“Halo” and Microsoft go hand-in-hand. In fact, some say the Xbox 360 may have never even seen the light of day if it weren’t for the success of the original “Halo: Combat Evolved.” Yet, here we are, years later and millions upon millions of copies of games from the “Halo” universe sold, and the franchise continues to go on strong.

It now appears that the “Halo” franchise might be getting another huge, innovative boost to its universe with Microsoft’s new Natal technology, when “Halo: Reach” sees its release later next year.

Bungie president Harold Ryan spoke with the Seattle Times and talked about the potential of combining the Natal technology with the “Halo” universe. Ryan states “I absolutely think Reach could be enabled with it.” While news of a Natal/Halo collaboration is exciting, “Reach” remains a ways off, and Bungie is currently focusing on putting all its efforts behind the upcoming “Halo:ODST,” which sees its release later this year.

Writer and creative director Joseph Staten explained his excitement for the first “Halo” game to take players out of the role of Master Chief saying, “We’re doing a lot of pretty neat things in terms of mixing it up, introducing some non-linearity, some free exploration.” Staten goes on to say, “This is also a mystery story so there’s a lot more clue-finding and mystery-solving than you would normally find in a game of this kind – nothing that strays too far from the fun Halo experience, but we definitely decided to take a little bit of risk and have some fun with this one.”

Well, “ODST” aside, “Halo: Reach” is beginning to sound pretty fricken’ exciting. What kind of possibilities do you TGH’ers think the Natal technology could bring to the world of Master Chief. Throwing stickey’s, opening doors and typing things in to computer systems are a couple of obvious examples, but can anyone say HOT ENERGY SWORD ACTION!!! Think of all the awesome possibilities and share below, gamers.

Till tomorrow, kids.