Jan. 21, 2008 - Update: We have received a statement from Microsoft regarding the details of this story. To read the update, click here.

We received some news today from a local video game retailer saying they were shocked to find old Xbox 360 models inside their new 2007 Holiday Bundle boxes (the ones that come with Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance). The associate who spoke with us said that they discovered this issue earlier today, when a customer complained that the Xbox 360 Premium Holiday Bundle they purchased had no HDMI port. Upon hearing this, the store's video game staff went to look at their stock of Xbox 360 Premium Holiday Bundles, only to find that there was a large mix of old and new models, but all with the new Holiday Bundle packaging. In fact, some of the models were dated back as far as October 2006, which means that not only did they have no HDMI port, they were also running on an older, more defect prone chipsets.

The associate explained that after discovering the issue, the staff had to reorganize all of their Xbox 360 Premium Holiday Bundles, double checking each box to make sure they knew which product line it came from. We were also told that date codes on the boxes which contained the older models had been covered up with newer ones, though the associate said that was probably just so the new Holiday Bundle UPC would cover the old UPC.

While this issue is essentially of no consequence for consumers looking to buy an Xbox 360 Elite console, those who have purchased a Premium version may find themselves somewhat flabbergasted when they are unable to find their console's HDMI port while setting it up, much like the customer noted above. If you are considering purchasing an Xbox 360 in the near future, make sure to take a close look at the box before taking it home. The boxes are, in fact, marked, but the differences between them are so minimal, and the writing is so small, that the models can be easily confused.

As of publishing time, no one from Microsoft was available for comment. We'll let you know when we have an answer from them on the situation.