Boy, the timing is quite peculiar, but a mere day after Sony announced a cheaper PlayStation 3 to combat the Xbox 360 and its cheaper price tag, a "senior Toshiba executive in Singapore" has come out of the woodworks saying that a new Xbox 360 is being developed that will include an HD DVD player, as well as an HDTV tuner, MP3 player dock (Zune, presumably), a larger hard drive and even Wi-Fi. Reports are saying that the reason for this change is the steadily increasing sales of the PS3 thanks to the included Blu-ray player.

This is a legitimate move to be made by Microsoft, with the aid of Toshiba, especially with Blu-ray gaining speed in the next-gen format war and the PS3 finally getting solid titles next year.

Packing the entire kitchen sink into a console, especially one that has already undergone changes may not be the best move (especially considering what it will do to the price), but it is intriguing to see Microsoft shaking in their little booties regarding the PS3 and, more specifically, the need for their console to include a next-gen format player. — Travis Hudson

Via Smarthouse