Don’t color me surprised — but you can color me as pleasantly surprised. Wait.

Damnit.

You may have noticed the lack of anything Halo-related at Microsoft’s press conference earlier this week, as well as Bungie’s sudden backtrack on their website regarding an announcement they were planning to make at E3. The message above was posted on Bungie.net’s splash page by president Harold Ryan, apologizing for the lack of any announcement. Combine that with the unusual wording — “our publisher” and not “Microsoft” like you’d expect — and it was unclear what was going on.

But in an interview with MTV, Stephen Totilo managed to get word out of Microsoft exec Don Mattrick that Bungie is at work on a new Halo game separate from both Halo Wars and Peter Jackson’s Halo project.

The explanation Mattrick gave for why the game was absent from the press conference was that Microsoft felt they already had more than enough to show, and a new Halo game wasn’t needed.

Maybe, but as someone who remains a Halo fanboy at heart, it would have made me a very happy camper to see what Bungie is working on.

The E3 screens for Halo Wars have finally arrived and they look great. I really do not know what else to say about about the game other than what I did earlier when I posted the trailers. You can check those out here.

You can view six more Halo Wars E3 screens after the jump.

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Looks like Halo Wars is shaping up nicely from what I can tell from the screens and the trailer. The RTS based on the Halo Universe will be released sometime in the first half of 2009 for the Xbox 360.

In Halo Wars, players will command armies of familiar and new UNSC units in its initial encounters against the Covenant during an early period of the storied “Halo” universe, allowing them to experience events leading up to the first “Halo” title for Xbox.

With the guidance of Serina, gamers will direct legions of UNSC soldiers, Warthogs and Scorpions against Covenant Grunts, Elites, Ghosts and Scarabs, each group having its own strengths and uses in battle. Strategic-minded players who react well under pressure will emerge victorious.

For more on Halo Wars, check out our previous posts, and watch the Spatan II direct feed gameplay video below.

Joystiq has come in receipt of an image from Wal-Mart’s intranet which shows a listing for something called Halo “Blue.” The image comes by way of what they call a “trusted Wal-Mart source,” so it’s unlikely that this is just some fake, Photoshopped image.

Still, what could something called Halo “Blue,” really be? It’s not much of a name, that’s for sure.

In what could quite possibly be related news, Joystiq is also reporting on a rumor that the next Halo game will be a tactical game; “a cross between Ghost Recon and Gears of War” that will be “darker [and] grittier” and won’t be focused on everyone’s favorite Master Chief.

I’m actually hoping the two aren’t connected, and that Halo “Blue” turns out to be a re-release of the original Halo with jazzed-up graphics and online co-op. I’m certain that’s not what it is, but it’s nice to dream.

Either way, we’ll likely be finding out in just a few hours.

While I play games on every system, I have certain preferences about which systems I play certain things on. Strategy games and (generally speaking) FPS games I’d like to play on my PC, while sports games and other multiplayer-focused games I prefer on Xbox 360, since that’s where I have the largest group of friends that I play games with. Usually, I get that option, but anyone who has wanted to play a game from Microsoft on PC has undoubtedly noticed the lag time of PC releases behind those on Xbox 360.

That’s because Microsoft wants you to buy the Xbox 360. They don’t need to push the PC as a gaming platform, in their eyes, but they want you buying the 360, so why would they release a game simultaneously on both platforms? This way, they’re likely to see increased sales on the Xbox 360 front as systems have to be sold, and then they still sell a copy of that game. And then when you have suckers like myself that want to play the game on PC, too, they might end up with customers who buy a copy of the game on both systems.

This isn’t just speculation on my part; Microsoft Game Studios’ Peter Zetterberg, the business development manager for Europe, admitted as much in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

“On a global scale the Windows Vista business is as important as our Xbox 360 business,” he said, when questioned about why we don’t see simultaneous PC and Xbox 360 releases of games. “But in Germany for example, we want more gamers to buy our Xbox 360. 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.”

He continued, “On a global scale the PC is very relevant to us. And I would say that 90 per cent of the games that are pitched to us are on console. We’re strongly perceived as a console publisher because we’re the first-party publisher even though the Windows operating system is equally important to us. If we launched a Halo game on PC and 360 in Germany simultaneously, 80 per cent of sales would be on the PC. So we need to pick and choose our formats.”

It’s frustrating to me as a gamer that has the choice, but for those who only have a PC for playing games, it’s even worse. Imagine being a Halo fan and seeing the hype for Halo 3, only to have the release come and go, and almost 10 months later there still being no sign of a PC release. I’d love to think that they might reconsider, but that would be downright silly of me.

Yes, it’s Bungie Day! Time to get the kids to decorate the Master Chief statue with “plasma lights,” sing a few Spartan carols, and start mixing up the Covenant Nog. Or if you’re a traditionalist, you can download all the free stuff Bungie has put up on Xbox Live today. For starters, the new Cold Storage map can now be downloaded for Halo 3, which is a remake of the original game’s “Chill Out” map. If you want the rest of the maps in the Legendary Map Pack though, the price has now been dropped from 800 MS points to 600 MS points. Aside from that, there’s a free Bungie Day ‘08 theme and several gamerpics available for your downloading pleasure. Make sure you get ‘em soon though, because they’re gone forever after today.

Via Major Nelson

Monday is July 7 or 7/7, which has long been Bungie Day. This year you can expect a new, free map — Cold Storage, a revamp of the original Halo’s “Chill Out” level — and free gamerpics and a theme that will only be available on Monday. Bungie’s also trying to get the total number of kills in campaign mode up to seven million, so if you want to contribute, hop on Halo 3 and blast away some Covenant and Flood. But that’s not all:

Beginning on July 7, there will be a 48-hour long seven-player FFA playlist in Halo 3’s Matchmaking where you can turn the calendar back to 2001 and control Rockets, Invis and Snipe.

For now, Cold Storage will be implemented in regular rotation in playlists that require the Legendary Maps. To avoid confusion, playlists that previously required the Legendary Maps will now remind players that they need “all Maps” to participate, and since Cold Storage is free, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you to grab the map on July 7 and then return to your regularly scheduled business in SWAT.

Additionally, on 7/7, Microsoft is dropping the price of the Legendary Map Pack from 800 spacebucks to 600 spacebucks. That price drop does mean that purchases after 7/7 will no longer include the Bungie Pro bonus.

Note: the conversion rate of spacebucks to Microsoft points is 1:1.

Bungie has now revealed the sixth book that will take place in the Halo universe with Halo: The Cole Protocol. This book will apparently reveal the location of the Spartan Grey Team explore a specific conflict during the Human-Covenant wars. The book will be penned by Tobias S. Buckell, who has won numerous awards for his past works in science fiction. According to Frank O’Connor, franchise development director for Microsoft:

“Buckell continues an excellent tradition that’s now a solid aspect of the Halo novels, bringing a fresh new perspective to a limitless universe and bringing his prodigious writing talents to bear in ways that will surprise and engage fans of the series and newcomers alike.”

More information, including release dates and such, are expected to be revealed soon.

Via Bungie.net

The Major League Gaming event in San Diego offered fans a reward for watching hours of Halo 3 multiplayer matches. Bungie’s Shishka and Lukems gave MLG fans a look at the latest multiplayer map for Halo 3, “Cold Storage”. The level is set in the back rooms of a Cold Stone Creamery, with which Bungie has sealed a recent partnership.

Apparently the map is similar to a level from Halo known as “Chill Out.” It was a smaller asymetrical level, but there’s no way to know whether “Cold Storage” shares those traits yet. The new map hasn’t been officially introduced yet.

via Joystiq

Despite the drop out rate for the ESA and gaming companies that will be forgoing E3 2008, there will be plenty of upcoming games to get excited over. Microsoft will be featuring both Halo Wars and Gears of War 2. The company’s press conference is scheduled for July 14th.

Gamers can also look forward to learning more on Lionhead’s Fable 2. Rare is coming to the party and bringing Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. There’ll be more on Silicon Knights’ Too Human as well.

Gaming Today will be covering the event live and will keep you posted on the details as they’re revealed. E3 2008 is returning to the Los Angeles Convention Center this year and runs from the 15th to 17th of July.

via Eurogamer