Since Sony announced the PS3 Slim, Microsoft has been fighting to gain some press coverage, and it’s a fight they intend to win. In the latest Redmond leak, an Engadget tipster found a 250GB Xbox 360 Elite bundled with two controllers and Forza 3 (which you’ll recall also isn’t out yet), all for €280.

The bundle, which translates to about $400, is a pretty sweet deal. Granted, you no longer get that HDMI cable, but you will get two controllers and what looks to be a great game along with some extra hard drive space. Honestly, the hard drive space doesn’t thrill me. Sure, it’s nice for adding movies and downloading games, but this is something Microsoft should have done years ago.

The best news of it all may be that some intrepid hackers will find new ways to use the extra space. If you aren’t aware, the current 360 hardware only allows connections from the specific size hard drives Microsoft sells. It is possible to hack together your own HDD, but you’re maxed out at 120GB, which is truly pathetic. Though doubtful, the update could mean Microsoft has lifted that restriction.

Source: Engadget

For too long Microsoft has been the gatekeeper to so much potential fun. I can only have up to 120GB of hard drive space. I can only have an Xbox that lasts for two years before breaking. I can only have 100 friends.

The last, at least, seems to be a bit of a problem with the Xbox Live user base. The real reason you can’t have 100 friends is because too many people still play Halo 2 online. That’s straight from Microsoft, in fact. You see, with so many active subscriptions primarily to play Halo 2, Microsoft would be alienating a huge user base if they decided to suddenly cut support. Unfortunately, there’s also no way for the company to upgrade the current Xbox Live architecture to provide >100 friend support without cutting the cord on that Halo 2 consumer base.

The Microsoft source with the story did say that Halo 3: ODST could be the torpedo that sinks Halo 2 since it would give players two different Halo titles to choose from.

What do you think? Are you still playing Halo 2? Would you understand if Microsoft cut the cord to allow more than 100 friends on Live?

Source: ShackNews