Microsoft knows that Halo is a system seller. That’s why last year at E3 we saw the TBD titled Halo get a tease. But without knowing when the next Halo would be coming out, they needed to keep the appetite wet for gamers before the hoopla of this year’s E3 kicked in. What better way to do so than open up preorders to the world. If you head to Amazon you can place your preorder on Halo 5: Guardians which is set to ship by end of year 2015 (no doubt, this will be more formally announced with an actual release date at E3 or at least a quarter).

There are two things that stand out about Halo 5: Guardians based off the current cover artwork. The first is the name. Since Halo: Combat Evolved, this is the first proper Halo title to have a suffix attached to it. This leads one to believe it is either because they feel just another number isn’t enough of a differentiator to keep motivating new purchases or these new Guardians are that essential to the plot.

Since we already told you the important facts about the XBox One yesterday, I thought I would take time to let it sink in and then give my reaction to what was announced. Any of you follow me on Twitter saw my initial reactions yesterday, but I wanted to be fair and take a step back before voicing my actual thoughts instead of just hoping for retweets. This isn’t about being a fanboy or ranting, but just my honest reactions to the announcements.

First off, the name has to be addressed. I like the fact that Microsoft didn’t go with calling the console just “XBox” again and at least the “One” differentiates it. I call my current console the “360” in conversation and I don’t doubt that I’ll end up calling the XBox One just the “XBox,” but it was at least better than Apple’s iPad, iPad 2 and then “new iPad.” And let’s be honest, the name isn’t what sells a system as the Wii proved since every gamer ripped that name to shreds.

Also, thank you to Microsoft for showing the system. They needed to do something to separate themselves from Sony and the PlayStation 4 and rather than continue the pissing contest that is going to reach E3, they just showed what it looked like. Much like the name, the overall look of the system isn’t going to make or break the sale of a console (again take a look at the Wii). I was happy to see most of the design on the controller remained and was happy to see the D-Pad had been changed as it is especially reviled by fighting gamers.

Hooray for Blu-Ray. Although that means my HD-DVD is now officially in the same category as Betamax and Laserdisc.

I appreciate Skype being on the XBox One and integrated with the “Snap” feature, but I feel like I’ll never use it. The last thing I want when watching TV or a movie is to have someone talking to me. Maybe if I was a sports guy and wanted to talk trash during a game with my friend across the country during a basketball game, I’d be down. But if I am watching The Walking Dead, don’t you dare try calling me during the show.

During an event today at its Redmond, WA campus, Microsoft announced the brand new Xbox console everyone had been waiting for. Dubbed “XBox One” the new console features a host of internal and external improvement, enhancements and new features/content including 8GB of RAM, a 500 GB internal HD, USB 3.0, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a Blu-ray drive and three operating systems: The standard Xbox OS, the kernel of Windows 8 for web applications and a third platform that connects the two together.

Microsoft has also completely redesigned its Kinect sensor to better respond to users’ voices and gestures and has overhauled its Xbox Live experience, which is now supported by 300,000 servers, or 20 times the number of servers that currently power Xbox Live. That’s a lot of servers.

Microsoft also said during the event that it will launch 15 exclusive games on the Xbox One, 8 of which are new titles. The major one reveled was, of course, a brand new Call of Duty game called: Call of Duty: Ghosts.

As always, the Monday Freeview is here to help point you towards the tip top best in free entertainment. And today, a special one day promotion is in the works from the team at 434 Industries. The best kept secret in gaming, the Halo 2: HD Remix is up for grabs today. Though you won’t be able to play the game today, the 434 Industries website will be a giant treasure hunt for gamers and hackers alike as the game’s developers have taken the series creator Bungie’s approach to ARG marketing to their newly announced title. Hidden throughout the site will be series of 25 digit codes, that once found can be redeemed on XBox Live, granting the free downloadable versions of the game, including multiplayer, to one hundred individuals.

Studio head Frank O’Connar, who announced the game and the ARG early this morning, told the invited press, “We are happy to be able to help complete the cycle of Halo on the XBox 360. There are some people who have never had the chance to play the original Halo 2 because it was only available on the XBox. Now, they can get the full glory of the game’s story including its…. controversial abrupt ending as well as full Achievement support this fall. On top of the single player HD remix, there will be full makeover on the multiplayer too including new weapons from the other games in the classic Halo 2 maps.”

Hey all! As I am sure some of the regular readers of The Flickcast have noticed, my favorite part of the Con season is taking pics at them. Unfortunately, due to some professional responsibilities, I was only able to get down to one day of WonderCon this year.

But because my time was limited, I didn’t waste it on panels and the like. Instead I hit the floor with camera in hand and got as many pics of the Wondercon sights as I could.

While WonderCon doesn’t have the size of San Diego or New York Comic Con, the fans there weren’t any less fervent with their cosplay love. This year I saw a lot of new and original costumes I had not seen before. While a pimped out Boba Fett was present, I also saw for the first time Paper Mario as well as a group of female X-Man villains. Alongside the working R2 units, there was a life sized Wall-E that sadly the picture doesn’t do justice as it captured all of the personality of the movie and brought it to life in front of us all.