New Xbox 360 in the Making, to Arrive Bundled with Project Natal? [New Xbox 360 Valhalla Motherboard Spotted but New Xbox 360 Console Nowhere to be Seen Yet]

Just a little while ago we confirmed that Project Natal was en route and on schedule for a holiday season release. Actually Steve Ballmer did all the confirming for us but he also mentioned that a new Xbox 360 might be in the works. At the time we assumed that Microsoft is looking to make a slimmer version of its current console, just like Sony did with its PlayStation3 Slim.

Right now we know that Project Natal will work together with any of the current Xbox 360 models so we won’t really need a new one. Microsoft confirmed that one too many times and I doubt they will change their mind particularly now. But I am sure that a lot of Xbox 360 fans will be interested in getting the new model once it comes out especially if Microsoft would start selling it by Christmas time.

Today we have more proof that Redmond is working on a new, undisclosed yet, Xbox 360 model. The picture above supposedly shows the new motherboard of the new Xbox 360 which has been apparently spotted in the wild. Or conveniently leaked by the folks at Microsoft in order to convince us not to invest any money in the PS3 or the Wii.

Considering that Sony has just unveiled its PlayStation Move we wouldn’t be that surprised to see Microsoft try to generate some buzz around its console gaming future too.

The motherboard in the picture, codenamed “Valhalla” has been leaked on a Chinese forum and it will tour the web as all Xbox 360 enthusiasts will be interested to see it while wondering about the design of the new game console.

If this picture is indeed showing us the real deal, we are looking at a slimmer motherboard that will feature a CPU/GPU combo chip, a smaller heatsink and a SATA port. We’d like to receive more details from Microsoft on the matter but I doubt it will happen anytime soon.

There is a hint that does suggest the fact that Microsoft is working on a new Xbox 360 though. The company is looking for a Motherboard Design Engineer for the Xbox 360 Console Development team whose role would be to “specifying, designing, implementing and verifying the mother-board and other various sub-system boards that make up the XBOX 360 product line.” In case you first heard about the job from us and then got hired then, by all means, remember to share some love and conveniently leak a few things about the next Xbox 360. Wait a second, did I just say that out loud?