Dante Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) Microsoft's new project, which it's announcing Thursday at Comic-Con for the first time, is a series of seven shorts set in the Halo universe and done in Japanese anime style. Anime geeks will recognize the five production houses working on the films -- Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4[Degrees]C, and Toei Animation -- as well as the creative director helping to oversee production for Microsoft: Shinji Aramaki, director of "Appleseed" and "Appleseed Ex Machina." Microsoft is financing and overseeing production through 343 Industries, its new internal division that's in charge of everything Halo. It's planning to preview them on the online gaming service Xbox Live this fall and has then enlisted Warner Bros. -- the game companies still need a little help from Hollywood -- to release them on DVD, Blu-ray and other digital platforms in early 2010. Aramaki is directing his own short that tells the history of the Spartans, a warrior class in the game's fictional universe that main character Master Chief is part of. Though Halo isn't particularly popular in Japan -- most of its 27 million units sold have been in North America and Europe -- Aramaki said he's a player and was immediately interested in the possibility. "I liked that this would be an anthology of human stories told from different characters' perspectives," he explained. Frank O'Connor, creative director of 343, gave a peek at some of the other Halo Legend shorts. Studio4 C's project, tentatively called "Origins," is a two-parter that's about 30 minutes long in total and tells the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe. Another, from Toei, is the only one outside of the official canon and pokes fun at some of the game's characters. Within the general anime style, the visual look of the projects differs widely. "It's a wildly varied genre, but anime creators do things with weapons and vehicles and technology nobody else does, and that marries very well with Halo," he explained. "It's amazing to see some of the new stuff they're introducing and how neatly it maps to the visual aesthetics in the Halo universe." Microsoft gave the production companies largely free reign in how the shorts looked, but O'Connor and others were heavily involved in developing the stories and making sure all the details were right. "Depending on the studio, we did everything from writing the stories to feeding them with characters and scenarios they could explore," he said. At first, he was a bit wary about revealing any details, but O'Connor quickly granted that when Microsoft releases a trailer for Halo Legends at its Comic-Con panel, fans are sure to pick apart every frame. "I think the core 'Halo' fans will recognize key moments from the universe never shown in the game," he said. "They're moments where people wanted more depth. That's where this fits." http://latimesblogs.latimes.com Edited July 23, 2009 by Dante Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 My interest in Halo has waned over the years, but I do love Studio 4C and my Halo Graphic Novel still gets a read every now and then. Depends on timing and interest, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Dare Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 mmmmm...maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hell yeah!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 Inside Xbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 Posters: Production I.G's "Duel" Production I.G's Spartan origin story Bones' "Prototype" experimental Mjolnir piece 4C's ODST/Spartan 4C's History piece (two-parter) Toei's off-canon "Odd One Out". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daft Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 As much as I like Halo...this is retarded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViPeR Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 So, the Halo version of Animatrix then. Hmm, nah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aimless Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 What's going on with the red CQB's hands? Anyway, I rather wish Microsoft would stop banging the Halo drum. It's an excellent series of games, sure, but instead of turning it into a lunchbox-and-novelty-headwear franchise couldn't they put all that money into making a new first-party IP instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayn117 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 A year or so ago this would have interested me. Halo's lost its appeal that it once had. multiplayer killed it for me. every time i played it seemed to be full of quitters or annoyin kids. shame because i used to love playin till the early hours:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shino Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Haro Densetsu. Might be the only time where I enjoy Halo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I thought I may aswell slam this news in here. Republic Commando author Karen Traviss takes her first stab at the Halo universe in Halo: Evolution, a story anthology coming in November from Tor Books. Halo: Evolutions presents fans of Halo literary fiction a little light reading to help them pass the time before Greg Bear's Halo trilogy kicks off in 2010. Tor has lined up a slew of bestselling authors, from series veterans Eric Nylund and Tobias Buckell, to newcomer Karen Traviss, whose Star Wars: Republic Commando and Gears of War novels have been some of the best gaming-themed reads ever produced. "The chance to explore corners of the Halo universe, whether obscure or popular, is something we are always excited to do, but the chance to shine light on these dark corners with the talents of these wonderful luminaries, is a pleasure indeed," says Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director, 343 Industries. "The combination of fresh eyes and old hands guarantees a brilliant continuation of a Halo tradition." Im looking forward to this. Both Gears of War books are fantastic and I can't wait to see what she comes up with for Master Chief and the other Spartans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Anyone else watch the first short on Waypoint yet? I thought it was pretty good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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