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 | June 2001 |  |
June 2001 Archived News
News June 30 2001
See? Paul Bertone IS working on Halo.
Matt, in a blaze of speed (or maybe just an effort to get out of the office early), kicks out this week's Halo Update in record time. The content, however, wasn't skimped on. Lots of little stuff this week - working on the fine details. (Remember where God is...) And what's this... the Shadow's back? Who is the Shadow? Read the entire update for yourself (or go crazy and search the database, already updated with this entry). (Louis Wu 00:01:42 UTC) (permalink)
News June 29 2001
Yet more wallpaper upped
'Tis the season to make wallpaper, it seem... Xboxman has sent in a new image to prettify your desktop. You'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 19:44:02 UTC) (permalink)
Movies... they make your world go round
An upcoming Halo movie? Matt's not talking... but he still says stuff. Hmm... (Louis Wu 16:38:36 UTC) (permalink)
News page gets an upgrade
Thanks to CarthagTuek, who suggested a nifty little enhancement for the news page - the headlines section for older days on a page now contains links to the full days referenced; today, for example, whil you can still get to the individual posts in Wednesday's news, if you want to read ALL of them, just hit the "Wednesday's" link. Hope this makes catching up on older news easier, and thanks to CarthagTuek for the suggestion! (Louis Wu 16:34:33 UTC) (permalink)
New Wallpaper added
A couple of days ago, a new desktop image was uploaded to our ftp space. Due to an unfortunate accident, the logs were lost - we have no idea who sent this. If it was you, let us know! (You can see the image in our Wallpaper section.) Update: The image has been claimed by @ctive-Desktop. Thanks! (Louis Wu 01:36:40 UTC) (permalink)
News June 28 2001
Will Halo Measure Up?
Thanks to Ph.D., who pointed out an interesting article on The Elements of Gameplay, over at Gamasutra. It's a good read, and hopefully gives the Halo dev team a few things to think about! (Louis Wu 23:56:21 UTC) (permalink)
News June 27 2001
How come I don't get a slave?
Jay Weinland, audio engineer on the Halo team, dropped into our forum to clarify his job description. The Elderly One will probably be thrilled to hear that Jay describes his job as
Sound Designer, Audio Engineer, and all-around Marty slave
(That means he gets to carry around that huge horn that Marty holds up to his ear so that he can hear what's going on.) Welcome, Jay! (Louis Wu 22:04:51 UTC) (permalink)
Bob's Big Date
It was all over in a moment. The sharp pain he felt in his chest and neck turned to dull warmth as it tore him to the ground, ripping limb from limb, guzzling his intestines and other organs.
Poor Bob. This guy needs a smiley-face sticker, don't you think? Go read Chapter 3 of Hermes Trismegistus, over in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 20:18:17 UTC) (permalink)
Ambient life: soon, maybe
Apparently, the ambient life seen in the E3 trailer is not currently in Halo. Matt Soell stopped into our forum to pass along this note in answer to the question about whether ambient life would be present in Halo:
Ambient life is still on the To-Do list, and it's not that far down either.
I can't guarantee it will be in the game (not yet anyway) for all the usual reasons. But I can say we still plan on doing it.
Sounds positive, but noncommittal... sort of like my first girlfriend. I hope Matt doesn't turn out to be as psychotic as she was... (Louis Wu 00:31:46 UTC) (permalink)
News June 26 2001
Beautiful morning, my eye.
Sometimes, people just lose it. (Louis Wu 19:52:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Dev Team, delineated
Ph.D. has taken it upon himself to put together a full list of Halo Development Team members, along with their job descriptions, where available. Pieces of this have been floating around the net for a couple of years now... but nobody's ever put it all together in one place before. Once finalized, this information will probably be added to our FAQ, for posterity - if you have any further insights, be sure to post them to this thread! (It's a rather long thread - the most recent full list can be found here.) (Louis Wu 19:50:24 UTC) (permalink)
News June 25 2001
Halo SETI Team 21 day stats posted
As several people noted last week, the SETI servers finally started crunching stats again, so we've gotten to the Halo SETI Marines 7-day stats (this time out, 21 days) again as well. Looks like crunching went on as before - numbers are roughly three times the normal weekly output. (This is good - it means we didn't lose anyone, or any crunching, during the downtime.) Tharkhaad takes La Crunch honneur, with 244 units over the past 3 weeks, and WereTiger leaps over 105 opponents to snag the Frogblast award. Nice going, guys! Full details are on the 21 day stats page. (Louis Wu 14:15:43 UTC) (permalink)
Microsoft Tasta Mo Lika Bungie Spice
Last week's update has been added to the Halo Update Database - and man, it's getting big. Sounds like this week most stuff is unmentionable... but one thing has changed - the Mighty Chris Butcher is Mighty no more. The end of a 4-month era... (Louis Wu 01:31:44 UTC) (permalink)
Telling BoB where to go
Over at Rampancy.net, there's a very interesting post from Chris Butcher, currently working on AI in Halo, about the direction this field is going. Definitely worth a read. (Louis Wu 01:12:03 UTC) (permalink)
News June 24 2001
Flash Halo teaser at Funxbox.com
Cody Ellis, one of the Flash directors at FunXbox.com, dropped us a note to let us know that he's put together a little (okay, big) Halo teaser, in Flash. It's a 3.8 MB file, but it's a pretty nice presentation of some Halo images over the years. Check it out! (Louis Wu 00:19:54 UTC) (permalink)
HQ Halo opens its doors
Andreas den Hertog writes to say that he's started up a Halo fansite, called HQ HALO. Check it out! (Louis Wu 00:13:49 UTC) (permalink)
News June 23 2001
Bottomless Clips and the Money Shot...
This week's Halo update is over at Rampancy.net... thanks to Acrappa for getting it up in the face of adversity. The Mighty Chris Butcher is mighty no longer... but Chucky just got Swarthy. (Yo-ho-ho...) A new name pops up - Eric Arroyo. And the shotgun gets bigger... go read all the groovy details for yourself. (Louis Wu 02:05:08 UTC) (permalink)
New look at old letters
More than two years after their original posting, Knight Premier sends in some thoughts about the first Cortana Letter (with ramblings about the rest, and a host of other topics, for good measure). Check it out in our Theories section. (Louis Wu 01:53:15 UTC) (permalink)
News June 22 2001
Halo fans smash FunXbox poll
Siva pointed out a poll at FunXbox, asking about the most-anticipated Xbox game... but by the time we went by, it was over. Seems there was a last-minute Halo push, though - because in the hour and a half between when Siva posted and when the poll closed, Halo went from 'a few percentage points' behind to a couple of hundred votes ahead. Nice going! (Louis Wu 20:12:05 UTC) (permalink)
More Wallpaper for you
Sikora drops off a new wallpaper, showing off the various environments the marine pops up in. You can find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 17:28:48 UTC) (permalink)
The Xbox shows up on the webcam
Thanks to both Marcus Tacker, and Deacon, who sent in pics of an Xbox from the Bungie webcam. (Marcus' pic came in first, but Deacon's was clearer.) That puppy looks MASSIVE! (Louis Wu 17:23:41 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie fan poll results posted
Dead Glory writes to say that the results of his Bungie poll are up - he interviewed 181 fans about their feelings for Bungie. Go to dg.rules.it and click on 'Misc' or 'Updates'. (Louis Wu 03:22:36 UTC) (permalink)
News June 21 2001
New Halo sticker for you... to print
Thanks to Tom Van Sinden, who sent in a pretty slick little Halo sticker - anyone got a sticker printer? You'll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 19:47:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Development Diary, part 2, at PlanetXbox
PlanetXbox has put up the second installment in their Halo Development Diary, wherein Level Designer Jaime Griesemer talks about training players to use Halo without boring them to death. Instead of step-by-step voiceovers, you'll learn skills as you go:
For instance, at one point you engage some Covenant from down a hallway and the only good cover is a side passage that leads around behind the Covenant, encouraging the Player to come out behind them and see them slowly sneaking up on where they last saw him.
He also talks about the things they DON'T want to have to teach you:
We're also hoping that some things won't need to be taught. As soon as you see a pair of giant armored hunters start bombarding the trees you are using as cover, we're assuming you'll learn to retreat pretty quickly.
It's a pretty good read - stop by and snag the rest! (Louis Wu 17:58:24 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction continues to grow
It landed on the platform no more than sixteen feet from him, then seemed to stretch its jelly-like mass towards the panel that he had previously been tinkering with. The feelings of anxiety reasserted themselves.
Bob's in trouble again, in the third segment of Tursas' 'Hermes Trismegistus'. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 01:58:37 UTC) (permalink)
News June 20 2001
The Arrival of something new
Not fully Halo-related... but absolutely worth a look. The visitors of the Fanfest Forum broke down the doors to arrival.bungie.org last night - and discovered some early Marathon memorabilia hidden in the cubbies behind. Level notes, discarded Bob sounds, even a bumper sticker... stop by and check it out. Username is 'archive', password is 'outline'. (Louis Wu 13:24:17 UTC) (permalink)
The march of the models
Bosskiller51 continues his modelling spree with the anti-armor rocket launcher - you'll find it at Halo's Universe. (Louis Wu 13:19:10 UTC) (permalink)
News June 19 2001
More modeled weapons at Halo's Universe
Continuing with the older weapons, Bosskiller51 adds the anti-aircraft rocket launcher to the list of modeled weapons. Check it out at Halo's Universe. (Louis Wu 08:28:36 UTC) (permalink)
bad redirects at halo.bungie.com
Eep. Decameron noticed, over on the R.net forum, that halo.bungie.com redirects to the wrong URL. Is someone working on the site? (New content, in other words?) Nah... probably just a mistake. Keep an eye on it, though... (Louis Wu 02:27:23 UTC) (permalink)
News June 18 2001
Ed Fries interview at TeamXBOX
Thanks to Char, who pointed out an interview with Microsoft's Ed Fries over at TeamXbox.com. It's a pretty interesting read, full of enthusiasm about the future (what a surprise, eh?). When asked how Microsoft is helping developers get the most out of the Xbox, Fries pointed out that
We have strong internal development teams with great programmers who know every Xbox trick and we send them out to help our partners. People like Jason Jones, lead programmer for Halo, have had a huge influence on many other games in development.
(This is one of the reasons Jason cited when asked why he wanted to work on the Xbox - the opportunity to shape the console.) Another interesting tidbit:
Almost all of our TV advertising will be devoted to specific games, not generically to the platform. I got to see a very early version of a Halo TV commercial the other day and even in its rough form it totally rocked. It was 95% footage from the actual game and it looked great.
Go read the rest of it - there are some choice nuggets in there. (Louis Wu 19:26:41 UTC) (permalink)
Still no SETI stats
As you might have noticed, there is (again) a lack of a Halo SETI update today. The SETI servers are STILL having troubles with their scripts - and there are no statistics available yet. When this changes, we'll run our stats. Apologies for the delay. (Louis Wu 16:46:29 UTC) (permalink)
Is there hope for films after all?
In last week's Halo Update, Matt said
On the programming side, we've made obstacle-avoidance and time-scale fixes (I'll leave it to you to guess why time might speed up or slow down during gameplay)
There was some speculation on the Marathon's Story page that this might refer to some Matrix-like fight scenes... and I'd considered that it might have something to do with long-term real-time campaigns. However, Mr Tree, on our forum, just pointed out what should have been obvious:
This is also a function of the play back in Myth.
(In Marathon, as well, for that matter.) Does this function, then, suggest that films have gotten a firmer foothold in the final featureset? We can only hope so! (Louis Wu 13:20:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Update Database augmented
Last week's Halo Update has been added to the Halo Update Database. The neat thing about the search function is that when you see something you think might be an error, you have an easy way to check it. Both Pallor and Hamish Sinclair (both usually very Bungie-savvy observers) questioned Matt's use of the word 'Jay' in this week's update - but a quick search would show that Jay Weinland was hired for the Cinematics team during the week of April 20th. What other interesting facts can you turn up? (Louis Wu 00:47:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo box spotted (excuse number 1: gone)
Kudos to LTJ, whose sharp eyes spotted a Halo case in a fan of games held up by Robbie Bach in a photo over at MSXbox (the story is about the state of the online strategy). It's pretty heartening to see a Halo box held up during a talk on MS's online strategy... could there be a second release? (Louis Wu 00:09:05 UTC) (permalink)
News June 17 2001
Why are we the way we are?
Of sort of general interest - Dead Glory, once a frequent visitor to our forum (and still around occasionally) interviewed a few prominent Bungie fans about the Bungie Community. Visit his site, and follow the 'Misc' link to the Bungie page to read the interviews. (Louis Wu 19:10:34 UTC) (permalink)
3d sniper rifle at Halo's Universe
Bosskiller51 continues his modeling frenzy - this time it's the Sniper Rifle. You'll find the 3d version over at Halo's Universe. (Louis Wu 18:59:17 UTC) (permalink)
News June 16 2001
More 3d models at Halo's Universe
Bosskiller51, of Halo's Universe, writes to say that they've added the minigun to thier collection of 3d-modeled weapons. (It's not clear if the minigun is still in the game - or if it still looks like this - but it's still worth a look.) Pax. (Crux Fidelis 16:14:29 UTC) (permalink)
Time-scale adjustments... mmmmm
This week's Halo Update is over at Haloplayers... and there's some good stuff in there. They did all this in a week? A new weapon, lots of AI stuff, cool multiplayer stuff, and the venerable SPNKr... there's a tear in my eye, excuse me. Go check out the details. (Thanks to Xboxman for the tap that it was up.) (Louis Wu 02:29:11 UTC) (permalink)
News June 15 2001
Halocenter looking for a new Manager
Halocenter, the MGON Halo site (one of the bigger Halo fansites), has lost its site manager. Hawk is stepping down, because he believes that Halo is no longer coming to the PC, and that Microsoft has 'brought Halo down to a cheap console game'. If you disagree with that opinion, and are interested in the (paid) Site Manager position, contact Ben Swarts for more info and an interview. (Louis Wu 19:12:00 UTC) (permalink)
Ambivalent Halo preview at Gamespot UK
GameSpot UK has posted a new preview of Halo, and the verdict is... confusing. Apart from the fact that they seem to be working from the Gamestock build (instead of the more recent E3 build), it's not clear whether they think Halo will knock your socks off, or if it's missed the boat... or both.
Taking off the rose-tinted spectacles, it soon becomes clear that the game doesn't actually have anything new to offer. Team play has been covered in Counter-Strike, and established companies like id Software and Epic Games bring us awesome graphics with every new engine. Action fans can find lavish detail in Deus Ex, whereas Tribes 2 has already done the tanks and jeeps thing to death, boasting numerous weapon-packed vehicles. Faced with these sobering facts, we can only conclude that it's the combination of all these features that makes Halo special - quite simply, Halo has everything.
In any case, it's worth a read - there's nothing really new, but it's a nice overview. (Louis Wu 15:22:24 UTC) (permalink)
Mercenary Halo tactics at ign.com
Hmm. Thanks to Cesar, of MSXbox.com, who pointed out this tidbit over at xbox.ign.com. Seems they grabbed a whole bunch of footage of gameplay during E3 (as did many other people, including us)... and they've converted it all to 3high-res (640x480) quicktime movies, available for download...
...from IGNinsider, their subscription-only website. A one year membership will run you $19.95. There aren't even any samples... so if you choose to spend the 20 bucks, be aware that while you might be getting high quality footage, you might just be getting the same off-the-plasma-display footage the rest of us gave you for free. (Louis Wu 02:07:21 UTC) (permalink)
News June 14 2001
Along came a spider
Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced his ears: a scream so horrifying that all of his hairs stood on end. It was the scream of death -- but not of human origin. The headache left him instantly. With the scream came more movement, not gradual as before. No, this time the thing hurtled at him at a speed he could barely perceive. Bob worked very hard to time his move.
Chapter 1 of 'Hermes Trismegistus', the second part of Tursas' ongoing fan fiction, is now available in our Fan Fiction section. Sounds like Bob needs help! (Louis Wu 01:57:17 UTC) (permalink)
News June 13 2001
Apple says Tamte to port Halo
Looks like the old rumors might prove to be true - Ven Jance points out an IMG article about Peter Tamte's new company, Destineer (and its mac label, Bold). In it, an Apple Gaming article entitled 'Mac Gaming Explosion', states
TamteÕs company will be publishing the Mac version of BungieÕs epic, Halo.
Nothing's for certain until Bungie themselves confirm it... but these are folks that ought to know. (Louis Wu 17:48:15 UTC) (permalink)
3d shotgun model at Halo's Universe
Bosskiller51, of Halo's Universe, writes to say that they've modeled the Halo shotgun in 3D. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 12:54:28 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox commercial?
Ngle suggests that an Xbox commercial has aired - very few details, though. Anyone sees this... let us know! (Louis Wu 01:32:23 UTC) (permalink)
Action Vault gives two thumbs up
Thanks to Aginor, who pointed out a pretty positive post-E3 Halo review at Action Vault.
If what we witnessed at E3 is any indication, Halo is shaping up to be a quality game, and one that's nearing the end of its cycle. Clearly, the team at Bungie Software is on a tight schedule to complete the project in time for the console's launch, but this certainly seems an attainable goal.
They liked the AI, and (unlike many reviewers) were very happy with the 'silky-smooth movement' and consistent framerate. Read the whole review for yourself! (Louis Wu 01:30:14 UTC) (permalink)
News June 12 2001
Jockstraps for wussy nar
Who says Bungie's not prepared? Lacsap points out an interesting entry in the newly-online Bungie Support Database... well, it brought a smile to my face. See what else you can find! (Louis Wu 16:39:33 UTC) (permalink)
New CS decal created from Halo logo
fAt1, of MPZ Halo, writes to say that he's taken an interesting Halo logo and turned it into a Counter-Strike decal. Grab it here, add it to your Counter-Strike directory, and you can use it just like any other tag in-game. (Louis Wu 01:42:09 UTC) (permalink)
Haloserver.com gets an overhaul
Thanks to Haloplayers, who noticed that Haloserver.com, shooting to be the first dedicated Halo server, has redesigned their site. Looks pretty nice (though rather sparse at the moment - and that cursor gets sorta annoying). Luckily, they have just under 5 months to get it all in shape... (Louis Wu 01:37:48 UTC) (permalink)
News June 11 2001
Halo gets mention in Baltimore Sun
eric points out that there's a Halo mention (including a small picture) in today's Baltimore Sun:
"Halo," by Microsoft. Soldiers and civilians at a colony of humans on another planet battle space aliens in what is expected to be one the Xbox's premiere games this fall.
This article doesn't seem to be online yet, but it's nice to hear about mainstream press coverage. Update: Sapwood, of Blam Gaming, writes to say that this article IS online - it can be found here. (The Sun's search function could use a little work, that's for sure.) (Louis Wu 16:49:22 UTC) (permalink)
No SETI stats this week... sorry
No SETI Update today, folks - the SETI servers had some problems last week that haven't been resolved yet. There are no real-time team stats available. We'll do a two-week update next week. (Louis Wu 13:52:08 UTC) (permalink)
283 separate items of update goodness
Last Friday's Halo Update has been added to the Halo Update Database - now you can see how long it takes for the skull to go from 'mostly done' to 'done but not properly textured yet'. (Note to Bungie: 2 weeks is too long.) (Louis Wu 01:13:58 UTC) (permalink)
News June 10 2001
Slow day at the OK Corral
Slow day on the Halo front... maybe folks are still digesting the Fan-Conducted Interview of the Halo Dev team, or maybe they're still chewing on this week's Halo Update (it'll be entering the Halo Update Database tomorrow)... or maybe they've all gone over to the Sightings forum to work on the Mystery of the Seven Dials, as Hamish Sinclair calls it. Wherever they are, they're not here... and we have no news to bring you. Go enjoy the fine weather... unless it's not fine where you are, in which case, surf the web, and send us new Halo stuff you find. (Louis Wu 21:45:00 UTC) (permalink)
News June 9 2001
Fan Conducted Interview Posted
Attention, KMart Shoppers... We're happy to announce that we have a special treat for you - the questions you submitted oh so many weeks ago (okay, it's only been about a month) have been answered! And they're not just throw-em-some-scraps answers, either... there's some honest-to-goodness meat on them thar bones. I won't waste any more of your time - go read 'em for yourself. (Louis Wu 02:12:46 UTC) (permalink)
Chinese Rocket Launchers
Woohoo! The Weekly Halo Update is over at Battleground: Halo this week, and it looks like weather is in! (Well, falling shell casings, anyway...) Better AI, better explosions, and Craig Mullins artwork! Check it all out at BG:H. (Louis Wu 02:08:16 UTC) (permalink)
New Wallpaper AND a Logo
Thanks to Fanatic, who submitted a new logo (in a bunch of permutations) and a new Wallpaper (using the logo). Enjoy! (Louis Wu 02:04:46 UTC) (permalink)
Yet MORE new Wallpaper
genohunter, of Clan Hell, drops us another new wallpaper - busy evening. The old and the new... together again. Grab it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 00:11:01 UTC) (permalink)
Hand-separated Halo Logo as Wallpaper
Wow, now THIS is dedication. Kevin Fitzpatrick sends in a newly-built Halo logo... and makes it available in a layered photoshop document, for those who want to tweak it as well. Pretty nice work! Check it out in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 00:04:08 UTC) (permalink)
Testers needed for a Halo screensaver
Eldar-colonel writes to say that freedom, of Garden of War, is building a Halo screensaver, and would like testers before he releases it. If you're interested, sign up on this forum. (Louis Wu 00:03:44 UTC) (permalink)
News June 8 2001
The Ring Gets Built
Wow. Ian Mankowski, who has submitted a few pieces of artwork to HBO in the past, drops another spectacular work in our laps. Titled 'Under Construction', it shows the building phase of the Halo - wild. Check it out in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 16:51:23 UTC) (permalink)
Audio Interview with Matt Soell at MacObserver
Bryan Chaffin, Editor-in-Chief of The Mac Observer, wrote to let us know that they've put up an audio interview with Matt Soell, recorded from the show floor at E3. It weighs in at a bit over 2 megs, and contains 15 minutes of insights into the development of Oni and Halo, and life at Microsoft. Here's a snippet, where Matt talks about story development in Halo:
A lot of the storyline has remained the same, it's just the game's depth - there's more to it now than there was. We really focused on trying to tell a story again, something we didn't do entirely successfully in Oni, I think we didn't even necessarily do it all that successfully in the myth games... like with Marathon (going back to that) it was really much more of a... you got a lot more story thrown at you in the course of the game, even though it was in static terminals, you got a lot more stuff to ponder, and there's a lot more of that feeling, of that storyline developing in Halo now than there ever used to be.
It's a nice view of how a Bungie employee sees Bungie... check it out. (Louis Wu 16:25:22 UTC) (permalink)
News June 7 2001
Details from Gamestar's E3 video
Thanks to an intrepid HBO agent in Germany, we've gotten our hands on the Gamestar CD movie mentioned a few days ago. Now, we can't actually put this movie online yet (to do so would violate Gamestar's copyright), but we can tell you that it contains filmed footage from the first two missions, as do most of the E3 movies. There is a telltale red glow at the bottom of the image, indicating that (like other films) it was recorded off one of the plasma screen displays (they had small halogen lights underneath them, which cast these red glows on the screens themselves). However, the quality is very high, higher than most other stuff out there... and the gameplay is quite good - looks like the player is no novice. There are some interesting tidbits in this film, such as flying Covenant Elites, a look at the newest Covenant race, and a spectacular view of the jeep's undercarriage. We'll make this available as soon as we can - please be patient. (Louis Wu 20:24:41 UTC) (permalink)
Even the big boys get it wrong
Frequent visitors to this site might wonder why, in the face of repeated assurances from Bungie that there WILL be PC/Mac versions of Halo, there are STILL people visiting the forums (ours and others) and asking about this. Well, it's because even the folks who SHOULD know get it wrong. At E3, Microsoft distributed an 8 page glossy PR flyer about the Xbox... and a quarter of one page was given over to an ad for Halo. Prominently placed is a green sticker-like note, saying 'Only on Xbox'. Likewise, a new magazine coming out this fall, 'Official Xbox Magazine', distributed a 'prototype' issue at E3, and it contained a 4-page Halo article:
On page 1, it says quite clearly that this game will be for the Xbox only - in fact, they go so far as to say 'Halo for the PC is no more!' (This, according to Matt Soell, is just plain wrong.) The Halo preview in this mag is an enjoyable read... but it's chock-full of errors (see how many YOU can spot). It's high-profile media like this, however, which is driving the 'no-PC' hysteria... so next time you see someone asking the question, assume they've simply read a poorly-informed source, and explain the true situation politely. (Louis Wu 19:24:16 UTC) (permalink)
New fan fiction arrives...
"You're not paid to guess where the tango was, Alpha leader," Simmons replied with disdain. He was about to voice the rest of his opinion, but was cut off -- very abruptly -- as the backpack filled with high explosive triggered.
New fan fiction from Tursas was in our Inbox today; Hermes Trismegistus - Prologue should get you hooked. Our Fan Fiction section continues to grow... (Louis Wu 00:24:42 UTC) (permalink)
News June 6 2001
The Xboxes are here! The Xboxes are here!
They've come in! Aginor sends in a pretty slick Bungie webcam shot... looks like the Xboxes have arrived. (Louis Wu 20:25:32 UTC) (permalink)
Poll Smash at MacGamer
Poll Smash! xxx xxx alerts us to the fact that MacGamer has a new poll up:
Which upcoming game are you looking most forward to?
Halo is currently holding a 3-vote lead over Warcraft III, but only 115 votes have been cast... you know what to do. (Louis Wu 16:47:56 UTC) (permalink)
XGR and Halo
X-Treme Gaming Radio put up their First Annual E3 Awards... and Halo didn't rate. Why? Well, yes, they had a Best FPS category... but they got overwhelmed:
This was definitely the second hardest category to decide. How do you limit the scope so you don't go insane with all the choices at this year's E3? Should I include Xbox titles? Don't think so. Ok, one down.
Ah, well... so it goes, sometimes. They DID do an extensive piece on the Xbox System and Titles last week (we missed it, unfortunately), and they LOVED Halo. You can't win 'em all! (Louis Wu 01:26:35 UTC) (permalink)
News June 5 2001
Strange Misc Art addition
This one's just... odd. Steen Nielsen submits a bit of miscellaneous art... we're not even gonna TRY to figure out the rationale. (Louis Wu 19:30:10 UTC) (permalink)
News June 4 2001
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
We wuz robbed... again! The Halo SETI Marines gained a pretty major new member (welcome, -=SHARkY=-), but the units just haven't shown up. Maybe next week? They've held on to position 49 in the Battle of the Teams by the skin of their teeth - comets&cats@seti is just a few units behind. Are YOU helping? Check the 7 day stats page to find out. (Louis Wu 14:31:55 UTC) (permalink)
Halo mentioned in Australia's Sunday Times
Aaron Kelder writes to say that Halo got a small mention in yesterday's Sunday Times, in Australia - a pretty major mainstream newspaper published in Perth. The article looked at new games to watch for on the PC, Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox... and Halo (and a small picture of the human dropship) were featured. Nice to hear! If anybody gets the chance to scan this article, we'd love to archive it - it doesn't seem to be online yet (though there IS an article raving about Halo at Gamestock). (Louis Wu 14:12:15 UTC) (permalink)
Movies section finally up-to-date
Well, it took MUCH longer than the 'next few days' I promised two weeks ago... but the Movies section is finally updated to include all the new E3 footage. Run through it and make sure you didn't miss any clips! (And if you see one I missed, be sure to let me know.) (Louis Wu 02:09:55 UTC) (permalink)
News June 3 2001
GamesFirst says yes to Halo
Thanks to Dan Rudolph, who noticed another Halo preview over at GamesFirst - pretty positive, overall. Go read it. (Louis Wu 21:40:10 UTC) (permalink)
New poll at Ozhalo
BluR, of Ozhalo, writes to say they've got a new poll up:
Who do you like best in Halo?
Go visit and let 'em know what you'll be playing as! (Louis Wu 19:42:51 UTC) (permalink)
Garden of War opens its doors
Freedom writes to say that Garden of War, a new Halo site, has come online. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 19:36:02 UTC) (permalink)
New German GameStar Halo video details
Massa webmaster over at Halo Network describes in detail the new German GameStar Halo video:
New GameStar-video: The same as with the last one - we're not yet allowed to publish it on the web. But one thing is sure - the quality is good and the footage is all new. It shows the E3-level from the beginning - well, not exactly... it starts with the escape-pod crashing onto the Halo. Player exits and the action starts. Some covenant-forces arrive with their version of the dropship, but they're no match for the marine, who is supported by some bobs. The battle goes on and the humans retreat onto some sort of platform which has been seen on the last official screenshots. From this position it is easy for the human-forces to take the covenant our. CUT, some jeep action (including the player running over some covenant with the jeep). CUT, some indoor-scenes (not very spectacular, but one of the new covenant [which also appeared on the recently published screens] appears and is killed) - that's it.
People who got the DVD-Version of the GameStar own the video in DVD-quality (well, as far as a filmed video can have DVD-quality ;o)
We need that movie! (Ding 13:57:28 UTC) (permalink)
News June 2 2001
Gamestar's got the goods
fate writes to say that the Gamestar website has a poll up, asking which E3 game you're waiting for the most. Halo currently holds a strong lead... but a few more votes couldn't hurt. Also, as reported on Halo Network, the print version of Gamestar (German-only, unfortunately) will have a new Halo video ('all new footage', apparently). Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 17:12:48 UTC) (permalink)
New 3D model of the Assault Rifle
Bosskiller51 writes to say that he's modeled the Halo assault rifle entirely in 3D. Check it out on the Halo's Universe page. (It's a tad fancier than our own model, done by Ian McConville about a year ago.) (Louis Wu 17:09:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo on BBC
Wow. Thanks to fAt1, of MPZ Halo, who pointed us to a pretty nice mainstream press mention of Halo - the BBC ran a piece on how the Xbox is challenging the PS2, and Halo is one of two Xbox games shown in play (and the only one mentioned by name). The 2 minute long video (sorry, only a few seconds of Halo) is available here in Real Media format. (Louis Wu 10:23:40 UTC) (permalink)
Happy Birthday, Jason and Peter!
In case you missed the reference in the weekly update, Jason Jones turned thirty yesterday. Marty "Old Geezer" O'Donnell blows him a big kiss on our forum - and we'd like to throw in our own wishes for a fruitful few decades to come! (And Peter Marks, too... Marty says he's still a youngster, but when you're old enough to put your teeth in a glass at night, anything under 40 is young.) (Louis Wu 03:42:29 UTC) (permalink)
Birthdays all around
Gawd. Cortana has a body! Matt's Halo Update is here this week, and it's got a few zingers in it. Cortana's corporeal self is one, in-air battles another, and the kicker:
The tank is back in, too.
Wonga. We'll be adding this to the Halo Update Database very soon - if you wonder what John's been doing, for example, it's a useful tool. (Louis Wu 03:17:41 UTC) (permalink)
News June 1 2001
Pebbles in the sand
Mmm... something's cooking... Cortana.org puts up a placeholder - no real clue what's coming, but its owner, Steve Campbell, has popped up on our forum again... a sign of new things coming? (Louis Wu 20:57:07 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper competition at Ozhalo
Terror dropped by our forum to say that Ozhalo, Australia's premier Halo site, is running a wallpaper competition. Top prize is a Window Kit from Extreme PC Mods. Stop by and check out the details! (Louis Wu 12:27:28 UTC) (permalink)
| June 2001 | |
