Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh to make new Halo game, original IP
by Ross Miller 
{ Sep 27th 2006 at 2:01PM }
Microsoft has confirmed that the Academy Award-winning duo Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) are set to create two "new interactive series" for Xbox 360 and XBLA. The first is a "collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next great chapter in the Halo universe."
"It's not Halo 3," said Scott Henson, Director of the Game Development Group at Microsoft. "It's a brand new game based in the Halo IP. In a phone conversation with Joystiq, Henson disclosed that writing credits will be given to Jackson and Walsh. As for how the full-fledged game will fit within the continuity of the Halo universe among three installments, a real-time strategy game, and a film, Henson was tight-lipped. "It's going to remain a mystery," he said.
The second title will be an entirely new intellectual property -- "completely from scratch," Henson clarified -- created with the intention of "bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment." The game will be made in conjunction with Wingnut Interactive, a new studio created via a collaboration with Jackson/Walsh and Microsoft Games Studio.
"Fran is a really big gamer and really excited about telling stories through games," said Henson. "We haven't talked about any details and we will when we're ready." If the focus is mass appeal, then Jackson/Walsh -- who managed to make Hobbits cool -- are the best people to have at the helm.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tomas @ Sep 27th 2006 3:05PM
this sure sounds promising....
Grant @ Sep 27th 2006 2:08PM
Sweet. Nuff said
Pac Man @ Sep 27th 2006 2:08PM
...Yay?
KineticOnline @ Sep 27th 2006 2:14PM
Sounds like the wingnuts are going to me making interactive films, not games as such. More like a main storyline with lots of choices for users to make that will effect the way to film turns out.
IanC @ Sep 27th 2006 2:16PM
So when are Bungie going to get a chance to makea NON-Halo game?
Oh right, never.
OtakuCODE @ Sep 27th 2006 2:18PM
What I'd really love to see from Peter Jackson is not a Halo movie or a new Halo game... what I really want to see is a game made based on one of Peter Jacksons earlier movies, Braindead! (Also sometimes called Dead Alive, though I don't know why... IMDB lists it as Braindead and the movie title screen itself says Braindead)
It's pretty obvious the guys who made Dead Rising must have watched Braindead about a bajillion times, but a true Braindead game would be loads of fun if it kept the same humor and sought the "Goriest Ever" title as the film currently holds.
Kestrel @ Sep 27th 2006 2:24PM
Could be much worse. Could be "Michael Bay's Halo."
Rob @ Sep 27th 2006 2:30PM
From the story:
...created with the intention of "bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment."
Whenever any hotshot director jumps into gaming and promises a whole new world of storytelling or interactivity, we usually get neither. Anyone have an example to prove me wrong? I can't think of one.
Don't get me wrong - I love PJ's work and think he means well. I just don't believe that being a successful director translates into a good game.
Ramza24 @ Sep 27th 2006 2:41PM
#4, Agree... More Myth please!
moogoob @ Sep 27th 2006 2:42PM
--"Could be "Michael Bay's Halo.""
Worse: could be "Uwe Boll's Halo"
curtis @ Sep 27th 2006 2:46PM
These developments have me pretty stoked. That Halo Wars trailer kicked all kinds of ass, but that could be the Halo fanboy in me. I'm hoping we get some more info on this new IP soon.
uh_oh @ Sep 27th 2006 2:48PM
Jackson is really gonna make the halo series awesome in the years to come.
Matthew Alexander @ Sep 27th 2006 2:49PM
www.halowars.com
Hand of God @ Sep 27th 2006 2:59PM
Personally, I'd rather see more stuff in the Marathon Universe, though there have been hints from Bungie that Marathon and Halo *ARE* the same universe, just a bit of time has passed
dvnt @ Sep 27th 2006 3:01PM
Whatever happened to the fat and jolly Peter Jackson? Anyway, PJ + Halo = awesome. Looking forward to it!
FSK405K @ Sep 27th 2006 3:02PM
Great, another game from the agreements that brought us "Peter Jackson's King Kong the Offical Game of the Official Movie, Which Cost a Lot and Was Overrated"
Rudy @ Sep 27th 2006 3:04PM
IanC, that game is called Oni for the PS2.
Chris @ Sep 27th 2006 3:07PM
Evangelion the Video Game for 360! Oh wait thats WETA and will never happen.
Geoff @ Sep 27th 2006 3:31PM
Well hasn't today just been pretty awesome for Halo fans?
SERIOUS STEVE @ Sep 27th 2006 3:10PM
Dats wat im talkin bout!!!
HALO 4 LIFE
JM Scion @ Sep 27th 2006 7:20PM
It's about time people in high places are starting to view video games as a new form of storytelling. In all sense I don't know why some are still called games. In the infant years of film, movies were looked upon as just a flashy spinoff of Broadway theatre. It took decades to gain it's respect as an art form. Video games are following the same path, though progressing much faster. Who knows, maybe in a matter of years, video game awards will be donned with a red carpet and long thank-you speeches.
Judd @ Sep 27th 2006 3:19PM
Ross, I just wanted to clarify. Is the 360 game the one set in the Halo universe, and the XBLA game the new intellectual property? Or vice versa? I assume it's the former since this post says "two 'new interactive series' for Xbox 360 and XBLA," and the Halo game is mentioned first. Or maybe both series will be on the 360 and arcade. Or did they not clarify this to you either?
Arachneya @ Sep 27th 2006 3:20PM
Ian, if you pay attention to what's happening (especially if you're a Bungie fan), you'd realise a few things:
1. Bungie's been getting tired of making Halo games. 8 years after they started on the concept, it's hard to be the best when you can't come up with something COMPLETELY (not derivative, or based on) new.
2. Halo 3 is the "end of the trilogy" of Bungie-based Halo games, not Halo games altogether. That means it's their lost full-studio Halo game.
3. Since so much money has been invested in the IP, and you can't kill it because the devs are getting bored with limited creative freedom, you create off-shoots non-Bungie-canon games. Hence: the Halo RTS that takes place before Halo 1 (when Spartans could be used outside of the Halo rings/Reach). Secondly, a new Halo-related IP to continue the franchise, but make it different from the Bungie version.
4. 1+2+3 = The next Bungie game (which they already have a team that's been prototyping ALL year) will be new, and non-Halo related.
Petey @ Sep 27th 2006 3:30PM
KOTAKU ARE AT IT AGAIN!!! MICROSOFT FANBOY ALL-RANGE MODE!!! FROM THE TITLES "News Shocker Summary", TO THE POSTS "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" NO SHIT??? TONS OF POINTLESS POSTS, WHAT THE F**K ARE WE INTERESTED IN KOTAKU STALKING "MAJOR" NELSON... THEY SEEM TO BE A BUNCH OF FANGIRLS GIGGLING ABOUT NOTHING!!! THEY ARE SO INTOXICATED BY THEIR OBSESSION ABOUT EVERYTHING MICROSOFT THAT THEY PASSED THE RIDICULOUS STAGE A CENTURY AGO... I HOPE THEY ARE WELL PAID BY MS BECAUSE THEY DO A HELL OF A JOB PROMOTING THE 360!!! WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS WHY THEY DON'T ASSUME THEMSELVES & CALL THE SITE KOTAKU 360!!!
DWells55 @ Sep 27th 2006 4:22PM
I'd guess that it's an RTS game. That sure would explain the out-of-the-blue shutdown of HaloGen by Microsoft.
OtakuCODE @ Sep 27th 2006 3:38PM
Petey: You need medication.
f0 @ Sep 27th 2006 3:44PM
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Halo-3/dp/B000FRU0NU/sr=8-4/qid=1159385956/ref=pd_bbs_4/103-3572345-0998214?ie=UTF8&s=videogames -omgz
drunken.pandaren @ Sep 28th 2006 2:32PM
Halo RTS?
crono141 @ Sep 27th 2006 6:36PM
"I Kick Ass for the LORD!!!"
I love dead alive (thats what it says on my box of the film). Best worst movie ever.
mykie @ Sep 27th 2006 4:19PM
I'm rippled with fear that Peter Jackson is going to change Halo 3 into a Choose Your Own Adventure game...
I hope to Jesus that I'm wrong about that.
soupbase @ Oct 4th 2006 10:22PM
An RTS and another undefined game for the Halo franchise? Sounds like it's milking time.
Robyn Tippins @ Sep 27th 2006 4:48PM
Wow, and here I was expecting a bunch of pissy comments about Halo's being sold-out and milked past it's prime and it turns out everyone's excited?
Maybe we can get Orlando Bloom to play Master Chief... Ugh.
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 5:08PM
Oh God...
Is anyone else worried about the future of Halo? They said they were going to end it after Halo 3. That's what I was hoping for, anyways. Now they've got a movie, an RPG and a Peter Jackson/Bungie hybrid movie game... I just wanted it to go out with glory after Halo 3.
Happy @ Sep 27th 2006 5:27PM
No, they only said Halo 3 was the last game in this story arc.
As long as the games are good what's the problem?
pukeruaKiWii @ Sep 27th 2006 6:05PM
Peter Jackson should make a game based on his movie called Bad Taste.
http://www.badmovies.org/movies/badtaste/
Jesus @ Sep 27th 2006 7:13PM
cASSHING IN WITH THE haLO fRANSHICE
HOW PATHETIC!!!
Embassy @ Sep 27th 2006 7:44PM
well..who knows how the gaem will turn out...but the game title..will be legendary..
"peter jackson's Halo the official game of the official movie of the official original game on a plane"
Joe @ Sep 27th 2006 10:33PM
A Star Wars Battle front type halo game would be awesome. espically is movie had alot of war type sceens in it, they could base it on that.
Coffin @ Sep 28th 2006 1:34AM
Rudy, Oni was originally for PC. And in my opinion, making a sequel to that would be smarter than squeezing all the money they can out of a franchise that should have died with the third game.
rosignol @ Sep 28th 2006 4:23AM
What I'd really love to see from Peter Jackson is not a Halo movie or a new Halo game... what I really want to see is a game made based on one of Peter Jacksons earlier movies, Braindead!
Not "Meet the Feebles"?
Aw. Master Chief would fit right in to the Feebles continuity, too...
SquirrelPhister @ Sep 28th 2006 12:51PM
6. Kestrel:
Could be much worse. Could be "Michael Bay's Halo."
are you saying you can't tell the difference between Michael Bay and Peter Jackson? Have you ever seen a movie?
LimburgLimbo @ Sep 29th 2006 9:18AM
Will Bungie ever do anything in the Marathon universe again? Ever? *whimper* (Realistically, no; the storyline is just too complicated to make anything as canon that would mesh with the stories of the previous games, but i can #dream# dangit) I love Halo, but, as good and compelling and interesting as I find it's universe to be, it still pales in comparison to the old Marathon series...