Source: The celebrated script-snatchers at Latinoreview. (WARNING: Review contains strong language.)

The official story: Attempts to contact representatives at Halo distributor Universal Studios went unanswered as of press time.

What we heard: Latinoreview has been a source of early reviews of film scripts. Last week, reviewer El Mayimbe gave the world its first peek at the Splinter Cell movie script (the same week as a leak of the possible plot for Splinter Cell 4). While the rundown of Sam Fisher's first big-screen foray was indeed interesting, El Mayimbe dropped a not-so-subtle-hint that he had an even bigger scoop in store: a review of the highly guarded script for the Halo movie.

As fans know, Halo is expected to blast onto the big screen in 2007. Its developer Bungie and publisher Microsoft opted to make the movie on certain conditions. Microsoft paid novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach) $1 million to pen a script using a set of guidelines put forth by Bungie's creative directors, and then it shopped the script around to studios via couriers dressed as series' hero Master Chief.

Though the Halo franchise has made $600 million and counting, several studios passed (due to Microsoft's rather stark demands of creative control and monetary compensation) before Fox and Universal took on the project. However, all parties agreed to let Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson executive-produce Halo, which will feature special effects from his personal studio.

Though El Mayimbe said he wouldn't have the Halo script until November 9, today he posted a review on the site. In short, he LOVES it. Though the oft-excitable reviewer has previously heaped praise on many screenplays, he seems particularly taken with this draft of Halo, calling it a "tour de force" and giving it his highest rating of five stars.

El Mayimbe does a fairly in-depth job at laying out Halo's first act, which combines elements of the original Halo game and the novel Halo: Fall of Reach. The opening sequence is right out of the latter, which chronicles large-scale battles between Covenant armies and a whole platoon of cybernetic SPARTAN troopers. Without letting too many spoilers slip, El Mayimbe says the film will sport familiar ships, such as The Pillar of Autumn and Truth and Reconciliation, as well as enemies like jackals, hunters, and elites.

Perhaps most impressively, El Mayimbe says the game's visceral violence isn't watered down in the script, which he calls "the Saving Private Ryan of video game movies." "We got headshots, bodies being cut in half by the swords of the Stealth Elite," he wrote. "We see what kind of damage plasma grenades can do and yes we get to see the horror of flood infection vessels--heads snapping back and torsos exploding."

But how trustworthy is Latinoreivew? Its past reviews of critically lauded blockbusters, like Batman Begins have been pretty much spot-on. But is the script the real deal? Since NBC-Universal isn't talking, we don't know for sure. We hope so, though...

Bogus or not bogus?: We're going on faith and saying not bogus. That said, many-a-great script has ended up becoming a mediocre movie. Hopefully Jackson will assure a quality final product.

Source: Various sites, most citing an entry on Wikipedia, are tolling a death knell for director Uwe Boll's career.

The official story: See below.

What we heard: According to the Wikipedia entry, people invested in Boll's films to use the losses as a tax write off, and changes to German tax law set to take effect in 2006 will prevent that from happening. Boll has become somewhat notorious of late for scooping up the film rights to a number of games and quickly turning around box office turkeys with them. So far the director has struck out with adaptations of House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark. An early review of BloodRayne was not kind (nor was Boll's apparent retort), and we've still got adaptations of Dungeon Siege, Far Cry, Hunter: The Reckoning, Postal, and Fear Effect in the hopper.

Right off the bat, we can tell you that the bit about German tax law changing is not bogus. For a look at the current tax law and how mainstream movie studios take advantage of it for any kind of production (not just guaranteed bombs), check out this April article published in the Web-based magazine Slate. In short, Germans who invest in German-owned film ventures can take a tax deduction on their money whether the film has gone into production or not. This gets taken advantage of when studios play a shell game with the ownership of their films, selling it to German owners who will write off their investment before the studio buys it back for less money than the film was sold for in the first place. The German investors get their tax write-off, the studio defrays some of the movie's cost, and both sides walk away happy.

However, this is far from the only tax loophole movie studios take advantage of. According to the Slate article, Paramount managed to make Tomb Raider, a film with an on-paper budget of $94 million, for under $7 million. The German tax law loophole only accounted for a little more than $10 million, while a similar loophole in British law saved another $12 million. The real windfall for Paramount came from selling distribution rights to the movie to six countries where the Tomb Raider property was especially popular with teenage boys. Those deals in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain alone brought in $65 million.

E-mails sent to Boll from GameSpot seeking comment about how he expected the change in German tax law to impact his ability to raise capital for his films went unreturned. However, it seems unlikely to end his career, as some have predicted. First and foremost, a number of countries have similar tax breaks to encourage local film production that could be exploited to secure funding. Second, if Tomb Raider is anything to go by, it's the distribution rights that bring in the big bucks. Boll's not dealing with properties of that size, but he is targeting a number of dormant and second-tier gaming franchises that can likely draw enough interest from the gaming crowd that it shouldn't be hard to find distributors willing to pay for them. He also sprinkles the films with some surprisingly well-known stars who just aren't at their career peaks, further adding to international distributor appeal.

A more cynical site might even suggest that Boll is a business genius, intentionally cultivating an Ed Wood-like cinematic car-wreck culture around his films that makes them must-endure experiences for gamers. The licenses and fading star power he picks up will make their money back in distribution rights and ticket sales from morbidly curious gamers, and whatever tax law loopholes he can take advantage of along the way are just icing on a rotten, rotten cake. On the other hand, why would a steely-eyed business genius feel the need to get behind the camera for every one of his films and subject himself to the never-ending parade of critical evisceration? You have to figure that on some level, the guy just loves making movies.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus. Anyone resourceful enough to get a BloodRayne movie made won't be stopped by a simple tax code amendment. Or anything short of silver bullets and holy water, we suspect.

Source: An interview with Microsoft Japan's Xbox operations chief Yoshihiro Maruyama in Famitsu Xbox.

The official story: A Microsoft rep declined to comment.

What we heard: One of the biggest hardware shortcomings detractors have pointed out about the Xbox 360 is its reliance on the standard DVD format for its games. In August, Japanese developers weighed in on the system, with From Software producer Masanori Takeuchi lamenting Microsoft's decision to go with DVD as the standard system format. Takeuchi said that his Xbox 360 launch title Enchant Arm had already swollen to two discs and might even need three by the time it ships.

Bill Gates commented in June that the Xbox 360 might be upgraded in the future with an HD-DVD drive, something that would technically allow the system to run games off the higher-capacity discs. However, Maruyama indicated in the interview that the disc format would be used only for movies and not for gaming purposes.

"It's a possibility, but it won't have any relationship to gaming," Maruyama is quoted as saying. "If the Xbox 360 uses a next-generation DVD drive in the future, it will only be used for watching movies that run on next-generation DVDs. The format for games will remain as [standard] DVD. That's not going to change."

While it seems odd to add on hardware that could benefit game developers and then disallow them from using it, Microsoft might have good reason for it. Introducing an HD-DVD-equipped Xbox 360 would create at least three (and possibly four, if it came with or without the hard-drive add-on) significantly different hardware setups for developers to work with. Microsoft has already indicated that it wants every Xbox 360 game to play on a no-frills core system. While that simply won't be possible for some games (like the massively multiplayer Final Fantasy XI), it's understandable that the company would want to limit the number of different hardware configurations on the market, both to make things simpler for developers and to reduce confusion on the part of consumers.

However, if consumer confusion isn't that big a concern for Microsoft, there's no reason why publishers wouldn't be allowed to release games on both DVD and HD-DVD, much like PC publishers currently offer some games on both CDs and DVDs.

Bogus or not bogus?: Xbox Famitsu is certainly reputable, Maruyama would know better than us what Microsoft's ultimate plans for the 360 are, and the case can be made for having an HD-DVD without HD-DVD games. This one appears not bogus.

Source: An interview with MTV News

The official story: Attempts to contact Artest's agency went unanswered.

What we heard: If you didn't know the name Ron Artest before November 19 of 2004, you sure knew him after. The temperamental talent for the NBA's Indiana Pacers and former Defensive Player of the Year is known as much for tightening the screws on ball handlers as he is for missing a few screws. The small forward was handed the NBA's biggest suspension for an incident not involving betting or drugs, but for leaping into the stands and introducing his fist to some Detroit fans' faces in "The Malice in the Palace," an incident some sports writers referred to as "the NBA's 9/11." His extended vacation left Artest time to pursue his other interests, including embarking on a rap career, spending time with his family, and making video games. [cue screeching tires]

Yup. Artest told MTV.com that he's working on a new game that combines two things he's known for: basketball and fighting. However, according to the interview, the game won't let players fight on the court. Nooo, that wouldn't be classy. Players who have a beef with each other can take their scuffles to a boxing ring to avoid getting suspended by the league. Artest plans to unveil the game in early 2006, but he didn't mention any platforms, developers, or anything else, for that matter. The game will feature "playground" legends, and it won't be NBA-sanctioned.

Ron Artest says a lot of crazy things, but he follows up on them. He once said he was producing an R&B album. He did. He promised to release his own rap album, which comes out in the next few months. Is Artest making a boxing/basketball game? We'll say yes, if only for the fear of him running into our offices and beating the pulp out of us. Remember Sony's ill-fated Road to Sunday, which combined football with pit fighting? Such potential genre clashes just don't work. If Artest's game makes it all the way to retail, I'll fight Ben Wallace myself.

Bogus or not bogus?: A hesitant not bogus on its conceptualization, but a hearty bogus on its realization. You go, Ron.

Source: An art book handed out by Microsoft Game Studios along with review copies of Age of Empires III.

The official story: See below.

What we heard: When Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios sent out copies of Age of Empires III to game news outlets, they came with the customary tchotchkes. Among the swag was a hardcover coffee-table book titled Art of Empires. As the title suggests, the book features luxuriant prints of concept art and graphics from the first three games in the Age of Empire series.

However, it was the last page of the handsome tome that got the most attention. There, under the heading Age of Empires, were five images--a Spartan Warrior, a medieval knight, an 18th-century Redcoat, a Vietnam-era US GI, and a futuristic soldier--each above the respective roman numerals I, II, III, IV, and V. Since the Age of Empires III ends in the 19th century, the two latter images and numbers led many to believe that Ensemble and MGS were already developing modern-day fourth and futuristic fifth entries into the series.

Unfortunately, MGS was quick to dismiss that any games were in the works...yet. "It's concept art only and not a confirmation of new versions," a rep told GameSpot, saying work had not begun on Age of Empires IV, let alone V. However, given the series' popularity, expect at least two more installments in the franchise in the years ahead.

Bogus or not bogus?: Currently bogus, eventually not bogus.

Source: See below.

The official story: Blizzard reps had not responded to requests for comment.

What we heard: With World of Warcraft playing musical chairs in the "top 10 PC games" chart, interest has never been higher in its forthcoming expansion pack. So little wonder then that forums were aflame this week following a rumor that the expansion pack would be titled The Burning Crusade. The thermally tinged name sounded like something that Blizzard might cook up, as evidenced by the subtitle of its last Warcraft III expansion--The Frozen Throne.

The source was an image of the November cover of The Games Machine, an Italian games magazine owned by UK-based Future Publishing. GameSpot obtained a scan of the cover of the November Games Machine. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that we obtained two covers of the magazine: one hyping The Burning Crusade and the other promoting Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. The dual covers could mean only two things: Either one magazine cover was fake, or they were both legit--and Blizzard asked the magazine's publisher to yank the story. Either way, it won't be long until we find out what the title is, because the World of Warcraft expansion will be playable at BlizzCon next weekend.

Bogus or not bogus?: Probably not bogus.

Source: A forum thread on Xbox365.com.

The official story: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."--Microsoft spokesperson.

What we heard: Here we go again. It appears that Microsoft has started yet another viral marketing campaign. The first signs surfaced on the Xbox365.com forums on October 13. That's when a poster named "Lutz" started a thread titled "The beginning is nigh" above a photo of a curious, approximately 100-foot-wide symbol carved into San Francisco's Ocean Beach. The symbol displays the Roman numerals for 8, 1, and 6 in between a circle and a hexagon. Later on in the thread, Lutz posts two more pictures of the same symbol appearing in a field in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and another beach in Jacksonville, Florida.

When asked what the symbol was, Lutz's sole written reply was, "I will enlist the help of the truly committed, but first you must solve my puzzle." That statement sounds very much like the puzzle challenges on Ourcolony.net, the teaser site that helped hype the release of the Xbox 360. So it was little surprise when, within a few posts, fans were already speculating that the numbers were a date--8/1/2006--and that said date was the release of, in the words of one poster, "OMG! HALO3!!"

Yesterday, the connection between the pictures and the Xbox 360 became a clearer. That's when the site Hex168.com went online. It purports to be the Lutz World Report, a conspiracy newsletter written by one Dr. Jason Lutz from his subterranean bunker in Saskatchewan, Canada. It warns of increased "sightings" of the crop-circle-like "hexes" and warns of the megapowerful hex known as Hex 168. It turns out that name is a clue. An Xbox365.com poster of the number-crunching variety found that if one takes 168 as a hexadecimal value and then converts it into binary code, it becomes the sequence "0001 0110 1000." Put the three together into "000101101000" and that converts back to "360"--just the sort of nerd-friendly hint Microsoft's viral marketing campaigns are known for. The Hex168.com site also sports a countdown clock that ends on noon, October 18.

Today, members of the games press got proof positive that the whole hex business is indeed another viral marketing ploy. Late this afternoon, members of the games press were sent an e-mail "tip" with pictures of the oh-so-mysterious hex sign on various objects and still more mysterious text that sounds like the mutterings of a half-crazed pagan prophet. "The sign is a puzzle, and it is a promise: 'I will bring them together to witness the New Beginning before the rest of the world. And I will reward them with a physical manifestation of the power of this sign.'" It also says the sign will appear at four college football games on Saturday, October 1: Duke University vs. Georgia Tech (Durham, North Carolina); Syracuse University vs. Rutgers (Syracuse, New York); Rice University vs. Tulsa (Tulsa, Oklahoma); Connecticut vs. University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio). It also gives this bloated oath: "At noon on October 18, the true purpose of the sign will be revealed, and the truly committed will have their chance to experience the New Beginning before the rest of the world."

But for all the mysterious portending in the body of the "tip" e-mail, there's no question about its humble origins in Microsoft's hype machine. Bearing the subject line "TIP: the beginning is nigh for 360 fans," the e-mail was sent by none other than 4orty2wo Entertainment, the marketing firm that originated Ilovebees.com.

So what will be announced at noon on October 18? While not impossible, chances are it will not be Halo 3. A more probable outcome is that the company will use the date to unveil either the Xbox 360's final game lineup or the game price point. There's also the possibility of its being something along the lines of Origen360.com, which teased the world for weeks about...a contest in Europe that Americans can't even play.

(Author's note to 4orty2wo Entertainment: I want back the 76 minutes of my life it took to write up this rumor.)

Bogus or not bogus?: 100-to-1 it's bogus. Any takers?