The Halo movie may be cancelled on hold, but Microsoft's storied video-game franchise is transcending the interactive medium again in the form of a series of anime short films.

The epic science fiction world of Halo has already been explored in the novel form and with four video games — a fifth game, Halo 3: ODST releases this fall — but as part of events at San Diego Comic-Con, Microsoft announced the Halo Legends project, a collaboration with the likes of noted anime directors Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) and Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell).

Frank O'Connor is development director for the franchise and creative director for 343 Industries, a new division of Microsoft Game Studios that is responsible for overseeing the Halo property.

“The opportunity to work with talents such as Shinji Aramaki, Mamoru Oshii and others from some of the greatest anime studios is a very rare opportunity for Microsoft,” O'Connor said in a release from Microsoft. “We’ve seen the world through Master Chief’s eyes, and we’ve experienced facets of the universe through a variety of literary prisms, but now we get to watch new tales unfold in really rich, visually dynamic ways. I think anime fans and Halo fans alike are in for a real treat.”

Halo Legends will "include a series of short stories that explore different times, themes and characters from the Halo universe."

A preview of the episodes will debut on a new Xbox LIVE channel called Halo Waypoint, which will be launched this fall.

Warner Home Video will distribute a compilation of all the shorts that make up the Halo Legends project.