While Microsoft has had its fair share of bad press surrounding the Xbox One console, those still considering a purchase when it is released later this year will at least be happy that the price of new games will remain in line with Xbox 360 retail disc pricing. Games will retail for $59.99, according to an unnamed source speaking to Kotaku.

When asked by CVG if Microsoft plans to change course on its "connect once a day" requirement and policy on used games for Xbox One, Microsoft executive Phil Spencer said that his company's stance on those issues is fixed and "definitive" - at least in the short term.

Last week, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One requires internet access and that used game sales are subject to the whims of publishers.  You will not be able rent or loan your games at launch and there's no guarantee you ever will.  You can give a game to someone else but only if the publisher allows it and even then, the recipient must have been in your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once.

Polygon's Colin Campbell pulls no punches in an excellent sit down interview with Electronic Arts' chief operating officer Peter Moore.

More details have been revealed on the new Xbox 360 consoles that have been released to retail outlets today. The newly redesigned console comes in three SKUs: a 4GB model, a 4GB model with Kinect included, and a 250GB model.

The 4GB vanilla option will cost $200, a 4GB with Kinect included will cost $300 and the 350 GB Xbox 360 will cost $300. We assume that these newly designed models will eventually replace older models on the market now.

Microsoft held its Electronic Entertainment Exp Xbox One press conference today, finally showing off some of the games that will ultimately make or break its system as it goes head-to-head with Sony's PlayStation 4 later this year. The most notable news coming out of the event is when the console will be released and how much it will cost consumers when it hits retail.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter does not believe that third-party Xbox One game publishers will disable used games using the system Microsoft has put in place to do just that on its next-generation platform. Pachter goes so far as to say that any publisher that disables used games runs a serious risk of significant backlash or boycotts from consumers. In a note to investors today, Pachter said the majority of publishers will not block used games in the system's first few years.

Got Xbox One questions?

Of course you do.  Microsoft's messaging since its console unveiling has been a confusing mess.  Does Xbox One require an internet connection to play offline?  Does it block used games?  Can the all-seeing eye of the Kinect be turned off?

Deadline is reporting that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer - with entertainment studios president Nancy Tellem in tow - is taking meetings with big Hollywood studios and television companies to drum up support for Xbox One as an entertainment hub for the living room.

The #PS4NoDRM campaign that bombarded Sony executives with messages on Twitter not to include DRM schemes for used games in the PS4 earlier in the month let us know this morning that they are ramping up for a second and final push of their message on Wednesday, June 5th starting at 8AM EST / 5AM PST/ 1PM GMT.

E3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited?  Are you excited?  Oh man, it's like Christmas in June!

I don't know about you but I'm taking a vacation day on Monday, June 10 so I can stay home and watch all the conferences.  Yes, I'm that big a video game dork.

Here's the show schedule for June 10th (all times PST):

Earlier in the week Sony fans took to Twitter to urge Sony executives not to include a DRM-scheme on PS4 games similar to what Microsoft has planned for used games on Xbox One. While a number of Sony executives said that they were grateful for the feedback, they were smart enough to not actually talk about this issue.

If you missed Episode 53 while it was being recorded live on Google +, you can catch it on YouTube now or find it on iTunes. During the show Andrew Eisen, E. Zachary Knight, and James Fudge talked about the latest GamePolitics poll, Nintendo's monetization of "Let's Play" videos on YouTube, the continued trials of Wii U, and Xbox One's various positives and negatives.

When Microsoft made its Xbox One public last week it apparently hadn't been able to secure the domain names associated with its fancy new console. Now it has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum in the hopes of getting the names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net, according to Shacknews (based on a Fusible report).

Update: This Kotaku story citing an unnamed Microsoft rep. notes that the Kinect does not have to be on all the time:

"Yes, you can turn the system completely off," the Microsoft rep said. "This would use no power and turn everything off. We’ll share more details about how it all works later."  Article author Stephen Totilo speculates that this involves pressing the console's power button.

Microsoft tells OXM that it can sell 25 million more Xbox 360s even after it rolls out the Xbox One. The Xbox 360 has sold an estimated 77.2 million units since it launched in 2005. Speaking to the UK's Official Xbox Magazine, Interactive Entertainment Business Senior VP Yusuf Mehdi said that Microsoft plans to sell these 25 million additional consoles over the next five years.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled on Thursday that Microsoft did not infringe upon any of Motorola Mobility's patents related to its Xbox 360 console. This latest decision from the ITC puts an end to an investigation that stretches as far back as 2010.

Sony's Microsoft's ass-numbingly long PlayStation 4 Xbox One blowout is finally over!

So what did you all think?

Are you excited?  Are you cautiously optimistic?  Does your apathy towards Sony's Microsoft's new console know no bounds?

Microsoft's Phil Harrison seems to be on a different page than the rest of Microsoft - or at least his messaging was out of sync yesterday after Microsoft announced its new Xbox One console. First there was the whole dust-up over used games on Xbox One, and now there is some confusion on how long your Xbox One can be disconnected from the Internet...

Microsoft's messaging on how used games will be handled on the Xbox One seems to be muddled, contradictory and confused as different individuals within the company offer out-of-step messaging on the subject. At issue is a report in Wired indicating that when software purchased on discs at retail or through the Xbox Live Marketplace is installed on a system it is associated with the purchaser's user account.

People hoping to hear that Xbox 360 games would be backward compatible with the freshly announced Xbox One will be upset to hear that Microsoft has not suddenly changed its position on the matter. Speaking to Microsoft's Marc Whitten today, The Verge asked if it would do something similar to what Sony promised with PS3 games on PS4 - to eventually make them playable (somehow) through the cloud.

Update #2: The Verge caught up with an unnamed Microsoft rep. who claims that Microsoft will not stop the use of used games: "Microsoft says it's 'designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games,' and promises to offer more details in future."

The Verge is reporting that Microsoft may kill off its point system used on its Xbox Live Marketplace. Citing sources "familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans," The Verge says that Microsoft will replace the MS Points system with a gift card system for retail and will support straight transactions of money using credit and debit cards. The gift cards will be similar to what Apple offers for iTunes - in other words they will have a real cash value.

One of the most pervasive criticisms that came out of the event where Sony unveiled the PS4 was the fact that none of the presenters were women.

To be honest, I didn't notice until someone pointed it out.

Oh, don't give me that look.  I'll bet you didn't notice that not a single one of the presenters were red-heads.  Now, I don't know if that's true or not but I bet you'd have to scan through footage of the entire presentation to confirm it one way or the other.

Sorry, I got off topic.  Where was I? 

Last week we asked you to guess what Microsoft might name its next console. From five choices, a clear majority of you took the "joke" option, saying that the Next Xbox console would be called "Xbox Steve." Some of you may have thought this option referred to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, or perhaps you thought it was an homage to the Minecraft character of the same name. Whatever the reason, 40 percent of the votes (169 votes) decided that "Xbox Steve" was the best choice.

A source speaking to The Wall Street Journal today tells the publication that Microsoft's long-rumored "Xbox TV" set-top streaming device is struggling, with Microsoft not sure how or if it will move forward with the device.

The unnamed sources claims that the device has gone through several redesigns - including a recent design that integrated the Kinect - but Microsoft is not satisfied with it.

An investigation examining 400 apps conducted by Develop shows that there is a lack of consistency in the way in-game purchases are presented on digital stores. The investigation follows the UK government agency the Office of Fair Trading’s recent announcement that it would investigate in-app purchases in children’s games.

On Tuesday, May 21st, Microsoft is set to tell us all about the successor to the Xbox 360 and how utterly offended it is that anyone would think it's stupid enough to try and sell an always-on console.  I wouldn't expect pricing or a solid release date but I'm sure we'll hear what it's going to be called.

An internal Microsoft memo offers some good news for those worried about the next Xbox system (which they call Durango in the memo) requiring a constant connection in order to use. According to that internal Microsoft e-mail (as reported by Ars Technica) the next Xbox has been designed in a way that recognizes the delicate nature of today's Internet connections.

The Federal District Court in Seattle, Washington has given Google's Motorola Mobility a slap in the face, ruling that its FRAND patent fees collected from Microsoft to be worth only about $1.8 million a year. The court said that the H.264 video standard and the 802.11 wireless standard patents weren't worth the $4 billion Motorola was seeking to collect.