Halo-Chronicles posts (Subscribe to this feed)

While Microsoft wouldn't say that Halo Chronicles was "canceled" – Peter Jackson told us during the San Diego Comic-Con that the ambitious episodic series was "no longer happening" – it did confirm to us that the project was "on hold." Today, Microsoft hasn't outright confirmed the partnership's end, but clarified the project's current status.

"Microsoft Game Studios is deeply committed to supporting and strategically growing the Halo franchise, and our relationship with Peter and his team is something that we greatly value. Given the bandwidth of both of our companies we've decided to put this joint effort on hold and prioritize resources against other projects like Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach and Halo Legends."

Jackson's manager re-confirmed to the Company Town blog that the collaboration between Microsoft and Jackson had ended allegedly as early as last January. Microsoft has yet to comment on what role it plays in Wingnut Interactive, Jackson's game production company, said to be "still working on new IP."

After Peter Jackson told us last week, "That Halo project isn't happening," with regards to his not quite a game, not quite a movie, erm, thing, Halo Chronicles, we were still waiting for confirmation from Microsoft that the entire project is officially kaputz. And, well, we still don't know that. Speaking with Peter Jackson's manager, Ken Kamins, the Company Town blog further confirmed that on his side of the Pacific, the collaboration between Jackson and Microsoft (at the least) is over.

"They were scaling back everything, including the number of Halo games, and it just made sense at that point," Kamins said, allegedly referencing the January layoffs at Microsoft. Furthermore, according to Jackson's manager, "Peter [Jackson] has people in Wingnut Interactive working on original intellectual property." Wingnut Interactive is the studio born out of a partnership between Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (his business partner), and Microsoft Game Studios. It seems as though Mr. Jackson might be working on some games of his own for now -- with or without Microsoft and, as it would seem, the Master Chief. Microsoft has yet to make any statement regarding, well, any of this.

After years of speculation – appearing on our E3 bingo cards for the last two years in a row (2008, 2009) – it looks like we can finally lay to rest questions about Halo Chronicles, the much-ballyhooed partnership between would-be Halo movie producer Peter Jackson and Microsoft Game Studios. When asked about the project following a screening of District 9 – directed by would-be Halo movie director Neill Blomkamp – Jackson told Joystiq, "That Halo project is no longer happening, it sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening."

First announced in September of 2006, the project was later revealed to be an "episodic" series in 2007 and confirmed as recently as April of last year, when Microsoft said, "Microsoft Game Studios has been hard at work collaborating with Peter Jackson and Bungie on the development of [a Peter Jackson-helmed Halo project]." Another job listing in August of last year again alluded to continued development of the project. With key hires like Ryan Payton for Microsoft's newly unveiled Halo studio, 343 Industries, we're not sure what all is going on if Halo Chronicles isn't. We've asked Microsoft Game Studios to confirm Jackson's assertion and are hoping there's some sort of miscommunication here. Maybe "no longer happening" is a Kiwi euphemism for "totally happening." No?

We caught up with Peter Jackson himself last night, after a screening of District 9 – the feature-length debut of director Neill Blomkamp who had previously been attached to helm the Halo movie that fizzled out. Jackson explained that they felt like they had an amazing director in Blomkamp and they didn't want to lose the opportunity to work with him so, instead of bringing Halo to the big screen, they created an entire film based on his Alive in Joburg short. (See the rest of Blomkamp's work here, in our roundup).

District 9 – which Jackson produced and is coming to theaters on August 14 – is seriously amazing. There's a wide array of alien weapons that would make Ratchet & Clank jealous, CGI aliens that look better than Avatar, walking mech suits, and a really amazing performance from lead actor Sharlto Copley. Clear your calendars and make plans to see this one. But back to the Halo movie that never was: After the screening, we got to sit down with Jackson to ask him about just that. Read on to find out where the Halo movies stands, and if we'll ever see the long-rumored Halo Chronicles video game project.

Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that former Konami employee Ryan Payton will be joining Microsoft Game Studios. Payton will join a newly formed team that is responsible for all current and upcoming Halo titles.

In response to a rumor that Payton had been tapped as the lead producer for the long awaited Peter Jackson Halo Project, Microsoft would only confirm Payton was one of many employees recently hired to make up the new team, according to EDGE Online.

Among the other members of the Halo team announced is fan favorite ex-Bungie employee, Frank O'Connor. as well as former members of Gearbox, id and Pseudo Interactive.

Payton, who is best known for his work as an assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, left Konami in August.

[via Joystiq]

Microsoft confirmed today that Ryan Payton, the assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4 who left Kojima Productions in August, will be working on a Halo game. Microsoft wouldn't confirm to Edge the rumors that Payton is heading the Peter Jackson Halo project, merely that he's on the team working on "upcoming and existing Halo games."

Also confirmed for this team: former Gearbox employee Corrine Yu; her husband and artist from id Software, Kenneth Scott; former Bungie content manager Frank O'Connor; and David Wu, former tech director at Full Auto developer Pseudo Interactive. We can't wait to learn what exactly this team is up to.

In a new encoded post on the official Bungie site a string of text teases what many anticipate was Bungie's canceled E3 reveal. Playing out like a snippet of a Hollywood script, the string of text details a conversation between a Captain - Codenamed: DARE.V.500341(S1) - following up on a squad request to an Admiral - Codenamed: SMN.ACTUAL - calling the shots from a location currently under siege.

At the time of this writing speculation continues to run wild within the Bungie Forums. Popular theories point to new campaign levels, a map pack retail disc with a new cinematic (as seen in Halo 2's map pack) or an entirely new title within the Halo Universe, specifically due to references of the MAC weapon. Some of the more interesting tidbits could easily be gleaned from scanning the string of text (available after the break). The primary, DARE, is given a code number which ends in S1 leading some to believe the string of text occurs prior to Covenant attacks during the SPARTAN-1 era (yr.2491) -- way before John-117 joins the program in 2517.

Which theory gets us excited? The mention of squads could point to a pre-Halo era tactical shooter in the original SPARTAN phase that led to the creation of Master Chief. Wild thinking and speculation but we can't wait to see where this one is going.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Is Metal Gear Solid 4 producer Ryan Payton directing Peter Jackson's Halo project? "Yes," comes the reply from Shacknews, corroborating (thanks, "reliable source!") a Kotaku rumor that places Payton in the "creative director" role on the forthcoming and exceedingly nebulous Halo project from Microsoft and the Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson.

If true, it would mark the second major franchise to be touched by Payton, who left Kojima Productions earlier this year. We've reached out to him for comment -- and for the privilege of touching someone who's a tag on our website.

"There's more than one team building Halo games right now. There are more than two or three teams building Halo things right now" says Spencer, adding "some of them we will own, some of them we won't." Hmm, interesting stuff. Currently, we're aware of two Halo titles, Halo Wars and the Peter Jackson projected dubbed Halo: Chronicles. So, if there's more than three teams working on games, how many Halo titles does that equate to and when do we get to hear about them? Whore that Halo franchise MGS, whore it out good!

The juicy "Gearbox is developing Halo 4 OMG" rumor continues to be at the top of fanboy debate lists, with Microsoft confirming to Kotaku that Corrinne Yu, director of technology at Gearbox and pictured in full Spartan armor, has been hired as principle engine architect (fancy!) for the Xbox manufacturer's internal Halo team. The official statement: "As the Halo franchise continues to flourish, Microsoft Game Studios is growing its internal team to develop future Halo projects."

And what could "future Halo projects" entail? Microsoft isn't blabbing, but suspicious men in trenchcoats posit that Yu will be working on the nebulous Peter Jackson project and putting her Unreal Engine 3 expertise to good use.

That's funny – we could have sworn it was August, not April. It was four months ago, after all, that we reported on Microsoft Game Studios' hiring push for director Peter Jackson's mysterious Halo universe project. Yet we're still seeing postings for what appear to be positions on the game's development team. In this case it's a biggie: creative director.

A new recruitment listing on Gamasutra states that "Microsoft Game Studios' Halo team is looking for a superstar Creative Director to help develop a new experience in the Halo universe." Of course, this could be another new Halo project, but further reading reveals otherwise. Additional responsibilities listed include "[partnering] with key Hollywood talent to collaboratively craft a masterful game experience," and "[collaborating] with game play designers, story writers, game writers, and said external luminary to deliver on a unique game in the Halo universe." We'll give you one guess who the "said external luminary is," and their name rhymes with "Eter Ackson."

[Via 1UP]

Update: Looks like there is no Halo Chronicles alpha after all, as HBO has learned from Bungie's Luke Smith that the evidence is "100% fake."

According to AddictGaming.com, a Bungie employee has been spotted on Xbox Live* playing a game called Robins Perch. What's interesting is the descriptive text that follows: "Chronicles Alpha - Exploring Onyx." Chronicles, eh? Could that be Halo Chronicles, the upcoming collaboration between Peter Jackson and Bungie? We thinks it can. Why the codename Robins Perch though? Considering the Halo 3 alpha was codenamed Pimps at Sea -- the name of Bungie's long awaited piratical pimp simulator -- Robins Perch could be a play on Crow's Nest (the nautical term, not the Halo 3 level). Cute.

The part about exploring Onyx is particularly intriguing, as it implies there could be more than one planet to traverse. Could Halo Chronicles be the Halo MMO that has been rumored for ages? Whatever it is, hopefully the appearance of the alpha means we'll finally hear some solid news about Halo Chronicles soon (at a special event perhaps).

*Note: We can confirm that the gamertag spotted does indeed belong to a Bungie employee. We won't be giving it out for the sake of privacy.

[Thanks, Richard D]

The saga of Bungie v. Microsoft in The Case of the Missing Haloes continues. The L.A. Times spoke with Xbox senior VP Don Mattrick regarding the omission of Bungie's announcement from its Monday press conference. Mattrick told the writers that Microsoft decided to nix the reveal during the show to "save time."

Let that sink in for a moment, you 5+ million Halo fans. Time. Word around the campfire is Microsoft's conference was originally set to run for two-and-a-half hours, but Mattrick wanted to cut the show down to 90 minutes. Of the items to be cut from the show? Anything named Halo. Mattrick told the paper that Microsoft's conference already contained, "an embarrassment of riches," so the Halo trump cards were removed from the docket.

At least we still got to see that sweet Lips presentation though. Now that's a franchise!

Surely it had nothing to do with the fear of taking attention away from Final Fantasy XIII for 360. Balderdash! Or, Gears of War 2. Poppycock!

Now the question remains, when will we see the new secret Halo game Bungie is working on? "We felt we could do this game more justice with a more dedicated event," Mattrick said in the L.A. Times piece. Sounds like it was planned all along, it's just funny that Bungie took it the way they did. It's almost like they were left out of the loop.

Bungie.net has been updated. No, nothing was announced. That was canceled, but the update has come in the form of a quick-n-dirty Q&A regarding the situation. Responding specifically to internet claims that Bungie was masterminding a plot to trick fans only to later reveal an 'OMG-megaton,' Bungie's Luke Smith posted an update today -- and please, really listen.

"As much as fans wanted to believe otherwise, this is in fact, the truth and not a cruel hoax or prank. E3 is winding down and there are no plans to make a surprise announcement later this week," Smith wrote.

Smith does assure fans that everyone at Bungie is aware of their disappointment and even share in it as "a metric ton" of work was done to create and showcase something special at 7:07am this morning. Smith also does well by the community by answering some of the more controversial questions later last night.

Smith revealed that Bungie learned of the postponement near 7pm and for the sake of tradition timed the release that that time. The splash image was not removed for people who were not online during the situation and went to Bungie the next morning looking for details. Finally, Luke Smith assured fans that former tester Harold Ryan is the current president of Bungie LLC.

Maybe all the drama revolving the Bungie announcement and subsequent postponement wasn't worth the headache.

In an interview with MTV Multiplayer blog Microsoft's head of Xbox Don Mattrick confirmed that Bungie is working on a new Halo title. Mattrick told MTV that Bungie's next title wasn't revealed because Microsoft felt they had enough content and excitement surrounding its other announcements (Sup, Final Fantasy XIII).

When pressed on the lack of Halo news, specifically regarding Ensemble Studio's real-time title, Halo Wars, Matrrick told MTV not to worry and announcements would be coming and then let it slip that Bungie is working on a Halo title.

Matrrick then clarified that the Bungie project is not related to Halo Wars or the the long-announced Peter Jackson project, codenamed Halo: Chronicles.

Was this the 10:07 AM PT announcement, the rumored Halo-based tactical shooter or were they the same?

[Thanks, Dan Dizzle]