Frank O'Connor, the franchise development director for "Halo" at Microsoft Game Studios, is charged with shepherding the franchise into the future, making sure that Master Chief doesn't find himself on the back of diaper boxes and starring in life insurance commercials. "Halo: Legends" is his main focus right now. Created in the style of "The Animatrix," "Halo: Legends" is a series of short, animated films set in the "Halo" universe. We spoke to O'Connor to get the scoop on the brainstorming process on some of these shorts.

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The above shot was taken by a user in the Major League Gaming forums nicknamed, predictably, Tom Morello. I'm hoping that that's not his real name, as the NDA he most likely signed would prohibit the screen capture of gameplay from what appears to be "Halo: Reach," but his risk is our gain, as he managed to cap off a few shots on his cell phone of some of the weapons that'll be featured in the game:

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"Halo 3: ODST" seems to be netting the series' fans with its gameplay, but a trending complaint on Bungie's message boards indicates that some players may be having problems when it comes time to load cinematic cut scenes. Posters have reported instances of data corruption and disc read errors that render their game files unplayable. Theories include incompatibility with old 360 DVD drives and isolated disc flaws, though the problems are unique to the "ODST" Campaign and Firefight modes.

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The last snippet from our on-going interview with Nathan Fillion (who has thus far explained how he got hooked up with Bungie and the fact that he totally wants to be in "Halo: Reach") deals with the moment he was first introduced to the franchise...not as an actor but as a gamer with a double hernia and a lot of time to kill. Check out the video up top.

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In speaking with Nathan Fillion (who happens to be a giant nerd, by the way) about his starring role in "Halo 3: ODST," the topic of "Halo: Reach" came up. Guess what? He's seen it. The details are sadly non-existent, but he has gotten an early look at the game when he was in Bungie's offices, which he talks about above.

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Given that it has, alongside “Grand Theft Auto”, literally defined the popular gaming landscape of the past decade, “Halo” has some weird identity issues. Rockstar North has never had any questions about what “GTA” is, but Microsoft and Bungie seem to go back and forth on whether “Halo” is a deeply story-driven epic or just a perfectly balanced shooter with memorable aesthetics.

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Handsome Star Captain of Tomorrow, Nathan Fillion, came down to the MTV offices to talk "Halo 3: ODST" the other day. We got a lot of great stuff out of him, but we'll start with the basics: How he got the gig to be a voice actor in "Halo 3" (which would later propel him into his starring role in "Halo 3: ODST").

In case you're skeptical about his level of enthusiasm, trust me, it's legit. This dude loves "Halo."

GameStop's pre-order exclusives have certainly encouraged people to throw down money for games early. For example, early birds will get to play as Sgt. Johnson in Firefight Mode (pictured above). And that's pretty good. But Toys R Us has them beat.

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It's not every day that a new "Halo" game comes out. The phenomenal popularity of Microsoft's banner franchise is only matched by the unending hype leading up to each release. But "Halo 3: ODST" is definitely a step in a different direction for the series. Are the changes enough to turn "Halo" fans into "Gears" heads? I went ahead and played through the game to find out.

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The "Halo" movie may be dead at the moment, but Neill Blomkamp's live action "Halo" shorts from a couple years back gave us a glimpse at what a silver screen rendition might look like. And Microsoft is apparently sticking with it, as the newest commercial for "Halo 3: ODST" is basically a mini movie, following a young ODST through his tumultuous military career.

It ain't often that I get chills from a commercial. Well done, guys.

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