Source: Posts on message boards like the official Xbox forums and Team Xecuter, followed up on by articles at mod-savvy sites like Xbox Scene.

The official story: A Microsoft rep said the company had no comment at this time.

What we heard: Microsoft released its Fall System Update for the Xbox 360 today and Internet forums were quickly buzzing with reports that the update had "bricked" users' consoles, rendering them unable to play games or even boot up normally.

While Microsoft is staying mum on the subject, the bulk of speculation is that the Fall Update is intended to brick Xbox 360s that have been modded. However, some posters are reporting problems with unmodded consoles being bricked, and forum-goers at Xbox Scene are saying that the update is not consistently bricking modded consoles.

Furthermore, Team Xecuter is reporting that bricked consoles can still be repaired relatively painlessly, and that Microsoft isn't banning GamerTags or specific systems from Xbox Live, something that would seem a distinct possibility if the company wanted to come down hard on modders.

So what's the deal here? If Microsoft intended to brick modded consoles, it didn't do a very thorough job of it (perhaps a warning shot to make people think twice about modding systems?). If it's an unexpected bug with the Fall Update, it seems convenient that it's happening primarily to modded systems.

Still, the few reports of the Fall Update bricking unmodded systems are troubling. While fixing the system might be an easy thing for people who cracked their systems open in the first place to mod them, it's still not something the average gamer is bound to be capable of doing.

Whether intentional or not, it seems the Fall Update is turning some Xbox 360s into paperweights. But with varying reports about who it's happening to and why, and Microsoft not explaining what's going on, there's no sure way to say which 360s will be affected by the problem.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus.

Source: Scans of Swedish gaming magazine LEVEL, partially translated by a poster on Gaming Age Forums.

What we heard: Last week, Bungie mentioned in its weekly update that it had shown off early builds of Halo 3 to a variety of gaming press outlets and that magazine articles on the visit would start hitting mailboxes shortly.

It appears that Swedish mailboxes are plum stuffed with Halo 3 news, as purported scans of the latest issue of LEVEL have hit the Internet with gobs of info about Bungie's highly anticipated first-person shooter. The multiplayer-focused sneak peek dished out details on new weapons, vehicles, and features for the game, some of it expected, some not so much.

First, the bad news for hermitic gamers: According to the magazine article, Halo 3 won't have bots. If Halo 2 is any indicator, there shouldn't be any shortage of human opponents to frag online, but antisocial players or those who tire of powergaming play styles won't be able to fake their multiplayer fix. According to a translation on GAF, LEVEL quotes a Bungie rep as explaining that the developers would rather spend that time working on the weapons, levels, and netcode for the game.

Speaking of weapons, Halo 3 will apparently feature a few new ways to off opponents. The Spartan Laser should help players open up vehicles like so many sardine cans, while the self-explanatory nail grenade should be a real hit at parties. There's also a Brute spiker to play with.

As for new vehicles, the Mongoose ATV that was once intended for Halo 2 will be available. Although it lacks firepower of any kind, the Mongoose seats two and should be good for getting Spartans where they need to be ASAP. And while it isn't quite a vehicle, the "Man Cannon" will launch players across the map unprotected on air streams. Gamers launched by the cannon will be vulnerable to enemy fire, but they'll also be able to fire back.

Bungie's also switching up some of the familiar Halo gameplay, according to the scans. For one thing, the X button will no longer reload. Instead, players will use the left and right bumpers on the Xbox 360 controller to independently reload their primary and secondary weapons. As for what the X button will do, Bungie is keeping that under wraps for now. In another tweak, players' secondary weapons will be visibly slung over their backs at all times, so players will no longer be able to conceal the fact that they're carrying around four-foot plasma swords in their pockets.

Finally, the scan indicates that the limited-edition release of Halo 3 will be called the "Legendary Edition" and will come packed in a replica of the Master Chief's helmet. The four-disc set will include the game, documentaries and developer interviews, Red vs. Blue content along with other Halo tie-ins, and HD cutscenes from the whole Halo trilogy.

The official story: Microsoft isn't talking, but Bungie today put up a news post acknowledging that magazine scans with new Halo 3 content had started hitting the Web and threatening a permanent ban for anyone posting them on the company's forums.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus, although we hope the term "Man Cannon" is the result of a translation error.

Source: Game Informer Online via unnamed, untraceable sources.

What we heard: Current and future Xbox 360 owners are eagerly awaiting any news coming out of the Halo 3 camp. Guarded by a steel curtain info embargo, details on the game are as scarce as unhumped corpses in multiplayer sessions of Halo 2.

What Halo fans do know is that the game is currently scheduled to come out sometime in 2007--hardly specific enough for the series' rabid fan base. However, that release window may have been narrowed slightly if a report from Game Informer Online is correct.

The Web site states that "sources" have tipped it off about a Halo 3 demo and that it will be released "in the first half of 2007." And that's really the nuts and bolts of the rumor...just some hearsay.

Gaming Business 101 states that demos for games should be released near the game's retail release for maximum effect. So does that mean the retail version of Halo 3 will arrive in the first half of 2007? That bit of information remains up in the air.

Shortly after the game's announcement at E3 2006, Bungie admitted that the game was already playable and had "surprisingly polished looking graphics." In fact, the trailer for the game was running on the game's actual engine in real time. All aspects of the game are undergoing testing now, and Bungie has even shown off early builds of the game to some print publications.

On the other hand, Halo: Combat Evolved for the Xbox was released in November 2001, followed by the oft-delayed Halo 2 in November 2004. Using this life cycle of three years per Halo chapter puts Halo 3 squarely in the November 2007 range, and that doesn't account for any additional development time due to next-gen technology and new hardware. Plus, as anyone who waited anxiously for Halo 2 can tell you, delays are becoming the norm in game development these days.

Unfortunately, in terms of a release date, that leaves Halo fans back at square one. While progress on the game is looking good, Bungie has a reputation for being a perfectionist and will likely release the game--all together now--"when it's ready."

The official story: Microsoft rep--"Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."

Bogus or not bogus?: Too early to call.

Source: A snapshot from Korean game site Game Inside, reporting on a Microsoft event in Korea.

What we heard: So far the response to downloadable demos, trailers, and game content on Xbox Live Marketplace has been overwhelmingly positive. So positive, in fact, that gamers are downloading files at record-setting rates.

The premium Xbox 360 came stocked with a 20GB hard drive, but with most demos hovering in the 500MB to 800MB range (and some topping 1GB) Xbox 360 owners are beginning to feel the pinch when it comes to available hard drive space. And with upcoming downloadable expansions such as the Knights of the Nine expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and bonus packs for Grand Theft Auto IV expected to take up lots of room, hard drive space will be a necessity for 360 owners. Now it appears that even when its 2K9, gamers might still be able to hang on to that demo of NBA 2K6.

At the Microsoft-centric X06 Korea, some pictures of a bigger Xbox 360 hard drive have surfaced courtesy of Korean game site Game Inside. The photos appear to have been taken during a presentation hyping the new Xbox 360 accessories that are on their way, including the force feedback steering wheel, the wireless headset, and a 256MB memory card.

But what's of real interest to gamers starving for more HD space is the image of a hard drive emblazoned with the phrase "100GB." There isn't any other information on the hard drive (in English, anyway), and Microsoft has not announced anything on this side of the pond.

This isn't the first time the world has heard about a 100GB Xbox 360 hard drive. Back in April, a Spanish gaming Web site reported that a Microsoft insider said the company was working on a 100GB hard drive. Then again, the mole also said that Xbox Live Vision would be called "My Eye on You," that Gears of War would be out by Halloween, and that the HD-DVD peripheral would be $100.

The official story: Microsoft was unavailable for comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that a larger hard drive is in the works. Even with Microsoft not saying a word, it's obvious it needs to expand the capacity of the Xbox 360's hard drive sooner or later.

Source: A posting packed with screenshots and game details on the PS3forums message boards.

The official story: Sony did not return a request for comment as of press time.

What we heard: This week Sony is holding a Gamers Day, a press-only event that gives the company a chance to show off its upcoming games, and make a few announcements. This Gamers Day is a little more anticipated than most, given that it comes less than a month before Sony the PlayStation 3's November 17 launch in North America, and is expected to answer a number of questions surrounding the machine.

One of those questions is "What games is Sony planning for its digital distribution service?" The answer to that may have leaked out a little early, as a poster on PS3forums by the name of "Elder " appears to have preemptively dumped a slew of Sony screenshots and game details onto the Web.

While Elder's post has new pictures of Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, Full Auto 2: Battlelines, and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the real attraction is the list of "e-Distribution" games. From Sony, there's Blast Factor, Lemmings 2, Go Sudoku, Swizzleblocks, Criminal Crackdown, and the previously announced flOw.

At first glance, Blast Factor appears to be a shooter in the mold of the Xbox Live Arcade games Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved or Mutant Storm. However, the details promise "integral use" of the motion-sensitive Sixaxis controller, noting, "By tilting left and right, gamers can push enemies around the play field, but need to be careful as some might enemies not react as expected."

While the other new games on that list aren't detailed, some information can be gleaned from the screenshots. Go Sudoku is a flashy version of the puzzle phenomenon that includes a multiplayer mode supporting at least four players. Lemmings 2 appears not to be a port of the early '90s PC and console follow-up to the classic puzzle game, but instead an original game with a visual sheen more akin to the Worms series of games.

Finally, Swizzleblocks is a grid-based block puzzle game with a multiplayer mode, and Criminal Crackdown is a complete mystery, with the only information posted being a cartoon drawing of a criminal crook fleeing the police with a bag of money in one hand and the Mona Lisa in the other.

While the third-party games lined up for PS3 e-Distribution weren't detailed or shown in screens, they were named. There's the TV game show Wheel of Fortune, a PS3 version of the PlayStation Portable racer hybrid Gripshift, and Crash Carnage Ciaos, which is either a typo that should read "Crash Carnage Chaos," or perhaps something combining mass destruction and Italian greetings.

The sheer volume of assets in that thread, the number of new screens for existing games, and the fact that Sony has a press event scheduled for this week (always a prime time for leaks) is convincing enough to buy into this one.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus.

Source: The UK branch of Xbox.com, courtesy of Microsoft maniacs Xboxic.com.

What we heard: Given the amount of hype that is going into the launch of the Xbox 360 game Gears of War, it would seem that pumping out a demo would be a priority for Microsoft Game Studios. The marketing team behind the game has already held public events for common folk to try the game out before its release in November, so it also make sense that a demo would be appearing on Xbox Live Marketplace soon.

Unfortunately for those eagerly anticipating a free trial of the game before it is released, it doesn't appear that a demo will be out before the game hits stores. In early August, Mark Rein, president of Gears developer Epic Games, said, "I don't see any way we could do a demo before the game comes out." He went on to explain that making a demo would take up valuable time that could be spent polishing up the retail version for its release.

But today, a few gamers think that Rein may have been putting up a smoke screen, with a surprise announcement of a demo coming soon. Some keen-eyed Web surfers tipped off Xboxic.com to a page on the UK branch of Xbox.com. In a page header promoting content downloads for Marketplace, a graphic clearly reads "Gears of War Demo" (pictured above--click to enlarge) alongside already released games Frogger, Pac-Man, and Joust. What's more, on the page for game demos on Marketplace, there is clearly a picture of Gears of War.

So that's it, right? A Gears of War demo is on the way, and likely soon given that it's up on Xbox.com now.

Once again, it looks as though gamers' parades are getting "Rein"ed on. On the Gears of War forums, Mark Rein addresses the issue with a resounding, "No"--and it wasn't just about a prerelease GOW demo, it was about a demo in general.

"There is no Gears demo and there won't be before launch. I suspect that is a generic header with the Gears image in it," said Rein. "There aren't any plans at the moment to make a demo of Gears. We have other things we're going to be working on as soon as Gears has gone gold but I can not elaborate on them at this point in time." Later in the thread, he said that he has asked Microsoft to take the page down. As of press time, the image remained on the site.

Rein leaves little hope for gamers with his comments, so it appears as though Gears of War will be out-of-the-box only.

The official story: Microsoft rep: "We have not made any announcements at this time."

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus. The Locust Horde is spared a few more days before they're riddled with bullets.

Source: Straight out of the Xbox Live Pipeline, a Microsoft-owned Flash-based site.

What we heard: Back in August, unconfirmed warnings were issued that Microsoft might charge people money to advance in Q Entertainment's upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, Lumines Live! Earlier today, it appeared those reports might have been totally off base, as Microsoft's Xbox Live Pipeline site had a listing for Lumines Live! that indicated the game itself was "FREE."

But just as the pitchforks and torches were being put away, GameSpot editors noticed the site also gave Lumines Live ! the rarely seen rating of EC for Early Childhood. While a toddler could possibly come of age in the time it takes a game of Lumines to ramp up in difficulty, this sounded a little suspect. It was especially suspicious given that the Entertainment Software Rating Board gave the original Lumines (which unlike the Xbox 360 version does not feature video of Madonna undulating in the background), a more restrictive rating of E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older.

An inquiry to Microsoft yielded answers to all our questions.

The official story: "The information posted about Lumines Live on XboxLivePipeline.com is inaccurate and we apologize for any confusion. Lumines will be available later this fall on Xbox Live Arcade and more details will be shared closer to its launch. However, the title will not be free and the rating is still pending."--A Microsoft spokesperson.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus. Keep the pitchforks at the ready.

Source: UK game-info site Computer and Video Games.

What we heard: Ever since the first Battlefront hit consoles in fall 2004, the series has proved a cash cow for its publisher, LucasArts. Mixing Battlefield-style combat with Star Wars lore, the first game was a hit on the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. It quickly blossomed into a full-fledged series, with a sequel proving popular on the same three platforms and the PlayStation Portable the following year.

Now, according to C&VG, the series is getting a third installment, courtesy of UK-based design house Free Radical. According to the site, the TimeSplitters developer, which recently inked a long-term deal with LucasArts, has been given the franchise. If true, the news basically all but signals the end of LucasArts' relationship with original Battlefront developer Pandemic, which is already shopping the sequel to Mercenaries to other publishers.

So where does the next-gen-console part of the story come in? Well, since LucasArts' deal with Free Radical is for next-gen consoles, it stands to reason that, if the studio is working on Battlefront, it is making the game for a new platform. Which platform, exactly, you ask? That's unclear, but it's worth noting Free Radical did wow Electronic Entertainment Expo goers with Haze, the futuristic first-person shooter it is developing for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC for Ubisoft.

The official story: When asked to comment on a) the Free Radical-Battlefront report and b) the next-gen Battlefront rumor, a LucasArts rep succinctly responded, "I can do neither. This is all just rumor and speculation, to which we don't comment."

Bogus or not bogus?: That Free Radical is working on Battlefront? Probably not bogus. Given Pandemic's exit from the scene, it seems logical to hand the Battlefront license over to a shooter-centric studio. As for one of the best-selling Star Wars franchises of all time coming to next-gen consoles? That's a no-brainer: not bogus.

Source: A lengthy article on MTV News.

What we heard: At its pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference in May, Microsoft stunned attendees by announcing that Grand Theft Auto IV would be released on the Xbox 360 the same day and date it arrives on the PlayStation 3. Though Sony reps would later play it down, the development meant that the long exclusivity window that prior GTA games had on the PlayStation 2 would not survive the next-generation console transition.

But while Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas all appeared on the Xbox, no GTA game ever made it to the GameCube. In fact, the only GTA games to make it to a Nintendo platform were the handheld top-down titles Grand Theft Auto (Game Boy Color, 1999), Grand Theft Auto 2 (GBC, 2000), and Grand Theft Auto Advance (Game Boy Advance, 2004).

However, now comes word that the Wii might be carjacked by the GTA franchise. Speaking to MTV News at last week's Wii press conference in New York City, Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime revealed that the Mario Factory is in talks with Take-Two Interactive, parent of GTA publisher Rockstar Games. "I'll be spending some time later today with the folks over at Take-Two to see what type of support they can give our console," he said. So far, Take-Two has only expressed interest in using Wii's motion-sensing functions for a baseball game.

Though he didn't mention any specific titles to MTV, the outspoken executive did say that Nintendo wants the Wii to have more adult-oriented content than the GameCube did. That console's catalog was dominated by family-friendly offerings, although it had several notable M-rated games, such as Killer7 and Resident Evil 4.

"The fact is there will be M-rated content on the Wii console," said Fils-Aime. "EA has already announced that they're bringing [the GTA-like crime game] The Godfather to our console. And we want every single best-selling game to be available on Wii. Whatever that content is."

The official story: Fils-Aime's comments have ignited a firestorm of speculation among prospective Wii buyers and GTA addicts. However, they are not official confirmation of plans for a Wii GTA--or any particular Take-Two title for the platform. Requests for comment sent to Nintendo, Take-Two, and Rockstar had not been returned as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that Take-Two and Nintendo are talking. As for GTA on the Wii? The once-unthinkable notion now appears to be a possibility.