Keeping a company light on its toes by keeping the core creative staff small and outsourcing the fiddly bits is how Wideload Games is approaching the problem of rising game development costs.

Okay, this is a little obscure, but I thought it worth posting anyway.

The Escapist has a nice piece on how Microsoft has gone from being a puppy to a big dog in the computer and console game space, and how often that has been achieved through acquisitions.

Ars Technica notes that recent decreases in the costs of parts and manufacturing may mean Microsoft no longer has to subsidize the sales of their Xbox 360 console with profits from software: they may be making as much as $75 on each console sold, according to iSuppli.

Meanwhile, it is estimated that Sony will lose about $240 on each PlayStation 3.

No Xbox 360 price drops have been spotted just yet, but Microsoft would seem well-positioned to offer one if they so choose.

Coming Soon has up what it claims is an official press release from Wingnut Films, detailing a joint decision by Microsoft and Wingnut to delay production of the Halo feature film until such time as they can guarantee they'll be bringing a "first class film" version of the game to screens.

Spong is reporting that the X06 Korea event gave details on a 100Gb hard drive unit for the Xbox 360. No official confirmation, or word on pricing or availability. Not sure why such news would surface first in Korea, so take this with the usual helping of salt you reserve for Spong stories.

Cinema Blend and CanMag have two completely different takes on the same event. Apparently, just before making an initial payment, Universal and Fox asked Microsoft and the producers to lower their profit-sharing on the Halo movie. Microsoft refused, and now Fox and Universal are out of the picture.

Stuff has a story by Gerard Campbell on how the formation of Wingnut Interactive, working on a future series of digital entertainment products in Bungie's Halo universe, is bringing New Zealand into the heart of the next-generation gaming industry.

Supernostro pointed out an article at IGN suggesting that in Q1 of 2007, the CPU in the Xbox 360 will get an upgrade that will make the console more reliable:

A lot of sources today are spreading news that details of revelations to be made at Microsoft's X06 event in Barcelona, Spain today.

KP's latest piece at Bungie.net is for all the fans who wish they could work at Bungie like he does. It's probably fair to say that Bungie has hired more than its share of its own fans over the years, so while it's certainly a long shot, it isn't impossible, if you've got education, determination, and skills Bungie needs. Check out the article for tips from other Bungie staffers on how to get in the door, how to get noticed, and how to get hired to work at Bungie.

Although two panelists-- Al Lowe, Leisure Suit Larry creator and Erik Wolpaw, better known as Old Man Murray and a writer on Psychonauts were no-shows, attendees at the Game Writers Conference were treated to a few laughs by Wideload Games' Matt Soell and Tom Abernathy of Pandemic, makers of Destroy All Humans!

Making gamers laugh is a serious business, made more serious by the fact that comedy is not as well established a subgenre of games as it is of film. Still, said Soell, comedy has its place: