Well, Joystiq had a good run. Into the ground, perhaps, but a run nonetheless, one characterized by reams of poorly composed text, startlingly accurate self-deprecation and the uncanny ability to be simultaneously biased for and against everything ever. And to think, all we had to do was sit around in our underwear and furiously mash the keyboard with our palms.

As we've proven to be quite adept at this activity, we've decided to redirect it towards the very similar career of creating video games. In fact, Microsoft's Careers site has just alerted us to the company's yearning for a "technical and highly talented program manager" in "Microsoft's new Halo Studio." We've played Halo quite a lot, actually, so we're sure our skills will be more than "instrumental in helping to lead the development of the engine that will power future experiences for the next generation of gaming platforms." Right, so Halo 4 for the NextBox 360. Easy.

Alright, so our "expertise with DirectX, Xbox SDK, leading content-creation packages, or other games-related technology, or a track-record in shipping technically challenging entertainment titles" might not be ... there ... and we might not describe ourselves as "highly-motivated self-starters," but ... uh. Maybe this isn't for us after all. We'll just throw together a few reams of poorly composed text about it instead.

[Via Gameguru. Thanks, Sameer]

The juicy "Gearbox is developing Halo 4 OMG" rumor continues to be at the top of fanboy debate lists, with Microsoft confirming to Kotaku that Corrinne Yu, director of technology at Gearbox and pictured in full Spartan armor, has been hired as principle engine architect (fancy!) for the Xbox manufacturer's internal Halo team. The official statement: "As the Halo franchise continues to flourish, Microsoft Game Studios is growing its internal team to develop future Halo projects."

And what could "future Halo projects" entail? Microsoft isn't blabbing, but suspicious men in trenchcoats posit that Yu will be working on the nebulous Peter Jackson project and putting her Unreal Engine 3 expertise to good use.

Following up on yesterday's rumor out of OXM that Gearbox may be handling Halo 4, Variety's Ben Fritz reports that his source close to the dev confirms that it "has definitely had conversations with Microsoft about doing a new Halo game and is very excited at the prospect," but that "there was no deal in place." For those who might not remember, Gearbox has a history with the Halo franchise, having handled the PC version of the original game.

Fritz reckons it's "quite possible" Gearbox will helm a new Halo project ... it's just "not a certainty yet." If it happens, that would make at least four Halo-related titles in the works: Halo Wars; the Halo game that Bungie was supposed to reveal at E3; Peter Jackson's interactive take on the Halo universe; and whatever Gearbox may or may not be crafting. Given that OXM's rumor regarding Halo 4 as a launch title for 360's successor (if there even is one), we should expect to hear something official either way in, oh, the next year or two.

Filed under juicy Halo rumor news, we have information coming from the pages of the latest issue of OXM that tells us that Halo 4 is currently in development, but NOT by Bungie Studios. According to OXM, Halo 4 is currently being developed by non other than Gearbox Software ( Halo PC anyone?) and is being worked on for release as a launch title on the next Xbox console. ZOMG! Funny thing about the rumor is that, earlier this year, Gearbox's head honcho Randy Pitchford mentioned that they were working on a super secret project that is "even bigger" than anything they've ever worked on before. Halo 4 definitely fits that bill.

Remember back in February when Gearbox Software big boss Randy Pitchford teased his studio's next project as something "big"? Well, not just "big" but something that was "even bigger" than anything Gearbox is currently working on? Well, the kids at OXM sure remembered and they sent their spies deep undercover into Gearbox territory and came back with one heck of a rumor for their October issue: Gearbox is working on Halo 4 as a launch title for the next Xbox (NextBox?).

With Bungie admittedly uninterested in creating Halo games ad nauseum, and Gearbox one of the industry's top FPS developers, we've certainly heard crazier rumors. And there are few licenses that would get a studio chieftain to inadvertently slam his own games in development. Whatever the project is, Pitchford has said he'll be directing it himself, adding, "When you find out what this is, you'll likely agree that I can't oversell this one." Nope, you probably couldn't Randy. Overselling Halo is Microsoft's job anyway; you guys just make with the shooting of the aliens ... no, the other aliens.

[Thanks for the tip, Jordan!]