Those planning on opting the digital version; be warned. As past reports stated, when Microsoft introduced the “game install” feature, installing Halo 3 “may” affect in-game loading times — increasing them, instead of decreasing them. Now, according to Microsoft, this hasn’t been fixed, and it “may” have an effect on the digital version.

“Halo 3 has undergone extensive testing to ensure that players will have a positive experience, whether the game is played from a DVD, hard disk drive or USB drive,” said Microsoft. “When installed to the Xbox 360 hard disk drive, players may experience longer than average mission and map load times, but regardless of where the game is installed, gameplay performance is not affected.”

Microsoft has confirmed that they’ll be getting rid of the Xbox 360 Pro by stopping production of the product all together, which we all ready knew. However, the main attraction here is that they have revealed that the Elite – originally sold at $399 – will get a price drop and will sell for $299.99, and what’s remaining of the Pros will be cut to $249.99. While the hard drive-less Arcade units will remain at $199.

Responding to the news, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg had this to say to CNET. “I’m sure some will think this is a response to competitor pricing,” he said. “But we had planned this reduction months in advance. Retail circular ads and store merchandising were all lined up. We wanted to be ready for the holiday season.” However, Microsoft’s decision to reduce the price of the Xbox 360 isn’t a surprise because numerous rumors have been swirling around the internet of a price drop. Expect to see the price drop in effect this Friday.

At a recent event held in Delhi, Microsoft India revealed some very key information on the future of Xbox and the present. At the event they confirmed that the long rumored Xbox 360 Slim is actually real and that we should wait for an announcement sometime in December. The new version of the Xbox 360 was once rumored to be revealed in 2009, but know we now see that this rumor was actually wrong. Microsoft India has also officially announced its new Xbox 360 package deal for India, which is an 360 Core console, a 20 GB HDD, one wireless controller and free copies of Viva Pinata and Forza 2.

Source

(this image here is an artists impression)

Update: TheANGRYPixel is reporting that Microsoft India has released a statement denying any such announcement.

Microsoft-India says:
“We would not like to comment on any market speculation or rumor. In India we have the Xbox 360 core and the Xbox 360 Pro console currently available in the market. There are exciting new game titles like Gears of War 2, Fable 2 and Fall Out 3 in the pipeline for the holiday season along with special promotions and festival offers.”