It's been a hectic week for Microsoft, what with the big game Halo 3: ODST coming out to the market pre-maturely than they would have wanted. They also had one of their top execs, Shane Kim, move out, and in his stead were two Xbox execs. No time to wallow indeed, especially when you have new hardware coming out, like the new Zune HD. Let's see how they fare in the coming days. But for this week, I'd have to say, MS did a pretty good job holding up to the stress. Read on after the jump to check out the full Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior.

Microsoft has officially jumped aboard the mobile gaming platform bandwagon via their latest Zune HD handheld, which features gaming functionality. The announcement was made through a press release sent out today, introducing their new Zune HD touch-screen media player. This answers the "matter of when" question posited by Shane Kim previously.

Xbox vice president for strategy and business development Shane Kim is retiring from Microsoft after 19 years in service. He will formally step down at the end of this year.

Ohoho, what's this? It seems Microsoft is starting to get into the handheld gaming business with the Zune HD. A video spotted by Zunited clearly shows a racing game running on the new handheld. Heck, the voice-over lady even says outright that you can play games on the thing. So is this the portable Xbox Shane Kim was talking about? Check it out after the jump.

Confirmed! Microsoft has finally announced that starting Friday, the price of the high-end Xbox 360 Elite console will drop by US$ 100 while the current US$ 299 Xbox 360 Pro console will be reduced to US$ 249 while supplies last. This means that the only two Xbox 360 models at retail will be the 120GB version and the US$ 199 Xbox 360 Arcade console.

I like where Microsoft is taking their Avatars. They're not just limited to your profile to put on a face and look all cool 24/7. We've seen them go for a Joy Ride, we've even seen them playing golf. This time, Microsoft and Activision have joined hands to integrate the Xbox 360 avatars into Guitar Hero 5 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii), where we will be seeing ordinary avatars living out their rockstar dreams.

Microsoft has been making some noise lately regarding an extended lifespan for the Xbox 360 console. One of the things they're counting on is Project Natal. Another is software, the very thing Microsoft was built on. The latter is also what Microsoft exec Shane Kim thinks will be one of the deciding factors for next gen, even more so than actual hardware.

Only recently, Microsoft corporate VP Shane Kim said that their entry into the handheld gaming market is only a matter of time. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, however, thinks that even if Microsoft does try to penetrate that particular market, they won't be competitive at all.

Believe me when I say that a lot was going on over at the Microsoft camp this week. With 12 posts on your favorite Xbox 360 exclusives and 12 more about Microsoft and its high-profile projects, today's Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior ought to give you your fill of 360 news. Grab a snack 'cause this one is gonna take a while if you want to keep yourself updated with the goings-on in Microsoft's side of the industry.

We've heard numerous rumblings of Microsoft gearing up to finally enter the handheld gaming market full steam, but none of them has panned out yet. We still don't know what Microsoft's exact plans for a portable Xbox are, but Microsoft corporate VP Shane Kim says that it's no longer a matter of "if," but "when" and "how.'"