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 | May 2005 |  |
May 2005 Archived News
News May 31 2005
No-Scope Teaser Posted
(GT)Juggler has posted a teaser to his next video, HaloGT 18, 'No Scope King'. Great video quality, and a no-scope montage... should be fun! Available in several formats; they range in size from 4.4 mb to 8.4 mb, depending on size and version. (Louis Wu 22:53:17 UTC) (permalink)
Blind Devotion
XerxdeeJ points out his newest post on his Tied the Leader blog - a look at Fanboy Psychosis. It's more focused on the Star Wars series than Halo, but Halo's mentioned, and the syndrome is definitely applicable. (Louis Wu 21:31:24 UTC) (permalink)
Vrbas Montage
Z, from Halo2Forum.com, wrote to point out a new montage they're hosting - very high quality video, nice timing. You can find it in this forum thread. (Louis Wu 20:59:40 UTC) (permalink)
This Island Earth Ep 11
Red Leader pointed out that there's another
episode of This Island Earth posted now. I've lost track of the plotline, but the graphics work is nice. (Louis Wu 17:26:54 UTC) (permalink)
T and R cutscenes - all up
The Halo Cutscene Library grows by another two scenes today - the Keyes rescue from the brig, and the final Truth and Reconciliation scene have both been added. Go grab the flavor of your choice! (Louis Wu 16:44:10 UTC) (permalink)
Earth City Transcribed
Over at Rampancy.net, there's another Halo audio transcription - this one is Earth City, done by Spenser Anunsen. The downloadable archive (free registration required to see the Download link) contains a midi file, Printmusic files, a score, and a PDF doc containing the score. Nice work! (Louis Wu 09:55:02 UTC) (permalink)
News May 30 2005
The Hand that Feeds
It's the end of the month, and we happen to have a bit of bandwidth left over. So I went through some of the recent rejections from the Movie Peer Review Rating System, and I found a film I wanted to post. Partly, it's because I enjoyed it - it's the story of the Arbiter, set to 'The Hand that Feeds', by Nine Inch Nails. It mixes cutscene footage with gameplay footage, and does a nice job synching the music to the action. Partly, though, I was hugely amused by some of the comments this film received from reviewers - it taught me that context is EVERYTHING. You need to understand that this film, put together by Epyon, uses cutscene footage from our Cutscene Library, and gameplay footage, taken from Mike Miller's Legendary Walkthrough. None of the footage is original to this film. (That's not what makes it funny, though that IS what disqualified it in the eyes of several reviewers.) The funny part is this: the footage, while recognized by some reviewers, was totally missed by others - there were comments like "this whole thing was just cutscenes with mediocre gameplay mixed in," or even better, "Try doing gameplay footage on legendary, and pull off some awesome moves, like Mike Miller on the Legendary walkthroughs." My eyes were watering, reading this stuff. So it seems only fair to release the film and let others see it, as well. It's 15.3 mb in QuickTime format, or 15.7 mb in WMP9 format. (I guess Mike's gameplay looks much more awesome when viewed in the context of the walkthrough itself...) And for anyone who doesn't believe Mike has what it takes, after seeing his footage put together like this, I'd remind you of clips like this (in QT, or if you'd rather, in WMP9) - it's all in how you look at it. Okay, back to hotdogs and chicken wings - I hope you're all enjoying this Memorial Day! (Louis Wu 18:08:00 UTC) (permalink)
Truth and Reconciliation Begins.
The first pair of cutscenes from Halo's third level, Truth and Reconciliation, are now available in our Cutscene Library. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 12:34:14 UTC) (permalink)
Enemy At The Gates.
What do you do when your carefully crafted message is undermined by a well-meaning but unthinking superior? Today's One One Se7en looks at one possibility... (Louis Wu 11:41:54 UTC) (permalink)
Monday Missives
Thirteen new pieces posted in the Fan Fiction section this morning - begin Memorial Day with Halo! (Louis Wu 11:31:20 UTC) (permalink)
Voice Actors Needed
HALOChat is looking for voice talent for an upcoming Halo movie - information about the film, test scripts, and how to apply are all available in this forum post. Swing by and try out. (Louis Wu 11:16:12 UTC) (permalink)
Additional Zelda mod movie links
The Zelda mod movie we mentioned yesterday has exceeded its bandwidth; thanks to the folks who pointed out a thread on the Gearbox forum with a couple of other links that still work. (We still don't have any other formats for this video - if you can't watch Flash, you're out of luck. Sorry.) (Louis Wu 11:13:56 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Wins Spacey
A few weeks ago, we mentioned that Halo 2 was up for a Spacey Viewer's Choice Award - the ceremony was held last night, and Halo 2 took the Favorite Game award (with 41% of the vote) - thanks, Laird. (Louis Wu 11:11:20 UTC) (permalink)
News May 29 2005
Advanced Combat Techniques: Brute Shot and SMG
Overswarm apologizes for the lack of updates to his Not So Common Sense guide - it's hard to create strategy aids when you don't have access to online play. (He's out of luck for the summer.) However, he HAS managed to put together a pair of useful demonstration videos, showing off advanced combat techniques for the SMG and the Brute Shot. You'll find them (in both WMP9 and QuickTime format) on the NSCS Movies page. (Louis Wu 19:23:36 UTC) (permalink)
TIE 10
Red Leader writes to let us know that This Island Earth Episode 10 has been posted. Take a look! (Louis Wu 19:08:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Cutscene Goodness
Because they're small, we're releasing all 3 cutscenes (well, 5 if you count the variants for the final one) for the level Halo in our Halo Cutscene Library today. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 19:02:40 UTC) (permalink)
Tricking interview at Hackaday.com
Redbluefire, of Trickingit.com, lets us know that he's been interviewed by Hackaday.com about Halo 2 tricking; the interview is available via podcast. Swing by and listen! (Louis Wu 18:46:17 UTC) (permalink)
Oh. No. What shall we do?
Wow. Sometimes you just have to be scared for the future of journalism.There's an article at Channelnewsasia.com about videogame addiction, and how it's 'America's newest social scourge'... and it quotes statistics from the website of MAVAV, Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence. (MAVAV, you might remember, was a hoax website, put together as a school project by David Yoo in 2002.) Oh, how I miss the days when journalists actually CHECKED their sources... Thanks to Funkmon for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 18:35:46 UTC) (permalink)
Zelda Mod Movie
We've mentioned a Zelda mod for HaloCE in the past - a movie has now been released (27 mb, Flash format). Take a look! (Thanks, MasterGrief.) (Louis Wu 18:27:46 UTC) (permalink)
Map Pack Screenies
Aussie Xbox has put up a bunch of screenshots and some cover art for the upcoming Multiplayer Map Pack release, due in early July. (Xboxyde released some of these shots a couple of weeks ago, but that was well before the media embargo was lifted. It's unclear what that embargo date actually IS - but since the big boys haven't released these yet, it's probably safe to say that Aussie Xbox is a little early, too. In any case - they're online, go look. (Louis Wu 16:18:51 UTC) (permalink)
News May 28 2005
Tips for Beaver Creek
UNEXPECTED62 has written another strategy guide, this time for Beaver Creek. You'll find it on his LegendzNeverDie website. (Louis Wu 18:27:43 UTC) (permalink)
The Autumn! She's been hit!
Starting your Memorial Day Weekend off with a cutscene, we've released the final scene from Pillar of Autumn - our Halo Cutscene Library now contains all of the first level of the game. Go grab a copy! Update: Mainevent noticed an audio problem on the large WMP9 file; sorry about that. It's been replaced on both mirrors. (Louis Wu 11:59:56 UTC) (permalink)
The Ultimate Halo Freak - a Followup
Back in March, we mentioned the Ultimate Halo Freak contest on Xbox.com. Prove you were more dedicated to Halo than anyone else, win cool stuff. In early April, they picked Keldog, who runs Carnagestats.com, as their winner - and gave him a bunch of cool stuff right at the time he'd been robbed and lost 3 Xboxes. (I'm not sure why I never put the on the front page; seems like news to me.) What I never noticed was a writeup of the contest (and the almost-winners) over at Xbox.com. Some of the stories in there are AMAZING. (A guy ate 3 jars of mayonnaise to cover the cost of Halo 2. Another guy bought a TV with s-video for his hotel room just because he was traveling on November 9. Someone named their KID Cortana, fergoshsakes!) There are an amazing number of stories - some funny, some sad, some just plain scary. Go look. (Louis Wu 11:54:26 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Cursor Set for WinXP
Kanbo noticed a new Deviation at DeviantART - looks like JJ.Ying created a set of Halo 2 cursors. (That's actually just a picture - but you can find a download link on the author's blog.) (Louis Wu 11:27:45 UTC) (permalink)
News May 27 2005
Pump, don't squeeze.
This week's Weekly What's Update, populated entirely with questions pulled off our forum, is up at Bungie.net now. Thanks to CougRon, who noticed it before I did. (Louis Wu 21:37:09 UTC) (permalink)
2old2play tries the new maps
I missed this yesterday - but 2old2play.com sent some folks to E3 this year, and then submitted their report to Bungie.net - there's a part 1 and a part 2. (The final picture would suggest that '2old2play' means 'in your late 20's'.) Thanks, Stosh. Update: I've been corrected - the guy playing in that pic is NOT a member of 2old2play, and in fact wouldn't have been accepted for membership. (Louis Wu 20:00:00 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly Update with YOUR help
Holy Magillicutty, Batman... here's your chance to get questions answered. Frankie has started a thread on our forum, offering to answer as many questions as you post (civilly) in this week's Weekly What's Update. There's already a decent quantity up there... but get to thinkin' - you never know! Update: Thread was locked, by Frankie's request - I guess he figured 97 responses were enough. (Louis Wu 17:50:19 UTC) (permalink)
Mac Halo Updater 1.5.2 released
MacSoft has released Halo Updater 1.5.2, which brings the Mac version of Halo into line with HaloPC and HaloCE v1.07 (fixing a network vulnerability). You can grab the updater (3.5 mb) off our server, or from MacUpdate.com. Get back to playing with your PC buddies! (Louis Wu 17:44:58 UTC) (permalink)
Pun-itent Tangent.
There's been some awful puns in One One Se7en through the years... but this one takes the Christmas goose. (Louis Wu 15:27:32 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fiction
Ten new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today - get to reading! (Louis Wu 15:26:10 UTC) (permalink)
Doom 3 vs Halo 2: The Battle of the Stories
Doom 3 has a much larger amount of story material than the original Doom. In addition, it's presented in-game in a much-more-interactive way than Halo's story is (instead of simply using cutscenes and the occasional scripted encounter, you can find information on viewscreens, dropped PDAs, lab computers, and more). So has Doom surpassed Halo in its storytelling ability? Narcogen takes a close look over at Rampancy.net - you might be surprised by what he found. (Louis Wu 15:15:51 UTC) (permalink)
Cutscene Library Grows
The Bridge scene from Pillar of Autumn is now available from the Halo Cutscene Library - go grab it! (Louis Wu 14:50:06 UTC) (permalink)
Update on Twin Galaxies contest
Back in January, we mentioned a cash prize given out by Twin Galaxies (a game-ranking site) for a Legendary speedrun of Halo 2. HALOChat wrote to point out that the prize has increased (from $150 to $250), and a new 'Special Rule' has been instated - the Envy skull (which gives permanent invisibility) cannot be used. (This would suggest, however, that OTHER skulls CAN be used... hmm. Sputnik, anyone?) You'll find the bounty on their Rules page - it's Bounty (105), and I found it on page 10. (Louis Wu 14:33:46 UTC) (permalink)
Blood Covenant Looking for a Sprite Artist
JPOGDNA writes to say that new management has taken over on the Halo: Blood Covenant project (a side-scrolling Halo game) - but they've hit a snag. They need a new sprite artist (just one), to help with backgrounds, some weapons, character actions and the like. Interested people can send samples of their work to either rleemailcall@yahoo.com or MCJPOGDNA1986@hotmail.com to apply. Give 'em a look! (Louis Wu 14:01:59 UTC) (permalink)
Odd Advertising
A number of people pointed out this article at Xbox-Scene, showing pictures of the upcoming Xbox 360 kiosk... you gotta wonder why the picture used is a sideways shot from Lockout. Weird. I think SUPERTOY was first. (Louis Wu 13:58:41 UTC) (permalink)
MC goes south... and a look at quitters
Over at Halo Babies, you'll find a photo diary of Master Chief's E3 Adventure... that guy can get into a lot of trouble! When you're done with that... there's also a new strip for the day. You gotta pick your friends carefully... (Louis Wu 13:55:36 UTC) (permalink)
HaloCE 1.07 Update
Dennis Powers points out that the HaloCE 1.07 hotfix is now in the auto-update - but the dedicated server patch (for servers that didn't use the installation utility to install the server) can still be found at Gearbox Game Zone. Details (and usage) are on this page. (Louis Wu 03:10:40 UTC) (permalink)
Worldwide Halo Tourney Advances to Finals
22 out of 24 Xbox Live global regions have a declared winner in the worldwide Halo 2 contest (last mentioned about a month ago) - you can read the official press release for more details. (Only Japan and the US are still awaiting a national champion.) Finals will be played on Friday, June 10. (Louis Wu 02:38:19 UTC) (permalink)
News May 26 2005
Halo 2 Soundtrack Vol 2 - Mastered
There's a short note over at Bungie.net - apparently, the official Nile Rogers website has announced that Marty has finished mastering the Halo 2 soundtrack. No other info is given - but if you'll remember, the Weekly What's Update on May 14 suggested an early July release. (Louis Wu 19:40:58 UTC) (permalink)
Almost Parcheesi
It's not a Top News Story, for some reason... but the Halo Humpday Challenge has now been written up by Frankie. Polite and genteel - he's a gracious winner. (I'm not sure what that 'continued on page 2...' thing is at the bottom of the second game...) Go read. (As a side note to SketchFactor: when your internet and cable TV both go out, there's this thing called 'outside' - you can go there and find stuff to do. It's cool.) (Louis Wu 19:35:52 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Cutscene Library Opens
Wow. It's taken an inordinately long time to prepare - and for that I offer abject apologies - but as of today, the Halo Cutscene Library here on HBO begins to be built. (The Halo 2 Cutscene Library has been online for several months now.) Today, we offer you the opening scene from Pillar of Autumn, as well as a film containing all four versions of Sarge's speech to the marines (depending on difficulty). If you're on a high-bandwidth connection, you can grab the 640x480 versions, in either QuickTime or WMP9 formats... and for those on slightly slower connections, we're also offering 320x240 versions (in both formats). At the moment, we've got a pair of mirrors for each film, but we're happy to add any other mirrors; if you'd like to host these yourself, simply send us the link and we'll add it to the page. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 18:55:22 UTC) (permalink)
The Argument
Another movie has passed through the Movie Peer Review Rating System - this one is a filming of Monty Python's 'The Argument' sketch. It's the work of The7ftman, and what reviewers liked was the editing and environment choices. (Don't look for a lot of gunplay in this one...) You can grab it in QuickTime (29.4 mb) or WMP9 (29.6 mb) formats. (Louis Wu 18:34:40 UTC) (permalink)
Modeling the Rocket Launcher
Early this week, Paradox sent along a couple of pictures of his new work-in-progress, a model of the Halo rocket launcher. We've started a gallery for this, and will add pictures as they come in. Looks to be pretty heavy-duty! (Louis Wu 16:02:14 UTC) (permalink)
Return of the Bex
Looks like this week's Halo Humpday Challenge pitted Bungie against 2070Films - Dan Chosich posted links to the games themselves, though we still need to wait for the official Bungie writeup. Bungie blew 'em out for the first two games, but 2070Films won the third game, and the unofficial chaser was pretty darn close. Nice playing, guys! (Louis Wu 14:19:33 UTC) (permalink)
HaloCE 1.07 hotfix now available
Dennis Powers, of the Gearbox Game Zone, points out that the HaloCE 1.07 Hot-Fix patch is now available for download on his site. (Gearbox has chosen that site as its primary distribution point for this file.) It's 4.6 mb, and brings HaloCE back into parity with HaloPC (which was patched a couple of days ago). This patch fixes a vulnerability which could allow a malicious client to hang a server. Go grab it now! (Louis Wu 10:44:56 UTC) (permalink)
News May 25 2005
I want a GIANT version of that.
I was a little hesitant about posting this, since I'm afraid that some of the people who see it from a front-page post won't bother to learn the context, and Roger Wilco will come off as a much harsher person than he really is... but it's just too funny to pass up on. Ross Mills posted a note this morning, lamenting the 'end of the golden age' of the HBO forum; some people (mostly newcomers) agreed with him, some people (mostly folks who've been around for years) suggested that the whole quality thing is cyclical. Roger Wilco chimed in with a pretty positive message, overall... but the opening is... well, harsh. Funny... but harsh. But Funny. Funny enough that it's worth a front-page mention. If it amuses you, and you don't recognize the name... search our news for him; you might find a few other things of interest. (Louis Wu 19:21:43 UTC) (permalink)
Speculation - it's not just for breakfast anymore!
Jillybean tosses around popular sci-fi references with abandon as she plucks a few morsels from the cornucopious Halo Story mailbag. (Yes, I know that's not a word.) The focus today seems to be Forerunner. Go read! (Louis Wu 17:37:25 UTC) (permalink)
GoshDarnGolly, You're Gonna Die!
Whee - still ANOTHER movie. This one comes from Fireb0rn (whose last offering was ALSO quite good) - and it has the honor of garnering the highest score of any of the 130+ videos that have so far passed through the Movie Peer Review Rating System. It's called 'Talking Smack Over Xbox Live: An Educational Film', and it is, in the words of its creator, "a rip-off of those classic Leave it to Beaver style 1950's educational shorts using Halo 2 to tell the story." Filming is great, filter use is great, voice acting is great, content is pretty darn funny. You can grab a WMP9 version (17.2 mb) or a QuickTime version (17.1 mb). Don't forget to drink your milk!
So... when does this get tough?
Captain Spark has turned in another 33 dialogue snippets, this time a combination of Elites, Grunts, and female marines. You can grab the lot on his website, or search for (and listen to) the ones you want in our Dialogue Databank. (Louis Wu 15:51:26 UTC) (permalink)
Hologroan.
Cortana gets roped into tripe into today's One One Se7en... gotta watch that. (Louis Wu 15:30:04 UTC) (permalink)
Sticky Style
Another MPRRS release for you today - this one comes from Spuzzum, and is called 'Sticky Style'. It's basically a runthrough of Cairo Station (well, the highlights, anyway) - but the timing is amazingly good. (Gameplay's pretty good, too...) Gameplay is Heroic, because some of the stuff Spuzzum was trying was "a little too suicidal to pull off successfully with a little flair". Flair, he's got - in spades. Anyone looking to make montages - you could learn from this guy's sense of timing. Available in QuickTime (20.6 mb) or WMP9 (18.6 mb). (Louis Wu 15:05:26 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Walkthrough at IGN
There's a Halo 2 Walkthrough posted up on IGN FAQs (among other places) - if you're having trouble with the game, and our Legendary Walkthrough hasn't helped, try this! (Louis Wu 10:43:06 UTC) (permalink)
Moore on Xbox
Peter Moore talked to GameDaily - mostly it's about Xbox stuff, but Halo gets a few mentions; there's a discussion about the impetus behind the I Love Bees promotion, and a look at backwards compatibility, with Halo and Halo 2 being the only two named titles at the moment promised to work on the 360. There's also a clarification of the silly '1 billion users' quote from last week. (Louis Wu 09:49:18 UTC) (permalink)
Outpost Coagulation Ep 7
Tactic let us know that Outpost Coagulation Episode 7 (Canook and Special forces) has been posted - you can find it at Tree Skunk Productions or mirrored at halomachinima.com (thanks, trigger119). Voice acting continues to improve, a new character (or two) gets introduced, the plotline moves forward. And oh, yeah... the warthog has a hangover. I'll toss up a QuickTime version in the near future. Update: There's a QuickTime version here, now (27.1 mb). (Louis Wu 09:31:16 UTC) (permalink)
Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Martinis
SketchFactor has written up a summary of Bungie's involvement in E3 this year - it's posted at Bungie.net. If you weren't there, this will show you what you missed - at least the Bungie-related portion. Go read! (Louis Wu 09:04:22 UTC) (permalink)
News May 24 2005
This Ain't Your Daddy's Wizard.
The Halo2CE team continues their recreation of Halo 2 maps in the HaloCE engine - check out this news post for pictures of last night's test of Warlock. Looks pretty amazingly close! Thanks, $t@nKy. (Louis Wu 19:56:18 UTC) (permalink)
E3, from one Bungie fan
SketchFactor has posted a fan-written look at E3 over on Bungie.net (with a focus, of course, on Bungie) - a few pics, a mini-interview... go read! Thanks, TheLethalSpartan. (Louis Wu 18:04:05 UTC) (permalink)
Hollywood Halo Goes Jumping
The first movie to make it through the Movie Peer Review Rating System (with a passing score) for almost 2 weeks is ready for release. It was submitted by imSuck, of Halogrid.com, and is called 'Jump Tactics Spoof Episode 3' - it's a spoof of the jumping vids released by serious teams like Jump Tactics and Broncho's Friends, and it's pretty funny. This one features guest appearances (heck, they guest-STAR) by Kealii Maluu and Anti Noob (of the REAL Jump Tactics team), and spreads real, killer jumps in amongst humor and silliness. It's 640x480, 10:29 long, and roughly 50 mb, depending on flavor:
WMP9 (53.2 mb) - bungie.org | mythica.org
QuickTime (49.4 mb) - bungie.org | mythica.org
There's a slightly higher-res version, hosted at halo2forum.com, linked off the HaloGrid page - but there seems to be something wrong with the encoding - I can't get it converted to QuickTime. (It plays fine as a WMP9.) It's 10 mb larger than the version we're hosting. Go grab a copy (either from there, or from here), and watch today! (Louis Wu 17:52:49 UTC) (permalink)
Lots and Lots o' Movies at GGZ
There is a rather large collection of new movies available over at movies.gearboxgamezone.com - mostly machinima this time around, and mostly in WMP9 format (though a few have QT options, as well). If you're jonesing for new video footage (and I can see how you might be, we've been pretty barren with respect to new releases recently), swing by and grab some! (Louis Wu 16:39:37 UTC) (permalink)
HaloPC 1.07 Hotfix Released
Roger Wolfson, HaloPC Testmaster for Bungie, has posted a note on the Bungie forums about a new update for HaloPC (and soon for HaloCE) - 1.07 has been released to address a networking vulnerability. The patch will work as an auto-update for those running 1.06 now (no downloading needed, just connect to the Gamespy lobby), but he's posted direct links for folks with earlier versions (or who want to update their dedicated servers). The new client will work with 1.06 servers, but the 1.06 client will NOT work with the 1.07 server. The HaloCE patch "will be made available in a couple days". Thanks to PMSboy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 10:08:36 UTC) (permalink)
Bach Backpedals on Release Date Claims
Last week, we mentioned a quote from Bill Gates that suggested that Halo 3 might be released in the same timeframe as the Playstation 3. We warned, as usual, that it ain't official until Bungie SAYS it's official... but it IS hard to contradict the head honcho. Nevertheless, there WAS some backpedaling by Robbie Bach, Chief Xbox Officer - in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Bach is quoted as saying:
We haven't announced anything on what Bungie is doing or where we're going with the future of the 'Halo' franchise. With all respect to Bill, I don't run Bungie's studio, and neither does he.
Go read the article for even more vagueness. Thanks to Marc Friedrichs of Halo Universe for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 09:24:13 UTC) (permalink)
News May 23 2005
Confidence is King
Another Halo pro has been profiled over at MLGPro.com - go read why Igamespot's McGavin is so well known in the competitive community. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 21:56:00 UTC) (permalink)
Mutated Zombie Farts
Dolbex has written up a solid review of the 5 maps coming out next month, complete with pictures (when he could find them on the web). If you're curious to see what's coming, and how you'll be playing it, swing by MLGPro.com and read this! (Louis Wu 20:42:23 UTC) (permalink)
Dual SM Jeez.
There's a line in the upcoming Killtacular documentary that goes something like "If you need to reload when you're dual-wielding, you're basically screwed." Today's One One Se7en is a perfect illustration of this concept. (Louis Wu 16:19:35 UTC) (permalink)
Monday Morning Reading
There are 15 new items for you in the Fan Fiction section today - stuff from old hands, stuff from newcomers, poems, standalone stories, chapters in ongoing sagas... something for everyone. Go read. (Louis Wu 16:05:12 UTC) (permalink)
Guide for MLG Beginners
Hehe - Vapor wrote up a short little guide for surviving in MLG Custom games (mostly for folks who can't). A couple of things I wouldn't have thought of in there (like the fact that even though it takes 4 bursts to the head to take out an opponent with a battle rifle, it STILL only takes 4 bursts if the first three hit the body; only the last needs to hit the head). Go read. (Louis Wu 14:53:03 UTC) (permalink)
Synide's E3 Wrapup
Synide wrote up his experiences at E3 last week over at synide.net (a FANTASTIC read) - and excerpted the plasma fiesta lanfest portion for posting on our own forum. The most interesting part of the excerpt for me - the realization, by someone deeply enmeshed in the competitive scene, that competitive gametypes with people who aren't part of that culture aren't nearly as fun. I realize he'll never convince the hardcore on either side of the issue - but for all the THINKING people, this is something worth reading. There's also a short, very dark video, showing the end of Round One of the ice-cream-eating contest (and why they all brain-froze before it was over). (Louis Wu 14:22:35 UTC) (permalink)
News May 22 2005
Halo domain names for sale
MasterGrief pointed out a thread on the Gearbox forums containing a number of Halo-related domain names for sale; prices and an email address for the seller can all be found in the thread. Check it out if you're looking to start a site! (Louis Wu 19:56:58 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 bandwidth usage
Mastiha wrote to point out that there's an article on bandwidth usage for Halo 2 over at XboxZone.com.au; I'm not sure I agree with the numbers (I've hosted 16-player games here, and if Remorhaz's numbers are right, that shouldn't have been possible), but they're there for the looking-at. (Louis Wu 19:41:43 UTC) (permalink)
Pillar of Autumn Space now available
Whew. Back from LA, still WELL-underslept, but I'll turn in early tonight and be back to normal by morning. A few things sitting in the in-box; looks like JackBauer's Pillar of Autumn Space map for HaloCE is available for download - check this Gearbox forum thread for details. (Thanks to several people, including JackBauer himself, for the heads-up.) Update: oops - there were other HaloCE map announcements, I almost missed them - Arteen has released Augury (check this thread for screenies and a download link), and Peter Sakievich has released The Narrows - screenies, description, and a download link can be found at Halomaps. (Louis Wu 19:30:51 UTC) (permalink)
News May 21 2005
Salsa, Ice Cream, and Halo.
I dropped a writeup of last night's E3 Plasma Fiesta LANfest onto our forum - I had a really good time, and saw a LOT of people I either hadn't seen for a while or had never actually met in person; a perfect ending to a nice E3 week. Here's hoping some of the other participants join in with their own comments! (Louis Wu 19:21:34 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly What's Update posted
Frankie posted this week's Weekly What's Update over at Bungie.net - it covers a lot of questions asked recently about the upcoming map pack, banning, and other small questions. Go read. (Louis Wu 09:49:45 UTC) (permalink)
Seriously Powerful Grenades
The webcomic Waffle Hut has another Halo-related strip up right now; it looks at the Halo XBL Auto-update, and what's changed. (Louis Wu 09:38:32 UTC) (permalink)
News May 20 2005
Shakeycam Map Footage
Several people filmed the new maps with hand-held video cameras yesterday; You can find stuff here, here, and here on our forum (I'm sure there are others, but I don't have time to hunt right now). No time to mirror stuff - here's hoping bandwidth holds out! (And that's it for me, for now - offline again for a bit. Here's hoping the server behaves...) (Louis Wu 18:07:56 UTC) (permalink)
Demotion.
Today's One One Se7en looks at clan heirarchies. (Louis Wu 18:06:55 UTC) (permalink)
Stubbs the Zombie stuff
I got a chance to play the Stubbs the Zombie demo yesterday - this game is a LOT of fun. There's a hands-on over at Eurogamer, that points out some of the pieces that are unchanged from its Halo engine roots (thanks, 3Suns), but mostly it feels like its own game completely. This is one to watch. (Louis Wu 17:51:13 UTC) (permalink)
Big Sigh of Relief
Major Nelson has put the kibosh on the rumor (we mentioned it yesterday) that Xbox games would have to be recompiled for the Xbox 360. Bottom line: you will not need to buy new copies of any original Xbox games that eventually get certified for use on the 360. Thanks to several people - orion 12 was first. (Louis Wu 17:48:10 UTC) (permalink)
Map Writeups
IGN has a hands-on writeup of the five new maps, which are playable on the E3 flooor - thanks, Capt 0bvious. (Louis Wu 17:43:28 UTC) (permalink)
The Girl with Kaleidoscope Thighs
A few quick notes before heading out again today - sorry for the briefness. First up - Halo Babies has posted a special E3-related strip today. Poor Cortana! (Louis Wu 17:41:26 UTC) (permalink)
News May 19 2005
Daddy's away
Mr. Wu is gone. So is the rest of the HBO staff. Doesn't mean they're completely ignoring this site while at E3, but they're going to be very busy trying to squeeze the last drop of info from Sketch and Frankie.
I know you're jealous, but don't make a mess of the house, willya? Thanks! (Ding 15:08:49 UTC) (permalink)
E3-bound.
Okay, that's it for me. Time to pack up and head to the airport - though I won't be landing in LA for another 8 hours. (Gotta love travel times.) Almost all the rest of the HBO admin staff is already there for E3, so news coverage will be pretty sparse for a bit. We'll do our best, however - and for a taste of what's there that might be of interest to Bungie fans, check out this quick forum post from mnemesis. (Louis Wu 09:42:20 UTC) (permalink)
New movies out of the MPRRS - sort of
Well, it's not working out like I'd expected... but yeah, we're still tweaking. The Movie Peer Review Rating System hasn't passed a film since May 8 - but I've taken to looking at the 'near misses', and I've got a pair for you to watch today. Bunker 27 is an upcoming Machinima series which looks to be following in RvB's footsteps - their trailer is 9.1 mb, 1:41 long, and shows potential. (WMP9 or QuickTime.) The Noobs, Experts, and In Between trailer is a short (sub-one-minute) vid that makes use of Halo Resolution sprites and came off pretty funny to me. (Several of the reviewers thought there was too much text to read.) This one's 3.7 mb, and also in WMP9 or QuickTime. And we'll keep working on the MPRRS to make it more consistent. (Let's be clear - I'm not saying it needs to be 'dumbed down'; I LIKE the fact that the reviewers take the quality issue seriously. I AM saying, however, that the guidelines we've given reviewers are nebulous enough that interpretations vary pretty widely. The Bunker 27 trailer was reviewed by 10 people, and passed by 8 of those. One of the two non-passing scores was dropped in our scoring algorithm - but the other was enough to bring the overall score below passing. I'd like to avoid this sort of situation in the future.) (Louis Wu 09:00:11 UTC) (permalink)
More on Xbox 360 backwards compatibility
Yesterday, we pointed out an article that suggested that certain titles in the Xbox collection would be singled out for backwards compatibility - Halo and Halo 2 among them. That article implied that emulation would be involved; code running on the Xbox 360 that handled the calls to the Intel CPU that Xbox games expected to see in the unit. A new article at GamesIndustry.biz, however, says that rather than the box itself emulating Intel hardware, the games will be recompiled to run on the PowerPC chips inside the Xbox 360. Why does this matter to you? In the first case, you'd be able to simply put your existing copies of Halo and Halo 2 into the Xbox 360 - they'd play. In the second case, you'll be able to PLAY the games on the new machine - but not with your old discs; you'd have to buy the new, recompiled versions. Depending on how many Xbox games are made to be compatible with the new machine (and how many you decided you couldn't live without), you could be spending a fortune to replace games you already have. If this turns out to be true, the 'backwards compatibility' claim goes out the window - yes, you'll be able to play older games on your new Xbox 360 - but not the versions you have; you STILL have to buy new copies. Here's hoping GI got it wrong. Thanks, 3Suns. Update: Eep, it looks like 3Suns posted it on the forum as well - so go chime in with your own opinion! (Louis Wu 08:18:51 UTC) (permalink)
Master Chef?
Halo popped up in yet another webcomic yesterday - 6X9 College looked at its ability to suck your concentration right down. Thanks, Elizar. (Louis Wu 08:07:09 UTC) (permalink)
News May 18 2005
Time for Toast!
Captain Spark posted another 30-plus dialogue snippets today, this time all from Sargeant Stacker. You can find them on his website, or in our Dialogue Databank. That man is pretty full of himself! (Stacker, not Spark.) (Louis Wu 21:29:55 UTC) (permalink)
Who are those guys?
Whee! Bluestone whipped up a very pretty Flash montage showing all the HBO Helljumpers (and their special talents - or whatever). You can find it in this forum post on the HBO Clan forums. You can also comment on it in this thread. (Louis Wu 19:57:07 UTC) (permalink)
The Wallpaper Flood
Gah. You want a lot of desktop choices? We got a lot of desktop choices for you, in our Wallpaper section today. 71 of them, in fact - or almost 90 if you count variants. I'm praying right now for the safety of the server. (You can use this link, instead, if you'd like to look at 9 at a time, instead of all 71 thumbs at once; just remember to use the 'next' nav arrow at the top to see the rest.) It's insane how much I let stuff build up - but at least for the day, it's cleared out! If you submitted a Wallpaper in the past month, it's either in here, or it didn't meet our hosting guidelines. (Louis Wu 19:41:15 UTC) (permalink)
Thursday's Reading
Eight new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section - including a story by someone who usually submits artwork to us, instead of words. Check 'em all out! (Just clearing queues before I leave for E3...) (Louis Wu 18:25:30 UTC) (permalink)
eBay - the friend of college students everywhere
MarkHawk is broke, and looking to make up a little of the cash he needs by auctioning off a pair of Civilian Warthog action figures and a giant promotional poster. You can find the forum post here, and the eBay auction here. Not a bad starting price for a pair of extremely rare hogs and a poster! (Louis Wu 16:34:02 UTC) (permalink)
Rollin' Rollin' Rolling'...
I'm thinkin'... that's Stuntmutt behind the wheel in today's One One Se7en. Could be wrong, of course. (Louis Wu 13:58:35 UTC) (permalink)
GNF Highlight Reel at Archive.org
Gah - I almost forgot that I'd submitted the Going Nowhere Fast Highlight Reel to archive.org! You can grab all four flavors (high and medium res, WMP9 and QT) from their download page; we haven't run out of bandwidth on other links yet, but it's always nice to have a really large pipe at your disposal. (Could use a review or two, as well, to keep from looking so lonely...) (Louis Wu 10:53:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo and Halo 2 BOTH to play on the Xbox 360
Microsoft promised to announce whether the Xbox 360 would be backwards-compatible this Monday - and they kept their word. The answer is yes - but only for a limited number of titles. (Emulation will be required.) They haven't released a full list - but according to Newsday (in an article about the Playstation 3), David Hufford, Xbox group product manager, specifically included both Halo and Halo 2. Good news! Thanks to a bunch of people - first heads-up came from Fear Of Falling. (Louis Wu 10:28:28 UTC) (permalink)
Zelda mod flythrough
Dennis Powers points out an update to a recent news post we put up - the Zelda Ocarina of Time mod for Halo CE is coming along nicely, and in fact has released a video flythrough of the levels they're working on. You can find commentary and download links (WMP9 or QT) in this post at gearboxgamezone.com. Check it out! (Louis Wu 10:16:10 UTC) (permalink)
Fall of the Covenant
trigger119 points out that Fall of the Covenant, his second machinima project, has been posted at halomachinima.com. It's available in four flavors - high and low-res versions in both WMP9 and QuickTime. (Size ranges from 50 to 100 mb or so.) It's the story of the final battle between Spartans and the Covenant - and the visuals are quite good. In fact, my only real criticism is that the movement of the entire movie is held hostage to the visuals; battle scenes are prolonged well past their comfort point in the name of arty slow-motion death. This gripe notwithstanding, the hudless filming and great choreography give this film some nice polish! Go watch. There are comment threads set up both on the halomachinima.com forums, and our own. (Louis Wu 10:09:31 UTC) (permalink)
News May 17 2005
New map screenies
Whoa, cool. Looks like Xboxyde was first out of the gate with new screenshots of the upcoming map pack maps (I'm sure all the big boys will have copies before the night is over). Check 'em out! Thanks, Recoil. (Louis Wu 22:54:38 UTC) (permalink)
Now that's just nuts.
The Art sections here at HBO have been languishing for FAR too long - I've FINALLY cleared out the Miscellaneous Art queue. Beware - there are 64 entries in today's batch (over 70 if you count variants) - page loading might be rough. I simply didn't see any options; I'm leaving for E3 in two days, and it was now or never. There are tons of sketches, lots of paintings, modeled stuff, photos of real stuff... it's an astoundingly large and varied collection. Look at everything - but don't miss the stuff by Pinkuh, or Paul Davies, or Roger Wilco, or Chris Bryan. (I'm not in any way saying that the only good stuff in this batch came from one of these people. I'm simply saying that with such a huge update, it will be easy to miss things - so these are some to watch out for.) It's really possible I missed something... so if you submitted miscellaneous art in the last month or two, and it's not in this update, go ahead and let us know - we'll look for it. If all goes well, I'll be doing similar update with Wallpaper tomorrow. (Louis Wu 18:59:41 UTC) (permalink)
Montage Heaven
Wonga. If you like montages, swing by Halo2Forum - they started a contest a few weeks ago, and received 135 movie entries, which they've narrowed down to 8 finalists. Two of those have already been released on HBO, but the other 6 are new to me - all told, you're looking at 500 MB of montage goodness. Here's hoping the bandwidth holds out... thanks, Z. (Louis Wu 17:01:53 UTC) (permalink)
B.net Game Viewer getting overhauled
A note up on Bungie.net warns you that the Halo 2 Game Viewer is undergoing some work, and will be somewhat limited compared to its usual functionality. By next week, a better, more powerful version should be online... please be patient! (Louis Wu 17:00:03 UTC) (permalink)
Tru7h Seeker
Ciarán Walsh has kicked off a blog, and it's mostly Halo-related - an entry yesterday explores what it might mean to fans if Bungie isn't the group creating Halo 3. The relative explosion of Halo-related blogs has prompted me to add a new section to our links page - you can now find all Halo-related blogs in one place (and add your own, via our automated interface). (Louis Wu 12:28:00 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGT 17
Another video almost made it through the Movie Peer Review Rating System yesterday; we're releasing versions of it anyway because as I said then, our reviewers seem to have reached a point where NO montage is good enough to make it through... but I believe there's still a bit of a market for these. This one comes from GT Juggler, and goes by the name 'How To Succeed at Halo Without Really Trying'. It's a bit under 4 minutes, 46 mb large in either QT or WMP9 formats, and combines great video, fun editing, and nicely-done syncing (with not a small amount of attitude) to create an entertaining vid. If you like it, there's a first part (this is 'part 2') available at HaloGT.com, as well.
QuickTime: bungie.org | mythica.org | halogt.com
WMP9: mythica.org | bungie.org
Enjoy! (Louis Wu 11:04:33 UTC) (permalink)
What is, and what might have been
Narcogen looks at the Halo franchise from a slightly different standpoint today - it's a system staple for the Xbox, yes... but would it have been what it's become without the help of Steve Jobs? Go read. (Louis Wu 10:55:24 UTC) (permalink)
Win a gold master chief
The Bungie store is running a new sweepstakes - you can enter to win one of 20 limited edition gold warthog action figures, or the grand prize of a gold master chief statue. No purchase necessary - just sign up. (You must be 18 or older, and live in the US.) First note I saw was from Capt Scope077 on our forum. (Louis Wu 10:48:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo for Homeworld 2
Interesting. A mod is starting up for Homeworld 2, attempting to bring Halo 2 ships into the game. (Many of them aren't even in Halo 2; some of the models are built off descriptions in the novels.) It's early days yet. There's a thread here, and the start of a new board here. Thanks, Chris Buhr. (Louis Wu 10:44:54 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo CE work continues
Couple of new Halo CE maps worth looking at - 'No Remorse' was inspired by Halo 2's Outskirts, and has a nice writeup at Halo2CE (thanks, Nuero Ko Neza), and 'Tributary of Lost Souls' is a new map from SuperSunny that contains some nice glow effects (thanks, MasterGrief). Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 10:40:15 UTC) (permalink)
Broncho and Friends 2
Broncho has released a second Broncho and Friends video - nearly 20 minutes of jumping on the newest levels. If you're a fan of jumping in Halo 2, you have to grab this. (Use the BitTorrent link if you can.) 44 mb, WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 10:35:05 UTC) (permalink)
News May 16 2005
This isn't Tuesday, dude.
Red vs Blue Episode 57, 'The Storm', has been posted for sponsors. This is the last episode of Season 3, and it's rather large (8 and a half minutes, 70-80 mb or so depending on flavor). You'd think that some storylines would be cleared up, given that it's the end of the season and all... but you'd be wrong. Great piece. Thanks to Caboose989 for the first heads-up. (Louis Wu 23:11:14 UTC) (permalink)
Do video games make you smart?
There's a somewhat off-topic column over at Slate from last week - it's worthy of mention here because Halo 2 is used as an example of a game that leads people to expect more from their entertainment. (The column is a dialogue between Steven Johnson, who believes that TV and video games are causing people to become smarter, by having to follow more intricate storylines, and Dana Stevens, who thinks that the argument is absurd when applied to television, but works for video games.) Thanks, Cornballer. (Louis Wu 19:28:15 UTC) (permalink)
Weapons respawn info for new maps
In early March, MurderDog and friends submitted respawn times for Halo 2 maps; we posted a note about it here. Now, Typher has added this information for the 4 newly-released maps - you can find them at the bottom of the timing page. (Louis Wu 18:00:16 UTC) (permalink)
Rankled.
No, I DIDN'T forget today's One One Se7en - it's still Monday, right? Geez. Good thing, too, cause it made me laugh. (Louis Wu 17:20:26 UTC) (permalink)
A new montage
A few days ago, I got an email from BeefySleet, who wanted to point out a video made by a friend of his, TXz Dymdez. I watched it, and was impressed; it was really well-done. I asked him to submit it to the Movie Peer Review Rating System, which had recently been tweaked after complaints of a slippage in quality - I felt that this would be a great first vid out of the gate, post-tweakage. Unfortunately, the movie failed - by the slimmest of margins (it received a rating of 74.75%, passing at the time was 75%). However, I'm releasing it anyway, because I think that it deserves recognition; I think the MPRRS reviewers are tired of montages and will fail pretty much ANYTHING submitted in montage format. (We'll soon be releasing another failed-by-narrow-margin montage that would have passed at any other time in Halo's history.) This one was (is) originally available on the Halo2Forum - you can find download links and commentary in this thread. We're providing another pair of mirrors for the original WMP9 version (33 mb, mythica.org | bungie.org) as well as a pair of QuickTime mirrors (31.6 mb, bungie.org | mythica.org); as of now, these are the only QT mirrors. Enjoy - but realize that it's possible that we may have reached the end of the golden age of montages. (Louis Wu 17:10:45 UTC) (permalink)
Halo CE Chronicles Trailer Posted
Dennis Powers has posted the Season 2 Teaser Trailer for the Halo CE Chronicles; it's available in both WMP9 and QuickTime formats from the downloads page. More maps, more story, blowing stuff up. (Well, not in the trailer. But soon.) (Louis Wu 16:16:17 UTC) (permalink)
Mmm.... donuts.
Phoenix_9286 posted another episode of Last Stand - and the forum post gives lots and lots of background about the strip. Sounds like a bunch of work! (Louis Wu 12:52:23 UTC) (permalink)
The Disposition of Intellectual Property
Flashman has written up a rebuttal to the recent article at HaloDev about 'ripping' - his argument is that creative expression (and free speech) is being stifled by fear of infringement of intellectual property. I almost didn't post this; we've had a pretty substantial email conversation this morning about the subject, and I was pretty sure at the outset that he had simply missed the point of the HaloDev article... but I was wrong; he understood it, but believes that once you release material into the world, you're obligated to live with what the world does with it. (I STRONGLY disagree with this sentiment; I believe that the intellectual property owner should have final say about the use of their creation... but my disagreement shouldn't stifle the discussion itself; it's a blog, there are built-in tools for making your views known.) Go read - then let him know what you think! (Louis Wu 10:56:21 UTC) (permalink)
Monday Morning Text
Twelve new pieces submitted to the Fan Fiction section over the weekend... poetry, chapters, standalone pieces. Go read! (Louis Wu 10:49:40 UTC) (permalink)
Things that make you go Hmm....
While the silence from Bungie about the future of the Halo franchise continues, Narcogen explores another possibility - read about it at Rampancy.net. (Louis Wu 10:28:57 UTC) (permalink)
Ways to make Halo more risque
Today's Waffle Hut has a Halo 3 mention... I'm not sure I understand it, but there you are. Thanks, Tricky. (Louis Wu 10:25:36 UTC) (permalink)
The Lowdown on Glitching
There's a nice article on glitching, and the problems it's causing for Microsoft, over at Wired.com. Nothing really new for the hardcore Halo fan, but it's a nice introduction to the concept for the general public, and it contains great quotes from Ducain and Dark Helmet (and prominent links to High Impact Halo). Go read! (Louis Wu 10:14:27 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 touted by Bill Gates
I woke up this morning to an absurdly-full mailbox. Yeah, there was a lot of spam... but there were also hundreds (literally) of notes about the Gamespot article which recounts that Time Magazine quotes Bill Gates confirming Halo 3, to be released at or near the release of Sony's Playstation 3 next year. Bungie STILL hasn't weighed in on this one - but it's a little silly to say 'even Bill GATES has no say in release dates'. We're still gonna keep you apprised of the OFFICIAL announcement, when it eventually comes... but please - we've seen this article, and the dozens of articles like it, all over the web; we've now front-paged the news... so you can stop sending us the link. (Louis Wu 10:09:03 UTC) (permalink)
News May 15 2005
VideoTuts Mass Media Release
A new site, VideoTuts.net, has opened its doors; in the words of one of its admins, "Our goal is to push the gaming and CG industry further, and make it easy and accessible to everyone." (Well, mostly everyone - not Mac users, but everyone else.) They've released 20 new video tutorials on the use of 3ds Max and Photoshop; these range from large to ginormous, and most of the new ones (all of them?) are encoded with the TechSmith codec. (TechSmith is a Windows-only screen recorder; if you're on a Mac, you're completely out of luck. On the other hand, 3ds Max doesn't run on a Mac, either, so...) This codec, for Windows, can be downloaded from a link in their video FAQ. If you're looking for step-by-step tutorials showing you how to perform specific tasks related to game development using 3ds Max or Photoshop... check this stuff out! (Louis Wu 19:28:51 UTC) (permalink)
Zelda mod coming along
Hehe - the Zelda Ocarina of Time mod being created for Halo CE is progressing nicely, as can be seen in the screenshots in this thread on the Gearbox forums. Still a ways from being done, but what's there is quite impressive! Thanks, MasterGrief. (Louis Wu 18:57:59 UTC) (permalink)
Bits and Bobs.
Stuntmutt has updated his weblog with some submitted Guest strips for One One Se7en - for those who didn't remember (or never realized), the main One One Se7en section no longer accepts guest or archive submissions, and hasn't for a year or so. If you have a strip you want made public, mail it to Stuntmutt - he'll add it to this blog. (Louis Wu 18:32:55 UTC) (permalink)
GNF Highlights - now for direct download
In the last two days, more than 1300 copies of the Going Nowhere Fast Highlight reel (first posted here) have been downloaded via BitTorrent - close to 200 gigabytes worth of downloads. That should be enough that the direct download demand is back within reachable limits. A few sites have put up the high-res copies we released via BT - 640x480, 130+ mb; if you want one of these, and
BitTorrent isn't an option, you can grab them here (some have already been posted, but I'm re-summarizing):
- WMP9 Hi-Res: Furious Gamers | Furious Angels | Spartans.bungie.org
- QuickTime Hi-Res: Furious Gamers | Furious Angels | Spartans.bungie.org
For those who don't want the high-res version, and would rather save 50 mb on the download, there are also 480x360 versions available (84-87 mb, depending on flavor):
- WMP9 version: mythica.org | bungie.org | spartans.bungie.org
- QuickTime version: bungie.org | mythica.org | spartans.bungie.org
There are more mirrors coming (both high and medium res). (Louis Wu 17:10:27 UTC) (permalink)
Ripping in the Halo Community
There's a long article over at HaloDev, discussing the ethics of 'ripping' - removing content directly from one game (in its original form, without degradation) for insertion into another game (or the same game, in a different context). It's well-written, and has some decent arguments for why intellectual property should be respected. Go read. (Thanks to several folks for pointing this out - looks like SRG was first.) (Louis Wu 16:55:55 UTC) (permalink)
News May 14 2005
Miranda has been found
And the medium evolves. Motherstooth wrote to say that the search for Miranda is over - he's chosen Jenel Glover, of Fremont CA. He posted a short vid (WMP9 or QT) that includes the test line he had her read. (There were 17 applicants for the part... I'm thinking that if someone's looking for a 'niche' Halo 2 site, building a system that could put potential voice talent in touch with machinima projects that need it is a tool that's just screaming to be created.) (Louis Wu 11:19:01 UTC) (permalink)
Regret
A few days ago, James Meyers, of DS Unforgotten, submitted a film to the MPRRS - it had some technical problems. (That is - one reviewer was able to see it - and liked it, except for its size (31 mb) - while nobody else could even view it.) Getting a new copy took a while, and eventually, Cybr simply deleted the MPRRS entry. When James got back to me, though, the vid he uploaded was so small (1.6 mb WMP9) that I decided I'd just release it. 30 seconds... but pretty nicely done. You can also grab a QuickTime version (1.9 mb). (Louis Wu 10:48:52 UTC) (permalink)
A Tour of Two Maps
Dennis Powers pointed out a somewhat different vid he's spotlighted over at GearboxGameZone.com - it's a visual tour of a pair of HaloCE maps, W4Torn Cove and H2_New_Mombasa. I'm not sure I see it the same way he does - but it's a great overview of these two maps. Available in both QT and WMP9 formats. (Louis Wu 10:29:58 UTC) (permalink)
On the internet, nobody knows...
Severian sent along a link to his blog, which he describes as "part blog, and in fact a not-so-serious adolescent fantasy fulfilled". It's not really standard blog fare, and in fact I'm hesitant to post it (I'm not interested in a flood of similar pages being sent to us), but... (Louis Wu 10:22:26 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Watch Auction
Peter Snel sent along an eBay link for a Halo 2 watch; if you'd always wanted one of these, but never got around to buying one, now's your chance. Auction ends in less than 2 days. Update: posted a bit after 8 am ET, before I run out the door... these were found by 7he One:
- Master Chief Bust (day and a half left)
- Lot of 50 Halo 2 games (12 hours left)
- Master Chief statue (8 days left)
- Another Halo 2 Watch (day and a half left)
- Mouse pad (5 days left)
- Halo 2 banner (12 hours left)
- Dog Tags (set of 6) (day and a half left)
- Halo 2 glow mod (2 days left)
Whew! (Louis Wu 09:37:25 UTC) (permalink)
A Revisionist Look at Halo 2
Lothar Hex dropped us a line to let us know that his news post for Friday's Exterminatus Now comic is a rather lengthy look at the differences between Halo and Halo 2. Most of it has been said before - but I really liked the comment that it's hard to be in the 'middle' in the fan community; I've seen a lot of the polarization he talks about, and I agree with him that it's easy to see the merits (and weaknesses) of both sides. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 02:19:57 UTC) (permalink)
Direct Download links for GNF Highlights
hinch put up a few direct download mirrors (here and here) for the Going Nowhere Fast highlight reel we posted - if you can't use BitTorrent, give one of these a try. (If they die before new mirrors go up, don't panic - we'll be putting up more links soon.) If you CAN use BitTorrent, you'll get MUCH better speeds from the links in this post. (Louis Wu 02:14:07 UTC) (permalink)
Short? He said that was short?
Bungie's Weekly What's Update has been posted; the big news is that the Map pack (originally slated for a June 28th release) is now coming out on July 5. They're not happy about it - but that's how it goes sometimes. On the bright side, if you're at E3, you'll be able to play them. There's more stuff, too, of course - I was amused by the suicide penalty story. And oh, yeah... the second volume of the Halo 2 soundtrack looks to be on schedule for an early July release. Awesome Mister Chief art, too. Go read! (Louis Wu 02:05:47 UTC) (permalink)
News May 13 2005
An almost-forgotten promise... realized
9 months ago, we wrapped up a contest here at HBO that really captured the spirit of what makes the Halo community strong. Going Nowhere Fast was a chance for folks to show how fast they could race through Halo - straight speedruns, anything was allowed except modded Xboxes. We received dozens of entries, but there could be only one winner per level - and given the size of the films, we simply couldn't afford to release ALL runs. We promised a highlights video, showing the best bits from all the entries (rather than just the winning entries)... but real life and the demands of this website conspired to keep that promise from being realized. Well... once again, the community has come through. Cody Miller, who participated in the contest (and won two of the levels) came to HBO HQ for a lanfest in early April, and while he was here he picked up a dozen (more?) VHS tapes and a 160GB hard drive filled with GNF content. He did what I didn't have time to do - and he did it with s7yle. (This reel is lightyears beyond what I could have done.) The final product is eleven and a half minutes long, and in hi-res format weighs in at over 130 mb. We're going to release this via BitTorrent first, because 130 mb is pipe-killing. After the initial rush has died down, we'll put up versions for direct download; they'll be in the same form factor as the original GNF releases (480x360), and will save you 50 mb or so in downloads. Given that some of the original footage was pretty lousy, you might even be better off waiting for the smaller version... but the hi-res parts of this vid are great in hi-res. We're seeding it with quite a bit of initial bandwidth, so downloads should be snappy. You can grab torrents for a QuickTime version (138.7 mb) or a WMP9 version (133.9 mb) - please, leave your client open after download! And please - drop by our forum to let us (and Cody) know what you think of the work! (Louis Wu 14:13:31 UTC) (permalink)
More Hi-Res Goodies from Stryke Force
Stryke Force is releasing the last of its content to date in Hi-res format; swing by their video page for links. The New Year Special, their first PSA, and the trailer for the series are all up in WMP9 format at the moment. QuickTime versions will be coming probably tomorrow. The big news, though, is that from here on in, ALL releases will be in hi-res format - how can you beat that? Thanks, Feenix. (Louis Wu 14:09:48 UTC) (permalink)
Malleable Hunters, Forerunner Foresight, and...
Jillybean must be almost done with her finals - she found time to update the Halo Story Page. (Then again, it might just be that the opportunity to bash Cortana wsa just too good to pass up...) (Louis Wu 13:47:27 UTC) (permalink)
Well Turned Ankles First Into Hell.
Sarge meets Queer Eye in today's One One Se7en. Scary. (Louis Wu 13:17:58 UTC) (permalink)
Stories to read this Friday
Just in time to give you some Halo-based reading for the weekend, the Fan Fiction section gets 19 new stories today. To the folks who are annoyed by the fact that I manage to update the Fan Fiction section a couple of times per week, but let the art sections languish for months... I'm really sorry, I'm working on that. The more automated a system is, the easier it is to keep it up-to-date. Fan Fic is nearly fully automated. Wallpaper/Misc Art sections are not. It's on my list... really. (Louis Wu 13:13:19 UTC) (permalink)
Preparing for Battle.
Awesome. New ep of w00tness has been posted, and with it comes a set of very nice wallpapers (last on page). Now THAT'S a nice gold elite. Thanks, Duo. (Louis Wu 12:35:03 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Rumors Swirl
More people than died on Reach have contacted us about the Game Reactor article - so even though it's totally unconfirmed at this point, we're going to mention it, if only to get folks to stop sending us mail about it. Game Reactor, a Danish magazine, has published an article which includes an interview with Peter Moore, Corporate VP of Worldwide Marketing for Microsoft's Home/Entertainment Division. In it, he states that Halo 3 will be out within a year. (It's unclear to me whether he means a year from now, or a year from the release of the Xbox360, this fall.) Either way, until someone from Bungie says 'yep, we're actually making this', we're not going to move this to the 'confirmed' column... but we DO know about it, thanks. (Louis Wu 10:56:13 UTC) (permalink)
Chumpday... which team would that be...?
The Bungie/XBL Team Halo Humpday Challenge (mentioned yesterday) has been written up by SketchFactor over on Bungie.net. General Tone: Whiney. He does his best to put a positive spin on the Bungie loss... but mostly, it's pretty clear they got beat. :) The aftermath was pretty funny, though... Looks like first heads-up came from Echoes. (Louis Wu 10:09:36 UTC) (permalink)
Master Cheap
Today's Halo Babies strip is guest-written, though the artwork is still Gruntsbane's. Poor Cortana... Thanks, Archaos46. (Louis Wu 09:30:51 UTC) (permalink)
News May 12 2005
New meaning to 'High Speed Halo'
Hehe - hokeywebb22 came across a pretty fun truck, over at blennus.com... (Louis Wu 19:35:14 UTC) (permalink)
Balance of Power
The Codex, Episode 11, 'Balance of Power', has been posted at the Codex website. A solid episode, plotwise... it explores the relationship between the Praetor and the Cleric. There will be no episode next week; the top news post on the main page explains why. It's really nice to see a machinima team planning ahead! Go grab this episode today. Thanks, aardvark36. (Louis Wu 16:32:46 UTC) (permalink)
Someone get his tags.
Captain Spark grabbed another batch of dialogue snippets - you can find them in a zip file on his site, or individually (and searchable) in our Dialogue Databank. He's beginning to wonder if it's worth looking for more; diminishing returns, and all that. Chime in! (Louis Wu 16:18:23 UTC) (permalink)
A solution to bad voice acting?
Mother's Tooth sent along an interesting email this morning - and I wonder, now, what sort of repercussions this will have in the long run. He's looking for voice talent to play Miranda in his 'The Age of Miranda' machinima series; he'll supply a small script (10 words or so) to be recorded and judged. If there are enough applicants, he'll put it up to the fans; post the clips, let fans pick the best one. (Up front, in case anyone doesn't realize it - this is NOT a paying gig. It's for the love of the game, like any other machinima project out there.) If this works out, I could see the idea increasing the quality of voice talent across the board... voice acting is one of the weakest areas of machinima releases to date, and this idea could change that. If you're interested in applying, contact Mother's Tooth! (Louis Wu 13:41:56 UTC) (permalink)
XBL Team takes Bungie in HHC
Seems that last night's Halo Humpday Challenge was against the Xbox Live team - there's nothing up at Bungie yet, but Major Nelson has posted a quick summary on his blog. XBL took the first two games, the third was a tie. (To be fair, all THREE games were pretty close.) Thanks to Narcogen at Rampancy.net for pointing this out. (Louis Wu 13:28:46 UTC) (permalink)
New Dashboard Stats Widget
Didn't take long - the first Halo Stats widget for MacOSX 10.4's Dashboard has been released. You can check your levels in the various gametypes from your desktop. Thanks, Lacsap. (Louis Wu 10:54:32 UTC) (permalink)
New Action Figures
Ooh, that looks nice - According to Joyride, Gamestop will be selling a battle-damaged Warthog in July. There's also a new version of the Master Chief and an ODST (among other things) coming out in August. Poke around - there's tons of new ones listed. Thanks, Madda Cheeb2.0. (Louis Wu 10:29:19 UTC) (permalink)
Bad Dreams
Mother's Tooth has posted Episode 2 of his 'The Age of Miranda' series over at That Weasel Television. This one makes use of a mod we mentioned a couple of weeks ago created by TheTykoMan. That poor Miranda - I'm glad I don't have dreams like that! (Louis Wu 09:52:31 UTC) (permalink)
Tied The Leader
XerxdeeJ has started up a new Halo-related blog - this one's titled 'Tied The Leader'. There are a couple of articles up already; the most recent looks at how sportsmanship is related to online anonymity. (Personally, I think Penny Arcade nailed this one last year - but XerxdeeJ's take, while less pithy, is a tad more in-depth.) Give it a read! (Louis Wu 09:42:23 UTC) (permalink)
News May 11 2005
Getting Content To Us
I went into our uploads folder recently to try and clear out the content that needs to be added to the various subsections of the site. I was pretty scared by what I found. Half the submissions came with no identification at all. (We have to toss these.) Many came with random identification; the submission might be 'mycoolpicture.jpg', but the file explaining who submitted it might be called 'for hbo.wpd' (I can't even READ wpd files - and if I could, it would mean that I'd have to go through every single one to figure out what goes with what). Even though we have an entire subsection devoted to movies, and another to fanfic, we're still getting submissions directly uploaded for these sections. There were TONS of scripts uploaded in the hopes of hacking our systems. And on, and on. I'm gonna make it easy for everyone. From now on, there's only a single 'Uploads' link in our navbar. It goes to a page which explains, pretty clearly, what we accept. Read it - or your content will be tossed. You'll be asked for basic info. Supply it - or your content will be tossed. You'll then be given the opportunity to upload your file. If you run into trouble, and you've followed the directions, go ahead and email us about it... but if you can't be bothered to read the instructions, don't expect us to answer you. (Louis Wu 19:28:37 UTC) (permalink)
Another Forza mod
Zelp modified his own Forza racer - check out the results! (We mentioned one of these yesterday.) Update: And another one - thanks, Hypnotoad. (Louis Wu 15:42:57 UTC) (permalink)
Choose Your Covernant.
Hehe - Uncle Clive (a British gaming site) had its own recommendation for last week's elections in Britain... it's currently on the top of the page. Thanks, Lothar Hex. (Louis Wu 15:40:57 UTC) (permalink)
The Arbiter's New Clothes.
Today's One One Se7en explains a gameplay contrivance in a whole new light. No wonder the guy's filled with rage! (Louis Wu 14:56:24 UTC) (permalink)
News May 10 2005
Halo Custom for Forza
Hehe - nice! 3Suns found a fun Forza custom car that's pretty Halo-related at Tabwin.com. At the moment, it's no the front page, 7th row (!!), first column... but if it moves, here's a direct link. That baby's probably pretty fast... (Louis Wu 22:50:14 UTC) (permalink)
Homework-eating Art
mrsmiley updated the art section of the Halo Babies website... and man, there's some amazing stuff in there! Go check it out - but be sure you have a little while, there's a LOT! (Louis Wu 21:24:03 UTC) (permalink)
HaloCE -content explosion
Dennis Powers points out a post he made at the haloce.gearboxgamezone.com website. There's been quite a bit of interesting material released recently in the HaloCE community - swing by to read about it, and download it! (Louis Wu 21:19:33 UTC) (permalink)
NSCS Status Update
Overswarm has added a couple of notes to his Not So Common Sense Guide - the first is a status report on the front page, to let people know that he's not as available as he's been in the past (so please be patient), and the other is a new Frequently Asked Question, explaining the best way to keep on top of site changes. Here's hoping this helps. (Louis Wu 21:16:51 UTC) (permalink)
The End of Something I Did Not Want to End...
In late January, Mike Miller began a Legendary Walkthrough of Halo 2, and for the next four months, he'd release a new level, once per week (or so), with hints, multiple plans of attack, and plenty of video examples, to help you get through what (at first) seemed nearly impossible. Today, that guide is finished; Mike's writeup of The Great Journey, Halo 2's final level, has been posted. It contains more than a dozen movies, as usual in both QuickTime and WMP9 formats for your viewing convenience, and quite a bit of discussion about tactics and approaches. There are also some very practical—though non-trivial to implement, especially for folks like me, somewhat less coordinated than Mike—ideas for the final battle with Tartarus; give it a read! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mike for his work on this project; even when the skills needed were out of my league, the consistent quality of the writing, the thoughtfulness and comprehensiveness of the analyses, the practicality of the video aids - all the pieces he put together were polished, professional, and clean. I'm proud to have been able to help get this guide out to the Halo community, and I know that Mike's gotten quite a few people through the game on a difficulty level they might not have reached on their own! Update: DOH! I forgot - he also updated a few bits on the intro page (mostly near the bottom). In fact, it's been updated 4 or 5 times since it was first posted; if you haven't read it through in a while, it might be worth another look! (Louis Wu 16:33:28 UTC) (permalink)
Off the screen, into your hand
Drew Santorello and Mark Werner like to bring their virtual playthings to life; they sent in a few pics of weapons they've recreated in real life. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 16:16:01 UTC) (permalink)
Necrosis Episode 2
The third movie to make it through the MPRRS today is the second episode of the Necrosis Clan's eponymous series. You can grab it from their site (WMP9 format, 3.4 mb) or from ours (WMP9 format or a 4.8 mb QuickTime). Again, dialogue comes from the Dialogue Databank; it will be interesting to see how long they can make that work. Screensize is quite small, so some of the action is a bit difficult to see. (Louis Wu 15:10:30 UTC) (permalink)
Final Pass
Another vid that made it through our rating system - Foilman's 'Final Pass', a Halo PC montage. The man loves his rockets... This is available in WMP9 format (42.9 mb) or QuickTime format (34.4 mb). There are some rumblings on our forum this morning that the quality level of passed films is dropping a bit; I'd like to remind everyone that the system is still evolving. We just added a number of new reviewers, who may or may not have their 'reviewing' legs yet; and regardless of experience, with only 20% of our reviewers weighing in on any
particular movie, the consistency of scores is going to drop a bit. We'll probably compensate by raising the passing bar. Be patient - we'll get there! (Louis Wu 15:03:28 UTC) (permalink)
Something Different
The Movie Peer Review Rating System continues to evolve; we've begun to add tips for movie makers, and you can find them on the Submitter FAQ page. A recently-passed vid came from MereCatFish, a member of the HBO Helljumpers clan. It's basically a collection of stuff that amused him in-game; some of it is great, some is a bit... well, you'd laugh harder if you'd been there, I guess. My favorite part was a single in-game score screen that comes up around 5:11. 14 players, 13 are dead. And one has quit. It's available in both WMP9 format (26.8 mb) and QuickTime format (21.9 mb) - thanks to Mythica for the hosting. (We'll be releasing a couple of other vids today, so I thought I'd spread the love.) (Louis Wu 13:53:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-inspired DeviantART
B0ggyB sent us a note about his DeviantART site, which has a number of Halo-related items in its gallery:
Go check it out! (Louis Wu 13:32:00 UTC) (permalink)
Area 54 released
Area 54, a Halo CE map we mentioned a little bit ago, has been released. You can read about it over at HaloMods, grab a copy from Halo Universe. Thanks, MasterGrief. (Louis Wu 11:06:16 UTC) (permalink)
Site focus
To the 42 million people sending us links about the Xbox360 and its leaked specs... thanks, but we're not an Xbox site, we're a Halo site. And while it's likely that one (or more) versions of Halo will eventually RUN on this hardware, we're not the place to bring you information about its wireless capabilities, or how big the hard drive is. If you really wanna know this stuff, and don't know where to turn, try googling 'Xbox360 specs' or something. Thanks! (Louis Wu 11:04:21 UTC) (permalink)
VGL Updates
Video Gamers League has changed the rules for their tournaments; you can find the updated listing on the Rules page. (Check the Schedule page to see if one of the tourneys is near you.) Thanks, Jeff. (Louis Wu 11:01:48 UTC) (permalink)
News May 9 2005
Quick Draw Macaw.
Still steamed about sniper jackals in Halo 2 campaign mode? Stuntmutt is, as evidenced by today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 16:04:17 UTC) (permalink)
The Arbiter's Army
w00tness has posted a new strip. Normally, Duo lets other people discover his work... but he was pretty proud of this one - so let him know what you think. (Louis Wu 13:14:03 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Gametype Organizer V2.0.1b
JSatt has released a standalone (Windows-based) app to organize your custom gametypes - it's still in beta, but you can find more info and a download link in this forum post. (Louis Wu 10:53:13 UTC) (permalink)
Stuffo's 2 bits on a Halo movie
In the absense of any REAL information about a big-screen Halo movie (all the information ANYBODY has at this point was summed up in a February piece in Variety), How Stuff Works has posted 'Halo: The Musical', a short piece explaining what they DON'T want to see happen. It's just like a million forum posts out there - except it's a 2-page article on a popular website. Thanks, Eric Smith. (Louis Wu 10:44:30 UTC) (permalink)
Praetoria Guard Vids - now with MPRRS approval
A few weeks ago, we mentioned some movies made by the Praetoria Guard, a Halo 2 clan. Recently, they submitted their work to the Movie Peer Review Rating Service - not for hosting, but to obtain feedback so that they could make their works better. All four submissions passed, with flying colors - reviewers were (for the most part) happy with editing, voice acting, humor... if you haven't seen these, give 'em a look! (If you downloaded them in mid-April, when we gave them a passing mention, they haven't changed; you won't see anything new.) They've got plenty of bandwidth, but if things get tight, we're happy to help out. The four vids can be grabbed directly from their server:
- Video One - "Introduction"
- Video 1.5 - "Blooper Reel - Just Do It"
- Video Two - "Getting To Know You"
- Video 2.5 - "Blooper Reel 2 - Surprise Guest"
Enjoy! (Louis Wu 10:19:50 UTC) (permalink)
News May 8 2005
Covenant Dropship, Analyzed
A new work from Stephen Loftus - he's put the Halo Covenant Dropship under his microscope, and taken a close look at its capabilities, with plenty of cool in-game visuals. Give it a read! (There's more stuff in the queue for today, but it's gonna have to wait - it's Mother's Day, after all, so it's time to go pamper my kids' mother. Enjoy the day!) (Louis Wu 10:42:03 UTC) (permalink)
Spraylo: Combat Devolved
Bitter and dejected, Dev created a new comic strip to pour his unhappiness about Halo 2 into. The first few episodes aren't very funny - but who knows, maybe it'll get better? (Louis Wu 10:36:51 UTC) (permalink)
Last Stand IA 02
Last Stand gets another episode - or at least another Informational Announcement. Get to know Inigo Montoya, up close and personal. Sort of. (Louis Wu 10:31:45 UTC) (permalink)
Sunday Reading
Sixteen new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section... they keep coming in! Go read. (Louis Wu 10:08:28 UTC) (permalink)
More released videos
Speaking of the MPRRS, two movies that have passed in the last couple of days are now ready for download. Spartan Smasher originally posted his Hpod Shuffle vid in our forum - when it passed our rating system, we put up another pair of links for it. (The originals, plus our mirrors - both WMP9 and QuickTime - can be found in the forum thread.) And VALENCEelectron sent us a trailer for a Halo movie - it uses cutscene video mixed with a soundtrack from the Sky Blue trailer to show you what a Halo big-screen vid could be like. Nice synching, for the most part, though some of the character choices are a bit odd. This is available in both WMP9 (18 mb) and QuickTime (18.4 mb) formats. Enjoy 'em both! (Louis Wu 09:35:27 UTC) (permalink)
MPRRS - A Status Report
Wow. The Movie Peer Review Rating System turns one month old today - and I think it's surpassed our hopes for it already! In the past 30 days, our volunteer reviewers have rated 79 films, passing 21 of them - just over a quarter. That SERIOUSLY decreases the amount of watching I, personally, have to do - which was the impetus for the system in the first place. Several movies have been submitted more than once - the creator took the feedback given by the reviewers and improved the quality of the offering, often resulting in a passing grade the second time through. This was goal two of the system - to improve the overall quality of released materials. Review time hovers around 12 hours these days - a VAST improvement from the days or even weeks that movies once languished in our uploads folder, waiting for me to find time to download and watch them. And the system continues to improve. Our recent call for volunteers netted another 10 (soon to be 12, I think) recruits, with a rather large reserve for the next call. (If you emailed us this week about becoming a reviewer, and you haven't heard from us, sit tight; we now have your name in the standby pool, and the next time we need a batch of volunteers, you guys are first on the list.) We've begun to see videos submitted not for hosting, but simply for feedback from an organized system; we're fine with this, as long as you understand that what you're getting is just feedback. The behind-the-scenes tools continue to improve, as well, thanks to Cybrfrk; reviewers have access to their body of reviews, and can look for unexpected (or unwanted) trends, and correct them, if need be. All in all, this system should help EVERYONE interested in the Halo movie scene - content creators, viewers, hosts. We're thrilled by the enthusiasm, and hope you're happy with the results thus far! (Louis Wu 09:21:04 UTC) (permalink)
News May 7 2005
Seven Candles
LiL Poison, the world's youngest professional gamer, turned 7 yesterday. Happy Birthday! (Thanks, stosh.) (Louis Wu 12:09:58 UTC) (permalink)
Why does Halo rock?
Mothergoat tried his hand at pinning down what makes Halo as good as it is... interesting analysis. Go read! (Louis Wu 12:04:11 UTC) (permalink)
A Day of Victory... Chaaaaaaarge
Red vs Blue episode 56, 'Calm Before The Storm', has been posted for sponsors. (This is also a notice to the general public that the free versions will be available in about 2 days - but that won't stop the flood of email telling us that once they go up...) It's all about Lopez and Andy in this this one... though the angry Tooth Fairy had me rolling, and Donut rocked. Thanks to zugy for noticing. (Louis Wu 12:00:27 UTC) (permalink)
Enemy At The Gates
I meant to get to some of these yesterday - but then I was gone for most of yesterday. The MPRRS has approved a new slew of movies - first off the blocks is a film called 'Enemy at the Gates', a Halo 2 version of the big-screen film of the same name. This one was put together by MotleyCrusader, and has some nice timing and filming. There are some funky volume shifts, so be careful - but overall, a great piece. It's available in WMP9 format (34.2 mb) or QuickTime format (33.3 mb). Enjoy - more films coming soon. (Louis Wu 11:53:22 UTC) (permalink)
Links Page Polished
Thanks a million to HymnToNinkasi, of the PraetoriaGuard - she went through our Links page, site by site, and culled the chaff, the sites that were no longer in existence. w00t! To thank her, you should go visit their website, download their movies, and give 'em feedback. They love that stuff. (Louis Wu 10:53:44 UTC) (permalink)
Music comes into its own
Interesting article about game soundtracks over at the Hollywood Reporter; the focus is on the Hitman series, and its composer... but Halo 2, with sales of 120,000 copies for its first volume (12 times the average sales of a game soundtrack), is used as a benchmark. Thanks to Greg O'Connor-Read, of Music 4 Games, for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 10:04:47 UTC) (permalink)
I miss Mister Chief.
A tad late, because of family obligations, but it's time to let you know about another Bungie Weekly What's Update, posted over at Bungie.net. It's a pretty big one - it contains information about the new maps to be released in June (including two new teaser screens, of Relic and Backwash), as well as plenty of tidbits about the new playlists, and rank, and employee-shaped clouds. Go read! (Louis Wu 02:14:29 UTC) (permalink)
News May 6 2005
Invalid Mob Recruits
A couple of days ago, Mukelo posted a trailer on our forum. I let him know that if we pointed people to a 58 mb video with a positive review, he could expect a couple of thousand downloads, as a minimum, but that if he were willing to submit it to our Movie Peer Review Rating System, we'd be happy to help host. He did. The vid received the highest overall ranking to date. Accordingly, we've put up the high-res version he originally posted, plus a QuickTime version of it... as well as a couple of smaller (but not tiny) versions, for the bandwidth-challenged. (The voice acting is in Finnish, with English subtitles - so I didn't want it to be so small that reading was a hassle.) This is an entertaining, mildly sexist (though in a funny way) look at a clan recruitment effort, with some innovative anime-style overlays. (Given the Halo moviemaking community's penchant for jumping on what works, and beating it into a cold, gooey pulp, I'm afraid that after this release, we might be in for dozens of overdone video effects... but such is the price of success, I suppose.) Great cinematography, nice humor, overall great piece of work. Grab the version that best fits your needs (please don't overdo):
- WMP9 Large (720x576, 57.9 mb): mythica.org | bungie.org | original site
- QuickTime Large (720x576, 56.7 mb): bungie.org | mythica.org
- WMP9 Medium (480x384, 31.2 mb): bungie.org | mythica.org
- QuickTime Medium (480x384, 27.6 mb): mythica.org | bungie.org
Looks like there will be more vids released later today... (Louis Wu 14:21:11 UTC) (permalink)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1071768/
Today's One One Se7en looks at the hazards of multitasking. I think some credit for the concept goes to Patroclus, but I'm not positive. (Louis Wu 13:21:53 UTC) (permalink)
Green Death
Today's w00tness focuses on Halo's Hunter - nice pic! (Thanks, Endbringer) (Louis Wu 11:08:00 UTC) (permalink)
Don't hold your breath.
VGman17 posted a countdown to the new maps coming out in June - if you simply MUST know how long it'll be before you can play Backwash, go visit! Update: you might experience a freeze due to faulty Flash programming if you visit this page. Works fine in Firefox on OSX and XP, and on Safari (OSX), but seems to have a problem on IE6/XP. All that's there is a countdown (currently at 52 days) to the June maps; take this into account when deciding whether to follow the link. (Louis Wu 11:07:09 UTC) (permalink)
LibraryMP - for HaloCE
A few days ago, LightingXCE dropped by our forum to mention that he'd been working on recreating LibraryMP for Halo Custom Edition. (LibraryMP was an early modding effort by Monoxide which allowed multiplayer gameplay in Halo's Library. We mentioned it in January 2004, though the vid in the linked forum post no longer exists.) Well, according to this post on the Gearbox Forums (thanks, MasterGrief), the map has actually been released! Go grab a copy (link is in the first post), and give it a shot! (Louis Wu 10:42:03 UTC) (permalink)
Violence and Halo 2
Garry Webber points out a Halo mention in today's Exerminatus Now. (Louis Wu 10:26:02 UTC) (permalink)
Killimanjaro
Evil_Kefka points out a Flash movie he's got at Newgrounds; it's a look at how powerful the plasma grenade has become since the AutoUpdate. Nice graphics. (Louis Wu 10:23:05 UTC) (permalink)
Manicures Come Free
Leave it to Halo Babies to come up with new, less-violent uses for some of the weapons in Halo 2. (Louis Wu 10:13:59 UTC) (permalink)
MPRRS news, and 2 new releases
Until recently, the scoring algorithm at the Movie Peer Review Rating System gave extra weight to smaller movies, on the principle that if it wasn't a hassle to download (or serve), it didn't have to be QUITE as good. We've rethought that rule... but tonight, there are two short films that made the cut with the weighting advantage. (They're the last two that will get through this way.) The first was actually released last week - announced, and hosted, on its own site. Necrosis Episode 1 holds the honor of being the first machinima to make use of the Dialogue Databank exclusively for its voice acting. You can grab the original WMP9 version (7.6 mb) or a QuickTime version (8.1 mb) from our server. Also, casuela submitted a trailer for an upcoming series known as 'Le Marche', a World War II-type movie. It's quite short, and quite small - 3.1 mb in WMP9 format, or 4 mb in QuickTime format. Give it a shot! Additional news about the MPRRS - it looks like we'll be increasing the pool of reviewers very soon; if you're interested in helping out, send us mail! (Louis Wu 02:34:12 UTC) (permalink)
News May 5 2005
A Bag of Angry Cats
Bungie's side of the story for last night's Halo Humpday Challenge has been posted - it's an entertaining read. It's okay to have awful stats if your team wins anyway. I'm not sure I like the title 'Anti-MLG' that was tossed at HBO... but I can't deny we like chaotic gametypes (monosnipe CTF is positively tame compared to some of the stuff that gets played). Go read! (Louis Wu 22:11:54 UTC) (permalink)
Wieldable SMGs
Chris Bryan continues to work on Halo-related pieces - if you check his wearable Master Chief suit page, you'll find a new picture; he's put together a pair of M7/Caseless SMGs that look pretty nice! (He wonders whether he should make 'em shiny, or leave 'em matte... personally, I like 'em the way they are.) (Louis Wu 18:40:02 UTC) (permalink)
More Hi-Res Stryke Force
Last week, Stryke Force released hi-res versions of their first couple of episodes. People liked them - so they've released hi-res versions of episodes 3, 4, and 5. WMP9 versions are up on their downloads page right now - QuickTime links should be up soon. This is one of the more polished machinima series out there - if you haven't seen it, go grab copies! (And don't forget to stop by their forum and let 'em know what you think.) (Louis Wu 17:42:11 UTC) (permalink)
I Ain't Dead Yet
BIGwooly, a name that will be familiar to long-time fans, is back with a new montage. He submitted this to our Movie Peer Review Rating System, and passed nicely; there's some great audio sync going on here. Final credits are also a great example of how this can be done nicely, without too much time given to black screens and white text. You can grab a copy in WMP9 format (31.7 mb) or QuickTime format (29.3 mb). (Louis Wu 15:24:50 UTC) (permalink)
Flash CTF - now local
A week ago, we mentioned a fun little Flash game at Newgrounds, where you could play some CTF on Blood Gulch in your spare time. We were contacted by the author, and now there's a copy hosted here, as well. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:16:25 UTC) (permalink)
ILB takes home Webby
Congratulations to 4orty2wo Entertainment - they took home this year's Games-Related Webby Award for their "I Love Bees" Halo 2 campaign. Seems likely that ARGs will take on a much greater role in marketing in the future, now that they've got a success like this under their belts! (Thanks, Ripp.) (Louis Wu 12:29:57 UTC) (permalink)
HBO Lekgolos vs Bungie - HHC
The HBO Lekgolos played Bungie last night in the Halo Humpday Challenge - and prometheus got the jump on Frankie with a writeup on our forum. There's no Mister Chief artwork, but otherwise, it's a great post. (Hmm... come to think of it, the lack of Mister Chief artwork does it GOOD.) The Lekgolos lost - but by a pretty slim margin; looks like it was a good matchup! Go read. (Louis Wu 12:24:51 UTC) (permalink)
The Codex Ep 10 - Rescue
Episode 10 of the Codex has been released; it had been delayed due to technical difficulties, necessitating some refilming, but I must say, it didn't suffer from the delay. This episode is fantastic. Great cinematography, great battle scenes, wonderful plot advancement. A must-see. Available in Quicktime format now - coming soon in DivX and WMP9. (We're happy to host a mirror, if the bandwidth is needed.) Thanks to drelnathi for the heads-up on our forum. (Louis Wu 12:14:37 UTC) (permalink)
I Think It's Going To Be Long, Long Time...
It can't possibly be Thursday, because that would mean we once again forgot to post a One One Se7en on its regularly scheduled day. And that can't possibly have happened, because this one so nicely spears Stuntmutt for his online behavior - how could I miss that? (Thanks to Francesco Poli, the One One Se7en fan, for pointing out this paradox. Me - I'm glad for Stuntmutt that there IS a fan.) And oh, yeah - if the title makes no sense, try singing it. (Louis Wu 11:01:53 UTC) (permalink)
News May 4 2005
OHTEHNOES!!!11!
As promised yesterday, Bungie has updated the Halo 2 matchmaking playlists and reset all player stats (aside from some minor oddness). The Matchmaking FAQ has been updated with details on the new gametypes, including the brand-new Double Team playlist. Thanks to the ten billion people who wrote to tell us this. (Count Zero 20:11:59 UTC) (permalink)
Selling It
Gamasutra has an interesting piece up (free registration required) on game marketing - and ARGs like "I Love Bees" got high marks from readers. Once again, Halo 2 ends up on top of the pack... thanks, Deanero. (Louis Wu 19:32:02 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Updates
Yet another interview up over at MLGPro.com - this one with Str8 Rippin, talking about MLG Orlando and how it went for them. (Thanks, trigger119.) There's also more info about MLG's 2v2 Online League - go read if you're playing. (Louis Wu 18:42:33 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 OST - Coming Soon!
For those waiting for news about the second volume of the Official Halo 2 Soundtrack... Marty posted a note on the Marty Army 7th Column Group's website last night, with a bit of information:
I finished the Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2 today and listened to it (all 70 minutes worth) in one sitting. I liked it, and I hope you will too. I'll tell you more about it soon.
Good news! Thanks to both Rampancy.net, and Anton P. Nym, who posted this information (with different sources) within minutes of each other this morning. (Louis Wu 18:02:40 UTC) (permalink)
Yeah, if you forget all that...
PingZing dropped off a fun dialogue snippet - you can find it in our Dialogue Databank. (Louis Wu 17:33:11 UTC) (permalink)
Epic Story Page Updates
Finn thinks it's still winter, or something - or at least, he's chosen to shake the Halo Story Page Mailbag out all over his floor and actually READ stuff in it, instead of going outside to play. Bad for his complexion, good for your speculation. There's a TON of stuff in this update... make sure you don't have any plans for a while. And, because, you know, clearing out the mailbag isn't really ENOUGH work... he decided to create the Spartan Roster page, a work that keeps track of who is who and where they all ended up. And because THAT wasn't even enough, he also updated the Resources page. My guess? He's checking into the Betty Ford Clinic this week, and wanted to minimize the chance that someone would actually NEED him for anything in the near future. (Louis Wu 17:17:47 UTC) (permalink)
How can you watch it all?
More Halo Machinima out there: trigger119 points out Starship Troopers Part 1, hosted at halomachinima.com (though he'd be thrilled if anyone wanted to help mirror - this puppy is 109 mb), and gearboxgamezone.com has the Sponsors vs Freeloaders trailer (originally a contest winner, hosted at SvF.com in AVI format, GBGZ has it in WMP9 and QuickTime formats) and the Fallout Preview Trailer (another project from the guy who brought you Platoon), among hundreds of other vids. It's truly an amazing time for Halo video enthusiasts! Update: GrantBauer88, of the Necrosis Clan, has mirrored the original Starship Troopers, and Feenix, of That Weasel Television, has put up a smaller version (60.2 mb). Update 2: GearboxGameZone has put up two 320x240 versions of Starship Troopers that are much smaller - you can find them here. (Louis Wu 03:02:10 UTC) (permalink)
Headlong - for Halo CE
Static Bursts points out a thread at the Gearbox forums about an upcoming Halo CE map, a remake of Headlong. There's a RapidShare-hosted vid (13 mb, WMP9 format) showing the new map, as well as some cool weapons in a tweaked Hang 'em High, and there are pics in the thread. Looks pretty nice! Update: mirrored now at GearboxGameZone - thanks, Dennis! (Louis Wu 02:54:16 UTC) (permalink)
Stats Reset, Playlist Updates - coming soon!
Over at Bungie.net, there's a large article with info about upcoming Bungie-related events: Wednesday, May 4, stats will be reset, and the Matchmaking Playlists will be updated. Details about the new playlists can be found in the article, so go read! (Details about the stats reset are pretty straightforward - they're getting reset, so you're starting at Level 1 again tomorrow.) Thanks to the eight billion people who wrote to tell us about this. (Louis Wu 02:52:01 UTC) (permalink)
That Weasel - Movie Madness
We don't usually post pre-written press releases from other Halo sites - but That Weasel TV ain't just any other site, and this seems pretty cool. Straight from Ferret Boi himself:
That Weasel Television is proud to unleash the *New* Movie News Section. Now, not only can you have your video hosted by TWTv, but you can also just announce your newest videos on TWTv to the raving hordes of the Halo Community, even if they are hosted somewhere else or you would like to just draw more attention to your personal TWTv Halo Exclusive. So why aren't you submitting you movie and links already?
He also points out that there are quite a number of new Halo Exclusives available at TWTv, including
- RvB Music Video by Joeseph Geiss
- Rocket Fest 2005 by Crab Angel117 and Zerofender
- Halo Moddage by Pie Movies
- Bridge Glitch by The Guardian
If you're feeling movie-deprived... get on over there! (Louis Wu 02:25:45 UTC) (permalink)
News May 3 2005
IGS at MLG
MLGPro.com continues their pro series interviews with a chat with IGameSpot, the team that took second place at MLG Orlando. Money, rivalries, and Halo - it's like a soap opera. Thanks, trigger119. (Louis Wu 15:07:03 UTC) (permalink)
Necrosis trailer mirrored
Eep - forgot to post this... The Necrosis trailer we mentioned yesterday has been mirrored and converted to QuickTime - you can find both versions at Gearboxgamezone.com. Thanks, Dennis! (Louis Wu 14:49:51 UTC) (permalink)
New models for Halogen
Logical2u points out a new update at the Halogen website - model shots of the new units they've added to the C&C Generals Total Conversion. Visit to see the Firefly, the Cobra tank, and the Ghost. (Louis Wu 14:48:46 UTC) (permalink)
FATALrecon Trailer
We got mail yesterday from Vampire Flight, who's posted a trailer to an upcoming Machinima project called FATALrecon over at HaloGrid.com. It's 28.2 mb, WMP9 format, and I liked it - so I converted it to QuickTime, using Apple's new H.264 codec. Grab the WMP9 from HaloGrid, or grab the QuickTime (QuickTime 7 REQUIRED, 27.5 mb) from us. Update: seems I might have been wrong; H.264 is really, really cool... but it's also really, really processor-intensive for heavily-compressed vids. Here's a Sorenson 3 Pro version (30.7 mb) that should be viewable by everybody, not just those with tricked-out G5s. Update 2: looks like Gearboxgamezone made their own QT version, as well - 28.6 mb. Multiple mirrors! (Louis Wu 13:14:06 UTC) (permalink)
NSCS Movie Updates
Overswarm has updated his Not So Common Sense Strategy Guide with two new vids; these are 4v4 games on Midship (one CTF, one Team Slayer). They come with commentary, letting you know what OS thought was done right, what could have been done better. Watch 'em - and then try out some of the strategies in games of your own! (Louis Wu 13:06:01 UTC) (permalink)
Elite Uprising
After a month and a half of quiet, Tina Leyk returns with a stunning image from the opening of Uprising. What a combination of beauty and sinister overtones! You can find it on her (newly-rearranged) Fan Art page - new artwork is now at the beginning, instead of the end. (Louis Wu 11:42:30 UTC) (permalink)
Tuesday's Words
Eleven new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today... see what you can find! (Louis Wu 11:41:36 UTC) (permalink)
Halorious Material
Comics, comics... Last Stand was updated with Page Fourteen yesterday, and w00tness found a new home; every time we mentioned the strip, the page would go down for bandwidth issues... so we Did The Right Thing, and offered space. I'm sure, once I get to the forum, that there'll be half a dozen other comics I forgot to mention... but for now, these are your funnies. (Louis Wu 11:35:02 UTC) (permalink)
News May 2 2005
Halo CE turns One
Thursday marks the one year anniversary of Halo CE, and Sir Bobbington and friends are organizing a party. You can read about it on the Gearbox forums - join 'em online and see if you can help push the player total over 1000 simultaneous users! (Louis Wu 22:29:07 UTC) (permalink)
The future of moneymaking
Walshicus pointed out a BBC article looking at future revenue streams for game-makers (using Halo 2, and the new maps, as an example). This is a bit misleading; Bungie is hardly the first Xbox developer to charge for after-release content... but I suppose when you're one of the biggest, folks notice. And the concept of micro-transactions for weapons upgrades, new armor, whatever... that HAS been a hot topic of discussion recently, at least among those who see a chance to make large sums of money doing it. (To me, these two ideas - microtransactions and major downloads like new maps - are completely separate, and shouldn't really be considered the same sorts of money-making material.) (Louis Wu 22:12:48 UTC) (permalink)
Team 3D Interview at MLGPro
MLGPro.com has posted an interview with Team 3D - formerly StK, one of the best-known pro Halo teams on the circuit. Ever wonder what makes these guys tick? Go read. Thanks, Quinion. (Louis Wu 20:14:49 UTC) (permalink)
I Say, I Say, I Say...
Today's One One Se7en is slightly less appropriate than it would have been before the Auto-Update kicked in... but any reference to 'My Old Man's A Dustman' is okay with me. (Louis Wu 13:48:57 UTC) (permalink)
Perplexity
Veegie posted a note on our forum about a new HaloCE map he's been working on - there are pictures over the EPG forums. Lots of cool dynamic lighting! Take a look. (Louis Wu 12:59:12 UTC) (permalink)
Necrosis Ep 1 released
GrantBauer88 posted a note that Necrosis Episode 1 has been released - you can find it on the Necrosis video page. It's the first Halo machinima I know about that takes advantage of our Dialogue Databank to circumvent the problem many projects have with less-than-professional-sounding voice acting. (At least, I'm ASSUMING the clips came from the Databank; there's no credit for them anywhere, so I suppose they could have been recorded independently.) 7.6 mb, WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 12:12:20 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Orlando footage posted
The first wave of MLG Orlando gameplay (the last pre-AutoUpdate Halo 2 gameplay footage out there, probably) has been posted on MLG's Video on Demand service - you can watch Str8 Rippin upset Check 6, or follow the Winners Bracket Finals. (There's more coming in a few days.) Thanks to 3Suns for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 12:05:32 UTC) (permalink)
New Prometheus Update
Nick writes to point out that Prometheus, the Halo/Halo2/HaloCE editor in production, has another update, with screenshots, sarcasm, and a small vid. Go look! (Louis Wu 12:01:35 UTC) (permalink)
News May 1 2005
What's with all the glockenspiels?
Over at Bungie.net, Stosh points out some Halo-based poetry at halotournies.com. Scary stuff! (Louis Wu 22:56:40 UTC) (permalink)
Customized Lego Art
Grant writes to say that the Home Front mod for Battlefield 2 (which will be launching on May 29), is offering a small Lego Halo kit for free - download it, print it out, and attach it to a lego figure for your own PoA crew member. (Click on the Staff tab to see it.) (Louis Wu 18:53:25 UTC) (permalink)
Resolute Ep 13
Über-Chief 69 has put up episode 13 of Resolute. I don't get it - but then, I don't need to. Go see for yourself. (Louis Wu 18:49:14 UTC) (permalink)
Still MORE movies
A couple more movies mentioned in our forum recently: HALOChat points out an encore vid for Jump Tactics Episode III, and GrantBauer88 points out 'Dude, Where's My Warthog'. The downloading never ends! (Louis Wu 18:47:19 UTC) (permalink)
The Library Updated
Saint [lpn] spent a bunch of time updating the Library - details are in this post. Everything you ever wanted to know about Halo - in a non-searchable format. (Yeah, I'll keep giving him a hard time about that until Djof fixes it.) (Louis Wu 18:07:56 UTC) (permalink)
Madda Cheeb needs your help!
Z, of Xbox Ottawa (the Fire Team Charlie guys) has released a new (beta) version of his Madda Cheeb Flash game - get Madda Cheeb to the video game store without being killed by the anti-MS fanbois who want to keep him from buying Halo 2! It's still got some rough spots- but he's looking for feedback to make it better. You'll find info and game links in this forum thread. (Louis Wu 16:45:03 UTC) (permalink)
More new map commentary
Saint [lpn] added a new blog entry discussing the new maps released recently. He mentioned it on our forum. (Louis Wu 16:35:41 UTC) (permalink)
Oceans 7-11
The Geezer Gamers have set up a new gametype, especially for Turf, that seems pretty silly - but fun silly. You can read about it on their forum. Thanks, troyostrum. (Louis Wu 16:31:36 UTC) (permalink)
Away
Hogmasta would like folks to know about his new montage, 'Away' - he's chosen not to submit it to the Movie Peer Review Rating System, so you can find it on Savefile.com. I found the video was timed well to the audio... but the rapid cuts made my head hurt. You may easily disagree. 33.7 mb, WMP9 format. (Edit - we've put up a local copy.) (Louis Wu 16:29:17 UTC) (permalink)
HUDless is beautiful
prometheus writes to point out that the Halouvre has been updated with a bunch of Halo 1 and Halo 2 HUDless shots. Go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 14:52:47 UTC) (permalink)
Dip
Sector 7 is worried you might not understand how to 'teabag' - so they've made a video (QuickTime, 4.3 mb, live-action) to make it clear. (Louis Wu 14:50:56 UTC) (permalink)
Outpost Coagulation Ep 6
Treeskunk Productions has posted Episode 6 of Outpost: Coagulation. They're hosting it themselves, and Halomachinima.com has a mirror as well. 7:07 long, 39.3 mb, WMP9 format. Purple spaghetti? (Nice chase scene.) Update: Dennis Powers has mirrored the film, as well, and created a QuickTime version (43.7 mb), at movies.gearboxgamezone.com. (Louis Wu 14:48:17 UTC) (permalink)
Tourneys Bungie's heard about
Bungie has posted another weekly Halo 2 tourney roundup - go see what's happening near you! (Louis Wu 14:36:51 UTC) (permalink)
Finding folks to play with
Nirvana is trying to set up a gamertag database that keeps track of gametypes enjoyed - you can see it on his website. There's a forum post with more information. (Louis Wu 14:31:59 UTC) (permalink)
| May 2005 | |
