Xbox 360's failure rate is gaming's holy grail no more. Numbers from all sources are coming up - retailers giving their estimates and users offering their educated guesses. In Microsoft's repair center in Havant, 1,500 to 2,500 units are reported to be sent back daily.

Not only does that shed a light on Microsoft's dark secret, but also reveals that there are some fishy processes going on when UK owners send their consoles back for repair. Lee Sherman testified to 360-Gamer.com about his frustrating experience.

This unsatisfied gamer suffered three weeks without his 360, no thanks to the not-so user-friendly customer reps who weren't able to help. Constant calls asking when he'll get it back only gave him the answer it'll be “returned shortly.” Unable to resist, he asked for the repair center's number but was told that there are no phones directly to where his machine was.

Upon investigation, he found out that the person on the other line did indeed lie - repair center had a number. What's worse, it was in Prague and not in Havant. Lee stated:

A shocking statistic we found out though is that between 1,500 to 2,500 consoles get sent to Havant by three UPS lorries per day, to then be shipped to Prague for repair. [We] phoned up Nora the [customer service] supervisor again, who then admitted my console was in Prague and hadn’t been looked at yet – she seemed amazed that we knew!

360-Gamer also found an old post further supporting this claim. Forum user LordBrown posted on Xbox.com last June 23:

I just spoke to the customer support people because my 360 has been gone since the 8th of June. Apparently because of the backlog in Havant they’re sending 360s to repair centres outside the UK! And that because of this Microsoft are legally allowed an additional ten days to get your 360 back to you.

Do note that we haven't confirmed credibility of these guys. So 'til we hear any official statement from Microsoft on this (if they do give out one), let's leave this one on the rumor mill.

Dedicating to the avid gamers' world of game music devotion, the GCDC 2007 to start this coming August will also be seeing a live performance by the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague on popular game soundtracks from Starcraft, Final Fantasy IX, Ragnarok 2, Stranglehold, Metal Gear Solid 2: Snake Eater, Secret of Mana and The Abbey Turrican 2.

Conducted by Andy Brick, the orchestra will also perform popular classics in medley form in salute to the Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga as pioneering game platforms for the game industry, as stated by an official press release.

The performance will be held at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig on August 22, 8 p.m. and won't be an official part of the GCDC 2007 opening ceremony. Also to appear at the concert is Japanese star opera singer Izumi Masuda, singer Conny Kollet from Germany fame, and Konami-sponsored percussionist Rony Barrak.

Kollet is popular for her performances at the Symphonic Game Music Concert, of which this concert will be the fifth of the series, although many will know her for her rendering of the title song for SpellForce: The Breath of Winter.

Rony Barrak will be performing his version of Metal Gear Solid 2: Snake Eater together with the FILMharmonic Orchestra. Masuda, despite being an opera singer, is more inclined to pop-opera pieces, and could be identified as the same one who rendered the song "Distant Worlds" from Final Fantasy at the concert "VOICES: music from Final Fantasy." Tickets are already being sold as of this moment.

We all know how great of a title Gears of War is. What we don't know is who's the greatest GoW player out there. It could be you, it could be us, and to officially settle this, we invite you to join the tournament being set-up by Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games. The event is being sanctioned by the World Cyber Games (WCG) and everyone around the world can participate.

Here's how Gears of War Global Xbox Live Tournament works: The event itself runs from April 9 to May 6. During this period, compete in GoW ranked matches over at Xbox Live. The top four eligible ranked players for each participating country will then be competing in their country's 2007 World Cyber Games National Championship event.

After the elimination round, the stakes get higher. The top 11 finalists in the world will then be sent to Prague, Czech Republic in July to slug it out in the Grand Final. "We are thrilled to offer the chance for gamers across the world to come together and share the glories of blowing apart someone into little chunks.May the best man, or Locust, win," quipped Cliff Bleszinski, quite thrilled.

And he should be thrilled because the prizes are rather very, well, rewarding. They include:

• Grand prize(s): The 11 top ranked overall players receive a trip for 2 to Prague to compete in the Gears of War World Finals.
• Secondary prize(s): The top 12-25 overall ranked players (after the Grand Prizes have been awarded) receive an Xbox 360 Bundle (Xbox 360 Pro Console, Viva Piñata, Project Gotham Racing 3, Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1, Kameo, and Xbox Live Gold 12 month subscription) and Gears of War faceplates and statues.
• World Cyber Games Prize(s): The top 4 overall ranked players in each participating country win a trip and automatic entrance to their country's 2007 World Cyber Games National Championship event.

Registration for the tournament began last March 29 and will end on April 29. To participate and know more about the event's rules and details, just click the Read link below. See you there!

 Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant will be playing the lead Hitman role as Agent 47 (Yes, we know he denied it but he signed a couple of days after as reported by Variety.) Luc Besson confirms another name for the Hitman cast. Dougray Scott.

Remember the prince in Ever After? The one with Drew Barrymore? (Oh, right. Chick flick.) Or better yet you may remember him better as the bad guy in M:I-2. In Hitman, he's reportedly going to play the man going after Agent 47. We'll see how the movie goes under Fox with Chuck Gordon, Adrian Askariah, Daniel Alter, and Luc Besson producing. Xavier Gens will be at the helm for the Skip Woods screenplay.

Hitman's production begins by late March where they will be filming in Prague. Movie hits the big screen on October 12. And the movie is also reported to be a franchise. Hold on to your hats and let's pray that they stay faithful to the original Hitman.