It seems kind of strange that they would release this information now (just days before E3) considering how big it was.  Why didn't they wait and release the information at their press conference?

There are much more important things to discuss, maybe. Like Peter Moore's tattoo!

They probably want people to go out and clear out the inventory of the units sitting on the shelves prior to e3. At e3 they will probably announce something like a new model that doesn't break so easily...

I'm certain they released it because of the leaks of the PS3 price drop coming up. They needed to keep the PS3 from having any marketing leverage against the 360 during E3. I can't think of any other reason for the timing.

Why would they want to discuss warranties at E3? This is big news -- and good news, at that -- but I'm sure Microsoft wants the focus of their E3 presentation to be about their upcoming lineup of games and whatever big news Moore will inevitably drop, rather than any potential controversy concerning the longevity of their hardware. His sly tattoo comments lead me to believe they've lured away another big PS3 exlusive, for one. Better for him to have a MGS4 tat than one that says 'Ask me about my big warranty!', eh?

Besides that, with the leaked news of PS3's pricedrop, I imagine we're going to see a similar price drop for Xbox360 announced at their keynote address. Sony has been put in a poor situation with the leak of this news -- now Microsoft is aware of what's happening and they have sufficient time to counter this news with a drop of their own. The MS keynote is before Sony's, so they stand a good chance of stealing away much of Sony's thunder by preempting them with their own slashing of the price. Microsoft can announce the price drop while reiterating that they now carry a superior warranty. Seems like a win-win situation for them.

Additionally, MS has bought themselves an awful lot of goodwill with this move. Potential and current xbox 360 customers are heading into E3 week feeling very good about the console. It helps to reignite the excitement surrounding the brand and will likely inspire more interest in their show presentations.

Agree, and its a real slap to Sony as well. 360 failures were one of the only things stopping the console from taking off...

It gives people a nice positive feeling prior to E3 starting, rather than worrying about not buying 360 software 'cos the hardware will die. 

buying a hardware which will die soon or later during gaming - yeah, pretty smart move. =)))

 fanboyish troll

Microsoft wants the news coverage at E3 to be about games and not faulty XBox 360 system ...

Any balanced article about the XBox 360 warranty info will include information about how the XBox 360 has a high failure rate and they're improving their waranty in response to complaints.