Raise your arms in the air and start stretching . . . hold it, hold it, hold it . . .

Microsoft officially announced Xbox 360 Elite, a black version of its gaming console that has an HDMI port, a 120GB hard drive, as well as a black wireless Xbox 360 controller and a black Xbox live headset.

The company also announced that an HDMI cable will be included in the package. Also, the Elite won't be a limited edition and Microsoft told us there would be plenty of systems available on its April 29 ship date. Component and composite cables will still be shipped with each Xbox 360 system, and there will also be an HDMI cable in the box. The Elite will retail for $479.99. Microsoft told us there would be no new hardware inside the Elite except for that 120GB hard drive, alluding to the often-rumored cooler-running processors manufactured with the 65nm process.

Microsoft told us it will also ship a standalone 120GB hard drive for existing Xbox 360 owners on April 29. That will be priced at $179.99. Microsoft will also offer black accessories, including a black wireless controller as well as a rechargeable battery pack and Play and Charge kit.

Ok, now release, YAWWWWN. Good job guys, take a cool down lap.

Thanks to Gizmodo for making it official, but we've known this is coming for months now. The timing is damn near perfect, because for starters, Microsoft has been stuck at around ten million 360 unit sales for a few months now, and mainly, because there's tons of people still not willing to get a PS3, and saving up for when the time is right. Now that there's another big, bad, black box out there it might just sway their wallets' minds or confuse enough clueless parents while they're at the store. There's pictures below, the only thing surprising about all of this is that the rumored shit-brown colored box wasn't fake.

Not this site! For the love of God, not this site - go here instead you hacking monsters. If you can hack that site and manage to change the jpeg picture the webpage uses, then the PS3 is all yours. Although, obviously no DOS attacks are allowed, nor is attacking other parts of the website, but if you comply to their simple rules, then you get a PS3, Resistance: Fall of Man, Linux, and an HDMI cable too. You've got until January 2007 you hacking fiends -- if you can hack the webpage first and choose to replace the image with TheLastBoss's banner image I'll buy you 3 other launch games of your choosing for the PS3.

Destructoid, the gaming blog that popped my cherry, has an inside Microsoft mole (NSFW link) of its own, and is reporting that some big Xbox 360 news will be going public later this month. Coming on or around November 22, you can expect to learn that:

• Microsoft will announce and release 80GB or 100GB hard drives, possibly both. And also mention the future 160GB and 200GB hard drives officially.
• HDMI cables should be announced for $69.99
• Price drops for The Outfit by $10 dollars at Best Buy, with other games dropping $15-$20 throughout the holidays for Madden 06, PDZ, THUG, King Kong, and NHL06