The videogame industry is a predictable one. There is a simple formula to knowing if a series will be continued or not. First you find out if the game made alot of money and if it did, you can expect another game at some point in the future, it’s a simple as that. So it goes as no surprise that despite Halo 3’s fight having been “finished,” the franchise itself is far from dead.

Hot off the heels of the Legendary Map Pack’s release, rumors are flying around the interwebs about a new Halo project that has already been conceived and is well on its way to stoking the fanboy fires in the future. The as-yet unnamed title is said to be abandoning the traditional Halo first-person perspective and opting for a hybrid 3rd person experience instead. The game is rumored to be a prequel and will chronicle the events leading up to the first Halo game.

Awhile back, it was revealed that Peter Jackson was working on a new Halo-themed game, and he was getting his very own team just for that very purpose. It is quite possible that this is that game, however no confirmation has been given one way or the other. The last bit of rumor-fried speculation is that the game will land on store shelves in late 2009, in keeping with Microsoft’s own Halo/Gears/Halo/Gears philosophy.