It's all too easy to forget that there are real people behind the power-ups we're so fond of collecting. Gamasutra has posted a sobering look at the industry, interviewing recently out-of-work employees from such companies as Eidos and Pandemic while putting faces on the disturbing number of layoffs that have impacted the business behind the games we play.

"In our industry, there's a relatively high chance that once your game is finished, the studio will make some cuts," noted David Lewis, a software test engineer at Ensemble, which will close its doors after Halo Wars (pictured) rolls out the door later this year. "But I had no reason to suspect that the whole studio would be closed." Even so, some, like recruiter T.J. Summers, believe that there is work to be had for those willing to stretch beyond their comfort zones and look for work in "new growth sectors" such as web or mobile. Still, we sympathize with those impacted, especially knowing that the drop off from developing AAA titles to Flash games has to be enough to lose your stomach.

After all this time we finally got to touch Halo Wars and ... it was good. There's visual polishing to be done, but the user interface (UI) is as intuitive as developer Ensemble Studios has been hyping since (what feels like) the time of the Forerunners. This is an RTS game clearly made for a console first.

The UI is incredibly intuitive. Left analog moves the camera, right analog zooms, A selects, X is the move/attack button and Y activates special moves. If you've played other RTS games ported to the Xbox 360, this is a very different experience.

If Halo Wars' absence from Microsoft's E3 keynote left you blue, you're likely in the right frame of mind to enjoy a new gameplay video of Ensemble's tactical take on the Halo universe set upon a descriptively titled "Ice Level."

Marvel as Spartans rain down MAC Cannon devastation from above. Be astounded as good guys gather resources, and then spend them. Be astonished as you forget to care about Halo Wars well before the game's early 2009 release.

Still very much part of the rumor mill, website The Angry Pixel, "after enough assurances that this is not a cruel hoax," writes that Xbox 360 exclusive Halo Wars is in development for PC and that the game features cross-platform play. The result: Xbox 360 owners may feel what it's like to play an RTS against keyboard and mouse players -- or might it actually be balanced? CVG followed up with a Microsoft rep about the story and was naturally told, "We do not comment on rumour and speculation."

Cross-platform capabilities have been accessible through UNO and Shadowrun, and it's no real shock to postulate that an RTS like Halo Wars could be in development for PC. Apparently Sega's Universe at War will have cross-platform capabilities when it launches on Xbox 360 this spring, so it would seem somewhat plausible for a first-party title like Halo Wars to feature the capability as well.

Update: Predictably, Microsoft has squashed the rumor. "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," a Microsoft representative told IGN.

Read: Fog of War: Halo Wars for PC?
Read: Is Halo Wars going cross-platform?

Microsoft Games chief Don Mattrick has confirmed (or, in some cases, reaffirmed) via a memo a handful of exclusive titles to arrive on Xbox 360 in 2008. The list of assuredly not canceled titles include Halo Wars, Too Human, Fable 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction and "several exciting yet-to-be-announced titles."

Following the list of 2008 exclusives, Mattrick continues to say that "Xbox 360 will be home to the next versions of great franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil ... Madden and FIFA." We're not sure if he meant to imply Resident Evil 5 is due out this year, but it's certainly a suspicious line. Other than this year, no schedule was given as to the release of these titles, although we now get a sense of what Microsoft feels will keep gamers happy in this post-Halo 3 world.

The Halo Wars news well has been dry lately. It's Winter, what do you expect? But today, in an effort to quench your thirst, we bring you some brand new Halo Wars multiplayer screenshots. Over at CVG they posted five four new screenshots featuring multiplayer craziness like what you see above, familiar units and old school red versus blue action. And we'll be the first to say "wowzaz!" Not only are we impressed at the landscapes, terrain, units and the sheer amount of action going on screen, but we instantly get a comforting Halo feeling. It's hard to explain, but we can tell that Ensemble Studios has worked closely with Bungie, because the game just looks right. Now click away kids and drink up. One can't be sure of when our next Halo Wars watering will come.

[Thanks, Muffin man]

Next Generation has put together its own list of the best upcoming games of 2008, a popular thing to do at this time of year. Their list has an interesting twist though: estimated sales numbers. Each game is given a three month sales projection derived by taking sales of previous entries in a franchise (or similar games in the case of new franchises) and tacking on expected sales increases for 2008. Most titles are nestled somewhere in the 300,000 - 900,000 sales range. Undoubtedly though, the one game predicted to blow the competition away is none other than Grand Theft Auto IV, projected to sell between 3.5 and 4 million copies. The only titles close to this number are Fable 2 which could go as high as 1.3 million and Fallout 3 and Halo Wars, both of which could break 1 million. Granted, these are all merely predictions, but we'd say it's a pretty safe bet that Grand Theft Auto IV will be the game to beat in 2008.

[Via Evil Avatar]

A new day brings some new Xbox Live Marketplace content, and while we don't have any new demos to enjoy, there are some decent videos. The first video is the Halo Wars walk-through that was supposed to go up earlier this week. If you haven't already seen it on the intertubes, it's definitely worth checking out. The second video has also already been seen on the web, though it's probably worth watching in hi-def with some popcorn on the couch. We are talking, of course, about the Team Fortress 2 video featuring the soldier. We said it before and we'll say it again: comedy gold. Download both videos at your earliest convenience, but please, watch responsibly.

[Update: The content is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. For more details, click here.]

We reported earlier today that something Halo Wars related was coming along today, and lo and behold, here it is. A 10 minute video of Halo Wars in action has now hit Xbox Live Marketplace as well as HaloWars.com. The video is the same walk-through demonstration that was shown at E3 and gives an overall feel for what the game has to offer. Some of the things you'll get to see are vehicle construction, troop movement, and of course, battle. But enough jibber-jabber, watch it already.

After you've seen Halo Wars in action, why not tell us what do you think? Does it have what it takes to give Command & Conquer 3 a run for its money?

Was that thirty seconds of Halo Wars gameplay footage from July not enough to quench your thirst for wanton Spartan vs. Covenant destruction? A new, ten-minute gameplay trailer with narration is now available in HD over Xbox Live.

The trailer goes over how the controls currently work, as well as show off some of more acute details of the game (spoiler: UNSC troops do push-ups). If you can't fire up your Xbox 360 (either because of circumstance or an irksome Red Ring), the new video is embedded above for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check out our impressions of the game from this year's E3.

[Update: D'oh! Due to extenuating circumstances -- our Xbox 360s are sleeping with digital fishes -- we took the word of the press release that the Halo Wars trailer would be available on Xbox Live. You can still enjoy the video, in standard definition, via the embedded video above.]

Xbox Live members may be getting another look at or first play session with Halo Wars soon, as it's rumored that a Halo Wars demo or video will be releasing to the XBLM sometime today. In an interview with Ensemble Studios executive producer Harter Ryan (video embedded after the jump), he hints at some sort of media release when talking about the game at Leipzig saying that "we're showing a demo that'll be available on Monday". Indeed, Ryan's comment can be taken two different ways meaning either the release of an actual game demo to the Marketplace or just a video of the demo, but our logical side is leaning towards a video. You can cross your fingers though fanboys, an actual Halo Wars demo would be a lot cooler than a boring old video.

Ensemble Studios has updated their official Halo Wars website featuring screenshots from the game and some information on new vehicles that'll grace the battlefield. Heading on over to the website you'll be slapped in the face with a few new screenshots on the homepage featuring battle scenes seen in the gameplay trailer. Digging a little deeper we found the Features section which showss off renders and concept art from a few new in game items including the UNSC Cougar, UNSC Supply Pad and Covenant Air Artillery. Give the updated website a look over, stop by the forums and see what other goodies you can uncover.

Some developers like to share their products before they release and give consumers a taste for the greatness to come, while others like to build anticipation and hold out on a much deserving demo-o-greatness (here's looking at you Assassin's Creed). But good thing for us is that Ensemble Studios is all about showing off the goods.

Behind the mysterious "closed doors" of E3 during a Halo Wars demo, Joystiq learned from Halo Wars producer Chris Rippy that a demo is in fact planned to release "for sure before the game comes out". Ensemble Studios' generosity is probably due to the fact that they want to convince the masses that not only is Halo Wars teh greatness, but that their control scheme is teh greatness too. But you're in for a wait fanboys, because Halo Wars and the promised demo are penciled in for sometime in 2008.

Gamers tend to be (understandably) cautious when it comes to real time strategy games on consoles. The reason for this is simple: RTS games on consoles have been uniformly bad, with the (arguable) exception of Battle for Middle Earth II and Command & Conquer 3 on the Xbox 360. Even with those games, however, the controls are far from perfect, which becomes abundantly clear in later levels. Halo Wars hopes to change all that, or so we were told by Ensemble. Still, we'd like a bit of a safety net if you please. Lucky for us, the folks from Ensemble told us during our Halo Wars E3 presentation that there is a demo on the way. According to producer Chris Rippy, the demo will arrive "for sure before the game comes out." While we were generally impressed with the Halo Wars presentation, our one nagging concern was the control, so it's nice to know that we'll all be able to try before we buy. Halo Wars touches down in 2008.

And that's a good thing, especially when an entire genre hinges on how well you can control your on-screen armies. The real-time strategy genre has never enjoyed the same level of success it has on those platforms equipped with handheld rodents, and it's a problem that's been gnawing at Ensemble ever since the decision was made to plunge into the Halo universe. For the first six months of its two and a half year development period, Halo Wars was nothing more than a testing platform for console-based strategy controls. "There was no game," reveals Ensemble Studios producer, Chris Rippy.