It’s been rumored for a long time and, most recently, was the subject of an oft-cited article in Game Informer. Well, folks, the sparse mist enveloping the Xbox 360 Elite rumors has dissipated, making it officially a reality. Is anyone surprised? From older hearsay coming from Gamestop SKUs to blurry assembly line photos, the path of these rumblings has been followed closely with the keen eyes of many.

Now you’ll actually have room to, you know, store the things that you download from Xbox Live

This thing is pretty sexy, I guess! Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the prospect in general, but I can’t be the only one that also loves the bright white design of the original. Still, 120 GB hard drive? Way overdue. This is, of course, a very smart move for Microsoft– mostly because it gives people a lot more space to put all of those TV shows and Live Arcade games they’ll inevitably download. And hey, with the way those crazy Microsoft Points are designed, you’ll be spending the excess cash on even more random stuff than normal!

You’ll also find HDMI support is now available, along with the standard inclusion of a Silver Xbox Live membership and a one-month Gold Trial. When you look at the price difference between the Premium and the Elite, it’s a pretty sweet deal as a whole. To sweeten the reality of the Elite, they’ve also announced the addition of digital content provided by A&E, ADV, National Geographic, New Line and Total Vid. Paramount and Warner Bros. have jumped on the HD content wagon, as well.

Is Microsoft catching up to an early hard drive space mistake they made with the system? Did anyone think 20 gigs would ever cut it? Honestly, if I can pay a reasonable price for the larger hard drive by itself, then I won’t be terribly bitter that I didn’t buy a 360 until last July with absolutely no inkling that something like this would surface less than a year later. Now for the hardball question: when’s Live going to be free?