NEW YORK (Reuters) - Internet blog Engadget created a stir among digital game lovers when it wrote that Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will give away thousands of its new Xbox video game consoles in a promotion with soda maker PepsiCo <PEP.N.

While neither company would respond to the report that first appeared in mid-April, dozens of gadget and video game blogs have picked up the item, speculating on everything from Microsoft's marketing strategy to the number of sodas one would need to slurp to win in the bottle-cap contest.