Halo Flagship for Xbox Live Games on Demand

If US magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly is to be believed, Microsoft will soon offer Bungie's classic FPS Halo as a pay-to-play download via Xbox Live Marketplace, opening the floodgates to a massive back-catalogue roll-out for adopters of Xbox 360.

Halo is slated to be the first game offered by Microsoft, with other sources stating Ninja Gaiden is expected to follow within weeks. The games are expected to hit the increasingly concise online gaming portal in August of this year, with every first-party and Tecmo title release for Xbox likely to become available before the end of 2006.

No pricing was mentioned by either EGM or those talking to SPOnG over the weekend, though sources close to Microsoft did hint that the revised delivery of Xbox back-catalogue would herald the roll-out of larger 360 hard drives. Don't be at all surprised of you see HDs hitting retail that come with pre-paid Xbox game bundles in stores this summer.