Drama and Acting

Microsoft’s video games could get much more Hollywood excitement and drama as the company today announced that it will create Wingnut, a new game studio in cooperation with Academy award winning writer, director, and producer Peter Jackson as well as Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh.

According to an announcement made Wednesday, Jackson and Walsh will be deeply involved in key titles to be published under various Microsoft brands. In a first stage, the parties will collaborate to develop two new “interactive entertainment series” for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, the first of which will be a sequel to Halo and the second “will be an entirely original property targeted at bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment.”

Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday that it is teaming with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson to create content for its Xbox 360, in part to get more mainstream users interested in the company’s video game console.

Just don’t call these products “games.” “I don’t want to classify it as a game. I’m hoping to stretch the definition of interactive entertainment to go beyond the game,” said Shane Kim, a corporate vice president in charge of Microsoft Game Studios. Kim conceded he’s not sure what exactly these new “entertainments” might be.

“I feel like we haven’t figured it out, to be honest,” he said. Whatever they are, Kim said they could include deeper plot lines and more interactive drama, or delivering additional content over time, perhaps through the company’s Xbox Live online service. “It’s about making interactive entertainment a mainstream form of entertainment,” Kim said.

Jackson and his Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Fran Walsh, will be directly involved in the creation of the new “Halo” title. Jackson, whose third movie in his Rings trilogy won 11 Oscars, including best director and best film, plans to work with Bungie Studios to create one product based on Microsoft’s already popular Halo game, Kim said. Screenwriter Fran Walsh, Jackson’s wife, also is on board. The other product will be aimed at an audience beyond the young men typically associated with video games. Kim couldn’t say when either of Jackson’s projects might come out.

Microsoft also said on Wednesday that it was working on another Halo game, called Halo Wars. It will be more of a strategy game, rather than the first-person shooter that has typified the series until now.

Halo Wars will be in addition to Jackson’s creation and the previously announced Halo 3, due out next year. The company also announced North American and European pricing for its external DVD player, which will be available in November as an add-on to the Xbox 360.