One of the biggest surprises of the X06 press conference, I'd warrant, was when famed director Peter Jackson walked out onto the stage to talk about his new game development studio.

Wingnut Interactive was created in partership with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh, Jakcson and Microsoft Game Studios.

Wingnut's first two projects will be Xbox 360 exclusives. The first will be a cooperative effort with Bungie Studios to create a new IP, not Halo 3 and not Halo Wars, built from the Halo universe. The game will be co-written and co-designed by Jackson, Walsh and the Bungie team.

Scott Henson, director of strategy for Xbox and Games for Windows, told me that they haven't yet announced what form the game will take, so it could be anything from a shooter to a role-playing game to an MMO.

The second game will be a brand new franchise built around an "entirelty original property targeted at bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment."

"Microsoft has built an amazing living canvas with Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, which allows the storytellers of our time to express themselves in a new medium. They have fundamentally changed how people think about games," Jackson said. "My vision, together with Microsoft Game Studios, is to push the boundaries of game development and the future of interactive entertainment. From a movie-maker's point of view, it is clear to me that the Xbox 360 platform is the stage where storytellers can work their craft in the same way they do today with movies and books but taking it further with interactivity."

Henson wouldn't go into the business relationship behind the new studio, but I suspect they will be only creating games for the 360 and perhaps Vista, since it is backed by Microsoft Game Studios. Brian Crecente

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