Microsoft has elected to replace the holiday Xbox 360 Elite bundle that we saw during the holiday season with Lego Batman and Pure in a brand new bundle. The big surprise, however, is that the new bundle for the Xbox 360 Elite will come with Forza Motorsport 3 and Halo 3 ODST.

The new Xbox 360 Elite bundle with Forza Motorsport 3 and Halo 3 ODST will come with the regular black finish Xbox 360 console, 120GB hard drive, a single wireless controller, a single wired headset, standard AV cable, and, of course, copies of both Forza Motorsport 3 and Halo 3 ODST. The price will stay the same at $299 USD, and right now we can only confirm that this will be offered in the North America and Europe market.

The decision to offer what some are already calling the Spring Elite bundle might not be too much of a surprise, as it might have more to do with the selection of Halo 3 ODST and wanting to ramp up the excitement of the Halo brand; the Halo Reach beta is right around the corner and players will need a copy of Halo 3 ODST to be able to get into the Halo Reach beta.

The new bundle will start to make its appearance on March 9th, but we hear from some of our retail sources that they may not have on the shelves March 9th, as they still have a number of Elite holiday bundle consoles to move through. Still, if you want the Xbox Elite Forza Motorsport 3 and Halo 3 ODST spring bundle, we suspect that you will be able to find them starting on March 9th.