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June 2009

June 2009 Archived News

News June 30 2009

Making Halo Wars look like Halo
GrimBrother One noticed a new Developer Blog at HaloWars.com - this one discusses how the Halo Wars team matched the art style of the Halo universe... with minimal help from Bungie. Interesting read! (Louis Wu 22:37:29 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Fun for your Tuesday Afternoon
Stuff that showed up on the BungLog™ since I headed out this afternoon:

• The latest 'Know Your Ninja' feature looks at Butane123, who will ban you as soon as look at you. Wait, that's not right. ...who's a really nice guy, and will buy you hot chocolate. No, that's not right, either. Oh, go read the piece, and see what he's like.
• CMNeir and friends have released 'Can't Help But Stare' - I guess there are things more important than playing Halo. Or something.
• My Halo Life has released 'They Call Me Chief' - which makes absolutely no sense. I think that's the point.

Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 22:35:04 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie.net Stats Maintenance
Bungie.net stats are offline today, for a short time, starting soon. (If that sounds vague, blame urk.) Just maintenance, though - don't get all excited about new features or anything. Update: urk wanted to point out that it was actually Achronos who posted that vague note, not him. Way to man up, urk. (Louis Wu 16:21:34 UTC) (permalink)

Seattle Times Followup - Harold Ryan Interview
General Vagueness let us know about a followup article to the Seattle Times piece we mentioned yesterday; it contains edited excerpts from an interview with Bungie's Harold Ryan. It's really a fascinating read; Ryan doesn't cross the line about what can and can't be spoken of, but he certainly does a good job of fleshing out the intermediate spaces. If you're interested in how Bungie works, and where their president thinks they're going, you should read this. (There are small tidbits about Reach in here, too - nothing earth-shattering, but certainly more than we knew before.) (Louis Wu 15:24:22 UTC) (permalink)

Feed me, Seymour!
Hawty McBloggy pointed out a pretty funny clip of some gameplay on Sandtrap; Swing by and give her the 28 seconds it takes to watch this, because it'll make you laugh. (Louis Wu 14:33:03 UTC) (permalink)

Red vs Blue Recreation Ch. 3: Visiting Hours
Red vs Blue Recreation Chapter 3: Visiting Hours is up for Sponsors now, and will be up for the general public later this evening. Donut seems to have confused Caboose (not that that's really difficult)... and I'm not sure about the whole ransom thing. Sounds like the mystery's getting deeper, though... (Louis Wu 00:21:46 UTC) (permalink)

News June 29 2009

2v2 tourney starting in July at iGames
Servando Pena let us know about a multiweek Halo 3 2v2 slayer tournament being hosted by iGames (an organization of LAN gaming centers) being held on Thursdays around the US. The regular season starts on July 2, and the playoffs start 6 weeks later (August 13). More details can be found at the iGames website. Servando's center, Evolution Games, is participating - if you're in the San Antonio, TX area, stop by! (Louis Wu 19:35:28 UTC) (permalink)

ubald's final permutations
Tony 'ubald' Marcotte sent word of another Halo render he'd completed - this one shows off the last of the armor permutations he hasn't done. Rogue, Scout, and Mark V are all shown. We've added the image to his gallery here at HBO. Check it out! (Louis Wu 19:00:36 UTC) (permalink)

These don't just grow on vehicle trees!
It's been a while since he sent along any new snippets, but Captain Spark was apparently driving pretty badly recently. Check out the results in our Dialogue Databank! (Louis Wu 17:43:01 UTC) (permalink)

A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - the Conclusion
Leviathan seems to have gotten tired of the 'one page every few days' release schedule of his graphic novel-ish story called 'A Sangeili's War Is Never Over' - he released the last four episodes all at once today. (Episodes 8 and 9, with a recap from episode 7, are in this forum post... and episodes 10 and 11 are in this forum post.) This really was a fantastic story - great plot, amazing artwork. If you've missed it, start at the beginning (links are in the first post)... if you've been keeping up, read the end! (Louis Wu 17:20:32 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release - HSSBOB
The Tag and Release feature released today uses 'HSSBOB' as the flagged term - it's screenshots submitted for HaloScreenshots.com's Best of the Best competition. Check out the images urk came up with - and then search the tag yourself, for even more goodies! (Louis Wu 17:17:22 UTC) (permalink)

Comic Monday
Looks like the only updated comic we know about is Bloogyo's mention of Rat's Nest 19 7 - guess it was a slow weekend! (Louis Wu 17:14:09 UTC) (permalink)

Forge Hub Favorites: Edition I
ForgeHub has kicked off a 'Favorites' section, spotlighting the best recent work from their members. Swing by and see what's there for download! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 17:08:21 UTC) (permalink)

UK ODST Discount Evaporating
tb2571989 pointed out that UK retailer Argos has upped their price for Halo 3: ODST from £26.99 to £36.49 - much more in line with the US price of $60. (Nearly exactly in line, in fact.) If you're a UK buyer, and didn't preorder when we mentioned the price war a couple of weeks ago, it looks like you might ALMOST have missed your window - GAME and Gamestation have also bumped their prices up to the £35 range. Gameplay (as of the time of this writing) is still offering the game at £30 - this might be your best bet, and will almost certainly rise soon. (Louis Wu 17:05:29 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST - mixing it up
The Seattle Times has posted an interesting summary of Halo 3: ODST, with some nice background info on Bungie themselves. If you're interested in where they are, and where they're going, this is worth a read. (Louis Wu 13:36:29 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief and Cortana Tribute
j m sent us a link to a tribute video he made, paying homage to the love between Cortana and the Chief. Starts slow, but the overall feeling is quite good. (Louis Wu 13:35:29 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... they - what?
This post, on a chinese forum, found its way into my Google Alerts folder. I have to say, it's one of the hardest-to-read posts I've seen in a while (from a color/background standpoint)... and it's one of the most out-there theories I've ever seen (from a crazy fan standpoint). Sort of fun to see all of the 'evidence' in one place, though...Update: this is almost surreal - Narcogen pointed out that this is a repost of a Bungie.net forum post originally put online in late 2007 (just after the release of Halo 3). Whoa. (Louis Wu 13:34:47 UTC) (permalink)

News June 28 2009

You can't HANDLE the tru7h!
Alien Emperor sent us How B.U.N.G.L.E. Are You?, a Flash-based test to find out your suitability for Bungie's B.U.N.G.L.E. - are you fit? Go see! (Louis Wu 17:06:43 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Fails: Episode 22
The latest Halo 3 Fails (Episode 22) is now life - the Throwing Fail on Blackout was pretty funny. (Lots of 'em are funny, actually - that one just made me laugh harder.) Thanks, Chris10023. (Louis Wu 15:24:48 UTC) (permalink)

Another Preview of Halo: Helljumper
CaptainTony pointed out a bunch of new content he's added to Halopedia, collected from an IGN Preview of the first issue of Halo: Helljumper, the next Halo comic coming from Marvel. Five pages (no dialogue) plus the cover - when coupled with Marvel's own preview, that's got to be a significant chunk of the issue! (Louis Wu 15:24:12 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Pro Render to Video Review at 360Junkies
ikillbambis let us know that he's written a review of the Bungie Pro Render to Video service over at 360Junkies - if you're not really sure how easy it is to use this service, give this a read. (Louis Wu 15:23:50 UTC) (permalink)

Grifball Summer League 09 Kicking Off
Looks like it's time for the next season of Grifball league play! Swing by grifball.com to sign up for the Summer League 09. Thanks, The Thurmanator. (Louis Wu 15:22:47 UTC) (permalink)

Hawty McBloggy - the gift that keeps on giving
There's plenty of OTHER Halo content on Hawty's blog in the last day or so, too - check out this really huggable stuffed Master Chief, and a short video showing one of those 'hey, what just happened?' moments we've all run across in Matchmaking. Typical - on a day she's supposed to be getting presents from others, she continues to give. Thanks, angel! (Louis Wu 15:20:49 UTC) (permalink)

Birthdays are for celebrating.
Yesterday was Hawty McBloggy's birthday - and a bunch of regulars on her blog put together a tribute song to celebrate. Boom-Dee-Ya-da gets another Halo rendition - but this time, the lyrics are all new. Happy birthday, angel! (Thanks to Captain Spark for pointing it out.) (Louis Wu 15:19:43 UTC) (permalink)

News June 27 2009

Fundfax Fairraiser - ENDING TONIGHT
Due to some unforeseen (and VERY unfair to Hawty) circumstances, the Fundfax Fairraiser (the fundraiser Hawty McBloggy set up for Marissa's Bunny) is ending quite early - tonight, at midnight, in fact. You've got just under 9 hours to buy some virtual raffle tickets, and make a difference in a little girl's life, and maybe win yourself some super-cool schwag. If you were planning on participating, but hadn't gotten to it yet (it was, after all, supposed to run through July 7)... now's the time. Sorry for the short notice! (Louis Wu 22:26:48 UTC) (permalink)

HBO's Music Page - Reborn
Occasionally, we get flak in our forum from people who complain that many areas of our site are out of date. They're right - many sections ARE out of date. This is because right now, we have a pretty limited staff (it's mostly me, except in an emergency), and maintaining the front page is pretty much all we can manage on a day-to-day basis. When these complaints come up, I usually take the opportunity to solicit volunteers - anyone who feels like helping out, we're happy to find work for you! We don't often get any takers on this - and I understand completely; the work to be done is mountainous, and often tedious. Not long ago, though, ElusiveEagle519 stepped up to the plate, and said he'd be happy to do some organizing. Have at it, I told him... and promptly forgot about it. (He'd either give up, in which case I'd be better off not getting my hopes up... or he'd come through, which would make me really happy, but didn't require further consideration until it happened.) He came through. He attacked our Music section, and not only brought a page that hadn't been touched since 2000 up to date, he did it with s7yle. It's a great summary of the history of Halo's music, the magic behind the team that creates it, the contributions of fans to the corpus, plus a roundup of all the interviews that the Bungie audio team members have given in the last 10 years (that are still accessible). Whoa! Go read it - and revel in the warmth of true fan love. Thanks, Daniel! (Louis Wu 02:37:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST/Halo 2 The beginning
jakebryant1330 has put together a video showing the start of Halo 3: ODST, using footage from Halo 2, Halo 3: ODST, and released trailers. Very nicely done! Check it out. 4 minutes long. Thanks, CaLL Me ZeNy. (Louis Wu 02:34:55 UTC) (permalink)

urk in high heels? Hrm...
The Bungie Weekly Update is live, seeing as it's Friday night (well, Saturday morning in HBO-time, but Bungie's 7 hours behind) - this one's a fun read. Apparently, Nathan Fillion stopped by the studio - not to record dialogue, but to play some ODST and satisfy some fanboi fawning. (Nice pics) Also, details of upcoming changes next month to playlists, and the Render-to-Video service, and more! Go read. As always, we offer you the choice of doing so in our own Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 02:19:56 UTC) (permalink)

Trinity Requiem
It's been a while since we've heard from PraetoriaGuard... but they were a pretty loud community voice, back in the day. And at one point, they were building Trinity, a pretty ambitious machinima project. Well, Trinity never saw the light of day... but Eisen Feuer has released Trinity Requiem - a look back at what it was, and maybe what it could have been. 87 hours of footage will fly by in 6 minutes - don't blink. This works surprisingly well, actually; as I watched, I found myself being washed with waves of nostalgia. Go grab a copy - it weighs in at 113 mb, and it's being co-hosted by PG and us. (Links are on the PG page, but if it goes down for whatever reason, we'll put up local links.) (Louis Wu 02:09:31 UTC) (permalink)

TP Presents: How to Suck Less at Halo Vol.2 - Wraith
jake108 sent word of the next episode of Teabag Prevention - this one should help you kill with a Wraith (or kill one, if you need to). Go read up on how to hone those lumbering skills! (Louis Wu 02:05:58 UTC) (permalink)

News June 26 2009

I feel bad for the Donkey Kong guy.
IGN put together a documentary on Moto-Neural Demyelination. Never heard of it? There's a reason for that. Go watch, and learn. Yes, it's Halo-related. (For what it's worth - I think they could have picked a better name for the disease - it cuts awfully close to REAL motor neuron disorders. I don't think they were shooting for 'mean', though.) (Louis Wu 18:34:13 UTC) (permalink)

Movie Mania
New crop of videos for your perusal pleasure at Bungie.net today:

• Top 10 Halo 3 Fails has a collection of substandard gameplay - some of which is very funny. (The Flag Stop Fail at #3 is just amazing to watch.)
• Splattered by a Spartan shows that you don't have to bump the speed up to 300% to make Spartans deadly weapons even without guns or grenades.
• Flying High is a montage from Bagel with pretty nice editing - 8 minutes.

Whip up a batch of popcorn and go watch! (Louis Wu 18:03:28 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief Theater 3000 - Episode 306
Smiley let us know that Episode 306 of Pyrosmile Productions' Master Chief Theater 3000 (with super-fast Library cutscenes and then normal-speed Two Betrayals scenes) is now up on YouTube. Slowed-down version will be available later today. (Louis Wu 16:15:21 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 52
Wait... it's Friday? Must be Caption Fun Day at Hawty McBloggy's! Go read last week's gems, then make up your own for this week! A full year's worth (though not in sequential weeks) - that's pretty impressive! (Louis Wu 14:26:02 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
A solid seven pieces are up this week in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 11:33:42 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Hefty collection of new comics since the last update:

• 2501 has released two new episodes - Episode 70 came out on Wednesday (thanks, urk), and Episode 71 came out yesterday (thanks again, urk).
• There are two new Reclaimers, too - TTL Demag0gue let us know yesterday that he'd posted a special Thursday edition (Episode 198 is called 'Puzzling Things Out', and Reclaimer is working with his AI to figure out what's going on with those odd communications), and today is a standard release day - Episode 199 (Mimic) brings up some heretofore unknown skills of Tran's.
• Dennis Powers told us about Shipwrecked Episode 74 - End Game; the battle between Gaia and Dominion comes to a head.
• Bloogyo stopped in with the good news that his Xbox is fixed - he's got Rat's Nest 19 5 and a new lawltage to celebrate.

That should keep you occupied while the coffee is brewing! (Louis Wu 11:28:22 UTC) (permalink)

News June 25 2009

Summer Mythic Recon Challenge: The Storm
Eep - almost missed it! The third installment of Tyrant's Summer Mythic Recon Challenge goes live tomorrow - The Storm is the level you'll be fighting with (literally). Win, and the coveted Recon armor is yours. More details are available on Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 23:53:48 UTC) (permalink)

Dave Candland - not dumb or lazy as a sack of bricks
The latest Broken In article at Bungie focuses on Dave Candland, Interface Designer nonpareil. He's got some good stuff to say - about where he came from, how he got to where he is, and what you can do to improve your own chances of following him. Go read! (Louis Wu 23:48:31 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST Campaign Impressions from Kotaku
Kotaku's Stephen Totilo attended an event in New York this week in which he got the chance to play through some of Halo 3: ODST's campaign, and he's written up his impressions. Swing by and give 'em a read! (Louis Wu 22:26:52 UTC) (permalink)

Hero - A Halo 3 Trailer
Kral let us know about a montage he edited - the trailer is up here. Great gameplay, and nice editing! (Louis Wu 21:53:59 UTC) (permalink)

Flag Taken.
I was out when this went up, at 10 am PST... but Team Flag is live as this week's Double Experience playlist. Go play! (Louis Wu 21:34:24 UTC) (permalink)

Honoring Bungie Day, Fan-Style
FyreWulff is going to try and hit 7,777 games played on Xbox LIVE on Bungie Day, July 7 - he's starting tomorrow morning. (As of right now, he's got 7,343 games played - I don't think he could have asked for a better (more Bungie-ish) starting place.) He's got 12 days to play 434 games... that's a non-trivial task, given that he's planning on playing every single one of those as legit games. (If you figure 10 minutes a game, average, you're looking at 72 hours of playing time, spread over 12 days - that's 6 hours per day, every day.) If you play with him during this time (and aren't disqualified by a few simple rules), you're in the running for some cool prizes. Check out his post for all the details! (Louis Wu 21:26:57 UTC) (permalink)

Calvin and Hobbes... with bigger guns
Bungie.net has put up an article showing off a very cool large-scale Sandbox map created by GhaleonEB - go check out screenshots and an interview, with lots of good info from Ghaleon himself. (Louis Wu 21:12:15 UTC) (permalink)

A Mongoose Montage 3
Wanna see a lot of people get run over with a mongoose? Go watch i like pie727's third Mongoose Montage, over at YouTube. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 20:53:07 UTC) (permalink)

It's that time of year...
Buttskunk noticed a feature at Pwn or Die - Master Chief gets some High School Senior pictures taken! Bizarro. (Louis Wu 14:54:26 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 ODST Drop Pod - in Banjo: Kazooie
CaLL Me ZeNy, who, apparently, is angling for the HBO foreign correspondent position, let us know about an interpretation of the ODST mechanic in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. The guy's still gotta work on that landing (I'd hate to be in the pod when it hits), but the drop is pretty cool! (Louis Wu 13:43:19 UTC) (permalink)

Podcast Interview with head of Canada's PGL
Curtis Blakely sent word that the latest Lunchpail Platoon podcast, from nerdballoon.com, has an interview with Keith Gronning, the head of Canada's Pro Gaming League. Discussion ranges from pro gaming in general to this weekend's PGL tournament in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - swing by to listen, and if you're in the area, join them at the tournament! (Louis Wu 13:42:54 UTC) (permalink)

What the French, Episode 5
CaLL Me ZeNy pointed out What the French, Episode 5 - another collection of 'wtf' moments in Matchmaking, this time with French titles. The action's still universally understandable, though... go watch! (Louis Wu 13:42:15 UTC) (permalink)

News June 24 2009

In which Joe and Pete did WHAT?
Bungie has posted their newest podcast, doing a post-E3 wrapup, discussing the highlights and low points of the week in LA, along with their normal shenanigans. The podcast weighs in at 1:17 long, 77 mb (COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT) - go grab a copy! (Louis Wu 22:58:34 UTC) (permalink)

Ten FTW Halo 3 Sniper Kills
KillPie put together an episode of Ten FTW - this one is Top 10 Halo 3 Sniper Kills. While a collection like this will NEVER feature me, I can still appreciate the lightning-fast reflexes and pinpoint accuracy in some of these clips. Go watch! Thanks to Hawty McBloggy, who brings her own special brand of commentary to the table. (Louis Wu 22:31:18 UTC) (permalink)

Prevalent use of local sandstone, indeed
bluerunner noticed a Top 10 feature at Architects Journal that looks at architecture in computer games - and Halo/Halo 2 show up in the fourth position. Nice! (Louis Wu 22:24:00 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Afternoon at the Movies, Redux
Two more vids for you on the Bungie Blog this afternoon - it's wonderful when I leave! Walshypru built a Rube-Goldberg golf ball path... and Lanman94 posted a montage of the Forge Cafe vs Forge Hub faceoff last week. Go watch! (Louis Wu 22:21:04 UTC) (permalink)

McFarlane Series 6 Exclusives
Fragclone noticed a new page over at Spawn.com - it discusses the upcoming Series 6 exclusive images in McFarlane's Halo 3 Action Figure line. The image links don't work - but the text is fine, and contains information about where each exclusive will be sold. Update: Pictures fixed. (Louis Wu 18:54:25 UTC) (permalink)

Community Spotlight: Major League Driving
It's Wednesday, so it's time for another Community Spotlight - this week, it shines on Major League Driving, a group committed to vehicular mayhem in Halo 3. Go read about the group, and check out their Favorites! (Louis Wu 18:51:38 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Afternoon at the Movies
A couple more movies for you today, courtesy of the Bungie Blog:

• Neir Productions whipped up 'The One', less about The Matrix than about that emoution you always think of when you think about Halo... love. ...wait, what?
• Project Rooster released an introduction for '8-Bit Halo', a look at what Halo might have been like had it been made in the 80s. Hard to judge, yet...

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:49:20 UTC) (permalink)

Outpost: Isil Episode 12
Paul 'Bzerker01' Shelley let us know that Outpost: Isil Episode 12 - Losing Faith - is now available for download from the Treeskunk Productions website. Lots of plot developments! (Louis Wu 18:18:08 UTC) (permalink)

The Death of Fantasy
Halopen Films has released 'The Death of Fantasy' - a very long (33 minutes) silent, black and white Halo 3 machinima, done in the style of early silent movies. Ambitious! You can find a full-length version on Vimeo, or a four-part version (1 | 2 | 3 | 4) on YouTube. There's also audio commentary (and other options) in this thread at Halopen. Thanks, Firestorm12. (Louis Wu 14:54:54 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Achievements... 'leaked' (not really)
darthbob pointed out a new YouTube video, purporting to show off the Halo 3: ODST Achievements. If this were real, I'd hesitate to post it; Bungie has not released this information yet, and many Bungie fans don't take kindly to being spoiled early. However, I'm pretty confident this is a fake - albeit a really nicely done fake. The inconsistencies in the text give it away - but I'll say that the artwork is spectacular! I'd love higher-res versions of those Achievement icons - they're fantastic! (Check the thread for lots of indications of why these aren't real.) (Louis Wu 13:11:18 UTC) (permalink)

Halo RPG Beta
Angryfacing let us know that he's launched a Halo RPG game - you need to sign up on the forums to be allowed in. (Louis Wu 13:10:40 UTC) (permalink)

Tomorrow
Tommy92L put together 'Tomorrow', a Halo CE machinima built to provide the feel of Halo 3: ODST. Very moody... feels great! Go watch, it's only two minutes. (Louis Wu 12:46:18 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
Let's see what we've got today...

• Adam Susskind let us know about Chaos Theory Episode 24 (End of the War) - it's the second-to-last episode!
• Bloogyo told us that he's still got a few screenshots left - Rat's Nest 19 3 is live.
• TTL Demag0gue announced the posting of Reclaimer 197 - Foreign Languages - and something might have gotten lost in the translation.
• Hawty McBloggy let us know that ODS Steve #30 (Let Loose the Dog of War) is up now... looks like Steve and his buddies are about to get some help.

That's it for now! (Louis Wu 12:40:54 UTC) (permalink)

News June 23 2009

The Fundfax Fairraiser - helping a little girl in need
Hawty McBloggy has put together a raffle in which you can win all sorts of really cool stuff... with the proceeds going to support Marissa, the little girl with infantile spasms whose bunny still travels the planet raising awareness. Every dollar you throw into the pot gets you a (virtual) raffle ticket - giving you the chance to win goodies from any of three amazing prize pools. Go read about it, check out the prizes, and then toss in some dollars! (It's very possible that more prizes will come online over the course of the raffle, so check back regularly! We'll be reminding you over the next couple of weeks.) (Louis Wu 20:59:01 UTC) (permalink)

Those helmets are too hot, anyway.
Looks like someone at DailyMotion did what they were asked not to do at E3, and browsed through some non-front-and-center menus. They've put up a clip of the Appearance menu, showing that you can choose to adorn your ODST with a helmet... or without one. Thanks to CaLL Me ZeNy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:49:11 UTC) (permalink)

Halo is Not Enough
Apparently, Gearbox's Randy Pitchford is itching for non-Halo content from Bungie... so much so he's asking for it publicly, according to Computer and Videogames. When Randy Pitchford calls you a one-trick pony... (Louis Wu 20:46:26 UTC) (permalink)

Pickin' the low-hangin' fruit
Goodies to be found on the BungLog™ this afternoon:

• Silent Dragon 11 used sounds of battle recorded on Mythic maps to create 'music' (or at least percussion) of a sort. This has been done before, but I can't find any links in a cursory search, so go watch this one!
• The HIH community put together a Halo 3 jumping video called 'Rise Above It'. Lots of cool jumps!
• urk interviewed xianoa, another bungie.net Average Joe - go see what he has to say!

Good stuff... (Louis Wu 20:41:29 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chalk
Hawty McBloggy found a great pic of the Master Chief - done in chalk. (It's part of a huge sidewalk art festival in Pasadena, CA.) Halo love shows up in lots of places! (Louis Wu 12:21:24 UTC) (permalink)

CE United interviews TRR's Kete
Willy, from CE United, has kicked off a new feature - 20 Questions with Halo community members. First up - Kete, from the Running Riot Podcast. Swing by and see what he has to say! (Louis Wu 12:21:05 UTC) (permalink)

Red vs Blue: Recreation Chapter 2 - Free Refills
Right on schedule, the second episode of Red vs Blue: Recreation ('Free Refills') went live last night (looks like Dratt was first with the news). Still not clear where this one is going... but it's obviously gonna be a funny ride. And it looks like (the rest of) the Blues might be joining us again. (Wait, was that a spoiler?) (Louis Wu 12:20:13 UTC) (permalink)

News June 22 2009

What sort of goodies should Halopedia give you?
Wikia Gaming and Halopedia have made a deal with Microsoft to release some exclusive ODST assets - they just want your opinion about what you want to see! Swing by the site and read the details. Thanks, CaptainTony. (Louis Wu 23:37:51 UTC) (permalink)

Render to Video Beta - now for all Bungie Pro members
For all those Bungie Pro members who got that service by buying Mythic Maps (or bundled with something else) - you can now try out the Render to Video service for yourself! Looks like you start off with 5 render minutes - that's 5 minutes of SD footage, or 1 minute of HD footage. Go play! (Louis Wu 21:09:27 UTC) (permalink)

Beautiful Places
The latest Tag and Release feature is up at Bungie.net - the tag was 'Landscape', and MAN does it bring up some pretty pictures. Go look! (Louis Wu 18:30:24 UTC) (permalink)

Hard Justice S2: Episode 6
Looks like DigitalPh33r - oops, sorry, Jon CJG - has updated his Hard Justice series with Season 2, Episode 6 - Bernard and Eddie decide that jail for Bernard isn't such a good idea. And someone that should be dead... is back. 10 minutes (well, 9 plus credits). Thanks to the Bungie Blog for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:26:38 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Apologies for the lack of updates - life is... not very much fun today. Quick comic roundup:

• Bloogyo told us about Rat's Nest 19 2 - which might be the last one for a while, because his Xbox just broke. <sadface>
• TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of Reclaimer 196 - Escape Route; the Reclaimer needs off the tether... and fast.
• The Catfish let urk know about 2501 Episode 69 - revisiting old friends.

A little late for morning coffee (in most places)... but go read anyway! Update: oops, looks like Dilly found a Halo reference in today's episode of F@NB0Y$... and Dennis Powers sent word that Shipwrecked Episode 73 - Clash of Titans is live. I thought I was late - looks like I was early! (Louis Wu 17:10:39 UTC) (permalink)

News June 21 2009

Honoring dad
Enjoy your Father's Day today, everyone! (Louis Wu 15:46:19 UTC) (permalink)

Podtacular 193
Podtacular this week has a guest from ANOTHER Halo podcast - Ryaaan14, from Real 7alk. Swing by to listen (39 mb, 85 minutes). Thanks, GLewis. (Louis Wu 15:45:55 UTC) (permalink)

Another Major League Serious Montage!
Helveck put together another funtage that he's posted on YouTube - clips that are entertaining, as opposed to showing how skilled he is. Some of these should make you laugh! (Louis Wu 15:45:18 UTC) (permalink)

News June 20 2009

Keeping track of peripheral action is REALLY hard.
Wow. Them Texans, not wanting to EVER be outdone, went and set up a game of Halo 3 (among other games) on a 160-by-72-foot (not inch) screen; the Cowboys Stadium LED wall was used to play some 360 stuff during downtime. That has got to be the biggest screen hosting a game of Halo... ever. Thanks, Blackstar. (Louis Wu 22:17:39 UTC) (permalink)

Security Zone, in SketchUp
juzzz is back - this time with a SketchUp file of 'Security Zone', the other Firefight map shown at E3. Once again, the work does a great job of detailing the space! We've added local copies of all screens and the SketchUp file itself to CaLL Me ZeNy's HBO forum post - we'd hate for you to miss this! (Louis Wu 15:03:52 UTC) (permalink)

Halo CE 2v2 tourney in Michigan
CyReN stopped in to announced a Halo 1 tournament in Canton, Michigan - 5 hours of old-school gaming (original Xboxes and Dukes, if interested, supplied) on July 12. Swing by his post for more info! (Louis Wu 15:03:30 UTC) (permalink)

Cheap LIVE
ElusiveEagle519 noticed that Gamestop is currently offering 12-month LIVE cards for $39.99, a full $10 off their normal price. Wanna get your matchmaking skills in order before ODST comes out? Here's a cheap(er) way to do it! (Louis Wu 15:02:55 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Interactive Desktop
nomis78 let us know about a Halo 3-based interactive desktop highlighted at Lifehacker - all of the HUD features actually do things! According to the creator, it should be available for download later this month. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:02:30 UTC) (permalink)

Zee update - she eez up!
What happens on Fridays? Oh, yeah, Bungie releases its Weekly Update - and this Friday is no different. This one focuses heavily on Crater[night], one of the maps you'll be getting well acquainted with once you get your hands on ODST's Firefight mode. It's not all that's in there, though - there's also some important Render-To-Video beta news (they're deleting ALL rendered videos on Monday, so download the ones you want NOW - and also on Monday, ALL Bungie Pro subscribers - not just those who paid for it - will be able to use the service), and some Haloscreenshots.com contest info, and a few other tidbits. Including some awesome sound clips from Johnson. Go read! (Either at Bungie.net, or here, in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 01:16:59 UTC) (permalink)

News June 19 2009

A Gamer's Alphabet - a charity project
I received an email from mick, a friend of Marissa's dad, Mike. (Marissa, if you haven't been reading long, is a little girl with infantile spasms; her dad started a program whereby Fairfax, a stuffed bunny, has been visiting people and places around the world (and getting photographed doing it) to raise awareness about Marissa's illness.) mick came up with the idea of creating a Gamer's Alphabet - a small book which would (in theory) contain a set of illustrated gamer words. (There is a conversation over at fazyluckers that might help explain what's involved.) If you'd like to help, swing by and sign up - you'll need to tell Chris, who approves all members, that mick sent you. There are so many amazing artists in the Halo community - by adding your skills to this project, you can help create a really cool little book that can be sold to help out Marissa! (Louis Wu 20:19:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Uprising - a commercial hit
Wow - the Halo Uprising hardcover isn't just doing well - it's #1 on the New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller List for June 13. (Okay, okay, it's the Graphic Book list... but still.) Little bit of a writeup, even... (Louis Wu 20:06:14 UTC) (permalink)

Eric Nylund Interview at the 405th
Adam Grumbo of the 405th has interviewed Eric Nylund about writing, Halo, and what else is going on in his life. It's got some meat, with respect to Halo tidbits we haven't heard before (mostly where ideas came from and such) - give it a read! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 19:31:42 UTC) (permalink)

Super Smash Brothers: Halo Edition
wwm0nkey1 grabbed a Hyrule Temple map from ForgeHub and whipped up a 'Super Smash Brothers: Halo Edition' video. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do... (Louis Wu 19:17:06 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interview: Alec 944
The Aesthetic Artist Interview series is back - well, on its new bi-weekly schedule. The latest interview is with Alec 944, the man who started the whole 'interview a screenshot artist' idea in the first place. Go read - and check out some of his work! (Louis Wu 18:13:37 UTC) (permalink)

Impressions: Halo Uprising
Destructoid has put up an Impressions article about Halo Uprising - if you STILL haven't made up your mind about getting this, go read. (Louis Wu 18:07:39 UTC) (permalink)

The Community Marches On
Some goodies from the BungLog™ today:

• The Hope Unto Dawn charity event undertaken by Facility B5D was a success - over $2000 was raised for the Child's Play charity, and fun was had by a lot of people. A 'Supertage' (screenshots, clips, and pics commemorating the event) is linked, along with the thank-you message from the receiving charity. (Actually, the thank-you message redirects to msn.com; I'd guess B5D deep-linking is frowned upon. You can read it by visiting this forum post.)
• A couple of Forge groups got together for some friendly custom games, and wrote the results up, Halo Humpday-style.
• Bryan Simon has another song online - this one is a remix (well, rewrite) of Beyonce's Halo. If you don't know the original song, you should listen to it so you know how good Bryan's tribute is!

What would I do without urk? (Wait, I know... cry less. That man is mean to me.) (Louis Wu 18:04:18 UTC) (permalink)

The UNSC tire hardening experiment went horribly, horribly wrong.
It's Friday! Wanna play? Hawty McBloggy does. She's posted Round 51 of her Friday Caption Fun series - go check out last week's responses, and show off your with and style with the newest pic! (Louis Wu 13:21:09 UTC) (permalink)

A look at Reach, from IGN
Brooks Kuester was the first to let us know about an article at IGN entitled 'What to Expect from Halo: Reach' (though a thread started up not long afterward on our forum, thanks to GrimBrother One). The article contains a nice summary of what we know about Reach from all sources (books, games, trailers), and picks apart the trailer for as much detail as can be found. (Did you notice the drifting Spartan behind the damaged UNSC frigate?) Go check it out! (Louis Wu 13:18:57 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
The comic list today is short, so far:

• Dennis Powers has once again updated Shipwrecked to Episode 72 - Weather War - the marines look to be pawns in a much bigger fight.
• The Catfish let urk know about 2501 Episode 68 - a long-thought-about scene comes to fruition.
• Bloogyo stopped in with word of Rat's Nest 19 1... and a little bonus.

Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:17:44 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Nine new pieces in the Fan Fiction section today - lots of meat! Go fill up. Update: Jake Trommer had tried to submit a chapter of his 'Attack on Installation 6' series that should have made this update - it's there now. (Louis Wu 13:09:46 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Canon Guide
Over on Bungie.net, Maximum FEAR is putting together a 'Guide to Canon in the Halo Universe' - he's collecting quotes from Bungie employees (and others closely associated with canon issues) in an attempt to nail down what is, and what is not, 'official'. Swing by to see what he's got - and if you know of sources he can use that aren't listed, let him know! (Louis Wu 13:07:28 UTC) (permalink)

News June 18 2009

That Max - he's good at lists
The latest Breaking In story (well, Broken In, I guess) is the one told by Bungie Character Engineer Max Dyckhoff. Max talks about his time in the industry - but he neglects to mention that he was a big player in the VERY early days of Halo fandom; it was Max who set up the Halo SETI Marines, almost 10 years ago. From that point forward, it was clear he was on the track to important things! Go read what he got himself up to. (Louis Wu 22:47:51 UTC) (permalink)

MLGPro/ESPN Top 10 #17
The latest MLGPro/ESPN Top 10 is online... amazing gameplay. Go watch! (Louis Wu 22:04:15 UTC) (permalink)

Double XP Weekend: Living Dead
If you're looking for Double Experience in your online Halo playing, look no further than Living Dead, this week's Double XP list. It went live a couple of hours ago. Mmmmm.... brains. (Louis Wu 19:31:08 UTC) (permalink)

When Failing is Winning
chris10023 let us know that Halo 3 Fails: Episode 21 is online - there are some GREAT clips in there this time. I think my favorite is the 'Let It Go Fail' that starts around 50 seconds in. Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:57:24 UTC) (permalink)

Summer Mythic Recon Challenge: Part II
The Summer Mythic Recon Challenge marches on - Part II is getting ready to kick off - this one involves the level Halo. Check out this post on Bungie.net for full details! (Louis Wu 18:55:53 UTC) (permalink)

A UK ODST Price War
Bry has been watching prices on Halo 3: ODST at UK outlets - and it looks like several places are dropping their prices to match the recently-mentioned price at Argos. Coupled with the retailers recently listed at Bungie.net as participating in the Johnson pre-order promotion, it looks like folks in the UK might be able to grab both a great price, AND an unlockable crusty sergeant! (Louis Wu 18:44:32 UTC) (permalink)

Does it come with a display inside?
Rick Mesler noticed a motorcycle helmet at LikeCool.com that he thinks would be useful for the Master Chief if he lived on earth and commuted on a motorcycle. I'm not sure I fully agree, other than the color... but check it out and decide for yourself! (Louis Wu 18:38:02 UTC) (permalink)

Top 10 Halo 3 Warthog Kills: Episode 32
Anoj is back with another Top 10 Halo 3 vid - this one (Episode 32) covers Warthog Kills. It's splatterific! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:29:43 UTC) (permalink)

He's gonna need bigger armor.
Hawty McBloggy dug up a very odd picture on DeviantART - I think she likes it. A lot. It's Halo-related... but... well, it's Hawty McBloggy, so be warned before you click. (Louis Wu 18:05:22 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Pistol M6C-SOCOM Project
Adam Grumbo let us know about a new project from 405th regular LeeKegan - he's carved the ODST pistol out of wood, then created a mold so that others could enjoy it. Check out the photos and the video! (Louis Wu 17:38:03 UTC) (permalink)

Crater[night] - in much more detail
Remember a couple of days ago, when we mentioned a model of the nighttime map for Firefight that Bungie showed off at E3, done in Google's SketchUp? Yeah, well, Juzzz, over at Bungie.net, wanted to get a bit more detailed. His version looks a LOT more like what I played at E3. Swing by for screenshots and a downloadable SketchUp file. (We've added links to local copies of all the screenshots, plus a copy of the SketchUp file (in case the MegaUpload option disappears), to CaLL Me ZeNy's forum post - thanks for finding this, CMZ!) (Louis Wu 16:23:41 UTC) (permalink)

Prepare to drop and give me ten!
The bonus of Sgt. Johnson for those who pre-order Halo 3: ODST got a serious hype boost this morning - pages went up both at Bungie.net (with great new screenshots of a never-before-seen Firefight map) and Xbox.com touting the offer. In the US, you can avail yourself of this deal by pre-ordering from Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, or Wal-Mart - the outside-the-US list hasn't been fully compiled yet. C'mon... you KNOW you wanna play with a cee-gar in your mouth! Update: urk points out that high-res versions of the pics are now in the ODST Image Gallery, for your enjoyment. Update 2: looks like the original article was amended to include the initial retailers in Europe that are participating - check it for stores in France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. (Louis Wu 16:22:46 UTC) (permalink)

News June 17 2009

Inspiring Women Interview: Corrinne Yu
The Charisma+2 journalists at Kombo For Women talked to Corrinne Yu, the head of the Halo team at Microsoft. If you read carefully, there are some fun tidbits about upcoming Halo-related work in there! Overall, an interesting interview. Give it a read! Thanks, Jason Zook. (Louis Wu 23:30:48 UTC) (permalink)

UFOs make me laugh
urk pointed out 'Unidentified Failing Object', a 'failtage' showing off some pretty funny stuff. HD, 3 minutes, M.I.A. soundtrack. Go watch! (Louis Wu 23:29:30 UTC) (permalink)

More Faves from Real 7alk
Eep - almost forgot! Bungie's updated the Bungie Favorites files with the second batch of goodies from Real 7alk - go read about one of the maps on the Bungie Blog, then check out the rest! (Louis Wu 21:42:51 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief CNC Super Project
Over at the Halo Maps forum, ChocolateNugget and Yodajammies are building Spartan Armor in a pretty unique way - they're milling the pieces on a CNC table, using 3D models, then molding and casting in more traditional methods. You can see a bunch of pictures in the HM thread - check it out! Thanks to Dennis Powers for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:56:51 UTC) (permalink)

Animation Exploration
There's a new developer blog entry over at HaloWars.com - one of the animators discusses the animations he created for the Arbiter and some Spartans. THere are sketches and a couple of short videos illustrating his text. Check it out! Thanks, 2900d4u. (Louis Wu 19:43:46 UTC) (permalink)

GCA 2009 - Nominees Announced
The Game Critics Awards Nominees for Best of E3 2009 have been announced - Halo 3: ODST pulled nominations for Best Action Game and Best Online Multiplayer Game. Winners will be announced on June 23 - stay tuned! (Louis Wu 17:08:05 UTC) (permalink)

Cheap ODST in the UK
Wow, nice. Bry noticed that Argos (a UK game distributor) is selling Halo 3: ODST for £26.99 (about $44, US) - a heck of a deal! If you live on that side of the pond, you might want to check this out. (Louis Wu 17:03:26 UTC) (permalink)

Game with Fame - Asher Roth
Rapper Asher Roth is the next celebrity to jump on Xbox LIVE to play Halo 3 with us little people - his Game with Fame session is Monday, June 24 at 4 pm ET. Read the Xbox.com page for full details! (Louis Wu 17:00:27 UTC) (permalink)

Halo vids to eat lunch by
Couple of entertaining clips for you today over at Bungie.net: 'Halo 3 AA Gun Strikes Back' shows that even machines can get in on the action... and 'Mini-Mythisode 1: Killing the Elephant Driver' looks at a strange glitch in the vulnerability of Elephant drivers, from the MythBusters crew. Go watch - they're both short! (Louis Wu 16:58:27 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
Bunch of comic listings for you today:

• Dennis Powers let us know about Shipwrecked Episode 71 - Weather Watch on Monday afternoon. Sorry for the delay!
• The Catfish is back to updating Bungie.net about 2501 - episodes 64-66 can be found here, and 67 is here.
• Hawty McBloggy let us know about ODS Steve #29 - Backup; looks like the boys can't do it on their own.
• TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of Reclaimer 195 - Sitrep - Tran begins to get Reclaimer some outside info.
• Bloogyo told us about Rat's Nest 18 6 - the story grows.

Go read 'em all! (Louis Wu 16:39:46 UTC) (permalink)

News June 16 2009

Halo: Helljumper #3 - Details
CaptainTony noticed that Marvel's posted a Details page about Halo: Helljumper #3.. with some fantastic cover art. (Looks like THOSE Helljumpers will be up against Elites...) (Louis Wu 23:16:58 UTC) (permalink)

Afternoon Movies
A couple of vids from your friends at the BungLog™ today - 'Spartan Expose' is proof that if you give people the tools, they'll get sex into ANYTHING, including Halo... and 'The Lawltage' is a pretty funny montage made up of community clips showing zaniness. (Louis Wu 23:06:53 UTC) (permalink)

I think he forgot the pod.
Heh - Cody Miller put his... hmm, body where his brain was, and prepared to drop. And then dropped! With your friendly neighborhood Superintendent as a companion, even... (Louis Wu 22:46:52 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Maps Update
Dennis Powers let us know that over 160 maps and game assets were added to the Halo CE Maps file archive in April - the total is now over 4000 files. Notable maps include TM Fracture (a large Halo-based Forerunner canyon by the TM mapping team) and Captus, an abandoned Forerunner prison by CLS_GRUNT. There are also non-Halo-esque maps, like Grave Yard, by §partan 8, and Hillbilly Mudbog, by Slap Happy. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 20:11:35 UTC) (permalink)

A New Batch of Panoramas
Minime637 is getting in on the Halo 3 panorama action - check out 12 new images in his DeviantART gallery. Great stuff! (Warning: some of the images are ENORMOUS. The Road to Voi, for example, is 18000x4589 (!!!), weighing in at 27 mb. This is probably enough to crash the browser of someone using an underpowered machine.) (Louis Wu 18:54:39 UTC) (permalink)

Know Your Ninja - Foman
The latest Bungie Ninja to be profiled at Bungie.net is Foman - a Halo fanatic with a lot more to him. Go read about the guy who probably banned you! (Louis Wu 18:52:54 UTC) (permalink)

Halo - a decent selling point
Heh - looks like Halo's being used to sell PC motherboards these days! Linken91 noticed an ad on the Asus website advertising the Rampage II GENE motherboard. As Psychophan7 points out, it's common for PC manufacturers to use images from games to help sell their products - what makes this different is a pair of factors: 1) the images are clearly composited from more than one game (most images are simply taken from a game's assets - on the same website, Asus uses shots from Crysis: Warhead to sell similar products), and 2) there's an amusing statement at the bottom of all of the ROG pages: "All images strictly copyright asustek 2009 all rights reserved. Any from [sic] of unauthorized use of the contents of this site is prohibited." It's one thing to borrow someone else's design to help sell your product - it's another thing entirely to say it's yours. (Louis Wu 18:51:58 UTC) (permalink)

A Long and Winding Road to Recon
Looks like Halocharts has rescheduled its Road to Recon contest, because of the Xbox LIVE outage today. Check this Bungie Blog post for full details. (Louis Wu 18:51:40 UTC) (permalink)

Forgotten Treasures - Revealed
ForgeHub's announced the winners of its Forgotten Treasures contenst (remakes of older Halo maps) - go see what won! Thanks, Decadence Night. (Louis Wu 14:02:48 UTC) (permalink)

New panos from the penguin
radiant penguin whipped up some new panoramas - I gotta say, the landscape shots are amazing. (Louis Wu 14:02:28 UTC) (permalink)

Someone's gonna have to pay for that.
Hawty McBloggy found a funny video that cries out for entertaining dialogue - go add yours! (Don't worry - you don't have to edit a vid; she's just looking for text-based commentary.) (Louis Wu 14:02:08 UTC) (permalink)

...Transform to motorcycle mode? Whoa.
Red vs Blue Recreation Chapter 1 ("Don't Get Me Started") is live now for sponsors, and will be available for everyone in just a few minutes from the writing of this post. Sarge wants to beat the Blues... in an honorable way. Sort of. Grif, on the other hand, wants to go home. Go watch! (Looks like Dratt was first with the news - but that's just because I forgot that it's got a fixed release time these days.) (Louis Wu 00:49:00 UTC) (permalink)

News June 15 2009

Those grenade jumps are AMAZING.
Static Hazard whipped up 'Jizz Before You Jump 2', a jumping video that could have (literally) starred me. It's probably a bit too long at 10 minutes... but if you've ever watched jumping vids, there are some laugh-out-loud moments in here. Check it out! (Louis Wu 22:35:53 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release - Infection
It's Monday, so it's time for another Tag and Release feature at Bungie.net - the featured term this week is 'Infection'. In case you haven't actually PLAYED one of the Halo games, we won't go into details about what these pictures are involved with - but let's just say penicillin won't cure it. (Louis Wu 18:36:42 UTC) (permalink)

TRR - LIVE
Don't forget - Episode 19 of The Running Riot podcast will be recorded live, tonight, on Xbox LIVE at 9:30 EST. Tune in for guest RandomSauce! Thanks for the reminder, urk. (Louis Wu 18:34:12 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Legendary, Volume 3, Issue 1 - Arrival (Part 1)
This should really be added as an update to today's Comic Roundup, but it's a bit different than most comics, and it showed up much later than the other stuff on the list... chromeratt let us know that the first half (or so) of his project, 'Halo: Legendary, Volume 3, Issue 1, Arrival', is now online. This project follows 'Crashdown', last August - it's a totally different story, but is built in a similar style. It's chromeratt's way of interpreting the Halo 3 story without picking up a controller. It's moving much more slowly than chromeratt had anticipated, so he's releasing what he has now in order that it not gather more dust - check out the 14 pages that are up now! (They take you through Arrival, and up until the first real encounter in the game.) Fantastic work. (Louis Wu 15:55:20 UTC) (permalink)

A powerful symbol
Nexus got his first tattoo last week - check it out. (Louis Wu 14:07:23 UTC) (permalink)

visual-atrium
We've mentioned Eddie Smith a number of times in the past few years - he's a Bungie illustrator/concept artist that has done some amazing work on Halo games. Over at NeoGAF, DcLevartho pointed out that he'd stumbled across Eddie's portfolio site... and MAN there's some incredible work in there, lots of which I've never seen before. (Some pieces have been released, others showed up in collections like the Zune Halo 3 edition or the Art of Halo 3 book or in Bungie's published publications... some are nowhere else online.) Go browse! (Louis Wu 13:50:38 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Crater (night) map from E3 - in SketchUp
wwm0nkey1 played a lot of the night-versioned Firefight map at E3 - enough that he felt he could create a decent model of map layout for those who weren't there. He used Google's SketchUp - a free download, for which he's provided a link - and he's made the model available. If you want to get an idea of what you'd be looking at, here's a screenshot (35k). (Louis Wu 13:32:53 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach Announcement Trailer Transcript
ElusiveEagle519 has put together a text transcript of the Halo: Reach trailer released at E3 - swing by and see if you missed anything! (Louis Wu 13:13:20 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Art from Yard Debris
ManKitten was clearing his yard, and found a whole bunch of old wagon wheel rims. He decided to create a Halo array on his wall... and then added a recognizable character on top. Great work! (Louis Wu 13:11:28 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Just a couple of comics to tell you about - Bloogyo let us know about Rat's Nest 18 4, and Reclaimer is back with Episode 194 - Tran (Thanks, TTL Demag0gue). Something bad's about to happen... (Louis Wu 13:10:45 UTC) (permalink)

It's funny cause it's true.
Free Weights was the first to notice a post on Hawty McBloggy's site - it's called 'Where People Teabag You in Halo 3', and it should make most folks who've spent any time in Matchmaking grin a little. (Louis Wu 13:05:28 UTC) (permalink)

News June 14 2009

Winning points, the REALLY easy way
Wow... you guys blew an easy chance at $20. We mentioned an Action Shot contest at The Social a couple of weeks ago - free MS Points to the winning shot. In this particular case, only ONE SHOT was submitted - congrats to Kamikaze8 on his win, and shame on the rest of you for not turning in an entry! Thanks to XMixMasterX for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 16:08:23 UTC) (permalink)

A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - Part 7
Leviathan continues his graphic novel, "A Sangheili's War Is Never Over" - Part 7 is now live on our forum. These seem to be growing in technical reach with every episode - layout, pacing, and artwork are all top-notch. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:51:25 UTC) (permalink)

Grunt Name Generator
TWENTY4pack told us about a new name generator - this one builds Grunt names (and ranks). It's reminiscent of Stuntmutt and BOLL's Elite Namelizer - but for Grunts. (Louis Wu 13:45:02 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Speed Painting
CaLL Me ZeNy stopped in with word of a speed painting of ODSTs, done by Orkimede - it's up on his DeviantART site, but you can find sharper versions at HaloDestiny - screen res (717x800) and high res (2248x2507). 5 hours in Photoshop - it's fantastic! (Roscoe-128 added a link to this image to the thread - it's not speed art, and it's not by Orkimede (it's by wiredgear), but it IS pretty cool ODST art.) (Louis Wu 13:43:34 UTC) (permalink)

News June 13 2009

HSS Landscape Recon Contest
Bungie's got another weekend Recon contest going - create a cool landscape pic, win Recon for use in Halo 3 multiplayer. Go read the details! (Louis Wu 18:26:04 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Prize Tournament at CVG
Nathan Moeller sent word that Competitive Video Games is running a 4v4 MLG Prize tourney next weekend, 3pm CST over LIVE. Go visit for full details. (Louis Wu 18:23:41 UTC) (permalink)

Go play with the ATV.
Heh - cool. McFarlane's making a series of figures that each have a Mongoose - they look great! Thanks, InnerRayg. (Louis Wu 14:15:56 UTC) (permalink)

Customize your Xbox - for cheap
JeSteR 343 noticed that Gameshark's Madcatz Halo Skins/Faceplates are $5 for the pair now - that's pretty cheap! (Louis Wu 14:15:26 UTC) (permalink)

Why We Kill (1 and 2)
fragclone pointed out a new video entitled 'Why We Kill 2' (it's a sequel to 'Why We Kill'. He recommends it highly. I didn't have time to watch the 17 minute original, or the 27 minute sequel - so you'll have to either take his word for it, or judge it for yourself. Update: seems I DID watch the original, last year. I'll definitely find the time to watch the sequel. (Louis Wu 14:14:54 UTC) (permalink)

The Art of Drinking
Z wrote with word of a new project being undertaken by a member of the Halo3Forum.com community - It's a one-hour video, comprised of 60 1-minute segments. Full rationale and explanations are in the forum post - along with all the different tasks for which help is needed. Go read, and see if you want to contribute! (Louis Wu 14:14:12 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Fails: Creators' Fails
chris10023 let us know that the latest Halo 3 Fails - Creators' Fails - is live. This one is made up of clips either performed by the creators of the series, or seen personally by them. (Louis Wu 14:13:46 UTC) (permalink)

They'll leave the light on for ya.
urk apologizes for the lightness of today's Bungie Weekly Update - but then, what can you really expect, after a week like last week? Well, he's actually got some more Firefight info for you, as a matter of fact. Screenshots, a Q&A with Lars Bakken, the works. And a bunch of other little bits. (I was going to make a joke about little bits here, but decided it was too easy. You're welcome.) Go read! Remember, there's always a searchable copy in our Weekly Update Archive, if you need it... (Louis Wu 01:27:06 UTC) (permalink)

News June 12 2009

Microsoft Weighs in on ODST Price Decisions
This information (and the rationale behind it) has been pretty well hashed-out in the past week, but Joystiq got an official response from Microsoft, so... to explain the release of Halo 3: ODST at the standard new-game pricepoint of $59.99 (US), Microsoft had this to say:

"We believe this standalone experience is much more than just an expansion. Halo 3: ODST provides a new campaign from the point of view of an entirely new character. Combine that with three new multiplayer maps, the entirely new cooperative mode called Firefight, and the complete Halo 3 multiplayer collection on a standalone disc, we feel this is a good value and tremendous addition to the Halo franchise."

As an aside, the original "3-5 hour" playtime estimated for the campaign portion of ODST (over a year ago) is no longer accurate, according to several Bungie employees; I couldn't get an exact value, but it seems that the standard player will find it not QUITE as long as Halo 3 - but not far off. So, while Bungie is not in charge of pricing the final product, most employees that I spoke to last week felt that fans wouldn't feel ripped-off once they'd gotten their hands on all that ODST has to offer. And that's a good thing. (Louis Wu 15:49:53 UTC) (permalink)

Podtacular 192
GLewis stopped in with word of Podtacular 192 - E3 madness, MLG Halo news, and more. Just under 2 hours, 46 mb. (Louis Wu 15:26:53 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie sez: jet repairs will happen in-flight
Bungie.net posted a new Breaking In article last night - Tim Williams, Production Engineer at Bungie, discussed how he got there (lots of testing, lots of Halo games), what he does there (jack of all trades, plus making Halo tricksters miserable) and how you can join him (be useful). Good read! (Louis Wu 15:21:46 UTC) (permalink)

Interviews slowing down
We heard from both jdars, of the Aesthetic Artist Interviews, and RandomSauce, of Director Dialogues, that there are some changes being implemented; AAI is switching to a bi-weekly release (so the next one will be next week), and DD is taking a break until the end of the summer. Everybody needs time off sometimes! (Louis Wu 15:08:16 UTC) (permalink)

Quiet Comic Friday
Not a lot of comic news for you today - Reclaimer's on hiatus, The Catfish hasn't been sending updates to Bungie.net, and Elnea seems to be busy. Bloogyo has hit Episode 100 for Rat's Nest, though, and has created a montage to celebrate - find links in his forum post! (Louis Wu 15:04:48 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 50
Speaking of Hawty McBloggy - it's Friday, so she's got her recurring Friday Caption Fun feature online... last week's picture not only elicited some funny captions from the peanut gallery, it got Pete Cooper to turn an internet meme into an entertaining response. There's also (of course) the new pic for you to play with. (Erm... caption. I meant 'caption'.) Go look! Amazing... there've been 50 of these already! (Louis Wu 14:49:12 UTC) (permalink)

Haloscreenshots.com - another look
Hawty McBloggy tried out the Haloscreenshots.com printing service - and wrote up her experience. Check out her review! (Louis Wu 14:44:18 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fanfic
Five new pieces in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 14:40:14 UTC) (permalink)

Free Halo Wars Supporter Page at HaloCharts
Terry Lamb let us know that HaloCharts.com is giving away free supporter accounts for their Halo Wars section for the next day or so. To get one, first play some Halo Wars, set up a Halowars.com account, then log in to HaloCharts.com and follow the Halo Wars Supporter link at the top! (Louis Wu 14:26:35 UTC) (permalink)

News June 11 2009

Afternoon Delight
More BungLog™ video offerings:

• Power Plant is a new racetrack (see? Toldja!), and you can watch a video or download the map.
• Pattythedog615 whipped up a video to Weird Al's 'eBay' - I don't think I'd ever expected to see the Master Chief in tube socks.
• I told urk I wouldn't post this - but hell, I was here anyway...

That's what there is. Deal. (Louis Wu 21:32:49 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST Interview with the Game's Producer
Gamereactor (a scandinavian gamer site) has a video interview with Curtis Creamer, filmed at E3, discussing Firefight and why it's cool. (I was almost distracted from what Curtis was saying by the player behind him who was trying to kill a Hunter with normal shots from a plasma pistol...) Tons of info in here - much you've read in other interviews, some you might have missed. Worth a watch! (Louis Wu 16:54:56 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Preorder Update, thanks to a fan
mrbilly93 checked a bunch of different retailers for you - Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us (all in the US), and found that so far, only Amazon and Gamestop are offering the "Sgt Johnson in Firefight" bonus for preorders. (Gamestop is still the only place you can preorder the ODST Collector Pack with the ODST controller.) Things to keep in mind if you want goodies! (Louis Wu 16:45:45 UTC) (permalink)

Elegance
This is usually a Bungie.net specialty... but Tommy92L sent along a link to a video showing off some fun racing on Skybox-based Halo 3 racetracks - no links to the actual maps, but it's pretty fun to see how varied these are! (Louis Wu 16:33:56 UTC) (permalink)

VGL Pre-loaded MP3 Player
The Video Games Live crew is releasing a new 2gb MP3 player with preloaded content from the VGL shows - including the Halo suite. It's selling for $50, either on their website or at VGL shows. (Louis Wu 16:07:40 UTC) (permalink)

Lost Levels Episode 7
Slim30 stopped by with word of Lost Levels episode 7 - some pretty odd flashbacks! (This will make very little sense if you haven't watched previous episodes.) (Louis Wu 13:52:36 UTC) (permalink)

I can name that actor in three notes!
Marty O'Donnell wants to know how good your voice recognition skills are. Swing by this post from ElusiveEagle519 for all the details... there ain't nothin' to win but Marty's respect, but for some of us, that's worth more than... well, tapioca pudding. (Louis Wu 13:41:33 UTC) (permalink)

A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - Part 6
Leviathan continues his graphic novel, 'A Sangheili's War Is Never Over' - Part 6 was posted on our forum this morning. If you missed any of the previous parts, he's kindly linked them all. (Louis Wu 13:35:08 UTC) (permalink)

LEGOs rock.
Hawty McBloggy found a stop-motion Halo 3: ODST trailer... made with LEGOs. Given the timeframe involved, I'd have to say this is great work! (Louis Wu 13:32:29 UTC) (permalink)

Cortana Cosplay Continues
Whoa - check out the Cortana costume created by {Cortana, a member of the 405th - fantastic work! Thanks, Hawty. (Louis Wu 13:32:10 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Helljumper Preview at Marvel.com
CaptainTony stopped in to point out that Marvel's offering a preview of Halo: Helljumper #1 - a bit about the plot, plus five pages of artwork. (No dialogue, though.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:31:45 UTC) (permalink)

ODST footage from MS E3 Press Briefing - in HD
If you missed the Microsoft E3 Press Briefing last week (or if you watched it unhappily on a crappy stream), they've made the Halo 3 ODST footage available in high-quality 720p - 345 mb for nearly 8 minutes of footage. You've seen it a few times, if you're a big Halo fan - but you haven't seen it in this quality. Head over to Bungie.net for the download! (Louis Wu 13:31:20 UTC) (permalink)

Movies at Bungie - bring your own popcorn
A couple of new machinima pieces, courtesy of your friends at Bungie.net: 'Forever War', from Dispatch Films, is a short and pessimistic piece about the human race, while 'Budget Cuts', from Amateur Entertainment, shows what happens when governments run out of money. And while you're there, check out Obi Wan Stevobi's 'The Road to Recon', a tribute to the good times had during the challenge he issued last month. (Louis Wu 13:30:53 UTC) (permalink)

7alk just got Real.
The latest Community Spotlight at Bungie.net is focused on Real 7alk - swing by and see where they came from, and what sort of files they like! (Louis Wu 13:30:34 UTC) (permalink)

It's what we call a win-win.
Bungie is once again teaming up with The American Red Cross to give you a shot at some ultracool schwag, while doing good. They've donated an autographed copy of The Art of Halo 3 and an embossed and signed limited-release poster to the local Seattle branch - and you can bid on both of them at eBay. Read urk's post for full details - and go save a life or three! (Louis Wu 13:30:08 UTC) (permalink)

Halocharts Campaign Challenge: Halo
Halocharts continue to challenge you with their Mythic Campaign trial - swing by Bungie.net for full details on the latest chapter, this time focused on Halo (the final level). (Louis Wu 13:29:47 UTC) (permalink)

Onslaught
pete_the_duck has turned the concept of Zombie games on its head - check out this variant for some distinctly different gameplay. (Louis Wu 13:29:24 UTC) (permalink)

Running Riot Rescheduled
According to the Bungie Blog, The Running Riot Podcast we mentioned yesterday has been moved up a day - it will now record on June 15 at 9:30 EST rather than June 16. This is to avoid potential problems with a planned Xbox LIVE service maintenance. (Louis Wu 13:29:05 UTC) (permalink)

The Earth Survey Catalogue - Stephen Loftus Edition
Stephen Loftus thought that given all the recent activity surrounding the Halo universe and fan attempts to pinpoint Halo-relevant celestial bodies, he'd release a small portion of his personal research document with his version of the Earth Survey Catalogue. To give you an idea of how this fits into the whole, the portion he's excised from his personal Halo Bible is pages 26-60 for the Earth Survey Catalogue and pages 439, 440 and 455 for the reference notes. It's downloadable as 2.2 mb PDF file. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:23:32 UTC) (permalink)

Pup and Friends, June Edition
puptastrophe at GrifballHUB.com let us know that a new version of Pup and Friends Double XP Highlights is now live at their website - go watch beatdowns and explosions in profusion. (Some of the moves are unbelievable...) (Louis Wu 13:23:12 UTC) (permalink)

Panoramic Goodness
Jackson Davis let us know that Halo 3 Panoramas, a site he's involved with has a whole passel of (whoa, surprise) Halo 3 panoramas - swing by to see 'em. (Louis Wu 13:22:53 UTC) (permalink)

Neoseeker looks at ODST
Neoseeker had a closed demo of Halo 3: ODST with Paul Bertone and Lars Bakken - swing by to read the details. (Louis Wu 13:22:38 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup (a bit late)
There weren't that many comics we'd heard about - but at least one has more depth than just a funni, so here you go.

• Bloogyo sez Rat's Nest has a new villain...
• The standard Wednesday ODS Steve went live - Episode 28 is called 'Promotion', but you'll have to be up on the story to make sense of this.
• DeepCee also whipped up a special comic to remind people about Marissa's plight (we mentioned it over the weekend). Much <3, DeepCee!

More on Friday! (Louis Wu 13:22:07 UTC) (permalink)

Status Report
We're not at 100% yet, but the news is piling up - I need to get some of it out the door. Here's a warning, ahead of time, that things might go wonky later today. Don't panic. All will be well in the long run. (Louis Wu 13:21:43 UTC) (permalink)

News June 10 2009

Yeah, we've been quiet.
Apologies - you may have noticed the lack of updates here at HBO today; it's never fun when a server dies. Things should be up and running again soon - Sorry for the delay! (Louis Wu 18:28:40 UTC) (permalink)

News June 9 2009

MLG-Autographed Xbox 360 on eBay
Bryan Newman let us know that he was at MLG Columbus this weekend, and got an Xbox signed by all the members of the following teams: Str8 Rippin, Triggers Down, Final Boss, Carbon, Instinct, Status Quo - plus others. Chris Puckett signed it, too. If you're interested in getting your hands on this box, he's selling it - swing by eBay in the next two or three days. (Louis Wu 22:33:35 UTC) (permalink)

Little buggers...
Pretty interesting timing - a couple of days ago, scarab mentioned a bizarre occurrance on the level Covenant - he'd been rushed by a boatload of suicide grunts. ElusiveEagle519 backed him up with a picture - then added some more early this morning. At some point today, Black Plasma Studios (in what seems to be a totally unrelated incident) posted a video showing exactly this behavior - and it made the Bungie Blog. Seems like LOTS of people have experienced this weirdness! (For the record - this has nothing whatsoever to do with this website, which went offline a little bit ago, but which has been archived here.) (Louis Wu 22:17:16 UTC) (permalink)

borrowedchief - an Average Joe
The newest Average Joe profile is live over at Bungie.net - borrowedchief discusses his obsession for Halo and Bungie in general while filling out some details of his life. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 18:42:02 UTC) (permalink)

Machinifest '09 - Machinima Award Show
Nathan Walters sent word that Machinicast is kicking off their First Annual Machinima Award Show - there's a link on their front page. (You can't view the contest details without signing up on their forum, so I have no idea what the rules are - but the general work flow will include nominating machinima creators and voting for the top nominees. A video will be created that will star the category winners.) Swing by if you're interested in participating! (Louis Wu 17:21:41 UTC) (permalink)

The Running Riot Podcast - LIVE
The Running Riot is back with another LIVE podcast - they'll be recording on June 16, at 9:30 pm EST, and you can be there to watch. Guest this time out is RandomSauce, from Halo 3 MythBusters (and our own Director Dialogues). Mark your calendar! (Annnd... thanks again, urk.) (Louis Wu 16:40:27 UTC) (permalink)

BrySi's Mythic Song Challenge: Winners Announced
Bryan Simon has announced the winners of his Mythic Song Challenge - go check 'em out! (Thanks, urk.) (Louis Wu 16:40:06 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Preview from Kotaku
Kotaku has posted some bullet points about ODST's Firefight Mode - if you want the short version, check it out. (Louis Wu 16:39:14 UTC) (permalink)

PTG Podcast: Episode 3
Kevin Larrabee let us know that Part Time Gamers has posted Episode 3 of their podcast - nearly two hours long, with guest Robin Yang from AOL's GameDaily. Bungie's Seth Gibson (part of the PTG team) discusses Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach during this E3-flavored 'cast. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:12:15 UTC) (permalink)

Red vs Blue 2009: Trailer
The Rooster Teeth team is kicking off their next big series, Red vs Blue Recreation - the trailer is live now. All your old favorites (well, most, at least) are back - and there are definitely shenanigans afoot. Nearly five minutes long. Thanks to DHalo for the first heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:14:36 UTC) (permalink)

1UP's Halo 3: ODST Demo
If you haven't gotten your fill of the Halo 3: ODST demo given by Brian Jarrard and Curtis Creamer, 1UP has a 15-minute video showing off THEIR version. This one has much more Q&A (between the 1UP interviewer and Brian) than some previous ones, so you'll probably pick up tidbits you didn't know before... I know I did. This one's definitely worth the watch. (Louis Wu 13:12:39 UTC) (permalink)

I need a weapon.
Hawty McBloggy has details of a Halo love so intense that the quotes inscribed on their wedding bands were pulled from the game. That's cool - and a little scary, all at the same time. (While you're there, you can also check out a Wiimote that's been painted with a Halo theme...) (Louis Wu 13:11:10 UTC) (permalink)

Do I have to play in Denver?
XBOX360 Rocks put together a list of the Top 10 Games to Play When You're Bored - Halo 3 is there because of its "near-perfect attention to detail", "mood-perfect musical score", and "fully developed AI". Go check out what else they liked! (Louis Wu 13:09:43 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Galaxy, Revisited
Last week, we mentioned a Halo-oriented galactic map created by Halcylon - on our forums, two new ones have popped up, both claiming to hew a bit closer to known info. Siber was first - his maps are quite simple, but if you read the thread, there's some interesting info about how he created them. Yesterday, Jugus dropped off a pair of nicely finished maps - one with just confirmed content, the other with some speculation. Check 'em ALL out! (Louis Wu 13:07:28 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Uprising Hardcover Review
IGN has now taken a close look at the Halo: Uprising hardcover book - and it looks like they feel it redeems Marvel for the ridiculous delays in the comic itself. Go read their review. (Louis Wu 13:06:19 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... Narc doesn't HAVE an older brother!
Narcogen wasn't thinking much of Bungie... at first. He was a bit cynical about the abundance of Halo content coming out of the studio at this late date... until he learned more about ODST. Go see what changed his mind. (Louis Wu 13:05:28 UTC) (permalink)

It's on the short list.
G4TV put together a short video segment showing off the Xbox 360 games they thought were the highlight of E3 - ODST made the list. (Surprise, surprise...) (Louis Wu 13:04:50 UTC) (permalink)

News June 8 2009

Tyrant's Summer Mythic Recon Challenge
Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris is at it again - complete the first of 10 challenges at Mythic Difficulty, win a shot at Recon armor. All the details can be found at Bungie.net - check the rules, and get to playing! (Louis Wu 21:06:24 UTC) (permalink)

The Prodigal
vociferous continues to delve deeply into Bungie's lore - his latest article looks at Halo 3: ODST in the context of what Bungie might have been striving towards for the past 7 years. Pretty interesting speculation! Go read The Prodigal. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 20:44:21 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Tourney to raise money for missing teen
HBO regular JeSteR 343 sent word of a tragic situation in Tennessee - Megan Maxwell, a teenager, disappeared without a trace a month ago. She was a member of JeSteR's church, and they're trying to raise money for the family to continue the search. They're organizing a Halo 3 tournament in July (more details coming soon), with entry fees going to the cause. If you know of anyone who might be able to contribute cool schwag for prizes (or just donate to the cause), you should contact JeSteR 343. Thanks! (Louis Wu 20:35:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Artwork Printing Service - a Review
A week and a half ago, Bungie mentioned the screenshot printing services offered by haloscreenshots.com. We've sampled the work, and have written up the experience, in the hopes that it will aid you in your decision-making. Take a look! (Louis Wu 19:26:23 UTC) (permalink)

Stab and Release
It's Monday, so Bungie.net has a new Tag and Release feature for you, showing off some cool images - the tag is 'Sword', and the images are very awesome. Go look! (Louis Wu 17:00:57 UTC) (permalink)

Flying Monkeys - or something
Couple of videos to enjoy, courtesy of B.net: Lagout is the start of a series in which several players get trapped in a game they can't quit, and Shenanigans 3 is the latest montage from ChrisOfTheDead, containing some truly bizarre events taken from matchmaking games. Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:59:19 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Columbus - the wrapup
Congrats to Str8 Rippin, who beat some impressive competition to take first place in the MLG Columbus event. Full results can be found on this page. The videos aren't available on the VoD page yet - but they probably will be soon. (You can find some footage on the ESPN Saturday Night page.) (Louis Wu 14:55:45 UTC) (permalink)

GAPT Returns
Some old-timers might remember Grunts are People Too!!, a machinima series from a few years back (2004-5). Its creator, Motherstooth, is back with a new blog - go see what he's up to, Halo-wise! (Louis Wu 14:38:07 UTC) (permalink)

96 Panoramas
Decadence Night has gathered up all of his Halo 3 panoramas, and posted them at DeviantART. Some you've seen before, some you haven't - there are 96 in total. Go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 14:34:03 UTC) (permalink)

Not sure I'd call that a 'microtransaction'...
DHalo noticed that some new Halo-related accessories will be available for your Xbox LIVE avatar - but they won't be cheap. (The Warthog, for example, is 320 MS Points - $4 US.) Hmmm, indeed. (Louis Wu 14:32:10 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Just a few comics for you this morning:

• Bloogyo let us know about Rat's Nest 17 5 (and reminded people to hit the 'previous' button a few times for missed eps).
• N. Rackley sent word that his webcomic, Lakewood, is Halo-related today in honor of the episode number (117). Heh.
• TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of Reclaimer 193 (Recollection) - Ferial's virus is not a pretty thing.

Coffee and comics... mmmm... (Louis Wu 14:21:18 UTC) (permalink)

News June 7 2009

Bungie gets a new tagline
Awesome - Split-Screen noticed that a new trademark application has been filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office by Bungie, LLC - "We make games that we want to play". Sounds about right! (Bungie has been saying that this is what they do for a dozen years - but this application was filed just 3 days ago. Guess they finally decided to make a decent woman out of the phrase!) (Louis Wu 20:56:54 UTC) (permalink)

Marissa needs your help!
You might remember Marissa's Bunny - Fairfax has been traveling around the US, raising awareness about Marissa's illness, infantile spasms. We recently got word from Marissa's dad that Marissa is back in the hospital - her spasms are out of control. He's hoping that anyone who can send along kind wishes will do so - in his words, "Perhaps the combined goodwill of the internet at large can help, because nothing else seems to be." Mike - we're with ya! There are lots of ways to help - from donating money or buying a bunny to simply emailing Marissa with your happy thoughts. Swing by the Marissa's Bunny website for lots of links. (Louis Wu 20:55:50 UTC) (permalink)

E3 Halo 3 demo uploaded by Jason Sussman
Zeouterlimits pointed out that Jason Sussman (Bungie Finishing Artist) mentioned in his twitter feed that he'd recorded the Bungie public^* demo of ODST - it's 20 minutes long, and is presented by Brian Jarrard and Curtis Creamer. If you've been watching every movie that comes out, you've seen most of this before - but it's nice to see the entire demo, start to finish!
^* 'public' means 'public to E3-goers', as opposed to 'behind closed doors' (Louis Wu 20:54:41 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Medal Wallpapers
A blog called 'White Rabbit Trails' has been creating Halo 3 wallpapers based on vectorized versions of the medals you can earn during multiplayer games. The backgrounds are nicely distressed - if you're looking for simple but attractive Halo 3 images for your wallpaper, check these out. There are three wallpapers per set:
Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7 | Set 8 (Louis Wu 20:53:35 UTC) (permalink)

Halopen Pencast 10
Firestorm12 sent word that Halopen has released the Halopen Pencast 10, ostensibly recorded at E3, with lots of discussion of Bungie's upcoming projects. (Louis Wu 20:52:56 UTC) (permalink)

Extremely Awesome, you mean!
Pete Cooper found out that his Operation: Chastity project was included in an OXM UK article about 'Gaming's Most Extreme Fanclubs' - nice going, Pete! (Louis Wu 15:02:33 UTC) (permalink)

It's like an old friend, coming home
Over at the Hushed Casket, rapture takes a close look at the Halo 3: ODST pistol - and compares it to its predecessors. Go rap! (Louis Wu 14:58:31 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief Theater 3000: Episode 305
mrsmiley let us know that Pyrosmile's Master Chief Theater 3000 Episode 305 (covering 343 Guilty Spark) is now live. That poor Jenkins... (Louis Wu 14:57:49 UTC) (permalink)

New Toys
Hawty McBloggy runs down the Series 6 action figures from McFarlane; go see what's coming in October! (Louis Wu 14:57:13 UTC) (permalink)

Gettin' in Character
Joystiq wrote up a sighting of a Master-Chief-helmeted dude playing Rock Band - we saw him at several booths throughout the day on Wednesday. Thanks to Adam Kovic for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:55:32 UTC) (permalink)

Sunday Morning ODST Review Roundup
Some additional reviews of ODST have popped up (I pass over the two-paragraph, you-could-write-this-by-reading-the-web reviews):

• Kombo.com has a Firefight Hands-on
• Eurogamer's Digital Foundry breaks down the additions to the engine, based on what's visible in the trailer
• Destructoid thinks the $60 pricepoint is justified
• BigPond's GameArena looked at ODST
• GeekTyrant posted some First Impressions
• GameInsano.com did a Deeper Detail Preview

Grab a cup of coffee and get reading! (Louis Wu 14:52:00 UTC) (permalink)

News June 6 2009

Halo 3 A Bungie Christmas Pictage
QuietHALO3MSTR sent us word about his buddy, ReconRevolution, who put together some really nice lawn decorations during the holidays last winter - you can see them in this video (along with a bunch of Halo 3 screenshots). Apparently, he also let Hawty McBloggy know about this - her writeup made me smile. (Louis Wu 23:13:34 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Weekly Update: Cool Content Edition
The Bungie Weekly Update was posted, as usual, last night - and it's FULL of goodness. A recap of ODST info released over the week, plus some new graphic goodies... some info about Reach (but not much)... a bunch of rumor-busting answers for questions that have popped up this week... a way to win cool exclusive schwag... and info about the recent Recon screenshot contest. (We should have more info about the Haloscreenshots.com service in the near future.) Go by and indulge! (Don't forget our Weekly Update Archive, if you have any troubles with Bungie.net, or if you'd just rather read the content on a light background.) (Louis Wu 13:54:18 UTC) (permalink)

TPP: How to Suck Less at Halo Vol.2 - The Prowler
jake108 let us know that the latest Teabag Prevention article went live recently - they can teach you how to suck less with the Prowler. When to use it, how to use it, and how to fight against one. As always, good stuff! (Louis Wu 13:45:47 UTC) (permalink)

Live from Columbus... it's MLG!
Yes, I know, I said there'd be news catchup this weekend. No, it won't happen this morning. (I've got real-life catchup that takes precedence, apparently. Hi, honey!) A few tidbits to tide you over, though... let's start with MLG Columbus, which has been running since last night. Swing by the MLGPro.com website for full coverage, including live streams, brackets, writeups, summaries, and other sundry goodies. (Louis Wu 13:42:43 UTC) (permalink)

News June 5 2009

Firefight and Dibs
One last tidbit before crashing - mnemesis wrote up a short but sweet summary of D3, the annual (well, sort of) ice cream/taco/Halo fest at Deanero's house south of LA on the last night of E3. Good people, good games, good food. You should come next year! Update: oops, Cody Miller (another attendee) wrote up his own thoughts about Firefight, right after mnemesis! (Louis Wu 19:23:07 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interview: PaperThinWalls
It's Friday, so it's time for another Aesthetic Artist Interview; this week, jdars sat down with PaperThinWalls, a guy who takes some pretty amazing artistic shots. Go read his philosophy of screenshots, and check out some of his work! (Louis Wu 19:17:52 UTC) (permalink)

BEASTLY!
Phatcorns whipped up another HD gameplay montage - this one's called 'BEASTLY!' I wish there were more montages like this - less first-person focus, more fantastic camera work, the emphasis is on cool moments rather than medals. Check it out! (Louis Wu 19:10:26 UTC) (permalink)

Hawt Hawt Fun
Hawty McBloggy's been busy this week - we got a couple of great updates from her recently.

• She highlighted a really cool pic put together by Halcylon - it's a Last Supper, Halo-style.
• She posted Friday Caption Fun, Round 49 (that's 7*7), for those keeping track), with witty captions from last week, plus a new pic for your captioning fun.

Go play! (Louis Wu 18:59:55 UTC) (permalink)

The Real Spartans Episode 4
Another episode of The Real Spartans is now up - thanks, cbwilliams17. Great use of action figures! (Louis Wu 18:45:41 UTC) (permalink)

HD Recording Service - Testers Needed
HaLo2FrEeEk is offering a Halo HD recording service - swing by his forum post for details and a link if you're interested in helping him test it. (Louis Wu 18:39:32 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Bunch of new comics since Wednesday (of course):

• Dennis Powers let us know that Shipwrecked Episode 70 (Reprisal) is live - things are getting dicey for our heroes.
• Reclaimer 192 - Will to Live - went up late Wednesday (thanks, TTL Demag0gue). Looks like the dude's manning up.
• The Catfish told urk about three new episodes of 2501 - swing by for details and links.
• Bloogyo stopped in with word of Rat's Nest Episode 17 2
• Elnea posted Halo Action Figure Theater 183 - 'Amor Vincit Omnia'. I'm not sure how to interpret it.

Enjoy 'em! (Louis Wu 18:38:12 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fanfic - it's still Friday!
Seven new (acceptable) submissions to the Fan Fiction section this week - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 18:37:19 UTC) (permalink)

Drop Into Firefight
Wow... getting across the country after E3 took WAY longer than I'd expected. (I walked in the door about 15 minutes ago.) I'll do my best to catch up on news this weekend, but I can certainly clear out the easy parts of the queue right now. Let's start with a great story from Bungie.net - this was posted yesterday, but we've been offline since then. 'Drop Into Firefight' is an in-depth look at the new co-op mode that Halo 3: ODST will offer you in September - I wish I'd read it before playing for a couple of hours last night! Read it, absorb it, bookmark it so you can find it again this fall. (Louis Wu 18:10:17 UTC) (permalink)

News June 4 2009

Director Dialogues: Sniper2477
RandomSauce has interviewed another machinima creator - the latest Director Dialogue subject is Sniper2477. Go check out how he got started, what he uses to create his magic, and where he's going from here! (Louis Wu 19:37:35 UTC) (permalink)

Coming Down
Bungie's got a new top story up - It's called 'Feet First', and it contains quite a bit of info that should help you stay alive when you play Halo 3: ODST. Bookmark this one for September! (Louis Wu 18:23:12 UTC) (permalink)

Halo-based Galactic Map
mendicantbias00 sent word of a cool Galactic Map put together by Halcyon - it gives a really nice overview of space, as defined by the Halo universe. Check it out and get situated! (Louis Wu 18:22:37 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Blog Movie Offerings
urk posted a bunch of movies for your watching pleasure (if, you know, you're not burned out on X hours of ODST footage):

• Watch for Falling Crates is a tiny gameplay clip showing off a funny Matchmaking moment
• TM22 created 'Orima', a Halo 3 Campaign montage - gorgeous
• Kampy built 'Apex', a 10 minute multiplayer montage - lots of multikills.
• BlackLightProductions released Phil - Day Nine: "Morals". Some people take Matchmaking far, far too seriously. (Fun fourth-wall breaking, though.)

A fine way to spend a chunk of time... (Louis Wu 18:22:01 UTC) (permalink)

When fans have too much time
pete_the_duck put together an overhead map of New Mombasa by combining pieces of ODST HUD - he's speculating that this might not be the final map, due to the surprisingly symmetric nature of the composite, but hey, you never know! Interesting display of fan love in any case! (Louis Wu 18:21:12 UTC) (permalink)

McFarlane ODST Prototype
Fragclone found pictures of the McFarlane Rookie prototype on the Spawn.com website. Cool beans! (It drops in October, a little later than the game.) (Louis Wu 18:20:42 UTC) (permalink)

Heretic: Midship, confirmed
xoools pointed out that during IGN's half-hour ODST special, Joe Staten confirmed that Heretic, one of the three new Mythic maps to be released with Halo 3: ODST this fall, is indeed a remake of Halo 2's Midship. Due to some leaks in the past year, many people had already guessed that this was the case... but this is the first time that a Bungie employee has confirmed this publicly. Nice! (Louis Wu 18:19:58 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST LE - Gamestop Exclusive?
mendicantbias00 found some info at Gamestop that suggests that the Limited Edition Halo 3: ODST package (the one with the special controller) will be available exclusively from them. If we find that this is not accurate, we'll let you know! (Louis Wu 18:19:25 UTC) (permalink)

Mythic Song Challenge - Public Voting Now Open
Bryan Simon let us know that voting for his Mythic Song Challenge is now open for voting - go watch the explanation video, then swing by Bryan's blog to watch the finalists and cast your vote! (Louis Wu 18:18:16 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Gophers Forge Contest - Results Posted
Last week, we mentioned The Halo Gophers' Forge contest - they've posted the results on their front page. Thanks, DE4TH DEAL3R. (Louis Wu 18:17:52 UTC) (permalink)

Uprising Hardcover Review
UGO has posted a review of the Halo: Uprising Hardcover release - interesting timing! (Louis Wu 18:17:23 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Offerings
With a smaller staff than most groups at E3, it's difficult keeping up with the flood of ODST data, but we'll try to do a roundup now. There are hands-on/previews from:

• CraveOnline
• IGN (including demo footage)
• Eurogamer
• Joystiq
• Kotaku (more a clarification of Firefight)
• Gamespy (including video footage)
• Game Stooge
• IGN (Firefight playthrough)
• Gamespot's Stage Demo (video)

In addition, there are three more clips at Gamespot, including the entire first cutscene (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3) - thanks, urk - and Gamespy has something they call Spy Libs, with fill-in-the-blanks answers about ODST from Bungie and Gamespy employees. I'm sure there'll be more as the day goes on - it remains to be seen if we'll be able to find a place to update from. (Louis Wu 17:11:35 UTC) (permalink)

News June 3 2009

ODST Video Overload
More awesome ODST stuff, courtesy of urk's Bungie Blog Babblings (they're much better than that sounds, but I needed a 'B' word):

• IGN has posted a 30-minute special on ODST - they interviewed Joe Staten and got facts and gameplay footage, and it's available to the public. (Insiders get the HD version.)
• Brian Jarrard talked to G4TV in a five-minute segment with gameplay (Curtis Creamer does the playing) with more tidbits and goodies.

There's gonna be more all day - but I have no clue how much access we'll have. Keep an eye on Bungie.net for the best bits! (Louis Wu 16:41:53 UTC) (permalink)

New ODST Gameplay at GameTrailers
The More Deluded noticed three new gameplay vids at GameTrailers - two campaign walkthroughs, and a walkthrough of ODST's new Firefight Co-op mode. You can get a great sense for how it works (and what the folks playing it at E3 this week are seeing). Swing by and watch! (Don't feel too bad about missing the Campaign stuff - that is NOT being shown on the floor, you have to be a bigwig to get that.) (Louis Wu 16:31:59 UTC) (permalink)

Rocket Launcher Shoots... Music?
Hawty McBloggy found a pretty novel way to listen to your favorite tunes. Go look! (mnemesis 16:30:30 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
A quick summary of comics since Monday, before running back out to E3:

• The Catfish posted 2501 Episode 59 (on Monday) and Episode 60 (yesterday) - thanks, urk
• Elnea put up Halo Action Figure Theater 182 (Puppet Masters) - and a new side of Cortana is revealed. (You can reveal MORE of her?)
• Adam Susskind let us know that Chaos Theory Episode 23 (Destructive Interference) is online - the series is winding down, only two episodes left!
• Bloogyo told us about Rat's Nest Episode 16 6 - new questions asked
• ODS Steve #27 (Gnat a Problem) is live now over at Hawty McBloggy's - I think the guys might be in trouble.

No Reclaimer yet... but we have to get out of here. (Louis Wu 16:25:10 UTC) (permalink)

More Panoramic Goodness
2good4u2 dropped by the forum with a batch of new panoramas for your viewing pleasure. Sweet! (mnemesis 16:23:46 UTC) (permalink)

A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - Part 5
Leviathan adds another episode to his graphic novelette, "A Sangheili's War Is Never Over" on the forum. Nice. Check it out! (mnemesis 16:16:21 UTC) (permalink)

News June 2 2009

Bungie.net - Opening the Content Floodgates
There's a MONSTER FLOOD of content at Bungie.net - let's see if I can delineate it all before the HBO day ends:

• Black Water Ops released a 40-second machinima short showing Spartan cruelty to... pets
• Halo 3 Mythbusters is giving away 1600 points to the person who can get the highest Campaign score on Floodgate (read the full post for details)
• Bungie has posted another podcast - an hour of riffin' and joshin' and discussin' ODST, you should listen
• Ascendant Justice has pulled together an obscene amount of information on ODST, and reviewed it in the context of the new info released yesterday - those guys aren't human.
• Meet the Squad is a Bungie.net article detailing the Rookie and his squadmates - know who you're playing with before you drop!
• Brian Jarrard talked on camera to Gametrailers about Halo 3: ODST - tasty!

If you missed any of this over the course of the day (sorry, I was walking the floor of E3, and the number of unlocked wireless networks available inside South Hall is... less than one) - go check it out now! (Louis Wu 23:33:21 UTC) (permalink)

Action Shot Contest at The Social
XMixMasterX stopped in to announce an Action Screenshot Contest at The Social - win Legendary and Mythic maps for your work! (Louis Wu 03:55:21 UTC) (permalink)

Retro Halo Gaming
rapture brings you back to the old days, with an announcement of a voice server and a dedicated Halo PC (non-Custom Edition) server up and running, full of old-school HBO regulars. Join 'em! (Louis Wu 03:54:51 UTC) (permalink)

Monetizing the Rookie
Exanubisleader pointed out a couple of articles at Kotaku. The first covers new avatars that will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in the future - one of them is a Halo 3: ODST character. The second shows off the first look at the Xbox 360 controller that will be bundled with Halo 3: ODST in its Limited Edition packaging this fall. Willy pointed out yet another article, also at Kotaku, which explains the $59.99 pricetag of ODST - and the $99.99 pricetag of the LE. (Louis Wu 03:49:58 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Bungie employees' killtage 4
B5DAmericanista continues creating montages from Bungie employees' fileshare clips - his fourth Bungie Killtage is nicely composited and entertaining to watch. Thanks to urk for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 03:49:16 UTC) (permalink)

Great work from the time of Halo 3's release
Gonna get some news on the page for Tuesday, because I'll be travelling for most of Tuesday morning, and taking in the E3 sights during the afternoon. First up: nearly buried in the wild discussing this afternoon, Mrguy pointed out a pretty slick digital image created by Mike Thompson. Old... but gaw-juss! (Louis Wu 03:48:40 UTC) (permalink)

News June 1 2009

Halo 3: ODST/Halo: Reach - a summary of the day
As almost everyone reading this by now already knows, Bungie had two rather hefty reveals at the Microsoft Press Briefing today - the first was a gameplay demonstration of Halo 3: ODST (followed by a boatload of information released on Bungie.net), the second was a heretofore-unknown game, Halo: Reach (this weekend's title leak doesn't really count). Things worth knowing about Halo 3: ODST:

• Release date is September 22
• lots of versions of the new trailer can be found at Bungie.net
• Lots of new screenshots can be found at Bungie.net (poring over them will reveal all sorts of tidbits about the game - our forum is having fun)
• a handful of QuickTime VR 3D vids (and a hint of more to come) are available at Bungie.net
• Lots of new info about the game (including a new mode, Firefight, an invite to the Halo: Reach Beta for purchasers, an unlockable for pre-orderers, and more) can be picked over

(There's a new forum on Bungie.net devoted to the game, too.) If you missed the Joe Staten-supplied gameplay during the briefing itself, you can watch it at IGN (thanks, BlueNinja). And oh, yeah, there's a new Dashboard theme on Xbox LIVE. Moving along to Halo: Reach:

• You can watch the trailer on Bungie.net (or download it in a lot of flavors)
• It'll be out in 2010
• It's Bungie-driven
• It's got Elites
• I'm SURE there are more tidbits to be gleaned - dive into our forums and see what people have come up with!

News might be light tomorrow - I'm traveling out to E3, and am NOT equipped to report from the show floor - but anything more we discover will be posted in due time. Go enjoy what's out already! (Louis Wu 23:00:03 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: ODST, Reach Leaked by MS Officials at Rave
Bungie took the stage at Microsoft's E3 press conference this morning to show off some Halo: ODST gameplay and to make official Halo: Reach. Check out all of the details at Bungie.net. (KP 20:22:51 UTC) (permalink)

Into The Pixel 2009 - coming to E3
According to this press release, Into The Pixel (a juried digital art exhibition involving experts from traditional fine arts as well as the entertainment industry, now in its 6th year) will be showing off its 2009 collection at E3 this week. The specific website isn't live yet, but the general Into The Pixel site has much more information (though nothing yet on the 2009 entries). Why this is appearing on a Halo website: one of the 16 works in this year's collection is 'Landing', a piece of Halo Wars artwork by Ensemble's Corey Butler. Looking forward to seeing it! (Louis Wu 16:14:20 UTC) (permalink)

TPP: How to Suck Less at Halo Vol.2 - Hornet
jake108 let us know that the latest Teabag Prevention article is now online - this one will help you suck less with a Hornet. (Or, alternatively, if you're on the ground... kill one faster.) Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:31:42 UTC) (permalink)

Watch her strut.
Hawty McBloggy watched the Top 10 Halo Exerminations vid from 360Cinema... and was inspired to write poetry. Of a sort. (Louis Wu 13:29:09 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Just a couple of comic updates for you today: Bloogyo pointed out that Rat's Nest Episode 16 4 is up (but that you should start at the beginning of Episode 16 or it won't make any sense)... and TTL Demag0gue let us know that Reclaimer 191 (Introspection) is live, and the Reclaimer is beginning to sound emo. Erm... sorry, I mean you get a deeper look into his troubled mind. (Reclaimer's, not Demag0gue's.) (Louis Wu 13:28:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Fails: Top 10 Of Season 2
chris10023 sent word that Halo 3 Fails: Top 10 Of Season 2 is online at YouTube - they're not new clips, but they're the best of the last 10 episodes. Fun to watch! (Louis Wu 13:27:20 UTC) (permalink)

June 2009

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