hardware that we build, there’s no diversity. You get exactly the Xboxes that we build for you. We may have more form factors in the future that are designed for various price points and options, but we think it’s going to [be] important.

Your standard Xbox 360 isn’t exactly a rainbow of colors, but this could help. These Xbox 360 hard drive shells replace your drive’s boring gray shell and add some pizazz to your console. Each includes a bright set of LEDs under the surface, which illuminates when touched.

Apparently all the LEDs are red, so depending on the color you choose, it may or may not look weird. They’re available in blue, green, yellow, pink , clear and smoky black for just $18.91.

If you want to get the attention of some giant ass robots, then do what this guy did. Turn your XBox 360 into the All Spark. Just don’t be surprised when Optimus Prime shows up at your door and reaches through your house to get it.

Oh and the All Spark is supposed to turn all of your other stuff into robots, so this probably isn’t a good idea. Unless you like your XBox suddenly walking around and shooting at you. It’s a pretty sweet mod though. I just hope this guy is still in one piece.

Xbox Live on Windows Mobile? Microsoft has confirmed it with a job posting. They are looking for a Principle Program Manager who would be responsible for bringing “Xbox Live enabled games to Windows Mobile”.

Microsoft seems especially interested in “avatar integration, social interaction and multi-screen experiences”. Looks like we could see some interesting developments in 2010 where mobile gaming is concerned. Can’t wait to see where this goes.

Gaming consoles aren’t always the most beautiful things to look at. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s proof. This XBEE (XB Elegant Edition) mod ups the consoles exterior look and makes the Xbox 360 stand out from the crowd.

Upon seeing this beauty the usual cries of photoshop went up, but it’s actually real. It was designed by Sweden’s Industri Repro. Each case can have up to three 120mm fans to keep things cool and hey look, that’s no rrod. Why it’s green and full of life.

If you are one of the million or so Xbox Live users who were banned from the service, things aren’t as bad as we thought. Some modders are working on a solution that will revert the firmware to a state that is nearly the same as the stock firmware. Hopefully the end result means that you’ll be able to use your console again and not have to buy a new one.

Right now two fixes are being worked on: the iXtremeLT and one from Xbox-Scene. The first isn’t ready yet, and the latter works, but you should be aware, it is very complex.

Xbox 360 owners who have been banned from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service are out of luck. Completely out of luck. Those of you who have been banned will need to purchase a whole new console if you ever want to get back into the online action.

Microsoft says that banned machines will be permanently barred and “unable to connect to Xbox Live” as affected consoles do not have any recourse for terms of use violations. Like it or not, that’s the word. Those banned add up to about a million gamers missing from Xbox Live.

Rumors have been swirling for the past couple of days, and it looks like the rumors were real. This weekend, Walmart is kicking off their pre-Black Friday deals, including a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade that comes with a free $100 gift card. That basically drops the price to $100.

And that isn’t the only good deal they have either. The sale starts at 8 a.m. Nov. 7 and lasts through Nov. 13. Probably these deals will be finished on the first day. I know where I’ll be

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer may have inadvertently tipped off some plans for an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. He’s doubtful that it will ever be built-in but he tells Gizmodo that an external Blu-ray drive will be an option. He doesn’t go into detail but is unexpectedly confident that the hardware is enroute.

Company spokespeople asked about it wouldn’t confirm or deny, but do say that immediate plans focus on 1080p streaming video through the upcoming Zune Video Marketplace on the Xbox.