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May 2009

May 2009 Archived News

News May 31 2009

MVAA Forums Newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 1
ODST Sarge dropped in to announce the first newsletter of the Machinima Voice Acting Association - it's a 750k PDF file, available from their forums. It contains machinima reviews and interviews with folks making machinima (or machinima accessories), along with general gaming news and industry speculation. Check it out! (Louis Wu 22:21:58 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Graphic Novel Review
The online magazine Suit101.com has published a review of the Halo Graphic Novel (the one released in 2006 - yeah, they're jumping in a little late); they weren't really happy with it. Their impression: this book will appeal to hard-core Halo fans, but not to anyone not immersed in the videogame's lore. Give it a read, see if you agree! (Louis Wu 16:20:56 UTC) (permalink)

Blue Dawn
Leviathan and UNSC Trooper have teamed up again for more artistic storytelling - this time, it's called 'Blue Dawn', and it deals with the origins of the UNSC. Nice work! (Louis Wu 14:42:36 UTC) (permalink)

Avatar's tech - pretty Halo-like
A few days ago, Azrael pointed out some new concept art from James Cameron's latest project, 'Avatar' - and the flying craft definitely bears a resemblance to Halo's Hornet. (The mech also bears a passing resemblance to Halo Wars' Cyclops, but that's a little more tenuous.) I didn't post this because life was crazy, and because sci-fi is sci-fi, right? More and more people are pointing it out, though, both via email and on our forum, so I guess I should acknowledge it. See what you think! (Louis Wu 14:38:14 UTC) (permalink)

Recon - and a very cool print... just for you!
Bungie is running a special screenshot contest this weekend - not only do you have a shot at winning Recon armor, but you can win a printed version of your shot from the new Haloscreenshots.com service. Read all the details in the Bungie.net post - and get cracking! You've only got until midnight Sunday (PST). (Pay attention to the rules! Bungie's gonna get so many submissions that any excuse they have to toss your entry will be appreciated by the voters - don't give 'em one.) (Louis Wu 00:52:02 UTC) (permalink)

The Legend of Halo: Quest for Recon
CrazedOne1988 posted three links showing off his nearly half-hour-long mashup of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda and Bungie's Halo 3 - if you played a lot of Zelda when you were younger, this will bring back memories! (Louis Wu 00:41:51 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach?
A very astute Bungie.net denizen pointed out a new forum at Bungie.net - devoted to a game called 'Halo: Reach', apparently. His post (and the new forum) were removed posthaste... but in these days of Google caches, it's hard to make ANYTHING go ALL the way away. Cocopjojo pointed out that the cached version of the deleted post is here - and a screenshot (assuming it wasn't faked) showing the new forum is here. More speculation can be found in our forum... (Louis Wu 00:36:22 UTC) (permalink)

Grind Rider: The Preview
z0mbyjr pointed out that Grind Rider: The Preview was posted last month. (Last we heard about this machinima, it was summer 2008 - and THAT was 5 months after the time before.) Check it out - decide for yourself how Just Another Fan is doing! (Louis Wu 00:32:10 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Speculation Runs Wild
Halopedia's CaptainTony was the first to notice that the a cast photo for Halo 3: ODST was visible on the set of the GameTrailers TV vid (shown Thursday night) - and the first to point out another pic that showed the last ODST off to the left. (Kotaku picked up on this on Saturday evening, almost 36 hours later... but they were just grabbing the pretty shot from Geoff Keighley's Twitter feed.) Interesting speculation in the thread about who's who... I'm guessing we'll know more, for sure, this week! (Louis Wu 00:29:45 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' the Chief S3E13
Fragclone noticed that Arby 'n' the Chief S3E13 is now up on YouTube. Commentary on machinima fanbois, and machinima in general. Long. (18 minutes long.) (Louis Wu 00:29:09 UTC) (permalink)

News May 30 2009

Dopey's Feeling Bashful.
Stuntmutt read the news about the new screenshot printing service offered by haloscreenshots.com in last night's Weekly Update, and was moved to send us a his thoughts in the form of a One One Se7en comic. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. (Louis Wu 15:56:35 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 - for REALLY Cheap
Not sure how widespread this deal is - but if you need a new copy of Halo 3, this might be the cheapest way (ever) to get one: according to a posting at FatWallet.com, some FYE stores are offering Halo 3 for $29.99... with a $25 mail-in rebate. That leaves you with a final price of about $5, plus a little tax and a stamp! (Louis Wu 15:55:06 UTC) (permalink)

News May 29 2009

urk's drinking old-fashioneds on the porch
The Bungie Weekly Update is live - and it's a rambling, almost ramshackle affair... sort of like a sprawling 1-story ranch that's been abandoned for a while. Wind is whistling through the hallways, and it's picking up some interesting tidbits from the tattered carpet. (There are also some fun stats based on how we present ourselves in Xbox LIVE Matchmaking.) Give it a look-see! (You can, as always, read it in our Weekly Update Archive, if you choose.) You just KNOW they're ramping up for E3... Update: if you visited the Weekly Update when it was first posted... you might want to revisit. There's a new section (in the middle) that's definitely worth reading. As in... definitely. (Louis Wu 23:56:23 UTC) (permalink)

Ask Str8 Rippin... Str8 Up
Got a question about pro gaming? Swing by the Ask Str8 Rippin Straight Up Q&A on Facebook, and if your question gets answered by a member of the Str8 Rippin pro team, you win a prize pack including a $20 GameStop GiftCard, an official MLG Pro-Circuit hat, and a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper. (Full contest details are here.) Nice! (Louis Wu 20:08:10 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interview: Supergrunt19
The latest Aesthetic Artist Interview is live - Supergrunt19 (known on Xbox LIVE as privat3 caboose) talks about videogames, sports, and (of course) Halo 3 screenshots - swing by and get to know him! Thanks, Jdars. (Louis Wu 18:31:58 UTC) (permalink)

Colors ep. 2 Snowbound
a cuban cat has put together a montage of screenshots captured on Snowbound, showing off just what you can do with this map (and how to get there). Fun stuff! (Thanks again, urk) (Louis Wu 17:05:54 UTC) (permalink)

Director Dialogues - kootra
Late, but not TOO late - RandomSauce sent along the latest Director Dialogue, this time with machinima maker kootra. Swing by to read what he's done, and how he's done it! (Louis Wu 16:38:08 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Movie Madness at B.net
The BungLog™ has a whole bunch of vids for you today:

• My Halo Life has produced Episode 7, using your clips
• ChrisOfTHeDead set a chunk of a Bungie Weekly Update to video... Watchmen-style
• OMG had a LAN, and made a montage
• The Adventures of Pablo and Barrientos is a Spanish class project

That should keep you busy for a bit... (Louis Wu 16:30:19 UTC) (permalink)

Tricia Helfer to perform in Halo 3: ODST
Gametrailers TV debuted their E3 First Look show last night on Spike TV (thanks, LoneRanger 2.5), but you can watch it online at this point. Halo news revealed in this episode: Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer (shows up at 22:55) will be voicing a character known as 'Dare' in Halo 3: ODST. (This Bungie.net article from last fall suggests that Dare is the ONI Captain in charge of the Rookie's squad.) Nice! (Louis Wu 14:38:15 UTC) (permalink)

Hard work, and occasionally creepy people
The Ohio State University Lantern has an article on the Ogre twins, the legends of the MLG Pro circuit that until recently anchored the Final Boss team together. If you think it's all wine and Cheetos at the top... think again. (Louis Wu 13:37:46 UTC) (permalink)

A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - Part 4
Leviathan is stepping up the pace on his graphic tale, 'A Sangheili's War Is Never Over' - Part 3 just came out yesterday, and he's already gotten Part 4 out the door! Check it out. (Louis Wu 13:21:40 UTC) (permalink)

Oh, look... a pig in a blanket. Still hot!
It's been a couple of weeks - so Hawty McBloggy is back to Friday Caption Fun - results from the last image, plus a new shot involving a nicely-placed Bungie employee. Go play! (Louis Wu 13:19:56 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Another slow(ish) day in Comics - Bloogyo stopped in with word of Rat's Nest Episode 16, kicking off today, and Elnea has posted Halo Action Figure Theater 181 (Everybody Dies) - this made me sad. Also, TTL Demag0gue is still sick, and is asking for help with screenshots so he can build today's episode of Reclaimer. (Louis Wu 13:13:45 UTC) (permalink)

Breaking In - Tristan Root
Yesterday, a new 'Breaking In' article went up at Bungie.net - Tools Engineer Tristan Root discusses the road that brought him to Bungie. It's a great read, for anyone who's looking for ideas to help get into the industry! (Louis Wu 13:11:02 UTC) (permalink)

MicroMachinima Episode 4: Originality
Arm the Flag continues their MicroMachinima series - this time, they're making sure you understand that sometimes, ideas get recycled. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 13:09:23 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
A busy week for the Fan Fiction section - 9 new pieces are available for your reading pleasure. Go pleasure yourself. (Louis Wu 13:07:59 UTC) (permalink)

News May 28 2009

Welcome to the Grif Cave
Another player in the recent test drive of NOKYARD's newest Grifball arena has weighed in with his thoughts - puptastrophe, the Webmaster behind GrifballHUB, has posted a long article on his site. It contains his thoughts, an interview with NOKYARD, impressions from Bryan Simon and me, pictures, and a video. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 19:13:12 UTC) (permalink)

Another Blast from the Past: E3 2003
FyreWulff has gone through the E3 2003 Halo 2 Demo and pointed out the parts that made it into the final game. Most of these have been known about for a long time (after all, E3 2003 was six years ago)... but at least one I'd never thought about - the screens that eventually showed up in Cairo Station. In any event, it's a nice look back at a pants-wetting (at the time) demonstration... just in time for whatever Bungie's got planned THIS year! (Louis Wu 19:00:25 UTC) (permalink)

Zombie Weekend
It's after 10 am PST on a Thursday, so there's a new Double XP Weekend list live on Halo 3 Matchmaking... and this week, it's Living Dead. Go eat some brains! (Thanks to CaLL Me ZeNy for pointing it out.) (Louis Wu 18:56:54 UTC) (permalink)

Um... if you don't know, move.
Drift0r put together 'How Not To Disarm The Bomb' - a Halo machinima that should make you happy that Bungie made bomb disarmings as simple as being close. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:55:38 UTC) (permalink)

Blast from the Past: Legendary Humpday
Back in April, 2008, HBO took on Bungie in a Humpday Challenge on the then-not-quite-released Legendary maps. It was an even Humpday (1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie for both teams)... but unbeknownst to us, a couple of weeks after the event a fan known as Rast07 whipped up a very cool action video of the first game. (You can't tell from his editing, but Bungie took this one, 3 caps to 2.) When I saw the writeup in the Bungie Blog, I thought "man, that's old... who's gonna wanna watch that?" - but then I watched it. Really nice filming! (Louis Wu 17:14:13 UTC) (permalink)

Halo vs Mortal Kombat: The Hidden Skull #2
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned 'Master Chief vs Mortal Kombat: The Hidden Skull', a machinima mashup of Halo and (duh) Mortal Kombat. It was hilarious. The second episode is up now (thanks again to the Bungie Blog for the heads-up) - and it's as good as the first. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:56:08 UTC) (permalink)

Shenanigans 2
ChrisOfTheDead has put together Shenanigans 2, a community funtage - not all meetings in Halo 3 are about killing the other guy. (Just most of 'em.) Some funny stuff in here... thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 16:42:12 UTC) (permalink)

The Hushed Casket - Unsealed
The Hushed Casket has been around for a LONG time - and they're still kickin' it, oldschool. They recently got together for a Halo PC LAN... and rapture stopped by to point out a writeup, including pics and a great overview video. Swing by for a solid dose of nostalgia! (Sadder news that came out of this event - apparently, Mac Halo is no longer buyable, except as a used product.) (Louis Wu 15:34:41 UTC) (permalink)

The Hammer of Justice
Hawty McBloggy wrote up her experiences with the latest Grifball arena - though I think she just wanted to take a lot of pictures of me dying. I think maybe I shouldn't be standing so close... (Louis Wu 15:32:34 UTC) (permalink)

A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - Part 3
Leviathan continues his graphic novelette, "A Sangheili's War Is Never Over" - the latest episode is bigger, bolder, and more colorful than its predecessors. Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:31:21 UTC) (permalink)

I think his fingers might be too small...
Tom Reynolds, an Australian journalist, gave his son controller and filmed him playing a little Halo. Not really unusual, I guess... until you realize his son is 10 months old! (Sadly for Tom, he says his son's K/D spread wasn't that much worse than his own...) (Louis Wu 15:29:55 UTC) (permalink)

What do packaged meat and Halo have in common?
LoneRanger 2.5 pointed out that Oddee.com recently posted an article entitled "12 Alphabets Made of Objects" - and the Halo Corpse Alphabet is on the list. (Personally, I loved the Sky alphabet - but they're all pretty cool.) (Louis Wu 15:29:01 UTC) (permalink)

News May 27 2009

Custom Desert MC
Dalteth took a McFarlane Master Chief, modified it for sniping action, and rebuilt the parts he broke. Then he repainted the whole shebang. You can find the results in our Miscellaneous section. You can let him know what you think in his forum thread. (Louis Wu 22:32:50 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Uprising - the strong push
Now that all four issues of Halo: Uprising have actually been released, Marvel's started some hardcore marketing of the hardcover version of the collection - you can view some shots from it in this MTV article, and you can read the first issue of the comic online for free. (Me? I'm waiting for Helljumpers and Black.) (Louis Wu 18:41:29 UTC) (permalink)

A REAL Community Spotlight
The Bungie.net Community Spotlight this week shines on... well, everybody. Bungie's picked out some of their favorites from multiple communities, rather than focus on a single community. Go see what's there! (Louis Wu 18:37:15 UTC) (permalink)

Hope Unto Dawn - Raising Money and Having Fun
A whole bunch of gaming groups are getting together to help FacilityB5D make their latest charity effort, 'Hope Unto Dawn', a tournament to raise money for Child's Play, a success. You can read more details (and find a promo vid) at Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 18:34:08 UTC) (permalink)

Weekly Tourneys in London
According to the Bungie Blog, there's a company in England that's hosting tournaments every Thursday in London (other cities, too) - swing by your favorite Gamerbase and play some Halo! (Louis Wu 18:29:01 UTC) (permalink)

H3O Stats Compiler - Updated
Urban Reflex pointed out that a stats compiler that's been around for a while has been updated - H3O Stats Compiler is now up to v1.0.5. (It's also been updated to work with Halo 2, again.) Grab a copy (Windows/Linux only, unfortunately for Mac users) and see how you're doing! (Louis Wu 18:22:40 UTC) (permalink)

Bryan Simon - Movie Making Maniac
A few of us tried out NOKYARD's latest Grifball arena last night - Bryan Simon captured the (embarrassing) gameplay. Don't look at the hammering, look at the court! Bryan's also got a couple of other goodies for you: The Voicemail Chronicles, Volume Six is full of lulz, and a new song, a tribute to Tetra Shot and Tensor (who won the Golden Ticket contest held by VG), is a fun kickback to the Willy Wonka days. Go watch! (Louis Wu 17:57:50 UTC) (permalink)

Thunder From Above
The Duo Group doesn't produce a LOT of Halo 3 machinima... but what they DO produce is top-quality. Their latest entry is 'Thunder From Above' - a teaser for the upcoming Halo 3: ODST game. Gives me chills. (Louis Wu 17:14:06 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Stitching
Hawty McBloggy is highlighting a nice piece of cross-stitch work, put together by stitcher for a friend. I'd hang that! (Louis Wu 17:13:24 UTC) (permalink)

Warthogs and Trick Jumps and Robots, Oh My!
Bunch of new vids available, news courtesy of your friends at the BungLog™

• H3Wheelmen hailing from the Netherlands have put together the Dutchtage - it's not all vehicle-based, but quite a bit of it is.
• Team Ascend has created 'Ascendency' - a trick-jumping montage. Lots of flying.
• KillPie takes a look at Killer Robots taking over... well, everything.

Nice variety! (Louis Wu 17:10:45 UTC) (permalink)

Elite Patrol - Episode Two
thebest233 stopped in with word of Elite Patrol - Episode Two. New characters, new confrontations. (Louis Wu 17:10:08 UTC) (permalink)

Gamer Doc Halo 3 Tourney - Championship
Back in early April, we mentioned a chain-wide Halo 3 Tournament at Gamer Doc stores - they're down to the final five teams now (according to this press release), and these teams will be competing for the $4000 grand prize this coming Saturday. Apparently, you'll be able to watch from any Gamer Doc store. (Louis Wu 17:09:31 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
There are a few comics for you today - a couple of regulars seem to be missing (Reclaimer's still MIA and ODS Steve never got posted this week), but here are the rest:

• The Catfish has posted 2501 - Episode 57 (on Monday) and 2501 - Episode 58 (on Tuesday) - violence and story progression.
• Dennis Powers let us know about Shipwrecked Episode 69 - Wind Trap. I'm thinking the wind trap isn't the most important thing in this episode.
• Bloogyo told us about Rat's Nest 15 8 - with Grunty Buddys?

Go read! Update: Looks like I just didn't wait long enough - Reclaimer 190 (Gilgamesh) is now up (thanks, TTL Demag0gue!) Things are getting scary... (Louis Wu 17:08:42 UTC) (permalink)

HIH Giveaway
Thanks to RedBlueFire, who pointed out a new giveaway at High Impact Halo; if you live near Miami, Infinite Bits is a Video Game convention to be held there in late October, and HIH will be providing two free tickets/month - all you have to do is post in the thread. Read for details! (Louis Wu 17:07:45 UTC) (permalink)

News May 26 2009

Bungie Blog Highlights for Tuesday
Stuff you might be interested in, over at the BungLog™:

• Pup and Friends captured some Grifball highlights during a recent Double XP Weekend
• Gamers Outreach is hosting a Summer LAN event in July - details are here, including dates/times/benefit specifics
• jmh9072 likes him some Halo, and some coding - swing by his Average Joe interview for more details
• CMNeir created 'Tweet Your Twitter' - I gotta say, if this ever happens to me in Matchmaking, I'm gonna be guilty of some serious betraying

That should keep you busy for a bit... (Louis Wu 21:20:05 UTC) (permalink)

Forging Gophers - Time's Running Out
DE4TH DEAL3R would like to remind you that you've got just five days left for The Halo Gophers' Forge contest - get your submissions in if you're interested in winning! (Louis Wu 21:19:30 UTC) (permalink)

Play Badly, Win Stuff
SBG Gaming is hosting a Failtacular Failapalooza Showcase - screenshots and videos showing off spectacular bad judgement can win goodies like Xbox LIVE subscriptions and MS points (and some silly games). You need to be a member of their community - but you can certainly sign up now. (Louis Wu 14:50:03 UTC) (permalink)

Community Playdate: Red vs Blue
Another Halo-related Community Playdate over on Xbox.com - the crew from Rooster Teeth will be playing Halo Wars with folks who've purchased the latest HW DLC. Details can be found in the Playdate announcement. Thanks, JeSteR 343. (Louis Wu 14:49:39 UTC) (permalink)

Halo is loved - more than once
The BBC Radio 1 Big Games Weekend has picked its top games (we mentioned the vote on Saturday)... Halo 3 made 8th on the list, while Halo: Combat Evolved made 25th (and 39th, oddly), and Halo 2 didn't make the top 50. (Louis Wu 14:48:53 UTC) (permalink)

Play Halo, Win a Chance at MS Points
KP mentioned a new Play & Win Sweepstakes on Xbox.com last week - but I'm pretty sure the page wasn't live until this weekend. It's a promotion of the new Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 movie (can Washington and Travolta outdo Matthau and Shaw?), and if you register before May 31 (and play a multiplayer session of Halo 3 between May 29 and May 31), you're entered to win a boatload of Microsoft points. Swing by for full details! (Louis Wu 14:48:16 UTC) (permalink)

CE United - still open, awarding prizes
Willy stopped by to announce that a winner has been picked in the one-year-anniversary contest for CE United (mentioned here)... and also that CE United will not be shutting its doors. Nice! (Louis Wu 14:47:56 UTC) (permalink)

Happy Birthday, Rampancy.net!
Narcogen points out that R.net has passed its 10-year anniversary at this point... it seems amazing that Halo's been in our lives for so much time! (Louis Wu 14:47:29 UTC) (permalink)

Let's-a-Go!
Hawty McBloggy found a Mario Cart/Halo mashup on YouTube (with an accompanying downloadable map on Bungie.net) - I'd have to agree with her general assessment: great job with the combining of games, too long. Give it a look-see, though - it's a lot of fun. Update: wow... apparently that was just Part 2. Part 1 (another 10 minutes) is here. Thanks, Kibbles. (Louis Wu 14:46:55 UTC) (permalink)

Hard Justice S2: Episode 5
The latest episode of DigitalPh33r's Hard Justice is now live on YouTube - looks like Bernard's in trouble... and Max is still in Canada. Nearly 12 minutes long. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 14:46:31 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release - Fun
Even though yesterday was a holiday, Bungie posted a new Tag and Release feature, showing off screenshots using the tag 'fun'. I'm not sure that term is properly used in all cases - but it can't be denied that the shots are well-composed! (Louis Wu 14:45:34 UTC) (permalink)

News May 25 2009

LazerTAG MA5B Assault Rifle
A Halo fan bought a Halo toy and filled it with Lazer Tag internals, ending up with a laser tag gun that looks like a Halo assult rifle. Nice work! (Finished product is here, a shot with the creator is here.) Thanks, LazerBlader. (Louis Wu 14:58:21 UTC) (permalink)

Expecto Patronum!
Hawty McBloggy found a tiny (7-second) clip that shows off the true magic of Halo 3. Literally. (While you're there, check out the Lovehog.) (Louis Wu 14:57:31 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
It's a holiday, so new comics are sparse: Bloogyo's continued Rat's Nest with Episode 15 6 (MC's got a new sidekick), and Elnea's posted Halo Action Figure Theater 180 ('Arrowed' has Chuck Norris being Chuck Norris). Enjoy! (Louis Wu 14:54:22 UTC) (permalink)

Chief-ified Soldiers
Optimusprime117 noticed an article at Kotaku describing the future US soldier - and noted that we're converging towards our own Master Chief. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:51:34 UTC) (permalink)

News May 24 2009

Director Dialogues: Zola
Zola, the director behind one of the most-respected Halo 3 montages ever to be created (the Str8 Rippin team montage - you can find links here), recently sat down with RandomSauce for another Director Dialogue. This interview was ready for release on Thursday, in accordance with the regular DD schedule... but I completely forgot to link it. Apologies to Zola, RandomSauce, and you! Go read it now. You'll learn something about the man, and his techniques! (Louis Wu 14:18:56 UTC) (permalink)

ANUBIS x MT: SnipeTage
ANUBIS x MT recently passed 25,000 sniper/beam rifle kills, and when he did, he had BLACKOUT edit some of them into a montage. This is a guy who's really mastered the long gun... (Louis Wu 14:16:48 UTC) (permalink)

Forecast The Series: Season 2 Teaser
Forecast The Series is nearly ready to kick off Season 2 - and a teaser is up now, courtesy of Young Street Productions. Swing by and watch! (Louis Wu 14:12:51 UTC) (permalink)

News May 23 2009

Remote Controlled Halo Vehicles coming this summer
Sniper94 let us know that there are some cool new toys coming in August - R/C Warthog, Mongoose, and Hornet, being manufactured by NKOK. (They make a lot of R/C vehicles already - but the Halo line isn't on their website.) About $25 for the ground vehicles, and $40 for the flying one... get your money ready! (Louis Wu 19:29:30 UTC) (permalink)

Control Your Recon
Bungie wants to give you Recon - just play some Team Control (this week's Double XP playlist), take a cool screenshot (just one), tag it right, and you could be sporting the most exclusive armor by week's end. (Read the rules, and play nice.) (Louis Wu 19:28:25 UTC) (permalink)

The Life of a Noob
Hawty McBloggy stumbed across 'The Life of a Noob', a song by JT Machinima's skullkruncher13 and patfan8326 which will stick in your head... against your will. (Think of it as the Gilligan's Island theme of Halo.) Watch it... and laugh. (Louis Wu 13:16:25 UTC) (permalink)

Radio 1's Greatest Games
BBC's Radio 1 has put together a list of 100 games that their experts have rated as the best - they want you to pick a winner. Halo's on the list four times (Halo, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo II, and Halo III - it's unclear what the difference between the first two is, or why roman numerals were used for the last two). Go vote! Thanks, onebitrocket. (Louis Wu 13:15:13 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Helljumper #2
Avateur noticed that Halo Helljumper #2 has been fleshed out a little at Marvel.com - there's a summary and a cover pic. Interesting stuff! (Louis Wu 13:14:32 UTC) (permalink)

News May 22 2009

BWU - 22 May 2009
It's Friday evening, so the Bungie Weekly Update is live - head on over to Bungie.net to read it (or just visit our Weekly Update Archive). Lots of choice tidbits - but my favorite is the return of the Action Sack playlist in the near future. Go see what else you can find! (Louis Wu 23:59:55 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interviews, Week Seven
The latest Aesthetic Artist Interview is now live - Team Pepto sat down with a cuban cat, a man with a serious way with the Halo Screenshot tools. Go read the details... and check out some of his amazing work. (Louis Wu 18:04:53 UTC) (permalink)

With This Sword, I Thee Part
Tony 'ubald' Marcotte is back with another render - this time, he's done justice to the Hayabusa armor. Awesome pose! (Louis Wu 17:59:22 UTC) (permalink)

Free Strategy Guide from BusyGamerNews
Dave Kramer, of BusyGamerNews.com, let us know that they're giving away a copy of the Halo 3 official guide, from Piggyback Interactive. You've got until May 28 to enter - all you've got to do is post a comment on the news article. (Some restrictions apply - read the rules for details.) Nice! (Louis Wu 17:56:48 UTC) (permalink)

Watch Movies, Win Recon
Goodies, courtesy of the BungLog™:

• A screenshot montage from A Deaf Boy, consisting of the best output he could find for the month of May.
• A new funtage from The Funtage Crew - lots of entertaining clips
• A Top Ten Halo 3 Sticks vid (in HD) from 360Cinema - looks like mostly hail marys
• Obi Wan Stevobi, a Bungie.net Ninja, is offering Recon for some specific feats on Matchmaking - read this thread for details.
• The Tyrant is offering Recon for folks who succeed in beating various campaign levels on Mythic difficulty - read the post for details

That's a lot of videos, and a lot of Recon! (Louis Wu 17:55:42 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 - there's no candy on the ground.
Rooster Teeth started a video series a while back - it's called 'Pajamachievements', and it's basically a bunch of chicks in pajamas, playing videogames and trying to earn achievements. (Usually, they're brand-new to the game in question.) The latest episode is Halo 3. Halo 3 + hot chicks + sleepwear + vodka = pure awesomeness. (Louis Wu 15:33:13 UTC) (permalink)

Behind the Wheel
Phatcorns bought a Blackmagic Intensity card - which means you're in for a bunch of HD videos. And because Phatcorns has a great sense of camera control, this means you're in luck. Check out Behind the Wheel, a montage that should remind people why montages are cool. The camera's the star of this one. Phatcorn's forum post contains both a YouTube HD link, and a downloadable, hi-res version. This might be my favorite video of the month. (Louis Wu 12:26:31 UTC) (permalink)

Mandlbaum in: 'Core Tempature'
Halo0001 X found yet ANOTHER old clip showing off that awesome 70s megastar, Mandlebaum and his nemeses, Evile and Dr. Roboclaw. It's so bad it's good! (Halo0001 X told us that he's pretty sure this is the end of the Mandlebaum clips that will find their way to the public before, say... summer. I guess his attic is cleaned out...) (Louis Wu 12:23:06 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup (and a bonus)
Just a couple of new comics today (no Reclaimer this time out - get better, TTL Demag0gue!):

• The Catfish has posted 2501 - Episode 56 (thanks, urk).
• Elnea has posted not only Halo Action Figure #179 (Judgement)... but also a fantastic little video paying tribute to the Believe ad, while still staying true to HAFT's surreality.

I'm still giggling. Update: Gah! I forgot Shipwrecked Episode 68 (Gaia) - sorry, Dennis! (Louis Wu 12:17:47 UTC) (permalink)

What's not to love about a giant pig?
Heh - Swine Flu on Halo 3! (It's a Zombies gametype, with a giant pig on the map, and pink zombies.) Map is here, gametype is here, if you want to download it. (Louis Wu 12:10:18 UTC) (permalink)

Halopedia Interview with Fred Van Lente
CaptainTony let us know that he's interviewed Fred Van Lente, writer of the upcoming Spartan Black comics from Marvel (first issue is due out in December). Go visit Halopedia to read the details - lots of good stuff about the Spartan Black storyline, and how Van Lente made sure it fit into the Halo universe in a non-canon-violating way. (Louis Wu 11:59:19 UTC) (permalink)

The Untitled Comic-Thingy, Episode 2
Leviathan continues his graphic novel(ette) with A Sangheili's War Is Never Over - Part 2 - the art is getting more intricate! (Louis Wu 11:58:33 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Limerick Fun
Hawty McBloggy's changing it up - this week, instead of a Friday Caption Fun article, she's got something new. She's looking for your best Halo-related limerick! (And knowing Hawty, making it a bit naughty wouldn't be frowned upon.) Go visit, read what others have already submitted, and see what you can come up with! (Louis Wu 11:50:39 UTC) (permalink)

Broken In - Sam Jones
Yesterday, Bungie.net posted a new article in their Breaking/Broken In series - this one is with Art Manager and Senior Environment Artist Sam Jones. He talks about what he does, why he does it, and how he got there - with lots of little tidbits that can help you if YOU want to get there. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 11:49:03 UTC) (permalink)

MicroMachinima Episode 3: The Return
Arm The Flag is back with another MicroMachinima - Episode 3 is called "The Return", and it's got a little bit of a meta-quality to it. Short and funny - that's how I like 'em! Thanks, AnTi PRO. (Louis Wu 11:47:20 UTC) (permalink)

Halopen Pencast 09
Firestorm12 let us knwo that Halopen's back with another Pencast - Episode 9 has a pair of guests, including ODST Sarge, the man behind the Machinima Voice Actors Association. Go listen. (Louis Wu 11:46:29 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Only two new pieces for you this week in the Fan Fiction section - read 'em! (Louis Wu 11:45:47 UTC) (permalink)

Double XP Weekend - Team Control
The latest Double XP Weekend playlist kicked off yesterday - it's Team Control. Territories, Land Grab, and Team King - go capture something! (You can read the full breakdown of the playlist on Bungie's Playlists page.)

Halo 3: ODST Preview at Gamepro
Gamepro has put up a preview of Halo 3:ODST. As far as I can tell, there's nothing new in here - but it is a decent overview. (Louis Wu 11:41:25 UTC) (permalink)

In the Clouds
Mid7night took a bunch of shots of his Covenant Assault Carrier in X-Plane... and MAN they're pretty. Go look! (Louis Wu 11:40:06 UTC) (permalink)

Forge Hub Community Spotlight: Draw the Line
Forge Hub has posted a community spotlight, casting the glow on Draw the Line, a mapmaker with some serious chops. Check out what keeps him going, along with some of his best work! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 11:39:33 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Funny Lines 3
Due to an unforeseen issue here yesterday, a lot of news from the afternoon and evening got skipped; let's see if I can catch up. First off: there's a new Funny Lines video over at Bungie.net - Krewtaun has captured another bunch of funny dialogue snippets in video form. Someone should submit these to our Dialogue Databank... (Louis Wu 11:38:49 UTC) (permalink)

News May 21 2009

Recon Love, from HaloCharts
Pete VenkmanPHD let us know that HaloCharts is giving away a set of Recon armor... to someone who finishes their ENTIRE Campaign Challenge. Read the forum post for full details! Have fun, AND win Recon - what could be better? (Louis Wu 13:13:45 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Forge Art: Video Game Edition
Hawty McBloggy collected a couple of dozen screenshots with an interesting theme - they're all related to OTHER video games. Some are just simple outlines, others are... much, much more. They all show a love for the genre. Swing by and check 'em out™! (See that? I'm adding to my empire.) (Louis Wu 13:10:45 UTC) (permalink)

Fan Love
Looks like a chunk of the Bungie Online team got some cool schwag recently... apparently, a fan sent along three gorgeous Recon helmets to Shishka, Luke, and Brian. Now THAT'S getting Recon! Thanks, Kibbles. (Louis Wu 13:03:53 UTC) (permalink)

I'm unworthy.
First off - thanks to everyone who swung by The Running Riot last night - it was a lot of fun. Thanks to Kete, for hosting, and to Marty O'Donnell, for coming by as a special guest. And to InsaneFREAKBOY, Kete's brother, for killing me a LOT of times during the setup. And to all the fantastic contributions - Predator5791's sketch, Hawty's Top Ten list (all liez), Bryan Simon's great song, all the fans shouting nice things in the chatroom - you guys rock. (Louis Wu 12:59:48 UTC) (permalink)

News May 20 2009

Top 10 Halo 3 Lucky Kills: Episode 31
The Bungie Blog has word of Anoj's Top 10 Halo 3 Series' next episode - Ep 31 is 'Lucky Kills', and MAN are there some fun ones in there. Go watch! (Louis Wu 22:07:30 UTC) (permalink)

Can that thing drop off a Warthog?
Mid7night took an F-35 for a spin in X-Plane... in a REALLY familiar-looking valley. Take a look! (Louis Wu 22:06:11 UTC) (permalink)

Elite Patrol - Pilot Episode One - Prologue
thebest233 told us about Elite Patrol, Pilot Episode One - it follows the events of Erwin's Great Adventure (a few years later), on a ship dedicated to stopping the Elites from terrorizing earth. Or, maybe just trying to stay alive. It's a little unclear. (Louis Wu 19:55:31 UTC) (permalink)

LEGO Halo Scraps
Wow. Major.dump stopped in with a LEGO Halo version of the first Halo cutscene... with a few alterations. Amazing piece of work! Check it out. Looking forward to future updates! (Louis Wu 19:47:25 UTC) (permalink)

Zoxin It Up - coming soon
According to the Bungie Blog, a new podcast is going live this weekend - join 'Zoxin It Up!', live, with guest CMNeir, this Saturday, at 8 pm EST. (Louis Wu 17:21:16 UTC) (permalink)

Top 10 MLG Plays Episode 7 HD
b mc gann and Static Hazard are back with another episode of Top 10 MLG Plays - Episode 7 is full of crazy snipes (and more than a few spawn snipes). Check it out in HD! (Louis Wu 17:18:28 UTC) (permalink)

The Running Riot - Hosting Jerks since May 19
Some of you may have visited the Running Riot last night, to participate in a live podcast that had me as a guest. To all of you who did (and to Kete) - I'd like to issue an apology. A family issue kept me from attending, and I'm really, really sorry for any wasted time anyone experienced. We're going to reboot this puppy, though; it's on again for tonight, and it'll take my house burning down to keep me from being there this time. If you'd like to participate, I'd be honored. Swing by at 9 or 9:30 EST (the chatroom will be running at 9, but I think the actual event starts at 9:30), and we'll do our best to make you forget last night. (Louis Wu 13:55:42 UTC) (permalink)

Helveck's Major League SERIOUS Montage!
Helveck's got a new Funtage for you - six minutes of silly stuff, from mistakes to 'wow, how did that happen?'-type plays. Go watch! (Louis Wu 13:55:27 UTC) (permalink)

The beginning of a longer story
Leviathan continues to tell cool stories with pictures. Read 'A Sangheilli's War is Never Over, Part 1'. (Louis Wu 13:54:51 UTC) (permalink)

Community Montage in the Making
AngryFacing wants to make a community montage - swing by his Bungie.net post to see what he needs. (Louis Wu 13:54:29 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
New comics for you:

• The Catfish has posted 2501 Episode 54 (Monday) and Episode 55 (yesterday)
• Elnea has posted Halo Action Figure Theater #178 (Late Arrival)
• Bloogyo has posted Rat's Nest Episode 15-1 (Grunty Thirst)
• TTL Demag0gue has posted Reclaimer 188 (Coherent Dissociation)

Get to readin'! Update (because I'm slow sometimes): Hawty McBloggy posted ODS Steve #26 (Simian Down) and Adam Susskind has released Chaos Theory Episode 22 (Synthesize), with lots and lots of info here. (Louis Wu 13:54:05 UTC) (permalink)

Top 5 Insane Videogame Computers
1UP.com has posted an article on the Top 5 Insane Videogame Computers - and Bungie has nailed 2 of those spots (one for our favorite Halo AI). The whole thing with the clothing... I never really looked at it that way before. Hmm... (Louis Wu 13:53:44 UTC) (permalink)

News May 19 2009

Average Joe - VENOM MDK
There's a new Average Joe interview up at Bungie.net - VENOM MDK is a proud member of Halo 3 In The Work Place (and other groups). Go learn some more! (Louis Wu 18:17:35 UTC) (permalink)

Brutality of the Covenant
Amateur Entertainment has created 'Brutality of the Covenant', an audioplay short - a story, told through a combination of original content Halo 3 sound assets, that acts as a teaser to the upcoming podcast series 'Brotherhood'. Just under 3 minutes long, it's not only an intriguing concept, it's a very nicely-crafted piece of work! Listen to it on YouTube, or download a high-quality version from Mediafire. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:14:09 UTC) (permalink)

Campaign Challenge: Cortana
HaloCharts continues their Campaign Challenge - this time around, it's Cortana. Read the summary at the Bungie Blog, or the full details at HaloCharts - and get going! (Louis Wu 18:11:30 UTC) (permalink)

TRR - Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel
Some jerk is going to be on the Running Riot podcast as it's broadcast live this evening (9:30 EST) - come by and make fun of him. More details are available in this post at Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 18:08:47 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wars DLC now available
Back in mid-April, we mentioned the first Halo Wars expansion pack - it's live now. 800 MS Points, available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Thanks, GrimBrother One. (Louis Wu 14:14:24 UTC) (permalink)

Ground Zero
Vociferous is back with another in-depth Ascendant Justice article - this one looks at Ground Zero (which, in the context of Halo 3: ODST, is New Mombasa). Lots of great speculation, based on information gathered rather meticulously from a variety of sources. Give it a read! Thanks, Cocopjojo. (Louis Wu 14:07:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Fails: Episode 20
chris10023 let us know that Halo 3 Fails, Episode 20 is now live - I think I've done every single one of those! Funny stuff. (Louis Wu 14:06:25 UTC) (permalink)

LEGO Snow Hog
Stormwraith sent word that he'd run across a cool LEGO Snow LRV at both MOCpages and Flickr. (Same hog, a variety of pics.) Nice work! (Louis Wu 14:02:32 UTC) (permalink)

Render to Video - now in HD
Omega was the first to point out that HD rendering is now available for those participating in Bungie's Render to Video public beta. If you've got some extra render minutes saved up, go give it a try! Update: Bigger news than HD is that rendered videos are now viewable by EVERYONE, not just Beta participants! If you've been getting jealous that the forums you hang out in have lots of links you can't see... be jealous no more. Thanks, Bungie! (Louis Wu 14:01:24 UTC) (permalink)

Not what you expected.
Pwnathon2o2p stopped in to announce a promotional video, created by IamDank, for the Pwnathon charity event coming up in July. Go watch it! (Louis Wu 14:00:47 UTC) (permalink)

News May 18 2009

Tag and Release - Halo
Bungie.net's got the latest Tag and Release feature - the tag was 'Halo', the results are... cool. Go see! (Louis Wu 18:22:29 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interviews, Week Six
A little late this week (okay, it was supposed to go live LAST week), but the latest Aesthetic Artist Interview is now up - thanks, jdars. Swing by to read about Meatball O Doom, and her personal Forge obsessions. (Louis Wu 17:40:53 UTC) (permalink)

BunMonLog
Thanks to urk for the following pair of vids:

• Shenanigans - a montage made up of stuff you love to see in the after-game theater. (Occasionally, the in-game reaction is less enjoyable... and I could probably do with fewer betrayals.)
• Top 10 Halo 3 Kills HD - a relatively random assortment of kills - maybe a little over-produced, but fun gameplay nonetheless.

Kills a quarter of a lunch hour, right there... Update: oops, another one, with more funny dialogue lines from Campaign play. (Louis Wu 17:37:01 UTC) (permalink)

Prophet of Penance
Leviathan is back with another graphic story - this one is called 'Prophet of Penance', and it introduces us to an interesting side of the Covenant. (Louis Wu 12:34:28 UTC) (permalink)

Normal Guy
Loby stopped in with word of a new machinima from Banshee Surprise - it sets the Normal Guy (from The Lonely Island) to Halo 3 footage, and does so pretty well. Might bring a smile! (As the info section states, this may not be appropriate for younger audiences.) (Louis Wu 12:33:31 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
The comic crowd wasn't too busy this weekend:

• Elnea posted Halo Action Figure Theater #177 - The Last Straw; some very nice setup work went into this. (A photo is included.)
• Bloogyo let us know about Rat's Nest Episode 14 - it started here, and the most recent segment is here. It's a story of the Chief that's never been told.
• TTL Demag0gue told us about Reclaimer 187 - Combat of the Mind. A history lesson... and some chilling predictions.

I'm craving donuts... (Louis Wu 12:32:15 UTC) (permalink)

News May 17 2009

HBOFFPotW - 05/15
CaptainRaspberry let us know that the Fan Fic Pick of the Week is up for submissions in by May 15. kr-1426 wrote it. Go see what he thought! (Louis Wu 23:11:15 UTC) (permalink)

Evil
zofinda told us (sort of) that Arby 'n' the Chief S3E12 is up - I had a little trouble finding it at YouTube, but here's a link. Chief and Arby play some Resident Evil 5. I guess it's fun, but not scary. Or maybe racist and insensitive. I'm not sure. (Louis Wu 23:03:32 UTC) (permalink)

E3-based ODST Discussion on Bonus Round
GameTrailer's Bonus Round Episode 304 contains some discussion about the showing of Halo 3: ODST at E3's Microsoft Press Conference from three big industry insiders - worth a look if you want some informed speculation about what's going to show up this year! Thanks, The More Deluded. (Louis Wu 21:33:52 UTC) (permalink)

Take the Offensive
Phatcorns and The Lintendo are back with a new montage - Take the Offensive has a much wider overview than your average montage. Nice camerawork! Thanks, Insaniac. (Louis Wu 13:56:24 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Day Marathon
RageGummy and PMS Legend have banded together to form the core of Team Sleepers, a group that plans to play Halo 3 for 24 hours straight on Bungie Day to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. You can read more about this project (and donate) over at JustGiving.com. Halo for charity - help out! (Louis Wu 13:48:29 UTC) (permalink)

News May 16 2009

School Orchestra Plays Halo
Hawty McBloggy pointed out a series of themes from Halo 3, performed by the WACO (Wayland/Crawfordsville/Olds, Iowa) Junior/Senior High Orchestra... and wonders how many more kids would have played instruments if video game themes had been common in past years. (Louis Wu 20:13:41 UTC) (permalink)

Recon Helmet, Rendered
Spartanx5 has finished up his render of a Recon helmet - the end result is strangely moving. Check it out! (Louis Wu 19:29:45 UTC) (permalink)

Vidmaster Weekend Recon Challenge
Bungie wants to help you get Recon armor now, rather than waiting for the release of Halo 3: ODST. You need to complete the Vidmaster Annual Achievement tomorrow, May 17 (even if you've completed it before) - and take a picture of something cool. One screenshot per person, winning shots get Recon for the entire party of four. Need more details? Read the Bungie.net post. (Read it carefully; my guess is, any rules get broken, and you're not eligible.) (Louis Wu 18:39:39 UTC) (permalink)

A 13 month LIVE card... as a goodbye present
CE United is closing its doors soon - but before it goes, it's hosting one last contest. Swing by the site to read why, and the details on the contest. Thanks, Willy. (Louis Wu 18:36:50 UTC) (permalink)

Does Chuck E. Cheese even exist any more?
It was Friday night last night, so Bungie posted another Weekly Update - heavy focus on this week's big news, the Render to Video service. Tips, FAQs, a demo video... lots of good info. Plus a few other tidbits - fun stuff. As always, you can read it in our Weekly Update Archive if you'd like. (Louis Wu 11:35:09 UTC) (permalink)

News May 15 2009

Friday Afternoon Fun
Goodies at the BungLog™ this afternoon... challenges and montages:

• The Forge Cafe, a group on Bungie.net, wants you to build a cool Sandbox Crypt map - prizes will be served.
• HaloTracks wants you to drive their Mongoose course as fast as you can - prizes will be served.
• I like pie 727 put together a community funtage from clips he found in Fileshares.
• Nightninja25 put together a montage of clips showing off some ninja backsmack skillz.
• Team Legend Zero put together a montage showing off some cool flips and tricks - good air.

There's gotta be SOMETHING in there that'll help kill those last few hours of work... (Louis Wu 19:09:19 UTC) (permalink)

Controlling Your Camera
This is probably well-known among the machinima community - but it was news to me, and pretty darned useful info, so I'm front-paging it. Bungie's JonnyOThan stopped in with some helpful tips about camera control in Halo 3's Theater. As more people use BuTube to share their clips, teaching people to make cooler movies becomes more important. Thanks, Jonny! (Louis Wu 15:51:31 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 47
What else happens on Fridays? Yep, it's Friday Caption Fun, over at Hawty McBloggy's. Highlights from last week's submissions, plus a new image that's ripe for comic shenanigans... go play! (Louis Wu 13:45:05 UTC) (permalink)

Tears of a Robot (Trailer)
Mandlbaum is back, baby! Halo0001 X let us know that another reel of early Halo 3 cheese turned up in his attic - Mandlbaum has to face a robot horde bent on the destruction of the human race! Can he manage it? Can he save Skippy? Tune in and find out! (Louis Wu 13:29:44 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Lots of comics today, since we posted early on Wednesday:

• Reclaimer put up Episode 185 (Anesidora) on Wednesday, and Episode 186 (Bodhi) today - Indigenous Adjuvant is doing his best to let that Viper soldier know how badly he screwed up.
• Dennis Powers let us know about Shipwrecked Episode 67 (Meet the Kids) - even when you've got a big gun, don't sit still.
• The Catfish let urk know about 2501 Episode 53 (This Changes Everything).
• Elnea's been busy - Halo Action Figure Theater Episode 175 (Losing Battle) and Episode 176 (Reunion) both went up in the last couple of days - I must say, I'm not happy with where she's going. Not happy at all.

Coffee, stat - and lots of it! (Louis Wu 13:05:03 UTC) (permalink)

Sarkathlon 3 - Winners Announced
G4TV's X-Play announced winners of the Sarkathlon 3 obstacle course (we mentioned it a couple of weeks ago) - congrats to both contestants, who'll pull in Recon armor, on top of the 1st place finisher's new Xbox 360. The video shows off the winning runs, and discusses some of the cool tricks folks came up with. (Louis Wu 12:51:22 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just five new stories this week in the Fan Fiction section... check 'em out! (Louis Wu 12:40:08 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie IT: Fueled by Fan Enthusiasm
We missed a new Breaking In article yesterday afternoon - Steve Lopez is in charge of the crew that keeps Bungie's technology humming. He's not DIRECTLY involved in making games... but without him and his crew, there'd be no games, because there'd be nothing to make them on. If you're looking to get in to work for this company... check out what he has to say! (Louis Wu 12:37:29 UTC) (permalink)

News May 14 2009

A Halo 3 Montage from Jonny12gauge
Didn't get enough montages at the BungLog™ today? Never fear, naveeda stopped in with word of a new one from 2old2play's Jonny12gauge. That guy's a lot better with a sniper rifle than I'll ever be... (Louis Wu 20:19:40 UTC) (permalink)

Montage Turtle Soup
The Bungie MontageBlog has highlighted three new vids for you today:

• A Deaf Boy has put together a montage of screenshots grabbed during the Mythic Brawl Double XP weekend
• Halo 3 In The Work Place has posted their latest collection of clips, 'Inertia'. There's also a challenge that will likely never be met.
• ganit appleby has put together the second Ma-Ma-Montage, with clips snagged from fileshares.

That should take care of your lunch break... (Louis Wu 17:48:30 UTC) (permalink)

Director Dialogues - TM22
RandomSauce has written up the latest Director Dialogue - in this one, he sits down with TM22. Go read what drives this montage creator! (Louis Wu 14:29:06 UTC) (permalink)

Killing aliens is a full-time job!
Pwn or Die has a short clip from Aisha Tyler's Comedy Central special in which she explains how having a baby might interfere with her Halo playing. Funny stuff! (Louis Wu 14:25:32 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wars Spirit - from a longtime HBOer
Longtime forum regular Pynion worked for Blur for a while, and was involved in creating assets for Halo Wars. He sent along his Covenant Spirit dropship - front (1620x920, 204k) and back (1615x915, 201k) - very slick! (Pynion points out that the Banshees, the Ghosts, or Forge aren't his - just the dropship.) Check out his portfolio at DeviantART for more goodies. (Louis Wu 14:17:54 UTC) (permalink)

Operation Chastity - Warthog Progress Pics
Pete Cooper stopped in with new progress shots of the Warthog they're building for Operation Chastity. Looking great! (Louis Wu 13:59:13 UTC) (permalink)

A new pistol in ODST
InnerRayg noticed a scan of a page of GamePro's table of contents from the June 2009 issue over at the Spawn.com forums - it shows off a shot from Halo 3: ODST with what looks like a new pistol. You can visit the original post for the full image - or (to save yourself a 2 mb download) check out a cropped version of just the ODST and his pistol. Our forum is buzzing with speculation... (Louis Wu 13:56:56 UTC) (permalink)

Basic Callouts for Halo 3 Maps
FPSBuddy has posted a series of images showing some common Halo 3 multiplayer map callouts; if you've found yourself wondering how to tell your teammates where that guy who just killed you might be (or you're having trouble figuring out THEIR callouts), you might want to check these. They're limited - but it's a a start. (Louis Wu 13:36:44 UTC) (permalink)

Inferno
Kral let us know about a new Dualtage he's edited - gameplay is from DarkAng3lz and Hell Bound411, action is primarily sticks and snipes. And more snipes. With some beatdowns - and more snipes. About five and a half minutes, available in HD on YouTube. (Louis Wu 13:33:46 UTC) (permalink)

'A great way to impress mom'? Um...
Hawty McBloggy found a pretty funky-looking piece of Halo fan love - it's a wreath, made up of lots and lots of Halo collectible bits. I will say one thing for it; it's very unusual! (Louis Wu 13:28:59 UTC) (permalink)

Mini LEGO Pelican and 'Hog
BigVariable sent word of a very cool little Pelican (and Warthog) over at The Brothers Brick - work done by Alex Schranz. Check it out! (Louis Wu 12:54:15 UTC) (permalink)

Are we looking for a smarter action hero?
Wired.com has an article that bids good riddance to Duke Nukem Forever (the eternally-in-development game that finally got cancelled last week) - it discusses how our tastes (as a society) have changed since this game began its life. Halo is held up as an example of a blending of action and drama, as opposed to pure shoot-em-up fun. Interesting - are we really more sophisticated than we were 15 years ago... or are we just good at faking it? (Louis Wu 12:50:20 UTC) (permalink)

PA Charity Halo 3 Tourney
urk posted word of a charity Halo 3 tournament in Dillsburg, PA (it's a suburb of Harrisburg, in Central PA) - it's happening on May 23, costs $10 to get in, has prizes available courtesy of Gamestop, and benefits the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank. You can preregister for the event at this page. (Louis Wu 12:45:54 UTC) (permalink)

News May 13 2009

Doom and Gloom
There's a rather odd blog post over at Gamasutra; it suggests that Doom (the original Doom) had it all right, and modern FPSs (including Halo) are breaking all that is good in the name of 'realism'. Aiming? pfft. Strafing? Why? AI that's actually intelligent? NO FUN! Go read the whole post, and see if you agree with the conclusions! (Louis Wu 19:39:14 UTC) (permalink)

Community Spotlight: The Ghosts of Onyx
It's Wednesday, so it's time for a changing of the guard on the Bungie Favorites page - this week, the Community Spotlight is on The Ghosts of Onyx, an enthusiastic group of Halo players. Check out the mini-interview - and their favorite files! (Louis Wu 19:20:12 UTC) (permalink)

We need some montages!
The BungLog™ has a bunch of montages for you today:

• Halo 3 'Funny Lines' is a montage of campaign clips with funny NPC lines. Some of these are in our Dialogue Databank, but many aren't.
• Cheap Ass Gamers put together some highlights from the 2009 Grifball Winter League gameplay - six minutes' worth.
• MistahJangles put together a "Mediocretage" - gameplay we can ALL relate to. (Still pretty funny to watch.)

Where's the popcorn? (Louis Wu 19:16:08 UTC) (permalink)

It's not fancier, it's just rendered better.
In a random blog post about about potential Halo action figures at Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation, Poe Ghostal draws parallels between the advance in details between Halo's Mark V armor and Halo Wars' Mark IV armor with the advance in details between Star Trek's 1967 USS Enterprise and the 2009 USS Enterprise. (For him, thinking about Halo made him dislike the changes in Star Trek less.) (Louis Wu 18:56:29 UTC) (permalink)

New game modes walkthrough for Halo Wars
Looks like Gametrailers has a walkthrough of the three new game modes for Halo Wars - take a look! Thanks, 2900d4u. (Louis Wu 15:08:14 UTC) (permalink)

Killer Hammer
DogWizard, from over at the 405th, let us know that he's been working on a full-sized Halo 3 Brute Gravity Hammer... and it's complete. It looks pretty amazing! Check out the completed shots in this thread - and progress shots from the last couple of months are in this thread. Great stuff! (Louis Wu 13:19:00 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Update
Comic updates since Monday that we've heard about:

• 2501 Episodes 51 and 52 were released - Saturday and Monday, respectively.
• Bloogyo let us know that Rats Nest 13 4 is live.
• Hawty McBloggy told us about ODS Steve #25 (Point Bravo).

Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:17:02 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release - Fire (late)
Bungie.net posted a new Tag and Release feature a couple of days ago - we missed it. The term was 'Fire' - and the pictures are pretty impressive! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 13:15:31 UTC) (permalink)

News May 12 2009

Bungie opens Public Beta for Render-to-Video Service
We've been waiting for it for a long time... but the Bungie Render-to-Video program has proved itself to be more than vaporware, as a public beta goes live today. To be eligible, you have to have a paid Bungie.net Pro account active before today - but it'll be open to everyone in just a couple of months. Go check out all the details at Bungie.net! (Louis Wu 21:01:45 UTC) (permalink)

BungieBlog-Delivered Treats
Goodies from the BungLog™:

• CAVX is the latest Average Joe - He likes Halo. Go see what else he likes.
• Death From Above releases its third homage to flying death. Seven and a half minutes long.
• The Xbox Ambassadors, a group of people dedicated to making Xbox LIVE more fun for beginners, is hosting a Halo 3 Community Playdate on May 17 - join 'em and have fun!

Aren't you glad urk's looking out for you? (Louis Wu 19:33:21 UTC) (permalink)

It's a game that just won't die.
I told myself I wasn't going to front-page these... but geez, five weeks in a row, with a game that's been out for more than 85 weeks... wow. (Halo 3's at the top of the LIVE activity list... for the fifth straight week.) (Louis Wu 17:26:05 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief vs Mortal Kombat: The Hidden Skull
Awesome. mans1ay3r created a new machinima entitled 'Master Chief vs Mortal Combat: The Hidden Skull' - the first episode is online now. Pretty funny stuff... and great integration of the two games! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 17:25:02 UTC) (permalink)

TRR's Podcast going LIVE again
According to the Bungie Blog, The Running Riot is doing another one of their live broadcasts next Tuesday - check it out for guests and times. (Louis Wu 17:22:55 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wars Title Update
If you're a Halo Wars player, you' be interested to know that a Title Update is going live very soon. Details can be found at Halowars.com - or in 2900d4u's forum post. Balance adjustments and bug fixes are spelled out. (Louis Wu 17:22:24 UTC) (permalink)

News May 11 2009

I Won't Teabag On The First Date
CMNeir took one of Bryan Simon's silliest songs... and created a Halo-based music vid for it. It would take a special kind of girl to accept a serenade of this song without resorting to violence... Go watch it at Bungie.net - or directly on YouTube. (Louis Wu 19:34:29 UTC) (permalink)

BrySi's Mythic Songwriting Contest
Bryan Simon wants you to write a song related to the Mythic maps - the best entry submitted by May 31 (as voted on by the public) will win a set of Recon armor from Bungie. Nice! Watch Bryan's video for all the rules and regs, and some hints on how to get started. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 17:44:54 UTC) (permalink)

My Halo Life: Episode 6
The next episode of My Halo Life - compiled out of a pool of almost 300 submissions - went live this weekend - go watch. Thanks to the Bungie Blog for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:41:18 UTC) (permalink)

I'm a General in Halo 3
Mike & Cheese is a General in Halo 3... and apparently, it's good for him. Very funny rap (lyrics are NOT work-safe). As he says... if only life were really like this. (Louis Wu 12:46:26 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
A quick summary of the comics we've heard about since the last update:

• Bloogyo stopped by Friday with word of Rat's Nest Episodes 12 4 and 12 5. Since then, he's posted three NEW strips.
• anthraxgoon also stopped in on Friday to announce the first new comic in 2 weeks. It's a double issue of X36, Chapter 2 - covers 13 and 14.
• The Catfish let urk know that Chaos Theory continues, even while its creator's internet connection is down; The Chaos Theory Collab is an episode created by The Catfish and Holy Junkie.
• TTL Demag0gue dropped in this morning with word of Reclaimer 184 - Indigenous Adjuvant wants to know what Viper thought they were doing.

Start your week off with some pictured stories! (Louis Wu 12:45:00 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Hamlet
EnergyPigeon wrote about a 60-second rendition of Hamlet, using the Halo 3 engine. (Actually, it's closer to 70 seconds, but still...) Except for the fact that Hamlet sounds 12, it's pretty neat! (Louis Wu 12:43:53 UTC) (permalink)

Love you, mom
It was up yesterday, but there was nobody at HBO around to post it. Hawty McBloggy put together a collection of 8 Halo 3 screenshots perfect for your mom. Here's hoping you found something nice! (Louis Wu 12:42:41 UTC) (permalink)

News May 10 2009

She's your mom - treat her with respect.
bryan4208 told us about a Halo 3 Mothers Day Special he and his friends made. I guess it can tell you what NOT to do today. (And with that... I'm out. Lots of mothers need attention...) (Louis Wu 15:14:48 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Poem
Cyclone 75 put together a video that incorporates music, the Halo 3 ODST trailer, and a poem he wrote - see what you think! (Louis Wu 15:10:32 UTC) (permalink)

Guns that don't shoot bullets
GamesRadar has an article about video game guns that fire something other than your standard bullet. Halo's Needler makes the list. (I kinda like the Land Shark gun better...) (Louis Wu 14:49:04 UTC) (permalink)

Political Analysis: UNSC/Covenant
UNSC_Trooper applied the Political Compass to the factions of Halo - and posted the results over at the Halo Story page. Go see what you think! Update:UNSC_Trooper, for reasons unknown to me, has deleted this file. Apologies. (Louis Wu 13:22:58 UTC) (permalink)

Gophers - now IE-friendly
DE4TH DEAL3R let us know that the Halo 3 Gophers have fixed their website for Internet Explorer users. If you were interested in their Forge contest, but couldn't get the info... try again. (Louis Wu 13:22:05 UTC) (permalink)

News May 9 2009

Halo 3 Fails Episode 19
Once again, it's chris10023 with word of the latest Halo 3 Fails: Halo 3 Fails Episode 19 contains some seriously bad luck. (I have to say, though, my favorite clip in the entire film is the first one after the credits start - it's not a fail at all, it's an amazing win.) (Louis Wu 22:35:32 UTC) (permalink)

Mythic Brawl - your shot at Recon
If you swing by Bungie.net, you'll see hints of a new challenge; use this week's Double XP list (Mythic Brawl) to take some cool screenshots today... you've got a shot at Recon. Read the post for full details! (Louis Wu 18:58:18 UTC) (permalink)

HD Halo Cutscenes - How it Happened
HaLo2FrEeEk wrote up a huge description of the work that's gone into recording the Halo and Halo Wars cutscenes in the past couple of years. It's probably WAY more information than you want... but it contains lots of fun stats about the projects, and it provides some useful workflows for anyone looking to record HD footage from the games. (Louis Wu 15:16:53 UTC) (permalink)

After the Storm
Leviathan posted what he calls a short comic. I'd say it was more of a story with pictures. Has the feel of the Halo Believe ads. (If you hate the music, blame me, not him; he just suggested it, I added it.) (Louis Wu 15:11:13 UTC) (permalink)

2o2p's Pwnathon 2009 - coming soon!
Okay, it looks like 2old2play's Pwnathon 2009 (a fundraiser where you get to play games) will include some interesting Halo challenges - more of them if you answer naveeda's call for suggestions. Read about the Pwnathon at his links in this post, then read about his request in the followup. (Louis Wu 15:09:52 UTC) (permalink)

Panzy Tactics: Episode 3
Incogneto45 and friends put together a film called 'Panzy Tactics' - it basically shows you a bunch of hiding spaces in various multiplayer maps. (This is episode 3 - I guess there were others before.) (Louis Wu 15:07:27 UTC) (permalink)

News May 8 2009

It's always 'Blame Stosh' - where does it end?
Another Friday night, and I ain't got nobody, I got an update cause I... man, sometimes I shouldn't have alcohol with dinner. Swing by Bungie.net for the latest Bungie Weekly Update - crowing, interviews with playtesters, a funky screenshot, details about the Mythic Screenshot contest that WAY too many of you entered... and more. Go read! (You're welcome to use our Weekly Update Archive for that task.) (Louis Wu 23:39:35 UTC) (permalink)

Brokeback Laser
Decadence Night put together a pair of very nice panoramas with Hornets getting toasted by Mongoose riders. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 20:12:46 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interviews, Week Five
The latest Aesthetic Artist Interview is live - today, Team Pepto has a discussion with skm0000, a master of illusion. Go check out what he has to say - and some of his more impressive screenshots! (Louis Wu 18:00:26 UTC) (permalink)

SIP - Helping with Annuals since... well, a while.
Need your Annual Achievement, but can't find three friends who have the time to run through it with you? The Spartan 1 Project is here to help. Swing by their Bungie.net Group page to find willing helpers - or swing by this Bungie Blog post discussing their achievements to download a sub-15-minute Annual run! (Louis Wu 16:29:22 UTC) (permalink)

The Gophers Want You!
The Halo 3 Gophers have kicked off a new website - and are hosting a Forge contest to celebrate. Swing by and check 'em out - and if you like to play with Forge, take a look at the contest. The best multiflag Sandbox variant wins either Microsoft Points or an action figure. You've got until the end of the month to submit. (Louis Wu 16:15:39 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wars HD Cutscenes (from Infectionist.com)
HaLo2FrEeEk posted a meaty monster in our forum - it contains links to all the Halo Wars cutscenes, downloadable in both SD and HD, in both WMP9 and QuickTime. In fact, he's put so much work into this, we didn't feel like we couldn't offer a permanent page for these videos. (We're not hosting them; we're halo.bungie.org, after all... but they're beautiful, and they're Halo-related, and the quality is up to the standards of the rest of our cutscenes.) Swing by our Cutscene Library for easy (and easy to find) access to all of these. (Be sure to stop by his site, Infectionist.com, for other goodies and a fun community!) (Louis Wu 12:19:29 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
A really short comic list today - all we've got for you is 2501 Episode 50 (thanks, urk) and Reclaimer Episode 183 (thanks, TTL Demag0gue). Guess it's gonna be a small cup of coffee... (Louis Wu 12:19:04 UTC) (permalink)

LEGO Bionicle: Jackal
retinence whipped out a brand-new Halo-related Bionicle - this one's a Jackal. Extra pictures here. Where's my carbine? (Louis Wu 12:18:38 UTC) (permalink)

Colors
GeneticSpartan dropped by with word of 'Colors', a Halo music vid he made based on the song by Kira Willey. Works well - very mellow! (Looks like Hawty McBloggy liked it too.) (Louis Wu 11:43:38 UTC) (permalink)

Mindless Intentions Ep3: Martyrdom
RogueDarkJedi stopped in with word of Mindless Intentions Episode 3: Martyrdom. It looks at what might happen if a couple of the most popular XBL games were merged... I think my head might explode. (Louis Wu 11:43:01 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 46
Hawty McBloggy has another round of Friday Caption Fun for you - highlights from last week, plus a Guardian shot just waiting to be defiled. See what you can do! (Louis Wu 11:42:23 UTC) (permalink)

Dunh dunh dunuh dun dun dun duh...
Halo0001 X sent word of Mandlbaum in: "White Bomb" [Part 3 of 3] - it's a tribute to all those "so bad they're good" movies from 20 or 30 years ago that you stumble across while you're channel-surf, and then find yourself strangely unable to turn off. Starts a little slow... but it definitely picks up. Makes me want to go find some Starsky and Hutch episodes... (Louis Wu 11:41:48 UTC) (permalink)

Podtacular 188
Podtacular 188 has been released - it discussed customs and creations from the Mythic maps (with a heavy focus on Sandbox, for obvious reasons). Guests are PainKilla05 and Captain Planet. 52 minutes, 24 mb. (Louis Wu 11:40:57 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
A solid seven new pieces are available for you this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 11:40:35 UTC) (permalink)

Fake Arms in the Dishwasher
A new 'Breaking In' article went live at Bungie.net yesterday - Jason Sussman, Finishing Artist, discusses what he does at Bungie, and how he got there. Wanna join him? Read and learn! (Louis Wu 11:38:58 UTC) (permalink)

News May 7 2009

urk makes my afternoons easier
BungLog™ Goodies:

• Forgebattle.com is hosting a Mythic Map Friday - join them for custom games on Forged Mythic maps
• Project Rooster has O 2 the T - a Halo rap full of smacktalk
• Herbal T goes HD, for some montage goodness

Should keep you busy for a little bit... (Louis Wu 22:05:06 UTC) (permalink)

Playing Halo ODST Remix
A very unreasonable man sent along this link - jastonlabostar sings 'Playing Halo ODST Remix', a parody of Mariah Carey's 'Touch My Body'. The floral wallpaper and fairy figurines add the finishing touch... (Louis Wu 17:28:42 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Montage
A Deaf Boy has whipped up a screenshot montage showing off the best shots from the first four Aesthetic Artist Interviews - take a look. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 17:20:49 UTC) (permalink)

Director Dialogues - Anoj
It's Thursday, so RandomSauce has whipped up another Director Dialogue - this discussion is with Anoj, the guy behind the nearly 3-dozen-strong Top 10 Halo 3 series. Go see what drives him, and how he does what he does! (Louis Wu 11:49:44 UTC) (permalink)

Phil - Day Eight
BlackLightProductions stopped in with word of Phil - Day Eight. Phil and company do their best to ascertain whether the legend of the Ghost of Blackout is real... or something else. I dunno... it made me laugh. Go watch. (Louis Wu 11:44:19 UTC) (permalink)

Gamer Symphony Orchestra - Free Concert Saturday
If you're anywhere near College Park, Maryland this weekend, you might want to swing by the Spring Concert of the UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra - the 90 instrumentalists and singers will be performing selections from many games, Halo among them. Admission is free. There's a downloadable flier on that main page, and the Recordings page contains mp3s of previous concerts (they performed Halo music during the Fall 2007 concert). Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 11:37:24 UTC) (permalink)

How did that hit me?
Hawty McBloggy brought a new video by KillPie to our attention - Top 10 Halo 3 Ricochets, in HD. Go watch sniper bullets (and a rocket) fly in directions that have nothing to do with the way their guns were pointing. (Louis Wu 11:36:17 UTC) (permalink)

News May 6 2009

GoGuard
The overseers of the Bungie Favorites for this two-week span, The PraetoriaGuard, have rolled over the contents to their second batch. Swing by and see what they've posted! While you're there, read about the map 'Access'. (Louis Wu 18:46:45 UTC) (permalink)

Montagetastic
The BungLog™ is full of new montages today:

• Fiesta Madness, filmed by Tomas
• Panoramic Screenshots from the Haloramics team
• Brute Shot Mania, from M1STA WU1FY

Go montage yourself! (Louis Wu 17:46:24 UTC) (permalink)

Take away the horizon, you're left with Halo
Odd, but cool - there's an article written by Jack Shulze, discussing his influences for the Here & There project, over at his firm's website. The project presents urban spaces in a combination of third-person overhead and first-person plan views - and the end result, a horizonless projection, looks a lot like a ringworld. It was, indeed, partly inspired by Halo - and Halo shows up in other parts of the discussion. Interestng article! Thanks to GrimBrother One, who found it at Kotaku. (Louis Wu 13:44:59 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
A goodly collection for you today:

• Dennis Powers told us about Shipwrecked Episode 66 - Paradise Lost. The S&R team is getting closer...
• urk posted word from The Catfish about two new episodes of 2501: 48 - Is Falling Apart was out Monday night, and 49 - Invaders was out yesterday.
• Bloogyo mentioned that not only is Rat's Nest 12 3 online, but the website is cleared up, too.
• TTL Demag0gue told us that Reclaimer 182 - The Mother of Invention is now available. Looks like being super-advanced doesn't always mean you're right.
• Hawty McBloggy sent word that ODS Steve 24 - Better Than a Food Nipple - can be found on her site. Go easy on the tea...

That's it for this morning! (Louis Wu 11:55:10 UTC) (permalink)

When in doubt, bring cake
Anthony Hanses was at Bungie Studios yesterday, applying for a job. He brought a cake. It nicely matches the Legendary Helmet, and word has it that it tasted really good, too. Thanks to BlueBlur for the heads-up, and Ken Taya and Andrew G Davis for the pics. (Louis Wu 11:10:45 UTC) (permalink)

CMT SPV2 Animations - Impressive
A couple of days ago, we mentioned some work the Custom Mapping Team had been doing to their SPV2 mod for Halo Custom Edition - AvatarAang stopped by again with word of two new animation vids, and I gotta say, they look fantastic! This is a project to keep an eye on! (Louis Wu 10:45:32 UTC) (permalink)

Legend, Incarnate
Reluctant Chaos1212 ran across a really, really nice Halo Wars Spartan render, created by Alessandro Baldasseroni, a member of CGSociety.org. Check it out! (Louis Wu 10:31:00 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Playing Card Deck v2.0
Arithmomaniac has updated some Halo playing cards he created - check the post for a preview and download links! (He's looking for better images - can you help?) (Louis Wu 10:30:38 UTC) (permalink)

News May 5 2009

BungLog Goodness
Stuff from the Bungie Blog this afternoon:

• a new Sandbox Sky Bubble-based racetrack - Typhoon'
• A Forging contest from Mjolnir Battle Tactics
• A screenshot montage from TheMoleN1 and the crew of Aberrant Designs

Explore! (Louis Wu 23:52:28 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... there are Stosh nudes around?
A new Know Your Ninja has gone live at Bungie.net. This one isn't Halo-related at all... but The Slayer DOES work at keeping the Bungie.net forums clean, so you can swing by and read about him. (I think we'll institute a new policy, from here on out; Average Joes and Ninjas profiled on B.net will only be covered here if the interview has Halo content.) (Louis Wu 19:00:59 UTC) (permalink)

What The French - Episode 4
Sirkan let us know that Halo.fr has posted the fourth episode of "What the French" - a new collection of mishaps, bloopers, and wtf moments from French players. Just under 6 minutes. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:49:54 UTC) (permalink)

Out of Work Spartan, Episode 0
What do you do if you're a Spartan without a job? Well, you put together a resume, of course! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 16:46:06 UTC) (permalink)

Barrels O' Fun - A Halo 3 Trick Jumping Montage
The Bungie Blog has highlighted another trick jumping montage - this one from Jump Theory's KillerxJake. Lots of fun flying on Last Resort, Guardian, and Blackout. (Louis Wu 16:41:53 UTC) (permalink)

Lame or Game does Halo
Most Fridays, Hawty McBloggy, Hawty McBloggy puts up a Halo-related picture and asks fans to caption it. It looks like for the month of May, the website LameOrGame.com is doing this every day. (They've got a tool that lets you add your caption right to the pic, a la lolcats.) As Dennis Powers mentions, most of what's up there now is seriously LAME... but you can play their GAME and add your own. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:23:04 UTC) (permalink)

Facebook with Guns
If you're into social networking, there are plenty of choices these days - the Facebook Nation has more citizens than Brazil, Twitter lets you describe your activity in real time. These aren't really aimed at gamers, though. Even a site like Rooster Teeth (where I spend most of my social networking time), while oriented towards gamers, is more about bringing gamers together with shared interests (not necessarily related to games) than about providing gamers with a place to organize gaming. Enter The Hive Project. Built from the ground up by a bunch of long-time Halo fans (and Halo fansite veterans), this site is designed to give you, as a gamer, a way to hook up with other gamers. You can form groups that others can join - and since each group has its own private forum, The Hive Project can work as free clan hosting. Advertise your latest event, share your favorite photos, write up a blog post, interact with others just like you. They've just kicked off an Open Beta - swing by and sign up, and see what they've got to offer! (Louis Wu 15:18:44 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Hyrule
Kotaku's got news of a Halo CE map that recreates Hyrule, from the Zelda series. If you're jonesin' for a bit of nostalgia, check it out! Thanks to GrimBrother One for noticing. Update: Dennis Powers let us know that folks can download the beta map from Halomaps.org. (Louis Wu 12:31:51 UTC) (permalink)

I'd still buy a plushie...
ScrewAttack put together a list of the Top 10 Video Game Punks. (They didn't actually call them 'punks', actually, but we'll let you watch it for yourself.) Our favorite methane-breathing Covenant minion makes the list. Probably not safe for work, for language. Thanks, MffnMn. (Louis Wu 12:31:04 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Fails Episode 18
Chris10023 let us know that Halo 3 Fails Episode 18 is now up - it's sort of fun trying to guess the name of the fails. (I liked 'Dodge the Corpse Fail'.) Three and a half minutes of things not to do in Halo... (Louis Wu 12:30:24 UTC) (permalink)

Gaming Ink: Halo Edition
Binge Gamer has posted an article about Halo tattoos - some we've seen before, some are new. Interesting collection! (Louis Wu 12:29:58 UTC) (permalink)

Cool Websites About Games
Smashing Magazine did a survey last summer of game site web design - and the Halo Believe site is used as a prime example of the 'Flash Interactive Site'. The whole thing is a pretty good read, if you're interested in stuff like this! Thanks, RingWorld07. (Louis Wu 12:28:03 UTC) (permalink)

News May 4 2009

The Execution
urk pointed out 'The Execution', a Halo 3 machinima based on the short story 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'. Filming's good, story's nicely put together. Go watch it on YouTube! (Louis Wu 22:10:40 UTC) (permalink)

Stories you shouldn't believe
Cracked.com put together a collection of fake news stories that fooled the media - number 7 on the list is the 13 year old kid who hired hookers to play Halo with him. (We posted it, without checking, back in May 2008.) Some of the other stories are hilarious. Thanks to Alekat for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:57:42 UTC) (permalink)

Better question: where did her clothes come from?
Looseneck wrote to point out a relatively new Coca Cola Zero ad - the extraction team is carrying weapons that look distinctly Halo-like. (You can see a shot here.) Hmm... Update: image link fixed. (Louis Wu 19:30:10 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Laser
The latest Tag and Release feature that Bungie's put together looks at shots marked with the term 'Laser'. And dang they found some pretty ones! Go look for yourself, and see if you can find others that are better. (Louis Wu 19:20:48 UTC) (permalink)

1000 runs in less than a week
HaloCharts received a boatload of submissions for their most recent Campaign Challenge - swing by Bungie.net for all the numbers. Don't stop killing Covenant! (Louis Wu 19:17:21 UTC) (permalink)

Casting Halo
Hawty McBloggy let us know that there's a new discussion going on her website, courtesy of RandomSauce - they want to know who you'd cast in the Halo movie, if it ever gets made. (This sort of discussion has happened in many places around the net already - including our own forum, more than once - but the presentation here is nice, and we've got more data now than we had the last time this came around.) Go contribute! (Louis Wu 15:00:41 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Only a couple of new comics that we know of - Bloogyo released Rat's Nest Episode 12 1, and TTL Demag0gue is back with Reclaimer 181 (Sideways Retreat). If you missed the last couple of Reclaimer Guest strips, Episode 7 is here (from HolyJunkie), and Episode 8 is here (a second from xSOB a DooBy). In comic-RELATED news, it seems that Reclaimer has been used in a Graphic Novel course at Temple University. Neat! (Louis Wu 14:59:52 UTC) (permalink)

Intergalactic Balloons
nomis78 put together a video from Halo 3 cutscenes and Nena's '99 Red Balloons' - it works surprisingly well. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:57:36 UTC) (permalink)

Taunting Kills in Waverly Hills
Duncan was the first to notice that in last night's episode of The Simpsons, Homer was playing Halo... and teabagging his opponent. You can watch it for yourself at Hulu.com. (Mirel grabbed a few screens, as well.) (Louis Wu 14:52:04 UTC) (permalink)

News May 3 2009

Teaching an old dog new tricks
It's amazing what's still being done with the Halo CE engine... The Custom Mapping Team is working on adding vehicle boarding to their SPV2 mod, and have released a preview movie showing off some cool Banshee boarding. Check it out! Thanks, AvatarAang. (Louis Wu 23:02:13 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' the Chief S3E11: Company (Part Two)
There's a new Arby 'n' the Chief up at YouTube - thanks, urk. Arbiter gets tired of being bossed around... (Louis Wu 21:07:51 UTC) (permalink)

ASE Episode 7: The Ark, Part 1
I guess it's Halo Day in Narc's house - Anger, Sadness, & Envy (the irregularly-produced Rampancy.net-based podcast) has a new episode out, this one focused on The Ark. 45 minutes long, 40 mb. Go listen! (Louis Wu 18:59:46 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Partnership - a Guide in the Making
Narcogen looks to be interested in starting a guide to partner-based multiplay; if this doesn't mean anything to you, go read the Rough Draft of the idea at Rampancy.net. Update: Narcogen pointed out that this came from Lemon Demon 72's blog, not his own. My mistake! (Louis Wu 18:48:54 UTC) (permalink)

Where is Master Chief?
Suicidal Stickman sent along 'Where is Master Chief', a 4.5 mb Flash game he built with PrimeGhost548 that asks you to find MC on 15 screenshots. It's a pretty basic game (you just have to find him, there are no time limits, or even time milestones), but if you've got a few minutes to kill, give it a shot! (We've left it as a bare .swf file, so that it fills your entire browser; putting into a fixed-size box just means it's harder to play.) (Louis Wu 18:25:43 UTC) (permalink)

Now THAT'S Mythic - Winner Picked
The "Now THAT'S Mythic" submission period came to a close last night - and Domino picked a winner from the 577 names we in the hat. (That's a MUCH lower number than the last few go-rounds - I'm wondering if this is due to the fact that we only had submissions open for a couple of days, or if it's just because nobody needs free maps any more?) Congratulations to ThebigBhimself - free stuff is awesome! And, as always, thanks to Domino Theory for providing the resources to fund these giveaways! (Louis Wu 10:35:13 UTC) (permalink)

G.I. Joe suits have a MJOLNIR feel
zofinda noticed similarities between the Spartan MJOLNIR armor in Halo... and the Delta Six Accelerator suits worn by the G.I. Joe crew in the new Rise of Cobra movie coming this summer. See if you agree! (Best shots I could find were here and here.) (Louis Wu 10:32:14 UTC) (permalink)

Lost Levels: Episode 6: Otherwordly Trials
Slim30 stopped in with word of Lost Levels Episode 6 - this mashup of Dead Space, Halo 3, and live footage is an interesting piece of work. Nearly 10 minutes long. (Louis Wu 10:26:34 UTC) (permalink)

News May 2 2009

Go Go Gadget Warthog!
Hehe - very cool. BootStrap Boon created a warthog animation for his first year Animation class at Uni - I'd give him top marks! (Louis Wu 20:42:03 UTC) (permalink)

Top 10 Series Episode 30: Mythic Kills
Anoj is back with Episode 30 of his Top 10 Series - this one focuses on Mythic Kills. It starts slow, but the last few are great! Thanks to urk for the heads-up on this fine Saturday. (Louis Wu 18:40:11 UTC) (permalink)

Panorama Bonanza
radiant penguin stopped in with a bunch of new panoramas - great work! Check 'em. (Louis Wu 12:17:58 UTC) (permalink)

News May 1 2009

Of quilts and cow teats
The Bungie Weekly Update went up a bit early today - it's not too earthshaking, but has a few interesting bits, including some LIVE boasting, a behind-the-scenes look at playtesting, and a cool Recon armor contest for the weekend. Go read! (As always, it is also available in our Weekly Update Archive.) Jordan117 gets either kudos or a kick in the pants for this. (Louis Wu 23:31:12 UTC) (permalink)

Quick - Pick It Up!
Heh - Hawty McBloggy stumbled across a photograph of a shadow that made her think that maybe she plays too much Halo... (Louis Wu 20:05:13 UTC) (permalink)

Aesthetic Artist Interviews, Week Four
The next installment of jdars' Aesthetic Artist Interviews is now online - he talks to jEEborz, a guy with some serious screenshot skillz. Check out the interview - and the pics! (Louis Wu 17:50:09 UTC) (permalink)

Morpheus' 'I Still Call It Recon' Challenge
Morpheus is running a rather odd contest - submit the slowest overall time on Halo 3 (all solo levels, combined), win a copy of ODST. There are plenty of rules to keep you from parking your character in a corner and leaving your Xbox alone for a week... go read 'em all. (I do NOT envy the guy having to judge the entries...) (Louis Wu 17:43:02 UTC) (permalink)

Racing and Flobots
New movies (and stuff) are up for you now at the Bungie Blog. HaloTracks' denizen 'kiler200o' has released Final Effort; there are links to a video and the map itself in the blog post. And xkevlarpro whipped up a montage that tells a story, called 'Halo 3 Handlebars'. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 17:38:11 UTC) (permalink)

TPT: How to Suck Less at Halo Vol.2 - Banshee
jake108 sent along a link to Geekscape's latest Teabag Prevention article - this one covers the Banshee. Read it, suck less! (Louis Wu 15:36:02 UTC) (permalink)

More like Artificial Stupidity, amirite?
There's a fascinating article over at AiGameDev.com - it looks at AI bugs from various games that have been caught on film by players and uploaded to YouTube. In most cases, it provides general outlines of how the developer might fix the bug. Halo's Swimming Grunt comes in at #12, and a funky driving glitch in Halo 3 comes in at #16. Go read! Thanks, Devin. (Louis Wu 15:17:43 UTC) (permalink)

Sarkathlon 3 Update: Pretty Armor, Too
A quick update from Mr Sark, regarding his Sarkathlon 3, running now over at G4TV's X-Play - looks like the top two finishers will also earn Recon armor. Nice! (Louis Wu 14:22:04 UTC) (permalink)

Director Dialogues - CMNeir
It's a little bit late, but last night RandomSauce sent along the second of his 'Director Dialogues' interviews - this one is with CMNeir, the man behind the Halo 3 Tricks videos. (We most recently mentioned him for his 'Earth' video, showing off cool Halo 3 landscapes right here at home.) Go read about what inspires him, and what he's got to offer to upcoming machinima artists! (Louis Wu 10:47:38 UTC) (permalink)

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!
Friday Caption Fun is up to Round 45 over at Hawty McBloggy's. A recounting of some of the best captions from last week, and a new cool screenshot to play with... grab your coffee, put on your Fun cap, and get to captioning! (Louis Wu 10:46:10 UTC) (permalink)

See You On The Battlefield
Yesterday, urk posted notice of a new film on the Bungie Blog - it's from a group called Black Water Ops, and it's pretty amazing. It might just have some of the best Halo machinima cinematography I've ever seen. Go watch it, in HD (there are a couple of YouTube HD links)... and then check out the group that made it. urk's made it easy for you. (Louis Wu 10:40:27 UTC) (permalink)

Breaking In - Seth Gibson
Yesterday was Thursday - so Bungie posted a new Breaking In story. This week, it's Seth Gibson, Technical Artist. His path to Bungie took many twists and turns, and if you're looking to get a job where he has a job, you could do worse than read about his travels! (Louis Wu 10:38:19 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Seven new pieces are up in the Fan Fiction section this week - nice number! (Louis Wu 10:37:21 UTC) (permalink)

IGN Grudge Match: Killzone 2 vs. Halo 3
Lord Osiris brought us news of a new Grudge Match from IGN - Killzone 2 vs Halo 3. It's currently available for Insiders only, but apparently will be up for the masses at some point. Which one do they like better? No clue - I let my Insider access lapse. (Louis Wu 10:32:32 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
A summary of the Halo comics that have been released since Wednesday:

• The Catfish posted 2501 - Episode 47 ('The Other Side'), and told urk about it
• The Guest articles at ReclaimerComic.com continue - Yesterday saw a strip from stealth (thanks, TBB), and today has a new one from xSoB a Dooby. I hope TTL Demag0gue doesn't feel obligated to expand Reclaimer canon to incorporate these fully... things might get confusing!
• Elnea continues building suspense in the latest Halo Action Figure Theater storyline - Episode 174 ('M.I.A.') brings a year-old prophecy back around, and makes me wonder just how much of this stuff she's got mapped out ahead of time...
• Adam Susskind wrote a book over at Bungie.net, explaining how Chaos Theory Episode 21 ('No Smoking Bullets') is live, and how the series as a whole is coming to a close.
• Bloogyo stopped in to announce Rat's Nest Episode 11 6, and some upcoming improvements to the site.

That should do it for the week! (Louis Wu 10:31:16 UTC) (permalink)

Apathy Trailer
Z wrote to point out the Apathy Trailer, a teaser for an upcoming montage from PretadoR. Timing is really, really good, and the effects are pretty nice! Available in YouTube HD, or downloadable from FileFront. It's just over a minute long. (Louis Wu 10:30:40 UTC) (permalink)

May 2009

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