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 | November 2001 |  |
November 2001 Archived News
News November 30 2001
Good and Evil...
Deimos™, from Subnova, dropped us a line to point out a new desktop he'd created - snag it from our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 20:42:55 UTC) (permalink)
GameZilla and ED review Halo
A review we missed - at Gamezilla - is long, thoughtfully written, and very positive. There's some disappointment for the features lost in the move to the Xbox... but these aren't enough to downgrade the game:
A few poor elements hold it back from being the best it could be, like the overall lack of many story elements that were hyped during its creation. Also, it does seem as if a few elements have been purposefully left out, either from lack of development time, or holding them back for a PC and Mac release. Still, these items are more annoyances than anything and most certainly don?t keep it from being an amazing title. In the end, there?s really only one sentence of this review that you need to read to understand my point.
If you have an Xbox, purchase Halo.
The overall score was 97/100. Another review - at Entertainment Depot - was less positive; Halo got an Editor's Choice award, and was described as a 'thoroughly enjoyable title'... but some of the later levels soured the single-player experience for the reviewer in their repetitiveness and overwhelming 'shoot everything that moves' feeling. There seems to be a typo somewhere in the rating system; in one place, the game is given a 7/10 overall (while being described as a 'damn fine game'), but in another section it's given an 8.5 and and 'Excellent' - far more consistent with the subscore breakdowns. We'll assume the 7/10 is wrong. Both of these have been added to our Reviews page. (Thanks to Blue's News for the heads-up.) Update: Ryan N., from Entertainment Depot, confirms that the 7 was a typo - it's been corrected. (Louis Wu 17:00:14 UTC) (permalink)
Ambient life would have helped
Thanks to Chris Butcher, who posted a note on our forum clearing up a bit about the ambient life (and its omission in the shipping game):
the ambient life was an important key to understanding the purpose of halo... unfortunately we didn't have time to implement all the AI and animation for them, so there are certain plot points that just don't hang together well enough. oh well.
The more we hear, the more we realize the Halo story is deeper than it looks... (Louis Wu 16:33:55 UTC) (permalink)
New Wallpaper
Strider has created a new desktop image for our Wallpaper collection - go take a look. Them Bungie boyz sure know how to take screenshots... (Louis Wu 16:17:11 UTC) (permalink)
VideoGameGal reviews Halo
VideoGameGal has reviewed Halo - their review is bundled in a streaming video with a review for DOA3 (the total length is 11 and a half minutes, Halo starts about 4 minutes in). They gave it an 8.5; The breakdown was Graphics, 9/10 (human character models could use work); Sound, 8/10 (it seems they didn't like the 'heavy metal' bits of the soundtrack - their words); Controls, 8/10 ("almost as good as a keyboard and mouse"), and Replay 8/10 ("Deathmatch is so-so"). Go check it out on their site - we've added the listing to our Reviews page. (Louis Wu 13:56:10 UTC) (permalink)
News November 29 2001
Edge gives Halo a 10
Thanks to Griffon, who pointed out that there's a Halo review in the latest issue of Edge magazine - they rated it 10/10, a score shared by only three other games in the 104-issue history of the magazine. Not too shabby! (Louis Wu 20:17:47 UTC) (permalink)
Detail rundown at Xbox365
Xbox365 ranks vehicles, weapons, and baddies in Halo (in lieu of a review) - don't read the baddies list if you're paranoid about spoilers, but mostly it's safe. The headline sums up their attitude about Halo: 'I Lost A Week To A Starship Trooper'. Nice! (Thanks to Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, for uncovering this. (Louis Wu 10:08:04 UTC) (permalink)
Invisible Dream reviews Halo
Invisible Dream has put up their own Halo review - they loved the single-player game, though were a little disappointed with the number of weapons and the frequency and use of vehicles, but are skeptical about multiplay; their overall rating was 92/100. We've added this to our Reviews page. (Louis Wu 10:01:06 UTC) (permalink)
Coalition of the Ring forms
Relaten Psitir writes to point out that a new Halo clan is on the scene - the Coalition of the Ring. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 09:55:02 UTC) (permalink)
New Wallpaper arrives
[SE]X-Com, of Socket Error, has sent in another desktop for our Wallpaper collection. (Louis Wu 09:49:51 UTC) (permalink)
Joe Staten on gamestate
Joseph Staten, Halo's Cinematics Director, wrote to clarify one of my biggest gripes about Halo - the lack of saved gamestate in cutscenes. It turns out that gamestate (what the game looks like, around you) IS saved... in almost all cases. The few exceptions happen to be the few I noticed. (Figures, dunnit?) From the horse's mouth:
The gamestate right before the cutscene begins almost always remains unchanged (with respect to dead bodies, dropped weapons, decals, etc.) for the duration of the cutscene. In some instances we chose to purge scenes of "garbage" (dead bodies, et al) in order to solve performance issues, but I'd say this occurs in maybe 5% of Halo's cinematics.
The only consistent gamestate "error" during the cinemas is the fact the "Cinematic Chief" only shows up with the assault rifle rather than whatever the Player is carrying. Unfortunately, it would have taken some special code and scripting to rectify this error, and other things were more important--like making our ship date :')
This information (and Marty's information yesterday concerning sound quality on stereo TVs) have been added as footnotes to HBO's Halo review, so that people can see Bungie's response to our concerns. (Louis Wu 02:20:42 UTC) (permalink)
News November 28 2001
Story conjecture...
FriendlyFire writes about some of the issues brought up in our recent Halo Review, specifically the storyline. I'm going to break with tradition, and quote a boatload of his note, because it's pretty intriguing stuff:
[...] some dialog in the game makes me think that the Master Chief's appearance on Halo is beyond coincidence. I'm refering to comments by 343 GS in more than one location in the game. Once you return to the control room with the Index [sounds an awful lot like Codex doesn't it ;)] and Cortana reveals to you the true purpose of Halo, 343 says something odd. I can't remember the exact phrasing off-hand but he said something along the lines of, "Well of course that's the purpose of Halo...But you already knew that...I mean, how couldn't you?" At this point the camera zooms in for affect installing a sense that there's someting peculiar about his comment. He also says something about "the last time you were here" but we're fairly certain the Chief has never been to Halo before.
Furthermore, in the last level of the game, on-board the Pillar of Autumn, when you're running around the engine room trying to trigger a Fusion explosion, 343 keeps referring to you as "Reclaimer". He also mentions something along the lines of, "this is not the plan".
This lead me to two possible conclusions:
- 343 is mistaking you for someone - or something - else.
- You are in fact who 343 thinks you are.
If 2 is true, then how is this possible? How could you be part of a plan for a ring construct which you've never been to before and never even heard of? One possibility comes to mind but it is, of course, only conjecture: perhaps we're dealing with a Time Paradox. Perhaps at some point in the Chief's future, he enters 343 GS's past. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Of course, it's just as likely that 343 is mistaking you for someone else but that raises other questions: How could he mistake you for someone else? I think he knows you're human. Also, if he is mistaking you for someone or something else, who or what is he mistaking you for? A Forerunner, perhaps? Questions, questions and more questions....
Good stuff... comments are always welcome. Once again, it looks like it's time for a Halo Story section (either forum or moderated pages)... (Louis Wu 16:52:36 UTC) (permalink)
PA gets tired of Halo
Heh - the boys of Penny Arcade seem to be over their infatuation with Halo; today's comic (and indeed the news) suggest that they never want to see it again:
I've heard people say it's too short. That's a hard case to argue - in fact, quite the opposite is true. This is a game that feels as though it was unduly lengthened by committee, affixed to some perverse device, warped and stretched to near infinity. I'd put forth that a game is only too short when you still want to play it by the end. [slight spoiler snipped - go read it at PA] I've never actually groaned before when a game's protagonist implies there will be a sequel. That's something I can't say anymore.
Thanks to R.net, for catching this one first. (Louis Wu 16:42:37 UTC) (permalink)
See the sea...
Razorback sends in another nice drawing - useable as wallpaper, or just to look at. We've added it to our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 15:55:34 UTC) (permalink)
Tamte on Mac Halo
Spanish Macintosh site Macuarium has posted an interview with Peter Tamte that talks about Macintosh gaming, his company Destineer and Bungie.
I've been to Bungie's new studios inside Microsoft. They're filled with Macs. And, they're also filled with people who love the Macintosh. Please be assured that Microsoft and Bungie plan to bring Halo to the Macintosh. They love the Mac just as much today as they did before being acquired by Microsoft.
It's short but a nice read. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 10:14:05 UTC) (permalink)
New Fiction to read
"This is most likely your last chance to get out of this alive," said Kent in a commanding voice. Edwin didn't respond; he just continued to sit against the wall, staring wildly around the room, and whimpering between his rapid breathing.
Our first Fan Fiction submission in two weeks, Aragorn819's Prologue to 'The Sceptre' is now available in our Fan Fiction section. Check it out! (Louis Wu 03:32:18 UTC) (permalink)
New T&R content and JJ interview, coming up!
Hot on the heels of an accusation that Bungie doesn't care about its fans, the Online Team has updated the Tru7h and Reconciliation site. New concept art (don't look if you're anal about spoilers), a new section of the multiplayer guide (vehicles), with three GORGEOUS new screens (you'll find 'em in our Screenshot database, as well), and maybe most interesting of all - information about a fan-conducted interview with Jason Jones.
Here's how it will work. Think up a question for Jason (no huge lists, please) and send it to haloqna@microsoft.com. We'll accept submissions for the rest of this week, then pick the best ones and hand them to Jason. We'll return with his answers next week.
If all goes well this may be the start of a semi-regular feature wherein you can ask questions of a variety of people from the Halo team. So think up a good question and ask away!
Remember - this guy doesn't talk much... so this is a huge opportunity! (Thanks to Vector40, who pointed out how slow we're being on reporting this.) (Louis Wu 03:15:27 UTC) (permalink)
Hearing Cortana on a stereo TV
Sometimes, if you're polite enough, you can get people to correct mistakes you make instead of just telling you what an idiot you are. (Or maybe they call you an idiot when you're not around, then correct the mistake for you - I'm not sure.) In any case, Marty O'Donnell, stung by my unfair appraisal of Halo's audio in the review I posted recently, wrote to correct some misconceptions.
I have heard the problem you are describing and it is due to the way some people have their TV audio setup. Some TVs have weird faux surround or enhanced stereo settings and that can change the mix on Halo.
I'd complained specifically that Cortana's speaking parts seemed to come directly from the central speaker, and so were lost in a stereo setup - not so, says Marty:
As a matter of fact, Cortana's dialog is specifically split equally left and right.
How to fix this?
The Xbox needs to be set on "stereo" and the TV should be set on normal stereo not surround or enhanced or anything else like that. No one should be missing any of the dialog.
So there you have it - make sure both your TV and the Xbox are set to standard 'Stereo' sound if you don't have a surround sound setup. (The Xbox sound controls are only accessible if there's no DVD in the drive, so dump that Halo disc.) Thanks for the information, Marty! (Louis Wu 02:45:29 UTC) (permalink)
News November 27 2001
HBO reviews Halo
Took a bit longer than most, but HBO has finally put up its own review of Halo. A side benefit of the spoiler system we implemented a couple of weeks ago - we were able to get a bit more deeply into the game than many reviews, for those willing to read spoilers. The default behavior (just as in the news) is no spoilers - you get the review, but all spoiler bits are left out. If, however, you've turned spoilers on, you'll see some specific examples of certain points along the way; hopefully, our arguments are strong enough to stand without these specific examples, but they'll make the case better if you do see them. Enough blathering - go read the review. (We've added the link to our Reviews page, as well.) (Louis Wu 20:23:42 UTC) (permalink)
GameKult reviews Halo
genohunter writes to point out that GameKult, the French gaming site, has put up a large halo review (they liked it, except for the lack of bots), and a ridiculous number of screenshots from the first couple of levels.
"Halo is a majestic title that you must own if you plan to buy an Xbox."
Overall rating was a 9/10. We've added it to our Reviews page. (Louis Wu 19:50:40 UTC) (permalink)
More internet options for Halo
For those who feel that setting up routing boxes to run the Xbox Gateway software is a bit too daunting, GameSpy has just released GameSpy Tunnel, which allows you to play Xbox System Link games over the internet, using the GameSpy Arcade service. Upsides:
- The necessary software runs on a PC
- Switches are supported as well as hubs (XBoxGW requires a hub, or a direct connection between the linux box and the Xbox)
- You also get access to all the other games Arcade supports
Downside - Arcade costs $20 (one-time fee). If the upsides overwhelm the downsides for you... go grab the Tunnel software! (Thanks to PyromanFO and Cesar Berardini of TeamXbox for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 16:23:44 UTC) (permalink)
The GIA wants to hear from YOU
Nijhazer points out that The Gaming Intelligence Agency is soliciting hands-on opinions of Halo - the catch is they need to be in in the next 12 hours or so. If you've got something to say about Halo, mail it to agent@thegia.com soon! (Louis Wu 14:44:07 UTC) (permalink)
VE talks to Matt Soell
Robert 'Apache' Howarth, of VoodooExtreme, has interviewed Matt Soell... and a good interview it is, too. Matt holds forth on subjects as diverse as nasty critics and console controllers - and speaks a little to some of the complaints we've heard voiced recently:
Looking back on Halo?s development, quite a few weapons didn?t make it into the Xbox build. What other features were either cut out or stripped down to stream line the game?
We always have a ton of ideas that don't make it in for one reason or another. Vehicles, weapons, multiplayer game ideas, maps...for every element in Halo that was polished enough to ship in the final game, there are a dozen things that didn't make the cut. We are lucky in that we have artists and programmers and designers with a surfeit of ideas.
Go read the rest of it! (Louis Wu 14:39:53 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's Strategy Guide now complete
The final three chapters have been added to IGN's Halo Strategy Guide - the only thing missing (and it's going to stay missing) is the extra ending you get for beating the game on Legendary. If you're stuck, this is the place to go! (Louis Wu 03:01:51 UTC) (permalink)
More pics from the Launch Party
HBO's own Count Zero just submitted a passel of pictures to the Launch Party Coverage section - a couple of dozen shots from the party itself, and another few from an independent Halo event at the University of Illinois. You'll find them on the Launch Party Pictures Page. Now we know what Mordia looks like after being shorn... (Louis Wu 01:16:41 UTC) (permalink)
News November 26 2001
Someone has to do it...
Thanks to bloodbeard [iG3], for pointing out a new MacHall comic at Inside Mac Games... poor Matt! (And where's his beard, anyway?) (Louis Wu 20:10:24 UTC) (permalink)
Second Xboxweb review
And the reviews continue... XboxWeb has put up a SECOND review - the breakdown was slightly different, but the final result (9.8) was the same. WARNING: There are major spoilers in the accompanying screen captures. We've added the shots to our database... but there's a spoiler warning on them. (Louis Wu 19:40:03 UTC) (permalink)
Taking M one step too far
Interesting... the Official Halo website at microsoft.com now has a warning page - you must state that you're over 17 simply to read the content on the (flash) site. Seems that this might be a little overboard - there's no violent content or swearwords on the site itself... (Louis Wu 18:29:14 UTC) (permalink)
Reviews roundup
Some older reviews have turned up - thanks to the news archive at Blue's News for these. Game Revolution looked at Halo a couple of weeks ago - they gave it an A. GamesFirst was not as impressed - Halo got 4 out of 5 stars (though the reviewer said it was a solid title - he was unhappy with the paucity of weapons, the lack of bots, and the lack of flexibility in gameplay). Game Nation liked it a lot, and gave it a 96/100. And finally, Gamesmania reprinted the review seen on the Electric Playground. All of these have been added to our Reviews page, and the new screens with the Gaming Nation review have been added to our Screenshots database. (Louis Wu 18:15:11 UTC) (permalink)
Gamers Pulse reviews Halo
Gamers Pulse has reviewed Halo - the review is very positive; the downsides were the darkness on some later levels and the lack of replay value in the single player game. (Obviously, the reviewer didn't see the value in repeating at higher difficulty levels...) Thanks to Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, for noticing this. We've added it to our Reviews page. (Louis Wu 16:52:52 UTC) (permalink)
Strip that ring!
Marcus Hellqvist sends us a new Halo desktop, with the ring acting as a negative strip. Check it out in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 16:35:31 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 14 day stats posted
Dink!... The Halo SETI Marines, neglected last week, have fallen another notch to 54th in the Battle of the Teams... and due to some sort of reset, the 3000+ units the team crunched since November 12 didn't show up at all on the SETI servers. Ouch! See how YOUR crunching is going on the 14 day stats page. (Louis Wu 15:39:47 UTC) (permalink)
Hi-res Joypad Covers
For those who wanted to see a larger shot of the blue cyborg on the French magazine Joypad's cover, Draikin has posted links to three higher-res versions (one of which is ridiculously hi-res). Perfect for extraction to make Wallpapers! Thanks, Draikin (and Bishop)! (Louis Wu 14:06:58 UTC) (permalink)
Reader reviews at GameFAQs
Poking around at GameFAQs, I ran across a section of Halo Reader Reviews. They range from 4/10 (from someone who seems to have played a different game than I did) to 10/10. Some laughs in here. (Louis Wu 00:41:24 UTC) (permalink)
Halo FAQ/Walkthrough available
Thanks to Erick Delgado, who pointed out a new Halo FAQ/Walkthrough (only the first two levels are up in the walkthrough so far) at CheatCC.com. It's also available at GameFAQs. Some of the info is a little shaky... but it's being worked on. (Louis Wu 00:36:39 UTC) (permalink)
News November 25 2001
Impressions from the Xperience
fAt1, of MPZ Halo, got a chance to play some Halo at the Xbox Xperience sneak preview tour in London, and has written up his impressions. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 20:35:34 UTC) (permalink)
Where'd that file go?
Praetor has sent in a new desktop - you'll find it in our Wallpaper section. A lot going on there... (Louis Wu 14:59:26 UTC) (permalink)
News November 24 2001
Fan art inspired by Halo
Omniscient, a frequent submitter to our Fan Fiction archive, has dropped off a piece of fan art - he says that "though the setting and the weapon in his hand are really not related to Halo at all, this art was never the less inspired by the game." You'll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 04:09:36 UTC) (permalink)
Two more reviews for Halo
TeamXbox ran across another couple of reviews we missed today (too much Halo playing while trying to digest yesterday's turkey... makes us lazy) - The Electric Playground loved the controls, whined about lack of bots and repetitive architecture, and gave it an 89, while XboxWeb loved it to death, and gave it a 9.8. Both of these have been added to our Reviews page (which, incidentally, has been added to the navbar - thanks, Nij). (Louis Wu 03:53:24 UTC) (permalink)
News November 23 2001
Halo en France
Djoey.154 writes to point out that a French magazine called 'Joypad' has put Halo on the cover this month. They call Halo 'the most beautiful FPS in the world'... Gotta love that blue marine. (Louis Wu 17:25:52 UTC) (permalink)
Online MP Halo is here
The work on getting Halo to play online has been fast and furious over the past few days. We've watched it carefully, but have held off reporting much until solid progress was made... that time is now. A new program called Xbox Gateway has been written to route Xbox packets over the internet... people have successfully played 1-on-1 multiplayer games from two different places! The program is free, and will soon be open-source. It currently has limitations (more than two players introduces unacceptable lag (although one of our forum visitors reports an acceptable 4-player game), and each player must have a linux box available for use on the local network for routing packets)... but past that, the work's been done for you. Visit XBoxGW.com and download the software, and instructions on how to use it... and you should be on your way! (Thanks to Freewill for keeping a beady eye on the entire process for us.) (Louis Wu 14:44:47 UTC) (permalink)
New Logo uploaded
Lothster sends in a new rendition of the Halo logo - psychadelic! You'll find it in our Logos section. (Louis Wu 14:34:41 UTC) (permalink)
Two more Halo reviews surface
Two new reviews have popped up recently - Cloudchaser Microsoft thought Halo was simply Perfect Dark, repackaged, and gave it a 9.0... Core Magazine loved it, but felt that the lack of bots were a hindrance, and gave it an A. We've added both of these to our Reviews page. (Thanks to VeeoftheMiB@aol.com and R.net for the heads-ups.) (Louis Wu 14:14:21 UTC) (permalink)
News November 22 2001
AV reviews Halo
Charles D. Clifford told us that The Adrenaline Vault has put up their Halo Review (and 9 new screens) - they loved it. They obviously didn't read The Fall of Reach (it's becoming clear how much of the backstory was buried in that book), but it didn't stop them from seriously enjoying the game.
In the later sections, the single player experience actually feels less entertaining than pairing up with a buddy to fight back the hordes of enemies, and I have a seven hour, five AM finishing, side-by-side stretch of gaming to back me up in that assertion.
(That's, what... MTB = 300?) Go read it. (We've added it to our Reviews page, and the screens to our Screenshots database.) (Louis Wu 11:23:52 UTC) (permalink)
MPB - the new standard
Forensic proposes a new rating scale to replace the (in Halo's case inapplicable) StC ('Start to Crate') system for rating shooters: MPB ('Minutes Past Bedtime'):
You measure how long you stayed up past midnight playing, despite having to go to class or work the next day, and you've got your rating. In this case, Halo earns a respectable score of 120.
A few days ago here, Halo earned a 220... (Louis Wu 10:41:11 UTC) (permalink)
Sounds like EGM liked it
op_ivy noticed a Yahoo story on Xbox sales that contains this line:
Word-of-mouth recommendations and stellar reviews are driving gamers to the great games available on Xbox, including "Halo," which earned the highest accolades from Electronic Gaming Monthly, securing a rating of 10 from all reviewers.
As soon as we can, we'll put the article up... (Louis Wu 10:34:13 UTC) (permalink)
CD screens added to db
Thanks to bullseye, for pointing out that two of the screens in this week's ConsoleDomain Halo Review hadn't yet been posted. They've now been added to the screenshots archive. (Louis Wu 00:58:48 UTC) (permalink)
Tidbits from the Aerie
Lorraine Reyes steps in to a discussion on the disappointments of Halo with some information about the physics model (Halo gravity is the same as Earth's) and a tidbit about the sniper rifle (there's no aim-assist, as the other weapons have), as well as some basic common sense about playing games. Sometimes, though, it's hard to decide if it's worth getting involved... (Louis Wu 00:41:13 UTC) (permalink)
News November 21 2001
Another level walkthrough posted
Another walkthrough page goes up... IGN has posted their walkthrough of The Library in their Halo Strategy Guide. Thanks to Aida-kun for pointing it out seconds before I could write this... :) (Louis Wu 21:59:12 UTC) (permalink)
What level got YOU the most?
Deco drops a note on our forum about the poetry in 343 Guilty Spark - and upon reflection, I'd have to agree with him that the hectic feel of the level was pervasive; I never felt like I got a break. (In fact, I got fatigued near the end; I really WANTED a breather. :) ) The Flood, though easy to kill, were used to their best advantage on this level - they showed up in tight corridors, they showed up in dark corners. Though there were more of them on the Library level, I felt as though the fear factor was higher on 343 Guilty Spark... and it seems Deco feels that way too. If you have a special level where you were most frightened, or in some other way impressed, add it to his thread! (Louis Wu 21:51:16 UTC) (permalink)
New wallpaper
Anthony Tilford dropped off a new desktop using some of the cool new concept art and screenshots at Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site. You'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 21:42:41 UTC) (permalink)
Happy Halo Xperience
NaliGun noticed a review at Blueyonder of the Xbox Xperience tour currently in the UK. While they hated the event itself, they loved Halo:
Even the poor LCD screens in Nutopia had difficulty disguising the sensational visuals.
Worth a read - gives props to Marty and the Sound team, as well! (Louis Wu 15:28:47 UTC) (permalink)
There's one born...
A couple of days ago, TeamXbox mentioned a rather absurd eBay auction - someone was auctioning off a PICTURE of an Xbox. The auction closed Monday, and the listing was gone yesterday - obviously some eBay rules were violated by selling a printout of a game console for roughly what the console itself should sell for... however, thanks to bungie.org's own Doughnut, we've been able to reproduce the listing here, for your own edification. All links have been removed - it's just a static page. It's here to show you why you should be careful and read EVERYTHING before you buy. (Louis Wu 15:15:37 UTC) (permalink)
Don't throw away that needler...
Skeletor had to crow this morning - he tells a fun gameplay story on our forum. No spoilers... but he did come up with something interesting. In many reviews, people have disparaged the Covenant Needler as a useless weapon... but Skeletor discovered an extremely valuable aspect to it; if you can keep the targeting reticule focused on a single victim, the needler can take down a fully-shielded Elite on Legendary in a single clip. Thanks, Skeletor! (Louis Wu 15:07:22 UTC) (permalink)
More Xbox names
The Xbox names just keep pouring in... Some people have noticed that the Seven Dwarves names show up as default player names, so it's not clear whether they're ALSO machine names, or if folks are just reading the wrong line. Also, in several cases, the box had already been renamed, so some of the names aren't original any more. For this reason, we'll probably stop taking submissions of names now, unless 1) you KNOW you're reading the correct line (it's ABOVE the picture of the Xbox, not below it), and 2) you haven't renamed your box. The existing list will not be shortened, but new, non-official names will not be added. (Louis Wu 15:02:35 UTC) (permalink)
News November 20 2001
More comparisons...
Heh - people see funny things. :) A month ago, we wondered whether Captain Keyes (as rendered in the game) might bear some resemblance to Joe Staten... now septimus prime, over on the Marathon's Story page forum, is wondering if the storyboard version of the Captain (visible on Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site) might not be modeled after the Story page founder, Hamish Sinclair, himself.
You be the judge. (Louis Wu 21:18:52 UTC) (permalink)
Sarge movie available
All right, you greenhorns, listen up! Bungie has made the introductory movie they showed at the fanfest (Sargeant Johnson introducing the crowd to Halo) covertly available on their Tru7h and Reconciliation site. (There's an article on the Launch Party - they mentioned the movie when it first went up. Recently, a link to the movie was added within the article.) Go grab it - it's pretty funny! (And 35 MB...) Thanks to Strider for the sharp eyes! (Louis Wu 17:35:28 UTC) (permalink)
IGNXbox Strategy Guide grows
Just a heads-up... another page has been added to IGN Xbox's Halo Strategy Guide; level 6 (343 Guilty Spark) has been made available. (Louis Wu 14:07:31 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox names?
At the request of The Shrike, we've begun a list of all Xbox names. (When being used in multiplayer games, each Xbox identifies itself with a whimsical name.) We're going to do our best to compile all of them - if you want to help, send in the name of your Xbox! (See the list for details on finding it.) (Louis Wu 13:55:33 UTC) (permalink)
Halo review at drunkgamers.com
drunkgamers.com have put up a Halo review. It's a pretty funny read...
While I can not recommend taking a Ghost head to head against a Scorpion I suggest you try at least once...if only to see how far your body flies when you explode.
They say they don't have a rating system, but if they did, they'd have given it a 9.5... thanks to Gustavo Sorola for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 10:36:06 UTC) (permalink)
Pushed too far...
Raymond Makowski drops off a newly-captioned screenshot... I think he's captured the feeling pretty well. You'll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 10:29:42 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Content, online fast!
Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site has been updated again - new screenshots, and Part 2 of the Multiplayer Guide. Check it out! (Screens will be up in our database shortly.) Update: 13 new shots have been added to our Screenshots section. (Louis Wu 00:54:10 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox Halo online? Not this week...
To all the people sending us links to other sites posting about the thread on the IGN boards concerning playing Xbox online - thanks, we know about it. We are also pretty sure that getting it to work is non-trivial - we chose not to post about it because at this stage, it's hype only. (And, in our opinion, unlikely to happen... at least not in any way useable by the vast majority of Xbox'ers.) Read this post by Bungie's Ferrex for a slightly more sobering viewpoint... (Louis Wu 00:51:37 UTC) (permalink)
News November 19 2001
ConsoleDomain gives Award of Excellence
Thanks to dyoung92 and Brad Peterson, who pointed out the same review (at different URLs) today. ConsoleDomain has put up their Halo Review... and it's a solid read. They keep the wild-eyed fanaticism to a minimum, and focus on the merits of the game. (They DO get a bit hyperbolic at times... but it seems well-thought-out hyperbole, at least.) The bullet list was amusing:
Pros:
- Everything
Cons:
- Red eyes
- Sleep depravation
- Nightmares of Elite troops sporting active camouflage
This is also available at CD's UK Mirror, and linked from their parent GamesDomain. We've added the US Mirror link to our Reviews page. (Louis Wu 21:26:20 UTC) (permalink)
News November 18 2001
Screenshots section overhauled
The time has come. Our Screenshots Collection passed 400 items recently, and that's just way too many images to nagivate (or maintain) by hand - so it's been completely overhauled. You should find it far easier to look through now. Comments are always welcome, though we may choose not to implement your suggestions. (We'll do our best to explain why not, if we can.) Enjoy! (Louis Wu 18:20:32 UTC) (permalink)
Camping... mmm
SonorousB sends in another MasterCard 'Priceless' parody - you'll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 16:16:03 UTC) (permalink)
GamePro reviews Halo
Thanks to NeXuS, who noticed a Halo review at GamePro. There's no date on it (nor any reference to a date in their news), so I've no idea when it was actually posted... we've dated it today on our Reviews page. It's positive - a few minor gripes (the 'Ewoks on helium' sound of the grunts, for example, and the 'fussy' handling of the vehicles), but for them, it's one of 2001's best games. (There are also 15 new, albeit small, screenshots.) (Louis Wu 15:42:03 UTC) (permalink)
GotY voting at Gamespy
Gamespy has started the fan voting on their Game of the Year 2001 Awards - you all know what to do in the Xbox category... thanks to Darkman for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 00:20:49 UTC) (permalink)
News November 17 2001
FunXbox says oh, yeah...
FunXbox has posted its full review of Halo - and it's simply overflowing with praise.
Imagine Half-Life, Tribes 2, and Goldeneye all mashed together, then multiply it by one thousand, and you still wouldn't have a game as captivating, exciting, intense and fun as Halo.
(That's how it STARTS.) Bottom line - they liked it. (We think.) Go read it for yourself. (We've added it to our Reviews page.) (Louis Wu 21:23:21 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Walkthrough at IGN
Good lord. One day after launch, and IGN Xbox already has a complete Halo walkthrough posted. Sheesh. I read through the page covering the first mission (which I'd completed on my own), and it's pretty nitty-gritty... if you're looking for an easy way out, you'll find it here. Don't come looking for respect when you're through, though... (You have to register with IGN to see this... unless you turn Javascript off.) Update: St. Killer noticed that the last 5 chapters of the walkthrough are not actually up yet... we'll keep an eye on 'em. (Louis Wu 04:45:50 UTC) (permalink)
T and R Wallpaper
Leave it to the Socket Error team to take first advantage of new shots... [SE]X-Com has made a new desktop image from Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site - you'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 04:20:22 UTC) (permalink)
News November 16 2001
Xbox Launch Guide at Core
Core Magazine has put up their Xbox Launch Guide - Halo gets a mention:
A refined and full-featured FPS engine combines with controls almost as useful as the PC standard keyboard and mouse combo to make Halo a likely candidate to be Game of the Launch.
Thanks to R.net for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:54:05 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie goes site crazy
As about 8 million of you noticed, all the new Bungie sites went live last night. (Don't ask me why MS is approving launches after 10 pm local time...) The 7th Column, the new gathering place for local fan clubs, is open and accepting new club applications. Truth and Reconciliation, Bungie's new official Halo site (with exclusive screenshots, concept art, storyboards, and more) woke up some time this morning. And the overall Bungie.net site is live again, as well. (The Myth Vault still needs a bit of tweaking.) Spend a little time looking around... (Louis Wu 12:50:39 UTC) (permalink)
Halo pre-review at tJY
Forum regular Vector40 has written a 'pre-review' of Halo for the Junkyard... it's worth a read. He's got a nice way of pointing out some of Halo's strengths:
It's difficult to appreciate fully until you see a car flipped ten feet into the air with a grenade explosion, or a weapon laying on the ground get shot and knocked askew, but the complex, interwoven physics engine allows a level of immersion that's truly rare.
Check it out. (Louis Wu 02:47:38 UTC) (permalink)
Spoiler Forum up at R.net
Rampancy.net has put up a forum devoted specifically to spoilers - if you're looking for a place to ask questions, or want to get the skinny on some Halo level or other... this is your place. Nobody's gonna jump on you for posting 'em there. (Louis Wu 02:46:40 UTC) (permalink)
News November 15 2001
GameSpot UK adds some Halo content
GameSpot UK has repackaged the preview GameSpot (US) published two weeks ago (UK spelling, a final paragraph acknowledging that it won't be available in the UK for quite some time), and added a subset of the huge collection of screens Gamespot US put up last week. I suppose if you space it out... (Louis Wu 19:24:56 UTC) (permalink)
Salon's selective
Salon looks at the Xbox launch... and sniffs its nose. It sees the entire console as uninspired, with Halo and Oddworld as the only standout games, but doesn't think they're enough:
In the console space, where the potential audience is in the tens of millions, the field is dominated by instantly identifiable, engaging personalities, intrinsically linked to their parent console. Nintendo has Mario; Sega, at the peak of its console dominance, had Sonic the Hedgehog. And for its own billion-dollar system, Microsoft leads off with ... a guy in a boxy outfit with a title for a name, his humanity masked off by a faceplate of tinted glass.
Come to think of it, for a Microsoft product, this is the perfect figurehead. It's also branding suicide.
We respectfully disagree. You can read the article for yourself... thanks to septimus for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 18:56:25 UTC) (permalink)
FiringSquad looks at Xbox (and Halo)
Thanks to fate, who noticed new Halo coverage (and media) in a FiringSquad article on the Xbox launch. (Halo's section is 2 pages long, starting on page 4.) Included is a passel of screens (20-someodd, mostly stuff you've seen before, but with occasional interesting variations) and a 20 MB DivX-encoded AVI (no spoilers). This isn't their official Halo review - they said that's coming. They have more framerate issues than any other coverage I've read. Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:05:15 UTC) (permalink)
Soell to the point
Markus Tacker noticed this image on the webcam last night... either Matt has decided that answering the 'is it REALLY coming to the PC?' question has gotten to be too much, and is contemplating a particularly messy suicide, or he's preparing mentally for a voice role in the hush-hush Phoenix project. Or maybe he just likes to play with long sharp objects. Whatever the tru7h turns out to be, one thing's for sure... this post blows any chance I had of bonus Bungie goodies. Update: mnemesis sends in a couple of webcam shots from the same general timeframe - the first shows Matt and Mordia dueling... and the second (the last of the three, chronologically) shows... well, shows a disturbing event in progress. Let's hope it ended peacefully! (Louis Wu 14:15:08 UTC) (permalink)
Free game guides at TXB
TeamXbox is giving away 10 Halo Game Guides, from Prima Games - head on over to register to win one. WARNING - the sample tips in the article contain spoilers. (Louis Wu 10:19:55 UTC) (permalink)
Halo at home... finally
Our forum is starting to see stories of folks and their first Xbox experiences with Halo in their own living room. Nij and The Shrike seem to be the first forum-ites to report back... and the news is good. (Louis Wu 10:14:21 UTC) (permalink)
Chicks dig stories
Over at Xbox.com, Jacqui Kramer writes about hardcore gaming from a female perspective... and she loved Halo:
Here we have everything a grrl could want: Beautiful, sweeping landscapes with the perfect tinge of weather. Why, Jane Austen could be writing about this place: "Forsooth, it is winter, and I am here to turn the sweet white snow crimson with alien blood." (Or whatever color alien blood is these days.)
The article's a funny read - check it out. (Thanks to Allenthar for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 09:58:25 UTC) (permalink)
Another Halo domain up for grabs
vladinn@msn.com lets us know that another Halo domain, halogame.com, is up for auction - starting bid is $500. Given that haloserver.com failed to sell for $61 last week, this seems rather steep... but hey - who are we to judge? (Louis Wu 01:39:56 UTC) (permalink)
Shadow animals?
Lophan points out a fun read - GamesFirst put up an article called 'Notes Scribbled in the Dark While Playing HALO'. That's exactly what it is... some of 'em are great.
Okay, this is silly. The Warthog should be able to climb this hill, but all it does is spin out. Oooh, pretty dirt clods.
Okay, that wasn't the best one, but I didn't want to ruin the ending for you. (Louis Wu 01:26:50 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Spartan
You want a piece of this? No7orious turns in a sketch he did in class in honor of (in his words) "Happy Halo's Eve!" Check it out in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 00:17:26 UTC) (permalink)
News November 14 2001
OXM goes to the UK.
People in the UK (and the rest of Europe, actually) should be glad to know that the UK website for the Official Xbox Magazine is now up at http://www.officialxboxmagazine.co.uk/, featuring Halo on the cover of its first issue. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 22:29:07 UTC) (permalink)
Protection from Spoilers
As you might notice, there is now a prominent flag at the top of this page (and all news-related pages at HBO). The setting you choose will decide whether you see news posts with spoiler-related information in them, or not. Read the 'Huh?' page for more details. And please - if you run into a problem, LET US KNOW, as soon as possible - the system hasn't been tested as much as I'd like, and I'd rather find the glitches BEFORE spoiler info begins to be posted. Thanks! (Louis Wu 20:34:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo commentary in article.
Thanks to Lophan who spotted an article on the Xbox at MSNBC that makes mention of Halo:
Halo, a first-person shooter in which players lead a squad of marines in a battle on an alien planet, still has some frame-rate problems. To read about the game online, you think the frame rate was a very slow 10 frames per second. Ê Ê Ê Ê
In truth, Halo generally stays at a constant 30 frames per second. Granted, this is not as fast as the 60 frames per second you see in some games, but it is well within an acceptable limit. Ê Ê Ê Ê
I noticed the frame rate drop a few times during a demo I saw last summer, but those problems have been fixed. Halo has enormous worlds and crossing certain junctures within those worlds used to trigger half-second load ups that looked mostly like hiccups but did not detract from gameplay. There were also times, when the game slowed because too much was happening on screen, such as firefights with multiple vehicles. But in its final form, these problems have been fixed.
Read the rest of the article here. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 20:18:34 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo Elite League makes a comeback.
genohunter informs us that The Halo Elite League returns after FTP problems and just in time for Halo's release tomorrow. You can reach them by going to http://www.halogame.fr.st or http://www.clanhell.fr.st. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 18:43:09 UTC) (permalink)
Another new Halo clip at Xbox.com
Harry "I just can't stop" Al-Shakarchi drops off ANOTHER link - this time to the latest issue of an ongoing column at Xbox.com - State of the Xbox. In issue 7, Jeff Henshaw looks at gameplay - and a new, 40 second Halo clip is included. No real spoilers - it's the beginning of the Silent Cartographer level, which has been seen everywhere since E3 - but footage is pretty good, and it's nice to see that when the player gets careless, the player dies. :) Take a look! Streaming WMV format - very high bandwidth. (Louis Wu 17:03:11 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Manual online
Harry "I'm your Halo man" Al-Shakarchi points out that the entire Halo Manual is now online (along with the rest of the launch title manuals), in PDF format. 1.5 MB, baby! (Louis Wu 16:34:49 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Halo Review open to the public
Thanks to Razorback, who noticed that the IGN Xbox Halo review is now open to non-Insiders. (Louis Wu 16:30:50 UTC) (permalink)
Meet Bungie Studios
Meet Bungie Studios - Harry Al-Shakarchi points out a news article on Xbox.com detailing the history and timeline of Bungie Studios. Mostly, it's a good read. (Sort of disturbing that Weekend Warrior gets more text than the Myth series or Oni... but hey, I didn't write it... and MS is probably looking at it from the standpoint of 'those aren't Bungie products ANY MORE'.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:25:40 UTC) (permalink)
Halo on Xbox.com gets a new look
Wow - Xbox.com's Halo site has gotten some major overhauling done! The full timeline is up, an overview of the MJOLNIR armor is up, the TV spot is up (asf format, but nice and big), and there's a new link for 'Forums'. (This is actually just a web interface to the Usenet newsgroup we mentioned last month... but it's a pretty interface, nonetheless.) Go look! Thanks to Chanan for the speedy heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:57:42 UTC) (permalink)
Matt Soell Interview at HomeLAN
Matt Soell gave HomeLAN an interview - it's a good read. The interview actually took place a few weeks ago (Xbox testing was still in progress), but the info is up-to-date. Matt talks about gameplay issues:
HomeLAN - What sorts of enemies will the player face in Halo?
Matt Soell - The Covenant is a collective of alien races; in Halo you'll meet the Covenant Elites, Grunts, Hunters, and Jackals. There are several variants among those, and then there are a few surprises.
And he tries to inject reality into some rumors:
HomeLAN - There has been some speculation that an upgrade for Halo may happen to give the game online play when Microsoft's Xbox online network goes live. Can you confirm this?
Matt Soell - No, I cannot. Adding online play to Halo would require more than a simple "upgrade."
Go read the rest for yourself. Thanks to fate for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 15:29:43 UTC) (permalink)
7th Column - still coming soon
As everyone and their brother have already noticed, The 7th Column has finished their countdown - but you STILL can't see what's inside.
Your browser is incompatible with this site. Please upgrade to Internet Explorer 7. A version of this site for earlier browsers will be made available shortly.
(No, there is no IE 7.) Give it another day... (Louis Wu 14:15:41 UTC) (permalink)
7 hours of Halo
Funky J posted a very nice 'Halo Impressions' piece on our forum this morning - 7 hours in his local Software Etc. (You'd think they'd have thrown him out...) Kudos to Rampancy.net for posting this before us... not that we COULD have posted it, of course - the dang site's been down for the past 8 hours. It's back up again, obviously. (Louis Wu 14:11:27 UTC) (permalink)
They're all dead, Jim.
It's the end of an era... the Hermes Trismegistus saga has come to a finale. Tursas has submitted the Epilogue... and a fitting closing it is. Find it (and lots of other good reads) in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 03:25:42 UTC) (permalink)
8 new PCGames.de screens
More new screens, from Germany's PC Games Magazine - 8 of 'em, in all. Some pretty nice stuff - a cool shot of a Jeep just off its dropship, a jeep in water, and a dead hunter. Available in both 768x576 and 640x480 formats. Thanks to Uriel for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 00:22:54 UTC) (permalink)
News November 13 2001
When non-fanboys travel
Another take... netshade, from brainrazor.com, wrote up his take on the launch party. It's pretty funny, even if it DOES make fun of the denizens of this site... pictures are coming, apparently. (Louis Wu 17:07:03 UTC) (permalink)
Black Ops gets finished
Gunship writes to let us know that the final parts of his 'humongous fanfiction' known as Black Ops has been posted at Battleground: Halo - go take a look! This is novel-sized - 70,000 words (in comparison, Eric Nylund's 'Halo: The Fall of Reach' is 95,000 words, and was originally aiming at 85,000)... if you're pining for some good Halo fiction, this is one worth reading. (Louis Wu 16:47:00 UTC) (permalink)
Gaming Age gives Halo an A
Flawless Cowboy (otherwise known as Jaime Griesemer, Bungie designer) stopped in to point out that Gaming Age has put up their official Halo Review. It's pretty much a recycled version of the First Impressions article they posted last week... but they've played a bit longer, now, and they've given Halo their highest rating. (They say they'll never give ANY game an A+.) Check it out! We've also added this to to the Reviews page - this is a comprehensive list of all reviews published to date. (Louis Wu 09:57:33 UTC) (permalink)
Australian commercial mirror
Australian Brendan Daly adds his webspace to the growing list of Halo Commercial mirrors - if you're Down Under, this might be your best bet. Thanks, Brendan! Update: Thanks to Shane, who pointed out that a traceroute shows that that despite the Australian moniker, bjd.au.com is actually hosted on the Jatek Corporation network in Torrance, California - so much for a 'Down Under' solution. (Apparently, it's still fast for Australians, though.) (Louis Wu 09:45:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo on the Space Channel
carrim notes that the Space Channel recently did a 10 minute segment on the Xbox, with some pretty impressive Halo footage... hmm, I wonder if they'll re-run that? (Louis Wu 03:06:01 UTC) (permalink)
Strategy Guide in stores
sinistar notes on our forum that the Primus Halo Strategy Guide is now in stores... but he warns of some pretty major spoilers inside. (Well, it IS a Strategy Guide...) (Louis Wu 03:03:34 UTC) (permalink)
New wallpaper
Matt "Pugano" Pagano sends in a new desktop for our Wallpaper collection. Uncluttered... (Louis Wu 03:00:21 UTC) (permalink)
More Party Goodness
A few Launch Party reports we missed yesterday - over at Rampancy.net, No7orious wrote a pair; one is a summary of the entire event, the other focuses on Bungie-related musings (rumors?). Also, Brian from Minneapolis, AKA the Mad Sentinel, sent us a report last night - we missed it. Dang, gotta work on those alarms... it's now been posted to the Launch Party Coverage page. (Louis Wu 02:48:32 UTC) (permalink)
Launch Party Pics start coming in
Shadab, one of our reporters for the Launch Party, submitted a passel of pics earlier today. They're finally up. As more pictures roll in, you'll be able to find them in the Pictures section of the Launch Party Coverage page. (Louis Wu 02:23:26 UTC) (permalink)
More mirrors
More mirrors - Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews, of the Junkyard, has put both the Halo Commercial and the Halo Launch Party footage up on their Halo downloads page. We'll put together full lists very soon. (Louis Wu 02:13:48 UTC) (permalink)
News November 12 2001
Lots o' mirrors
Woohoo! Mirrors, mirrors, everywhere! Another Commercial mirror, courtesy of Bounty, at Battleground: Halo:
And three mirrors for the Launch party footage:
- Fileplanet (thanks again, Bounty!)
- Halo's Universe (thanks, genohunter!)
- Kbjlake's mirror (thanks, Kbjlake!)
That should hold most of you... (Louis Wu 20:23:37 UTC) (permalink)
Party footage available
Thanks greatly to Mavruss, who has sent in 8 minutes of video footage from the Launch party - ambience, food, and gameplay. It's in WMV format, and it's 5.6 MB, zipped, and we'd love mirrors for it. (Please - nobody complain about the format; the original upload was a 650 MB .avi that wasn't readable by anything I have here. This is MUCH more reasonable, and its small size means we can distribute it from our mac.com space. Narration is done by Russell's wife Sara - brownie points to anyone who can spot the two of them in the video. (Did we mention we need mirrors?) (Louis Wu 18:29:15 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
Dink!... The Halo SETI Marines, despite the influx of two new team members (and an increase in crunching from existing members), are left in the dust by The Athlonmb.com Seti Team. Ouch! They fall one place, to 53rd, in the Battle of the Teams. Are you doing YOUR part? Check the 7 day stats page to see. (Louis Wu 16:43:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Commercial mirror
Kbjlake writes to say that the Halo commercial (mpeg format) has been mirrored on his webspace - grab it there if you're having trouble with our link! (Thanks, Kbjlake!) (Louis Wu 15:39:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo T-shirt pics
There are more in the works, we hear... but the first screenshots sent to us of the Launch Party have been uploaded - a few shots showing the Halo T-shirt Bungie was selling at the event. Take a look... this'll be available to the public as soon as the Bungie Store goes live again! (Louis Wu 15:36:43 UTC) (permalink)
Launch Party coverage everywhere
Ryan 'TheMystic' Lord, of Invisible Dream, writes to point out a large article on the Halo launch party - descriptions, interviews with partygoers, and 35 photos - including some fun shots of Bungie employees, like this one, showing Matt's new "Unabombers R Us" beard... Check it out! (For more Launch Party goodness, check out the most recent submission to our coverage page - Art Sangurai, of the Brotherhood of BoB, wrote a blow-by-blow account of the evening - you're almost there!) (Louis Wu 14:30:23 UTC) (permalink)
Commercial now in MPEG format
Kayas has kindly converted the Halo commercial (first available in Real format, then this evening in .asf) to MPEG format - we've placed a copy on our overflow space at mac.com. (Anyone who wants to mirror this - let us know as soon as possible!) In addition to being in a much friendlier format, it's now bumped up to 320x240. Take a look! (Louis Wu 01:31:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo commercial, downloadable
TeamXbox has put up the first four Xbox gameplay commercials (including Halo, of course), in ASF format (downloadable). Thanks to Forrest Wickman for the first heads-up! (Louis Wu 00:40:58 UTC) (permalink)
News November 11 2001
3DAP puts up parent review
Red Hot Ryan points out that 3D Action Planet has posted the Gamespy Halo review that went live yesterday. Same story, different background... (Louis Wu 23:19:32 UTC) (permalink)
Launch Party reports start
The first few reports have trickled in from the Launch Party last night (folks having too much fun to report back, it seems!) - overall response seems to be pretty positive. jaslak summed up the general attitude towards Bungie's willingness to do stuff like this:
It was an impressive sight, to see bungie employees and fans talking one on one. I have yet to see another company as cool as Bungie.
Lots of little details, including the unveiling (at least verbally) of the new Truth and Reconciliation site Bungie's putting up (you almost got the name right, Theocracity)... read the reports to soak it up. An Xbox and several copies of Halo (as well as t-shirts) were given away... and several people (from Marty O'Donnell to TeamXbox) were conducting interviews. No7orious mentioned on our forum that the only new media he saw was a sort of training video (sounds like fun, though) - but we have yet to hear from the Bungie guys themselves.
General announcement: if you were at the party, and would like your thoughts/comments preserved for posterity on the coverage page, drop us a line - we'll set you up with access so you can post there. (This goes for Bungie employees, as well, if you're so inclined.) A search function will be added soon, so that finding that tidbit you wanted will be simple. For those of us not at the party... looks like we missed a good one! (Louis Wu 16:12:58 UTC) (permalink)
The fun of multiplayer
GameSpot has put up another GameSpotting article, this time devoted to the wonder that is Halo multiplayer. Joe Fielder waxes poetic about the 8-player carnagefests they were having for hours:
One time, two enemy tanks came up to our base. Shahed hopped out of his tank to enter the base and take our flag. I jumped into his tank while he was inside the building, took out the driver of the other tank with my tank's cannon, and was sitting there completely still, aiming right at Shahed as he ran out with the flag. I heard him call to his teammates from the other room, "I've got it! Let's go!" and he made a beeline toward me. I fired a round from my cannon straight at him and yelled from Jeff's office, "Wrong tank, Shahed!"
Makes me hope I can find a few other Xbox owners in the area... thanks to Forrest Wickman for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 04:55:26 UTC) (permalink)
New screens at PCGames.de
Thanks to Uriel, who discovered 15 new Halo screens at PC Games.de (you can see them in 640x480 format, or 768x576 format). Some nice ones in there... (Louis Wu 04:38:46 UTC) (permalink)
Launch Party is underway
For those who haven't checked in for a while, the Halo Launch Party got underway about 45 minutes ago at the Hotel Monaco in Chicago. I hope all that needed to be inside GOT inside... we've gotten no word from anyone there yet, but if news breaks, we'll let you know! The Halo Launch Party Coverage page is accessible to a whole horde of HBO regulars at this point... they need to be our eyes and ears tonight. (Louis Wu 01:50:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-playin' at the mall
Jeremy, from Xbox Addict, took a few pics at his local software boutique while playing - you can check 'em out in this thread on their forum. Thanks to TomeOne for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 01:43:47 UTC) (permalink)
The skies are full
St. Killer drops a montage on us - a pretty scary fightscene, if it actually went down that way. :) Check it out in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 01:37:28 UTC) (permalink)
News November 10 2001
Another massive GameSpot movie
Gamespot's Joe Fielder gives Halo a video review (80-90 MB download, also available in streaming formats) - word on the street is it's full of spoilers. :( Still - it's out there. (Louis Wu 21:07:34 UTC) (permalink)
Launch Party Coverage Page live
There's not much there yet... but in a few short hours, the Halo Launch Party will get underway in Chicago, and we've set up a page to handle the news and information. A bunch of HBO regulars will be there, and hopefully will get the chance to post their thoughts and observations as the night progresses. (The page will remain up, so that folks who don't have a chance to post from the party can add their two bits after the fact - it'll be a central repository for news and pictures from the event.) Bookmark the page! (Louis Wu 18:35:32 UTC) (permalink)
Important Launch Party Info
IMPORTANT: At 2:41 am Chicago time, Matt Soell dropped into our forum to apologize for the RSVP snafu (and the limitations of reality in general). He's not going to be able to respond to all of the RSVPs - but here are his general guidelines:
Bottom line: If you RSVPed two weeks ago, you are almost definitely in. If you RSVPed two days ago, or two hours ago, I guarantee nothing. If you didn't RSVP, stay home.
It would be very much of a downer to be turned away at the door... so take this to heart. (Louis Wu 16:07:28 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespy says 'eh'
Gamespy has put up their full Halo review... and they weren't that imporessed. A solid title, but nothing special. Mostly, they were frustrated with what they saw as repetitive gameplay ("It's like a videogame equivalent of Groundhog Day"). You can't please everyone... Charles Clifford gets the first-spot nod. (Louis Wu 14:58:31 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Reviews Halo... for Insiders
IGN has put up their Halo review - unfortunately, it's Insider-only. It makes some interesting points that the other reviews don't make - but since most of them could be considered spoilers, I'll refrain from quoting them. They also include some MAJOR spoilers - but clearly delineate them, and write them in white text on a white background, so the only way to read them is to WANT to read them. Thanks to Dan for the heads-up - read his post for the actual breakdown of their review. (Louis Wu 04:10:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Reviews page added
In anticipation of the flood of full Halo Reviews (that is, reviews of the full game, as opposed to previews, or reviews of beta versions, or mentions in articles not solely devoted to Halo), we've created a Reviews page. You can find the first three full reviews there now. This page should give you easy access to what the gaming press thinks of Halo. (Louis Wu 02:13:25 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespy's Holiday Buyers Guide
Gamespy's put up their Xbox Holiday 2001 Buyer's Guide... and Halo (of course) gets a nod. It's not very long (6 paragraphs, and two are the same :) ), but there's a nice little multiplayer hints section, with some decent (if pretty basic) advice. Thanks to Charles Clifford for the first heads-up! (Louis Wu 01:03:39 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespot's full Halo Review
The full reviews continue - Gamespot has put theirs up. They gave it a 9.7...
Halo is a complete thrill ride from beginning to end, an experience perhaps best described as a 16-hour-plus version of the siege scene from the film Terminator 2.
Complaints? Framerate and lack of bots. (Pretty standard fare by now. :) ) We'll get a Reviews page up asap (thanks for the suggestion, Nij!). Thanks to Fo for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 00:27:57 UTC) (permalink)
News November 9 2001
Quake in the Garden of Eden
Halo makes it into USA today: a pretty big article about the 'Battle of the boxes' suggests that "Hard-core players who like PC-style games probably already have put their money down for [an Xbox]", and Halo "is like you're playing a space marine from Aliens, except with a touch of humor." They're thinking it's gonna be hard to find one on Launch Day... lots of HBO regulars hope they're wrong. :) Thanks to Lophan for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:03:47 UTC) (permalink)
Casting Call - Launch Party Reporters
Volunteers needed: The Halo Launch Party tomorrow night in Chicago is a sold-out event (well, okay, the tickets are free, but the gap between how many can fit in the room and how many WANT to fit in the room is several hundred people)... but HBO has no official representative to cover it! If you're planning on being there, think you'll have net access during or after the event, and have reasonable writing skills, HBO wants to make YOU reporter for a day! Drop us a line at volunteers@bungie.org, and include a username/password combo you'd like to post with. We'll set you up with an account so that you can post your impressions (or upload your candid pics) right from the show floor! This is your chance for fame and glory... or at least a permanent place in the HBO pantheon. Hurry - time is short! Update: Looks like we have enough volunteers at this time - thanks, all! (Louis Wu 14:48:32 UTC) (permalink)
Full Halo review at VE
VoodooExtreme's full Halo review has been posted. An overall score of 95% (lowest rating: 90% for Replay value and Stability). It is a nearly perfectly positive review:
After playing through Halo a couple times I can safely say with no repentance that it's one of the most engrossing games I've ever played in my entire life.
[...]
Not many games with multiyear development cycles live up to fans? expectations, but I think that Halo is one of those rare exceptions. If you love sci-fi themed first person shooters, Halo is a must buy even if you have to wait for the PC or Mac version. If you have an Xbox, you must own Halo. It's just that simple.
However, there were a couple of things listed in the 'Cons' summary: framerate stutters (yes, still) and 'a somewhat anti-climactic ending'. (That's actually not an uncommon complaint about Bungie games - Oni is the most recent example.) There are no major spoilers - Apache goes out of his way to keep the scope of the information limited to what's already out there on the net. There are also two brand-new screens to go with the 5 released a few days ago (hi-res, and gorgeous). Go read this! (Louis Wu 14:11:53 UTC) (permalink)
I want one. No, two.
Seen over at TXB - MSN Games|Denmark has posted some pictures of an amazing gaming setup. That is one big screen... (Louis Wu 06:51:20 UTC) (permalink)
Major review and movies at TXB
Shockwave, of TeamXbox, has put up a 3 page, in-depth review of Halo, complete with 4 new video clips (major spoilers inside). It's very, very positive. The game gets an overall 4.8 out of 5 - the score is broken down in great detail. Check it out... 6 more days! (Louis Wu 06:17:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo reviewed at TechTV
Nice catch - Hyperium found a TechTV Halo review. Except for implying that Halo will not come out on a PC, it's a decent review. They had some troubles with the controls... but nothing they couldn't handle. One odd thing - the video clip enclosed (generic splitscreen coop play - no spoilers) at one point shows the two teammates in a jeep... and BOTH screens are in 3rd person mode. (There is no way to see what the gunner in the back is actually shooting at; the camera remains on him.) Several months ago, the gunner was first-person - either this has changed, or something was pretty screwy over at TechTV. Hmm... (Louis Wu 05:43:17 UTC) (permalink)
Movie? What movie?
Eric Trautmann stopped by the Rampancy.net forum to clarify a few details about 'The Fall of Reach', and the prospects for a Halo movie. Read the details for yourself! (Louis Wu 05:22:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo gets the nod from WP and NYT
Mr. Bunny has uncovered a couple of mainstream articles that mention Halo - the Washington Post, in a comparison of the Xbox, the GameCube, and the PS2, points to Halo as evidence that Microsoft is targeting older gamers, and the New York Times says Halo is "the most involving title" for the Xbox. Not bad, for mainstream press! (Louis Wu 05:16:50 UTC) (permalink)
Don't make us. Just don't.
Djof has succumbed to Bungie fever, and created a nice desktop using the Bungie motto (and some nice compositing). Check it out in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 05:09:13 UTC) (permalink)
A little more airbrush...
Battle of the Photoshoppers... Matt Baker and Strykerwolf have both created images purporting to show an Xbox being played in a living room, a week before launch. Both images have been added to the Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 05:06:30 UTC) (permalink)
News November 8 2001
Covenant statue looks yummy
The Juan Ramirez Covenant statue (to be given away to celebrate the re-opening of the Bungie Store - early pictures of the statue can still be seen there) is coming along very nicely, as shown on the Bungie Webcam today. Here are a couple of views of it (thanks to Adam Daniel for the earlier one). (Louis Wu 21:42:59 UTC) (permalink)
IMPORTANT LAUNCH PARTY NEWS
Matt Soell has posted an important note about the Launch Party - apparently, the page on Xbox.com rocketed the number of RSVPs to way over what the Bungie folk can handle. They'll be contacting everyone who responded to let 'em know whether they're in or not - check for details in his post. (Please - don't send new mail, asking whether you're in; that'll only slow him down.) (Louis Wu 21:34:40 UTC) (permalink)
CGO talks to Jason Jones
CG Online managed to corner Jason Jones for a brief question and answer session - after a definitive 'YES' to the obligatory 'Is Halo REALLY coming to the PC?' question, he got to the good stuff:
Is Halo a better game for having been made into a showcase title for the Xbox? What have you been able to do, technically and in terms of production value, that PC gamers will see when the game is released, but wouldn't have seen if the game had just remained a PC/Mac game forever?
Well obviously we have been able to focus on two major areas for the Xbox version.
1. Single player story
2. Graphical/Audio fidelity
The Xbox really frees Bungie up to turn on all the bells and whistles. Bungie no longer had to worry about making it optimized for hundreds of different computer configurations or a low the minimum spec. We only had one minimum spec and one configuration which allowed the team to max out all the settings. Things like Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, bump mapping, pixel reflection or volumetric lighting will just blow players away. These processes are expensive and require tremendous horse-power that is standard on the Xbox.
Go read the rest - and bookmark the page for future reference! Thanks to Freewill for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 21:22:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Commercial in AVI format
A kind soul over at the TeamXbox forums has uploaded .avi versions of the gameplay commercials (including the Halo commercial). Unfortunately, these require the DivX codec - and even though I have it installed (on both a Mac and a PC), I can't get these to work. Others, have, though... so it's worth a shot! (Louis Wu 14:50:23 UTC) (permalink)
7th Column counts down
For those who haven't visited yet... the 7th Column site shows an almost Marathon-like glyph, a counter (it's down to 6, from yesterday's 7), and (hidden in text the same color as the background) "NON FACETE NOBIS CALCITRARE VESTRVM PERINÆVM" (which, loosely translated, means "Don't Make Us Kick Your Ass"). Coming Soon™... (Louis Wu 13:34:26 UTC) (permalink)
Oddworld demo on Halo disc
TeamXbox noted that there seems to be a Munch's Odyssey demo on the Halo DVD... decent marketing ploy, no? Thanks to Paul Roberts for the first heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:18:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Launch Party at Xbox.com
No7orious noticed that the Halo Launch Party has made it into the news at Xbox.com. Remember - this is a site that saw 580,000 unique visitors last week... so if you're planning on going, and haven't yet sent your RSVP to halofest@microsoft.com... well, there are only 250 spots... (Louis Wu 09:50:31 UTC) (permalink)
PC Halo IS NOT DEAD.
Because the subject (rumors that PC Halo is dead are BULL) is so important to so many readers, and because we posted this late in the day yesterday, we're going to direct your attention to this news post - Matt Soell, once again, stomps on the rumormongers. Read it. Show it to your friends. Beat forumgoers at other sites over the head with it. (Louis Wu 01:45:50 UTC) (permalink)
PlanetXbox Halo Hands-on
Solid Halo preview from PlanetXbox - they got the date wrong, but otherwise it's a nice summary of the game. Thanks to Charles Clifford for the heads-up. Update: Oops, careless - this is the same article that was posted at PlanetXbox's host, Gamespy, a week ago. My bad. Djof gets the first-noticed kudos. (Louis Wu 01:42:46 UTC) (permalink)
News November 7 2001
Manual scans redux
Many thanks to Kbjlake, who has kindly mirrored the manual scans that have had such a difficult time finding a home. You can grab them individually, or get the whole shebang, zipped (3.6 MB). (And thanks again to Final Solution, who scanned them all in the first place!) (Louis Wu 23:57:27 UTC) (permalink)
VE gets hi-res
Five gorgeous hi-res screens at VoodooExtreme - go get 'em. First notification props to jan luow. (Who loves ya, baby?) (Louis Wu 23:10:53 UTC) (permalink)
He's gonna start swearing soon...
Okay, for most regulars here, this is a broken record. However, with the proximity of the Xbox launch, there are many newcomers... and this issue has become hot recently. A few days ago, Matt Soell, in response to a forum post in which an Xbox Germany representative was quoted as saying that PC Halo would be released in late fall 2002, said this:
If Jason Jones is still unsure how we're handling the PC version (and he is - I talked to him about it two days ago) then it's pretty unlikely that some MS guy in Germany has the inside track.
Some jumped on this as proof that Bungie was waffling about doing the PC port in the first place. Matt has posted a new missive on our forum, in an attempt to be perfectly clear about one thing: a PC version of Halo is still in the works.
I have asked many questions about the Mac/PC versions in recent days, because I want to know what's going on so I can get the "I have confirmation it's never coming" wankers off the community's back. I have asked people who are in the best position to know what's going on, like Alex and Jason. They don't have answers to all the questions yet, and they don't want to say anything until all the ducks are in a row, but they know what they have to do. If pressed to choose between an "anonymous source" referenced by some random guy on a web forum, and two real people with names who have confided Bungie secrets to me for years, I'll pick the latter. And I cheerfully invite the anonymous sources, if they actually exist, to come on over to Bungie HQ and chat with Alex and Jason and myself so we can eliminate the communication breakdown.
The short version? BUNGIE HAS NOT SCRAPPED PLANS FOR A PC PORT. This, of course, will not stop people from speculating that they have, indeed, scrapped plans for a PC port (or even better, haven't been told by their Microsoft overlords that the PC port is history, and are toiling away in ignorance)... but as of today, a week before the Xbox launch, the PC port is officially in the works. (Louis Wu 21:35:18 UTC) (permalink)
FAQ updated
The Gameplay page of the HBO FAQ has been updated. Old info has been pulled, new info added... one more question (coop splitscreen play) is there. This is a work in progress... more to come. Update: The Weapons and Vehicles pages have been updated, as well, this time using information from the Halo Manual. (Louis Wu 17:47:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo manual pics back up
Final Solution writes again - the Halo manual pics he put up yesterday (down on his original site, for bandwidth overflows - he can't even log in to remove them) have been re-upped - to a Geocities site. Dunno how long THAT one's gonna last... but if you haven't gotten 'em yet (and want 'em), give it a shot. (Louis Wu 17:45:11 UTC) (permalink)
New french preview at GameKult
genohunter writes to let us know that a second Halo french preview has come out, at GameKult.com.
For those whose french is as clear as the covenant language, I'll just say that the Gamekult team found the game quite exciting, and, of course, really wonderful (especially all the bumpmapping effectsÊwith dynamic lights). They tested it on a beta version, and they deplore the framerate problem that we heard telling about (too) many times. As a conclusion, they think that Halo is one of the best Xbox first games, and, apart of the framerate problem,Êthey really enjoyed playing it.
The fact that it's a development build is clear from some of the 57 (!!!) screenshots included with this article... some of which could be considered SERIOUS spoilers. (Louis Wu 17:36:38 UTC) (permalink)
Training sequence pulled?
jeremedia notes that his recently-purchased retail copy of Halo is missing the training sequence seen in the O'Donnell/Staten commentary film and GameSpot's Xbox movie 2. (He mentioned this before, a few days ago... but then he was playing at Xbox Unleashed, and it wasn't clear if there had been some way to bypass it that had been chosen.) Bummer... seemed like a fun section, and useful for continuity. Update: Both Mat Noguchi and Jay Weinland (tools programmer and Cinematics team member, respectively) have jumped in to suggest reasons why jeremedia might not see that sequence. If the game is saved after the training sequence, you won't see it again... and in any case, it's only shown on Easy and Normal difficulty settings; it's skipped on Heroic and Legendary. Thanks, guys! (Louis Wu 16:50:19 UTC) (permalink)
Forum roundup
Overnight forum doings... the Xbox manual scans we mentioned last night got crushed from the demand - Final Solution's monthly bandwidth allotment has been used up... so Funky J has kindly put them up on his hotline server. Psyrixx has created a new Mastercard 'Priceless' parody - you can find it at The Psyjnir Complex. (5+ versions of browsers, please.) Jester explains how to save Real Audio streams (this is illegal in the US) - a little too late, since the Halo commercial mentioned a couple of days ago had disappeared from the net. (It seems to be back now, though... hmm.) And another new thread popped up over at IGN, in which someone is claiming to have gotten from their MS buddy the news that (once again) PC Halo is dead and buried. (It's mentioned here, here, and here.) Thanks... but until we get word from Bungie that they have, in fact, decided to bag it... we'll pass on this rumor. (Louis Wu 14:53:01 UTC) (permalink)
Mmm... movies...
Hmm... Matt Soell drops hints about new media to be released at the Halo Launch Party... (Louis Wu 05:05:03 UTC) (permalink)
The Making of Halo?
Almost missed this, because of the ridiculous traffic the forum is getting these days... but Adam Daniel noticed (in an obscure location on TeamXbox's site) that futureshop.ca is selling a CD called 'Definitive Xbox Compilation'. Along with the music comes a Bonus CD:
The disk contains band EPKs, Xbox title movies and previews, and The Making Of Halo, a behind-the-scenes insider's glimpse into the development of this Xbox title.
Release date is November 13... and if you buy before then, it's $14 (canadian) - a steal! (Louis Wu 04:59:33 UTC) (permalink)
The Wierd Get Wierder
Hermes Trismegistus, Chapter 15 - dead men tell tales, and whatnot. Read it (and more of Tursas' stuff) in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 04:54:41 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Insider stuff... outside
Whoa - bizarreness. Matt (no, not the Matt) found a way to see the IGN Multiplayer game guide, even without Insider access - apparently, GameFixx mirrors the stuff somehow. It's slow loading... but it's all there. Check it out! (They seem to be related to IGN in some way, so this is probably on the level... maybe.) (Louis Wu 01:45:23 UTC) (permalink)
Full Halo booklet scanned
Spoiler alert - Final Solution has scanned in the entire Halo booklet that comes with the game. Full of information about weapons, vehicles, monsters... very, very high-res scans. Grab 'em now before they're gone! (Or don't, if you want to be surprised on launch day...) (Louis Wu 01:40:11 UTC) (permalink)
News November 6 2001
Seventh Column?
Jason Yates has picked up an interesting bit of trivia, over on the Marathon's Story page forum: in the small print of the manual that came with his CD was this snippet:
Brothers and Sisters: the time is nigh. There is strength in numbers. Unite and the planet is ours: www.seventhcolumn.org
(The URL doesn't resolve yet.) Jason did some sniffing... and found that the site is registered to Max Hoberman, aka Yeroen, the Bungie webmaster (not to be confused with the Webmaster). (What Jason DIDN'T notice is that seventhcolumn.com and seventhcolumn.net were ALSO registered by Max.) Things that make you go hmm... (Louis Wu 21:42:05 UTC) (permalink)
DVD scans
Final Solution writes to say that he picked up his Halo disc today - you can find scans on his site. Hmm... 'Do not make illegal copies of this disc'... that's still non-trivial, right? (Duping 8.4 GB discs still takes big hardware, right?) (Louis Wu 21:35:14 UTC) (permalink)
26 more screens added
We've added the latest batch of GameSpot screens - these are the 26 released on November 2 with the Updated Halo Preview. You'll find them in our Screenshots section. It's gettin' easier... (Louis Wu 18:19:16 UTC) (permalink)
Multiplayer, clarified
"Diamond" Dave Candland, of the Bungie Online Team, decided to clarify the issue of multiplayer game types. You should read the entire post for full details... but the bottom line is this: There are actually 5 game types (Capture The Flag, King of the Hill, Slayer, Oddball, and Racing). Each of these has rule variants, and there are environmental settings on top of these variants. To make life easier for gamers, Bungie decided to include presets of their favorite combinations, so that you could just play, instead of configure. There are 26 of these presets. So: It's not 26 gametypes, it's 26 preset configurations of 5 gametypes. The beauty is... you can add as many as you like. Thanks, Candyman! (Louis Wu 17:45:14 UTC) (permalink)
Cool Fall of Reach bookmark
Reading Halo: Fall of Reach, and the phone rings? No problem - Justin Brimm has just submitted a Fall of Reach bookmark. It's in Photoshop format, ready for printing up to a 6 inch x 1 inch bookmark at 288 ppi, so none of the high-res goodness will be lost. You can see a preview (and download the zipped .psd) in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 10:25:43 UTC) (permalink)
Year-End Xbox Roundup at GS
Thanks to no7orious, who pointed out the Xbox Year-End Roundup over at GameSpot - Halo gets just a couple of paragraphs, but the first line says it all:
Halo has the most potential to be the Xbox's killer app.
Take a look (and see what they said about other Xbox games, while you're there). (Louis Wu 10:03:59 UTC) (permalink)
Official Bungie sites down for overhaul
If you visit any of Bungie's official sites (bungie.com or bungie.net, or any - well, most - of their subsites) right now, you'll get a message: "No web site is configured at this address." As Rampancy.net reported, this is because Bungie is preparing to redefine their web presence... it'll be worth the wait. (Louis Wu 09:58:17 UTC) (permalink)
Gaming Age First Impressions
Last week, Gaming Age posted a 'First Impressions' article about Halo. They describe it as a 'must-have' - and though there are a couple of misconceptions in the article (bump-mapping is described as 'sparingly used' by Bungie, for example), in general, it's a solid read. The most impressive feature for the reviewer was the audio - the depth of content. Take a look! (Thanks to TXB for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 09:35:06 UTC) (permalink)
Multiplayer types revealed... to Insiders
IGN Xbox has put up part 2 of its Multiplayer Guide - this one details the 26 multiplayer types, with a few (small) screens. Unfortunately... it's Insider-only for the time being. Credit goes to Dan for noticing this first... (Louis Wu 02:55:01 UTC) (permalink)
A small tale (not)
Gordi has submitted 'Chapter 3: Ile Aval' of his ongoing (untitled) series - and this one's a monster. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. Remember - if you haven't read the first two parts, you can read them all together using the 'more by this author' link. (Louis Wu 00:40:02 UTC) (permalink)
Top reviews at a couple of sites
A couple of reviews in the last few days (nothing horribly new - just plain old-fashioned drooling): ConsoleWire.com says it ROCKS (thanks, No7orious at the R.net forum)... and Game Revolution says it's "the Xbox's pride and joy" (thanks, Narcogen at R.net). But you knew those things already... (Louis Wu 00:19:35 UTC) (permalink)
News November 5 2001
First Halo Commercial at AdReview
Wow. Thanks to Mike Flacy, who was the first to send us word of the first Halo ad - it's linked to this column, which tears into gamers as a bunch of 'absolute freakin' morons'. Don't mind the insults - watch the trailer. It's tiny, and in streaming Real format... but it's pretty astounding. (There's already a decent-sized thread on our forum about it...) (Louis Wu 23:07:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines hold steady at slot 52 in the Battle of the Teams, thanks in large part to the awesome crunching of charleya and Int_21... but the influx of nearly 1000 units (thanks to new members Istan, Radar, Matthew and Vladoz) doesn't hurt, either. See all the crunching data on the 7 day stats page. (Louis Wu 16:25:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Commercial less than a week away
Cesar Berardini, of TeamXbox, lets us know that TXB has a report about launch title commercials up - the short version; they'll go live on November 11. Go read the long version to find out where Microsoft is spending its half a billion advertising dollars... (Louis Wu 15:26:44 UTC) (permalink)
New Desktop Art
A couple of new desktop images for you tonight - one from Daniel Byrne, and one from [SE]X-Com. You can find both in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 03:39:07 UTC) (permalink)
Two-fisted Fan Fiction Action
The Hawk Chronicles continue - Chapter 3a arrived tonight for our Fan Fiction section. A taut read - check it out. (And don't forget to leave Vector40 feedback in the Comments section!) (Louis Wu 03:11:08 UTC) (permalink)
Haloserver.com on eBay
The HaloServer team points out that the haloserver.com domain (which, as we mentioned a few days ago, is for sale), is now at eBay. Auction ends in a bit less than a week - current bid is $5, and the reserve is not met. Go grab a good fansite name now! (Louis Wu 02:43:34 UTC) (permalink)
FAQ updated
FAQ overhaul: two major changes are visible to you, the reader; There's a new page, called 'Most-Asked Questions' - you should point people to this page if you see them asking about the PC version, or bots. (Likewise, you should let us know if there's a question you think belongs on this page.) Additionally, the Weapons page has been brought up-to-date; new pictures, cleaned-up pictures, far more detailed info on most weapons (thanks, JB), and an overlooked weapon has been included. Comments are always welcome. (Louis Wu 02:39:00 UTC) (permalink)
News November 4 2001
How to be a Legend
Woohoo! Folks have asked how long Halo will take to finish, and how the different difficulty levels change this... Chris Butcher, who developed much of the AI, has posted a detailed commentary on just this subject on our forum.
for an epic battle (or if we're playing co-op) I pick Legendary. it took me about 60 hours of continuous play to finish the game on this difficulty, and that's after months of developing and playtesting the game.
There are details about how Legendary compares to Myth's Legendary difficulty, or Marathon's Total Carnage - bottom line, in Chris's words; Don't Stop to Breathe. Go read this! (Louis Wu 21:41:42 UTC) (permalink)
Another forum roundup
A couple of forum posts worth noticing; DevilFrog found a MadCatz trackball for the Xbox (interestingly enough, the idea of using a trackball came up a couple of days ago, and was met with serious enthusiasm)... and Darkman noticed that Microsoft's official Halo site has been updated again - the timeline has been removed, and replaced with the prologue to Eric Nylund's novel, 'Halo: The Fall of Reach'. (This is the same text that showed up at Random House's site on Wednesday and at IGN Xbox yesterday.) Even when we're out, the forum is full of good info! (Louis Wu 20:22:58 UTC) (permalink)
More Cloudchaser impressions
Oops - we managed to miss Cloudchaser's Xbox Unleashed: Halo Impressions Part 3. (We commented on parts 1 and 2 yesterday, and part 4 earlier today.) They were impressed, especially with the AI and the audio. Careless of us... sorry. (Louis Wu 20:17:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-ey Texture Goodness
In a HORRENDOUSLY long thread over on the IGNCube.com forums, Matt Casamassina, Editor-in-Chief of IGNCube.com, put up a few screenshots to point out what textures SHOULD look like - he'd started the thread by complaining about what was being done on the GameCube. His example? Halo. We've added 4 of these shots to the Unofficial Screenshots page - they're nothing special, in terms of what's going on... but as a peek into what Halo is capable of, texturewise... they're awesome. (That grass one just blows me away! (Louis Wu 00:35:07 UTC) (permalink)
Second Halo Print Ad
A month ago, we showed you the first Halo 2-page print ad. The second one's been floating around for a bit now... It's been seen in Rolling Stone and GamePro, for example. As before, we've scanned it at a small size (800x527, 84K), a larger size (1500x989, 242K), and the ad copy itself (800x168, 25K). Enjoy! (Louis Wu 00:05:06 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo at Cloudchaser
Cloudchaser Microsoft has put up part 4 of their Halo impressions - this time, it's a fan-written commentary on the level known as 'Flawless Cowboy'. It's interesting, given that it's written by someone who has either never seen Halo before, or is pretending that they've never seen Halo before:
Well, this lady told me over a radio or something that a enemy dropship was approaching and that I should cross some tubes or pipes to the other side of the river to escape being detected. I promptly ignored the command and starting scanning the horizon for the enemy. I wanted some action. I got it pretty quick. The drop ship arrived along with two of those personal fighter like thingies. I was instantly under heavy fire. The drop ship dropped about 6 bad-guys (Covenent right?) and then took off in a flurry of gunfire.
A fun read, in either case. Check it out! (Louis Wu 00:04:12 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox stability no longer in doubt
Ooh... nearly missed this. Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, noticed a story at Wired News with the following subhead:
Rumors of the Xbox's shaky stability have been greatly exaggerated.
The story notes that Xboxes in use at the Xbox Unleashed event have been running for 12 hours straight, with no crashes. (There are more than 50 consoles at the event.) There haven't been any more net stories about kiosks crashing, either - seems the software upgrades distributed last week really did solve the problem. (Louis Wu 00:03:17 UTC) (permalink)
New Fan Fiction
Konard's in trouble, in Ashley Power's 'Running, Part 1', available on our Fan Fiction page. Be sure to let her know what you think of it in the comments section! (Louis Wu 00:02:10 UTC) (permalink)
News November 3 2001
Forum wrapup
Forum wrapup: op_ivy passes along commentary on the Xbox Unleashed event in Los Angeles - event flavor, Halo impressions, and a spoiler or two (clearly marked). Funky J makes the new GameSpot movie available on his Hotline server - details about access can be found in his post. And Darkman, annoyed by the commentator in that movie, hacked it up a little to remove as much of him as possible. (Be careful with this link - the movie isn't all the way up as we speak, and it locked up two different machines during the attempted download. Give it a bit longer.) All this and more on our forum today! (Louis Wu 17:49:53 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespy looks at Halo
Gamespy has posted a Halo preview a couple of days ago. They were unimpressed with the AI - and they wished for mouse control - but otherwise, they liked it. Can't please everyone... (Louis Wu 14:28:14 UTC) (permalink)
Cloudchaser MS looks at Halo
Cloudchaser Microsoft has put up a couple of articles about Halo as part of their Xbox Unleashed coverage - the first one is extremely positive about the framerates (looks like just a quick note) and focused on multiplayer, while the second one is a bit more in-depth, and looks at solo player. Their biggest gripe was control of the jeep. (As an aside, the 'X button to flip' mode is still in the final release, it seems...) Thanks to Allenthar for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:18:51 UTC) (permalink)
Story Page? Nah, SPOILER Page...
Lots of HBO visitors are worried about spoilers popping up where they don't want to see them. For those actually LOOKING for spoilers, the Marathon's Story page has some pretty massive ones in its most recent update... if you decide to look, don't say we didn't warn you! (Louis Wu 04:59:32 UTC) (permalink)
EP talks to Seamus Blackley
Electric Playground interviewed Seamus Blackley, head of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group - he's as enthusiastic as usual. He raved about a lot of things - including control:
EP: Halo surprised Blackley. He had concerns about the control of the game, and in fact didn't want it to be a launch title.
SB: Jason Jones and I are pretty good friends, and he said "I'm going to convince you. You're wrong." And I was wrong. The editors of three of the biggest game magazines in the United States have all said that they wish they had the controls in Unreal now that they have in Halo.
The article as a whole is a pretty good read. Thanks to TomeOne for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 04:54:53 UTC) (permalink)
Too much stuff at GameSpot
<sigh> Right about the time we get caught up with screenshots and movies, places like GameSpot have to go and release tons more. There's an updated preview, a 75 meg movie (!!), and 20-someodd new screens. (They say it's 30, but there are at least a few repeats - but they can be forgiven, it's hard work releasing THIS much new info in such a short time.) I can't tell you what's in the movie - I've only got 5 megs of it so far. My guess is, though, we're talking MAJOR spoiler action. Media overload... (Louis Wu 04:45:33 UTC) (permalink)
Score Central interviews Marty O
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned that Score Central was putting together an interview of Marty O'Donnell, the sound guy behind Halo, and was asking for fan questions. Tonight, they've posted the result - and overall, it's a lot of information. A snippet:
SC: How has sound and music changed in the gaming world from say 5-10 years ago.
MO: I think it keeps getting better, both sound quality and aesthetically. We?re moving away from the concept of music that plays constantly throughout a ?level? and towards the more movie scoring approach that music should underscore the feeling of a scene or event. That means figuring out how to respond dynamically to what the player is doing without calling attention to the fact the player can control the musical events. It?s not easy but it?s starting to work. Having the ability to record players from the Chicago Symphony for example and have that kind of music played in Dolby Surround while you play the game helps a bit too.
Go read the whole thing, and learn a little more about Marty as you do! (Louis Wu 04:21:48 UTC) (permalink)
Screenshots section updated
Well... this probably means we've caught up for a day or so... but we've added 75 screenshots to our Screenshots section. (They're all in the 'Sites' pages, and come from the 5 new articles published in the last few days.) Whew! (Louis Wu 01:00:20 UTC) (permalink)
Fall of Reach Galley Proofs
IGN Xbox has put up the first of a three-part special on Halo - this part contains the prologue to Eric Nylund's book, 'Halo: The Fall of Reach'. While the text is identical to the excerpt put up by Random House a few days ago, visiting IGN gets you an extra bonus - a PDF file containing the front and back covers, and what looks like galley proofs of the prologue from the actual book. Go get it! Thanks to Frank Machado for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 00:31:23 UTC) (permalink)
News November 2 2001
Xbox Unleashed impressions at TXB
TeamXbox has put up the first part of their Xbox Unleashed impressions - words from the event floor in New York where Xbox fanatics try to stay alive for 48 hours of non-stop gaming. Crashing eggs and monster lines... it's a fun read. Sol also managed to throw in his Halo impressions... he liked it:
Halo, single-handedly, helped the Xbox, as a gaming platform, meet my extremely high, two-year, expectations of it.
Go read the rest! (Thanks to TomeOne for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 21:43:12 UTC) (permalink)
New Halo Review at Gamestar.de
Uriel points out a new review at Gamestar.de - it's part of their print review, and it contains a couple of new screens. Uriel promises a translation soon, too. :) (Louis Wu 18:39:31 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Impressions pour in
They're pouring in... DarkSkies ran his wife over last night, and dropped in to tell us about it. (He's also, after playing for a bit, decided to hold off on buying an Xbox - he'll rent one, then buy the PC version.) Read his post for details! (Louis Wu 16:11:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo - not for everyone
Another fan impression post - Caerdwyn didn't seem to like it at all. His final summary suggested it was 'a solid title'... but each point made it clear he wasn't impressed. (Louis Wu 15:52:28 UTC) (permalink)
Juicy Halo Goodness, straight from the fans
Sam has taken our request for gameplay feedback to heart, and posted a pretty in-depth look at Kiosk Xbox (no, it's not the same as Living Room Xbox - read his rundown to see some of the reasons why). Read the rest of the thread, as well - lots of good followup info. (Louis Wu 15:26:10 UTC) (permalink)
More fan details on Halo
Final Solution has put up Day 2 of his Halo coverage - this includes three things you SHOULDN'T do while playing Halo. Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:22:30 UTC) (permalink)
French Halo preview at Halo's Universe
Halo's Universe (in France) has put up a Halo preview (they say it's the first) - my French isn't good enough to translate this, but for French speakers, this might be a good place to get info! (Louis Wu 15:18:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo DVD, by request
In response to a request to see what the Halo DVD actually looks like, Matt Soell popped one in front of the Bungie Webcam. Is that cool community relations, or what? (Louis Wu 01:50:46 UTC) (permalink)
Multiplayer Impressions at GS
To go with the new movies, GameSpot has put up a Multiplayer Impressions article - a description of the 13 maps (similar to the description IGN put up a couple of days ago) and some tips and comments. They were playing a 'near-final' build... and they commented on the framerate blips; I'm wondering if we're going to continue hearing about these with the gold version. In any case, it's an information-dense read, and comes complete with 25 screenshots. Check it out. (Louis Wu 01:43:45 UTC) (permalink)
Halo multiplayer clips at Gamespot
Gamespot has put up 6 new Halo clips - they're short views of some multiplayer action. Get 'em if you want... Some pretty cool stuff in there. (Thanks to Razorback, on our forum, and Onibushi via email, for the first heads-up. (Louis Wu 01:13:45 UTC) (permalink)
Spacey paper
SE|G¨£´f¿* (don't ask me how you pronounce that) dropped off a new desktop for our Wallpaper collection. Go to it. (Louis Wu 01:06:54 UTC) (permalink)
News November 1 2001
New Fan Fiction
"Mayday mayday we're under fire by unknown forces we need immediate assistance! Position Echo-Delta-Foxtrot-Niner please aid...."
The Emperor sends in a new story, 'Solo', for our Fan Fiction section. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 19:25:30 UTC) (permalink)
A pair of new desktops
Dusty sends in a pair of desktops for our Wallpaper section. That green one is pretty slick! Update: Bounty, from Battleground: Halo, points out that the green wallpaper submitted earlier today by Dusty was, in fact, taken from the screensaver included in the Microsoft-released Halo XP Theme released a week ago. The entry has been updated to reflect this. Please, folks - if you submit work, claim credit for it only if it's yours. Update 2: Sorry for the confusion. Unfortunately, I don't have a machine I can install this theme on (the Win98 boxes I have access to cannot be used for this) - I need to rely on others to let me know when stuff isn't right. From the original documents that Dusty has sent, it's clear that while the elements might have come from the screensaver, quite a bit of the enhancement work is his alone. The Wallpaper entry has been adjusted yet again. (Louis Wu 18:59:43 UTC) (permalink)
Haloserver.com for sale
Halo domain for sale: In April, Haloserver.com came online aiming to be "first and best dedicated Halo gaming server". Today, they announced on our forum that they can't make it all it can be, and would like to offer it to someone who can. Do you have what it takes? (Louis Wu 17:56:06 UTC) (permalink)
Counter-Strike AR model for grabs
strykerwolf created a Counter-Strike model of the Halo assault rifle a little while ago - it's been polished since then (here's a newer screenshot), and we're hosting it for him. It's a tad over 400k - if you play Counter-Strike, go ahead and grab this! (There are no sounds included, for copyright reasons... but as we said last week, there's a nice little .wav of the assault rifle firing in the Halo XP theme Microsoft released recently. (Louis Wu 10:47:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Box scans
Tweak3d, over at the Xbox IGN forums, has posted pictures of the Halo box (front and back) and of the booklet showing the game controls. Thanks to BiBoFieTo for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 10:39:02 UTC) (permalink)
Reyes-McLees Shipyards... coming soon
Nice catch by Psyrixx - page 238 of 'Halo: The Fall of Reach':
"The structural system was designed by a Dr. Robert McLees - cofounder of the Reyes-McLees Shipyards over mars - in 2510..."
For those who don't keep up on Bungie employees - Rob McLees is an artist on the Halo Dev Team, and he's married to Lorraine Reyes, an artist on the Phoenix team. Nice tip o' the hat! (Louis Wu 02:07:21 UTC) (permalink)
GS looks at Halo Basics
Cesar Berardini, of TeamXbox, points out a pretty nice article over at GameSpot - it's called 'Halo: Weapon, Enemy, and Vehicle Basics'. It's a solid article, with 9 new screens (okay, 8, since they screwed up one of them Update - okay, they've fixed it), and no SERIOUS spoilers. The info in here has been elsewhere - but it's nicely put together. Check it out! (Louis Wu 01:54:39 UTC) (permalink)
This scared me.
Final Solution points out a hands-on review he wrote (based on an hour's worth of play at a kiosk) - be careful where you step, the html is DANGEROUS. (Louis Wu 01:49:08 UTC) (permalink)
We Liek Halo
Adem sends in another JeffK-style wallpaper (inspired, he says, by FunkyJ's). You'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 01:46:14 UTC) (permalink)
| November 2001 | |
