Microsoft held a special Gears of War 2 reception at E3 on Monday, giving eager journalists a chance to play the game's multiplayer modes and test their mettle against other journalists. We're proud to say that we managed quite well against our competition, slamming active reloads all the while, though that's perhaps beside the point. You all want to hear about Gears 2, not about how awesome we are at it. Read on for our hands on impressions.

About 4 minutes into a new Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts developer commentary video, Microsoft Game Studios creative director Ken Lobb drops the line, "So you basically grab with the wrench and then you twist the controller around and it'll move different things in the game." Twist, you say? Earlier, we catch Kazooie doing just that: twisting an Xbox 360 controller (recreated above; full video embedded after the break). So what do we make of all this?

Well, there's that nagging rumor of some Abracadabra action going on behind closed doors at Microsoft, with Rare allegedly being one of the first studios to waggle the magic wand before passing it up for Vision cam support in the upcoming XBLA title, The Fast & The Furriest. It's not much of a stretch to assume that if Microsoft is to unveil a motion controller (say, next week!), Banjo-Kazooie could be one of the first titles to support the new feature. Waggletech® isn't exactly cutting edge or expensive, so a hardware manufacturer can essentially tack on motion sensitivity at any point (to varying degrees of success).

One theory suggests that Microsoft could install motion control into preexisting gamepads with an add-on device; perhaps a modified battery pack that also plugs into the headset port. Bundle the gizmo with Banjo-Kazooie, and you've got yourself a tried and true practice. Case closed? Certainly not.

Update: Microsoft has this to say.

News from the MGS we haven't heard from in a while now, with Microsoft Game Studios Europe explaining why simultaneous releases on the Xbox 360 and PC don't always make business sense. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Peter Zetterberg, business development manager for MGS Europe, described such releases as the equivalent of placing a bullet in the foot.

"On a global scale the Windows Vista business is as important as our Xbox 360 business. But in Germany for example, we want more gamers to buy our Xbox 360," Zetterberg said. "If we launch a game that is on 360 and PC simultaneously, we basically shoot ourselves in the foot by allowing the German market to choose to play the PC version – because they are more likely to buy that than spend their money on the Xbox 360."

Though the absence of immediate consumer choice is always regrettable, the sharing of exclusives between two platforms will inevitably put the least popular one at a disadvantage. After all, why would you purchase an Xbox 360 if the game you want would work just fine, if not better, on your Vista PC? Microsoft isn't just leaving the PC with leftovers, though, as Zetterberg adds that the publisher is always looking to tweak its business model to allow for a "multitude" of independent titles "under an MGS flag." Kinda like PC Live Arcade ... hey, whatever happened to that?

While the thread on this rumor is pretty thin, we wanted to share it with you anyways, being clear about its origins. After yesterday's rumor-splosion gave us some more potentially accurate info on Lips – the Xbox 360's answer to PS3's SingStar – we received an unverified tip which appeared to originate from within Microsoft, which told us that the Microsoft Game Studios-published title was being developed by iNiS, the Japanese dev best known for its Elite Beat Agents and Ouendan Nintendo DS games.

So, to recap: Microsoft is working on a karaoke game codenamed "Lips" – that's a rumor. The developer working on the game is iNiS – also a rumor. That iNiS has a long history of making music and rhythm games and that it's co-founder Keiichi Yano confirmed that the developer was in fact working on an unnamed Xbox 360 game – those are both facts. We'll (hopefully) put the rest of the puzzle together four weeks from today when Microsoft holds their E3 press conference. If you've got any more information, we're all ears about Lips.

If we had a dollar for every time we've heard the phrase "our game will ship when it's done" from a developer, we'd have enough money to ... buy Halo Wars when it's eventually released. Despite MS tagging the game as one of it's biggies for '08 back in January, the Ensemble Studios developed RTS set in Master Chief's 'hood is seeming a little more iffy for this year.

First off, the game missed the recent Xbox Spring Showcase in May. Now Graham Somers, Ensemble's community manager, has uttered the words "when," "it's," and "done" one after another in an interview with Halo Wars Addict. Somers' answer came when asked if the game will hit in 2008 or 2009.

We have been seeing a pickup in new details on the game recently – which is promising – and will hopefully have something more solid to go on than those three dreaded words come E3 next month. That said, can someone please put a dollar in the jar labeled "WID" on their way out? Thanks.

[Via X3F]

Following yesterday's game of musical executive chairs inside Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business – wherein Shane Kim ordered a brand new chair for his newly created office of corporate vice president of Strategy and Business Development, while Phil Spencer adopted Kim's old chair as the new general manager of Microsoft Game Studios – Next-Gen spoke with the two execs about their new roles. Unsurprisingly, Kim is the focus of the interview, and he offered a handful of forward-facing statements, fitting with his new strategic role.

When asked if MGS could publish another title as popular as Halo 3, Kim says the chances are "really good" explaining, "We've got the talent, we've got people who are always on the lookout for new ideas and talent, and most importantly we have the commitment and the will to create those hits." Even more telling, Kim puts that new title to use, addressing the strategy of appealing to a new mainstream market: "For us, our opportunity is much like the industry's opportunity: How do we make what we do mass market? How do we make it a mainstream form of entertainment?" Sounds like Kim was bumped upstairs to help Xbox get some of that Wii money, no?

Changes are afoot within Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, with Microsoft Games Studios lead, Shane Kim, being promoted to the newly created role of "corporate vice president of Strategy and Business Development." According to Microsoft's press release, such a grand title is furnished on someone who will "explore new growth opportunities" and look after "future external relationships and partnerships." We imagine Mr. Kim's new role will also provide some sort of assistant trained to tell him as soon as a new Resident Evil game is announced.

Taking over Kim's role will be Phil Spencer, former general manager of Microsoft Games Studios Europe. Spencer will foster new franchises that "aim to attract new audiences" and keep an eye on all that "Gears of War" and "Fable" stuff the kids are so into these days.

Both fellows will report directly to senior vice president of Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business, Don Mattrick. Also announced in the same press release: Jeff "Jeff Bell" Bell is bailin'.

Yes, Jeff Bell fans (or as you're known on the street, "Jeff Bell fans"), you read that right: Jeff Bell, VP of global marketing, is leaving Microsoft to "pursue a passion outside entertainment." Bell will remain with the company through the summer. You may remember Jeff Bell as the ghetto fabulous exec who tried to sound hood, or from his turn as a rad internet troll or, most likely, from the time we totally turned the corner and fell in love with the guy.

Filling in for Jeff Bell at Microsoft until a replacement is found will be Matt Barlow, Charlotte Stuyvenberg and Jim Merrick. Filling in in our hearts? Nobody. We know of no better way to say goodbye than to listen to Jeff Bell sing Rush's "Tom Sawyer" one last time, right after the break.

See? It's not just about flipping out and killing people and slashing enemies into the air and tossing shurikens into their faces and lopping off limbs and doing totally sweet combos like that one where you kick the guy in the head before chopping him into pieces and then running up the wall because you're the ultimate unstoppable mammal. Sometimes you just have to calm down and defend yourself. If the sage advice conveyed by the above video isn't enough, you have until June 3rd to view the clips after the break and get educated on the ways of the ninja.

Remember: Ninjas fight ALL the time.

When Project Gotham Racing dev Bizarre Creations was scooped up by Activision last year, many 360 owners were left wondering what would become of the system's flagship racing franchise. Speaking to Kikizo, Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim provided one possible (and likely) scenario: put Forza Motorsports 2 team Turn 10 behind the wheel.

Kim says that MS is eager for Turn 10 to branch out and "do more creative execution in the racing space." (Read: more than just hardcore racing sims.) Kim expressed a desire to take "a fresh creative approach" to a fifth game in the series, and, to that end, proposed imagining "a future where [Turn 10] would develop a new version of Project Gotham Racing." We humbly suggest that – should they get the gig – Turn 10 replace Kudos with actual MS points.

In a soon to be published interview with X3F, Fable 2 creator Peter Molyneux revealed some new details concerning Fable 2 co-op and how players will earn money in the game. First and foremost, Molyneux noted that there are no gold drops in Fable 2. In other words, monsters don't drop large bags of cash when they die (which is somewhat more realistic really). Instead, Fable 2 will have players earn money the old fashioned way: working for it. There are a range of jobs available to players such as being a blacksmith, assassin or woodsman. There is also one other job which specifically concerns cooperative play: henchman. Co-op players will become the henchman when they visit the worlds of other players. How exactly a player earns money as a henchman wasn't discussed. It raises some interesting questions such as whether or not the main player will actually have to pay henchmen, for example. Finally, when asked about whether or not male characters will be able to impregnate their female co-op partners, Molyneux noted "it's certainly an interesting idea," adding, "no promises." We hope the feature makes it into the game, because we're dying to have CliffyB's digital baby.

We nearly missed the Gears of War 2 announcement at the end of Microsoft's GDC keynote because of this surprise Ninja Gaiden II demonstration. By the time it finished, we had completely lost consciousness due to an increasingly violent series of glee seizures -- or gleezures. If you plan on watching the direct-feed footage of Team Ninja's forthcoming kill-em-up, we'd advise you to sit well away from coworkers and small children should your delight suddenly begin manifesting in wild arm flailing and uncontrollable pelvic thrusts.

Protip: We find that thinking about the awful June 2008 release date has an immediate calming effect.

In a lengthy and comprehensive Q&A conducted by New York Time's games journo Seth Schiesel with Microsoft Game Studios' veep Shane Kim at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, the two go a couple rounds hitting on everything from big AAA titles like Halo, to ActiBlizzion, to the departure of the Bs (Bungie, Bizarre, BioWare), all the way over to the long-rumored (and so far totally fictitious) Xboy.

Gamasutra was there to detail all the good bits in a lengthy writeup that we'd be doing you a total disservice by trying to condense. Check it: digital downloads, Vista-only PC games, console war winners, third-party sales, mass-market appeal, Grand Theft Auto IV, console lifespan, PS3 growth in Europe ...

... phew. See? Comprehensive.

BioWare has unveiled the first in a series of downloadable add-ons to its interstellar epic of planetary exploration and interspecies cavorting, Mass Effect. Warping onto the Xbox Live Marketplace on Monday, March 10th, "Bring Down the Sky" expands the game's rich universe by adding a new uncharted world and an alien race mentioned but never seen in the award-winning central campaign.

It seems an extremist group of Batarians, who sadly look nothing like the gigantic space bats we envisioned them to be, has taken control of a mobile asteroid station and set it on a collision course with a nearby colony. Since you'll have absolutely none of that, you'll download the adventure for 400 MS Points ($5) and put an end to the crisis within "approximately 90 minutes." If saving Terra Nova isn't reward enough, there are 50 Gamerscore points in it for you.