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An eBay seller is attempting to offload what they're calling a "Microsoft XBOX Durango Development Kit". At time of posting, a bid of $425 will get you out front with a chance to buy it.
Interestingly, the seller's name is "superdae", which matches the handle of the person who, last week, was claiming to have images of what they said was "Durango Kinect"; namely, a snapshot of development tools for Kinect's successor, rumoured to be included with the next Xbox console (itself code-named Durango).
There's every reason to be sceptical of the auction. It contains only a single image, of a nondescript black PC tower, and has almost no information on what's actually inside the box. And just because this guy posts a second Durango item on the internet doesn't mean the first one was the real deal. What's to say it's not a scam, and any buyer would simply be receiving a standard PC?
Then again, it's almost certainly the same guy, seeing as the same Twitter account that posted the "Durango Kinect" image is also promoting this auction. And the reason for the lack of information could well be to cover their ass; these things are Microsoft property, and you can bet the hammer would come down on anyone caught trying to sell one to the public, especially before the console has even been officially revealed. The less information out there, the better for the seller.
There's also the fact that eBay take fraudulent sales pretty seriously; if a buyer doesn't get what they paid for, then the transaction can be torn down, meaning the seller doesn't get a cent.
"Superdae" is policing the bids, saying "I only expect people who know what it is to buy it. Otherwise you have no reason to bid". Bids of over $10,000 have already been turned down by the seller.
While it'll be fun seeing just how much money somebody is willing to gamble on this being an actual development kit for an unreleased console, it'll be just as interesting seeing what action Microsoft takes in response. We've contacted the platform holder for confirmation on the item's authenticity, and will update if we hear back.
