This just in: Gaming Journalism has lost its damn mind.

Today, v4vg.com announced that Microsoft is looking for a few new employees to work on “a new experience in the Halo universe.” “Microsoft is currently looking out for lead Designer(s), executive producer(s), lead environment artist(s),technical art director(s), senior concept artist(s), and an animation director(s) for their upcoming unannounced Halo game,” according to the report.

Now, when Microsoft asked me to play the first Halo with that dump-truck they called an Xbox controller, I said OK, and I was glad I did. When I stood in line at midnight to get my hands on the Legendary Edition of Halo 3, only to pay twice what it would be worth a year later, I decided to grin and bear it like the loyal fan I am.

When they said Peter Jackson was making a movie, then cancelled it, then said there was a Halo MMO, then cancelled it, then said there was a Halo RTS, then shut down the studio that made it, making everyone think it was cancelled and then announced they were still releasing it, I made excuses for them. I told myself this was just Microsoft’s way of protecting their precious Halo IP from suffering a sub-par license, and as a fan, it was my responsibility – no, my duty – to support their decisions … which brings me to yesterday.

I think I have a healthy sense of reality about my job. I specifically chose not to pursue covering things like war, murder, rape and famine in favor of covering my beloved – albeit less serious – gaming industry. That’s why I normally don’t mind something like a major game developer using the media as a big, world-wide job board. Many of us in the media are fans of the games we cover, and we want to get the word out in the hopes that the best people will get hired for the job, and we will in turn be rewarded with the best new game possible.

Microsoft, however, like a dog that won’t stop pooping on my carpet, needs to be taken outside and chained to a tree in the yard until it decides it’s going to behave. That’s why I won’t be letting readers know that they’re looking for people to “breath a fresh vision into a new Halo Experience” or that they want the new project to “drive the future of Halo.”

Also, if Microsoft is expecting me to link to the job posts at Gamasutra, they can forget it. Sure, Microsoft is probably working on the next great video game of our generation, and sure, they might be currently putting together the team that will create the next historic landmark in one of gaming’s most epic of franchises, but I’ll believe it when I see it, because setting myself up for disappointment again by covering this before it happens? That’s just crazy.