Peter Jackson and screenwriting partner Fran Walsh have partneredup with Microsoft Game Studios to create two interactive entertainment seriesexclusively for Xbox 360 and the online games series Xbox Live.

The studio will also work with Jackson and Walsh to set up WingnutInteractive, an entertainment studio aimed at creating interactive titles.

The first series will be a collaborative effort with BungieStudios to create the next chapter in the Halo combat franchise, while the secondseries will be a completely new property designed to entice new audiences togaming.

"Microsoft has built an amazing living canvas with Xbox 360and Xbox Live, which allows the storytellers of our time to express themselvesin a new medium," Jackson said.

"They have fundamentally changed how people think aboutgames. My vision, together with Microsoft Game Studios, is to push theboundaries of game development and the future of interactive entertainment.

From a movie-maker's point of view, it is clear to me that theXbox 360 platform is the stage where storytellers can work their craft in thesame way they do today with movies and books but taking it further withinteractivity."

Jackson and Walsh have been allied with Microsoft since they agreed to serve as executive producers on Universal and Fox'sadaptation of Microsoft's game Halo,which is being directed by South African commercials director Neill Blomkampand scheduled for release in 2008.

The announcementcame out of the annual X06 games convention in Barcelona.