What is Bungie up to? Brian Jarrard and Luke Smith have been dropping hints lately, most notably in their podcast, that something big will be revealed and/or announced this July 14th at E3.

New maps for Marathon XBLA perhaps? Or something bigger, like maybe something, dare I say it, Halo-related? Let the speculation frenzy begin.

Sorry boys, though rumors have been popping up of the next installment in the beloved Half-Life franchise being announced at E3 2008, Valve marketing head Doug Lombardi have put those rumors to rest.

Instead, Lombardi turned attention to Valve’s latest offering, the cooperative zombie romp Left 4 Dead. Oh well.

Recently rumors have been flying about a planned “slimmed-down” version of the Microsoft XBox 360 gaming console. The sleeker model was supposed to have been in line for a 2009 release.

But a Microsoft representative quashed the rumor by telling tech blog Engadget the whole thing was a hoax.

Unless, of course, the rep was pulling a Clinton and “No new XBox” might mean “It’s the same XBox, only slimmer”.

Pictured above is a possible before-and-after shot of Kid Icarus, if the rumors pan out.

It seems the game’s possible developer, Factor 5, will be pitching a Nintendo Wii remake of the classic NES platform game. That would be mind-blowing–especially considering Kid Icarus has been around longer than many gamers! NES fans will certainly feel their age when all the younger gamers mistake Icarus for a new character.

Nintendo will most likely reveal all at the upcoming E3.