The Game Druid

Could it be? An Xbox 360 price drop on July 6? According to this image, the Xbox 360 Pro will drop to $299.99, at least at K-Mart. The little image circulating shows the “Xbox 360 20GB console” with a $299.99 price, but no word on pricing on the Arcade and Elite versions of the console. We had a feeling price cuts would be coming at E3, but it’s entirely possible Microsoft waned to get pricing out of the way before the gaming conference to concentrate on other goodness.

Is Microsoft going to copy Nintendo’s Mii idea?

Moreover: Did a whole flood of information about the Xbox 360’s lineup of announcements for E3 just flood out onto the Internets?

Some sleuths at NeoGAF have dug up a marketing presentation that purports to spill the details on all manner of different major announcements, from Xbox 360 “Avatars” (right) to new details on Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero World Tour.

And there could even be a video of Silicon Knights’ game for Sega, if all this is true. Oh, it’s just a maelstrom of intriguing tidbits today. Below, I’ll run down the major maybe-megatons. Just take them all with a grain of salt.

* Microsoft will roll out “Avatars”, customizable characters that you create and who represent you when you’re online with Xbox Live.
* The next Tony Hawk game comes with a motion-sensitive stand-on skateboard controller that sounds a lot like the Wii Fit board.
* The big innovation for Guitar Hero World Tour’s guitar controller is a touch-sensitive fretboard that lets you slide up and down for analog solos during songs.
* Forza 3 for Xbox 360 is so gigantic — over 100 cars — that it will be sold as a two-disc game.
* There’s a video for a game called Crucible, which some are speculating is Silicon Knights’ game for Sega, which is rumored to be titled The Crucible: The Evil Within.
* Spider-Man vs. Marvel Zombies is headed to 360, PS3, and Wii.
* The next Call of Duty game is subtitled World at War, has no number attached.
* Disney is bringing out a 360, PS3, and Wii game called Ultimate Band, which will be compatible with Rock Band instruments or played with normal controllers and Wiimote motion sensing. There’s video of this, too.

Goodness! That’s a lot. It’s so much, and so intricately documented with cover artwork and videos, that it really does seem as if a major leak has just occurred. It’ll be interesting to see how the publishers respond.

For all of Microsoft’s denial, the Xbox 360 Blu-ray console rumors just will not die. In fact, they are getting more and more specific. The Chinese language Economic Daily News is reporting that Pegatron, an OEM subsidiary of ASUS, has won the order from Microsoft to assemble the Xbox 360 with Blu-ray Disc ROM drive – shipments are expected to being in Q3 of this year. Now come on Microsoft, just come clean on the matter, we won’t tell anyone.