E3 rumors peg white Xbox 360, price cuts

Not too much is known about Microsoft’s plans at next week’s E3 trade show, but there are some new rumors popping up.

One of the rumors comes directly from the official E3 website, e3expo.com. On the site, a sponsored ad from Target promotes an Xbox 360 250 GB Kinect bundle for $299.99.

However, when clicked, it directs users to the Target.com product page, with the standard $399.99 MSRP listed. This ad is fueling speculation that Microsoft will announce a $100 price drop on the bundle – which is currently the most expensive Xbox 360 SKU – at E3.

If that happens, it would also surely lead to price drops across the board, with the low-end 4 GB Xbox 360 unit potentially hitting a sub-$150 price point.

Additionally, various online reports cite anonymous sources discussing the potential of a white version of the Xbox 360, as well as a new, enhanced version of the Kinect motion camera.

Several weeks ago, a report surfaced that Microsoft had begun sending out early test units of an Xbox 360 successor to developers, but it was quickly dismissed.

Microsoft has been extremely stringent in inviting media to its pre-E3 media briefing on June 6. TG Daily has heard from several reporters who consistently received invitations to Microsoft’s E3 events in prior years, but were all of the sudden shunned this year for no apparent reason, despite the company relocating the event to high-capacity university arena. The exclusive nature of the event is also spurring discussion that Microsoft may have a bombshell announcement.

Meanwhile, the big news from Sony and Nintendo is already a known quantity – Nintendo will be revealing its Wii successor for the first time while Sony is expected to dole out a lot of news on its new handheld system. We will be on site at all the major events next week, so keep it tuned to TG Daily for all the breaking E3 news.