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 | July 2000 |  |
July 2000 Archived News
News July 31 2000
Congrats to Rob and Lorraine on their engagement
As seen on the Marathon's Story page Robert McLees (Halo artist) and Lorraine Reyes (Bungie artist) have got engaged. Congratulations to Rob and Lorraine from all staff here at HBO. Woot! (Ding 17:55:31 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo SETI Marines gain 6 new recruits
Whoa! The Halo SETI Marinesgain six new recruits over the last 24 hours bringing the total team count up to 472 marines. Looks like we're heading for thatbig 5 double aught... soom(TM). Hopefully we should start to see some more climbing in the SETI team ranks. Put your computer's idle time to good use join the Halo SETI Marinesand help in the search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Remember if you haven't already updated to Version 2 of the SETI@home client please do so since units from older clients might soon be refused. (Ding 15:17:27 UTC) (permalink)
Game poll at Gibchunks
Rock the poll! Thanks to Tim Hansen for pointing us to a weekly poll at Gibchunks which asks "What game are you most looking forward to?" Metal Gear Solid 2 and Halo are presently tied for first place with 30% of votes. Oni has 7%. Go tell them Halo and Oni are coming. (Ding 15:10:02 UTC) (permalink)
News July 30 2000
Help us update our FAQ
What do you want to see in our FAQ? Mark "Mr FAQ" Levin wants your help in updating our Halo FAQ. He's started a thread in our forums for your thoughts and ideas. Help Mark to help Halo fans. All additions will be fully credited. (Wirehead 13:16:13 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo SETI Marines are stuck in a rut!
Stuck in a rut? The Halo SETI Marinesare STILL some 500 units behind the TidBITS team and 1000 units ahead of team Seti Italia in the Battle of the Teams. Team membership now stands at 466 marines that three up since the last time we reported but we ain't going anywhere soon. Put your computer's idle time to good use join the Halo SETI Marinesand help in the search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Remember if you haven't already updated to Version 2 of the SETI@home client please do so since units from older clients might soon be refused. (Wirehead 13:10:12 UTC) (permalink)
News July 29 2000
Xbox spec details
InsideXbox Graphics. Want to know more about the Xbox specs? Dr. Dobb's Journal has a detailed report by Microsoft programmer Michael Abrash. Here's a quote:
The best thing about Xbox is that it won't change. Ever. Judging by other consoles, Xbox should have a four or five year run, and wonderful as the profusion of constantly evolving PC technology is, I love the idea of being able to spend years working with a high-powered, fixed platform -- figuring out how to apply all that programmability, understanding the performance quirks, getting things right.
The HBO Spin: Four to five years is a long time in gaming history. Five years ago 3D gaming engines were only coming on stream. Will the Xbox's four or five year run restrict gaming development? (Ding 11:29:24 UTC) (permalink)
Theories page updated
After a bit over two months of inactivity, the Theories page comes alive with two new entries, both of which should spur a bit of mail or comments on our forum... Mikkel Eriksen expounds on the seasons of Halo, and Jeff Smith discusses the atmosphere problem. Read 'em over... then tell us what you think! (Louis Wu 07:30:05 UTC) (permalink)
News July 28 2000
New Fan Fiction available
PrisonGuy writes:
Enclosed is a piece of fiction I made. (It isn't finished, and never will be. I have lost heart in a former cool company, and never will touch a product from the great satan.) Enjoy.
You can find it on our Fan Fiction Page. (It's called "The Loss.") Thanks, PG! (Louis Wu 22:36:31 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Thanks to Robert Chrzanowski, who sent in a new Desktop image for our Wallpaper page. It came in in TIFF format, but if that image is too big for you, you can snag a high-quality JPEG. Thanks, Robert! (Louis Wu 22:32:54 UTC) (permalink)
Microsoft to Spend $500 Million on Xbox Marketing
Microsoft to Spend $500 Million on Xbox Marketing. According to a news report on PlanetXbox Microsoft will spend half a billion dollars in marketing their Xbox console system in an effort to out perform Sony, Nintendo, and Sega in sales. According to Robbie Bach, senior vice president of Microsoft's games division, this will be Microsoft's biggest launch yet. The Xbox hardware design is now complete and they are now building the form factors. Microsoft now has about 30 games, including Halo, which will either launch with Xbox or be released shortly afterwards.
The HBO Spin: With this sort of marketing muscle it's not surprising that so many small gaming companies have joined the Xbox bandwagon looking for a free ride. (Ding 06:38:07 UTC) (permalink)
News July 27 2000
Halo movies page updated
Don't forget to check out our newly updated Halo movies page. There you'll find Bungie's parody of the Budweiser "Whazzup" commercial. This is the high quality version (18.5 MB). Thanks to ***cough*** ***cough*** for making this available to us. We had to edit it slightly for ***cough*** ***cough*** reasons. (Ding 08:48:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines update
The Halo SETI Marinesare still some 500 units behind the TidBITS team and 1000 units ahead of team Seti Italia in the Battle of the Teams. Team membership stands at 463 marines but only a third are actively crunching which explains our slow progress. Put your computer's idle time to good use join the Halo SETI Marinesand help in the search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Remember if you haven't already updated to Version 2 of the SETI@home client please do so since units from older clients might soon be refused. (Ding 08:40:46 UTC) (permalink)
News July 26 2000
Bungie Sightings temporarily down.
Freewill's Bungie Sightings is temporarily down. The Fanfest forum is still up though. Expect an update... soon(tm). Pax. (Crux Fidelis 06:43:56 UTC) (permalink)
Battleground: Halo returns
Battleground: Halo returns with a redesigned look. White and blue is in and they've started a new fanfiction series titled "Retaliation"by Patrick "Defcon" Palmer. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 06:38:29 UTC) (permalink)
News July 25 2000
Bungie FanFest pictures posted
More pics from MacWorld... this time from the FanFest. Swing by and take a look! (Louis Wu 18:30:13 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Jumping opens its doors
Mojo announces that Halam is dead, long live Bungie Jumping. Bungie Jumping is a new site, devoted entirely to Bungie-related comics. We say: add this to your roster of daily-checked sites! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 08:36:42 UTC) (permalink)
News July 24 2000
Don't believe everything you read...
Heh. Nailed again. sarwat points out some of the replies to the original Slashdot post about the SETI accelerator board... specifically this one and this one. No confirmation yet... but it sure LOOKS like a hoax. (Louis Wu 19:52:28 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Another wallpaper from Private Meowman... still no halo. Where's that halo? (Louis Wu 19:19:53 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie fans - betrayed or betrayers?
Pallor has written an article for The Corporation about the reaction of Bungie fans when the MS news hit. It's not particularly flattering to Macintosh gamers. It's spawned a couple of monster threads at Rampancy.net (here and here), and one smaller one on our own forum... lots of meat to chew on here. Do we have an obligation to support Bungie in a controversial move, or should it be the other way around? Pax. (Crux Fidelis 17:52:19 UTC) (permalink)
SETI accelerator available
Wow, talk about hardcore... Benjamin Ellison points out this page (originally seen on slashdot), devoted to selling a PCI card with one use: to speed up your SETI@home processing. For $129, you get a board with 6 processors on it, each having been designed to help the terrain following radar in PR-964 Cruise Missiles. There are currently linux and Win95/98/NT/2000 drivers available, with Mac drivers on the way. How serious are YOU about finding those Covenant? Pax. (Crux Fidelis 16:41:30 UTC) (permalink)
Sili says it's iota Horologii
SiliconDream is on a roll. After coming up with explanations for some of the odder signs shown at E3 (elucidated here), he's done some more homework, and has postulated theories about the location of the Halo system. pretty good postulation, even. Worth a read. (Louis Wu 16:16:58 UTC) (permalink)
Alex spills the beans
Thanks, sort of, to David Oosha, who pointed out on our forum that Inside Mac Games has put up a video clip of Alex Seropian discussing the impetus behind the MacWorld announcement to continue support for a Mac version of Halo. 4 megs... definitely worth a listen. David... we apologize this sat for three whole hours without being noticed. We'll try to do better next time. (Louis Wu 15:51:07 UTC) (permalink)
Adcritic, here we come!
There we were, minding our own business, and this funny video clip fell on us from out of a tree. (It's also here and (very temporarily) here.) Apologies for any dents you find... those would be from our heads. Please send mail if you have trouble downloading this film... we'll look for other places to mirror it. (It's 18 megs, and a minute long.) Enjoy! (Louis Wu 15:19:34 UTC) (permalink)
Video Clips and Salsa
Seen on Rampancy.net... Cannibal Harry has clipped out a couple of the more entertaining events from the Bungie Fanfest last Friday, and put them up on his site. You can find them here. (Louis Wu 14:33:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI team 7-day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines continue to crunch through the night skies, looking for evidence of Covenant intrusion. They're now within 500 units of the TidBITS team in the Club Standings. A big welcome to Mikeintosh (too bad the SETI servers have fixed the "old points come to the new team" bug!), and a big welcome back to NATO! Banzif II continues to burn up the charts, but La Crunch Honneur goes to a new name... Alxnet. Full details can be found on the 7-day stats page. (Louis Wu 14:26:37 UTC) (permalink)
News July 23 2000
New Craig Mullins art posted
Craig Mullins, who got his start in the BungieVerse with his Marathon art, has continued to create astounding artwork for Bungie. He started to do some Halo art... but apparently, it wasn't in the right direction. He's sent us an early drawing... not the Halo that we have today, but we love it anyway! (It's on our Miscellaneous Art page.) (Louis Wu 19:03:16 UTC) (permalink)
Lots of new Halo sites
There are a couple of new Halo sites on the horizon... and one new one online now. Halo-world.com is opening this Friday, although the link works now. HaloZone, a hosted site of ClanZone (which has moved), is "coming soon". And Halo.ch ("The Legend of Halo") is a new German site. The Halo community has been reborn with the MacWorld announcements! (Louis Wu 18:50:32 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Okay, I'm back, at least. (Still waiting on those other three slackers.) There's a ton of stuff that still needs to be put together from MacWorld... but in the meantime, I can at least clear out the inbox and pass along some interesting info. First item: a new desktop pic from Joel Loukus, aka Private Meoman of the Radioactive Squirrels. You'll find it on our Wallpaper page. Thanks, Joel! (Louis Wu 18:40:16 UTC) (permalink)
Battleground: Halo offline for a bit
Battleground: Halo gearing up for a makeover?Maybe PlanetHalo is finally going live? In any case, check 'em out... the number, as deduced by DogCow goes Moof on our forum, is the Julian Date equivalent of July 29. Another week to wait... (Louis Wu 00:09:19 UTC) (permalink)
News July 22 2000
No updates, we're still afk
Once again... we're without a net connection for posting. never fear, though... There's an enormous amount of info from the fanfest that we have to share with you. Most of us should be back at home in the next couple of days... in the meantime, we apologize for the lack of updates! (Louis Wu 23:44:12 UTC) (permalink)
News July 21 2000
SiliconDream, the astronomer
Hmm. During the setup for the Bungie Fanfest yesterday, we ran across some signs left over from the E3 booth. Some had strange names... we speculated on them between ourselves, but couldn't come up with any answers. SiliconDream, however, must have done his homework after E3... because you can find lots and lots of info about the more esoteric signs (not even shown in the photos Freewill put up last night) in this forum post. Have we gotten a big clue about the physical location of the Halo? (Seems mighty close to Earth, if you ask me...) (Louis Wu 13:45:54 UTC) (permalink)
Microsoft says Mac and PC... of course!
Thanks once again to Luxor, of the Vault Network, who found this Microsoft press release that confirms Bungie's commitment to bring Halo not just to the Mac, but to PCs. Silly rumors going around... as Ed Fries says,
"We are particularly pleased to honor Bungie's commitment to make ground-breaking games like 'Halo' available to gamers on all platforms, including the Macintosh."
Shame on all you doubters! (Louis Wu 13:35:27 UTC) (permalink)
"Rock on!" says Alex
For those who missed our MacWorld NY 2000 page,we'll point you over to the Day 1 wrapup, which includes a movie capturing Alex Seropian promising Halo for the Mac to all b.org fans. Check it out! (Louis Wu 00:58:33 UTC) (permalink)
News July 20 2000
Light days...
Light news day today... all day at MacWorld, with very little Halo news! Keep your eyes peeled, though, for tomorrow is the Fanfest! (Louis Wu 23:55:34 UTC) (permalink)
News July 21 2000
Halo news job offered
fAT1 has posted a requeston our forum for someone willing to post Halo news to a British gaming site. Check it out... could be fun! (Louis Wu 00:26:12 UTC) (permalink)
News July 19 2000
Did ATI know about the Mac/PC decision?
Spotted by luxor, of Halo Vault: In the press release for the ATI Radeon card (dated July 17, 2000), ATI touts Radeon's gaming prowess by listing some of its "unique features":
"3 Texture Units - The only card on the market to support 3 texture units, RADEON will speed through games such as Microsoft's HaloTM since it can render multiple textures in a single pass"
Makes you wonder who they talked to, before this morning's announcement... (Louis Wu 20:08:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo WILL ship for the Mac
Wow... hard to find a place to update from the show floor sometimes. As you may or may not have read on other sites, the news from the show is positive... Alex Seropian and Ed Fries HAVE confirmed that Halo WILL ship for the mac. I got a chance to snag Alex after the keynote, and he told me that their commitment to develop for the mac has never wavered, but that they couldn't announce that before today. He said that while the Mac (and presumably PC) version won't ship until after the Xbox version... they WILL ship. (He also suggested that Jason Jones might not be the project lead for the Mac port.) And to think we doubted them! (Louis Wu 15:40:42 UTC) (permalink)
MacWorld here we come!
Just a heads-up... the entire HBO staff is either at MacWorld this week or on vacation (yeah, we know, bad timing), so updates will be less frequent than usual. We'll do our best to get some info posted from the floor at MW, but no guarantees. Mail, too, is difficult; we ask you to be patient with us. (Louis Wu 03:32:52 UTC) (permalink)
roleplay.halowar.com comes online
Czar Vegeta Renada writes to tell us about roleplay.halowar.com,a new website in which you must roleplay a player character to be allowed to stick around. Interesting concept... take a look! (Louis Wu 03:06:24 UTC) (permalink)
News July 18 2000
b.net back online
Thanks to Todd Hansen, who noticed that the b.net servers came back online at about 2:15 Bungie Time. Oops! OLD Bungie Time, that is. (Central Time, for all you fuddyduddies that live in the real world.) Myth, anyone? (Louis Wu 19:29:03 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie comes back online, slowly
Bungie returns from the limbo of cross-country moves... bungie.com is back online (although bungie.net doesn't seem to be yet), and Matt Soell checks in to let us know he's alive and settled into Redmond, more or less. Oh, and Marty O'Donnell takes potshots at Seattle's weather. Gettin' back to normal! (Louis Wu 09:20:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-Net closes its doors
Halo-Net, one of the early Halo sites, has decided to call it quits. Alan Stott, AKA Flashback, has put up a short page explaining his reasoning... we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. (Thanks to Yrro, of Halo Center, for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 00:56:23 UTC) (permalink)
News July 17 2000
Sierra's PR says Tribes 2 buries Halo
|CARNYL| sends word of an interview with Lee Rossini, Brand Manager at Sierra Studios, over at Tribal War. Lee is in charge of all the marketing for Tribes 2. When he was asked,
"Okay. It's time for a practical exercise in marketing. I'm a fan. You're the marketing expert. Convince me why I should purchase Tribes2 over HALO."
he answered with some information that might or might not get under your skin.
Well...for starters, each game has their own strengths..the Halo marketing person can point out things about Halo that we don't have just as easily as I can do the same about Tribes 2. That being said, I think there are some very cool things about Tribes that should be mentioned when it comes to choosing it over any FPS action title. First, Tribes itself was truly an innovative title..it redefined team-based multiplayer action. Second, Tribes 2 will be even more revolutionary. Dynamix is putting together a game that is designed from the start to build community.and teamplay. With the in-game and out-of-game communications features, killer community building tools, and awesome teambased play, Tribes 2 will be the ultimate team-based action title. Third, we should have at least 50+ players in the game at once. Nobody is doing what these guys (at Dynamix) can do..yet.
You make the call... will Tribes 2 beat Halo for the "ultimate team-based action title" moniker? (Louis Wu 19:09:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7-day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines, far from fading, continue to advance on that 46th position. At the current pace, it will take about 2 more weeks... but TidBITS WILL fall. Crunching continues apace, with almost half the team members submitting at least one unit this week. And watch that Banzif II... the winner of the Frogblast Award is on a roll to climb again! Check the 7-day stats for all the details. (Louis Wu 18:59:42 UTC) (permalink)
Storm problems solved after 48 hours
Attacked by the Covenant! Almost all of bungie.org (including, obviously, this site) went offline on Sunday morning, 4 am UTC. Finally, almost 48 hours later, we're back up and running. No, this had nothing to do with bungie.net or bungie.com going offline... those events happened because those servers are moving from Chicago to Redmond. And no, it had nothing to do with Microsoft shutting us down... it was a nasty nor'easter that killed two repeaters and a large chunk of underground cable. Our upstream provider seems to think all the problems are solved. We hope so. Apologies for the downtime. (Louis Wu 17:54:17 UTC) (permalink)
News July 16 2000
Music on the Xbox
This one's for Marty. Xbox IGN have an interview with Chanel Summers (Xbox Audio Manager) about game music on the Xbox. Here's a quote:
I see that music for Xbox is going to be amazing, and it's going to really take off, because as I said audio for console games has not traditionally been great. You've got a lot of talented composers out there, but they've had to work within a small box with other consoles. And here, we're giving them all the tools, technology and room so that they don't have to make compromises, they can just concentrate on making great content. And that's what they should be doing, and that's why we say that the Xbox is a composer-driven platform.
Looks like Marty is in for a treat. :) (Ding 12:54:13 UTC) (permalink)
John Carmack (id Software) to support linux and MacOS-X
John Carmack (id Software) provides further details about his position on the Xbox Advisory Board in a Slashdot post. John ended with these comments:
In any case, talking with MS has no bearing on my development decisions. I'm still using OpenGL, and we are still planning simultaneous releases for linux and MacOS-X. If things work out well with X-Box, that may be added to the list.
Sounds good. (Ding 12:41:30 UTC) (permalink)
News July 15 2000
Wallpaper page updated
Peter Hogan has sent in a new wallpaper for our Wallpaper page. Check it out! (Louis Wu 10:32:05 UTC) (permalink)
Concept Art page updated
In honor of the PCZone scans, we've updated our Concept Art page to include all concept art released recently. (Louis Wu 02:03:13 UTC) (permalink)
New art from PCZone Benelux
Our agent in Holland was finally able to get his hands on the PCZone Benelux July 2000 issue, which contains the first of a multi-part Halo preview. We're still working on permission for the full scans (and a translation), but there were a few new bits of concept art in the spread, including some drawings of the monkey-like creature first seen in the bTV day 4 footage, and a very nice early sketch of the dropship, done by Marcus Lehto. (Yes, we asked about these.) You can find these on the Magazine Shots page of our screenshots section. (Louis Wu 01:52:52 UTC) (permalink)
CGO preview, part 3
Woohoo! Thanks to Marty O'Donnell, who found the hidden link to part 3 of the CGO Preview buried in previous links. Sorry about the lack of music coverage, Marty... seems like that's the end, too. Interestingly, this part acknowledges the MS buyout, which the first two parts didn't. Definitely worth a read! (Louis Wu 01:14:59 UTC) (permalink)
PlanetXbox reports Carmack on Xbox advisory board
Kudos to Kuniklo, who noticed (on the R.net forum) that PlanetXbox has learned that John Carmack will be on the Xbox advisory board. Interesting news, since Id has not announced any plans for Xbox games... (Louis Wu 00:00:01 UTC) (permalink)
News July 14 2000
CGI Halo preview, Part 2 online
Once again, kudos to edge, who noticed that Computer Games Online has part 2 of their Halo preview, "Bungie dreams of rings and things." As before, the info is quite good, and has some new tidbits; Jason Jones talks about how they decided what would go into the E3 trailer:
"We were trying to capture the core elements of both the single-player and multiplayer games such as stealing weapons, assaulting bases, grand vistas, sneak attacks—all the things we expect players to do."
There's also a nifty concept drawing of a human boat... first we've seen! edge seems to be working towards the HBO field reporter position... (Louis Wu 18:32:48 UTC) (permalink)
bungie.com and bungie.net down for the move
The move is underway! Both bungie.com and bungie.net are currently unreachable... this almost certainly means the machines are physically on their way to Redmond. Here's hoping the move goes smoothly, and that everything's back up and running soon! (Flashback noticed b.com down about 4 hours ago... so they started pretty early in the morning.) (Louis Wu 15:34:58 UTC) (permalink)
Haloweb gets noticed
FraxX writes to tell us about a German Halo site he's involved in... Haloweb. Not sure how this missed going on our links page... we've seen it before. In any case, it's there now! Check it out, if you speak German! (Louis Wu 15:26:53 UTC) (permalink)
The new look Bungie web page
Killermac.com have posted a hilarious new lookMicrosoft/Bungie page. Yes this could be the new face of Bungie. Warning: for the humorlessly impaired this is a JOKE people... with possibly a bit of tru7h thrown in. (Ding 07:08:58 UTC) (permalink)
"...they will be assimilated."
"...all of the Bungie team will be moving to Redmond and they will be assimilated."Damn edge and his amazing X-ray eyes. Edge points us to aPlanetXbox news item about Bungie's third game "Fantasy Siege" in this month's Next-Generation magazine. While this isn't exactly new news the quote is hilarious. Here it is:
For two years running Bungie has wowed the crowds with the astonishing Halo,and according to Ed Fries, "What is even more impressive is Fantasy Siege - atotally different type of game running on the same engine. The engine is a very important thing to us, and is a huge part of the deal." It was too early to talk about a lot of specifics, but all of the Bungie team will be moving to Redmond and they will be assimilated.
Fantasy Siege looks set to become another Xbox title. (Ding 06:33:30 UTC) (permalink)
Mac/PC petition broken
As Tursas noticed, there's something wonky over at the petition to bring Halo to the Mac/PC. Hopefully, they haven't lost all that data... (Louis Wu 00:52:06 UTC) (permalink)
News July 13 2000
The Halo SETI Marines' page has been wiped out...
The Halo SETI Marines' page has been wiped out... Phhht! Just like that. The SETI team rankspage has been updated however and we are still lying in position #47 some 1000 units behind the "TidBITS" team and some 1000 units ahead of the Seti Italia team. Hopefully the SETI techs will have their server back up and running soon. (Wirehead 14:26:51 UTC) (permalink)
False alarm. Bungie.net is back up
False alarm. Bungie.net is back up. The plan is still to shut-down and relocate this weekend. Take a last look. (Wirehead 08:20:32 UTC) (permalink)
New Halo screenshots!
New Halo screenshots! Woohoo major kudos to edge (again!) for pointing us to a new Halo preview at CDmag which has some very high quality screenshots including the new alien. There's also a shot of the Halo marine driving the jeep! Woot! (Wirehead 07:31:59 UTC) (permalink)
More on Microsoft's acquisition of NetGamesUSA
More on Microsoft's acquisition of NetGamesUSA. Thanks to edge who notes on our forums that there is a follow up interview with Craig Sparks, CEO of NetGamesUSA, at Stomped.comHere's some quotes:
Stomped: What will this move mean for your personally and for the rest of the NetGamesUSA team? Will the team continue to work from Kansas or move toRedmond, Washington?
Sparks: Microsoft acquired our entire development staff and they have already relocated to Redmond and are now Microsoft employees. Personally, I did not transfer over as part of the acquisition and will be turning my attentions to some personal projects that are not computer gaming related.
Stomped: Finally, some people might look on this announcement as yet another move by Microsoft to "take over the gaming industry". Would like to respond to those concerns?
Sparks: I don't share those concerns. I think the gaming industry is vibrantly alive with both content choices and competition that remain to the benefit of everyone involved. I don't think Microsoft or anyone for that matter is in a position to "take over" the gaming industry. I believe acquisitions of small companies like NetGames USA are actually to the benefit of consumers. It will allow our technologies and product plans to reach many more gamers and developers that we had the resources to do alone.
Thanks edge, thanks Stomped, good on ya Sparks! (Wirehead 07:24:03 UTC) (permalink)
News July 12 2000
bungie.net is down!
bungie.net is down! They said the server was closing this weekend but they must have shut up shop early. Could be down for some time as they move to Redmond and set up shop. Head on over to bs.bungie.org and Marathon's Storyfor the first comments on the closure. (Crux Fidelis 18:44:39 UTC) (permalink)
"Geeks in Space" discuss Bungie & Microsoft
The Microsoft buyout of Bungie gets discussed by the "Geeks in Space" a nearly-weekly audio show hosted by Rob Malda and Jeff Bates ofSlashdot.org. It's in their typical Geek 'off-the-wall' style with lines like "Myth 3 will now be known as Age of Empires 3" and "Magic Carpet by Bungie"?!!!. For Geeks only. (Ding 18:11:19 UTC) (permalink)
Another gaming acquisition by Microsoft
Another gaming acquisition by Microsoft. Thanks to edge on our forumswho points out that Microsoft have acquired Kansas-based NetGames USA, a leading developer of scoring, matchmaking and other enhancements for retail and Web-based games. The acquisition will enhance the competitiveness of games on Microsoft's Zone.com and further solidify the site as the Internet's best location to play games with players from around the globe. Full details on our forums. Thanks edge. (Ding 18:11:19 UTC) (permalink)
Playtest the Xbox and Halo?!!!
Playtest the Xbox and Halo?!!!MSXbox report that Microsoft is looking for volunteers to playtest its upcoming videogames for the PC and even the Xbox. Halo will obviously feature heavily here. MSXbox have the details but here are the basic requirements:
You live in the Puget Sound area and are able get to the Microsoft campus during test times (which may be days or evenings on weekdays or Saturdays).
You are older than 13
You do not work at Microsoft as an employee, temporary staffer, independent contractor or vendor.
Since MS are unlikely to hand out Xboxes to beta testers this is probably the only way you're going to be able to beta test Halo. (Ding 12:16:17 UTC) (permalink)
E3 trailer dialog transcribed
Frederico Giacanelli writes:
I'd like to know if someone has written down all the dialogue lines of the E3 movie. While the general plot is quite clear to non-english speakers (as I am), some of the fast-paced phrases are not so intelligible.
Well, Frederico... so far as I know, no one had. So I did. You can find it here. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 04:44:09 UTC) (permalink)
News July 11 2000
Cringely asks, is the X-box a Trojan Horse?
Kudos to Aaron Sommer, who pointed out a Robert Cringely article on our forum. It's 5 months old... but still quite relevant, especially if he's right. The theory's not new, but Cringely presents it convincingly. If he's right, will Bungie end up as a casualty of war? (Louis Wu 20:45:34 UTC) (permalink)
bungie.net server relocation at the weekend
bungie.net server relocation at the weekend says Yeroen, Here's the details:
We're tentatively planning on moving the web and gaming servers to Redmond this weekend. This means that if all goes well we'll shut them down Friday morning, ship 'em in cold storage, thaw them out and set them up again early next week. However, there are a lot of technical and ISP issues with this move, and I can't promise specific dates or times.
Sometime before we're back up we'll release a preferences patch via this web site that will allow the game clients to communicate with the relocated servers.
Finally, although we're relocating the Myth and Myth II gaming servers, we will no longer be maintaining the Myth II demo server. Sorry.
Hey no Myth II demo server. :( (Ding 18:06:55 UTC) (permalink)
Needlegun model updated
Ian "No more hate mail, please" McConville updates his Needlegun model, based on the higher-res shot in the August 2000 PC Gamer. Classy stuff... (Louis Wu 00:38:06 UTC) (permalink)
GameStar asks "How bad d'you want it?"
Massa writes to let us know that GameStar has a poll asking "Would you buy an Xbox just to play Halo?" While a resounding 74% (at this point) say "NO!", a surprising 367 (5%) say "Clearly." The poll's in german, but Babelfish can translate well enough for you to understand what you're voting... (Louis Wu 00:34:39 UTC) (permalink)
News July 10 2000
Bungie removes Win/Mac promise off front page
Woohoo! Iku-Turso gets the "most observant of the week" award... Bungie's Halo site has finally been updated (a tiny bit) to reflect the change in development priority; the front page now reads "Coming soon to a platform near you." (Louis Wu 21:18:19 UTC) (permalink)
new preview of Halo at GameSurge
Halo HQ picked this up last week... GameSurge has put up a new preview of Halo. A few errors, and less analysis than I'd hoped, given the beginning of the article... but a fine read nonetheless. Take a look. (Louis Wu 17:00:04 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction page updated
This came in last night... but things got crazy. Ian M. Bayne (interesting initials, name) sent in another piece for our Fan Fiction page... check it out! (Louis Wu 15:42:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7-day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines are back in full force! Over 2600 units crunched this week, with a total of 17 new names on the list. Welcome back to DarthFlounder and Lithion (and thanks to max.max for getting them back!), and a big hello to all the folks who've entered the top 400, plus Carnage, Kytis, Ape Man, Porter, Savage, and crazy_bob_15. Welcome, too, to Banzif, who has started up another client, and will likely be climbing quickly over the next few weeks. TidBITS is still looming in that 46th spot... can the Marines grunt their way through? Check the 7-day stats for all the details! (Louis Wu 15:10:13 UTC) (permalink)
TuCows previews E3 trailer
Seen at BG:H... TuCows has put up a short review of the E3 trailer... bottom line, they liked it. We've added another link to the Trailer Mirror page. (Louis Wu 02:23:18 UTC) (permalink)
Cov needle gun modelled
Ian "I can't stop modelling" McConville has pumped out yet another Halo weapon model. This time, it's the Covenant needle gun, first seen in the E3 trailer, and most recently in the August issue of PC Gamer. Check it out! (Louis Wu 01:47:35 UTC) (permalink)
News July 9 2000
More units for the Halo SETI Marines
Can the Halo SETI Marinescatch the "TidBITS" team in the Alien Hot 100?Thanks to Braeden the team gained a valuable 297 unit addition yesterday. Keep those units coming people. (Wirehead 15:15:32 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Thanks to Damien Fransolet, who updated his desktop pic to conform to standard screen resolutions. There are now three flavors to choose from on our Wallpaper page! (Louis Wu 14:40:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 8 2000
"What is your reaction to Microsoft's buyout of Bungie?" poll
Well we almost overlooked this one but Mac OS Rumors have been running a "What is your reaction to Microsoft's buyout of Bungie?" poll. While 30,000 votes have been registered the totals don't add up correctly making the poll somewhat misleading. A majority of voters appear either "furious" or "unhappy". Well that's Mac people for ya! ;) (Ding 13:31:43 UTC) (permalink)
Microsoft to launch the Xbox with 20 titles next fall
Microsoft to launch the Xbox with 20 titles next fall. According to a news item over at IGN XboxEd Fries of Microsoft announced that there will be a total of 20 titles at system launch next fall (2001). While no titles were specified Halo is presently scheduled to be one of these. Long wait ahead people. Can you dig it? (Ding 11:28:58 UTC) (permalink)
91.5% of PlanetXbox voters say Halo should not be Xbox only.
PlanetXbox have posted the final results of their poll"Should Halo be Xbox Only?" 77.2% of voters said "NO" while an additional 14.3% said "Can't we share"which amounts to the same thing. That's a resounding 91.5% of voters out of 2031people who voted. Statements like that can't be ignored... right? (Ding 11:16:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines pulled away from the "Seti Italia" team
Some good crunchin' by the Halo SETI Marinespulled us away from the "Seti Italia" team in theBattle of the Teams. Keep it tight people they'll be back! Team membership rises to 450 marines. (Wirehead 10:04:45 UTC) (permalink)
High quality scans from PCG
The night for screens, it seems. The August issue of PC Gamer contained a number of screenshots that have already been scanned on other sites... but a couple were missed, and the quality of the rest did not really do the images justice. We've rescanned all of them, and placed them on our Magazine page in the screenshots section. Of particular interest are the shot of the needlegun, and the concept drawing of the elite covenant. (Louis Wu 02:14:33 UTC) (permalink)
New Covenant scans from CGM
Fred, of Rampancy Hotline, has upped scans from the August Computer Games Magazine, including a shot of two new Covenant. (One looks like an armored version of the stegosaurus-like creature seen in the E3 trailer.) R.net had some trouble getting them onto their web page... so Chia stepped in and made them available at VistaCartel. Swing by and take a look! Scan quality isn't perfect... but the pics are fascinating! (Louis Wu 01:57:38 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Thanks go to Damien Fransolet, who sent in another Desktop for our Wallpaper page. A somewhat non-standard size... but hey, you'll manage, right? (Louis Wu 01:53:15 UTC) (permalink)
News July 7 2000
How do you outfox the Halo FoX clan?
Koen De Paus informs us of a new Dutch Halo clan called FoX. As you may remember the Dutch got an amazing Halo scoop in the latest issue of PC Zone Benelux. New Halo screenshots and some concept art. We'll be bringing you that as soon as we get permission. (Ding 17:24:30 UTC) (permalink)
NextGen shot a mirror of a PCG shot
Seems we flubbed. The screenshot we mentioned last night does NOT show a gun we've never seen before... in fact, it's not even a shot we've never seen before. The same shot, mirrored, was in the PC Gamer spread recently upped to the R.net Hotline server. Here they are, side-by-side:
 |  |
| PC Gamer, August 2000 | NextGen, August 2000 |
If you're not convinced by the thumbnails, check out the full versions above. We hope to bring you better scans of the PC Gamer material soon. An interesting tidbit: both mags are part of the Imagine family, which would explain why an image that didn't show up in any released movie is in both places. (Louis Wu 13:57:26 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo SETI Marines hold their ground at position #47
The Halo SETI Marineshold their ground at position #47 in the Battle of the Teams but the"Seti Italia" team are on our tails. Looks like it's going to be a tough weekend. Awright! First squad up, on line. Watch the rear. (Wirehead 06:30:08 UTC) (permalink)
NextGen sidebar contains good stuff
Kudos (sort of) to Freewill, who scanned in a sidebar from the latest NextGen magazine and posted it on the R.net forum. Two interesting tidbits there... the game that NextGen described in last month's issue as 'fantasy-based siege warfare' is now being titled 'Fantasy Siege' by Ed Fries... and the gun that the commander is wielding is one we've never seen before. Another redesign of the pistol? (Louis Wu 01:58:05 UTC) (permalink)
Double-barrelled rocket launcher modelled
Not one to let moss grow on a rolling grenade, Ian McConville has sent in yet another weapon model. This time, he's tackled the anti-armor rocket launcher (the double-barreled one). The diagram showing how it actually works is very intriguing. Thanks, Ian! (Louis Wu 01:21:57 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Thanks to Kevin Adams, who sent in a slick desktop for our Wallpaper page. Action unlimited! (Louis Wu 00:49:04 UTC) (permalink)
News July 6 2000
Fanfest Forum up for comments
Freewill is trying to get a semi-accurate count of those people planning to attend the Fanfest in New York in a couple of weeks. (If you're not sure what this is about, check this page.) To help out, bungie.org has put up a Fanfest Forum, where folks can get more info, or just RSVP. (Louis Wu 14:16:27 UTC) (permalink)
Covenant energy sword modelled
The Modeller's back! Ian McConville has added another model to his collection. This time it's the Covenant energy sword... simple model, but check out the pic of Ian wielding it! More on the way, we hope. (Louis Wu 11:46:05 UTC) (permalink)
New Bungie Fanfest details
Bungie Fanfest is go! The date of the Bungie Fanfest @ Macworld NY 2000 has been changed to Friday July 21, from 4pm-8pm at Neutral Ground 122 West 26th Street. Check Freewill'sBungie Sightings page for full details. Lots of special guests, the E3 Halo movie DVD Special Edition, the limited edition Marathon Story Page T-Shirt, LAN gaming extravaganza, prizes and giveaways, free Pizza and beverages, and other surprises! Thanks Freewill. (Wirehead 07:17:47 UTC) (permalink)
Graboid lookalikes in Halo
Hey we nearly missed this but a Marathon's Story page reader spots a similarity between the herd of small dinos in the E3 Halo movie andGraboidsfrom the movie Tremors 2. Freaky stuff. (Wirehead 06:56:18 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines recaptured position #47
Blam! The Halo SETI Marinesrecaptured position #47 in the Battle of the Teams yesterday thanks mainly to the return of DarthFlounder and his 1394 units. Good to have you back Darth. Team membership now stands at447 and rising daily. Awright, let's go marines, they ain't payin' us by the hour. (Wirehead 06:30:34 UTC) (permalink)
Marty O'Donnell discusses Halo's sound
We asked Marty O'Donnell about the score for the E3 movie, and about what went into making it. His response made for some very interesting reading, so we've included it in its entirety.
Scoring a movie and scoring a game are two entirely different processes. I approached the E3 movie the same way I'd approach any cinematic sequence. I know exactly how long each event is and precisely when the camera is going to cut to the next scene. I "post-score" the entire movie. In a game of course, each event is triggering a sound, each area is triggering an ambient sound, and the music will be triggered by who knows what. We're still working on the specific mechanics of total interactive sound and dynamic music. My goal is that the player will hear and feel no difference between the game audio and the movie audio. At this point in development there have been no final decisions made on the actual sounds or music that will be heard in the game although I'm sure (since I'm creating it) that there will be a lot of similarities.
As far as this movie goes, the newly composed and produced music is from the opening through the scene in the underground structure (when Wang gets impaled). After that I used the original track with some edits and rearranging to finish it off. We had recorded the actors about a month before E3 and Joseph used those tracks in the game play. We basically did all the rest of the sound design and music in just the few days prior to E3 since Joseph and his crew were working feverishly to get the visuals done. The final mix was finished and then the DVD burned about 2 hours before my plane left for E3. No one had seen or heard the final DVD until the morning of the first showing at E3. Once again - total panic. Maybe I'll change my name to Total Audio Panic @ Bungie. Seattle here I come.
No matter what happens with this game, one thing's for sure... the music will kick your ass. Thanks, Marty, for taking this time! (Louis Wu 01:25:46 UTC) (permalink)
"Whazzup" mirrored at Halo Vault
Thanks to luxor, of Halo Vault, who (with Mark Levin's blessing) has mirrored the Halo "Whazzup" movie. If you're finding our server slow... try the much fatter pipe over at IGN. (Louis Wu 00:47:30 UTC) (permalink)
News July 5 2000
Halo-Net shop to clear out current orders
Flashback has sent word explaining the details of the Halo-Net shop:
We've finally sorted out everything with the Halo-Net Shop
Pete Tamte (Executive Vice President) of Bungie has been contacting me this afternoon a bit and we have cleared up everything related to the shop now. They are letting us send any orders made for the stickers so as not to cause any problems with the customers as the stickers are in stock and orders have been made. We will no-longer be selling items that have Halo imagery on, but we will have some very very cool shirts and other items in when Halo-Net.Com re-opens... you'll have to keep an eye on that.
The Halo-Net Shop will be closed until Halo-Net.Com re-opens.
(Louis Wu 23:21:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wazzup.mov is now here!
Wazzzzzzzzuuuuuuuuuupppppppp... watching the Halo movie having a Bud! The Halo Wazzup.mov is now here! Thanks again to Mark Levin. True... true... (Ding 13:35:42 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper page updated
Thanks to Dan Lacy, who sent in another nice desktop for our Wallpaper page. Worth a look... very clean. (Louis Wu 13:22:52 UTC) (permalink)
Wazzzzzzzzzzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
True, true... Halo Wazzup.mov created by Mark Levin is a totally hysterical parody on the Wazzup Budweiser commercial. Highly recommended. You can get it at the Bungie.Org Hotline server, at hl.bungie.org . It's in Uploads/Temp Uploads. As soon as we get permission we'll upload it here. Thanks Mark from brightening my day! Note: if you haven't seen the original Wazzup Bud ad the humor may be lost on you. Head on over to AdCritic.com and download the original Budweiser - Wazzzup! ad and all the spoofs on it. (Ding 12:06:02 UTC) (permalink)
New alien in Computer Games Magazine 117 August 2000
Another new alien? Kudos to Davin for spotting what's looks like a new Halo alien in Computer Games Magazine. We'll let Davin tell it:
I just got a copy of Computer Games Magazine No#117 August 2000 www.cdmag.com. There is a good 5 page spread in there about HALO. The most interesting thing however is that page 39 shows a totally new alien I haven't seen in any of the videos or pictures. He almost looks like an alien knight. He has 5 large tapered spires rising up from his back pointing upward at an angle (2 on each side with outter most 2 being a little shorter with one in the center). He is very stout looking and has a solid looking redish orange shield mounted on his upper left shoulder, and another large oblong shield in his left hand which covers a good portion of his body and is somewhat rectangular with the edges cut off. The alien looks very cool. Almost has and anime look to him. Hope this helps! You gotta get a screen of it.
We'll try to bring you this ASAP. If anyone can grab a scan in the mean time please send it into us. Thanks. (Ding 10:58:00 UTC) (permalink)
A powerful game platform waiting in the wings
Dave "Chia" Pindrys of Vista Cartel points us to a Dr. Dobb's article on Xbox called A powerful game platform waiting in the wingsby Michael Abrash a Microsoft programmer working on Xbox graphics. Want the inside skinny on the Xboxthis is it. Well worth reading. Thanks Chia. Oh and don't forget to visit Vista Cartel it's one of those nicely designed sites that HAS content. (Ding 10:36:05 UTC) (permalink)
News July 4 2000
More trailer grabs at SpieleCity
Picky draws our attention to another Halo review, this time at SpieleCity, a German gaming site. This one contains quite a large number of screenshots from the E3 trailer, so if you're having trouble stomaching the huge download, this is worth a look. (Louis Wu 22:41:44 UTC) (permalink)
Update on that "First Ever Xbox Console Shot" at MSXBox
Just an update on that "First Ever Xbox Console Shot" at MSXBox. According to Microsoft the image was put together to only "represent" the Xbox. The final Xbox design has yet to be determined. (Ding 13:43:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines take it bad
"Go to infrared. Look sharp people!" The Halo SETI Marinescame under heavy sniper fire last night and lost position #47 in theBattle of the Teams."We're getting juked!" Help save the team join up today! (Wirehead 13:35:17 UTC) (permalink)
First Ever Xbox Console Shots at MSXBox
First Ever Xbox Console Shots! MSXBox have posted what they believe is a development pic of Microsoft's Xbox and controller. They have also posted a complete Xbox Developers List. Matt Soell also gets featured for his comments on Xbox and how it will affect the PS2. (Crux Fidelis 10:01:33 UTC) (permalink)
Cutting the Edge looks at the trailer
The folks at Cutting the Edge have put together a nice two-page analysis of the E3 Trailer, pointing out the good and bad points along the way. Well-done job, all around. Definitely worth a look. (Louis Wu 01:57:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 3 2000
E3 Trailer Mirror list expanded
Massa writes to tell us that Halo Network has put up a surprisingly high quality 30 MB .asf version of the E3 trailer for those who can't manage the 160 meg version. We've added it to our full e3 trailer mirror list. (Louis Wu 21:39:07 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction page updated
New Halo Fan Fiction, from Bob Brown. The mystery of the ring... solved? (Louis Wu 16:42:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team stats up (again)
Two weeks ago, we decided (after watching several big crunchers disappear) that we didn't want to watch the Halo SETI Marines implode... so we stopped analyzing the daily statistics. We've gotten a bunch of mail suggesting this might not have been our most popular move... and the Marines HAVE stopped the hemorrhage, by and large. We're not willing to go back to daily stats... but we WILL do weekly stats. To that end, we've analyzed the previous 2 weeks' worth of crunching... and the results might surprise you. The lost members have moved over to either Mac-centric teams, or have otherwise shown their disdain for Microsoft. The Marines remain in 47th place in the Club Rankings... let's see if we can ramp it up again! (Louis Wu 14:48:37 UTC) (permalink)
The Redmond Riots on bungie.net
If you have an hour to spend and high bandwidth head on over to Soon(tm) and read the Redmond Riots. A series of bungie.net reactions (some serious, some amusing, some gagable) to the Microsoft buyout of Bungie. Warning parental guidance advised. (Ding 12:33:35 UTC) (permalink)
Are the Covenant and Halo ring builders connected?
Are the Covenant and Halo ring builders connected? Hamish over at theMarathon's Story page cranks out oodles of speculation on the Covenant and their mission. Is messing with Jjaro tech heresy and could the Halo marine really be Salman Rushdie? And while you're there check out that 7 reference on the side of the dropship. :) (Ding 12:06:01 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo knife
What every Halo marine should carry - the Halo knife. Thanks to Greg Koenig for this item of information. Parental guidance advised. (Ding 11:53:49 UTC) (permalink)
News July 2 2000
Floating guns
Running through the e3 movie again, we noticed a bizarre thing... we documented it on this page. If you have any comments about the subject, post them to our forum! (Louis Wu 20:38:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines take back position #47
Blam! The Halo SETI Marinestake back position #47 in the Battle of the Teams. It was tough crunchin' marines but we got there. Kudos all round. Team membership now stands at 440 that's an increase of four new recruits since yesterday. Excellent! Let's keep the pressure up and watch out for those Covenant airborne battalions. They're everywhere! (Wirehead 19:35:55 UTC) (permalink)
Guns. Lots of guns.
Guns. Lots of guns. Halowar has added a Weapons Guide to their site. Just the ticket for a rainy Sunday. The Covenant Sniper Rifle isn't featured yet in their Guide though. For more guns action check out the updated weapons page in our FAQ and there is also our Guns Analysis page from some time back. That'll need updating again. Time for Louis to come in from out of the rain! ;) (Ding 18:56:05 UTC) (permalink)
Chris Taylor on Xbox and PC game development
The future of PC games development is the subject again in a Daily Radar interview with Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games. Chris offered the same views as John Carmack (see yesterday's news). Here's a snippet:
DR: Recently, a lot of high-profile PC developers have said that they are shifting their focus to next-generation consoles and making PC secondary. Is that going to be true of Gas Powered Games?
CT: Dungeon Siege is planned as a PC game, and we are a PC company. Naturally if the market shifts over (completely) we will take a look at making the transition ourselves, but at this time we are quite confident in the viability of the PC games market.
DR: There has been a lot of talk of the demise of the PC industry. Do you think the PC is fundamentally in trouble as a gaming platform, or is this the same talk we hear every time a new console appears?
CT: I think so. I think this business loves the drama of it all. Until consoles can do everything PCs do,and do them well, PC games we will have a market.
Nice to hear these views from top game developers. Thanks to Blue's News for the heads up. (Ding 10:27:27 UTC) (permalink)
High PC Gamers scan at Battleground Halo
Battleground Halo has upped two higher quality scans from the Halo preview in PC Gamer Aug2000. You can now get a clearer picture of the new red Covenant craft and the Covenant sniper rifle. Thanks BGH. (Ding 09:47:15 UTC) (permalink)
Some interesting forum posts to note
Just a heads up on some interesting posts in our forums:
Anthor posts an interesting list of rants and raveson the E3 Halo movie. Thanks to SkyFire360 for pointing us to this one.
TOPGUNN123 notes disappearing bodiesin the E3 Halo movie. It's not clear how persistent objects will be in Halo but I did find dead bodies useful for navigation in Marathon.
Bagman posts aURL to anXbox articlewhich claims that despite Microsoft insisting that the Xbox will be nothing more than a gaming machine hardly anybody believes them. We may get a keyboard yet.
(Ding 09:30:59 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Art page updated
Thanks to bibendum, who submitted a nice rendition of froggy for our Miscellaneous Art page. He looks so comfortable! (Louis Wu 02:59:38 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-Net Shop has non-bungie halo stuff
The Halo-Net Shop is now selling t-shirts... and they're taking no chances.
we're now printing the Halo Shirts, which have artwork which is fully original to Halo-Net, none of the content is by Bungie , so hopefully they can't make any complaint about it.
Go on over to the shop and have a look @ the overview of the T-Shirt. http://www.halo-net.com/shop
We will only be allowing pre-orders for the T-Shirts when Bungie have had a look at the overview of the shirts.
Swing by, and see what they've got! (Louis Wu 02:46:44 UTC) (permalink)
News July 1 2000
Marty O'Donnell clarifies some points about the E3 Halo movie
Marty O'Donnell of Total Audio offers some points of clarification about the E3 Halo movie on our forums. Here's what the had to say:
A few points of clarification:
1. The movie on the PCG CD is a copy of the full DVD movie from E3. The show at E3 also included Joseph Staten doing about 5 minutes of live game play, which was different every time.
2. Video and audio fidelity is better on the DVD than on the CD. The DVD also has 5.1 Surround Sound (which rocks).
3. All the voice actors are professionals, this is what they do for a living. Not a single member of the Bungie staff in the bunch.
Thanks Marty. (Ding 18:54:33 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Marines drop two places from #46 to #48
Dink! The Halo SETI Marinesdrop two places from #46 to #48 in the Battle of the Teams. While we've got 436 recruits we've also lost some big crunchers. Banzif is the latest to stop crunchin'. Unless we get more marines crunchin' units we're going to start losing out big time. Don't let the team down... crunch a unit today tomorrow it could be you! (Wirehead 16:35:14 UTC) (permalink)
John Carmack speaks his mind on Xbox
John Carmack gives his views on Xbox and the future of gaming on the PC in an IGN Xbox interview. Here's a snippet:
IGN Xbox: Would you ever consider doing original content for a console?
JC: There are some pleasures to developing on a console that you don't get on a PC, but I Would hate to leave behind the open-ended, flexible architectures we develop for the PC.
IGN Xbox: If the Xbox provides the PC comforts of development, but the mass-market outreach of a console, what's to keep PC developers from jumping ship and making console-only games?
JC: I could imagine it happening, but it will always be so trivial to make a PC "port" of an Xbox game that I wouldn't expect the PC titles to dry up at all. Microsoft is probably doing some arm-twisting to try to force exclusivity, but it probably won't hold for too long.
IGN Xbox: Where do you see PC game development going in the age of next-generation systems?
JC: The cornerstone advantages that PC's have over consoles is that they are much better mediums for communication between players, and for content creation.
Good to hear John's views on this. (Crux Fidelis 15:06:35 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox technology-head speaks!
Xbox technology-head, Seamus Blackley, discusses console hard drives and why developers are having an Xbox love affair in an IGN Xbox interview. Here's a snippet:
IGN Xbox: Did you have the same problem convincing developers of themerits of the Xbox that you did convincing the general public?
SB: No, I think that the main problem with consumers is that, to date, we have been primarily talking with developers. And the problem is talking to consumers and saying 'because the platform is so great for developers, and because they like the platform so much, you're going to see better games, and therefore you're going to be happy.' And that's kind of an awkward message to get out. Our decision all along has been to let the games speak for themselves, so as you start seeing games coming out, and we start to announce developers, and you start to see samples, that's when we're going to start talking to gamers, and talking to consumers about what it's going to be like. One of the things that we're very shy to do is over-hype Xbox at all. We have a very strict policy of under-promising and over-delivering, so we're not going to talk about how great it's going to be until we have something to show you.
(Crux Fidelis 14:55:33 UTC) (permalink)
Future of the online Bungie fan community
Matt Soell has a few words to say about the XBox, keyboards and the future of the online Bungie fan community on the Marathon's Story page. Will the Xbox have a keyboard? The PS2 will have one. As Hamish would say 'Veritatem Dies Aperit' or something. (Ding 14:05:14 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-Net Shop Controversy
Alan Stott of Halo Centerwrites to say he has posted a full explanation of events in the Halo-Net Shop Controversy. Having said all this they are still taking pre-orders for the Halo Stickers it seems? (Ding 14:05:14 UTC) (permalink)
Game Guru: Reflections on Bungie and Microsoft
Nate Birkholz airs his views on the situation between Bungie and Microsoft in a MacCentral article called Game Guru: Reflections on Bungie and Microsoft. Here's a great quote:
Large publishers are, by nature, somewhat conservative, and they prefer to maintain a healthy measure of control. Most developers hear at first that things aren't going to change, but then the corporate babysitters, excuse me, "representatives" show up, and things start a slow slide. Other developers have successfully resisted the tides of change in similar situations, but it is exceedingly difficult. As a friend of mine at another company said months after his company were acquired by a large publisher, "My wife said she liked me just the way I was at first, and that she wouldn't try to change me; next thing I know I don't have season tickets to the hockey games anymore, but I do go to the symphony a lot, and my Camaro became a minivan."
The article is well balanced though with some serious comments about Microsoft's role, "killer apps", the loss of good friends. (Ding 09:44:16 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo movie mirrors
More Halo movie mirrors:
3D Action Gamers (Thanks Frans)
Meccaworld (Thanks luxor)
3D Downloads
Stomped
JosephAW's site 18MB version for 56k users (gone now)
(Ding 08:33:49 UTC) (permalink)
Halo movie screenshots
Haven't grabbed the Halo movie yet? Then never fear Bravehamster is here! Kudos to Bravehamster who sends the following good news:
I brought the E3 halo movie into WMP and managed to get 30+ screenshots taken. Some pretty good ones in there, got all the major points of interest. Anyways, here's the link, for your readers who don't have the bandwidth to download the whole movie:
Nice work. :) (Wirehead 08:17:46 UTC) (permalink)
Halo movie mirrors. They're everywhere!
Mirror mirror on the net... The E3 Halo movie has appeared on the net in a number of locations. Try here for now:
Fileplanet. (Thanks Charles Fitzhugh)
Battleground: Halo (Thanks Bounty)
Halo Vault (Thanks luxor)
Halo Center (Thanks Yrro)
More as we get them. (Ding 08:07:51 UTC) (permalink)
| July 2000 | |
