Microsoft has released some news today that's sure to make Halo fans really happy. 343 Industries has announced that Halo 4 will be released on November 6, 2012. There's no word on whether this date is a worldwide release date, or just for the USA. Halo 4 is the first game in a new trilogy for the Halo series, and the first sequel in the series to be developed by a studio other than Bungie. Despite being a new trilogy, it picks up where Halo 3 left off, with the Master Chief and Cortana stranded in space, heading towards an unknown planet.

We all know Windows 7 will eventually have a successor, and in this case, it is known as Windows 8. Not surprisingly, those guys at Microsoft have extremely good naming sense to keep this going. But will it live up to what Windows 7 has laid out? Quite frankly, with the Start button being removed, or remodeled into a "Hot Corner" actually, they're taking an unnecessary step in simplifying the already simple User Interface.

According to Develop, multiple industry sources claim the next generation Xbox will be ready for a big reveal at the 2013 E3. The expected shelf date for consumers is later that year around the holiday season. Other information about the new Xbox, which is currently being referred to as 'Xbox Next', is not available at this time. However, rumors which are unconfirmed state that EA Games is already in possession of an early prototype. EA has denied this and Microsoft has declined to comment on the entire matter.

Source: Develop

Today was Microsoft's E3 Press Conference - and also the first press conference of E3 - and people all over the internet are having mixed reactions about the conference as a whole. Microsoft showed a lot of first and third party Kinect games geared toward a more casual audience, in addition to a few core Kinect games like a Fable spinoff called Fable: Journey and Star Wars Kinect. Microsoft's biggest announcement, however, was for their highest selling first party blockbuster series, Halo.

Rumors have been floating around the internet for the past two weeks about Microsoft remaking Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. Today the rumors proved to be true, as Microsoft has announced Halo: Anniversary, a remake of the single-player and multiplayer portions of the original game. Microsoft has said that the single-player campaign will feature online co-op, a multiplayer mode that's fully integrated into Halo Reach's community, brand new graphics, and the ability to switch back to the original game's graphics. The game will be released on 11/15/2011 exclusively for Xbox 360 on a retail disk.

Microsoft closed their conference with the promise of a new trilogy. Immediately after, they showed a CG teaser trailer for Halo 4, effectively announcing 5 and 6 in the process. The teaser features the Master Chief and Cortana, after the events of Halo 3's Legendary ending. Halo 4 will be released sometime in 2012.

Stick around for more E3 news!

At a first glance, using Moé Marketing as a strategy for sales isn't a new thing. Microsoft's already jumped on the bandwagon with the anthropomorphism of Windows 7, creating Madobe Nanami. In order for Microsoft Silverlight to get an additional edge in market competition versus Adobe's Flash, the Taiwanese branch of Microsoft created a "Silverlight-tan", Aizawa Hikaru, along with her three elder sisters a few months back. Now, to take things a step further, we get this Galge of a thing for promotions.

Aizawa Hikaru fanart / Credits to 亜科尾 (pixiv142791)

Aizawa Rei fanart / Credits to that same artist 亜科尾 (pixiv142791)

!? That Faceless Protagonist...

To start things off, you need to upload a picture for the face of the protagonist. Click the large button in the lower left and get that picture up there. It could be anything, any anime character, troll face and so on. There's the rotation arrows and scaling to toy around with to get that picture in position. Afterward, hit the rightmost button and start the thing up. It's a simple visual novel with choices to get on any of the sister's routes, or get the good ol' Bad End.

Sadly it's all in Traditional Chinese so I don't have a single clue what this is about. Of course, the theme is Christmas so enjoy. It should be roughly 10 minutes long or so, but it's a nice thing. Go grab Silverlight while you're at it (since it's necessary for this), it's moé marketing anyways.

Microsoft recently announced pricing for its latest x-toy, Kinect. This new product is to be a new and creative motion control system on the Xbox 360. Kinect is set to go on sale in the fall at $149.99. (Sounds pricey, right?) The pricing for Kinect games will be at $49.99, compared to the $59.99 price tag of regular Xbox 360 releases. The Kinect unit will come with a multiplayer outdoor game, Kinect Adventures.

In order to boost sales of Windows 7 in Japan, Microsoft made an anime commercial staring their Win 7's official mascot Madobe Nanami. Nanami is voiced by Japanese Voice Actress Nana Mizuki.

Will this new marketing really work? Only time will tell. But if you talk to Exile, he'll be sure to let you know that Nanami's computer most certainly will not. See if you can catch why by watching the video.

Note: That torrent going around in Spanish really is by us.