Unless you haven't heard, Ensemble Studios - the guys behind the Age of Empires franchise - will be closing once they finish work on Halo Wars. Dave Pottinger, Ensembles' director of tech, says Microsoft's decision to close the studio "doesn't make a lot of sense."

Pottinger also talks about the development of Halo Wars, Microsoft in general, and the canceled Halo MMO project. Read about it after the link.

If you've been waiting for the Halo Wars Limited Collector's Edition, you can all heave a sigh of relief now as we've received word on when it'll come out. Microsoft says it's coming on February of next year, and what do you know, the Mythic Map Pack for Bungie's Halo 3 is also arriving along with it. You know where to go for more info: full article.

Rumors have been floating around since 2006 that a Halo MMO was in development, although this has never been solidly confirmed by any studio. It's recently revealed that the MMO was indeed real.

Unfortunately, it was canceled.

Yeah, anticlimactic huh? Anyway, check out screenshots of the never-to-be Halo MMO after the link.

It is official. The Covenant will indeed be playable in Ensemble Studios' upcoming RTS game, Halo Wars. To find out more about this, head on over to the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

Straight from a recent monthly update from Age of Empires creator Ensemble Studios comes the news that the Halo Wars Alpha test period is over. And while the developer was kind enough to spew personal recounts of the Alpha experience, they also revealed that they've lined up more info to unravel at the June issue of GamePro magazine. More at the full story.

A few weeks ago, we reported on a rumor about the existence of Halo Wars Alpha. Ensemble Studios has just confirmed its existence through the April Halo Wars update where the devs also provided a few details about the upcoming real-time strategy game. Head over the full article to find the updates.

Still hoping Ensemble Studios just might be making a PC port of the Xbox 360-exclusive Halo Wars RTS? A recent rumor indicated that this could be a possibility, although Microsoft says otherwise.

Details are up ahead in the full article.

Ensemble Studios finally unleashed screenshots of the Microsoft Xbox 360 title Halo Wars' multiplayer mode, and if you're remotely a fan of real-time strategy games or the Halo universe, they're worth checking out. Find the screens at the full article.

Microsoft Game Studios and developers Big Huge Games along with Ensemble Studios have announced that Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties has gone Gold and will be available in stores come October 23. This will be the second expansion to Age of Empires III.

For the price of US$ 29.99, players can upgrade to this new version of the game and explore lands they were not able to in previous iterations. Marvel at the rich and exotic cultures as you expand your domain to the world's largest continent.

If you don't like the idea of being a Western conqueror, Asian civilizations will also be playable. Also retained is the "Wonders" feature which has become a favorite among the game's install base.

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties will not disappoint strategy fans with its ability to retain classic elements which has made the game franchise popular while adding new tweaks and innovations that will keep the series fresh. Watch out for this one because you'll be away in an expedition for a long time once you get your hands on it.

Waiting for an early taste of Ensemble Studios' Halo Wars RTS game for the Xbox 360? While the game isn't expected to deploy into retail until 2008, the demo that's expected to tease us on the title's features is expected to arrive soon. Very soon, it seems, based on this Leipzig 2007 video we've just picked up covering an interview with Ensemble's Executive Producer Harter Ryan.

Gaming features aside, Ryan states that the demo is expected to be available today - Monday (check out his statement 19 secs into the vid). Our last scan of Xbox Live didn't show the demo on our XBL list, though. We're just hoping that Ryan was on the mark, and that it might be landing later. Keep in touch in case we get updates, or if Halo Wars becomes a downloadable within the next few days.