It's been a hectic week for Microsoft, what with the big game Halo 3: ODST coming out to the market pre-maturely than they would have wanted. They also had one of their top execs, Shane Kim, move out, and in his stead were two Xbox execs. No time to wallow indeed, especially when you have new hardware coming out, like the new Zune HD. Let's see how they fare in the coming days. But for this week, I'd have to say, MS did a pretty good job holding up to the stress. Read on after the jump to check out the full Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior.

Phil Spencer of Microsoft is of the opinion that they don't need a new Xbox 360 model - at least not right now. Talking to Develop in an interview, the Microsoft Game Studios' exec said that they'll wait it out.

Xbox vice president for strategy and business development Shane Kim is retiring from Microsoft after 19 years in service. He will formally step down at the end of this year.

I like where Microsoft is taking their Avatars. They're not just limited to your profile to put on a face and look all cool 24/7. We've seen them go for a Joy Ride, we've even seen them playing golf. This time, Microsoft and Activision have joined hands to integrate the Xbox 360 avatars into Guitar Hero 5 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii), where we will be seeing ordinary avatars living out their rockstar dreams.

Speaking on the impending release of Gears of War 2 in just a few days, Microsoft's Phil Spencer claims that the Xbox 360 has "led the industry with the best lineup of blockbuster video games" in each holiday season.

Suddenly, the sound of angry sackboys can be heard growling in the distance.

Remember that rumor saying that Ryan Payton of the Metal Gear Solid 4 team upped and joined the crew of Halo? Turns out to be true. Phil Spencer confirmed it today, just little over a week before the Tokyo Game Show starts. Incidentally, Microsoft also revealed that they have a big announcement in store for Halo fans at the event. Talk about building up hype. More in the full article.

Rumors have been floating around since 2006 that a Halo MMO was in development, although this has never been solidly confirmed by any studio. It's recently revealed that the MMO was indeed real.

Unfortunately, it was canceled.

Yeah, anticlimactic huh? Anyway, check out screenshots of the never-to-be Halo MMO after the link.

Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, has thrown down the gauntlet. Speaking at an interview, Spencer pitted the Xbox 360's line-up of first-party games against the PlayStation 3's own, saying: "Which first party has had more success on their own platform? [...] I'll line up against Sony's first party any day." Well, someone's gearing up for the holiday spirit. More in the full article. Yes, there's more.

Microsoft Game Studios revealed earlier today that Shane Kim would be taking up a new position at the company. Kim will become corporate VP of strategy and business development for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment business. Learn more about this after the jump!

Microsoft is sending word that they have appointed David Gosen as the new VP for Europe's Strategic Marketing division. Gosen's also expected to help handle the region's Xbox Live service, which speaks plenty for his past experience as a CEO for a mobile games company. Details on this news are in the full article.