In somewhat of an ominous email I, and probably nearly every Xbox Live member, received today from Microsoft, a date has been announced for the folks at Redmond to reveal their next generation gaming console. A day past 3 months after Sony held their presentation for the Playstation 4, M$ will lay it out for everyone on May 21st at 1pm EDT/10am PDT.

Rumors have flowed a plenty about what the next Xbox (720? Durango? Fandango?) will feature, from features like an updated or even built in Kinect sensor, HDMI passthrough letting it act like a cable box, whether or not it will support Blu-Ray media, to screams that it won’t be able to play used games.

Hopefully most, if not all, the rumors out there will be answered during the presentation, and maybe we’ll even see what the damn system will look like (unlike the Playstation 4, which we’re still waiting on…).

Watch the announcement live May 21, 1pm EDT/10am PDT on Xbox Live, Xbox.com or Spike TV.

Say what you will about Spike’s Video Game Awards and their choices of winning titles, but it is one of the places to see the premiere trailers for some of the biggest games of the following year. Six months separated from E3, the VGAs are the biggest nationally televisions gaming event in the latter half of the year in the US. As a result, games that were quiet during E3 get revived interest while other games that were spotlighted at E3 get one last big push before their releases early in the next year.

So far, Spike has revealed three teasers for game’s that will be getting the ultimate spotlight on this year’s VGAs. Gears of War: Judgment will be coming to the VGAs only six months after its E3 announcement and will focus on the character Baird in the early parts of the Locust War. The Last of Us actually made its debut at last year’s VGAs and quickly grew a rabid fan base. Coming from the same studio that brought us Uncharted, The Last of Us has an intense blend of action and survival in an apocalyptic setting while also focusing on the relationship between its two diverse main characters. Finally, after a plethora of delays, Bioshock Infinite will make its way to the VGAs to help prepare for its February 2013 launch.

Check out all the teasers below after the jump and catch the Spike Video Game Awards on Friday night, December 7th at 9 PM on Spike TV.

The Bitcast returns this week with their record setting 8th Episode featuring the Flickcast’s own version of Mario & Luigi, though JC and WallE will both always lay claim to being the star of the episode.

In the News of the Week, JC and WallE discuss the upcoming Spike Video Game Awards show and speculate on the upcoming announcement from Epic Games, the makers of Gears of War and the Infinity Blade franchises. They also discuss the 10th Anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III coming to iOS before getting into detail with South Park: The Game coming from Obsidian. They even talk Beta numbers for Star Wars: The Old Republic and announce the current and upcoming DLC for Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, sadly with the absence of Sean Bean.

In the Long Grind in Skyrim this week, JC gets in detail on both the dragons and music of the Elder Scrolls V.

For the Topic of the Week, WallE shows that he can handle both movies and gaming as he discusses the scores composed for some of the most influential titles in gaming history.

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Saturday night, Spike TV held its annual Video Game Awards show which, as promised, gave the first looks at some huge trailers for 2012’s gaming landscape.

Naughty Dog gets to step away from their blockbuster Uncharted series to work on a new IP titled The Last of Us. This new title takes a different approach from the recent string of zombie / infected scenarios where it looks like it can be a game of stealth and horror mixed together. It isn’t a world like Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead where the creatures flood the street and makes the possibility of combining the stealth and horror genres pretty intriguing.

This has the possibility of becoming a fantastic PlayStation exclusive franchise. The trailer for The Last of Us is definitely one of the great surprises from the VGAs this year.

The Video Game Awards are an interesting thing. Like most basic cable award shows it often plays like a two- hour long advertisement for next year rather than a celebration of the current one. On the other hand, the Video Game industry does warrant a night to honor it’s very best, and the people who run the show clearly are interested putting forth the industry’s best foot in prime time.

This year’s show is going to have one huge advantage to keep the show credible and enjoyable. Zachary Levi, the geeky lead in Chuck and video game voice actor, has just been announced as the host for this year’s show.

“Zac Levi is an avid gamer who is truly a part of gaming culture and understands the fans,” says Casey Patterson, Executive Producer and Executive Vice President, Event Production, Talent & Studio Relations for Viacom Entertainment Group. “He has great ideas about this year’s show. Zac is all about honoring the year in gaming and ushering in the future by showcasing massive world premieres at this year’s event. We’re excited to be working with Zac.”

It is great for the show that it’s host is both a charming, likable guy and some one well versed in gaming culture. As the industry becomes more main stream it will need to rely on people who truly understand it’s culture and not just icons whom geeks decide to love.

The show will premiere live at 8:00 PM EST, Saturday December 10th on Spike TV, MTV 2 and SpikeTV.com