Today Shane Kim (VP in charge of the MS gaming division) confirmed (via filefront) that MS and Bungie are evolving for the better.

“While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we will continue to invest in our ‘Halo’ entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the ‘Halo’ universe. We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through ‘Halo’-related titles and new IP created by Bungie.”

Halo 3 which has now officially made 300 million dollars for MS in it’s first week of release, looks to be the biggest hit of the holiday season. This is an unprecedented move on Microsoft’s part. Bungie was bought by Microsoft in 1999. Since then Bungie has made one of the top selling game franchises in history. During the development of Halo 3, Bungie had dropped several hints that they had a couple new IPs in the works. This move will allow them to decide what projects they do over what Microsoft would like them to do.

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Halo 3, the hype machine; have you drank the kool-aid, errr the Game Fuel yet? In the midst of a media storm and $170 million opening week sales, Halo 3 was released to the public in three different versions. For most people, the regular edition was enough to satisfy. Some like myself opted for the limited edition, which includes a tin and a bonus disc. Others decided they wanted a Master Chief helmet and opted for the legendary. No matter which edition you decided on, you were more interested in the amazing gameplay & multiplayer from the previous incantations. By the time it takes to come down from the caffeine buzz generated by the mixture of code red & live wire (& cough syrup I believe), though, you realize that Halo 3 — while awesome on many fronts — isn’t quite the mega-wonder we all had hoped for.

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