Halo 4

Update: It's official. As expected, at this morning's E3 keynote, unsecured loans Microsoft revealed both Halo 4 and an enhanced remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo 4 will be the start of an all-new trilogy and will launch on the 360 at the end of next year. And unlike some of the more recent entries in the franchise, it stars none other than Master Chief.

Meanwhile, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be launching on November 15, and will feature enhanced visuals, online co-op, and seven classic multiplayer maps.

Original story: Just hours before the keynote at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Microsoft pushed an update to its E3 website stating that Halo 4 is "on the way." The post was bad credit loans quickly taken down, but it confirms the existence of the fifth installment (or seventh, if you count Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST) in the Halo franchise, as well as other expected games, including Dance Central 2, Kinect Star Wars, and Kinect Sports 2.

The blurb for the Halo 4 post described the news as something "millions of Halo fans have waited for." As Halo: Reach was franchise creator Bungie's last entry to the series, it's likely that Halo 4 will have been developed by Microsoft and 343 Industries. The updated site also mentioned a remastered version of Halo: Combat Evolved that will be released presumably for the tenth anniversary of the first Halo game's November 2001 launch.

This may have been a controlled leak to generate buzz for E3, as its keynote is locking horns with that of the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference: E3's keynote begins at 12:30 pm EDT, just half an hour before the WWDC keynote. We wonder if Halo 4's announcement will accompany that of a new console, or if Microsoft will let Nintendo steal all the hardware thunder with its Wii successor.