That’s right, Amazon right now is offering the Xbox 360 Arcade model, two games bundled in free, 256MB of storage built in, for just $149, free shipping.

You didn’t need that new slim one for twice the price anyway, did you? No, I didn’t think so!

So, 4 hours into the show, an update is probably in order. As you undoubtedly know by now, Microsoft announced a new Xbox 360, Sony announced a paid PSN and an expensive Wiimote clone Move pricing/release date, and Nintendo announced its 3DS.

This latter beast is the darling of the show: the lines to see it are now hours long, and chatter on the floor is that the device is “amazing.”

Meanwhile, the new 360 is sexy, and the lines to play with PS Move are…well, they’re short. Chatter on the floor is a mix of “it’s Wii HD!” and “Lame, what a ripoff.” Women are dancing-as they do on Wii. Me are punching and shooting with waggle-as they do on Wii.

Don’t get me wrong-though I begrudge the mediocre creativity exhibited by Sony’s imaginating department, from a business perspective it makes sense: Nintendo’s method is proven; Microsoft’s isn’t.

Every now and again an Indie Effort out there comes along that’s truly exceptional and possibly illegal. In both cases, act while you can to get the goodies before this gets shut down! Apparently, several years ago a young kid (14!) had the dream to orchestrate the entire Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time soundtrack so it could seem as if an orchestra had performed it. He worked hard, reached out to musicians and sound engineers, and over time developed a complete reimagining of the soundtrack. This has now been released as a free set of MP3′s for your listening pleasure. They sound great, so get busy downloading!

Zelda Reorchestrated at ZreoMusic

Has it ever occurred to anyone else that Steve Ballmer is in fact the monster from Young Frankenstein? If you ever wondered what the hell became of the creature after the end of the movie, you have your answer: He became CEO of Microsoft. Go figure.

All kidding aside, though, the esteemed and reviled (depending on which side of the fence you’re standing on) CEO openly discussed that a brand new Xbox 360 is coming in 2010, sporting a new interface, yada yada yada. Point is, what the man’s obviously getting at is a new 360 SKU and configuration that includes the Natal device as a standard part of the package, shipped with every unit. This fits in nicely with the recent rumors that Microsoft would be releasing a new Xbox next year, though there remains no reason to believe we’ll be getting an “Xbox 420″ configuration anytime soon.

Instead, what he probably means is that we’ll get a new version of the 360 that changes form factor, effectively “reinventing” itself while (hopefully) eliminating the problems of the previous 360 model and shrugging off some of it’s “Cool but flaky” image. No doubt Microsoft would rather have it’s game console thought of as merely “Cool” or even “The coolest!” rather than have to drag along the flaky moniker, but we’ll just have to see what happens with it.

Suffice to say, nothing in the universe will stop us from speculating wildly about what the new Xbox 360 SKU/Configuration will entail when it finally launches next yearm and we encourage you to do the same! Rumored design ideas after the jump!

Here’s what I’m imagining for the new Xbox 360 configuration. Every item below is based on what we know about next year’s 360 GPU/CPU die shrink/consolidation, the recent move to and subsequent increase of flash memory on the 360 Arcade and other juicy rumormongering from various sources:

1) Xbox 360 Slim revision, cooler, smaller, quieter, sleeker.

2) Onboard flash memory in every unit, 16GB would work well, seem impressive and be dirt cheap to implement.

3) No hard drive included, but a slot for a standard laptop SATA hard drive

4) Wireless 360 pad in every box

5) Natal in every box

6) Hardware specs otherwise identical to current 360

7)$249 or less, base configuration

Running with something like this, and featuring a big enough marketing push, would virtually guarantee a massive surge in 360 sales and hype, expanding the platform’s installed base and more importantly, MIND share. Assuming Natal in Addon form hits market for $99 or less at the same time we should also see a lot of existing 360 owners jump for the upgrade.

Nintendo already proved that its SD graphics, just barely above what last generation offered, were adequate to win over the majority of the market (and let’s face it, Hardcore gamers bought Wii first, evangelized it, and the casuals jumped onboard as a direct result of the hardcore gamers going crazy on Wii early on). That being the case, 360′s HD graphics are easily STILL more than plenty for the majority of the market, and since 360 is equal to PS3 in terms of graphics capability that pretty much cinches the race, at least as far as HD games consoles goes.

The question in my mind is, will it be enough for MS to catch Wii? I honestly don’t know.

Update: We have more!

We’ve been busily collecting Booth Babes for you to stare at like the sweat covered geek vermin you are, and we’ve got a small sampling of those pictures for you now. Later tonight we’ll have a bigger selection for you after we’ve finished crunching our gigantical 10 mega pixel thingy images down to something a little more web manageable. Until then, though, enjoy this little sample and check out the E3 Babes page for more!

Worth $250? I’m not seeing the value proposition.

By now you’ve probably heard that Nintendo has announced a triumverate of Super Mario games, talked up Motion Plus and announced a new Metroid game. We’re not sure if we’ll get our hands on any of those yet, but we’ll let you know and post pics of whatever we do see and feel!

So, we were planning to show some screens and talk about our experience with Quake Live today, but umm…yeah. Position 12,000+ in line doesn’t bode well for our chances

Though I can’t color myself as overly excited, for those who are you’re in for a treat of a retro flavor as not one, not two, but three C64 titles grace the VC (no, not VietCong, Virtual Console. Jeez!). Seems like a helluva way to introduce the platform, if you ask me. Now, I do have to wonder though: is a USB keyboard supported in these old games? I had a C64 way back in the day (though I can really only vaguely remember loading games from an audiocassette player and a floppy drive), and I seem to recall only playing them with keyboard controls. If you’re playing with these today (or even if you remember the actual C64!), please do drop us a note in the comments with your experience!

Last but not least, WiiWare gets the drop of a brand new FPS in the form of Onslaught, which supports a whopping 4 players in Wifi play over the internet. Can’t say I’m overly blown away about the 4 player action, but I’l give it the benefit of the doubt. Who knows, we might even buy a copy and review it. The full press release can be found after the jump, if that’s your thing!

WiiWare

Onslaught (Hudson Entertainment, 1-4 players, Rated T for Teen-Animated Blood, Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Onslaught is an FPS that puts you in the middle of a futuristic war between humans and insectoid aliens. Become part of the Elite Interstellar Strike Force and fight against an overwhelming onslaught of alien life forms. Enjoy the rush of mowing down wave after wave of aliens with machine guns, grenades and more. Feel your heart pound as you battle gigantic boss aliens. Beyond the normal game, Onslaught includes additional modes that let you play with rivals from around the world using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Team up with as many as three other players in Free Battle mode, or compete on special maps to see who can get the most points by killing enemies before time runs out in Ranking Battle mode. (Router and broadband access required for online play. For more info, go to www.nintendo.com.)

Virtual Console

The Last Ninja™ (Commodore 64, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-Animated Blood, Mild Violence, 500 Wii Points): The evil Shogun Kunitoki has long envied the powers of the Ninja brotherhood and would do anything to acquire their knowledge. To this end, he has sworn an oath to their total destruction. Once every decade, all Ninja must travel to the Island of Lin Fen, where they pay homage to the Shrine of the White Ninja and receive further teachings from the Koga Scrolls. Seizing the opportunity, Kunitoki summoned forth all the spirits from the depths of the Nether World and flung their full force against the amassed Ninja. None escaped the wrath of Kunitoki. Word of this unnatural disaster soon reached Armakuni, the last Ninja. Gathering all his courage, he has sworn to wreak a terrible revenge on the Shogun and all his followers. What unforeseen hazards await him?

INTERNATIONAL KARATE™ (Commodore 64, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-Mild Violence, 500 Wii Points): INTERNATIONAL KARATE is a simulation of a karate tournament in which one person can play against the computer or two players can compete against each other. During the game, you’ll fly to various locations around the world. In all stages of the game, a wise old judge will watch over you and award you either a half-point or a full point, depending on how successful a hit has been.

Pitstop II™ (Commodore 64, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Pitstop II was the first game that brought serious auto racing action to the computer screen-the thrill of battling an opponent, the excitement of fighting for the lead out on the track, and the suspense of struggling to be the first out of the pits. Third-person graphics and a split-screen display allow one or two players to experience the challenge of car racing head-to-head. Six of the world’s toughest tracks are waiting, from Brands Hatch and its hairpin turns to the mile-long straight of Vallelunga. You can practice against the computer, but nothing will compare to the fun of racing against another person. Indeed, Pitstop II proves that car racing was never meant to be a solo sport.