I think without a doubt, M$ needs to expand the Halo-verse, imho.  Unlike others, I don't believe M$ is doing enough to push the game’s IP in all directions.  For people who feel that Halo is already over-exploited (that's a head-scratcher for me), there's been 4 games in the Halo verse released to-date...that's exploited?  and 3 of the 4 have been shooters?...with the 5th and 6th ones as shooters as well...that's hardly exploited.  It seems more like it's underutilized, imho.  MGS NEED to develop the HALO UNIVERSE...not the Master chief universe...but the HALO-VERSE.  Star Wars, LOTR, Star Trek, D&D, Mario, etc...you're talking about IP, and what you can do with it.  This is like saying...the bulls exploited MJ during his prime...lol...are you kidding me...you put your best performer in the position to win win win.

http://www.videogamer.com/news/microsoft_halo_is_our_centre_piece.html

Microsoft: Halo is our 'centre piece'

By Wesley Yin-Poole - 10/09/2009 - 11:14am GMT

Promises to invest as much as it can in the franchise.

Halo is Microsoft's "centre piece" franchise. That's according to Alex Cutting, producer on Halo 3: ODST from Microsoft Game Studios.

Since the release of Halo 3 in September 2007, a number of high profile MGS published Xbox 360 exclusive franchises have been released, including Epic's phenomenally popular Gears of War 2 and Lionhead's superb Fable II.

With the looming release of Bungie's Halo 3: ODST, however, Halo is back in the spotlight. And Cutting told VideoGamer.com that Halo is still massively important to Microsoft.

"Halo is our bread and butter," he said.

"Microsoft Game Studios is the publisher that brought Halo: Combat Evolved to the scene, and we realised we had a good thing going there.

"It is a centre piece for us. We will invest in Halo as much as we can to make sure it’s a healthy, respected, fun franchise, and we will continue to do so."

Cutting pointed to the recently announced anime series Halo Legends, Halo Waypoint, a hub for all things Halo, and next year's Bungie-developed Halo: Reach, as proof of Microsoft's commitment and belief in all things Halo.

He said: "The Halo universe is obviously very rich in detail. There are a lot of stories to be told there.

"As far as the future of the franchise, I can guarantee it’s something Microsoft is going to continue to invest in and make new products and exciting stuff, but I’m not going to be able to tell you, or even concept what other stuff we’re doing."

Halo 3: ODST is out on September 22. For the latest previews, trailers and screenshots, head over to our game page.

Lol at first I thought you meant Metal Gear Solid and I was like..wha?

e: I read it wrong

Yes, we've noticed!

2 Halo's in 1 year and another Halo next year is really milking the franchise though, don't you think?

Kind of like how there's a new Call of Duty every year.

What the hell is MGS? Micro Gear Soft?

OMG NEW EXCLUSIVE!

Microsoft Games Studios I believe Garnett

MGS=Metal Gear Solid
GOW=God of War
GeOW= Gears Of War
MSGS=Microsoft Game Studios

I don't care if it is milking or not...

So far, the quality is excellent and the positionning of the game hasen't deviated too much.

Halo Wars included, there is a coherent link between all the games.

So far so good... I want an Halo Wars 2 and hope that Halo Reach is truly the big next step in the franchise (Reach is a key moment in the Halo saga).

Odst is a sweet snack for patience

Halo Wars was the best RTS on a console to-date, and we've seen the story as to how Halo ODST came about.  You had a team in-place, and they needed somethign to work on...bam...Halo ODST.  I don't think it's milking it, if the products are top quality, and deliver unique game play experiences. 

Thanks for the correction...