MTV's Multiplayer speculated and has now confirmed that Microsoft is currently hiring new team members for Peter Jackson's mysterious Halo-related project. The speculation arose when Microsoft posted several new job listings looking for people to "help develop a new experience in the Halo universe" alongside an "external luminary." So, Halo and a luminary. Sounds like Peter's project to us.

While at first it seemed strange that Microsoft would only now be hiring for the project, Microsoft followed up with MTV to clear things up. The company told MTV, "Microsoft Game Studios has been hard at work collaborating with Peter Jackson and Bungie on the development of [a Peter Jackson-helmed Halo project]. At this time, it's necessary to grow the internal team to keep pace with development. Bungie will continue to remain involved in multiple aspects of the Halo Universe with MGS." So, it turns out that the project's development team is merely expanding -- as opposed to just now being formed -- which would indicate the project has become more expansive as well.

Let's hope we can hear some news about the actual game sometime soon. Seriously, we're starving for info.

[Via Joystiq]

Yesterday, select members of the gaming press were invited to play a little bit of Halo 3 before its impending release. None of them can talk about their experience until September 23, but in the meantime Chris Remo of Shacknews sat down with Bungie content manager Frank O'Connor to discuss the State of the Developer.

Unsurprisingly, the team is already considering what downloadable content to add to the game. "For example," said O'Connor, "we already now see there will be a need for more smaller symmetrical maps ... I think [content packs] will be, if not more frequent, more predictible and smoother."

Also discussed was the map tweaking of Forge, where 23 hours prior to the interview, O'Connor reveals that testers created a baseball gametype with rocket launchers and gravity hammers. "They even got bases in," he said. If only The Sandlot used rocket launchers, then they'd never have been afraid of that ill-tempered dog. How about a game of Krikkit, anyone?

The super-secret Peter Jackson project was also briefly mentioned. All O'Connor would say is that it "continues on pace" and that Bungie producer Curtis Creamer and cinematics director CJ Cowan managed to crash a Warthog into a wall.

A 128-page PDF file allegedly containing Alex Garland's original Halo film script has leaked onto the internet. Garland famously was paid $1 million to write up the first draft for the movie, although the script has since been rewritten by D.B. Weiss and John Olson (A History of Violence).

So is this really Garland's writing, or is it just well-written fan fiction? 1UP thinks it's legit, and provides a few sample pages of the ending (including the cliché post-credits sequel teaser) from the file. We haven't read the PDF, but the sample pages do thematically match what Latino Review wrote about Garland's draft back in November 2005.

Still, we're hesitant to call this real -- and, even if it is, the script is an early draft of a project at least twice-rewritten that may never go into production in the first place. Head over to 1UP to peruse a few selected pages from the alleged script.

The second in the series of live action Halo shorts has hit the internetz with a quickness. We received a few very low quality shaky-cam videos, but this one seems to do a better job than the rest. The first thing you'll notice is that there is much more action this time around than was present in the first short, "Arms Race". That is to say, this video actually has action. Honestly, the quality is low enough that it's hard to judge how good the video actually is. Still, Neill Blomkamp's directorial style, which emphasizes documentary-like realism over special effects wizardry, helps make the film grittier and, well, more realistic. Without judging the film before it's released properly, we will point out that there is one thing that is definitely missing: music. With such a rich musical history from which to draw, we're a little befuddled that neither of the Halo shorts have done so. Without Marty O'Donnell's music, it just doesn't quite feel like Halo. Again though, this video may not even be finished for all we know (the bright green plastic looks a little out of place for example). Here's hoping the final product really delivers.

Protip: keep an eye out for errant needler shards. They will give you a nerdgasm.

[Via Joystiq. Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Speaking to Game Informer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, Shane Kim, has a lot to say about the current state of the Xbox. The main focuses of the interview are Microsoft's 2008 lineup, the 360's performance in Japan, and the Games for Windows brand. Of particular interest is the discussion on games likely to be released in 2008. Microsoft's E3 keynote focused only on 2007. Addressing the question of 2008 and games like Alan Wake, Too Human, and Fable 2, Kim notes that these titles are not "way out in the future" and that Microsoft would not be talking about them if they were. Kim also tantalizingly applied this reasoning to Peter Jackson's Halo project.

Another of the more bizarre moments of the interview occurred during the discussion on Microsoft's performance in Japan. According to Kim, Resident Evil 5 for the Xbox 360 was supposed to be "the big announcement." We're a little puzzled by this -- as was Game Informer -- considering the game was announced for PS3 and 360 just over two years ago. Read the full interview after the jump.

Bungie and Peter Jackson plan to work together on a Halo animated series once Halo 3 is done, revealed Microsoft Games Studios' Shane Kim in an interview with GameSpy. When asked what the developer is working on after Halo 3, Kim replied that "they have the collaboration with Peter Jackson on the animated series."

Update:

We regret to inform you that the Halo animated series which briefly flitted about in your imagination solely came about due to a transcription error. We spoke to GameSpy's editorial director, John Keefer, and confirmed that Shane Kim only labeled the upcoming project as an "interactive" series. GameSpy "regrets the error" and has now appended an editorial note to the article.

The Halo movie has been through its share of ups and downs. Fans will recall that Universal and FOX backed out of the picture some time ago. Speaking to Stuff.co.nz, Peter Jackson, previously brought on as producer of the film, said that he expects Universal and FOX to show renewed interest in the film after the release of Halo 3. Given the game's staggering pre-order numbers, he might be right. Also noteworthy, Jackson states that he won't produce the film without Neill Blomkamp, whom Jackson chose based on his short film work.

What do you think, fanboys? Has Halo missed its chance at Hollywood success, or will Halo 3 spark a renewed interest?

[Via Joystiq]

During Microsoft's annual Blogger Breakfast at GDC (which Richard will be writing about soon), our Joystiq blogging army received some interesting news. During the breakfast, Shane Kim revealed that Peter Jackson is currently in the pre-production phases of two episodic games for the Xbox 360, with one being based on the (previously announced) Halo universe. When hearing the news, everyone jumped at the chance to pry more information from Shane's lips, but he refused stating "I may have said too much already". So there you have it folks, two episodic games coming from Peter Jackson. Anyone want to speculate to why Jackson chose to go with episodic content rather than a stand alone game? So many questions and so much waiting ...

If you haven't had your fill of Halo 3 news this week, then check out MTV's video interview with Microsoft's GM of publishing of first party titles Phil Spencer. Phil talks about everything Halo related including Peter Jackson's upcoming project, Halo Wars, and the Halo 3 beta. He discusses where they are at with all their projects, how involved they are with Mr. Jackson, how the Halo Wars RTS came to be, and gave us no news on the beta that we didn't already know. It's good to hear about the status of the other Halo projects as it looks like we'll be hearing about Halo Wars in the near future. RTS FTW, SS! (For those of you who aren't l33t, that translates to "real-time strategy for the win, super sweetness!")

Update 1: Corrected our source and video links.

[Via 2old2play]

In a short but sweet news post, Xbox Zone revealed new details on the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive it discovered from Xbox Australia. The most pertinent news is that Oz will get its chance to pick up the add-on peripheral on March 29 for $249 AUD, which translates to approximately the $200 price tag for the US edition.

The initial shipments of the drive will come with a Universal Remote Control (we presume he means the official Microsoft one) and a copy of King Kong on HD DVD. We're not going to pretend we can gauge the next-gen format market in Australia right now, so anyone hailing from the Land Down Under is more than welcome to contribute observations.

In response to news that Universal and Fox have pulled out of the Halo movie project, Bungie claims there's more to the story than has been reported. For now, Bungie is all "optimism, satisfaction and happiness for reasons [it] can't go into."

In its most recent weekly update, Bungie takes a stab at Universal and Fox, suggesting that the studios were too concerned with "the numbers" to be ideal partners. After all, Bungie reminds us that the Halo film is a delicate "creative process," implying that a reported $200 million budget, in the hands of a rookie director, is an investment worth making when Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, WETA, and Microsoft are on-board -- and, Bungie confirms, they are all still on-board and continuing with pre-production. Sounds like a deal to lure a new partner is already in the works.

Bungie opens their weekly update by posting Microsoft's official response to Universal/Fox's decision to drop the Halo movie following a failed attempt at an 11th hour shakedown:

"We are disappointed that Universal and Fox wanted to significantly renegotiate the financial points of the deal. But the Halo franchise is hugely popular and our goal remains the same - to find a partner that shares our passion and will creatively collaborate with us to best represent the story and spirit of the Halo franchise. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and the rest of the creative team are dedicated to ensuring the Halo movie becomes a reality. We are already in discussions with potential partners who recognize the value of the Halo brand and its appeal to consumers worldwide."

The Bungie team themselves remain highly optimistic that a less stingy and more creatively aware financial partner will be found in short order. Yes, when the Hollywood bean counters who practically ruined the Fantastic Four and X-men 3 back out of your movie deal, it's a good thing.

We got in touch with Todd Riddle, Group Creative Director at Fallon about the current Travelers commercial that bears a striking resemblance to Katamari Damacy. The spot (high-quality version) in question shows a mass enveloping people, trees, and cars, as it bounces through San Francisco. Riddle said that there's no Katamari relation, but the spot is connected to Peter Jackson's special effects house.

Riddle has been in advertising for 20 years and has won of dozens of accolades including Cannes, Clio, and One Show awards. We asked him a few questions about games and the spot, titled "Snowball," via email.

Microsoft's X06 event started off in a thunderous explosion of news, with pieces of informative debris raining down upon the unshielded denizens of the internet since yesterday. If you're feeling clueless or overwhelmed, allow us to subject you to a helpful hail of bullet points:

• Peter Jackson reveals a new partnership with Microsoft Game Studios. The king of the rings and his newly established Wingnut Interactive studio will work on an original property for the Xbox 360, as well as an unnamed Halo title. One can only hope that the crappy-game-based-on-a-movie and the crappy-movie-based-on-a-game curses cancel each other out when it comes time to play Peter Jackson's Halo: The Game of the Movie of the Game.
  
• A new RTS, Halo Wars, is unveiled. Set in a time before the first Halo, the real-time strategy game is being developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios. Many confused pundits take the opportunity to point out that the Xbox 360 does not have a keyboard or a mouse.
  
• Grand Theft Auto IV will have two "epic" downloadable episodes exclusively on Xbox 360. Rockstar and Take-Two promise that the new episodes will provide "hours" of new gameplay and will be available "just months" after the game's October 2007 release. The vague wording of the announcement fails to rule out the possibility that the PS3 could receive different downloadable episodes of its own.
• The next Splinter Cell game is console-exclusive to the Xbox 360 -- meaning handhelds and the PC are still fair game. Fewer people are upset by this than those who realize Splinter Cell: Double Agent isn't available on anything yet.
• Bioshock is exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows when it releases "next Spring". The wording of the press release says nothing of the game should it release during any other season following Spring. Of course, nobody likes waiting ...
• Project Gotham Racing 4 is coming. And the surprise hit gamers with all the force of a linen sheet flapping in the wind.
• Rare is working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game. Presumably, players are still keen on collecting all the coins, apples, music notes, beans, feathers, diamonds, pearls, potions, rings, blocks, wrenches and / or yams mysteriously floating around the finely rendered landscape.
• Marvel Universe Online is announced for the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista. It's being developed by the folks behind City of Heroes -- perhaps you remember Marvel suing them for creating tools that allowed people to venture online as, err, Marvel characters.
  
• Doom and Sensible World of Soccer join the Xbox Live Arcade lineup. The classic first-person shooter was already available yesterday for 800 points ($10). The Amiga footie title has not been given a release date yet, though the press release insists on using the word "soon."
  
• The Xbox 360 HD-DVD costs $199.99 in North America and €199.99/£129.99 in the UK, France and Germany. It arrives in mid-November and will include the Xbox 360's Universal Media Remote and the HD-DVD version of Peter Jackson's King Kong. And with that, the circle is complete.

Congrats, scavenger hunter, you've found the secret c o d e good for one free copy of B A N K S H O T B I L L I A R D S 2: PRF4Q W798V G7JX9 2RX2W VT94G (Contest ran on 12/30/2006. The code has been redeemed.)

The most awkward moment of today's X06 press briefing may also have been the most profound. We are of course talking about the moment that Peter Jackson took the stage to massive applause. While PJ -- we call him PJ -- looked a little nervous talking in front of so many people, what he announced could turn out to be one of the biggest announcements for the video game industry this year.