Halo Wars Assistant Producer Bill Jackson told me that the key team members are all staying on board to finish up Halo Wars and get it out the door, but that all is not doom and gloom for the developers once the game wraps.

He said to expect news from the group, good news. Let's hope they land on their feet in the near future as a new studio, perhaps one that can one day be bought up by Microsoft Game Studios. Oh, to dream.

Halo Wars - Field Trip to Harvest [Gametrailers]

Microsoft calls the choice "a fiscally rooted decision that keeps MGS on its growth path."

While Ensemble will see closure come launch date, the statement further explains that a "leadership team" from the studio will form a brand new development entity one that will continue to support Halo Wars post launch and work on unspecified Microsoft Game Studios titles.

Those let go from the studio may find a home at the newly formed, as Microsoft stated it was "working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible."

Good luck to all involved.

Confirmed: Microsoft closes Ensemble [GameSpot]

Those sources, who wish to remain anonymous, told us that Microsoft corporate VP Shane Kim visited the studio today to deliver the bad news. The former vice president of Microsoft Game Studios informed the rank and file that, come Halo Wars ship date, the 13-year old dev studio would be closed.

Why would Microsoft ax one of its more successful developers, one with 20 million units sold over the past decade in the home stretch of development on Halo Wars?

It's an odd move, but not unprecedented for the Redmond giant. It shuttered FASA Studios, developer of Shadowrun, just four months after that developer delivered its Xbox 360 and PC shooter. Rumors of its closure came far in advance of official word.

Letting go of Ensemble may signal a serious change in direction for Microsoft as a games publisher, opting to distance itself further from the PC gaming space amid increasing piracy concerns and build a stronger focus on Xbox development. With "no plans" for a Gears of War 2 PC release and the dissolution of Halo 2 PC developer Hired Gun, Ensemble may have looked, to bean counters, like expensive overhead in a dwindling market, one with little console experience.

Microsoft Game Studios still has a handful of developers under its umbrella, including Lionhead Studios, Turn 10 Studios and Rare, all of whom are hard at work on Xbox 360-only titles.

Internally engineered studios, like Wingnut Interactive and Xbox Live Productions, may now be more of Microsoft's style, as opposed to the buy and burn acquisition methods it has used to build up the MGS label. With studios like BioWare, Bungie and Bizarre being sold to third-party publishers — or in the case of Bungie, to itself — it doesn't leave the company with much of a "second-party" presence.

We've yet to receive comment from Microsoft on the situation at Ensemble Studios, but we'll update when and if we do.

Ensemble, which was founded in 1995 in Dallas, Texas, has sold over 20 million copies of its Age of Empires series. It plans to ship Halo Wars in early 2009.

We've contacted Ensemble and Microsoft for further details.

Rumor: Halo Wars Dev Ensemble Shutting Down, Non-essential Employees Axed [Shacknews]

Tiny figures with little articulation sold in three packs? Sounds like someone wants us to create our own giant Halo Wars dioramas. If only I had a basement. Hit the jump for more details, including the composition of each of the first series packs.

FIGURES AVAILABLE IN SPRING 2009 'If they want war, we'll give them war!'

TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Today McFarlane Toys along with Microsoft Game Studios have announced the availability of action figures for "Halo Wars," the strategy video game based on the legendary "Halo(R)" universe for the Xbox 360. The figures are expected to hit mass retailers in spring 2009 and retail for around $10 each.

"Halo Wars" is a real-time action strategy game created exclusively for the Xbox 360 that allows players to shrewdly direct UNSC forces in realistic warfare. Set early in the epic war between the Covenant and UNSC made famous
by the "Halo" first person shooter games, "Halo Wars" allows players to command the armies of the UNSC during their initial encounters with the Covenant, including familiar units such as UNSC Marines, Scorpion Tanks and the iconic Warthog. It provides a fresh perspective on the war while bringing new heroes to the battle. "Halo Wars" will be available from Microsoft Game Studios in early 2009.

The figures are 2.5 inches tall and have mobility at the waist. Each three-pack features "Halo Wars" characters with different poses and colors with "Halo" weapons. Series One features four unique three-packs:

SET 1: UNSC TROOPS
3 - SPARTAN soldiers (with Assault Rifles)

SET 2: UNSC TROOPS
1 - SPARTAN soldier (with an Assault Rifle)
1 - SPARTAN soldier (with two Magnums)
1 - Marine Infantry (with an Assault Rifle)

SET 3: UNSC TROOPS
2 - SPARTAN soldiers (one with two Plasma Pistols and one with an
Assault Rifle)
1 - Marine Infantry (with a Assault rifle)

SET 4: COVENANT TROOPS
2 - Elites (with Plasma Rifles)
1 - Grunt (with a Needler)

Stay tuned to http://www.SPAWN.com for all the latest news

But that doesn't mean the game's not moving along nicely. In fact Devine, lead writer and a designer on Halo Wars, said that it will be playable at next weekend's GameStop convention in Las Vegas. Perhaps it will even make an appearance at Tokyo Game Show.

And Devine is itching to unveil more about the game, specifically about the story he's written for it.

The events of Halo Wars take place twenty years before the original Halo and center around a band of humans and their ship, the Spirit of Fire.

"Because it's a strategy game you play as more than one person," he said. "You want a broader story with more than one character, an ensemble of characters."

"It was cool to be able to write about more than Master Chief."

Of course the game's prequel story still has to fit into the canon of the Halo universe, a canon still maintained by Bungie.

"There's lots to learn in the canon and you have to learn to respect it." Devine said.

But that didn't prevent him from getting creative with the universe, even creating a whole planet to invade for the game.

"I did a whole planet, Arcade," he said. "I made up a press guide for the planet as if they were trying to sell themselves and I sent it off to (Halo writer) Joseph Staten."

Staten ended up OKing it and even including the planet in Halo novel Contact Harvest.

The story of Halo Wars unfolds during a time when there is more than on Spartan, he said. "There are lots of Spartans and the covenant aren't in a civil war, they're just evil."

The story, which ties together the battles of the campaign, is completely finished. But Devine said he is still working on lines of dialog and battle chatter.

Creating the weapons for the game, another thing that needed canon approval, was fairly simple for the Covenant, he said.

"The covenant were pretty much finished off, but in the first person shooter the Master Chief was the one all powerful army. So we had to build more into the humans to make them a balanced army."

While Halo fans can be unforgiving, Devine thinks that plenty of them want to see the more of the Halo universe.

"I think there are people who want to play Halo from a different angel," he said. "They are excited to see that universe expanding a bit.

Devine also worked on the control system for the console-based real-time strategy game. A system that he thinks solves the problems that other console RTS have run into in the past.

"I really think we have cracked that nut," he said. "We look at all of the (control systems) for console RTS games, the one we learned the most from was Pikmin. That was a very good strategy game."

As the team continued to modify the controls Devine said the game got to the point that playing it with a controller was easier than playing with a mouse and keyboard.

Those champing at the bit for more glimpses of Gears of War 2 will not be disappointed — there will even be a couple of Gears signing sessions, should you have any merchandise you need to boost on eBay.

Other demos we would class as 'eagerly awaited' are Halo Wars and Project Origin, but MS will be showing off their new Games Creation and 'Mashups' tool PopFly as well as more info on the New Xbox Experience.

It is those 'TBA' demos on the Saturday & Sunday afternoons, that have us intrigued, though. What could it be? Is it a new game? Could it be the long awaited Next-Gen updates of Minesweeper and Freecell? Have they finally gone mental and are bringing out a portable Xbox?

Exciting!

Full schedule after the jump..

Friday

2:00 PM Gears of War 2

3:00 PM Project Origin

4:00 PM Gears of War 2

5:00 PM Popfly

6:00 PM Project Origin

Saturday

10:00 AM Halo Wars

10:30 AM New Xbox Experience

11:30 AM Popfly

12:00 PM Gears of War 2

1:00 PM Gears of War 2 Signing Session

2:00 PM Gears of War 2

3:00 PM Project Origin

3:30 PM New Xbox Experience

4:30 PM TBA

Sunday

10:00 AM Halo Wars

10:30 AM New Xbox Experience

11:30 AM Popfly

12:00 PM Gears of War 2

1:00 PM Gears of War 2 Signing Session

2:00 PM Gears of War 2

3:00 PM Project Origin

3:30 PM New Xbox Experience

4:30 PM TBA

PAX Here We Come! Demo Info [Gamerscore Blog]

Microsoft Games Studios recently unveiled this fancy new Halo Wars box art and three pretty enticing screens for their upcoming Halo-themed real-time strategy title.

Hit the jump for the screens.

Bungie seems excited about the Ensemble-developed Halo Wars. The game is planted firmly in the RTS genre, so, for example, it's not necessary to have players moved in and out of cover. Gushes Bungie AI maven Damian Isla:

We've done a lot of talking with Ensemble guys, and we're all really excited about Halo Wars, because from everything we've seen so far it's a very cool, faithful adaptation... Everything we've seen has been very, very encouraging — we're very excited about it. And of course, [Halo Wars is] also getting right the basics, the general roles — even fictionally. What role do grunts play in the Covenant fighting forces, what role do the Elites play, what role do Warthogs play, what role do Spartans play... All this kind of thing. I think they really nailed that. It's encouraging.

Great news, this.

Bungie "very excited" about Halo Wars [Eurogamer]

During the Q&A session, a good portion of the panel, a fan asked "Is there going to be a Flood appearance in the Halo Wars campaign?"

"That's a very good question," a panelist responded. "We haven't talked about any other races. All I can say is that it's a complete Halo game." It has already been announced that players will get their hands on a playable Covenant.

We're not going to assume that's code for "Yes, you'll be playing the Flood" — they may just make an appearance — but won't be surprised when their inclusion is announced.

Hit the jump for the up to the minute live blog action! Boosh!

You'll move around the map with the left analog stick, zooming in and out with the right stick. Unit selection is done with the A button — hold A to select groups via a circle — but you can select all units on screen or every unit in your army with the right or left bumpers, respectively.

Your units will fire on enemy units with X, with an alternate firing mode tied to the Y button.

Unit special abilities and building options can be chosen from a pop up radial menu, giving you quick access to things like air strikes or expansion building choices. The control experience is relatively easy to wrap one's head around, thanks to a clean, quickly loading interface.

Building management is similarly straightforward stuff. We started out with a pre-built base, one with a series of "slots" that additions like barracks and vehicle factories can be built upon. You'll also have access to defense towers, but Halo Wars won't devolve into a turret defense mishmash. Base support feels like less of a focus than team-to-team field combat.

On combat, you'll have more than just Warthogs, Scorpions and Vultures to inflict damage on the UNSC side, a Spirit of Fire colony ship orbited overhead, allowing for called-in airstrikes via MAC cannons. Things get hairy? Call in some giant laser fire.

Halo Wars has some impressive visual pop to it, more colorful than when we last saw it. The game's visual effects, in motion, look spectacular. It may not have the immediate visual sex appeal of something like Halo 3, with it's micro-sized units and overhead perspective, but it looks good.

Keep your eye on Halo Wars, even if you're not a fan of the franchise or traditionally an RTS fan. It looks and feels like a console strategy game should. When we get our hands on the Covenant next time, we'll have a better understanding of how well it stacks up.

Somers speaks at length about the pitfalls of RTS design, the responsibility the dev team feels in working with Bungie's existing Halo universe, and other things that make up a great RTS game experience. But he doesn't drop much in the way of confirmable news tidbits, just:

• Halo Wars and Ensemble Studios will have a presence at E3 this year. (We'll keep our eyes peeled).
• The game will ship "when it's ready," so, nothing specific on the date.
• No promises, but developers are aware of Machinima enthusiasm and may ship Halo Wars with tools to assist in its creation.

Halo Wars Addict Exclusive Interview: Ensemble Studios

In the meantime, the online arm of the publication has released four new Halo Wars screen shots—four obscenely watermarked and painfully blurry screen shots with a very odd perspective, but four screen shots nonetheless.

Halo Wars Screenshots [GamePro]

UNSC Forces

Marines
Flamethrower Marines
Spartans
Warthogs
Scorpions
Cobras (anti-vehicle artillery)
Hornets
Wolverines (anti-aircraft vehicle)
Elephants (!!)
Cyclops (enormous UNSC mech unit)
Vultures (mysterious, enormous vehicle)

Covenant Forces (not all units revealed)

Grunts
Jackals
Hunters
Ghosts
Banshees
Scarabs
Elites

GamePro July 2008 [thanks Tom!]

Loitering around the site I also found what they touted as a new Mafia II screenshot. You can catch everything after the jump

The Mafia II screenshot is said to be set in DeLuca's Restaurant, even though this is clearly a warehouse shot. Not sure if that's a level title or not. But that's Vito, and it looks like he's about to waste a competitor.

And here are the other two Halo Wars shots.

Halo Wars Screenshots Revealed and New Mafia II Screenshot Revealed[Gamercenteronline]

My Master Chief Snowman [Hawty Mc Bloggy]

Halo Wars" is being developed from the bottom up for the Xbox 360 and its control scheme to ensure that we deliver a groundbreaking console RTS experience. Given that, we have no plans to develop "Halo Wars" for Windows Vista at this time.

And given Ensemble's rich history in the PC world along with the fact that many RTS fans will not touch the game without a proper keyboard and mouse, we wouldn't call any of this potential future all that crazy. Well, just maybe the part that we're supposed to care that a game offers PC/Xbox 360 cross-platform gaming. With all the LIVE users out there, such only seems like a benefit if the infrastructure supported lesser-played titles...which as of yet, it does not.

Is Halo Wars going cross-platform? [CVG]

I think we've got magic in the disc.

We've worked on the controls, gameplay, and story for this game being very much aware of what has gone before us. I was down in playtest yesterday and actually did not get to sit down and play because folks were spending their lunches playing the game. I know we're doing well when that happens. More than that, I believe we will be huge not just because I believe, but because when we put the controller in your hands, you will believe too.

Halo Wars Q&A (Xbox 360) [via thatvideogameblog]

Halo Wars takes place before the events of the first Halo title, during the 27 year war that followed the UNSC's first contact with the Covenant, which for the uninitiated did not go well. The player takes control of the resources and crew of the UNSC ship Spirit of Fire as she participates in the first battles against the aliens.

Drop It Like It's Hot

The demo began with a troop transport being escorted by two fighter aircraft to an UNSC base. The fighter jets are USC Hawks, just one of the new vehicles created for Halo Wars. Much like the more well-known vehicles they look heavy, angular, and functional. The troop carrier lands in the middle of the base and deploys a group of soldiers, and we are given a look at the control mechanics behind this console-centric RTS.

Graeme explains to us that the most important aspect of any RTS is selection. How and how easily you are able to select units is paramount to the feel of the game. Halo Wars actually has three options for selecting units. Hitting A selects single units, with X issuing move and attack orders. Double tapping A selects all similar units on the battlefield, while holding down A and moving the left stick acts as a unit selecting paintbrush. Throughout the demo Rippy, who was driving things from off to the side, seemed to have no problem selecting units in the heat of battle and issuing orders on the fly.

All Your Base

They took a moment to show us the various buildings around the UNSC base, noting the little details put into giving the structures a very alive, very human feel. Little people waved aircraft into position while behind a supply depot a group of soldiers were running through an exercise routine. All purely aesthetic of course, but nice little touches here and there make an RTS seem less like a board game and more like a real battle.

Speaking of battle, it was time to send our soldiers against some Covenant troops encroaching on the base. A couple squads of grunts with elite leaders quickly take out our puny soldiers. Master Chief they are not. Time to call in the big...wheels.

Enter the Warthog

Highlighting one of the structures, Chris brought up the circle menu, which is the heart of the game. It is a rotary menu controlled by the thumbstick which displays what options you have depending on what you have selected. In this case a vehicle depot is selected, and the option chosen is a Warthog. With seconds a puma-like vehicle shoots up a ramp and comes skidding to a halt in mid-base. Yep, it's a Warthog all right. The guys show off some of the physics behind the warthog, clicking out a path with the select tool and then watching as the nimble vehicle fishtails and swerves to follow, just like the 'real' thing. Sending the Warthog up against the enemy troops pretty much works like you'd expect it to. The first group of enemies was rammed into and decimated, while another Warthog blew grunts all over the screen to the sound of those distinctive cartoonish screams.

The enemies having been dispatched, the Warthogs were faced with a seemingly impassable ravine. Graeme explained that while tanks and troops could never cross such a gap, the jeepish vehicle had no problems whatsoever, gracefully leaping the chasm and rushing headlong into another conflict, already in progress.

Escalating Conflict

What followed was pretty much a demonstration of how units escalate from grunts to gargantuans. First the Warthogs take on troops, but Banshees arrive to destroy the 'hogs, which brings out the UNSC anti-air unit the Wolverine. Those are in turn attacked by Ghost tanks, which are countered by Scorpion tanks, and then finally the Covenant unleash a Scarab, the walking fortresses equipped with anti-everything guns. All hope seems lost, but an orbital strike from the Spirit of Fire cooks the Scarab and ends the demo.

But Is it Halo?

Halo Wars is basically an arcade RTS, a term used by one of my fellow members of the press and quickly taken up by Graeme. It is meant to be a fast and dirty RTS without the player having to worry about harvesting endless resources and micromanaging to have fun. An RTS the average Halo fan could pickup and enjoy. Would they? From what I saw the game had a high level of polish, and the music was downright excellent at tying the whole Halo feel together, but I worry that there might not be enough variety in the game to appease the RTS fan, while at the same time not being sure how long Halo fans will get a kick of clicking to move their Warthog around before going back to just driving it. Creating the game is basically a balancing act, and it is hard to tell from the short time I saw the game playing whether they can pull it off. I liked what I saw, but I think I'm maintaining a cautiously optimistic opinion of Halo Wars until I can see more.

Picture this. I'm sitting on one side of our open playtest area with one of our programmers who goes by the name of Rob "Xemu" Fermier" having just cleaned my clock in a game of Halo Wars sitting on the other side. To be honest, he had completely mopped the floor with me. It was sad, and a number of people who had just witnessed the game were heckling me. We ended up having a rematch...

To further set the scene, we had a new surround sound system hooked up to the TV that I was using and at this point, Producer Chris Rippy stepped in to crank the volume.

The game fired up and I had to weather some early raids by Rob's Warthogs. I managed to survive that and then eventually managed to field a large force of units, the largest force I've seen in the game yet. The screen was almost full. As I wiped out Rob's units, I just kept cranking out more guys. I was using a combination of land and air units that not only looked cool, but was very satisfying to use in Rob's base with the sound of destruction and weapons fire ringing in my ears. I think I may have heard Rob's units calling out for him to resign so they could be spared the onslaught. (This is where Rob stops reading and comes down to my office and challenges me to a game, and I tell him I have to wash my hair.)

Thanks for the game Rob, especially taking it easy on me during the rematch! In short, the game ended up not only really looking like a massive battle scene from Halo, but also sounding like a war from Halo. It won't be too much longer before we'll be comfortable to share more imagery with you all.

That was actually the first of two "Holy...cow" moments for me this month. The second came when... [CENSORED]

I know it's just a long tease, but it still makes me all itchy to play the game.

Halo Wars Update 06.29.07 [Halo Wars Forums]

If gaming with NSFW naked ladies is not your thing, then how about gaming with glam rock disco inspired pop stars? Jake Shears and Babydaddy from the Scissor Sisters will shoot up the Halo 3 Beta on May 30, 2007 at 11:00 BST from their hotel in France. And they're doing this right before a concert that same night. The Scissor Sisters and Halo go way back — To February, actually! The band helped launched Xbox Soundtracks with a remixed version of She's My Man for the Halo Wars trailer. Press release after the j-u-m-p. Brian Ashcraft

Scissor Sisters Take on Master Chief As Xbox Soundtracks Takes Off
Jake and Babydaddy to play gamers from across Europe on the Halo 3 Multiplayer BETA via Xbox LIVE
LONDON, 23rd May 2007 -It was revealed today that chart topping superstars, Scissor Sisters, will be taking on gamers from across Europe in a unique Game with Fame event on the Halo 3 Multiplayer BETA via Xbox LIVE™.

The band, who launched Xbox Soundtracks in February with their remixed version of "She's My Man" cut to the Halo Wars trailer will be playing members of the 6 million strong Xbox LIVE community at 11.00 BST on 30th May 2007 direct from their hotel in France before going on stage later that day as part of their latest tour.

Since they unveiled the programme at the Xbox Big Day Out 2007 earlier this year, the band have been joined by the likes of Roger Sanchez, Enter Shikari, Backyard Babies , DJs Russ Cuban and The Nextmen who have all created tracks inspired by the amazing next generation, high definition graphics of Xbox 360 games.

Gamers or musicians who fancy taking part themselves can also do so by creating the ultimate Xbox game soundtrack and uploading it to the Xbox Soundtracks site by 31st May 2007. Our judges will pick their favourites then the public will get to vote for the best on Xbox.com/music. The winner will make gaming history with the chance to lay down their track in a Universal Music studio. The competition opened earlier this month and hundreds of entries have already been received.

To take part simply visit www.xbox.com/music, download the trailer, score your music and upload it back to the site. Entries shortlisted will be shown back on site from 6th June - 4th July so visitors can view and rate the tracks created. The winner will be announced on 11th July 2007. For full details visit the Xbox Soundtracks site.

To take part in the Game with Fame session with the band simply email the following information to scissorsistersparis@gamewithfame.net:

· Name
· Age
· Nationality
· Gamertag

The Halo 3 multiplayer beta is available to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE until 10th June at 07:59 BST.* It provides audiences worldwide with an exclusive early look at some of the multiplayer elements of Halo 3 on Xbox LIVE. Gamers who are interested in experiencing the multiplayer beta of Halo 3 can participate through the purchase of the critically acclaimed, Xbox 360-exclusive title Crackdown™, which was launched in February. The specially marked copies of Crackdown will act as a key for gamers to participate in the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. In addition to giving gamers their first opportunity to get their hands on the new levels, weapons, vehicles and game types, the multiplayer beta will also provide valuable data that Bungie will use in continued development.

*The Halo 3 multiplayer beta will require gamers to have access to an Xbox 360 console equipped with a hard drive as well as an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership.

Scissor Sisters [Gay Gamer]

I can only hope that one of those unnamed dynasties includes an opportunity to control the Kiss Army, as the band did release an album named Kiss Dynasty in 1978, not long after selling out Budokan Hall in Tokyo five times over. Maybe that's a stretch.

Full press release, in English, after the jump. Michael McWhertor

"Age of Empires III" Expands Into the Eastern World This Autumn

Big Huge Games to develop second expansion pack for massively popular Games for Windows franchise

LONDON —18th May, 2007 — Pack your bags — "Age of Empires III" is heading east. Microsoft Game Studios, Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games Inc. today unveiled the first details about "Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties," the second expansion pack for the top-selling "Age of Empires III" that arrives on Microsoft Windows XP- and Windows Vista -based PCs this autumn. The expansion pack will introduce gamers to Asian civilisations, a host of new gameplay features, and a new developer that will provide a unique spin to a classic favourite.

Players will experience firsthand the rich and historical influences of Asia while commanding their units and expanding their empire in the Eastern world. The latest expansion pack will be the first "Age of Empires" title developed by Big Huge Games, the development studio responsible for the incredibly popular real-time strategy franchise "Rise of Nations ."

"We're honoured to have the opportunity to develop 'Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties' with Ensemble Studios and confident that the innovation of both teams will deliver an exciting experience for fans of this franchise," said Brian Reynolds, chief executive officer and creative director of Big Huge Games. "We feel that the in-depth experience of Big Huge Games in the real-time strategy genre, combined with the solid reputation of the 'Age of Empires' franchise, will result in something fresh and unique for gamers."

In addition to the introduction of playable Asian civilisations, the expansion pack will provide new content and several new gameplay elements that include new ways of winning and trading, random map styles that feature remixes of classic "Age of Empires" game styles, and 15 new Asian "Wonders." The introduction of these features will coincide with the basic core gameplay of "Age of Empires III" that gamers have come to know and love. "Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties" will also ship as a Games for Windows title with easier installation, improved reliability and support for key Windows Vista features, including the Games Explorer and Parental Controls.

"The success of 'Age of Empires III' has given us the opportunity to expand the gameplay further and offer a fresh perspective through this expansion pack created by Big Huge Games," said Bruce Shelley, lead designer, Ensemble Studios. "We're delighted to have them work on this project with us and certain that they will deliver a great addition to the franchise."

"Age of Empires III," which launched in October 2005, is one of the fastest-selling titles in the franchise's history, placing gamers in the position of a European power struggling to explore, colonise and conquer North and South America, roughly during the time period of 1500 to 1850. The game has garnered numerous awards, including GameSpy's 2005 Top Ten PC Games of the Year and PC Gamer's Editors' Choice. It has sold more than 2 million copies to date and is currently among the top-selling titles for Games for Windows. In addition, the first expansion pack, titled "Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs," was released for the game last autumn.

Images and more information about "Age of Empires III" are available at http://www.agecommunity.com and http://www.ageofempires3.com.

#########

About Big Huge Games

Founded by four veteran game developers who together have brought strategy gamers such classic hits as Rise of Nations, Alpha Centauri , and Civilization II , Big Huge Games is a video game studio focused on cutting-edge technology and aimed at mass-market game development. Big Huge Games founders Brian Reynolds, Jason Coleman, David Inscore and Tim Train continue in the tradition of creating inspired and innovative games for PC and next-generation consoles. Creating games that have received numerous "Game of the Year" awards and accolades, Big Huge Games is headquartered in Timonium, Maryland. For more information about Big Huge Games, please visit http://www.bighugegames.com.

About Ensemble Studios

Ensemble Studios (http://www.ensemblestudios.com) is one of the world's premier entertainment software developers. Ensemble Studios is known for its blockbuster "Age of Empires" and "Age of Mythology " game series, as well as the upcoming "Halo Wars." Ensemble's titles are distinguished by the highest-quality art and gameplay dynamics applied in familiar historical settings, and appeal to hard-core gamers and mass audiences. Ensemble Studios is based in Dallas, Texas.

Microsoft Game Studios

Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 video game systems, the Windows operating system and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games), including such franchises as "Age of Empires," "Flight Simulator" and "Zoo Tycoon "; Xbox and Xbox 360 (http://www.xbox.com), including such games as "Gears of War" and franchises

such as "Halo," "Fable ," "Project Gotham Racing " and "Forza Motorsport "; and MSN Games (http://www.games.msn.com), the official games channel for the MSN network and home to such hits as "Bejeweled" and "Hexic ."

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

In a brief update over on the official Halo Wars forums, Ensemble Studios lead designer for Halo Wars mentions something about "seasons" when talking about the game.

Thunder: How is Halo Wars coming along?

Graeme: We've been playing Halo Wars internally for approaching double digit seasons now (ooohhh did I give something away) and we're having a lot of fun with the game every day. Because it's a console only game we've really worked at iterating both the controls and feeling of the game. If I say anymore I'll be killed.

While Graeme Devine never out-and-out says the game will support ladder seasons, he does end the very short interview by saying the studio would have to "have a little tournament" to see who the best player of the strategy game is.

Of course, this also seems to show that the game is quite far along. Brian Crecente

Halo Wars Update 04.19.07 [Halo Wars Forums]

Says the mysterious Quartermann:

Word is another Halo game is in the works. No, I'm not talking about Halo Wars (but I hear it might be coming out this year!) or the episodic project famed movie director Peter Jackson is working on. So what is it?

Yeah! What is it? Bungie and pals have the first-person shooter and real time strategy genres covered, so where else can the Spartans take us? I'll admit, I'm stumped, but I've got a hundred Microsoft Points on a DS game. Any guesses? Michael McWhertor

Here's what Larry Larsen of Channel 10 has to say about tonight's and tomorrow's first official look at what's flowing from the Microsoft info pipe.

Two of the coolest Microsoft annoucements since CES are going to be breaking tonight and tomorrow night, and we have exclusive video for both of them. So if you are online at 9:00PM PST tonight (midnight on the east coast) check in to get a full scoop on what your friends will be talking about tomorrow.

What could they be?! What could the company who can't seem to keep a secret locked down to save their lives have to announce? I'm sure that if you check back tonight at Kotaku around midnight Eastern time (9 PM PST), you'll have a pretty damn good idea. Michael McWhertor

BREAKING: Two exclusives in two days [Channel 10]

Over on the official Halo War forums, the game's dev team is reporting that they were able to put together a fairly polished version of Halo Wars for a "bunch of Microsoft Games Studio big wigs" to play in a recent visit. Said big wigs included Shane Kim, the studio's head.

The build included new UI work by Ensemble Studios folks and left the visitors quite impressed. It sounds like it's got to be fairly far along:

With this latest build of the game, everyone at Ensemble Studios was invited to join in on an afternoon of multiplayer Halo Wars! I had a win and two losses, but generally felt like I was starting to shed my newb shoes.

So the game is very playable, it sounds like. Brian Crecente

Halo Wars Update [Forums Halo Wars]

Germany is a fine country that makes fine products and has fine people. Though, we would be hesitant to say what would make them happy. (Pictures of Crecente?) Same for Northern Europe. Or heck, even Eastern Europe. We don't know what they want! A chatty Microsoft exec, though, does. At a post-X06 party, an Xbox Europe bigwig let it slip that the console needs a boost in certain countries. Thus, enter Halo Wars, from the Age of Empires developer. The exec stated:

It's for the Germans. We think this genre of game is perfectly suited to Germany, northern and eastern Europe. It illustrates our desire to release games that are appropriate for gamers in all markets.

Isn't he totally contradicting himself? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Eurogamer]

The Halo Wars trailer has been released on the public. It's pre-rendered, obviously, though the official site (also live!) claims it uses lots of in-game models. The game takes place before Halo 1, following the crew of the UNSC "Spirit of Fire" from initiaql skirmishes to an all out war against the covenant. I'll be interested in seeing how they handle Spartans — I believe within the Halo universe, there's only 16 who survived the bone-grafting process, so there's actually not a hell of a lot of them you can play around with and stay within the fiction of the universe. Obviously, though, they'll be a type of hero unit.

Makes me wish I didn't hate RTSes. Florian Eckhardt

Halo Wars [Official Site]

It sounds like X06 was quite an amazing press conference, filled with the sort of surprises and delights befitting a regular carnival of gaming.

We've posted all of the news on the site, but I thought it would be best to summarize it somewhere for those not into browsing, or reading.

Hit the jump for the official summary and links to our stories. I'll post the press release in a bit as well.

Jackson Working on New Halo Game: A landmark partnership announced between Academy Award-winning writer, director and producer Peter Jackson, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh, and Microsoft Game Studios will create two new interactive entertainment series exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. The first series will be a collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next great chapter in the "Halo" universe. The second series will be an entirely original property targeted at bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment. In addition, Microsoft Game Studios will partner with Jackson and Walsh to establish Wingnut Interactive, a studio dedicated to the creation of world-class interactive entertainment.

X06 Halo RTS Announced: "Halo Wars" is an all-new real-time strategy game based on the legendary "Halo" universe and designed exclusively for Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios, creators of the "Age of Empires" franchise.

Two Exclusive GTA4 Eposides Coming to 360 Live: Rockstar and Take-Two announced they will provide Xbox 360 gamers with exclusive access to two downloadable, epic episodes of "Grand Theft Auto IV" via Xbox Live, each with hours of entirely new gameplay and available only on Xbox 360 just months after the release of the title.

Unnannounced Splinter Cell an Xbox 360 Exclusive: Ubisoft confirmed that the next "Splinter Cell" title, the next installment in the series after "Splinter Cell Double Agent," will be a console-exclusive on Xbox 360, a testament to the ability of Xbox 360 to deliver a complete experience no other console can match.

BioShock No Longer Coming to PS3 (At Launch): 2K Games confirmed that "BioShock," a revolution in the genre that will forever change the expectations for first-person shooters, will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows next spring.

"Project Gotham Racing 4," the latest addition to the best-selling racing franchise from Bizarre Creations exclusively for Xbox 360, was unveiled. "Project Gotham Racing 4" promises to continue the "Project Gotham Racing" pedigree of innovation by introducing exciting new experiences to racing fans worldwide.

The beloved "Banjo-Kazooie " franchise will breathe new, high-definition life on Xbox 360 exclusively from famed developer Rare Ltd.; astonishing next-generation visuals and presentation reunite beloved characters Banjo, Kazooie and Gruntilda — among other fan favorites — with their sharp wit and hilarious sense of humor.

PC/360 Cross-Platform Marvel MMO Coming: Microsoft Game Studios announced its highly anticipated new massively multiplayer online game, "Marvel Universe Online" for Xbox 360 and the Windows Vista operating system, developed by industry luminaries Cryptic Studios, creators of the smash hit "City of Heroes."

Doom is Live on Xbox Live Now: Two additions to Xbox Live Arcade were announced: the first-person shooter that pioneered the network-gaming era, "DOOM ," from acclaimed developer id Software and Activision, is available today for download via Xbox Live Arcade. The hey game includes the original four-episode, single-player game, four-player split screen (cooperative and deathmatch) and four-player cooperative and deathmatch over Xbox Live. Also coming to Xbox Live Arcade soon is "Sensible World of Soccer" from Codemasters. Based on the classic 1994 Amiga title, "Sensible World of Soccer" will let gamers choose between the original graphics or an updated, high-resolution look and feel — while still capturing the original's entire world of football.

360 HD-DVD for $200 in U..S.: Arriving at retailers in North America, the U.K, France and Germany in mid-November 2006, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player will retail for $199.99 in North America (estimated retail price)* and 199.99/ 129.99 (estimated retail price)* in the U.K., France and Germany. The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player comes with the Universal Pictures' blockbuster film Peter Jackson's "King Kong" on HD DVD (for a limited time) and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.

The game will be an all-new real-time strategy game based on the Halo universe and designed exclusively for the Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires franchise. It doesn't sound like they will be porting it to PC, at least not initially, but one can hope that will come too.

The game will put you in charge of the UNSC armies as they deploy for humanity's first encounter with the Covenant forces.

This explains why the Msoft lawers put a bullet in the head of the fan-driven Halo RTS Halogen earlier this month.

Brian Crecente

Ensemble Studios