Microsoft reveals Xbox 360 hardware refresh available today

Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi took the stage during the company's Xbox One keynote at E3 2013 to speak briefly about the Xbox 360 before the main event.

He revealed that the Xbox 360 is getting a "slimmer, sleeker" hardware refresh that's available today in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and Ireland, with more regions being added in the coming months.

Pricing for the refreshed console will run at an estimated retail price of $199.99 (about UK£129, AU$211) for 4GB, $299.99 (about UK£192, AU$316) for 250GB and $299.99 (about UK£192, AU$316) for the 4GB Kinect bundle, or the same prices as the current editions.

In addition, new and existing Xbox Live Gold subscribers will soon be able to download two full games for free, including choices like Assassin's Creed 2 and Halo 3.

Mehdi also discussed some upcoming Xbox 360 games, including Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Batman: Arkham Origins, Grand Theft Auto V, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, plus newly announced games for the older console like World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, and Dark Souls 2.

Microsoft plans to keep the 360 as a mainstay offering, and gamers should expect "hundreds" of new titles are bound for the console in the coming years.

Back to business

While emphasizing the point the Xbox 360 is far from the grave, the rest of the announcements all focused on the Xbox One.

Microsoft ran through an impressive lineup of Xbox One games, including Metal Gear Solid 5, Forza Motorsport 5, Killer Instinct, Dead Rising 3, and many more.

Chief among these was a new Halo game, though Microsoft pointedly did not refer to it as Halo 5.

The company also revealed new features for the console, including Twitch integration that will allow players to stream gameplay live.

And this is just the beginning for E3 2013 - TechRadar will be at the show all week so stay tuned for plenty more.

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