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Lots of speculation on the Xbox 360 hardware front this week, all thanks to a leaked image of what's purportedly the upcoming, slimmed down revision of Microsoft's gaming console. Early analysis of the motherboard revealed an onboard Toslink SPDIF optical output, possibly double SATA connections, and the long-awaited smaller, integrated GPU/CPU chipset, among other changes.

Notably missing seems to be the Memory Units ports, which can probably already be explained; if Microsoft are moving away from those proprietary accessories in favor of mass USB storage, they could save a few bucks by leaving the parts off.

Ben Heck, tech guru and videogame console-to-laptop modifier extraordinaire, has given his insight to Joystiq on this juicy piece of circuitry, and has some interesting observations. Heck agrees that there are now dual SATA ports, which could likely mean an internal HDD for this new model, somehow, as well as a lack of MU ports. Internal optical audio is also a newcomer, WiFi is still missing, and judging by the number of components, it's pretty certain an external power brick is still in the cards. Something that Heck also harmonizes with is the slight chance of a slot-loading DVD drive.

According to his examination of the product, were looking at a motherboard coming in at roughly 8.35" wide X 7.8" high, down from 10.25" X 8.25 on current 360s. However, he says that given these measurements, a drastic reduction in overall size of the console and its casing isn't very probable; "overall size reduction probably won't exceed 1" on height (standing) and possibly very little to .5" on depth (standing)," he postulates. "It's hard to gauge thickness from this photo, but I could see it being slightly thinner than an existing 360. They could mount the DVD lower than it is currently, since there's no pesky overheating GPU / heatsink under it now." And that's that for now, until more evidence surfaces.

Hit the jump for more...

May 3rd is still a little ways off, and if you're anxiously awaiting the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta test, it must seem like forever. Enter Shacknews, who managed to snag a slew of brand new details on Reach's online action, straight from Bungie, and complete with new screenshots. New features headed for LIVE with Reach include the briefly-seen-in-the-recent-trailer Active Roster, essentially a go-to guide within the in-game menu and/or lobby, giving you the rundown of your friends' Reach activity, stats, and more.

We also have a revamped voting/veto system, giving each playlist in Reach four options, with the first being map and gametype, and the remaining three being extra game features. And the choices will be known beforehand, too. "A designer could, for example, ensure that the first choice is always Team Slayer on a set of 3 popular maps, but offer different gametypes in the additional choices."

Arena Playlists are new Slayer and Team Slayer-only playlists, complete with ratings, monthly seasons and five divisions: Onyx, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Steel. For Reach, non-Arena Ranked and Social playlists are being combined into a single experience that will "be smart enough to put you and your party in the proper match based upon how many players you have."

The party-up/lobby merge system has been improved. Players will now be kept in a party after match is completed, unless they use the new opt-out system.

Matchmaking itself will see more options, including the likes of only ever getting paired with a good connection, players of similar skill, or even similar language. To go along with that, Social settings allow players to "rate themselves along four axes to add another layer of criteria to the matchmaking." Those categories include: Teamwork, Motivation, Chattiness, and Tone.

Quite the list of changes. Hit the jump for a brief rundown of the aforementioned Arena system.

Well now, things just got interesting. According to Joystiq, who confirmed the news with two sources, Microsoft will finally be allowing the use of USB storage on the 360 following a system update to be pushed out this spring. Seems the days of overpriced Memory Units, and recent legal action regarding competition, are soon to be over. Hard Drives, however, are still sticking around, with greater capacities on the way.

Documentation by a senior software development engineer at the company outed the new feature, and reveals that "USB Mass Storage Device Support" is on the way, which will allow for gamers to save and load game data to and from 1GB-plus USB devices. The move is apparently a response to the "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices."

In addition to save games, though, Xbox LIVE Arcade titles, Indie Games, downloadable content, Title Updates, full Games on Demand and even disc-based 360 titles will be able to utilize the new storage method -- the latter via the same install functionality the console currently provides, which requires the disc to be present in the DVD drive at all times.

"The system partition occupies 512 MB of space, and by default the consumer partition occupies the remainder of the device capacity, or 16 GB, whichever is smaller," reads the document.

Explains Joystiq: "Upon inserting a blank USB storage device, "consumers are offered two choices: 'Configure now' or 'Customize'." The "Configure now" option will use "the entire device capacity, up to the maximum of 512 MB plus 16 GB" meaning, regardless of the overall size of the device you're using, the Xbox will only enable 16 GB of usable, non-system storage. The "Customize" option will allow you to "preserve some pre-existing, non-console data on the device" such as music."

It's also noted that "the console has a fixed limit of two external USB mass storage devices" no matter if they are "formatted for the Xbox 360 or not."

No word yet on when the update is due to hit, but spring 2010 is a very small window. Microsoft haven't commented on the matter. Certainly an interesting turn of events. All of a sudden that alleged new hardware revision makes a but more sense.

In their continuing effort to make accurate, yet entertaining films based on videogame properties, it appears we have the final casting for Lionsgate's big screen adaptation of Eidos' Kane & Lynch. We're in for a treat, it seems.

While Bruce Willis has long been fittingly confirmed for the role of the mercenary Adam "Kane" Marcus, word cropped up today by way of the movie's screenwriter, Kyle Ward, that rapper/actor Jamie Foxx has been tapped for the role of pill-popping James Lynch. Said Ward on his Twitter account, before it was quickly scrubbed from the web: "Done deal…Jamie Foxx is in.” Did your brain just melt, too? I don't even have words for this.

So far all we know about the film is that it won't be a direct translation of the game (because that would make too much sense), instead being "essentially the story of a mercenary teaming up with a schizophrenic psychopath to save his wife and daughter," producer Adrian Askarieh has stated in the past.  G4 report that sources are indicating Foxx is "in negotiations" for the role, but that is appears this is a reaction to the news being dropped on accident. We should know for sure before too long.

Kane & Lynch is due to hit theatres in 2011. God help us all.

[Update]: Variety report that this is a done deal, with the movie expected to enter production in August.

Warner Bros. Interactive officially announced Lord of the Rings: War in the North this afternoon, the first real next-gen adventure in Middle-Earth to be forged in the fires of Mount Doom. If the name sounds familiar, that's because it leaked out back in 2009, when Warner and Saul Zaentz Company trademarked it.

Developed by Snowblind Studios of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath fame, War in the North is a visceral co-op action RPG that is set "against the backdrop of the famous trilogy, yet forges its own distinct path with a new story and an exciting take on the popular genre. It will give players the unique opportunity to explore previously untold stories in the realm of Middle-earth during the journey of the ring."

Players will not take up arms as pre-defined warrior, instead being able to create their own characters, upgrading his or her skills, weapons and more.

"In The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Snowblind will deliver an action RPG for core gamers featuring authentic narrative and environmental locations from J.R.R. Tolkien's original The Lord of the Rings," said Ryan Geithman, Founder and Studio Head of Snowblind Studios. "This game is a natural evolution of the acclaimed RPG gameplay that Snowblind has consistently delivered over the past years. Players and fans will experience an innovative approach to online co-op gameplay, woven throughout every facet of the game in a way that only Snowblind can deliver."

War in the North is currently scheduled for release sometime in 2011, a bit too far off for this Tolkien fan, sadly. Head over to the brand new teaser site for more.

Announced last November, Capcom's new double-the-fun digital re-release of both Final Fight and Magic Sword has been dated.

Final Fight: Double Impact includes both side-scrolling arcade classics with cleaner, "enhanced" (or old school) visuals, remixed soundtracks, leaderboard support, drop-in co-op, and Achievements. Capcom are even using the “GGPO” network technology to allow for a "frame-accurate arcade experience across the internet with online voice chat and the ability to join games in progress."

The title is slated for release on April 14th on XBLA, and will cost 800 Microsoft Points.

Way back in August of last year, a GameStop survey leaked that indicated the mega retailer was looking into not only a free, tiered rewards system, but a premium card-carrying GameStop Elite program as well.

The former would net gamers points for trade-ins and buying games, with the latter giving extra payout on your used titles; basically an enhanced Edge system. Those accumulated points, however, would be able to be redeemed for all sorts of goodies like discounts, "exclusive in-game accessories," free software, and even an "all-access" pass and/or free trip to E3 or Comic-Con. But this was almost a year ago, so what happened? Where are our rewards?

It appears GameStop haven't forgotten about this would-be awesome set of programs, as they're apparently slated to roll the program(s) out "nationwide by the end of this year," claims Gamervision. Meanwhile, the retail giant told Joystiq that they're "in the process of evaluating loyalty opportunities for our customers. As this is a work in progress, we are not going to comment on speculation to changes to our Edge card program."

Huh. And that's that, I guess. I have to admit that the very thought of even more items to be harassed over during a trip to GameStop nauseates me, but at least it'd be better knowing you're getting something more out of your experience eventually, instead of a magazine subscription and a few extra dollars on that trade-in copy of Madden.