Lucky for us we won’t all have to change our consoles hopefully for another few years at least, but we’re going to have to change the way we play them and actually do some work…… Thanks Nintendo Wii. With Playstation’s Move controller due soon and rumours of the Microsoft answer turned into reality the Kinect all we were waiting on was the date and price.

We had the new 250GB revamped Xbox and then the announcement of a 4GB console. With that announcement Microsoft told us the Kinect will cost £129.99 on its own or bundled with the new console for £249.99 (4GB console will cost £149.99 on its own) so when bundled you’re making a saving.

Then we were waiting for the date. Well it didn’t come from Microsoft straight away, but HMV and Play.com leaked that it was due for release on the 19th November, just in time for Christmas. A lot of talk between fan-boys though was the sheer price of the Kinect, which yes when compared to the Move controller, it’s more expensive. BUT I’ll defend it here in saying that if you want to play more than one player on the PS3 multiple Move controllers would have to be bought bumping the price up. Plus with the Kinect out before Christmas, you can probably guess if there’s still plenty in stock after Chrimbo, the price will no doubt drop.

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Microsoft Kinect 19th November

At E3 earlier this year Microsoft did say after they announced the new Xbox 250GB Slim that an Arcade version would be in the pipeline, now the new look Xbox 360 250GB has been out less than a week and it appears Bill Gates’ boys are again going to give us the scaled down version for those a little less in the pocket or that don’t require a whole 250GB of memory just to save games. The leak has come courtesy of Amazon(Germany) where a listing appeared for the scaled down Xbox.

There’s no pictures unfortunately but rumours suggest it won’t be any different from the new 250GB model in looks, keeping that black gloss finish (ie no white console) just it’ll be packing a 4GB internal memory, more than adequate for game saves, SD videos and photos.

The release date is scheduled for 20th August, just in time for Germany’s annual “Gamescom” convention. Early indications suggest it will cost around £125.

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Xbox 360 Arcade coming August

So the rumours were true and to be fair it’s about time. The Xbox 360 slim console has been made official and will be available soon (July 16th). Playstation 3 hasn’t been out nearly as long as the Microsoft console yet they’ve followed the trend of their previous consoles and released smaller, more compact versions of their consoles. So what have Microsoft finally decided to do it?

In my opinion it’s mainly down to the fact they need to drum up some extra interest in its new Kinect(formerly Natal) motion controller that also became official this week. It’s obviously smaller than the current 360 but has a slight design tweak to it too. It is also supposedly a lot quieter, which in all honesty isn’t that hard. The image also makes it look “glossy” in comparison to the older “matte” consoles. What else is good and finally Microsoft have added it in is N-standard WiFi. You no longer have to buy the £60 wireless bridge.

Again the release date is the 16th July and will retail at £199

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Xbox 360 SLIM

After announcing it earlier this year, from the middle of October, Sky will be coming to your Xbox 360. Inside the Sky Magazine an article from Rupert Murdoch’s men confirmed the date and gave some info on this upcoming feature.

Already up is sky.com/xbox360, now it hasn’t got anything on the site as of yet but the article in the magazine gave us plenty of info. Basically if you have an Xbox Live Gold Account, you can receive basic access to the “Sky Player” If you are a Sky customer to boot you will be granted access to “premium content” probably live streams of the football and Sky’s exclusive programmes and movies.

We have no details on the pricing as of yet and overall this could cause the service to stumble but once again Microsoft are pushing the boat out with the content supplied through your xbox and obviously teaming up with a media giant like Sky it surely can’t disappoint.

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Sky TV direct to your 360

There has been a lot of rumours flying around about the Zune HD in the recent weeks, and it has now been officially announced.

So far the specs are a little sketchy but Microsoft have revealed that the Zune HD will include a 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock — not on-board).

However the specs do conform to the leaked specifications a few weeks ago which includes:

• NVIDIA Tegra processor/gpu
• 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB versions
• HDMI Connection to stream straight to your TV
• HD Radio.
• Web Browser.
• WiFi compatible, with wireless marketplace.
• Released, early fall.
• International Release
• Home AV packs, Car packs, Charge packs.

Microsoft are getting rind of the squircle in favour a full multitouch device and they have suggested that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be released.

The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.

Zune integration is coming to the Xbox and Xbox Live, as the Zune marketplace will step in to replace the current Live video resources, expanding the library and offering all kinds of new perks.

It is also believed that the Zune will be released internationally!

Press release after the jump

Microsoft Announces the Expansion of the Zune Entertainment Service to New Platform and Markets; Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media Player

Premium Zune digital entertainment service to be available internationally on Xbox LIVE.
REDMOND, Wash. – May 26, 2009 – Microsoft Corp. today announced the evolution of Zune, the company’s end-to-end music and entertainment service, to a new platform and new markets. Zune will extend its video service to Xbox LIVE internationally this fall. This marks an important development in the Zune strategy and brings the Zune brand to more than 17 million international Xbox LIVE subscribers. In addition, Microsoft confirmed the next generation of the Zune portable media player, Zune HD. Available in the U.S. this fall, Zune HD is the first portable media player that combines a built-in HD Radio receiver, high-definition (HD) video output capabilities, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touch screen, Wi-Fi and an Internet browser.
“The Zune music player is an integral part of the overall Zune experience, and we’re proud to be growing and extending our offering beyond the device,” said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV, Video and Music Business Group. “Delivering on Microsoft’s connected entertainment vision, this news marks a turning point for Zune as it brings cross-platform experiences and premium video content to living rooms around the world.”
Zune Service Expands to New Platform
Zune will be a premium partner in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, bringing an exciting catalog of TV and film to the platform. Zune will occupy the first slot within the Xbox user interface in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, exposing the Zune brand experience to millions of new consumers for the first time. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next week, attendees will see firsthand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE to create a game-changing entertainment experience.
Introducing Zune HD

Zune HD is the next iteration of the Zune device family and brings a new level of listening and viewing experiences to the portable media player category.

• Zune HD comes with a built-in HD Radio receiver so users can listen to higher-quality sound than traditional radio on the go. Users also will have access to the additional song and artist data broadcast by HD Radio stations as well as additional channels from their favorite stations multicasting in HD. If you don’t like the song playing on your station’s HD channel, switch to its HD2 or HD3 channels for additional programming.
• The bright OLED touch screen interface allows users to flip through music, movies and other content with ease, and the 16:9 widescreen format display (480×272 resolution) offers a premium viewing experience on the go.
• The HD-compatible output lets Zune HD customers playback supported HD video files from the device through a premium high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) audiovisual docking station (sold separately) direct to an HD TV in 720p.*
• Zune HD will include a full-screen Internet browser optimized for multitouch functionality.
• Zune HD is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing for instant streaming to the device from the more than 5 million-track Zune music store.

More information on Zune and related images is available at http://www.zune.net/press and http://www.zune.net/ZuneHD.
About Zune

Zune is Microsoft’s music and entertainment brand that provides an integrated digital entertainment experience. The Zune platform includes a line of portable digital media players, elegant software, the Zune Marketplace online store, Zune Pass music subscription service, and the Zune Social online music community, created to help people discover more music. Zune is part of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division and supports the company’s software-based services vision to help drive innovation in the digital entertainment space. More information can be found online at http://www.zune.net/en-us/press.
About Xbox LIVE
Xbox LIVE connects more than 17 million members across 26 countries to each other and the entertainment they love. Home of more content from one remote than can be found from any device connected to the television, Xbox LIVE is also a unified online social network bringing friends together, no matter where they are – in the living room or across the world. More information and Xbox LIVE membership can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
* Supported 720p HD video files play on the device, downscaled to fit the screen at 480 x 272 – not HD resolution. Zune HD and AV Dock, and an HDTV (all sold separately) are required to view video at HD resolution.
HD Radio™ and the HD Radio logo are proprietary trademarks of iBiquity Digital Corp.

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Zune HD officially announced

There are currently several rumours flying around the net that there could be a large price drop for the Xbox 360.

Rumour has it Microsoft might be planning another rather significant slashing of prices for its console again, with the ‘entry-level’ arcade model suggested to be a bargain basement $199 (£100).

The PS3 seems to be gaining momentum recently so this could help Xbox maintain sales.

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Rumours of a large Xbox 360 price drop

Microsoft have been having a lot of problems recently with its live service however it has not stopped them selling a whole load of 360s during the Christmas break.

Apparantly the company has shipped 17.7 Million Xbox 360 Consoles since its launch 2 years ago. On September 30 the figure was apparently at 13.4 million meaning they have sold over 4.3 millions units from October onwards. Pretty impressive really.

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Xbox 360 Sales reach 17.7 Million