New Halo Helmed By MGS4 Producer

Rumor has it that Ryan Payton, late of Kojima Productions, has landed a pretty impressive job here in the states.

Our very reliable sources tell us that Payton has been hired by Microsoft to be the creative director on the upcoming, and still not dead, Peter Jackson Halo game.

The news, very reliable news, comes weeks after we broke the news that Gearbox Director of Technology Corrinne Yu had been hired by Microsoft Game Studios to be Principle Engine Architect for Microsoft's Halo Franchise Team.

Microsoft Confirms Corrinne Yu Hire, Internal Halo Team Expansion

Yesterday, we broke that Gearbox Director of Technology Corrinne Yu has been hired by Microsoft Game Studios to be Principle Engine Architect for Microsoft's Halo Franchise Team. Microsoft has confirmed to Kotaku that Yu had in fact been hired by Microsoft. "As the Halo franchise continues to flourish, Microsoft Game Studios is growing its internal team to develop future Halo projects," Microsoft stated.

Microsoft Halo Job Listing Mentions "Key Hollywood Talent"

Those Halo wheels are still turning. And from what a Gamasutra job announcement seems to hit at, Peter Jackson's Halo game is moving forward. The Microsoft Game Studios job listing is for "Creative Director - building a new Halo universe" and says this under responsibilities:

Direct the tone and timber of the project with an eye towards compelling character development, visionary narrative progression, and addictive gameplay
Partner with key Hollywood talent to collaboratively craft a masterful game experience
Bridge the gap between storytelling and the interactive experience while delivering on the Halo soul.
Collaborate with game play designers, story writers, game writers, and said external luminary to deliver on a unique game in the Halo universe...

So that might be Peter Jackson — unless Microsoft has roped in other "key Hollywood talent" and not told anyone. Microsoft's been pretty bad about not telling us what's going on with the new Halo games.

Job Listing [Gamasutra via 1Up]

Ah, and finally, the pre-E3 hype train picks up a little steam. Citing both Sarcastic Gamer and their own "sources", CVG are claiming that a new Halo game will be unveiled at E3. This Halo game might be Peter Jackson's game, it might not be, but either way, they say it won't feature the Master Chief. Chew on that for a possibility while we dream of a point-and-click "Where In The World Is Master Chief?"

New Halo game for E3 [CVG]

Bungie On Involvement In Peter Jackon's Halo, Its Next Top Secret Project

When the gang at MTV Multiplayer sniffed around some Microsoft job listings earlier this week, confirming that the publisher was staffing up for one of the two Peter Jackon backed "entertainment experiences," some concernedly stuttered "Bu-bu-but, what about Bungie?" Oh, they're fine with it, informs the Bungie Weekly Update. Community man Frankie O'Connor says that "having worked with him already, we are possibly more excited than you are to see what someone of Peter Jackson's imagination, talent and resources can bring to a Halo game experience."

Bungie is said to "continue to remain very much involved in multiple aspects the Halo Universe as part of our ongoing relationship with Microsoft", teasing that one of their in-progress projects will be revealed "in the very near future." Perhaps it's that Halo prequel that EGM taunted us with? Is it the future yet?!?

Bungie Weekly Update 04/25/08 [Bungie]

At least one of the Halo-themed projects helmed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is closer to reality, as MTV Multiplayer has dug up job listings that hint heavily Microsoft is hiring for one of its "two new interactive entertainment experiences." A confirmation from the company reveals that it's going to be developed internally and not at Halo 3 developer Bungie.

The job listings, all of which are linked to at the MTV Multiplayer report, are light on concrete details. They look to be intentionally vague, deemed "Not Product Specific" and only mentioning that they take place in the Halo universe. See if you can decipher them with your Master Chief decoder rings!

Is Microsoft Hiring A 'Halo' Team For Peter Jackson This Week? [MTV Multiplayer]

Peter Jackson Still Fighting For Halo Movie

We already told you that Halo was "entirely dead." But even after losing major partners Fox and Universal, Microsoft and Peter Jackson aren't ready to give up. According to Variety, Jackson has his highly-regarded co-founded studios Weta Digital and Weta Workshop knee-deep in preproduction. You may know them from Lord of the Rings or King Kong. Chances are that Weta's creative assets will make for one hell of a sales pitch, and besides, making a Halo movie with massive amounts of talent* seems like a no-brainer. Shouldn't Hollywood be excited? They're the ones blaming Halo for their lot in life.

*We all know I'm not a LoTR fan, but I absolutely loved Heavenly Creatures.

Halo film hope flickers [play]

Halo 3 Sitdown and New Peter Jackson Details

I have never played a Halo game. Of the last few generations of consoles, the only one I haven't owned is the Xbox. I live in Japan, so there. Who better then to go attend a private session with the game? (I really am excited about playing Halo 3. Really. I'm pre-ordering tonight.)

Heading up the show were Jonty Barnes, head of production at Bungie, and Jay Weinland, "Sound Monkey" (or if you prefer, sound designer), the whole proceedings taped for Gametrailers.com (you may see a few questions from me). There wasn't anything new that most readers here, reservation ticket in hand, don't probably know. Oh, I know how it ends, but you'll just have to wait to find out for yourself.

A few things though. Downloadable content from Bungie? They'll wait for a while, see how the player-generated content created through Forge works out, but expect some official downloads down the line. Easter eggs and stuff to do after you've gone through the storymode once? Play co-op, as it opens all sorts of new interactions with the AI, and then hunt for the skulls — collecting them will open up plenty of new hidden modes. Keep looking for terminals as well, since a separate back story is told that way.

The Forge functionality really is something, and the idea of players taking on the role of a "god," adding/removing stuff from maps on the fly as games are being played — you can even score points when in edit mode, dropping tanks from the sky on unsuspecting players — is going to change the way multi-player is experienced. Add to that the possibility of inventing new sorts of gameplay — the developers were showing off a game of baseball with rockets — and you've got the recipe for some seriously creative fun.

As far as follow-ups? Mum's the word, although they are really happy about the way things are going with the Peter Jackson project, and details on the game will probably be announced early next year.

Peter Moore "Pissed" About Halo Movie Breakdown

How does Microsoft's Peter Moore feel about the Halo movie deal breakdown with movie studio 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios? "Pissed," Moore told Kotaku at an exclusive Microsoft party in Santa Monica tonight. The adaptation is backed by A-list director Peter Jackson. So why doesn't Microsoft just finance the film themselves. According to Moore:

You can't make games and make movies. It's not our business.