Developer Gearbox, which made a PC version of Halo and is famous for its Brothers in Arms game, is working on a new Halo game according to a report in the official X-Box magazine.

The game will be a launch title for the successor to the Xbox 360.

Earlier, the magazine reported that Microsoft had confirmed that Corrinne Yu, director of technology at Gearbox, has been hired as principle engine architect (nice title!) for the Xbox manufacturer's internal Halo team.

Hollywood's respected entertainment trade newspaper, Variety magazine, says Gearbox has definitely had conversations with Microsoft about a Halo 4 but suggests no actual deal has been signed.

Whether the fourth Halo rumours are confirmed, or if a new Xbox is confirmed waiting in the wings, there's plenty of treats ahead in the next few months, lead by this week's keenly awaited Spore.

The retail downturn has not hit global spending on games as much as some other product lines, according to the latest figures out.

The LA Times reported the figures for July showed US consumers spent nearly US $9.5 billion on video games, consoles and peripherals which was up from $7 billion in July 2007 with PS on the rise.

But Nintendo was doing the best on console sales by selling 555,000 of its Wii consoles, compared with Sony's 224,900 PlayStation 3s and Microsoft's 204,800 Xbox 360s.

Electronic Arts' NCAA Football 09 was the top game for American gamers, followed by Nintendo's Wii Fit and Activision Blizzard's Guitar Hero.

Nintendo has announced a 23% boost to its annual profit.

Overall for the year in game sales across the US, UK, and Japan, the winner not surprisingly was Grand Theft Auto IV, which came out in April selling 6.2 million copies to adult audiences, and has yet to be released in Japan.

GTA IV was followed by Super Smash Bros, Brawl (5.4 m), Mario Kart Wii (4.6 m), Wii Fit (3.6m) and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, (3.4m).

Besides Fable 2, keep an eye out for:

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (released September 9)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (September 17)
Warhammer Online (September 19)
Fracture (September 26)
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (October 15)
Call of Duty: World at War (October 23)
Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant (October 24)
Far Cry 2 (October 26)
Dead Space (October 31)
Gears of War 2 (November 7)