Halo, DOA4 universes collide

Bungie, the Redmond, Washington-based subsidiary of Microsoft and developer of the Halo franchise, has made its affinity for ninjas well known. Whether it's describing its staff as the stealthy martial arts masters or declaring that Halo 2 will be "a lot like Halo 1, only it's Halo 1 on fire going 130 miles per hour through a hospital zone [while] being chased by helicopters and ninjas...and the ninjas are all on fire, too," the Japanese assassins always seem to be on Bungie's mind.

Now the developer is actually working with ninjas...a whole team of them. Bungie has confirmed that a character from the Halo universe will be featured in developer Team Ninja's Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360. Team Ninja, headed by Tomonobu Itagaki, is a Tecmo studio that's worked on the Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden franchises, two series that Bungie admits to holding in high regard.

"Bungie has indeed been chatting with the good folks over at Team Ninja. When Team Ninja approached us with an intriguing idea, well, we were intrigued," said a Bungie rep in a post on Bungie.net.

Cybernetic soldier Master Chief seems to be the obvious choice to go toe-to-toe with the roster from DOA4, but the character's identity still remains under wraps.

"Who is this mysterious character? We can't say. Almost every denizen of our universe has some kind of capacity for violence, and it could be anyone...or anything," says Bungie.

Though Bungie didn't say which character would be in the game, it may have shown who will be in the game. In a graphic at the bottom of the post, an animated GIF file shows a police-style lineup with silhouettes from Halo characters. Among them are a Covenant Elite, 343 Guilty Spark, Sergeant Johnson, and a member of the parasitic Flood. But one silhouette has a spring to her step--Cortana, who bounces up and down slightly.

The inclusion of Cortana in the game would seem to make sense, as the DOA series is well known for its "well-rounded," fit, fighting females. The image of Cortana's silhouette on Bungie's site also includes a trademark of DOA games, advanced bosom physics. While nothing's confirmed, it's likely that Halo's holographic hottie will be duking it out with the cast of Dead or Alive 4.