Xbox One and 360 users will witness first-hand the fruit of Microsoft’s TV labour this year, with a slate of Xbox Originals starting in June. Press invited to a special event were even shown a sizzle reel that suggests a Gears of War and Fable series are also on the cards. Microsoft’s community chap Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb discussed the run of Xbox Originals programming over on his blog today, where he confirmed that the initial slate of shows will begin this June. Hryb wrote, “Xbox Entertainment Studios has attracted a slew of top Hollywood talent to develop its original programming slate, with names like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott attached to two separate scripted projects based on the ‘Halo’ franchise – but that’s only the beginning.” He went on to confirm the airing of such shows as the Halo series, football talent show Every Street United, a live airing of the 13th annual Bonnaroo music and arts festival, a six-part series that looks at how technology has influenced our world called Signal to Noise (which includes Atari: Game Over, focused on the excavation of landfilled E.T. cartridges), and the UK-produced drama show Humans, which takes place in an alternate reality where robots are used to make daily life more efficient. But as an added bonus, Shacknews is reporting that press invited to a Microsoft TV event were shown a short clip at the end of the company’s presentation, that bore the line, “The games that define us will become the stories that thrill us.” It was followed by clips of games Gears of War, Fable, State of Decay, Forza Motorsport and Age of Empires. Could they be getting similar TV adaptations? It remains to be seen. Other shows confirmed as in-development include, RPG adaptation Deadlands, stop-motion show Extraordinary Believers, documentary Fearless, the adaptation of Warren Ellis novel Gun Machine, an Untitled JASH Comedy/Variety Half Hour from Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera, Tim and Eric and Reggie Watts, and finally a live-action adaptation of graphic novel series Winterworld. “We are developing premium, original content for the Xbox community which is an audience we are incredibly respectful of,” said Nancy Tellem, President of Xbox Entertainment Studios. “We believe Xbox Originals should embrace the way our fans think about traditional TV.” Source VG247.
