A fun media journalism exercise! Here are the opening paragraphs of today's New York Times piece about the deal for the movie rights to the Halo video game:

Hollywood does not like it when outsiders play certain games.

That was the message sent this week to Microsoft and its agents at the Creative Artists Agency by movie studios outraged at the aggressive proposal being shopped for the film version of the popular Xbox video game Halo.

Even studio executives, known for their lavish spending, winced at Microsoft's demands, including a $10 million upfront fee for rights, approval over the cast and director, and 60 first-class plane tickets for Microsoft representatives and their guests to the movie's premiere.

As a result, the auction Microsoft had hoped for never materialized. Within 24 hours of reading the script, based on the game about an alien universe, five studios dropped out of the bidding, including DreamWorks SKG and Paramount Pictures. The two that remained, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures, balked at the price.

Here are the first-few-paragraphs of the LAT coverage:

20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures entered into final negotiations with Microsoft Corp. on Thursday on a seven-figure deal to jointly acquire the film rights to the software giant's blockbuster video game franchise "Halo."

The talks follow a week of unusual marketing. On Monday, Microsoft sent messengers dressed as Master Chief, the protagonist of the Xbox video game, to the two studios and Warner Bros. Pictures with the screenplay and deal memo demanding tight control of the project.

The studios were instructed to read the scripts on the spot - while Master Chief messengers waited - with bidding to commence immediately.

Microsoft has much at stake in protecting the "Halo" franchise. When "Halo II" was introduced in November, it racked up $125 million in sales in a single day, the highest one-day revenue for an entertainment-related property. The "Halo" franchise has sold 14 million units to date.

Microsoft is demanding final say over such details as marketing the film and choosing the director and cast. A source close to the talks said the key sticking point remained the amount of creative control the studios would cede to Microsoft.

None of the issues which make the Halo deal an interesting and significant story (well, except for the silly costume thing) are explored in the teeny, tiny LAT article, but the NYT coverage is pretty thorough and compelling. If I were Brady Westwater, this post would conclude with AND IT'S IN THEIR OWN BACKYARD!!!!! But I'm not, so I'll just let the reader draw his or her own conclusions.