Although manufacturing costs for the Xbox 360 will likely drop after the switch to the 65nm CPU platform codenamed Falcon, numerous reports suggest that Microsoft will not be lowering the price of the console this holiday season, but instead it will bundle games and perhaps accessories.
In early October, an Xbox 360 Premium bundle will come with a Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance game combo package, according to Ars Technica. Following soon after, the Xbox 360 Elite will also get the pack-in. Further fueling those rumors, Best Buy accidentally listed the bundles on its site yesterday under the regular retail prices of $449.99 for the Elite and $349.99 for the Premium.
Microsoft is also supposedly set to release a new Xbox 360 Core "at the end of October," sporting an HDMI port - making that the standard across all Xbox 360 models. Additionally, the new core bundle will pack in a 256MB memory card, a wireless Xbox 360 controller and XBLA games Pac-man, Uno, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2 and Boom-Boom Rocket on disc. The new Core is expected to retail at the current $279.99. Keep in mind, although Ars' inside sources have been right in the past, these bundles have not been confirmed or announced by Microsoft yet.