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 | July 2005 |  |
July 2005 Archived News
News July 31 2005
Game Development talk
Chaos Recon pointed out a presentation, in PDF format, called 'Research in Game Development: Halo 2' - it looks at how different problems can be attacked, and what some of the pros and cons of each technique might be. It looks like this was presented at the Microsoft Research Asia Theme Workshop 2005, in Beijing, this past May, by someone named Hao Chen. (I don't know exactly who this is - the server hosting the bios for the conference isn't up at the moment.) A good read, for anyone interested in the tech behind the eye candy! Update: oops - Hao Chen is listed in the Halo 2 credits under 'Engineering' - my bad! (Louis Wu 22:44:42 UTC) (permalink)
Popular Halo Sightings
Vella pointed out that there's a really small Halo mention in the latest Wired - in the Found section (a 'Last Page' feature of Wired which shows 'Artifacts from the Future'), there's a shot of the crossword puzzle from an edition of the New York Times in 2019. 65 Across is 'First video game to nab Oscar: "______ 4"'... and the answer is filled in already, as 'Halo'. Heh. This is online at Wired's site. (Thanks to Dzejms, who reminded me I hadn't posted it yet.) (Louis Wu 19:04:41 UTC) (permalink)
Update: No maps on September OXM disc
A week or so ago, we got email from Mars Man 0013, stating that the 9 multiplayer maps were available on the September OXM bonus disc. Unfortunately, we've now received confirmation from both TURBO and Max Power that this info is not correct - there are no maps on that disc. You'll have to buy them the normal way, or wait until August 31 and download them for free from XBL. Sorry! (Louis Wu 17:36:46 UTC) (permalink)
News July 30 2005
PumaHog's Toy Soldiers Trailer Released
PumaHog Productions has released its Toy Soldiers Series Trailer - an introduction to their upcoming machinima series. I'm likin' the Elite. Check it out! 25-36 mb, depending on format (WMP9 and MPEG1 available). (Louis Wu 20:38:17 UTC) (permalink)
MC Helmet Progress
corpseguy has posted an update for his MC Helmet (we mentioned this yesterday) - it's now painted. Looks great! (Louis Wu 20:15:20 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's Top 100
IGN has posted their Top 100 Games of All Time - Halo makes the top third. Thanks, DPowers90. (Louis Wu 20:12:51 UTC) (permalink)
MC Kicks Elite Butt
Ross Gemuend is working on a rendered animation - MC vs some Elites. I can't watch the second one (the combination of WMP9 encoding and an AVI format seems to make it unwatchable on a Mac - but if you're on a PC, it's the bottom link, labeled 'MC Vs Elites'), but the first one has been locally mirrored (for the original DivX-encoded AVI), converted to QuickTime, and sped up - because Ross mentioned that he originally planned it to be 4 times as fast, but slowed it down for detail. You can find all links in his first post. Farther down in the thread, 7he One converts it to WMP9 format, and adds sound - quality suffers a bit, but the sound is a nice touch. Check this out! (Louis Wu 20:09:46 UTC) (permalink)
Rocket Part 1
Reinsoft has whipped up another rap parody - this one is called Rocket Part 1, and is set to R. Kelly's 'Closet Part 1'... you can find it in this forum post. 3:22 long, 2.7 mb, MP3 format (or streaming). (Louis Wu 19:46:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Nationals 2 First Day Results
There's a ton of info over at MLGPro.com about results from yesterday's competition at Halo Nationals 2 - more coming today, including full writeups, but for basic info about who won - swing by their front page! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 13:56:13 UTC) (permalink)
Halogen Update (our last for a while)
There are more updates over at the Halogen site - there's apparently a video (Safari refuses to recognize the 'Forum' link, so I can't see it), and info about some new units. Since they plan to update every couple of days, please take this news post as an indication that if you're interested in this conversion, you should visit every couple of days - we're going to pass on posting a 'there's new stuff' note two or three times a week. And maybe, MAYBE, they'll fix the Flash so that it's visible in more browsers... thanks, logical2u. (Louis Wu 13:52:41 UTC) (permalink)
Now THAT'S new.
We don't usually post trick stuff any more - High Impact Halo does such an amazing job covering that whole field that stepping in seems like trespassing - but yesterday, something pretty darn cool got posted to our forum... something that I couldn't pass up. KadeshSa gave us a movie showing a nice hog launch on Assault on the Control Room. Big deal, you say? You've seen a million of 'em? Yeah, well... how many have you seen where the launcher was SARGE? The vid's only about 6 and a half megs, available in both WMP9 and QuickTime formats - the thread starts here, download links are in this post. (Louis Wu 13:40:49 UTC) (permalink)
Cleaning out the Inbox
The Weekly What's Update went up as expected last night - it's been a quiet week, so this one basically covers some common questions Bungie gets. Some decent clarifications - Action Replay is fine if you use it to transfer unmodified game saves, for example - and some good 'nice to know' stuff. Go read! (Louis Wu 13:21:22 UTC) (permalink)
News July 29 2005
5 Easy Pieces
In an uncharacteristic move, I'm emptying the Miscellaneous Art queue when it's almost brand-new - there are a few really spectacular pieces waiting to be seen, and one was overlooked for several weeks, accidentally. Go check 'em out - and I hope you're as impressed as I was! (Louis Wu 20:45:39 UTC) (permalink)
Tough Call
You know the Halo Babies are growing up when conversations like THIS one start happening. (Louis Wu 19:40:28 UTC) (permalink)
Online Tourney
Larger Then Live is running a 32 team double elimination tournament online - yo ucan find all the details on their front page. Gameplay begins on Tuesday (I assume this coming Tuesday) at 9:45 EST, and will continue each night until the competition is over. It's free to enter, and there will be prizes (undecided at this point). Thanks to Legolas71088 for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:16:54 UTC) (permalink)
Mister Chief - active!
Reiginko posted a rendered 3D Mister Chief - first a head, then a whole body, then a walking Chief... then a DANCING Chief. That's right - Mister Chief does the Lindy Hop. Yeah. (Louis Wu 18:14:20 UTC) (permalink)
Bunker 27 Ep II - Infiltration
Bunker 27, Episode 2 has cleared the Movie Peer Review Rating System - Goose is shooting for The Stupidest Spartan Evar award, and is in serious contention. Some great techniques, some bad jokes, good filming - give this one a watch! WMP9 format (38.5 mb) or QuickTime format (36.7 mb). (Louis Wu 17:59:49 UTC) (permalink)
HCEC 13: Realization
Episode 13 of the Halo CE Chronicles has been released - 'Realization' examines personal weakness and self-realization. Minimal action, but plenty of emotion. Read Dennis Powers' summary on the HCEC website if you're unsure what this means for you. WMP9, QuickTime, and Flash formats - 9.3 mb streaming, or about 25 mb to download. (Louis Wu 17:49:40 UTC) (permalink)
High Charity, Low Comedy.
Stuntmutt's made a name for himself foisting bad puns on the Halo community. Today's One One Se7en shows that there may not be limits to the lengths he'll go... (Louis Wu 17:14:28 UTC) (permalink)
Story - and why it matters
There's a great piece over at Gamasutra, discussing the concept of Story in the context of video games - why the story is important, how games differ from the media that came before, what the developer can do to improve the experience for the player. Halo is held up as an example of Story Done Right (though I was amused to see a Bungie employee quote - about Halo, no less - used derisively as an example of how the industry has done things wrong up to now). Give this a read, and see if you agree! (Seems silly to point it out at this stage - but there are Halo-related spoilers in this one.) Thanks to 3Suns for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:41:00 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fiction
Sixteen new pieces available in the Fan Fiction section today - get to reading! (Louis Wu 15:32:45 UTC) (permalink)
Custom Halo 2 Helmet
corpseguy posted a few shots of a helmet he's made for Halloween this year - looking pretty nice! (Louis Wu 14:35:56 UTC) (permalink)
Favorite game of all time?
Generally, we stay away from net polls nowadays - they don't really tell you anything except which game has a fan community more willing to vote in polls. Sometimes, though... they're fun. In an article about the top 100 all time classic computer games, Yahoo Games UK is asking for your favorite game of all time - Halo is up against contenders like Tetris and Pong (and a bunch of newer classics, too). At the moment, it's hanging out in 5th place... but maybe, if you think it deserves it, you can toss a vote its way. Thanks to MaVeRiCK XS for the heads-up. (For what it's worth - Halo shows up on the 41-50 page of the article.) (Louis Wu 14:30:21 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 CE Short Guide
Newfive has posted a short guide to Halo 2 Custom Edition, the recently released (and these days almost-daily-augmented) HaloCE project. The guide comes with nice pics, links to all relevant material, and answers to basic questions - check it out! (Louis Wu 14:15:47 UTC) (permalink)
News July 28 2005
GearboxGameZone movie info
Dennis Powers writes to point out that GearboxGameZone has mirrored The Squadron videos, and has added over 20 new Halo vids in the past two days, including most of the videos available on the "This Spartan Life" website (and a bunch that aren't - there are now WMP9-encoded versions of the first 5 episodes). Go see what you can find! (Louis Wu 22:48:38 UTC) (permalink)
Where's Lance When We Need Him?
Looks like the Halo Babies team has taken a page from the Bungie playbook and is challenging other Halo community teams to Xbox Live duels. There's a writeup from Dark Halo posted over at the Halo Babies website, detailing a recent match between the HBN crew and the Marty Army - looks like this series was a blowout. Details and gamelinks available in the writeup! (Louis Wu 20:45:07 UTC) (permalink)
There's Something About Halo 2
Last fall, we mentioned 'There's Something about Halo', a Flash vid over at Newgrounds - now, the team behind it has a preview of TSAH2 online (click the floating 'TSAH2' thing). That's some weird dancing... thanks, Tactic. (Louis Wu 20:36:46 UTC) (permalink)
The Squadron Ep 1: The Pigeon Has Landed
The MPRRS continues to process submitted movies - The Squadron is a machinima series from the folks at Broken Console. Episode One is nearly 12 minutes long, and introduces the main characters and the storyline. Reviewers liked the humor and the flow. Check it out! WMP9 format (26.4 mb) or QuickTime format (26.7 mb). (Louis Wu 20:26:42 UTC) (permalink)
Autographed Halo 2 poster on eBay
Conner Reeves is selling a Frankie-signed Halo 2 poster on eBay - starting bid is just under $15, and there are 4 days left in the auction. Here's your chance for a personal Mister Chief on your wall! (Louis Wu 19:13:55 UTC) (permalink)
Wham looks at the map pack
WHAM! Gaming (a subsection of the CANOE network) reviewed the Multiplayer Map Pack last week - they liked most of the maps, but had problems with Gemini, Terminal, and Warlock. Issues aside, the collection earned a 9.5/10 from them. Thanks, Anton P. Nym. (Louis Wu 19:10:54 UTC) (permalink)
Wait... simulated reality? My head hurts.
Okay, this isn't Halo-related in the slightest, I don't think - but it DOES hold some interest for those of you who follow Bungie, the company, and the people that (used to) work for it. According to USA Today, there's a new reality TV show coming soon - Xquest will be brought to you by Ron Howard (who looks NOTHING like Ritchie - or Opie, for that matter - any more) and Brian Grazer, and will take contestants into space - well, simulated space. Simulated space? Yeah - "the travelers and viewers will be transported to space virtual-reality style, thanks to high-tech graphics and the help of co-producer Alex Seropian, a creator of the popular Halo game." Wonga! Is this what Wideload is doing after Stubbs ships? Thanks, x amount. Update: Thanks to a story in Variety (which isn't reachable without a subscription, unfortunately), I now understand this has nothing to do with Wideload; Seropian is also a principal of Spectrum MediaWorks, a company looking to tie together television, videogames, and 'networked media' - and it's under this umbrella that he's working with the Xquest project. (The Variety article specifically discusses the lack of connection between this project and Halo, in any form.) (Louis Wu 19:01:43 UTC) (permalink)
AMAS Kicks off the 2005 Machinima Film Festival
The Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences (AMAS) issued a press release and call for entries for this year's Machinima Film Festival - submissions began to be accepted a week ago, with a final deadline of October 6. Get cracking! (This press release was originally posted on their website on July 11, but we just got a copy today. Sorry for the delay!) (Louis Wu 18:42:06 UTC) (permalink)
More Schwag for your Bucks
In an effort to help the free-market economy keep the money flowing, Bungie has updated their Store with some new merchandise. A carabiner keychain, and four new shirts. Of particular note is a very old-school Marathon shirt, faithfully re-created by Shishka. Nice. Check it all out! (mnemesis 18:41:15 UTC) (permalink)
Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over
The 'Video Games are Evil' concept has blown up again in recent weeks, spurred primarily by the release of the Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto (google it if you don't know what it is) - and the whole 'Violence in Video Games' controversy has been reopened because of it. I haven't written much on the subject (though I've been toying with some blog posts, if life ever slows down enough to think coherently about them), but that hasn't stopped people from sending in links. One came in this morning that I found to be a great read, and a summary of most of the arguments I've been making for a while now. (I'm not claiming ownership on these arguments - LOTS of rational people have been arguing these points - I'm just saying that this one sums up my views pretty well.) Steven Johnson (we mentioned him a couple of months ago) has written an opinion piece in today's LA Times; it's an open letter to Hillary Clinton, discussing the Senator's recent call for a study on the effects of video games on our youth. He makes some solid points - and mentions Halo 2 a couple of times, which gets him on the front page here. Go read! (Thanks, Christopher Lyons.) (Louis Wu 18:29:36 UTC) (permalink)
Halogen update
A couple of days ago, we mentioned that the Halogen website would be posting lots of new info over the next couple of weeks - the updates started today; there's a new website online, Flash-based, and though it's not finished yet, I guess they'll be adding to it as time goes on. (It's actually quite buggy if you're not on a PC running IE - or at least that's my experience. But hey - when one browser on one platform has 75% of the marketshare, why bother designing for anyone else?) Thanks to Logical2u, via email, and MatX, on our forum, for noticing. (Louis Wu 18:12:41 UTC) (permalink)
Montage Vids from halo2Forum
Z, from Halo2Forum.com, dropped us a note about a couple of montages they're hosting - Hellzfire's First Montage is 56 mb, WMP9 format, and full of sticks and noscope snipes. Titan VIII's 3rd Montage is 95.7 mb, WMP9 format, and of course has its share of sticks and snipes, but seems to focus on the Battle Rifle. There is plenty of room for comments in the above-linked threads. (Louis Wu 17:11:13 UTC) (permalink)
Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head
jezek, of Haloz Productions, submitted a video called 'Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head', which tells the story of the Gorillaz song using the Halo engine. The MPRRS reviewers liked it (though a few thought it didn't have enough action in it - I think we're getting jaded) - it's nicely laid out. Give it a watch! WMP9 format (26.3 mb) or QuickTime format (26.6 mb). (Louis Wu 15:39:35 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 is G-Phoria King
Wow. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Bungie was up for 7 honors this year in G4TV's G-Phoria awards - the ceremony took place last night (though it won't be aired for another couple of weeks), and Bungie swept all 7 of those categories! Nice! Gamespot's got an article with more details - thanks to altodarknight, who was beaten for the heads-up by Google News Alerts by only a couple of hours. (Louis Wu 15:20:33 UTC) (permalink)
News July 27 2005
Juicy All-Day Coverage of MLG Philly
MLGPro.com will be ramping up the coverage, both written and via their Video on Demand service, for this weekend's Halo Nationals 2 event in Philadelphia. You can read all the details on this page - but remember, Video on Demand is only available to Windows XP users. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 16:25:00 UTC) (permalink)
Nightmare Armor Update, Too
Wow, timing - we just got mail from Sid Garrand, of Nightmare Armor; there's news of their work in 2 upcoming movies (2006 and 2007, he says... intriguing!), but also new shots of their armor [deleted] Update: I'm not sure I would have posted these pictures had I known that Nightmare Armor has been served with a Cease and Desist order from Microsoft, with various legal followup pending, for unauthorized use of Halo intellectual property. Not sure how this is going to play out - but it sure seems like there might be problems! Update 2: Nice. Now I've been threatened with legal action from Sid for putting up this post. The pics are gone - I guess this is the last time Nightmare Armor will be mentioned here. Folks, remember - we're a fansite. We're really not interested in getting in the middle of your legal troubles... if the news you send is is going to cause you (or us) headaches, do us both a favor and don't send it. (Louis Wu 15:45:29 UTC) (permalink)
Briar's Armor Progresses
Swing by Briar's Armor for some new shots of chest plates - brown, blue, red. Lookin' great! (Louis Wu 15:19:02 UTC) (permalink)
Keep shooting till you're stupid!
Captain Spark dropped off another 29 dialogue snippets today - brings the total up to 1532 in our Dialogue Databank, 83% of which were first submitted by him. Wow! There are some pretty hilarious ones in here - they're all Stacker, and they were all collected with the IWHBYD skull. You can also grab these as a unit from his (new) website. (Louis Wu 14:55:01 UTC) (permalink)
One Ugly Noob
Wow... this is one of the odder Halo-related sites I've run across. Jim Sinicropi pointed us to WannaPartyUp.com, a site devoted to collecting Halo 2 postgame lobby conversations from Xbox Live. They range from run-of-the-mill insultfests to really bizarre comments. Everything's in mp3 format. (Louis Wu 14:54:20 UTC) (permalink)
Pumahog Productions
A new machinima series kicked off recently - so far, there are only 'test' vids for download, but they're worth keeping an eye on. Go take a look at Pumahog.com for another Red vs Blue-inspired team! (Louis Wu 14:50:05 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo for PSP
Mintz wrote to point out that his Halo for PSP site has been updated again - newest content includes the Auto-Update article from B.net and the Str8 Rippin interview from MLGPro.com. (Louis Wu 13:02:54 UTC) (permalink)
Haven't The Foggiest.
Sigourney Weaver's lawyers called - they're suing One One Se7en for defamation of title. (Louis Wu 12:59:57 UTC) (permalink)
Master Chief Skating
Silent_Pea posted a series of pics created with Jet Set Radio Future's graffiti creator - it's impressive what you can do in-game, with just an Xbox controller to draw with! (I added the local jpegs so that if somebody stumbles on this post in a year or two, and the larger photobucket pngs are gone, they can still see the work.) (Louis Wu 12:55:51 UTC) (permalink)
MC Ballerina 2
TheGhost, amused by the fact that folks thought he was faking, created another small clip of his MC Ballerina - this one's on Sidewinder, and has shadows turned on. Available in WMP9 (3.3 mb) or QuickTime (2.5 mb). Very graceful! (Louis Wu 12:15:07 UTC) (permalink)
News July 26 2005
NSCS incorporates the wisdom of Sun Tzu
Overswarm has sent along another batch of articles for his No So Common Sense strategy guide; you'll find pieces on Offensive and Defensive Strategy in the Articles and Extras section, as well as a new article on Movement Techniques in the Advanced Combat Techniques section. He's also added several questions (and answers) to the FAQ. Go read! (Louis Wu 21:41:20 UTC) (permalink)
War Series
Another MPRRS passer - Purebredbrute, of Halovids.com, submitted Episode 9 of the War series; the reviewers loved it. He wanted feedback, rather than hosting - so we'll point you to his Videos page; you can start at the beginning, or you can jump in where most of us did. (The series to date eats up almost 250 mb... so if you decide to watch the whole thing, be gentle and do it over time.) Episodes are all in WMP9 format, and range in size from 13 to 60 mb (Episode 9 is 20 mb). (Louis Wu 19:01:45 UTC) (permalink)
Lightbearers' Tournaments
Father Hartley sent us a note about Lightbearers' Tournaments, an online (Xbox Live-based) Halo 2 tournament series - you can find details at their website. The first tourney is actually today, at 2 pm Pacific time (about 3.5 hours from the time this is being written)... it's a 2v2 Slayer event. Get on by and read the rules, so you can be there in time! (Louis Wu 17:30:48 UTC) (permalink)
All These Things That I've Done
Yet another MPRRS passing vid - this one was created by Chubark, of Hollywood Halo, and has been available on halogrid.com for almost a week now (though it was only uploaded to us for review/hosting a couple of nights ago). It's called "All These Things That I've Done", and its a music vid - it's a Halo-based enactment of the Killers' song. Timing is astoundingly good. There were a LOT of shots put together for this one - check out the camera angle changes! You can grab this in WMP9 format (45.6 mb) or QuickTime format (51.1 mb)... it's a fantastic example of how far you can push the head-bouncing thing. (Louis Wu 17:20:46 UTC) (permalink)
I'm a Dancing Fool
Hehe - TheGhost posted a short film (3.2 mb in WMP9 format, 2.8 mb in QuickTime format - smaller because I didn't bother to include a blank audio track) showing some pretty funny animation. A couple of forum regulars called 'foul' (Mig and Steve both suggested that this was rigged elsewhere, and overlaid over a Blood Gulch background, instead of actually being recorded in-game)... but whether it's real or not is irrelevant when you're deciding if it's funny (which it is). Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:22:34 UTC) (permalink)
Plant it in the Base
Patriarch917 continues his musical rampage - the latest parody on his Music page is 'Plant it in the Base', a send-up of Snoop Dogg's 'Drop it's like it's Hot'. He was a little worried that it wouldn't come off right - but I say, any rap song that needs 7 footnotes can't be all bad! 6.1 mb, MP3 format. (Louis Wu 14:25:01 UTC) (permalink)
Halogen ramping up again
crazedweasels noticed a new update over at Halogen, the C&C Generals Total Conversion. Looks like there'll be some pretty big updates coming soon - this was just a warning. (Louis Wu 14:19:21 UTC) (permalink)
More Comic-Con Pics
Skie has put together a nice collection of photos of the Comic-con Elite costume we mentioned a couple of times (here and here) - each pic has a source tag, showing where he found it. (Skie would love to commission the costume's creator for a project, but cant find a way to contact him. Skie can be reached via email.) We also got mail from cappy, who took a whole PASSEL of photos at the event - there are a half-dozen that cover the RvB guys, Halo, and the Elite; they start with this pic, then hit 'next' until you get to some apes. (Louis Wu 14:15:08 UTC) (permalink)
Coco Beans in Warm Water
Today's VG Cats pokes fun at the whole 'discovering sex buried in video games' issue - Halo gets a couple of nods. Several people sent this along - looks like William McDonald was first. (Louis Wu 14:10:52 UTC) (permalink)
Gaming Horizon looks at the MMP
Gaming Horizon has reviewed the Multiplayer Map Pack - they call it a 'no-brainer' twice, and their bottom line is 'An all-around nice package'. I think they liked it. (Louis Wu 13:58:20 UTC) (permalink)
Oh So Beautiful III
My goodness - I'm not sure what happened, but it looks like I've taken the last 18 hours off, with respect to this website. Sorry! First up today - a movie that passed the MPRRS a couple of days ago; a third installment of Jamie98s' Oh So Beautiful series. This one (Oh So Beautiful III) takes a 7:22 stroll through the single-player maps, looking for gorgeous scenery - and we all know, there's plenty to find! You can grab this in WMP9 format (25.2 mb) or QuickTime format (26.3 mb). Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:51:08 UTC) (permalink)
News July 25 2005
HCEC - in Flash
For those who'd rather watch online, the Halo CE Chronicles season 2 episodes (10, 11, 12) are now available in streaming Flash format, in addition to the existing downloadable WMP9 and QuickTime formats. Check the HCEC website for details. (Louis Wu 20:31:35 UTC) (permalink)
kr4zed montage deuce
Kr4zed submitted his second montage to our peer review rating system, and got a passing grade - check it out! (Reviewers liked the synching and editing in general.) Available in both WMP9 format (42 mb) and QuickTime format (43 mb). (Louis Wu 18:42:08 UTC) (permalink)
Ever Wonder About Terminal's Weapon Placement?
Stuntmutt has - check today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 18:27:50 UTC) (permalink)
Monday Notes
Seems like song parodies are the new hot thing - there are a handful amongst the ten new pieces in the Fan Fiction section today. Go sing. (Louis Wu 18:26:20 UTC) (permalink)
This Spartan Video Blog
Over at This Spartan Life, you'll find a new video blog - Damain lets you know what's fun - and sometimes not so fun - about putting together a video talk show. Just hit the 'blogs' link! (10 mb, QuickTime format.) (Louis Wu 16:28:38 UTC) (permalink)
GT video preview of MMP
Gametrailers has posted a video preview of the Multiplayer Map Pack - nice footage, mostly decent descriptions (Hehe - I liked that Gemini was influenced by 'High Clarity') - but their bottom-line advice: because the maps will be free by the end of August, buying them now is a waste of money. This download is about 40 mb, in QuickTime or WMP9 formats. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 16:11:19 UTC) (permalink)
After all... tomorrow is another day.
There's an article in today's News Tribune (a Tacoma, WA newspaper) about machinima - and it comes with a great poster. Thanks to Ename Nep for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:23:32 UTC) (permalink)
Play the Codex on your PSP
Trigger119 posted a note on our forum, pointing to a page on halomachinima.com; he's made all the episodes to date of The Codex Series (17 in all) available in a format readable by your PSP. (There are also standard WMP9 and QuickTime mirror links, to take some of the strain off the Codex Series website.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:13:22 UTC) (permalink)
Sketch talks to Major Nelson
There's a nice radio interview with SketchFactor over on Majornelson.com - he's released the podcast in both WMA format and MP3 format. The podcast is about 45 minutes long - the interview with Sketch starts around 18:30 in, and lasts about 20 minutes. It covers a variety of subjects - worth a listen! Thanks to Kevin Augspurger for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:59:07 UTC) (permalink)
Halo2D
Ajay wrote to point out Halo2D, a 2D Halo game he's working on. (A very early screenshot can be seen here.) You can download a really early version (it's NOT done) off his website - he gives props to Halo: Resolution's sprites. (This is PC-only.) Update: Turkman points out another 2D Halo game - this one based on the sprites from Halo: Blood Covenant. More info (and a site link) can be found in his forum post. (Louis Wu 14:24:07 UTC) (permalink)
Red vs Blue at Lincoln Center
Continuing their ongoing "I want to see the sun rise against a horizon of floating hypodermic needles" travelogue, the RvB clan (somehow legitimizing their sorry drunken asses with "Rooster Teeth Productions") will be appearing at Lincoln Center, Sunday, August 21st 6PM. You can buy tickets for their NYC Premiere showing of Season Three here.
Even if you already bought the DVD, the bonus here is that you'll actually be seeing the 'Director's Cut' which in this case seems to buck the trend and actually CUT material in order to increase the joke to checking-your-watch ratio. I guess on second pass it was time to nix Church's sololiquy on armor-crotch rash.
I will definitely be there, and I urge any other local (or not so local) fans of RvB and Halo to make an appearance. If enough of us get together to show our appreciation for these guys and gals, I bet Burnie will buy us all a fifth of Southern Comfort like last time. (Ding 14:23:34 UTC) (permalink)
Fight Back against Cheaters
PraetoriaGuard has opened a new website - Halo2Cheaters.com. They want to provide a player-accessible database of cheaters; you can submit gamertags and game links, upload vids of cheaters, or just vent. (All reports will be reviewed by site admins before being made public; you won't be able to accuse the guy who just pissed you off unless he really DID cheat.) They're aware of the h2cheats@microsoft.com feedback address - but none of what goes there is made public; this gives the community a chance to see who's who. The full press release is here, on the PraetoriaGuard forum - or just visit the new site. Update: Just found this post on our forum; looks like CarnageStats.com is helping, too. W00t! (Louis Wu 13:59:21 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Editor's Corner
MLGPro.com has started up a new weekly feature, to be posted on Fridays - it's called 'Editor's Corner', and it gives Dyslexia a place to hold forth on topics of interest. This week's rant (posted on Sunday, accidentally) looks at the recent AutoUpdate - or, more accurately, at the reaction it's received on forums around the net. It's a surprising read - here's a guy who is fully immersed in the MLG culture - he provides the majority of the content on the MLG website these days - writing that people in general, and MLGers in specific, should take a step back and stop hating Bungie for dumb reasons. Whoa. (I'm POSITIVE he's gonna get a lot of flak for this one - but I agree with almost everything he says, and applaud him for saying it.) Thanks to 3Suns for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:41:01 UTC) (permalink)
GameRiot Tour - a reminder
duderlock wanted us to point out that the GameRiot tour will be hitting the House of Blues in LA this week - visiting will give you the chance to play against Zyos; score 3 point, win 6 months of Gamefly rentals... beat him, get $100, an MTV jacket, and an MLG management contract. This is true - but it's also true everywhere GameRiot goes; there are still plenty of cities left to challenge him in. Check out the tour schedule! (So far, 3 people have garnered management contracts in this competition, the latest in St. Joseph, MI, last week. You can read about it in the blog of BJ, the site host.) (Louis Wu 13:27:01 UTC) (permalink)
News July 24 2005
Rendered Halo movie - help needed
RmicF is working on a Halo vid, and looking for help. You can see some renders of the work done so far in his forum post - looks promising! (Louis Wu 18:02:30 UTC) (permalink)
Foxygrandpa117 holds forth
*Butcher interviewed Foxygrandpa117 (I refuse to write it the way he did), and posted the result on our forum. Just turned 15... and has been part of the tricking scene for a while, is going to tournaments, it's interesting. Go read. (Louis Wu 17:47:04 UTC) (permalink)
Rockslide Megabattle Update
rockslider continues to add battle plans to his Rockslide Megabattle site - check this forum post for details. Great to see this stuff is still being refined! (Louis Wu 16:47:15 UTC) (permalink)
My SMGs
Patriarch917 continues his Halo Parody spree - the latest entry is 'My SMGs', a takeoff of Green Day's 'Minority'. It weighs in at 2.4 mb, and you can find a download link - and lyrics - on his music page. (His email address is at the top of the page, if you want to let him know what you think of these songs.) (Louis Wu 16:13:53 UTC) (permalink)
News July 23 2005
Good to Play Together
Yet another one of those Top X lists - Gamespy put up a 'Top 5 Xbox Live Games' recently, and Halo 2 took the number one spot. Nice! Thanks, Promotheus. (Louis Wu 13:43:19 UTC) (permalink)
Life in General Episode 1
Yesterday, a fun Flash piece passed our Movie Peer Review Rating System - it's the first episode of 'Life in General', submitted by Tim Murray, and it tells the tale of four friends playing Halo. It weighs in at about 9 mb, and we've put it up on a page for viewing. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:01:03 UTC) (permalink)
The stats aren't so clear...
The Halo Humpday Challenge happened a bit late again this week - the Bungie guys played Xbox Taiwan this time around. Mintz found 4 matches, with Bungie winning
the first and last, but losing 2 and 3. (He missed this game, which came between his first and second game, and was won by Bungie... and this one, which came between his 2 and 3, and was won by Xbox Taiwan.) Shishka said that the writeup won't be up until Monday, but that Bungie didn't lose... as I see it, they won the first two out of three, and overall they won 3 out of 6. I guess we'll have to wait to see what's what. (Louis Wu 12:54:44 UTC) (permalink)
Yet another way to get the maps?
Okay, I've got no confirmation on this (my copy of OXM usually comes weeks after everyone else's), but Mars Man 0013 just wrote in to say that his copy just arrived... and the demo disc contains all 9 multiplayer maps! The cover price of a newstand issue with a CD is probably around $7 (I can't find it online, but the no-CD cover price is $5), so this is probably the cheapest way to buy these maps - even cheaper if you've got a subscription! The September issue will be on store shelves during the first week of August. Update: DeadGeneration passes along the info that the newsstand price of an issue of OXM is $10 - still less than buying these puppies online, especially if you've got more than one Xbox! (Louis Wu 12:38:32 UTC) (permalink)
The Trolls Come Out At Night
Hikaru, of Halo Arena, took some time out to ask KP a few questions. (KP can occasionally be seen forgetting to delete the 'KP' from the bottom of his 'Badmin' admin posts on our forum.) I can't believe there's no mention of that life-altering whiffle-ball game anywhere! Good read, otherwise, though. Except for the goats. (Louis Wu 01:32:49 UTC) (permalink)
Video Interview with Marty O'Donnell at GT
A couple of weeks ago, GameTrailers posted video coverage of the Video Games Live kickoff concert in LA - Geary just noticed that there's an interview with Marty O'Donnell from there up now at Gametrailers, as well. (There are a few other interviews, as well, for folks interested in the tour.) Marty mentions a super-secret guitarist who performed on the Soundtrack, with no credit (by choice) - hmm... (Louis Wu 01:02:30 UTC) (permalink)
Flowbee... hmm. I thought it was Nair.
Today's Weekly What's Update got an awful lot of its questions from a thread started by Frankie in our forum a few hours ago. Some of them are good, some of them aren't. The liquid Mister Chief is particularly disturbing. Overall, though, it's worth a read - and don't forget to take Frankie up on his challenge! (It's about a third of the way through.) Thanks to the billions and billions of people who pointed this out while I was at dinner. (Louis Wu 00:13:39 UTC) (permalink)
Lots of pretty pictures
Wow... that took a LOT longer than I'd expected - but the Wallpaper queue has been cleared out. 23 entries - 38, if you count all variants. Some are amazingly good. These have built up over the past two months in our uploads folder, our email, the forum... go see what you can find! (Be sure to check the ones you like - some have color and style variants hidden on the display page.) (Louis Wu 00:12:28 UTC) (permalink)
The Praeceptor
The Codex, Episode 17, has been posted over at their website... and man, this one's pretty cool. The Praeceptor has been awakened! Really nice video and audio effects... though I gotta say, I'm not particularly happy about how the battle went. 46-60 mb, depending on the flavor you choose. (Louis Wu 00:09:19 UTC) (permalink)
These guys are hardcore.
MLG has posted another Dyslexia interview - this time it's Havok and Acidian, a pair of rising stars. These are two of the guys from the much larger pool just outside the limelight... read the interview for a sense of what it takes to break into the 'big leagues'! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 00:08:01 UTC) (permalink)
There are some who said- wait, that's not right...
Halo 2 CE is DONE! Swing by the EPGServers.com site to grab your copy... this puppy has been a LONG time in the pipe. Beautiful! Thanks, DevilsKnight666. (Louis Wu 00:05:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 22 2005
Now that's a good lookin' Chief!
Chris Bryan continues his rendering efforts on the Master Chief - you'll find a test render in this post, and another in this one. All I can say is... wow. (Louis Wu 20:31:03 UTC) (permalink)
Bonding
Dennis Powers writes to point out that Episode 12 of the Halo CE Chronicles, 'Bonding', is now available for downloadin on the Halo CE Chronicles download page. The Spartan finds himself in... strange circumstances, while a rescue party sent to save him runs into pretty big trouble. Roughly 30 mb, in both WMP9 and QuickTime format - go grab a copy! (Louis Wu 20:22:18 UTC) (permalink)
Kill the roo.
Ajay pointed out that a recent comic from NEWBS was Halo2-related - if you like it, check out their other stuff! (Louis Wu 16:45:35 UTC) (permalink)
Full Of Good Things For Boys And Girls.
I usually use this space to take a cheap shot or two at Stuntmutt, but today's One One Se7en doesn't deserve any cheap shots - I loved it. Through and through. Go read it. (Louis Wu 16:29:14 UTC) (permalink)
FF Writers - incompetent readers?
Eight new stories in the Fan Fiction section today. (I had to delete a few whose authors thought that the 'Do not use the Poem button for a story simply because you don't have 750 words' directive didn't actually apply to THEM.) Go read. (Louis Wu 16:24:52 UTC) (permalink)
Zero Ping Tournament
Doug Griffith let us know about a Halo 1 and 2 tourney in Aurora, Ontario (about 30 miles north of Toronto). $25 pre-registered, $30 at the door. Rules and Prizes aren't posted yet - event will be held the weekend of August 12-14. If you're in the area, check back! (Louis Wu 14:59:22 UTC) (permalink)
Tied The Leader Weekly Update
XerxdeeJ put up a note on our forum - it's time for another weekly recap of Tied the Leader, his Halo-related blog. The two most recent, No Games Played and Open Letter to the Sniper, both resonated with me. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:53:12 UTC) (permalink)
An old relic...
New comic over at Halo Babies - I think Gruntsbane is letting those little tykes grow up. (Louis Wu 09:02:14 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Side Story
Jon McFarlane and some friends put together a Halo 2 radio project at University - it's in MP3 format, just over 7 minutes long, weighs in at 9.7 mb, and follows some of the marines on the Athens before and during its boarding at the start of Halo 2. It's a pretty interesting concept, and sound effects are done quite nicely - give it a listen! (Louis Wu 08:47:33 UTC) (permalink)
Wonder Twin powers - activate!
Captain Spark continues his collection of dialogue snippets with the IWHBYD skull - there's some hilarious stuff in there. He's moving his website, so for now, these are only available in our Dialogue Databank. (Louis Wu 08:44:48 UTC) (permalink)
Free hosting for the Halo community
Razgriz dropped us a note to tell us that FragNutz.org is offering free hosting to anyone interested in setting up a videogame site. More details of this offer can be found on their site. This might be a way to get your Halo site hosted! (Louis Wu 08:18:33 UTC) (permalink)
The Fist of Justice
Wonga. SketchFactor posted a Banhammer Update a few hours ago, over at Bungie.net (thanks, Dry Ice, for noticing) - in the first 24 hours of AU4.0's existence, 2550 (wouldn't it have been nice if it had been 2552, instead?) people have been permanently banned from Halo 2 Matchmaking. Nice! There's also a mini-faq addressing some of the rumors swirling around - go read. (Louis Wu 00:49:35 UTC) (permalink)
News July 21 2005
Beverly Hills: H2 Music Video
imSuck put together a music video for the song "Beverly Hills", by Weezer. It cleared the MPRRS last night - so go ahead and grab a copy! Pretty funny, mostly using footage from the newest netmaps. Nice timing. 32.3 mb in WMP9 format, 30 mb in QuickTime format. (Louis Wu 17:16:12 UTC) (permalink)
Direct2U: Sneak Peek
8BitOldie writes to let folks know that the Halo 2 CE mod team is almost ready to release Direct2U, an app that auto-updates team releases to make grabbing new content more painless than ever! Looks pretty cool! (Louis Wu 16:14:53 UTC) (permalink)
Multiplayer Video Tips
IGN has put up an 11-minute video guide to new map strategies - available only to Insiders, it covers Gemini, Terminal, and Relic. After watching, I'd have to say that unless you're REALLY a beginner, these aren't going to help you much. But hey - every little bit helps, right? Thanks, BitMaP. (Louis Wu 16:11:39 UTC) (permalink)
RvB Sex Toys?
Cornballer pointed out that Aint-it-Cool News got a shot of the Red vs Blue crew hawking their wares at the San Diego Comic-con - amazing where they show up! (Scroll to the bottom of the page.) (Louis Wu 16:06:39 UTC) (permalink)
MacOSX Halo Screensavers
Edwin Davis wrote to say he's got some Halo screensavers up on his site - these work with MacOSX 10.4 (Tiger). One is our news feed, on your desktop... the other is flying Halo logos! Check 'em out. (These are pretty cool - but be warned, if you're running a monitor off a PCI card, all you'll get is a black screen and 'Quartz Composer' running around it - I guess these need the video bandwidth of an AGP connection.) (Louis Wu 15:27:56 UTC) (permalink)
Giving the locals a hard time
Anton P. Nym sent along a scan of an article from today's London (Ontario) Free Press, covering the new Map Pack... but it's online as well. Takes a shot at Nathan 'Bentllama' Walpole, a London native... always fun. (Louis Wu 14:34:26 UTC) (permalink)
Project Torlan continues
zugy posted an update on Project Torlan, the UT2004 Halo total conversion, and it includes a bunch of screenshots. Some of the maps look pretty fun - I especially like the one that looks to be a blend of Hang 'em High and Gephyrophobia. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:45:04 UTC) (permalink)
Happy Birthday, Halo!
I might have forgotten, if not for prometheus - but Halo was announced to the world 6 years ago today. What a long, strange trip it's been! (Louis Wu 13:26:00 UTC) (permalink)
Would YOU kiss that?
There's some more info on the Comic-con Elite mentioned yesterday in this thread, including blurry pics and a link to an award the costume won. (Louis Wu 13:08:38 UTC) (permalink)
Hide Lyrics
Patriarch917 added the lyrics to 'Hide', his parody of the Goo Goo Dolls' 'Slide' - we've put up a small page containing links to both of his songs, plus their lyrics - as he creates more, we'll add to it! (Louis Wu 03:15:54 UTC) (permalink)
Tartarus the Savior
GryphonOsiris wrote an ode to Ban Hammer - fun stuff. (Louis Wu 02:50:19 UTC) (permalink)
AutoUpdate 4.0: Installed
The Auto-Update is now fully in force - if you log into Live, you must either accept it or be blocked from Matchmaking. Some noticed modders online this afternoon, even after they'd been updated - this doesn't mean the update isn't working; as Achronos mentioned on our forum, you'll see a decline in cheating, rather than an instantaneous stoppage. Patience! Update: Some good info in the first post in this thread on the B.net forums, as well. Thanks, Dojorkan. (Louis Wu 02:46:25 UTC) (permalink)
The PGL Elites
Jay Marrero sent along word of a tourney taking place in Orlando in October - full details can be found on the PGL Events page. $1000 on the line. (Louis Wu 02:44:01 UTC) (permalink)
It doesn't end...
In the not-so-good category, we got mail from Tina and Tim Leyk - they thank the community profusely for their support, but wanted to pass on the bad news that as of October, they're out on the street (no jobs, no house). Not sure what the community can do for them - but the PayPal link is still up, and linked from our front page. (The address changed recently - so if you'd tried to help and had gotten an error message, you can try again.) Personal hardship is always a bad thing... (Louis Wu 02:41:07 UTC) (permalink)
Machinima book on the shelves
Recently, Phatcorns mentioned on our forum that a new book had hit the shelves - It's called 'Machinima: Making Animated Movies in 3D Virtual Environments' and it uses several movies from HBO regulars (including Phatcorns' 'Out for Blood' as examples. c0ld vengeance pointed out that his 'Haliens' is in there, too. Nice! (Louis Wu 00:08:26 UTC) (permalink)
News July 20 2005
A Bigger, Better Banhammer
Last night, when Frankie posted a link to the Autoupdate news piece on Bungie.net, Littlebigman asked if he could get hold of a large version of the Tartarus thumbnail used in the article. Frankie complied - and LBM sent it to us, so you can have it too (77k). (Louis Wu 18:23:11 UTC) (permalink)
Women...
SSGT Cutter points out that the Master Chief is in another DoomToons today. The downsides of Cortana... (Louis Wu 18:18:40 UTC) (permalink)
Hide
A few days ago, we posted a pretty impressive parody from Patriarch917 - he's back, with another one. This one is called 'Hide', a takeoff of Slide, by the Goo Goo Dolls. 3.7 mb, MP3 format. What are you waiting for? Go listen! (Louis Wu 17:30:59 UTC) (permalink)
We are Xbox Kids... 2 million strong, and growing
In July 2004, Xbox Live hit the 1 million subscriber mark (taking roughly 20 months to get there). Today - 12 months later (nearly to the day), they hit 2 million. How many of those are directly attributable to Halo 2? Thanks, Cybrfrk. (And sorry, Marty - it just popped into my head.) (Louis Wu 16:36:46 UTC) (permalink)
Needs a stickydoom on his head.
OftenK found a pic of a Covenant Elite costume from Comic-con. Pretty nice work! (Louis Wu 15:21:38 UTC) (permalink)
The Right Stuff.
Sometimes, clan tryouts don't go as you'd expect. Today's One One Se7en looks at alternative goals. (Louis Wu 15:17:06 UTC) (permalink)
Finding change in the cushions
Narcogen has taken another look at the 'Digital Couch' concept - has Bungie lived up to its promise of providing us with a virtual extension of our physical living room, or are real-life gatherings still the only way to enjoy gameplay? He makes some good points - go read the latest Narc's Retort! (Louis Wu 15:14:37 UTC) (permalink)
Cairo Station - update
Okay, that Cairo Station vid we mentioned yesterday is sort of a mess right now. There are a ton of versions floating around; there's the original MPEG version, there's a 180 mb WMP9 version trigger119 created from that (which has been mirrored by jtdoepke and torrented by amaroq), there's a 120 mb WMP9 that comradx himself created, and there's a new 127 mb WMP9 that has the credits included in the film. (This last doesn't seem to be accessible on the net yet.) Because the WMP9 field is so tortured, I'm staying away from it - you can find links for every version I just mentioned (except the MPEG, and the newest comradx version) in the High Impact Halo thread we mentioned yesterday. What I CAN offer is a 135 mb QuickTime version, available via BitTorrent (with decent seed bandwidth) - this was created from the 120 mb comradx-created WMP9, coupled with his latest credits file. Wow - I gotta say, if movie creators would just be patient and line up their bandwidth BEFORE release, life would be simpler for everyone. That said - this one's worth watching, so go grab a copy! (Of course, it might be re-encoded again in 15 minutes...) Update: [HC]D-Man has put up a version of the 127 mb WMP9 (the one that corresponds to our QuickTime - encoding by comradx, includes credits) on HaloCHAT - the download is being handled by Filefront, so bandwidth shouldn't be a problem. (Louis Wu 14:17:53 UTC) (permalink)
Wednesday's Words
Ten new pieces in the Fan Fiction section today, including some good stuff by Dave Luck. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:14:30 UTC) (permalink)
Metroid Online Map Team gets a home
Looks like the team that's putting together the Metroid mod for Halo CE has put up a website to keep track of their progress - check 'em out! Thanks, MasterGrief. Update: their popularity has forced them to switch hosts - you can find them here. (Louis Wu 13:37:29 UTC) (permalink)
MC Dreams
Reinsoft posted a link to a new Halo rap song using the Game 'Dreams' beat. 3.3 mb... didn't do it for me, but make up your own mind. (Louis Wu 13:00:22 UTC) (permalink)
Saiyan Speaks
F13ND has posted an interview with Team 3D's Saiyan, over at Team3d.net - go read what makes this guy tick. (This is a guy who helps pay for college by winning Halo tourneys.) (Louis Wu 12:29:08 UTC) (permalink)
BornRazz/Halo 2 Frag Montage
Talk Xbox has posted an interview with BornRazz, who seems to be a random Xbox Live player who created a montage vid. (The montage itself is available for download in the interview.) It's not clear to me after watching what makes this deserve its own article... but it's there, and you can watch it. 19 mb, WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 12:22:29 UTC) (permalink)
MMP review at fortwayne.com
Another mini-review of the Multiplayer Map Pack was poasted yesterday on the website of the Fort Wayne News Sentinel - more love for Bungie. Go read. (Louis Wu 12:13:06 UTC) (permalink)
News July 19 2005
Zee Smack, she eez coming!
Wow. Go check out Bungie.net - there's a new article up, explaining how tomorrow, July 20, Autoupdate 4 will be released - if you've got modded content on your box, and you connect to Live, you'll be banned from matchmaking. Period. Permanent, no appeals. You've been warned... (There's more info, including details - go read. And comment on our forum!) (Louis Wu 22:54:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo CE Chronicles - the Why
Dennis Powers has written up a page explaining the goals behind his Halo CE Chronicles series, answering some of the frequently asked questions he hears, and addressing some of the criticism. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 21:32:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo - the Movie (ShadowX version)
ShadowX submitted a vid to the MPRRS last week, entitled 'Halo The Movie'. It uses Halo 2 cutscene footage, married to dialogue from the Final Fantasy trailer (much as Brian Josselyn did three years ago for the original Halo) - some reviewers felt that it actually impinged on Brian's intellectual property. (I can't accept this - it's game footage and a trailer soundtrack, and the clips that ShadowX used are different than the ones Brian used.) He's done a nice job picking relevant clips, and the vid is quite small (7.7 mb for the WMP9 version, 8.2 mb for the QuickTime version) - so what are you waiting for? Go grab it! Update: We got a rather strange series of emails about this - apparently, this movie WAS made by ShadowX, but was not SUBMITTED by ShadowX. He told me that it WAS inspired (heavily) by Blackstar's film (which, by the way, was re-encoded by Blackstar sometime back, and can be found in its latest form on this page), and that he (ShadowX) would rather be judged by his newer film, which he mentioned here. The only mystery remaining is who is the guy who submitted this movie... and why? (Louis Wu 21:28:05 UTC) (permalink)
Cairo Station
Over on the High Impact Halo forums, comradx released Cairo Station, the first of seven episodes that will make up his full-length feature film based on Halo 2. A significant percentage of the film is made up of cutscenes from the game - but then, if he's reproducing the Halo 2 story, doesn't it make sense to use them? The movie is almost 40 minutes long, and contains some great camerawork. (I haven't had time to watch the whole thing yet - but I'm impressed so far!) comradx has released a 120 mb WMP9 version via YouSendIt - likely by the time you read this, it'll be offline. There's a slightly lower-res version hosted by trigger119, at halomachinima.com. We got word of this too late to be able to help out at the moment - but it's possible I can get something online in the near future. (It won't be today.) Go watch! (Thanks also to Ibeechu for additional info.) Oh, yeah - and don't forget to download the credits video as well! (Louis Wu 20:33:22 UTC) (permalink)
Zelda mod alpha available
Dennis Powers, of GearboxGameZone, writes to point out that Jahrain, the creator of the Zelda mod we've mentioned a few times (for Halo Custom Edition), has released a 'pre-alpha' version of a single level.
The map, Hyrule Field, features a Zelda biped instead of the Spartan and includes new weaponry in the Zelda theme, a working and mountable animated horse and a large interesting landscape. Although there are still some Halo style weapons and a large "bug list" this early release will give players a taste of what is to come.
You can grab a copy from GGZ. (Louis Wu 15:08:01 UTC) (permalink)
When you absolutely MUST fill pages...
A rather odd story was posted on TechnologyReview.com yesterday - it contains speculation that Halo 2 could have been released at the end of 2003, but was delayed a year to add polish necessary to push Microsoft past Sony's Playstation 2. Aside from the fact that Halo 2 WASN'T ready for release in 2003, and that the position that a more polished game will sell better than a less polished one is so obvious as to not need an article like this to be clear to most people... I guess this might be worth reading. (I can't really understand why it's even up - maybe someone can explain this to me someday.) Thanks, Google News Alerts. (Louis Wu 14:27:20 UTC) (permalink)
VGL - No Cancellations?
More info on the Video Games Live tour 'cancellations' - jdman2289 points out that on the news page of the site, there's an explanation stating that due to the overwhelming success of the series, many dates are being added, and many dates are being rescheduled. At this point, existing tickets are expected to be honored - don't rip 'em up yet! More when we know it. (Louis Wu 13:12:29 UTC) (permalink)
Tourneys around the US
Jeff, from Video Gamers League, points out that there's new info about tourneys in Dallas, New York, and LA up on their website - swing by for rules and entrance info. Dallas is this coming weekend, LA plays on August 6, and New York happens on August 7. Get ready! (Louis Wu 12:59:40 UTC) (permalink)
Installation 451
trigger119 wrote to say that a new machinima trailer has been posted at Halomachinima.com - it's for a project called 'Installation 451', and the trailer's nicely done. WMP9 and QuickTime. Go grab a copy! (Louis Wu 12:46:02 UTC) (permalink)
Illustrators needed
coaxke, of futuristic sex robotz, wrote to say they're looking for an illustrator/cartoonist to do robot characterizations (Futurama style?) of all the members of Futuristic Sex Robotz for their new web site. Samples should be sent to this email address. (These guys put together one of the funnier Halo rap vids out there.) (Louis Wu 12:43:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Talk Podcast
prometheus did a bit of searching, turned up a few Halo-related podcasts. You can find links to the one that worked for him in this forum thread. (Louis Wu 12:39:04 UTC) (permalink)
News July 18 2005
Shooting Str8 (Rippin)
Dyslexia continues his series of Halo pro interviews with a chat with Str8 Rippin, put together at MLG St. Louis. Good read! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 23:09:13 UTC) (permalink)
2old2type Ep 5
2old2play has put up episode 5 of their podcast, 2old2type - site discussion, tournament discussion, lots of cheating stuff. 31 mb, just over an hour. Go listen! (Louis Wu 20:09:51 UTC) (permalink)
Actual Speed.
It might be good for sniping, but... today's One One Se7en shows the dangers of insensitivity. (Louis Wu 18:58:36 UTC) (permalink)
Peripheral City Comes to Life
Interesting idea... Andrew Matlock has resurrected his Coté D'Azur design for HaloCE - you can see an evolution of pictures (including current versions) in this Gearbox forum thread. Thanks, MasterGrief. (Louis Wu 18:18:37 UTC) (permalink)
Monday's Words
Nine new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section this Monday - the writers never sleep! (Louis Wu 18:14:26 UTC) (permalink)
Red vs Blue Soundboard
HitManBobster pointed out a Red vs Blue Soundboard at AlbinoBlackSheep - clips from the various characters in the series, set up in Flash. Sound quality is lacking, but the organization is nice. (Louis Wu 17:50:15 UTC) (permalink)
XBS reviews MMP
Xbox Solution has reviewed the Multiplayer Map Pack - they liked it quite a bit. Go see their comments! Update: another review today - this one from Globe and Mail (a Canadian newspaper). Interesting - I guess folks needed a week or two to play... (Louis Wu 17:48:27 UTC) (permalink)
This Spartan Life
A few days ago, we got email from Matt Cheeser, alerting us to 'This Spartan Life' - a pretty unique concept; Damian Lacedaemion is a talk show host who uses Halo as a set. His guests talk about a lot of things - games, yes, but plenty of other things. It's machinima... mixed with talk show television. It's fun. There are five episodes so far. (They got a pretty good review on G4's Attack of the Show - we've taken this long to mention them because we wanted to help with bandwidth first, and setting up took a little while.) Go watch! (Louis Wu 12:41:04 UTC) (permalink)
Prometheus - alive and kicking
Aztec pointed out a new update from the HaloDev team about Prometheus, the all-in-one model manipulation tool that a series of prominent Halo modders (the good kind, not the kind that are cheating against you on Warlock) have been building. Lots of disasters, lots of under-the-hood changes, not a lot to actually SEE; this one is basically to let you know they haven't given up. (Louis Wu 12:30:31 UTC) (permalink)
More on the Halo/Halo 2 divide
kons0uL wrote a followup to his blog rant about cheaters and matchmaking that we mentioned yesterday - this one clarifies his position about his expectations, and about where he got them from. Go read! (Louis Wu 12:24:01 UTC) (permalink)
Paintball, Halo Style
Occasionally, the subject of paintball guns comes up in our forum, and the Tippman Model 98 is held up as a classic. True Dark 1ES found a company called Engler Custom Paintball Guns that has taken this gun and modified it to look like something much more familiar to Halo fans. The page is broken, so actually ordering it might be difficult... but it's the last gun on the page. Scroll down to the bottom for a look - and if the price isn't totally out of range for you, you could try email; hit the 'BACK' link at the top of the page, then the 'Contact Us' link at the top of the resulting page. Update: looks like it was mentioned before - this was the earliest reference I could find. I must say, though, the new pics do it far more justice. Update, late 2008: Engler has completely changed its website; the original page we discussed in this post is still archived on the Wayback Machine, but in case the pictures eventually die, we've grabbed local copies (one | two). (Louis Wu 12:14:23 UTC) (permalink)
News July 17 2005
G-Phoria - Vote for Bungie!
G-Phoria is coming in early August - the Awards show on G4TV airs August 9th at 8pm ET, and Bungie's been nominated for 7 awards:
- Best Shooter
- Best Multiplayer Game
- Best Sound Design
- Best Original Soundtrack
- Best Voice Performance - Male (David Cross)
- Best Boss (Scarab Battle)
- Game of the Year
Voting is open now - go let 'em know what you think! (Louis Wu 23:59:33 UTC) (permalink)
Some VGL shows cancelled
Wow, bummer. Got an email from TicketMaster today - my tickets for the August 22 performance of the Video Games Live tour have been refunded, since the show was
cancelled. A look on the Tour Dates page shows a number of other cancellations - and since Boston is still listed as active, it's possible there are still more shows off the list. Maybe they're not selling well enough? Update: jdman2289 pointed out a thread on the VGL forum the info that suggests that the cancellations might be a mixup. Maybe. More to come. (Louis Wu 23:46:52 UTC) (permalink)
MC statue on eBay
HaloGod points out a 3-foot statue of the Master Chief he won in a GameCrazy tourney, and is now selling on eBay. Current bid is $250, 9 days remaining. (This is the same kind of statue I mentioned here back in January.) Go look! (Louis Wu 19:53:14 UTC) (permalink)
HSP Update
Jillybean grabbed a small handful of emails from the bulging Halo Story Page mailbag for a light Sunday afternoon update. Go read!x (Louis Wu 19:30:01 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Custom Edition - Still Creating!
MasterGrief sent along a couple of HaloCE bits for us - Yoyorast Island has been released (this map looks BIZARRE), and a group is working on bringing Metroid into Halo - just a teaser, but an interesting start! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 18:16:15 UTC) (permalink)
The Codex - smaller downloads
Dennis Powers sends word that he's re-encoded the Codex Series vids to be a more appropriate filesize for the 320x240 presentation they are generally released with; the new files should be much more palatable to bandwidth-challenged downloaders. You can find the new versions in the 'Codex' section of the GearboxGameZone Movies site. (Louis Wu 18:12:23 UTC) (permalink)
Rockets on Prisoner 2005
Speaking of TWTv - we got this press release for the Rockets on Prisoner Awards:
August will be the month of Halo fan films. The 3rd Annual "Rockets on Prisoner" Awards official website will go live on Aug. 1st but before that happens, the community needs to make sure we has all the videos created since Aug. 1st, 2004 in our list. If your video isn't listed, then just use this simple form to make sure we have it. The submission process will end on Aug. 7th, 2005, so make sure we have your video in our list before then.
I just checked the list... and that's a pretty big list! (Louis Wu 18:08:01 UTC) (permalink)
Lots and lots of Halo vids
That Weasel, of That Weasel Television, writes to point out that last week TWTv added fifty more Halo Exclusives to their video collection, bringing the total number of TWTv-exclusive vids to over 500. Go look! (Louis Wu 18:04:47 UTC) (permalink)
Master Chief Adiumy
Adium is an Instant Message client for MacOSX - and Epyon has created a Dock Icon for it based on Halo 2. Nice work! You can add comments to this thread. (Louis Wu 17:57:03 UTC) (permalink)
Another Weapons Respawn Report
Infesord pointed out that he's got a Weapons Respawn thread over at halo2sucks.com with more info than either our online version or the PDF that bluestrike2 put together - worth a look if you're trying to make sure you've checked every angle. (Some of his data conflicts with the data here - users need to remember that ALL of this stuff, no matter WHERE you read it, is empirically collected, and subject to user error; Bungie has not confirmed ANY of it. The more lists you can find, and correlate with your OWN real-world experience, the better the chances you'll be on exactly the right spot at exactly the right time.) (Louis Wu 15:13:06 UTC) (permalink)
Cheaters, Matchmaking, and other fun stuff
kons0uL pointed out an entry he made yesterday on his RSCR: Respod blog, which uses Friday's Weekly What's Update from Bungie as a jumping-off spot for a rant about matchmaking and community exclusions. He also started a thread on our forum, if you'd like to chime in. (Louis Wu 14:58:34 UTC) (permalink)
News July 16 2005
Monopedal Mayhem
Okay, that's pretty much it for me today - I'm off to KP's for a LANfest. No more online stuff today, I don't think! He's said that the KPcam will be on all day - though right now, all you get a view of is his deodorant. And maybe a wig? I can't tell. Dang. Anyway, no more updates before tomorrow... enjoy your weekend! (Louis Wu 15:29:35 UTC) (permalink)
Scale Comparison - updated
Stephen Loftus has updated his Halo Scale Comparison article with some new Halo 2 data - there are a bunch of new vehicles added to the images (Covenant Assault Carrier, Scarab, Phantom, Seraph, 'Creep', and some drop pods), plus some weapons updates, with new silhouettes. Nice work - check out the article again! (Louis Wu 14:28:03 UTC) (permalink)
Episode 16: Betrayal
Episode 16 of the Codex Series has been posted on their website - it focuses on the power struggle between the Praetor and the Cleric, and shows some great voice and camera work. The main QuickTime version has a problem - it will crash your player at around 5:08 - so get either the brightened QuickTime or the WMP9 versions instead. (The team is aware of the problem, and will fix it some time tomorrow.) Thanks to The An7i Flag for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 06:05:38 UTC) (permalink)
Magnetic Induction Toilet Flushes
The Weekly What's Update is online at Bungie.net - and this week, it's mostly being used as a blog by Frankie, to talk about cheaters, and what losers they are. A fine, fine read, with a 2-week window of time before some major changes go into effect... go read. Plus, there's a great poster. (Lots of people told us about this, but Bungie was first.) (Louis Wu 00:00:03 UTC) (permalink)
News July 15 2005
Mac Halo Demo - finally!
Been a long time coming... but there's finally a Halo Demo for the Macintosh. At the moment, you can grab a copy on MacGameFiles.com - thanks, Dark uk. (It's up a little before MacSoft thought it would be up - we'll have a copy online soon, as well, but for now, use the MacGameFiles link.) It weighs in at 122 mb. (If this is too big for a download, it should be available on both the MacWorld disc insert this month, and the IMG DVD edition.) Update: We've now got a local copy, as well. Update 2: It's available at Rampancy.net, too. Update 3: Thanks to Fluffy, over at HaloPlanet, there's now a FilePlanet download. (Louis Wu 20:34:56 UTC) (permalink)
Beat the little guy, win stuff
LiL Poison, the 7-year-old Halo pro who also plays as Baby OGRE 4, will be at a tournament at Giants Stadium on July 23 - a 'Beat LiL Poison' Challenge will be available for anyone who wants to go up against him. (The Halo tourney - actually a pair of them - will be managed by MLG - entrance is free, $1000 in cash and prizes is up for grabs.) You can find more info on the Scion Exposed NY page. Thanks to Vic (LiL Poison's dad) for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 19:15:22 UTC) (permalink)
Decision
Dennis Powers wrote to point out that Halo CE Chronicles 11 has been released - 'Decision' shows the Station AI in an uncomfortable situation. 7:36 long, 23-24 mb depending on flavor (QT or WMP9). You can grab the version of your choice at the Halo CE Chronicles website (or any of the other GearboxGameZone sites, for that matter). (Louis Wu 19:08:50 UTC) (permalink)
Eyes downrange - NOT down shirt!
Another large batch of very funny dialogue from Captain Spark today - as usual, grab it either in zip format from his website, or browse (or search) the indivdual snippets in our Dialogue Databank. (Louis Wu 17:45:20 UTC) (permalink)
But not a real RL, that's cruel.
Yesterday, Patriarch917 posted a really funny parody on our forum - The Barenaked Ladies would be proud. (Or, I guess, I'd HOPE they were proud. He did a great job.) Go listen! 2mb, MP3 format. (Louis Wu 17:23:50 UTC) (permalink)
Cheaty Cheaty Ban Ban.
Today's One One Se7en looks at a common cheating technique - well, not REALLY common, not in THAT form, anyway. (Louis Wu 17:21:55 UTC) (permalink)
H2RtG - QuickTime Low-res Direct Download
Nirvana has now provided a low(er)-res QuickTime version of Halo 2: Road to Glory - 313, direct download. For lower-bandwidth folks, save yourself 100 mb! (Louis Wu 17:18:44 UTC) (permalink)
Seeker Firefox Plugin
Very nice. Prometheus has posted a Firefox plugin for Seeker, 3of9's new Halo-specific search engine. If you use FIrefox, now you can Seek right from the search bar! (Louis Wu 16:35:10 UTC) (permalink)
Retox
Another vid passed the MPRRS recently - Hogmasta's Retox, a montage of Halo 1 footage cut sharply to a remix of Linkin Park's Faint. Video quality leaves a bit to be desired, but it's great to see older footage integrated so nicely with the music! It's available in WMP9 (22.9 mb) or QuickTime (23.8 mb) formats. (Louis Wu 16:28:58 UTC) (permalink)
117 Words
Do you think you've got a way with words? Do you agree with the phrase 'brevity is the soul of wit'? Are you a Halo fanatic who loves a challenge? Jillybean and Stuntmutt have teamed up to bring you a somewhat different bungie.org contest - 117 Words. Write a piece of Halo fan fiction that folks will find interesting... and do it in exactly 117 words. The three best entries (as judged by our very partial pair) will win their choice of three literary prizes (see the rules for more details). To give you a sense for what you're in for - you might be wondering what 117 words actually look like; this news post has exactly that many. (Louis Wu 15:03:46 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Fourteen new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today - get reading! (Louis Wu 14:49:10 UTC) (permalink)
Tourney at Battleground Zero
A press release on Gamesindustry.biz says that Battleground Zero has launched the National Halo 2 Tournament Contest - an XBL-based multi-game tourney. The Halo 2 rules page can be found on their site. (Louis Wu 14:15:35 UTC) (permalink)
The Return of Superchief
Halo Babies has posted a new comic (surprise, surprise, it's Friday) - don't you wish you had a button like that? (Louis Wu 14:10:25 UTC) (permalink)
Chuck of July
That Weasel writes to let us know that Grunts Are People Too!!! released episode 13.1, celebrating July 4 (a little late). Divx-only right now, but QuickTime and WMP9 should be coming soon. Update: GearboxGameZone has put up QuickTime and WMP9 versions of this film. Thanks, Dennis! (Louis Wu 14:08:44 UTC) (permalink)
Zelda mod - sword work
Wave of Lag pointed out a 12 mb movie over on the Gearbox forums, showing some of the sword stuff in the upcoming Zelda mod for HaloCE. Looks pretty nice! (WMP9 format.) (Louis Wu 13:59:05 UTC) (permalink)
The new maps - a pro viewpoint
MLGPro.com has reviewed the Multiplayer Map Pack, from a Pro perspective - I found it fascinating that my two favorite maps in the new pack are the two least liked by pros (mostly because of the gametypes that they play, and the number of people they play with). Intersesting read, in any case. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 13:40:46 UTC) (permalink)
News July 14 2005
Long Day at Headlong
The Final Supremacy website has put up Episode 3 (Part 1) of their machinima series 'Black and White' - this one's called 'Long Day At Headlong, Part 1'. Available in both DivX and MPEG formats, 43-100 mb (depending on flavor). An awful lot of rebels bite it in this one! (Louis Wu 23:39:09 UTC) (permalink)
War of the Species
One film that didn't make it through the MPRRS recently was called 'War of the Species' - most reviewers liked it, but a couple gave it low-enough scores that it didn't clear the passing hurdle. However, one of the reviewers liked it enough to offer hosting on his own - NINJ4, of the HBO Forerunners clan, has made it available on his site. 9.7 mb, WMP9 format. It uses Halo 2 cutscenes from the Cutscene Library combined with a soundtrack from the War of the Worlds trailer - it's different than the one we mentioned here (which is unfortunately no longer available). Nice scene choices, in my opinion. Update: this has now been mirrored by trigger119 at Halomachinima.com. Thanks! Update 2: ShadowX pointed out that his video IS still available - you can find links to copies at GameTrailers in this forum post. Grab it, and compare the two! (Louis Wu 19:51:15 UTC) (permalink)
Banshee Riding Part 2
PhantomTheoden and TheDaringDuke have followed up thier April release of 'Banshee Riding' with Banshee Riding Part 2, a tutorial in Noob Boosting, Smacking, and other techniques for quickly moving a flag carrier from one side of the map to the other via a banshee. This passed the MPRRS a few days ago, but we've been slowly clearing out the queue. You can grab it in WMP9 format (20.8 mb) or QuickTime format (22.1 mb). Watch it and learn new tricks! (Louis Wu 19:44:07 UTC) (permalink)
Pistol or Battle Rifle?
Stuffo has written up a 'Pistol vs Battle Rifle' article, trying to decide which is better. It's hard to tell what's real and what's not in this article; much of it seems tongue-in-cheek, but the final transcript, somewhat mind-boggling in content if true, is presented as verbatim text from Jaime Griesemer, Lead Designer for Halo 2. I mean - you can't attribute words to a real person without a disclaimer if you make them up, can you? Thanks to Norm Williams for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:36:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Weap Respawns Redux
Thanks to both bluestrike2 and Typher - the Halo 2 Weapon Respawn resources here (both online and PDF) have been updated with better info. Grab new copies (or look again)! (Louis Wu 17:09:57 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo for PSP stuff
Mintz points out that all of his Halo 2 for PSP conversions are now available in one place - and two new articles have been added (the Humpday Challenge from last week, and the XBL Playlists from Bungie.net). If you've got a PSP, and you love having Halo content to read while on the road - go download stuff! (Louis Wu 16:01:14 UTC) (permalink)
RtG - save 150 mb
Nirvana has put up a low-res version of Halo 2: Road to Glory, the fan-made documentary released last week. It's 280 mb in WMP9 format (QuickTime coming tomorrow), and available for direct download. If 421 mb was too much for you - grab this one! (Louis Wu 15:58:35 UTC) (permalink)
Stubbs Highlight Reel
IGN has new Stubbs the Zombie videos for you to download. One of them was released last month (mentioned in our forum, but somehow missed on the front page) - the other is totally new. Man... that unholy flatulence looks to be a powerful weapon! Thanks, Ma1agate. (Louis Wu 15:31:31 UTC) (permalink)
RvB-style crop effect for WMM2 users
Hogmasta put together an effect for Windows Movie Maker 2 that crops out the HUD, for ease of machinima making - we've put up a local copy (3k). If you're using WMM2 to create Halo movies - this can help! (Louis Wu 15:13:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo2 Lockout TS: S.E.
Argent found a new Flash animation over at Newgrounds - it's a Team Slayer match on Lockout, MLG-style. Hits all the big cliches. (Louis Wu 15:06:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Fate's Destiny
trigger119 pointed out a new trailer hosted at the newly-redesigned Halomachinima.com - Halo: Fate's Destiny takes place after the in-game story ends, and looks at the final 5 remaining Spartans. It's filmed in the HaloCE engine, with additional CGI elements. The trailer's quite short - but pretty! Update: there is now a QuickTime version up as well. Thanks! (Louis Wu 14:42:42 UTC) (permalink)
GTA: SA - now with hogs
Hawk7886 found a Rocket Warthog addition for GTA: San Andreas. Later posts in the thread have some screenshots. (Louis Wu 13:56:20 UTC) (permalink)
Be a Happy Billy
Sep7imus points out a website showing you, in 12 easy steps, how to cheat in Halo 2 (and become a happier person). (Louis Wu 13:55:03 UTC) (permalink)
News July 13 2005
Your one-stop tourney stop
We got a note from Victor - X-Tournaments is back after a long vacation, and is now acting a a hub for all Halo tournament activity across the US. More and more info will be coming online in the near future - if you want to know where the nearest tourney is going to be, stop by! (Louis Wu 20:38:57 UTC) (permalink)
Mythbusterz - Episode 1
Continuing with the recent spate of MPRRS-passed vids: freejack905, of the Necrosis Clan, submitted 'Mythbusterz - Episode 1', a remake of an episode of the Discovery Channel show on driving while impaired. Nice linkup of existing audio to Halo footage! Grab it in WMP9 format (30 mb) or QuickTime format (31.4 mb). (Louis Wu 16:06:11 UTC) (permalink)
Iconoclast.
Is that an icon in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? Today's One One Se7en points out a Bungie oversight... sort of. (Louis Wu 15:20:46 UTC) (permalink)
When Worlds Collide
SSGT Cutter points out that yesterday's DOOM Toons (a comic based on DOOM, hosted at PlanetDOOM) has a cameo by the Master Chief. Not sure I get it... but there you are. (Louis Wu 14:45:24 UTC) (permalink)
Weapons Respawn Times - a Cornucopia!
Interesting. Yesterday, we got email from bluestrike2 - it contained a very pretty PDF (159K) with all the respawn times of all the weapons on the Halo 2 maps (minus grenades and vehicles. Then, not 7 hours later, we got email from Typher, who's contributed to our online version of this content in the past - with this information (including grenades this time) for the five new maps. Download, or online - your choice! (Compare 'em - they're pretty close, though I did notice some differences.) (Louis Wu 14:39:47 UTC) (permalink)
Boogity Boo.
gigiskapoo pointed out a rather strange Flash animation at DeviantArt... well, go watch. (Louis Wu 13:27:20 UTC) (permalink)
This floating orb is wonderful!
Tim Dadabo might be best known to Halo fans as the voice of 343 Guilty Spark - but he's done quite a bit more voice work than that, in the Halo games and beyond. He's got a new website online... and there's a pretty hilarious montage of his game character voices, with Spark talking to Leisure Suit Larry, Corporal Perez, and a host of other folks (just follow the 'Games' link). Look around! (Louis Wu 13:21:55 UTC) (permalink)
Warthog Exploration
TeamXbox has put up a series of videos showing Warthog Jumping on the new maps - nothing that a regular visitor to High Impact Halo hasn't seen, but pretty interesting for a high-traffic general Xbox site! Watching hogs get toasted by Terminal's train hasn't gotten old yet... WMP9 format, 15-30 mb each. (Louis Wu 13:12:18 UTC) (permalink)
The Hits of the Pixellated World
The BBC has put up an article on Video Games Live, the concert series playing video game music - with audio clips from Halo, Mario, and Tomb Raider. Good stuff! Thanks, Mr Danger. (Louis Wu 13:02:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 12 2005
Stats reset on Bungie.net
Looks like Rumble Pit, Team Skirmish, and Team Preview stats have just been reset. Thanks to Gamer2017 (who also warned folks that Bungie has said that the preview playlists will be removed in late August, once the new maps are free for all). Update: oops, Rumble Pit and Skirmish lists are normal; when I checked my stats, I had 'no games played' listed, so I made an assumption - it was wrong. Only the Preview lists have been reset (or, more accurately, only the Team Preview list was reset - the Rumble Preview list was new as of yesterday, and didn't NEED a reset.) (Louis Wu 17:55:05 UTC) (permalink)
The Squadron Trailer
Another of the recent torrent of movies clearing our Movie Peer Review Rating System is a teaser for an upcoming machinima series. 'The Squadron - Advert' is a short trailer for the upcoming season of (yeah, you guessed it) The Squadron, a human-vs-covie matchup. 2:05 long, available in WMP9 (7.2 mb) or QuickTime (6.8 mb). (Louis Wu 13:09:09 UTC) (permalink)
SWAT Halo69 Montage 6
This was posted a week ago on Halo2Forum.com - but SWAT Halo69 mentioned it on our forum yesterday; it's his 6th montage, and it contains some very nice footage with great timing. (Music choices are... questionable - but maybe that's just for folks who need songs not to be strings of curses.) It's huge - 75 mb, WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 12:20:16 UTC) (permalink)
Tuesday Text
Thirteen new stories to read in today's Fan Fiction update - so what are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 11:55:34 UTC) (permalink)
Watch the movies, play the maps
Over at GearboxGameZone, Dennis Powers has posted a note explaining that the new season of Halo CE Chronicles will use over 20 HaloCE maps - and that each week, you'll be able to download the maps featured in the current episode. On the front page are the first two maps - Snowy Assault and Pillar of Autumn Space. If you haven't tried 'em - grab 'em and load 'em up! (Louis Wu 11:47:20 UTC) (permalink)
WaLKa TaLKs
Halo Pro has posted an interview with WaLKa, a regular on the Halo Pro circuit. Always fun to see into the lives of these guys! Thanks, 3Suns. Update: Ducain pointed out that antiviral apps on WinXP are heavily triggered by visiting this link. If you're using Windows, and you're not firewalled... tread with caution. (Louis Wu 11:43:33 UTC) (permalink)
Launching Evolved - now in QT
Gah. I meant to post this yesterday, but forgot. We mentioned a movie from High Impact Halo - a montage of Warthog launches put together by Dark Helmet - and I said that if there was any demand, we'd put up QuickTime versions, as well. There was demand - so I posted a high-res QT (40.9 mb) and a low-res QT (18.7 mb). Grab the one that suits your needs! (Louis Wu 05:07:14 UTC) (permalink)
Road to Glory - Direct
[HC] D-Man posted a direct download linkto the WMP9 version of Halo 2: Road to Glory; it's still available via BitTorrent (see the original news post for details), but if you can't (or won't) use BT, check this out. It's hosted on FileFront, which means you have a pretty good chance of getting the entire 421 mb file without the server dying. The QuickTime version should be posted soon. (Louis Wu 05:02:09 UTC) (permalink)
HHC with Team Korea
Another thing that went up while I was wasting my evening away on Xbox Live was the writeup of the most recent Halo 2 Humpday Challenge - it wasn't really on Humpday this time, it was Friday night/Saturday morning (depending on which team's frame of reference you're using), but it was a solid matchup between Bungie and Team Korea. (It was a big enough deal on the Korean end that there was an audience.) Go read the writeup - and for once, SketchFactor didn't need to make up excuses as to why Bungie lost... because they didn't lose. Good writeup - nice games! (Louis Wu 04:55:08 UTC) (permalink)
New playlists are live
Bungie's updated the XBL Halo 2 playlists - you can find the latest lists on the Playlists page at Bungie.net. Some good choices, some... not so good choices. Go play! (Louis Wu 04:48:01 UTC) (permalink)
News July 11 2005
Tied The Leader - now with wings!
The weekly Tied the Leader forum update was posted today by XerxdeeJ - you'll find a summary of the half dozen or so new articles put up since the last update. (There's also a pretty new interface for the blog.) Just a quick note - it's interesting how much mail we received about this article mentioning the Jeep Hurricane, a concept car that looks an awful lot like a warthog. The thing is... it got a TON of coverage in our forum last January, when it was unveiled at the 2005 Auto Show. (The earliest post I could find was this one, by KaworuNagisa.) It's interesting to me how things seem to go in cycles. (Louis Wu 21:08:00 UTC) (permalink)
Lawrence.com looks at the Map Pack
Matt Cox (known around here as Mothergoat) has written a review of the Multiplayer Map Pack for Lawrence.com - go give it a read! (It's very well written, and comes up with some conclusions that aren't the same as all the other reviews you might have read - worth listening to.) (Louis Wu 20:59:57 UTC) (permalink)
Final Supremacy's Black and White
Final Supremacy has released the first two episodes of a machinima project called 'Black and White' - this is the story of a team of SpecOps Spartans who need to hold back a rebel uprising. Vids are in DIvX or MPEG format, and run about 40-60 mb each. Grab them from their media page! (Louis Wu 19:02:24 UTC) (permalink)
Seek and Ye Shall Find
You may have noticed the 'Seeker' link on the right side of this news page. This is a new service being offered by Subnova - several major Halo sites (HBO included) have been indexed, and are available for searching all at once. Even for HBO, which has a variety of search options, this is pretty useful, because it searches all sections together, and includes sections that DON'T have search functions. On top of that, though, it searches other sites, like Rampancy.net, High Impact Halo, and Bungie.net (what can be gotten to without a Passport login, anyway). If you've got a Halo site you'd like added to this meta-index, simply send email to seeker@subnova.com - Deimos will set you up. Be aware - this is running on development hardware at the moment - it might be a little flakey. Be patient - and if you get a blank result, try again! (Louis Wu 18:13:44 UTC) (permalink)
When In Doubt...
Halo 2 is a lot of fun - but it's not quite as technical as some other games. To wit (well, maybe a bad choice of phrases) - today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 14:49:11 UTC) (permalink)
Getting High.
There was a montage mentioned over at High Impact Halo, as well - Dark Helmet put together a single player Hog Launching montage from Halo footage. Halo, Silent Cartographer, AotCR - some classic jumps, some stuff you may never have seen before, he makes it ALL look easy. (I watched him pull out a controller and demonstrate some of this stuff to Randy Pitchford, of Gearbox, a couple of years ago - watch this vid and you might feel the same enthusiasm to go and hog-jump yourself that Randy felt.) The forum thread has both high-res (50 mb) and low-res (20 mb) WMP versions, hosted on DH's mythica space - if there's a demand for QuickTime (send email), I'll add them. (Louis Wu 14:11:14 UTC) (permalink)
Heavy Sniping
Another montage, this time from the original Halo. MPRRS reviewers loved the audio/video synching, which is very impressive. Check out YourDogM1H1, from RHSSE89 - 15.3 mb in QuickTime, 14.9 mb in WMP9. (Louis Wu 14:02:37 UTC) (permalink)
Covenant Dance, Transcribed
Rampancy.net has put up yet another music transcription - this one is 'Covenant Dance', from the original Halo soundtrack, transcribed by Devin Eastman. You must be logged in (free) to download - the archive contains a MIDI file, a PDF of the score, and a PrintMusic file. Go grab it! (Louis Wu 13:27:25 UTC) (permalink)
News July 10 2005
Road to Glory - the Release
Last week, we released a trailer for a full-length (80 minute) documentary, created by a pretty obsessed Halo fan. I posed a question on our forum - would folks be interested in downloading the entire thing (400+ mb)? The response was pretty positive - so here you go. We're providing two BitTorrent links - one for a WMP9 version, one for a QuickTime version - both are 421 mb. We're providing a pretty serious amount of seed bandwidth for these, as well (12000 KBit/sec each), so even early downloaders should be fine. In the next couple of days, we should have a dedicated page up for this movie, with information about how to order a DVD version direct from Noah, the creator. (He's not looking to make money on this - the cost will cover the blank DVD media and the shipping, nothing more.) Again - this is the story of a group of Halo fanatics (and their families) as the excitement builds towards the release of Halo 2. It's quite well-made, ultra-geeky (but how could it not be?), and pretty fun to watch - but there's nothing blowing up, and no sex, so if you were weaned on MTV, you might find it slow. This is why you have high-speed bandwidth. Grab a copy! (Louis Wu 23:14:30 UTC) (permalink)
Oh So Beautiful II
A couple of days ago, we posted Jamie98s' 'Oh So Beautiful', an ode to the gorgeous scenery in Halo 2 multiplayer maps. He's done it again - 'Oh So Beautiful II' looks at the pretty stuff in the newest maps, again with Jack Johnson providing the soundtrack. WMP9 (9 mb) or QuickTime (10.3 mb) - thanks to the reviewers with the MPRRS for getting this through so fast! (The entire queue is cleared, in fact; we've got a few movies to release in the next couple of days.) (Louis Wu 22:41:43 UTC) (permalink)
I have nobody for me to own
Reinsoft parodies Akon's Lonely - poor 12-year-old XBL players! Go listen. (Louis Wu 22:36:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo on the Go
Mintz continues his Halo for PSP content series with a bunch of recent articles, formatted for reading on a PSP. Details are in this forum post. (Louis Wu 22:21:43 UTC) (permalink)
MPRRS - now taking volunteers
Recently, the processing time for videos in our Movie Peer Review Rating System climbed to almost a week; right now, there's a vid which has been in the queue for almost 11 days. (All the rest of the current crop are below 2 days, so that's an anomaly, but the problem is still worth noting.) We recently pared down the number of reviewers by dropping people who hadn't contributed much - but it's likely that this will only to add to the problem. So - we're finally accepting new applications for reviewers. (It's taken a while to set up an automated system for this, which is why we haven't accepted many before now.) One thing to be aware of - this is NOT just a chance to watch vids before anyone else; we're asking for people who have a genuine desire to help the community. (A couple of reviewers left recently, complaining that the level of quality they were being asked to watch was too low, overall... to which Cybrfrk responded, "DUH!" That's the whole point of the system - if the MPRRS wasn't weeding out the dross, EVERYONE would have to watch those films. Do NOT volunteer unless you understand that the job requires that you watch a LOT of bad video.) If you read that and said 'yeah, I can handle that'... go ahead and sign up! Update: Wow, that was quite a response! We got a couple of dozen volunteers in 20 minutes. I've approved 12 new people, and anyone who has filled out the form will be in the queue the next time we add a batch; it's a simple matter of clicking an approve button for us, so as soon as the need arises, we'll be contacting you! Thanks to all! (You're welcome to add your name to the list, if you haven't and want to be considered - we'll just hold it until the next batch.) (Louis Wu 17:33:47 UTC) (permalink)
Definitely Luck
trigger119 posted a montage he made on our forum - it's hosted on his halomachinima.com website. 35 mb, WMP9 format, called 'Definitely Luck'. retsamolah gets killed a lot. (Louis Wu 17:20:34 UTC) (permalink)
Biohazard - for your PSP
Phan7om has created a PSP-friendly version of Biohazard, an extremely popular machinima project. (If you've never seen it, and don't have a PSP, you can find download links in this news post, from March.) Now, if you want to see this vid, but need it on the go... you've got it! (Louis Wu 14:40:22 UTC) (permalink)
SFTE Drive - for Freelancer
The Mexican Pirate posted a link to a video showing the Slipspace drive, as realized in the Freelancer engine. 3 mb - check their progress! (Louis Wu 14:17:43 UTC) (permalink)
High Charity, Transcripted
Count Zero has submitted a transcript of 'High Charity' - you can find it on the Halo Story Page. (Louis Wu 14:13:34 UTC) (permalink)
News July 9 2005
VGL coverage at GT
GameTrailers.com has coverage from Video Games Live, the concert tour that kicked off in LA a few days ago. 31 mb, in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats. Thanks, Mr.Cynical. (Louis Wu 18:49:05 UTC) (permalink)
Half-suit: done.
Wow - Briar's Armor got an update - check the top 5 shots on the Halo page. Nice looking stuff! Thanks, beetlecrazy12. (Louis Wu 18:45:59 UTC) (permalink)
Map Pack Vids to remain offline
We've been getting a lot of mail, asking us when 'Another Day at the Beach' (the cinematic that can be found on the Map Pack disc) is going to be added to the Cutscene Library. Unfortunately, it's not going to be. Bungie would like for this scene (and the Killtacular video) to remain, for the time being at least, an exclusive perk for those who paid the extra money to buy the DVD. If this changes, we'll be sure to make an announcement. (Louis Wu 13:15:05 UTC) (permalink)
Map Pack Review at Gamespot
Gamespot has posted their review of the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack at this point, as well. There's a 2-page written review, or a 6 minute video review - your call. Thanks, KP. (Louis Wu 13:11:30 UTC) (permalink)
They're noobz - AND liars!
Frankie's back, and this week's Weekly What's Update is full of info about the new maps, cheaters, and a secret golf tournament. Go read! (Louis Wu 01:04:44 UTC) (permalink)
News July 8 2005
Tag Team Roboto
Another MPRRS-passed film for you today - this one is a montage called Tag Team Roboto, amde by MikeMan27 and his buddy, Dan. This went through several iterations, getting feedback at each step from the system; the final product is light-years beyond the original submission. You can grab a WMP9 version (47.2 mb, mythica.org | bungie.org) or a QuickTime version (39.8 mb, bungie.org | mythica.org) - enjoy! (Louis Wu 20:33:50 UTC) (permalink)
Chicago LAN for adults
Wow - this is a new one for me. 2old2play is hosting a LAN party in Chicago... and they're charging $60 to get in. They're shooting for 32 gamers (on 16 TVs) - but if they get more, they have a second venue that can handle up to about 70. And oh, yeah - you have to bring your own Xbox and controllers. (TVs will be provided, though.) If you're over 25, and are either in Chicago or willing to fly there on Saturday, August 13... swing by and check out the page! (Louis Wu 19:37:08 UTC) (permalink)
HCEC 10: Descent
The Halo CE Chronicles have kicked off Season 2 with Episode 10, now available from the HCEC video page. Many new characters, but the focus remains on the Spartan and the station AI - very nice use of repurposed footage. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 19:11:31 UTC) (permalink)
Don't Mess with Tex.
SanchezTheLlama put together a guest strip for CTF, a Halo-influenced comic (not all strips are safe for work, so careful if you go backwards). Do women on XBL have a harder time than men? You decide. (Louis Wu 15:21:00 UTC) (permalink)
Where to shoot in the Gulch
IGN has a Sniping Locations on Coagulation FAQ online - this is fan-written, and starts with the dubious information "Xbox Live = no fun"... but you might find some useful info inside. Update: looks like I mentioned this in January. Seems I wasn't that impressed with it then, either - guess I gotta be careful with Google News Alerts from now on. Thanks, nof. (Louis Wu 15:17:04 UTC) (permalink)
Elongaaaaaaa...
How do you follow up your 343rd strip? With true cheese, of course. Go read One One Se7en - but don't get carried away. (Louis Wu 14:55:36 UTC) (permalink)
Oh So Beautiful
Jamie98s whipped up a nice little video (WMP9, 10.6 mb | QuickTime, 9 mb) showing some of the pretty stuff in Halo 2's multiplayer maps. No plot - just pretty. The Jack Johnson soundtrack is a perfect fit, too. There haven't been a lot of films passing the MPRRS recently - this is one. Go watch. (Louis Wu 14:43:41 UTC) (permalink)
Friday FanFic
Twelve new pieces up in today's Fan Fiction batch - go read! (Louis Wu 14:38:05 UTC) (permalink)
CPL Summer 2005 Event Coverage
The CPL Summer 2005 event kicked off yesterday; [HC] D-Man has put up a writeup on HALOChat, including links to pics, and a writeup on GotFrag. These guys are playing for a $10,000 purse - go check out the first day of action! (Louis Wu 13:12:21 UTC) (permalink)
Homebrewed MC Goodness
We mentioned Doug Godfrey a couple of weeks ago - he's been working on some MC models based off action figures, instead of in-game stuff. He dropped by our forum last night to point out a short rendered animation (4 mb, DivX format) - he's not sure where he's going with it, but so far, it's looking pretty cool! (Louis Wu 13:03:48 UTC) (permalink)
New gameplay vids at GS
Gamespot has posted seven new movies, showing gameplay on the new maps. 'HD Quality' downloads (yeah, right - they're 480x360 MPEG1s) for Gamespot Complete members, streaming WMP9s for the masses. Check for the '07/07' posted date. (Louis Wu 12:32:06 UTC) (permalink)
Watch the Pros
MLGPro.com has put up a huge new batch of Video on Demand content for subscribers - Finals and semi-finals from MGL St. Louis. There's more on the way today - keep your eyes peeled! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 12:14:31 UTC) (permalink)
More Painful than a Rocket Launcher
New Halo Babies strip available today... looks like Baby Cortana's growing up. Ouch, Chief! (Louis Wu 11:46:12 UTC) (permalink)
News July 7 2005
NSCS grows by 4 new articles
There are four new articles up in the Articles and Extras section of Overswarm's Not So Common Sense guide. You'll find pieces on Team Organization and Communication, as well as reviews of the Maptacular Map Pack and the training website Console Pro. Check it all out! (Louis Wu 22:45:43 UTC) (permalink)
IGS talks to MLG
The MLG interviews just keep coming - this time, it's the IGameSpot team (second place in MLG St. Louis, formerly Legendz. They talk about their performance in STL, and what's next for the members. Thanks again, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 20:25:04 UTC) (permalink)
Map Pack Reviews
Both IGN and TeamXbox have released reviews of the Maptacular Map Pack - if you're still not sure if you should pick 'em up, read these. (Louis Wu 17:07:05 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Vegas
MLGPro.com has posted info about MLG Las Vegas, coming August 12-14. There's a slight twist to this one - each room needs to be booked (and checked into) by someone over 21 - this is Nevada state law. Beyond that, though - looks to be a fun event! Thanks to Ecko, from HaloPlanet, for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 15:11:47 UTC) (permalink)
Be still, me beating heart.
Captain Spark finally got the IWHBYD skull to work successfully - and man, does it help produce some funny dialogue. The first couple of dozen snippets were released today - you can snag 'em at his website, or browse through them in our Dialogue Databank. Awesome stuff! (Louis Wu 15:01:43 UTC) (permalink)
HHU4LQ
Nirvana has re-encoded low-res versions of the Hollywood Halo Update 4 vid released a few days ago - if 87 mb was too much for you, grab the ~30 mb versions he's made. (Louis Wu 14:37:45 UTC) (permalink)
Video Games Live - a great show
Last night was the kickoff event for Video Games Live, and it seems to have been quite a success. The LA Philharmonic performed music from many video games - and the finale was Halo 2. Marty O'Donnell and Mike Salvatori were on hand and available for questions and autographs - once again, Marty suggested taht the Halo 2 Soundtrack is being held up by MS lawyers at this point. Thanks to NSA, Reinsoft, and mnemesis, who sent in email or posted to our forum with tidbits. If you get the chance to see this show elsewhere in the US this summer... go. (Louis Wu 14:32:12 UTC) (permalink)
Freelancer Mod - In Trouble
We've mentioned a Freelancer Halo mod a couple of times - seems they've stalled for lack of help. (This will be the last of this type of 'please visit' posts we put up for this project.) They've got a screenshot of their 'slipspace effect' graphics - except without Halo models so far. If you're interested in seeing this mod succeed, go visit. (Louis Wu 14:14:27 UTC) (permalink)
Mmm... cake.
Wortrow celebrated the Halo/Halo 2 transition by eating. Good idea! (Louis Wu 13:52:15 UTC) (permalink)
News July 6 2005
Artwork Update
Long time coming (as usual) - but there are 32 new images in the Miscellaneous Art section. Renders, sketches, paintings - lots of good stuff! Go look. Wallpaper coming in the next day or so. (Louis Wu 15:18:19 UTC) (permalink)
Remix Planet
The July issue of Wired magazine has a nearly 20-page section on remixes - how creative projects involving the work of others have grown in recent times. They look at everything from music and art (the obvious) to movies (Tarantino, anyone?) to cars and candy. The final piece is a two-page, visual spread, showing the last 100 years or so and some of the remixes that have happened in that time. The final image of the spread is... Red vs Blue. Not bad! (Large chunks of this content are online - including the first half of the 2-page spread. Read them soon, though, because that link won't work once the August issue hits the stands.) (Louis Wu 13:50:29 UTC) (permalink)
Strip Number 343.
You knew it was coming, right? Wow - when Stuntmutt first submitted some strips for a pun-filled Halo comic strip in 2003, who knew he'd make it all the way to 343? (And with jokes like this one, it's STILL a mystery.) Congrats, One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 12:28:22 UTC) (permalink)
Not so Strategic Strategy
For folks looking for strategy tips for the new maps, you might think that the Strategy pages at Xbox.com (Backwash, Elongation, Gemini, and Relic - no Terminal yet) would be a good place to start - but you'd be wrong. Well, the Relic and Elongation pages have some MINOR info that might be helpful - but mostly, they're just summaries of the maps. Bummer. (Louis Wu 12:13:30 UTC) (permalink)
The right tool for the job
Last Friday, XerxdeeJ added an item called 'Wish List' to his Halo blog, 'Tied the Leader' - it looks at add-ons he wishes he could buy for his Xbox... that would go with games he wishes he could buy for it. The piece spawned a pretty sizeable response from 3Suns - who suggests that his playing ability in Halo 2 might be tied to the shortcomings of the controller he's forced to use. It's more a discussion of ergonomics than a whine - I'm not sure I agree with him (my thumbs seem to fit the controller better than his do, or something), but it's a thought-provoking post. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 11:22:11 UTC) (permalink)
2old2type, Ep 4
DSmooth points out that 2old2play has posted episode 4 of their podcast news summary, 2old2type, on their website. They discuss everything from the new map pack to nudity in video games - the download is 29 mb, available via BitTorrent. Go listen! (Louis Wu 11:10:20 UTC) (permalink)
RvB collection at Frag Nutz
Razgriz points out that Frag Nutz, a Halo 2 clan, has the full collection (Episodes 1-57) of Red vs Blue online for registered user download (with permission from Geoff of RvB). If you're looking for any of these, swing by! (Check out the rest of the site while you're there.) (Louis Wu 11:05:44 UTC) (permalink)
The wins keep coming for Team 3D
MLGPro's Dyslexia sat down with Team 3D after MLG St. Louis to talk about their win, and about playing in general. A good read - go check it out! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:01:51 UTC) (permalink)
News July 5 2005
Frantic Tranquility
SketchFactor has posted a beautiful preview of Gemini, over at Bungie.net - strategy, map overhead, screenshots of the Marathon Infinity level that inspired it, gameplay tips. You can't go wrong. Go read it! (Louis Wu 22:44:29 UTC) (permalink)
117649 Reproachable Instigation
Eep - almost forgot. Jillybean updated the Halo Story page with some interesting speculation from the fans. There would have been more, but her dog ate it. Or maybe it was her computer. I can't remember. Go read what's there, though. (Louis Wu 22:34:51 UTC) (permalink)
DLC vs DVD - it's a matter of scale
For folks wondering about whether installs from the Map Pack DVD are tied to a key or serial number of some sort: if you own multiple consoles, you're okay installing the maps on all of them from a single DVD. It's way cheaper than buying the DLC for each Xbox you have (I had to buy Sanctuary and Turf 3 times, because my son's birthday party - a Halo 2 party - was right after the release date). (Louis Wu 21:51:45 UTC) (permalink)
Map Pack data at Bungie.net
For anyone having trouble downloading the five new maps on Xbox Live, SketchFactor has reprinted Major Nelson's Downloadable Content FAQ - go read it at Bungie.net. And yes, we know about the Relic teleporter glitch. (For those who don't - it's quite simple to pass through the teleporter, in either direction, by simply crouch-jumping on top of the platforms.) No, it won't kill matchmaking. It just means there's one more place to watch at the start of the game. (Louis Wu 21:32:59 UTC) (permalink)
Australian Montage Competition - your help needed
Apologies to the guys from HaloLive.com.au - we got a couple of notes about their Montage competion yesterday, but the holiday kept them from being posted. They've been running a competition for the best Halo 2 montage, and have narrowed it down to the final 5 entries. The Admins Choice award winner has already been selected, but no announcements will be made until the People's Choice award is decided - you can find download links in the news item; grab 'em and vote! (Louis Wu 18:24:04 UTC) (permalink)
Elites with lightsabers - what a combo!
Terion has been experimenting with Halo/Star Wars crossover art for quite some time - check out her gallery at Sheezy Art. (Sith Elite 3 was noticed by Savage Yoshi, which is where I ran across it.) (Louis Wu 14:05:18 UTC) (permalink)
Online Tourney (fan-driven) at RT
If you're a registered member of the Rooster Teeth website (Red vs Blue or the Strangerhood), and have been since at least June 18, you're eligible for an online RT tournament (organized by fans, not by the site itself). Details can be found in this RT forum thread - including prizes and rules. Registration has already begun - so if you're interested, get in gear! Thanks to Laird for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:04:43 UTC) (permalink)
New Maps - here now
As many have noticed, the 5 new maps are now available for download on Xbox Live (just head to the Content Download section of Xbox Live). If you're a Live Subscriber, you'll have to decide whether paying the $12 today is worth getting the maps ahead of the DVD (which will cost $20, but will be usable on multiple Xboxes, and will contain a new documentary and a rendered mini-movie). Oh, the choices! (Louis Wu 14:00:27 UTC) (permalink)
News July 4 2005
Hollywood Halo Update 4
Our final news post of this Fourth of July holiday is community-related. A few days ago, we mentioned some money problems being experienced by Hollywood Halo, a team of Halo movie makers who were socked with some unreasonable overage fees for one of their popular movies. To show people what happened to them, they put together a vid that explains the problem (in a humorous fashion), and then summarizes their work to date. chubark posted a note on our forum last night, explaining the vid and listing several download links (including a BitTorrent link - the video is 87.1 mb, so the BT link might be your fastest option). We've put up a QuickTime version, as well - you can grab it via BitTorrent (we're seeding it with a very nice chunk of bandwidth), or grab the direct download - if this starts to kill us, we'll pull it, but leave the BT link. (The QuickTime is 85.7 mb.) For folks who've written us with a warning that this whole thing is a scam - I think you're being overly paranoid. The hosting company is acting pretty unprofessionally - but a typo in their bill does NOT mean that the bill was made up. And with that - I'm off to start cooking! Enjoy the day, see you all tomorrow! (Louis Wu 12:29:44 UTC) (permalink)
The Reverse of Comic #297.
Back in March, Stuntmutt took a swipe at the Halo shotgun in netplay - today he shows the other side of the coin in the current One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 12:14:30 UTC) (permalink)
The Halouvre Grows
Prometheus pointed out that the Halouvre received a sizeable update recently - lots of old art has found a new home, and a bunch of new stuff is posted as well. Go look! (Louis Wu 12:11:58 UTC) (permalink)
Monday Missives
Thirteen new stories added over the weekend to the Fan Fiction section - if you're in the US and you need a break from fireworks and barbecues today, go read. (If you're outside the US, you can read too.) (Louis Wu 12:10:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo on Robot Chicken
As was noticed in a LOT of threads on our forum, last night a new episode of Robot Chicken, a stop-motion animation show aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, contained Halo action figures. It's called the Sack, and it will be rebroadcast on Friday, July 8, at midnight and 3 am. First out of the gate was Andrew Nagy (by several hours). Update: Hey - you can even download it now (WMP9 format, 3.2 mb). (Louis Wu 11:59:39 UTC) (permalink)
News July 3 2005
Happy Fourth of July!
Wow. A fitting place to take a break from Halo updates for the July 4 weekend... Dark Helmet released a Halo vid showing some truly amazing hog launching on the level Halo. If there's demand, I'll put up a QuickTime version - but for now, it's 37 mb, WMP9 format. And very, very nicely done. (Louis Wu 18:16:20 UTC) (permalink)
MLG VoD updated with STL content
3Suns points out that there's quite a bit of St. Louis content available from MLGPro.com's Video on Demand service - this was, apparently, one of the most exciting tourneys in a long time, and this is your chance to see the action first-hand. (There's more still coming by next Tuesday.) (Louis Wu 15:04:45 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Corn
Stuntmutt has updated his blog with submitted artwork and strips from One One Se7en fans everywhere. I'm lovin' the Betrayal strip. (Louis Wu 15:00:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo CE Chronicles Season 2 starts soon
Looks like the Halo CE Chronicles is counting down to season 2 - read this news post for details on website changes. Folks have been waiting for this popular series to restart filming - keep your eyes open! (Louis Wu 14:58:33 UTC) (permalink)
News July 2 2005
Halo 2: The Road to Glory (Trailer)
Noah Gallop and his friends are Halo fans. So much so, in fact, that Noah created a film documenting their wait for Halo 2 last year. It's a full-length film - 80 minutes long. (The Hi-res WMP9 version is over 400 MB.) As such, it probably has a limited audience... but I think he did a wonderful job capturing the devotion some of us felt towards Halo (and where that devotion came from), and what this did to us in the ramp-up to Halo 2. It's part documentary, part tribute film, part parody of the silliest parts of fandom. We're not quite prepared to handle the full release yet - but Noah's put together a short teaser (2 minutes, about 25 mb) to whet your appetite. (WMP9 format, 24.8 mb | QuickTime format, 25.3 mb). There's a forum post here - feel free to let us (and Noah) know what you think of the film, and whether you'd be interested in DVD copies. (Noah's considering this.) (Louis Wu 11:56:06 UTC) (permalink)
Waiting it out
Wow - in the wake of Bungie's announcement of another auto-update to address cheating, HaloMods has decided to close their forums until it's released. You can read Grenadiac's news post here. Thanks, TOMASS. (Louis Wu 10:59:42 UTC) (permalink)
RvB's Terminal Walkthrough Posted
Red vs Blue posted their Terminal walkthrough last night - this is the first one that contains a second character. (Basically, Burnie needed someone to show what happens when you get hit by a train.) As usual, a great display of all the key points of the map - weapon placement, strategy options, layout. You can grab the WMP9 version off their site (Hi-res is 40.1 mb, Lo-Res is 11.9 mb), or you can grab our QuickTime versions (Hi-Res, 41.8 mb | Lo-Res 14.8 mb). For some strange reason, this is the first walkthrough they've released with interlacing problems - the QuickTime is deinterlaced. Minor detail, though - the vid's great, no matter how you see it! Thanks to MANY - first mention seems to be darthbob. (Louis Wu 10:46:59 UTC) (permalink)
Soundtrack news - and it ain't great
Wow... this is a little disturbing. A couple of days ago, sh33p asked, on our forum, about the Halo 2 Soundtrack, volume 2 - and when it might be coming out. His guess was that it would be released with the map pack next week - but Excalibur quoted a forum post from Marty himself on the Marty Army forum (not viewable by the public, so there's no point in linking to it), suggesting that this wouldn't happen. Since then, that private forum thread has received ANOTHER ominous note:
70 minutes worth in 12 movements (suites if you will). I just hope MS lets it happen...
I wonder how many people would care if it never came out?
(Um, lots.) He hopes MS will let it happen? What does THAT mean? More when we hear about it... but I, for one, would be REALLY sad to find that this product had been cancelled. (No, it's not time for a mass email campaign - yet.) (Louis Wu 10:06:10 UTC) (permalink)
Cry Havoc!
The Codex Series has posted not one, but TWO new movies in the last few hours - Episode 15 has finally been released (long wait, but worth it!), and a Behind The Scenes vid is up, as well. Check their news page for both links. Episode 15 is action, action, action - really nice work! Currently only in QuickTime format (88.6 mb), but their standard release stuff is coming later this morning. The behind-the-scenes stuff mixes blooper footage with live-action stuff showing the crew behind the vids. Thanks to The An7i Flag for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 10:00:36 UTC) (permalink)
Better Pics of new Joyride figures
Nathan Koga noticed a new page over at Figures.com, devoted to the series 5 and 6 action figures coming soon from Joyride. We already pointed out pics of these figures at Joyride's own site - but these images are larger, giving you a better look at the figures. Is it just me... or does that center Spartan look like it has the Subnova logo as his emblem patch? (Louis Wu 09:54:33 UTC) (permalink)
Yet more copies of the flythroughs
TeamXbox has put up more copies of the last three Bungie-sponsored flythroughs - again, these are the same vids we released a couple of days ago, but we're always happy to see more copies online - spreading the bandwidth load. These are WMP9 only. (Louis Wu 09:47:07 UTC) (permalink)
Ogre 2 talks to Team3D.net
F13ND's interviewed Ogre 2 over at Team3d.net - another fun look into the life of a pro Halo player. Go read! (Louis Wu 09:44:21 UTC) (permalink)
Frag Doll Friday - coming soon
Looks like the Frag Dolls are starting a monthly 'play with the fans' thing, under the auspices of Xbox.com - you can read about it on its official Xbox.com page. First game is July 15, with gaming requests needed by July 12 in order to partipate. Thanks to prometheus, who found this on Major Nelson's blog. (Louis Wu 09:38:07 UTC) (permalink)
News July 1 2005
Just play the game, dagnabbit!
Bungie's posted this week's Weekly What's Update a bit earlier than usual (and yes, you were first, Nedus) - it focuses almost exclusively on cheating. There's a bit of discussion of the problem involving modded maps - the advice is to hang tight for a little while, things WILL get better. There's another auto-update coming in a couple of weeks that will make things much harder for cheaters, and much easier for the rest of us. And oh, yeah - the maps that will be available for purchase next week (both over Xbox Live and via a store-bought DVD) will be free as of August 30. If you can wait 2 months, you can save a few bucks. Go read! (Louis Wu 19:33:23 UTC) (permalink)
RvB Relic Walkthrough - in QuickTime
Again, apologies for the delay - we've been dealing with some annoying DoS attacks on certain forums. You can now grab QuickTime versions of Red vs Blue's Relic Walkthrough on our server - Hi-Res (45 mb) | Lo-Res (20.6 mb). Enjoy! (The WMP9 versions are now available for everyone at RvB - go get those if you'd rather.) (Louis Wu 18:11:51 UTC) (permalink)
Com unicat on Bre kd wn.
Today's One One Se7en hits home - I played in a game like this last night. Furhman steals his bandwidth from his neighbors, though, so he can't be choosy. (Louis Wu 16:28:34 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fiction
Seven new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today - go read! (Louis Wu 16:26:28 UTC) (permalink)
Really nice gold elite art
Today's w00tness has a pretty spectacular reworking of a gold elite - go check it out! Thanks to Endbringer for noticing. (Louis Wu 16:07:45 UTC) (permalink)
Bam! Spice that up a notch.
Captain Spark has released another 38 dialogue snippets - some really funny David Cross ones this time around. You can grab the whole lot off his website, or browse them individually in our Dialogue Databank. I like this one. (Louis Wu 16:03:15 UTC) (permalink)
Last 3 flythroughs posted at GameTrailers
Christian Andersen points out that GameTrailers has released their own versions of the flythroughs for Backwash, Gemini, and Terminal. (These are the same films we posted yesterday - but now there are more hosts for them.) (Louis Wu 15:32:06 UTC) (permalink)
Relic Walkthrough from RvB (for sponsors)
Red vs Blue's Relic walkthrough is now available for download for sponsors - coming soon for the masses. (That link will work for everyone - but if the download is starred, only sponsors will be able to get it.) QuickTime versions in the works - we'll post 'em when they're finished. Thanks to ZD for the quick heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:13:20 UTC) (permalink)
Briar's Armor Update
Four more screenshots, showing the thigh pieces, have been posted over at Briar's Armor (it's the top row of thumbnails at the moment). If this news post means nothing to you, check older posts. (Louis Wu 15:02:52 UTC) (permalink)
Game Junkies tournies in OH
A pair of tournaments in Cincinnati, Ohio - August 6th and 13th. Minimum of $1000 in cash and prizes. Read this forum post from Scott Vieth for details! (Louis Wu 14:51:55 UTC) (permalink)
Getting what's coming to them
Thanks to Spenser Gross, who pointed out a new strip over at Halo Babies. Check both the published strip and the original version (linked in the news post) for a couple of takes on modding! (Louis Wu 14:32:51 UTC) (permalink)
I need a weapon.
A couple of weeks ago, we pointed out a trailer for a movie made by folks unhappy with Halo 2 - live action, bitter, and funny. Over at Halo2forum.com, Episode 1 of Halo Poo has been released - same general attitude, same sense of humor. If you liked the trailer, you'll like this one. Where else are you gonna see the Master Chief board a lawnmower? 74 mb, WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 14:24:23 UTC) (permalink)
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Wow, really bad news. Halogrid.com, the site behind the Jump Tactics Spoof videos, has recently gotten hit with a nearly $3500 overage fee for bandwidth because of the popularity of their vids - and they just don't have the money. You can read imSuck's explanation of what happened (there's even a scan of the bill) - if you think you can help out, he's set up a Paypal account to accept donations from the community. I hate it when this sort of thing happens - in today's hosting world, this is usury. These are good guys. :( (Louis Wu 14:12:08 UTC) (permalink)
Working for the Man
Looking for a Job? Bungie's looking for lots of people. Animators, programmers, artists - you name it, they're hiring. Check their jobs page for details. (Louis Wu 13:46:32 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespy says Halo 2 is best
Gamespy posted the top 5 of their Top 25 Xbox Games of All-Time... and Halo 2 took the number 1 spot. Would have been nice to have both games in the top 5... but 6th isn't bad. Thanks to many - Jinno was first. (Louis Wu 13:42:42 UTC) (permalink)
| July 2005 | |
