Microsoft have confirmed the news that gamers have been speculating upon for months now, by revealing the launch price for the Xbox 360 during the Leipzig games convention in Germany.

The console will launch in two formats, giving two different prices - a basic "core edition" at £209.99, and a £279.99 "premium edition" which is said to come with over £100 worth of accessories.

A 20GB hard drive, wireless controller, faceplate, headset, component HD-AV cable and bonus Media Remote will all come as standard in the £279.99 bundle, whilst the cheaper core package will see the Xbox 360 coming with just a wired controller, faceplate and standard AV cable.

Estimated pricing for the various accessories has also been confirmed, with faceplates set to retail at £14.99 each, the detachable Hard Drives at £69.99, 64MB memorycards at £22.99, and wireless controllers priced £32.99 each, with a wireless network adapter at £59.99.

Extra battery packs (£9.99) for the wireless controllers will give up to 25 hours gameplay per time, and a "Play and Charge kit" (£14.99) will allow the controllers to become wired models and charge whilst gameplay is still in action.

A choice of AV cables will also be on offer with a standard Scart lead setting you back £17.99, or a VGA lead allowing you to link up to a flat panel TV or computer monitor costing £19.99, whilst the Media Remote (£19.99) will allow you to control the 360 from the comfort of your chair.

The only details that remain unknown are the launch titles and an exact release date for the machine, which is currently tipped as being sometime between November 4th and 21st, but looks set to be confirmed at the X05 event in Amsterdam in October.

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