XBOX-HQ.COM - Microsoft reveals plans for Halo through to 2015 and beyond

Gamerzines.com has dropped there latest issue containing a huge pile of info on Bungis plans and hopes for the future, so if you are a HALO fan check it out or you could even download the full zine from the link at the bottom of this post.

With total sales in excess of 27 million units, the Halo video game franchise is understandably at the forefront of Microsoft's ongoing plan, as confirmed by Frank O'Connor, creative director for 343 Industries, a division of Microsoft that handles all things Halo. Speaking with USA Today, O'Conner was candid in his admission that "we do have a plan that goes out at least six years... Eventually, it will become very apparent that there is a plan for the way the canon all ties together and the way the comic books and the novels all tie together."

And by 'canon' O'Conner's not talking about The Covenant's heavy weaponry, but rather the slew of books, comics, films, videos, action figures, and, er, video games that will make up the Halo entertainment universe in the years to come.

Kicking off next month comes the publication of Halo: Evolutions from Tor Books - a collection of Halo stories from Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell, Robert McLees and Karen Traviss. Further down the literary line there's a Halo Trilogy planned from Greg Bear with the first instalment set to reach bookshelves next year. O'Conner explains: "It is set in the Forerunner part of the canon, which is literally a prehistoric civilization that spans the galaxy and is responsible for all the mysterious artefacts in the Halo universe".

Also on a literary tip comes the continuation of the Halo series of comics. Marvel Comics' Halo: Helljumper is half way through a five-issue series, while another series, Halo: Blood Line comes out on December 23rd.

2010 will then see Halo come to your TV screens by way of the Halo Waypoint channel on Xbox Live, which will host all sorts of Halo goodness including video, audio, podcasts and screenshots. First up for video comes Halo Legends , a collection of seven shorts from five of Japan's leading anim studios.

More ambitious projects such as the much-touted Halo movie release are still a possibility but are currently on hold. Originally lined up for Peter 'Lord of the Rings' Jackson, O'Conner is now a little circumspect: "We're being very careful to pick the right time and the right partner".

Back to the actual game though, and the next instalment of Halo should see Bungie's Halo: Reach hitting your Xbox 360 this time next year. O'Conner explains that it's "a chronological prequel (to Halo 1), but it is not a prequel in the directions the Star Wars prequels were to the (original) movies. It will cover events in and around the planet Reach." And as for Master Chief... "I think that (his) fate, Cortana's fate and the identity of that giant, dark planet at the ending (on the game's hardest skill level) - that's a spoiler - are probably big mysteries that would be irritating if they were just cliff-hangers."

Gamerzine Issue 35: click here to download Issue 35 for free!

News-Source: gamerzines.com