'Halo Legends' Anime Collection Hits February 9

The collection of animated shorts inspired by Bungie's popular sci-fi shooter franchise Halo will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray February 9, distributor Warner has confirmed.

Packing seven stories across eight episodes, Halo Legends features contributions from a number of Japanese animation houses, including Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell), Bones (Cowboy Bebop), STUDIO4 C (Tekkonkinkreet) and Toei (Dragon Ball). Each episode is said be between 10 and 17 minutes, totaling "nearly two hours."

Prior to its retail release, the various episodes of Halo Legends will be previewed via the Xbox 360's new Halo Waypoint application, with the first kicking off November 7.

The two-disc Blu-ray release carries a suggested retail price of $34.99, and will pack all the same bonus materials as the two-disc $29.98 DVD along with an exclusive overview of the Halo universe dubbed "The Story So Far." A one-disc DVD edition will also be released, priced at $19.98 and presumably lacking some bonus materials.

Details on some of those bonus features, direct from Warner, follows:

"Halo Legends - 2 Disc Special Edition" version will have several hours of incredible bonus features, including:

• "The Making of Halo Legends" - An introduction to Halo Legends followed by a making-of segment for each episode.

• "Halo: Gaming Evolved" - Explaining the Halo phenomenon from its inception as an Xbox video game to a present day entertainment franchise.

• Audio Commentary with directors Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou.

• Widescreen (1.78:1)

"Halo Legends Blu-Ray" versions will be loaded with bonus materials, including all the great extras from the 2-disc Special Edition as well as "Halo: The Story so Far," an overview of the Halo universe up until the end of Halo 3.