Earlier this year we heard that Microsoft was opening up a new studio called 343 Industries. Many people, myself included, figured that this new studio would be working with Bungie on 2010′s Halo Reach.

But that apparently is not the case (at least not yet) as a Comic-Con panel announced today that the first task of 343 Industries is to work on a series of animated short films, called “Halo Legends”, that will be set in the Halo Universe.

At this point few details are known about “Halo Legends”. We can tell you that 343 Industries will be partnering up with a number of animation veterans like Shinji Aramaki, who directed the critically acclaimed “Appleseed” and “Appleseed EX Machina” movies. Mamoru Oshii, who directed the “Ghost in the Shell” films; and a number of other creatived minds behind “The Animatrix,” “Cowboy Bebop,” “Fullmetal Alchemist,” and “Dragon Ball” are expected to help out as well.

And while few plot points have been confirmed so far, the LA TIMES printed a story that says, “Studio4 C’s (short film), 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 (short film), from Toei, is the only one outside of the official canon and pokes fun at some of the game’s characters.”

You can look for “Halo Legends” to be distrubted by Warner Brothers Entertainment sometime in 2010, but the smart money says that the release of these films will tie in nicely with the release of Bungie’s “Halo Reach” in the fall of 2010.

However, if you are an XBL members you could get a preview of select “Halo Legends” episodes through a new Xbox Live experience called “Halo Waypoint”; which will be launching in the fall. According to Microsoft, ”Halo Waypoint” will:

• inform fans of the latest “Halo” news and activities
• grant access to podcasts 
• show trailers and screenshots
• act as a source of exclusive video footage

On top of that, ”Halo Waypoint” will debut several behind-the-scenes videos that chronicle the making of “Halo Legends.”

ADDITIONAL INFO: Posted Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 1:39 pm

We were able to confirm today that 343 Industries will now be working on all future HALO products; including all HALO video games. Bungie’s last game in the HALO franchise will be 2010′s HALO Reach.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.