A limited-edition version of the Xbox 360 console themed around the upcoming game Halo: Reach will be packed with the game and two controllers. Image courtesy Microsoft

Microsoft will release a limited-edition Xbox 360 console themed around Halo: Reach this fall, it said Thursday night at Comic-Con International.

The Halo-inspired Xbox will be released on the same day as the new shooter, Sept. 14. It will have all the bells and whistles of the recently released Xbox 360 redesign, from built-in ..read the full article

Microsoft has finally announced the price for their upcoming motion sensing controller ‘Kinect’ for the Xbox 360. This add-on device will hit stores in November for a retail price of $150 and will come bundled with a copy of Kinect Adventures game. [Kotaku]

A $300 bundle to be released in November will contain a new 4-GB model of Xbox 360 and the Kinect controller.Images courtesy Microsoft

Microsoft will sell Kinect for $150 this fall, making the camera-based motion controller — which promises to turn videogaming into a full-body experience — the most expensive standard-issue peripheral on the market.

Kinect, an Xbox 360 add-on that uses cameras and voice recognition to transform the way players interact with ..read the full article

The Xbox 360 Final Fantasy XIII Special Edition bundle is now available at Amazon for just $299.99. The Xbox 360 Final Fantasy XIII Special Edition Bundle includes Final Fantasy XIII video game, a couple of Xbox 360 wireless controllers, a 250GB hard drive and a Final Fantasy XIII faceplate. The 250GB detachable hard drive allows gamers to save their games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace. [Amazon]

The new model of Xbox 360 caused a good deal of console sales in the month of June, but discounted old hardware sold more.

Microsoft’s redesigned box accounted for 40% of the 451,700 Xbox 360s it sold in June, said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter in a note to investors on Friday.

But, he pointed out, nearly as many sales — 35% — were of the inexpensive Arcade model, which Microsoft reduced to a clearance price of $150. The retailer ..read the full article

Milo & Kate missed E3, but designer Peter Molyneux has just shown a brand-new demo of the Kinect game at the TEDGlobal 2010 conference in Oxford, England.

Duncan Geere, a reporter for Wired UK’s bizarro alternate reality Game|Life (called Game-Life), was at the conference Tuesday and reported on the happenings. Molyneux showed off many new scenes from his experimental virtual-life game.

The earliest sections of the game show the player hunting down snails with Milo. Female players get butterflies instead — Molyneux ..read the full article

Crackdown was as addictive as the drug referenced in the game’s title. But the second hit of cybernetically enhanced crime-fighting action doesn’t get you nearly as high.

Easily the sleeper hit of 2007, the original Crackdown was an intoxicating combination of Super Mario and Grand Theft Auto. You ran at lightning speed around an open city, killing waves of enemies, and could also punch people to death in seconds and leap obscenely high. The game created by this potent mix was ..read the full article

Hulu unveiled a new subscription model for its video streaming service on Tuesday, and two console makers piped in to confirm that they’d be bringing the all-you-can-watch video offerings to their customers.

Microsoft said today that it would be carrying Hulu Plus on the Xbox 360, but admitted that the service wouldn’t be debuting until early 2011. It’s because they’re taking time to add Xbox Live party support and Kinect functionality to the service, so it says.

Sony, on the other hand, ..read the full article

When Crackdown was released in 2007, part of the game’s appeal was that it granted access to the Halo 3 beta test.

Crackdown 2 doesn’t come with the same perks, but Microsoft has figured out a couple of ways to make the Xbox 360 game’s demo popular. The demo, released Monday, allows players to earn Achievements while they play.

There’s a catch. You won’t hear the trademark pop of the Achievement or even earn points for your Gamerscore upon accomplishing the ten ..read the full article

Here’s the first gameplay footage of Microsoft’s upcoming third-person shooter video game ‘Gears of War 3‘. To remind you, the game will hit Xbox 360 in April next year. Watch the video after the jump.

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Microsoft hasn’t announced a price for Kinect, but its official online store is lending credence to the rumor that the device will sell for $150.

The company’s store currently lists Kinect, a camera-based motion controller for Xbox 360, at a $150 price point. This is exactly in line with rumors that Game|Life overheard at E3.

It’s entirely possible, however, that Microsoft simply has not set a final price yet and that whoever is in charge of the store was required to ..read the full article

Microsoft has recently released the E3 trailer for their upcoming Fable III title. For your info, this action role-playing games is currently being developed by Lionhead Studios, and will be out on October 26th for both Xbox 360 and PC platforms. Watch the video after the jump.

[ScrawlFX]

LOS ANGELES — Those numbers you rack up when you unlock Xbox 360 achievements are going to matter when you play Fable III.

During a demo at E3 Wednesday, game designer Peter Molyneux told Wired.com that the value of each player’s gamerscore will impact the way the game unfolds for them.

When designing the weapon-crafting system for the third entry in the action/role-playing videogame series, Molyneux and company wracked their brains trying to figure out how to make each sword unique. That’s ..read the full article

Microsoft employees play Kinect Adventures, a launch title for the company's upcoming Xbox 360 camera controller.Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

LOS ANGELES — Love the Wii? So does Microsoft.

Here at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the Xbox maker is pulling out all the stops and breaking the bank to introduce Kinect, the upcoming camera-based motion controller that Microsoft hopes will get your mom, your little sister and your granddad to play the Xbox 360.

If you think that sounds like the company is chasing ..read the full article

Microsoft on Monday introduced a slimmer version of its Xbox 360 console amid demonstrations of its controller-free gaming device Kinect.

The new Xbox 360 costs the same as its predecessor ($300) and will begin shipping to retailers today, according to Microsoft. New features include a 250-GB hard drive (up from 120 GB) and 802.11N Wi-Fi connectivity. Microsoft also claims the new Xbox runs quieter than previous versions.

The announcement concluded Microsoft’s press conference at the E3 gaming convention. Earlier in the conference, ..read the full article

LOS ANGELES — We’re about to see what the future holds for Xbox 360.

Following a glitzy, over-the-top performance from Cirque du Soleil on Sunday evening, bleary-eyed journalists are currently sitting in Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater awaiting the Xbox 360 press conference.

Microsoft is expected to concentrate on Kinect, its camera-based motion controller formerly named “Project Natal.” But it will also show games aimed at traditional players, like Gears of War 3, Crackdown 2… and surely some top-secret game premieres.

Live blog ..read the full article

According to a new advertisement from Microsoft’s Italian division, Microsoft will unveil the Xbox 360 slim at E3. Unfortunately, the ad has now been pulled due to an unknown reason. The rumored slim console will feature a 250GB hard disk drive and a built-in WiFi. Stay tuned for more updates. [DigitalBattle]

Hip-hop recording artist Drake will voice the character Jace Stratton in Gears of War 3, Microsoft and Epic Games said today.

Drake is a Canadian-American rapper whose first full-length album Thank Me Later is due out in 2010. His character, Jace Stratton, was a central character in the Gears of War spin-off comic books.

One of Gears of War 3’s new features is four-player co-op. Jace will be one of the characters that players can inhabit when playing the campaign with ..read the full article