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November 2004

November 2004 Archived News

News November 30 2004

Can we PLEASE put this one to bed?
A million people have been sending us mail about the last page of the upcoming XboxWorld magazine in Europe. It says 'Halo 2. Didn't think there was more? Think again!' And then, below that, 'Plus! If all goes to plan, a massive world exclusive first look... NEXT MONTH!' Folks have been theorizing that this refers to everything from downloadable content to Halo 3, coming out next month. Looks like Spong got the lowdown... the Halo 2 'more' is a Multiplayer guide booklet, and the 'world exclusive' is the new Medal of Honor title. Sorry for any burst bubbles. (Louis Wu 18:33:43 UTC) (permalink)

Cairo Station, Legendary - in 10 minutes.
Last week, a few people turned in speed runs of Outskirts - and I mentioned that I'd really love to see a speed run of Cairo Station, on Legendary. Today, Cody Miller obliged. I was amazed. It's not perfect - he dies twice (in the same place both times), but man... it's beautiful. 10:19, from start to finish. The film is QuickTime format, 64.8 mb, 480x360 (just like the GNF speedruns). Grab a copy, and check out the shortcuts you missed! (Louis Wu 15:36:29 UTC) (permalink)

Nebular rocks.
The ongoing saga of Calvin's meeting with the Covenant continues in today's Calvin and Halo. I'm thinkin'... Calvin might have just gotten himself into something big... (Louis Wu 15:24:58 UTC) (permalink)

A Weasel's View
Frankie has finally gotten around to writing up last week's Halo Humpday Challenge - I'm guessing it took so long because they got so badly beaten. (He even tried to blame the lack of players on 'tryptophan poisoning' - but his Scottish heritage betrayed him; he forgot that Thanksgiving is on THURSDAY, so those folks should have been turkey-free on Wednesday afternoon. NICE TRY, FRANKIE.) They played the Bungie.net mods - and then after they lost, they tried to claim that since 2 of the mods were Bungie employees, they actually DIDN'T lose. Interesting to see how THIS week's challenge goes... (Louis Wu 15:20:51 UTC) (permalink)

There once was a Spartan from Reach...
Quick note - Mhaddy wanted to remind you that the Junkyard's Poetry Contest (mentioned recently) is now open for entries. (Louis Wu 15:15:04 UTC) (permalink)

Art and film at Halo Babies
Large art update over at Halo Babies - plus a movie. (Apologies to zero, the movie's creator - he submitted the link to us a few days ago, but I let it slip.) I'm not sure I get it, entirely... it's a whole bunch of Halo 2 clips strung together, but I was having trouble finding a theme. However, that's for you to decide, not me. Go look at the art, download the movie, enjoy the day! (Louis Wu 15:12:58 UTC) (permalink)

Forget the shows - watch ads
Gamespot is running a 'Commercial Challenge' - vote for the best commercials of 2004, win prizes. Halo 2's TV spot is in the running. Thanks, Nathan. (Louis Wu 15:07:24 UTC) (permalink)

Buy it. They'll love it.
Hehe - amidst all these doom-and-gloom articles about how Halo 2 will cause your child to become a Satanist, it's nice to see that SOME places are still recommending it. People Magazine has a Top Ten Games to buy your kids for Christmas - and Halo 2 is #8. Thanks, Alexander. (Louis Wu 15:05:29 UTC) (permalink)

DLC coming soon?
Total Video Games, a UK gaming site, has an article up claiming that the first Downloadable Content Update for Halo 2 is coming soon. We haven't seen this confirmed anywhere yet - so at this point, this is rumor - but it sure is INTERESTING rumor. (Louis Wu 15:03:30 UTC) (permalink)

Everybody's drawing the guy.
KP was just browsing through sketches made by Tim Buckley, of the webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del... and ran across this very nice pencil drawing of the Master Chief, done in honor of Halo 2's release. Coolness! (Louis Wu 15:00:19 UTC) (permalink)

The Wipeout Chronology
It's the end of the month, and the end of our bandwidth; we've had a MOUNTAIN of movies submitted to us over the past 60 days or so, and I've been a bit lax at getting to them, partly for bandwidth reasons, partly because the flood of new Halo 2 content on the website has overwhelmed me. I went back over some of them today - and found one I liked a lot. It's nothing new, film-wise; it's just Halo gameplay. However, it fits the music quite well, and it's... I dunno, I just liked it. It's called 'The Wipeout Chronology', and it was submitted by Mick Lacy, of Team A.G.R.O., sometime back in September. It's available in both WMV (25 mb) and QuickTime (21.4 mb) formats. There won't be that many more of these made, I bet... enjoy it! (Louis Wu 03:13:51 UTC) (permalink)

Fan Fiction. Again.
32 new Fan Fiction pieces written in the past 5 days - I guess the Thanksgiving holiday meant people had extra time on their hands. This section is an enigma to me... why is it, in the area of HBO where words are MOST important, that such a huge percentage of participants can't be bothered to read the huge 'READ THIS OR ELSE' directions? Why is it, in this most-often-updated section of the website (except for the front page, I guess), that I receive more complaints from submitters impatient to see their work online than anywhere else? (And often rude complaints!) Why do these people, who spend so much time trying to get inside their characters' heads, have so little empathy (or gratitude, for that matter) for the people who work hard to showcase their writing? Mysteries for the ages, I suppose. Sure makes me tired, though... (Louis Wu 03:07:07 UTC) (permalink)

Escapism and Playing God
Chris Butcher was interviewed by a hometown- er, home-country media outlet, the New Zealand Listener, about his current job at Bungie and how he got there. It's a pretty nice piece - go read! Thanks, Frankie. (Louis Wu 01:25:10 UTC) (permalink)

The high cost of stats storage
There's a news post over at Bungie.net talking about an upcoming purge of the Stats database; if there are particular games you want to keep track of, you need to grab the info now, before it's gone. More details can be found in the post. (Louis Wu 01:07:40 UTC) (permalink)

News November 29 2004

Bungie.net stats for all
There are a whole bunch of new solutions for displaying Bungie.net stats on your website currently in development... but most of them are either not out yet, or not for public use. Jay Roberts found a site that converts RSS to Javascript, allowing easy inclusion with very little effort. He put up an example including his own stats. If you can't wait for the fancy stuff, give this a look - it's easy, and it works! (Louis Wu 19:10:34 UTC) (permalink)

Northeast Halo Tourney
Cavmn pointed out a Halo tourney being held at a chain of paintball centers in northern Massachusetts/southern New Hampshire. 1v1 this Saturday, December 4, with a $5 entry fee and a first prize valued at $500. Phone numbers can be found on the info page. (Louis Wu 17:35:17 UTC) (permalink)

A hardcore fan speaks up
Randall Glass, a cornerstone of the Halo online community since his release of the Warthog Jump video in early 2002, has written a frank and honest review of Halo 2 - campaign, multiplayer, and the Limited Edition DVD. There are some really, really good points in there. (There are also some major spoilers; don't read this until you've finished the game.) Thanks to Ducain for the tipoff. (Louis Wu 17:22:26 UTC) (permalink)

Patience is a virtue.
Almost 2 years ago, Racing Champions Ertl (the parent company of Joyride Studios) announced that they'd be creating Halo action figures - and the first thought from Stuntmutt was 'we need Halo-based Twisted Toyfare Theatre!' (There's a link in that post if you've never heard of this.) Sometimes these things take a little while. Toyfare released their first-ever Halo photo price guide recently... and included in it 3 'Big Shots' - exactly what Stunt was asking for. One... two... three. Wheee! (Louis Wu 16:49:57 UTC) (permalink)

Don't Monkey With Him.
Today's One One Se7en points out the danger of humor in the wrong situation. (Louis Wu 10:57:11 UTC) (permalink)

No Real Ending
Gyser points out a new Little Gamers webcomic with Halo 2 content. Spoilers, I suppose. (Hardly, because the joke is pretty well-known at this point.) (Louis Wu 10:28:09 UTC) (permalink)

CGN says Halo shines
The Cyber Gaming Network has reviewed Halo 2 - they gave it a 5/5 - though they're still waiting for Halo 3. Thanks, Jarrett Lantz. (Louis Wu 10:21:01 UTC) (permalink)

TriXie and crew116
About a week ago, Justin Long sent us a link from Xbox.com - TriXie intereviewed crew116, a Microsoft-based Halo clan that did extensive beta-testing of Halo 2 multiplayer. We forgot to post it. The interview itself focuses on the guys in the clan, their likes and dislikes - but there's also a Tips and Tricks summary from many of the members. Thanks to AgentMunroe for the reminder that we missed this. (Louis Wu 10:18:10 UTC) (permalink)

CAL adds Halo 2
the DJ points out that CAL (The CyberAthlete Amateur League) has picked up Halo 2, starting in January. There's no news yet - but the Halo 2 Division exists. More details to come! (Louis Wu 10:12:52 UTC) (permalink)

Halo stunts outside the community
Interesting. One of the very first vids I saw in Halo 2 was someone exploiting the 6 plasma shields on Delta Halo for Tank Launching - park your tank on the shields, and if it's well-placed, it flies nicely when the shields regenerate. There have been 2 or 3 vids circulating around the community, showing this trick - but a couple of guys found that submitting their vid to Slashdot drastically increases the audience. Two things happened; their bandwidth got toasted (no big deal, because some /. regular simply bittorrented the film, and you can grab it now thanks to hundreds of technophiles), and they got credit OUTSIDE the Halo community for this stunt. (There's a third thing, too, I guess - they decreased the chances that a truly innovative film will even be MENTIONED by Slashdot. Bummer.) The vid they put out is DivX 5 format, 31 mb, almost 4 minutes long. After the first 30 seconds, you've seen it all. (Louis Wu 10:01:10 UTC) (permalink)

G4TechTV - doing it again
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned Halo 2 Day on G4TechTV - a day devoted to Halo programming, coinciding with the release of the game. We forgot to go back and actually SUMMARIZE that content, after the fact - there's quite a bit.

• Pretenders to the Halo Throne - games that didn't quite measure up
• Masterpiece or Overhyped Fluff? - a look at the real meat of Halo 2
• Rick's Picks - Soundtrack review
• Sweet Revenge - the band My Chemical Romance talks about Halo 2
• Bungie's Braintrust - short interviews with Jaime Griesemer, Frank O'Connor, and Max Hoberman

In addition, there are a bunch of video offerings; the X-Play review in video format (spoilers), a movie called 'Players Playing Halo', a bit on Halo action figures, and the Red vs Blue commercials. (All of these are in Flash video format.) Lots o' stuff! (Louis Wu 09:42:06 UTC) (permalink)

News November 28 2004

Halorama Redux
About a year and a half ago, BOLL started creating panoramic views of Halo, using custom-built software and some video-captured footage. He's back... with his first set of Halo 2 Panoramas. At this point, he's using a modded controller to make his life easier, and he's put together a nice little flash interface for viewing the panoramas. We'll add more images as he submits them. (If you don't have Javascript enabled, or Flash installed, you can simply click on the thumbnails to see full-sized versions of the images with no fancy interface.) Right now there are 4 multiplayer strips, and 6 single-player ones (from 3 levels). The Delta Halo strips are GORGEOUS! (Louis Wu 22:24:15 UTC) (permalink)

The Unabomber... with crayons.
Red Vs Blue has posted a couple of Sponsor-only videos; you can't download them unless you're a sponsor (though you CAN comment on them - beauty of the new website). You'll find them linked off the Videos page. There's the intro video to the Penny Arcade Expo last summer, and a test vid in which part of Episode 35 has been refilmed using the Halo 2 engine. Fun stuff! Ross Mills pointed this out. (Louis Wu 21:35:33 UTC) (permalink)

Out in the Cold
Red Leader points out that the newest episode of his 'The Life' comic centers around Halo 2. Sometimes, it's not how strong you are... it's your staying power. (Louis Wu 21:13:28 UTC) (permalink)

Pathways Redux
Normally, we keep Bungie-related news that's not Halo-based on its own subsection of Bungie.org... but I'm not sure where Hamish is right now, so I don't know when this news will make it onto the front page of the PiD section. Several days ago, Robin Osborne alerted us to Pathways Redux, a (then) upcoming mod for Doom 3 that reproduces Pathways into Darkness. By this time, it's actually been released - it's a 13 mb download. I haven't seen it in action yet - I don't have a copy of Doom 3 - but the readme suggests that the author, Brendon Chung, cared an awful lot about this project - so the chances are good that it's pretty faithful to the original. (The two screenshots on the site are pretty impressive!) If you've got a copy of Doom 3, give this mod a try - see what 10-year-old Bungie programming can inspire! (Louis Wu 15:04:57 UTC) (permalink)

News November 27 2004

Content around the net
There've been a few articles posted in the past few days that have been passed over due to time constraints - here's a list:

• Waterloo Cedar Falls (IA) Courier - Halo is taking over college campuses
• The Tennessean - kids say Halo is disappointing, but they keep playing
• CNN.com (review) - Halo 2 gets almost everything right (no numerical score)
• Christ Centered Game Reviews - 90% (95% when not considering Christian audience appropriateness - thanks, Ross)

In addition, Rampancy.net has begun to publish Halo 2 impressions - somewhere between a review and a walkthrough, these discuss the game from the perspective of a long-time Bungie fan. The first three chapters are up now. (Louis Wu 21:05:46 UTC) (permalink)

Ode to Bungie
Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews, over at the Junkyard, has started up the 'Write a Poem for Bungie' contest - well, actually, it starts up on Monday. No Haiku, unfortunately... but pretty much everything else is fair game. Lots o' schwag for prizes. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:50:38 UTC) (permalink)

Frankie, Do You Remember Me?
Bah. I spent far too much of yesterday taking care of business - I missed the day's One One Se7en. It was doubly relevant given the fact that Frankie skipped yesterday's Weekly What's Update because of the Thanksgiving weekend. Go read! (Louis Wu 18:25:37 UTC) (permalink)

Red Feather Ranch
DocOctavius posted a new map he just finished for HaloCE; it's called Red Feather Ranch, and it's pretty gorgeous to look at. Really feels like the high hills of Colorado - as DocOc intended. The map's quite large... but the two bases are actually pretty close together. I don't know how it plays (haven't had time to try it out), but the forum post lists a server it's running on, so give it a shot! (Louis Wu 17:08:48 UTC) (permalink)

Who were these guys?
BOLL found an interesting feature on a later level - does this tell us anything about the origins of the Forerunner, or is this just a coincidence? (Again, spoiler issues for folks who haven't gotten here yet, but the Forerunner were a big part of the original Halo, as well.) (Louis Wu 16:50:40 UTC) (permalink)

Now THAT'S a gun.
I'm STILL not finished with the new HBO/HIH Tricks site (this holiday week threw a glitch in a lot of projects), but there was a vid posted to our forum this morning which is pretty cool, and worth seeing. Gil27 managed to film the handheld Scarab gun - a plasma rifle, hidden away on Metropolis, that fires Scarab bolts. (Given that the Scarab was seen in Halo commercials, it doesn't really seem to me that there is any spoiler material in this video... but you never know.) The video is 12.4 mb, DivX 5 format. What a deadly gun! (Louis Wu 15:02:36 UTC) (permalink)

News November 26 2004

Reasons to be thankful
TeamXbox gave thanks for some Xbox-related stuff recently... Halo 2 Multiplayer made number one on the lsit of ten items. Nice! Thanks, Cybrfrk. (Louis Wu 19:54:48 UTC) (permalink)

Banshee Boarding
JesusLove submitted a fun little film showing a nice run of banshee boarding in single player. If you haven't finished the Gas Giant section of the game, there are spoilers here. Otherwise, check this out; I tried it myself after watching this vid last night, and I must say, it's pretty darned easy to fall to your death in the attempt - so I'm impressed! QuickTime format, 9.4 mb. (Louis Wu 19:47:45 UTC) (permalink)

A way to circumvent the spoiler system
The last time I posted a spoiler-marked news item, I received a TON of email from people who have not figured out how to get their browser to properly set a cookie to view spoilers. There seem to be two groups with the problem: folks running MacOSX 10.2, and folks running Windows while using some sort of external firewall (Norton products are the most common culprits). Safari under OSX 10.2 is broken, with respect to certain types of cookies; we used to point people to a workaround, but stopped doing so after Panther was released (newer versions of Safari work fine with our spoiler system). You can still use this - clearly, you'll need to change a few settings - see the bottom of that page for details. For Windows users, your alternatives are less palatable; you can either live without spoiler posts, or you can tone down your internet security settings. Because neither of these are ideal, we've added a third choice: On the page that explains the spoiler settings, we've added links to a couple of pages that can show you all spoiler-blocked posts. If you're missing some news that you don't want to miss, and you can't make the spoiler system work on your computer, use these links to see the news normally blocked. Here's hoping this alleviates some of the pain! (Louis Wu 15:51:42 UTC) (permalink)

The Arbiter's Army
David "Chubigans" Galindo continues his cinematic style of video narrative with 'The Arbiter's Army', a new piece putting the Spec-Ops Covenant forces fighting on Gas Giant and Delta Halo in a noble light. Really nice work! It's available in WMP9 format (21.4 mb) at Mythica.org and bungie.org, or QuickTime format (17.5 mb) at Mythica.org and bungie.org. (Louis Wu 15:41:16 UTC) (permalink)

I think I saw Alvin.
Zero, from Dark-Oni.com, dropped a note about a pretty bizarre movie he made. He says "This a little joke/experiment I was working with, it's using some of the dialogue in cut scenes to make this funny techno beat, with cinematics." I'm not sure I get it. Epileptics beware. Vid is 16.1 mb, WMP9 format, hosted on Zero's connection. (Louis Wu 14:32:37 UTC) (permalink)

Payback
Halo Babies has put up a guest strip created by BOLL - that guy is everywhere. The link in the news description is a bit funky - use this one instead. (Louis Wu 14:26:24 UTC) (permalink)

Don't call her. She's busy.
Yet another comic tips a hat to Halo 2 - Aikida points out that blowing off your significant other for Halo 2 might not even be noticed. Thanks, BoinKlasik. (Louis Wu 01:11:05 UTC) (permalink)

A Tur.... what?
Speaking of overeating... Red vs Blue has posted a new Public Service Announcement; Indigestion 2004 is part political commentary, part cultural commentary, and all funny. Go watch! (Careful of the airsick bags...) First heads-up goes to Graham Cree. (Louis Wu 00:10:22 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2: The Movie
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving... or if you're outside the US, you did something else involving far too much food. We've just said goodbye to our guests, and I'm sitting down to take a look through today's mail. We've got a very nice new film from Jon Oakes - he melded video footage from Halo 2 with audio material from the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow trailer, to make a pretty slick little piece. 5.6 mb, QuickTime format, kindly hosted by KP on boomerica. Go watch, as you digest! (Louis Wu 00:01:03 UTC) (permalink)

News November 25 2004

Artwork now up
Yay... finally. I've made a dent on the Miscellaneous Art queue! There's still plenty more to post, but I've posted 30 pieces today; I'm giving thanks to the artists who've waited so long to see their work posted. And that will pretty much do it for the day... time to start cooking turkey, and waiting on guests. Happy Thanksgiving, all! (Louis Wu 15:10:09 UTC) (permalink)

Stinks to be 6.
Calvin and Halo take off on a new series of comics today - thanks, Blackstar! (Louis Wu 11:33:46 UTC) (permalink)

Bandwidth needs for match hosting
We'd received mail last week from some people that were having trouble hosting Major Clan matches on Xbox Live, even though they knew they had enough bandwidth to handle the job. Chris Butcher wrote out an explanation for the trouble recently, and posted it on Bungie.net - it seems that your ability to host clan matches requires that the network has a record of your bandwidth reliability. Read Chris's post for more info - it's pretty interesting! (It's got actual bandwidth requirements listed - which, in and of themselves, are fascinating... because they're roughly HALF of what a Halo PC game needs for hosting.) Thanks, deftangel. (Louis Wu 11:24:57 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 Info - again
In honor of Thanksgiving, Frankie has recycled the Halo 2 informational article originally posted on November 8, over at Bungie.net. I didn't keep a local copy of the first version, so it's hard to tell what, if anything, has changed... but at the very least, there are now nice graphics for the main sections. If you have questions about any aspects of Halo 2, this should be one of the very first places you look. Thanks, Wraith. (Louis Wu 11:17:42 UTC) (permalink)

More mirrors
eek has offered mirrors for both of Dave Galindo's (Chubigan's) videos from yesterday - he's got the QuickTime versions of the Halo Sights Tour and 'In the Front Lines' up on The Nothing. Thanks! (Louis Wu 11:13:52 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Walks the Walk (of Game)
We mentioned on November 4 that Halo had secured a spot on the Walk of Game, a new video game landmark in San Francisco. It took until yesterday for the inductees to be officially announced, however. Halo owns one of the four Favorite Game/Character spots. Thanks, pimpmeister. (Louis Wu 11:00:14 UTC) (permalink)

More Funnies
Web comics for you today:

• MacHall takes a shot at the Halo 2 ending (Clearly, if you haven't finished, this could be considered spoiler material) - Ian's also put up a great new desktop image using Heltana, his anime version of your favorite onboard AI. Thanks to many - Jon was first.
• The most recent Carzorthade (November 23) shows one of the downsides of Bungie's new attention to detail (thanks, Cameron Hassler).

News November 24 2004

Holo-Dek - Game Center of Tomorrow
Wow - I wish I had one of these in my town. Rampancy.net mentioned an article about a state-of-the-art gaming center in rural New Hampshire... it just opened, and Halo 2 is one of the games it offers. And wow, what a center. Here's hoping for a successful expansion! (Louis Wu 19:44:52 UTC) (permalink)

Movies worth watching.
Yesterday, Ducain pointed out a post on the High Impact Halo forum; it was made by Chubigans, and had links to a pair of movies. The newest one looked at Halo 2 combat from the viewpoint of your Marine buddies, the older one just checked out some of the cool scenery you run into throughout the game. Both show some spectacular filmmaking technique; great camera angles, nice choices of content. This is a guy to keep an eye on. (Warning - some of the content might be considered spoiler material. Not by me... but then, I've already received angry email about some of the news posts I've put up, so clearly my view is more lax than some.) The HIH forum is down right now, but that's okay, because the links in the original forum post are dead (from bandwidth overload). We've grabbed copies of both movies (they were in WMP9 format), and put them up on bungie.org and mythica.org servers - and made QuickTime versions, as well.

"In the Front Lines" (Halo Action Vid):

• WMP 9 format (27.4 mb) - mythica.org, bungie.org
• QuickTime format (21.5 mb) - mythica.org, bungie.org

Halo Sights Tour:

• WMP 9 format (14.1 mb) - mythica.org, bungie.org
• QuickTime format (11.1 mb) - mythica.org, bungie.org

This is a lot of byteage - if you can help with these, please send us mirror links, and we'll pass 'em along. Now go watch! Update: Thanks to the7thwar.com - we've got another mirror for the QuickTime version of the Sights Tour. (Louis Wu 19:32:39 UTC) (permalink)

They thought you'd play better, Stunt.
Hehe - Stuntmutt bemoans the audio shortcomings of Halo 2 in this blog entry - thanks, Rampancy.net. (Louis Wu 19:18:29 UTC) (permalink)

Makin' Money the Halo Way
John Kirkpatrick entered a Halloween contest at a local nightclub - his Master Chief costume won him some cash. Nice! (Louis Wu 19:16:05 UTC) (permalink)

Draino for your Base
Dinky points out an article at Gamespy that looks at the 'Top 10 First-Person Melee Weapons' - the Plasma Sword from Halo 2 is number 6. Update: 7he One { Ryan R } points out that he noted this article on our forum about a week ago - oops... (Louis Wu 19:13:24 UTC) (permalink)

The hysteria is building.
omnistegan points out yet another morning news special on the horrible effects of violent videogames on our youth. This one was CTV AM, a national morning show in Canada, and it interviewed the director of Minnesota-based National Institute for Media and the Family, who issued their 9th annual video game report card today. Once again, Halo is lumped in with games like GTA: SA. In the video segment (direct feed for folks who can't watch it in-page), he actually claims that a recent study (this week, apparently) shows that 'the anger center of the brain activates and the control center of the brain deactivates' - but he doesn't actually give any reference for this, and he doesn't discuss WHICH games were looked at. (He doesn't even really talk about what this MEANS.) I gotta say - guys like this activate MY anger center. If anyone actually has a reference to this particular study (if it does, in fact, exist, and is peer-reviewed science), I'd love to post it. Thanks! (Louis Wu 19:07:55 UTC) (permalink)

Canadian Halo 2 Tourney, Fan Fiction
Robb Hutzal points out a tournament in Calgary, Canada, to benefit the Calgary Children's Hospital; registration is $60 per 4-player team, gameplay will take place on January 28/29, 2005, and there's $5000 in cash and prizes on the line. More details can be found at the Maasai Clan website. While you're there, Robb suggests you visit the Chronicles section - another member of the clan has been writing Fan Fiction, and the entire collection can be found there. (Louis Wu 18:59:17 UTC) (permalink)

Sweet Or Salty?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes, though, 3 pictures can be worth one word. Take One One Se7en, for example. (I leave the word choice up to you.) (Louis Wu 18:07:23 UTC) (permalink)

Matchmaking Playlist Update
Yesterday, SketchFactor posted a note on the Bungie.net forums detailing changes that are being made to the Xbox Live Matchmaking Playlist - it looks like (if all goes well) these changes will occur shortly after the Thanksgiving break (meaning next week, for folks not familiar with US holidays). Some good info in there! Thanks, SYSTEMS. (Louis Wu 16:49:14 UTC) (permalink)

Notes from a master
Having trouble with that second hangar bay on Cairo Station on Legendary? Mike Miller has summarized some of the existing resources out there to help you through, as well as adding 3 of his own movies. Amazing to watch, they show me how far behind the curve I really am, reflex-wise... but that's okay, because the entire post, as a whole, gives me enough info to actually get through this area. (One small trick that Mike took advantage of in his first video, but didn't spell out in the post, is that if you leave grunts alive from a particular wave, the next wave of elites won't drop down; this can give you a small breather - just make sure you keep at least one grunt alive until you've killed all the elites from that wave. You can see him doing this at about 1:30 into the first movie.) (Louis Wu 16:11:36 UTC) (permalink)

An academic look at Halo 2
cuc pointed out a series of articles written by David Thomas, a journalist with the Denver post - all are well-written, but 3 are very similar to hundreds of other articles that we've mentioned. One is different - it's the article cuc mentioned first, and it takes a rather more thoughtful approach to Halo 2 and its attributes. I found it most interesting for the observation that 'Ludology drowns out narrative' - this concept pins down a problem I've been having trouble with since Halo 2's release; how can a game with a much richer story be LESS engaging than its predecessor? (Thomas' answer is simple; if you're too focused on the actual gameplay, you won't NOTICE the story - which leaves you with less of a feel for it.) Was Halo 2 too action-packed for the story to really penetrate? You decide. (Read the rest of the article, as well; there is some interesting speculation about how Halo 2 will affect the gaming industry as a whole.) Update: Actually more of a tangent... the same author of this article writes a revealing response to another item in today's news about violence in videogames. I (Ding) can't stand the hypocrisy! (Louis Wu 15:19:38 UTC) (permalink)

Halo at a discount
If you need a cheap copy of Halo 2, and you live in the US, you've got a shot on eBay; SYSTEMS pointed out an auction where someone tried it for 10 minutes (it was a gift) and put it on the shelf. Starting bid is $30, Buy it Now price is $40, and the auction ends in 15 hours or so (it was a 1-day thing to begin with). (Louis Wu 10:21:41 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Reading
Thirteen new pieces in the Fan Fiction section today - a bunch of poetry. Go read! (Louis Wu 09:55:56 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Babies Fan Submissions
Boatloads of new fan artwork over at Halo Babies today. Hopefully, if all goes well, today will be a windfall for misc-art lovers... we'll post our own update. Viewers win! For now, though, check out the dozen or so new images at HB.net. (Louis Wu 09:47:15 UTC) (permalink)

Babies, and bathwater, and all that stuff.
Wow. A a couple of different articles have come out recently about violence in video games, both including Halo 2 in with games like GTA: SA. As far as I can tell, they're not even about the same organizations... Gamespot reports about a 5-member coalition, including the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the National Council of Women's Organizations, Mothers Against Violence in America, Center for Advancement of Public Policy, Justice, and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, that is looking to harden the policies about selling Mature-rated games to minors. (It looks like they got their info from an ICCR Press Release - thanks, UNEXPECTED62.) Australia's The Age reports statistics from The National Institute on Media and the Family. (Thanks, Brett C.) Is a game that glorifies violence against women and the police really not any more dangerous to our children's worldview than a game that pits us against alien aggressors in an attempt to save our planet (and our race)? (Louis Wu 09:33:13 UTC) (permalink)

A Forum for Clan HBO
Okay, we've opened a forum specifically for Clan HBO on XBL - this forum is there for organization of clan matches, discussion of tourney rules, that sort of thing. It's not limited to just clan members; if you're interested in becoming a clan member, but didn't make it into the group before the Bungie-imposed 100 person limit, this forum might be a good place to discuss the formation of a second HBO-affiliated clan. It's a phpBB forum, which should make some people happy... but signatures are turned off, so many of those smiles might turn to frowns. Stop by, find friends, frag each other! (Louis Wu 02:47:40 UTC) (permalink)

News November 23 2004

The 12-Stab - er, Step Program
Is the plasma sword hazardous to your health? Maybe. Check this article at Aussie Xbox on ways to escape this deadly addiction. Thanks, Hep. (Louis Wu 20:19:27 UTC) (permalink)

New Group themes at Bungie.net
Dolbex points out that there are two new themes for groups over at the Seventh Column. I've switched the HBO Junkies to use the Mullins Halo 2 theme, and Dolbex has set Been Mawed to use the Column WW theme, so you can see them both in action. Nice! (Louis Wu 17:27:23 UTC) (permalink)

Yep, it's popular...
Major Nelson yanked the top 10 games on Xbox Live last week - guess what was in the number one spot? (Yeah, tough guess.) Thanks, Cybrfrk. (Louis Wu 17:23:53 UTC) (permalink)

My ears hurt.
Writing music is hard sometimes. Adapting music can be even harder - but often moreso on the listener. Dork Tower points the way NOT to take. Thanks, E1337. (Louis Wu 14:57:45 UTC) (permalink)

Alone
It's amazing what turns up when you're not looking. We got email from Jeremy Durkota about a machinima series known as 'Alone' - it was created by a Red vs Blue fan and promoted on the Sponsors vs Freeloaders site (they're a RvB fansite)... but when I visited a couple of days ago, I was surprised to find not one or two episodes, but two SEASONS. There are a dozen films, ranging from promos to commercials to actual episodes, almost all the work of one guy, Matt Spencer. Check out Echo Zulu Films! (Louis Wu 14:41:26 UTC) (permalink)

Giveaway ideas needed
Beowulf has a bunch of extra Halo schwag that he wants to part with - but he needs help deciding how. Stop by this forum thread and give him some contest ideas! You never know - it could be YOU receiving the goodies in the end. (Louis Wu 14:02:54 UTC) (permalink)

Halo in London
Narcogen, of Rampancy.net, recently traveled from his home in Kazakhstan to London, on business. While there, he met up with Stuntmutt, of One One Se7en fame. Stuntmutt's recollection of the evening is a bit... fuzzier than Narcogen's, but they're both fun reads. Nice to see Halo bringing far-flung compatriots together! (Or maybe it was just the beer...) (Louis Wu 13:59:41 UTC) (permalink)

They're still writing
I was wrong when I said that Halo 2 press was finished.

• Columbus Dispatch - Game summary/review (B) (thanks, Warbow)
• ABC News - Video Game Report Card (says Halo 2 is worse for your kids than Leisure Suit Larry - thanks, Chester)
• IGN PS2 - Will Dragon Quest VII own Halo 2 in first-day sales?
• Onlypunjab.com - Indian press release for Halo 2
• USA Today - is this the golden age of video gaming?
• San Francisco Chronicle - Halo 2 is at the top of a crowded field

News November 22 2004

Detailed Halo 2 Weapon Statistics
Shadow Panther has whipped up a couple of nice tables - Weapons Statistics and Weapons Rankings, based on rate of fire and damage done. If you're looking for the best dual-wield combo, you should read these! (Louis Wu 21:32:07 UTC) (permalink)

Lot's o' Desktops
In a valiant attempt to try and catch up a LITTLE bit with the backlogged artwork, I've posted 30 new desktops in the Wallpaper section, bringing us up to late October. Closer! (Louis Wu 20:17:31 UTC) (permalink)

Gun Ho.
You know about trading weapons with marines in single player, right? Today's One One Se7en looks at a potential pitfall. (Louis Wu 18:20:01 UTC) (permalink)

Web news
The flood of Halo articles is really ebbing - The Daily Texan Online (University of Texas at Austin) put up an article looking at why Halo was such a success, and how it's being followed by Halo 2. (Thanks, Unofingersalute.) (Louis Wu 18:16:48 UTC) (permalink)

Da Funnies
Online comics - there are a few.

• Ross Mills pointed out Blue Screen of Life, a five-page comic based loosely on the lives of the Uni students he lives with. (He didn't draw it, but he IS in it.) The first two pages are pretty devoid of Halo content.
• w00tness has put up 3 new strips since we last checked in (first is here) - looks like the Covenant might have met its match.
• VG Cats has a new Halo-related strip up today - it's a quick guide to Halo 2, and... well, go read it. (Thanks, Trunks.)

The Speed Runs Begin
Again - as a general rule, we're not hosting trick vids yet (the new site's not ready) - but High Speed Halo seems to be offline, and there have been a couple of speedruns of Outskirts done already. Juggertrout posted his run on our forum last night - but it was done on easy, and it's in WMP9 format, which is a problem for some people. Cody Miller submitted his own run - on Legendary, 4 seconds slower than Juggertrout's... and I gotta say, it's got style. 31.7 mb, QuickTime format. I still want to see a speedrun of Cairo Station... on Legendary. (Louis Wu 15:41:17 UTC) (permalink)

Active Camo - in a bedroom
Hehe - retsamolah was playing with After Effects, and managed to make himself go away. Movie is 1 mb, QuickTime format, no sound. Nice work! (Louis Wu 10:40:10 UTC) (permalink)

Clan HBO
Wow, I've been really remiss at dealing with this; sorry. We started up a Clan HBO on Xbox Live a bit before Halo 2 was available... but I've had no time to think about actually getting the whole membership thing off the ground. Maybe this huge delay will actually work out; many of the people who MIGHT have been interested in being clan members have probably gone out and joined other clans now in disgust. In any case, it's time; if you're interested in being a member of the HBO clan, shoot an email to clanrequest@bungie.org and I'll add you to the list. First come, first served, I guess; there are currently about 80 spots left. (Think of this as a mini-test; if you mail your request to a DIFFERENT email address, I'm going to assume you have trouble with simple reading comprehension, and I'm likely not going to bother adding you.) One thing to keep in mind; HBO has ALWAYS been about the fun of the game. If you're looking for a hyper-competitive clan... this ain't for you. I'm sure we're gonna have some decent players, and win games, and all... but the idea is to have a place to go to find like-minded people you enjoy playing with - that's always going to trump rank-h00ring for us. Update: Please - if you're going to send a request, do me two favors: remember to include your gamertag... and spell it right. Thanks. Update 2: Gah, the requests are pouring in WAY faster than they can be accomodated. We're currently at 100 members (the limit), though Bungie.net says 98, because two of the gamertags are having trouble. I'd love to accept everyone... but it won't let me. :( I haven't even figured out how we're going to organize matches - but maybe if we get something set up, we can build a second HBO team. (There were certainly enough people to fill a second 100-member clan...) Thanks, everyone - now get to playing! (Louis Wu 10:16:16 UTC) (permalink)

Sparkie - the artwork
New artwork at Halo Babies - a new fan strip and fan art from Sparkie (FANTASTIC style), plus new a new desktop and avatar. Go take a look! (Louis Wu 09:55:11 UTC) (permalink)

We Must Rebuild
Red vs Blue Episode 44 is now up over at RvB.com. I must say, I'm happy that Grif doesn't have a career in Hollywood... thanks, The Beaz. (Louis Wu 09:29:19 UTC) (permalink)

Turning a gamertag into an online pariah
Hehe - if you're going to try and manipulate game outcomes in Bungie's Optimatch system, you should be careful who you're playing before you start dropping. There are times when taking the loss would be preferable to making the wrong people angry. (Thanks, KP.) (Louis Wu 09:16:39 UTC) (permalink)

News November 21 2004

Rescuing never sounded so fun
SESpider has submitted episode 25 of Miniature Halo - and put in a request for a female model for the next section. The comic is in its normal place, and the recruitment request is here. (Louis Wu 20:33:50 UTC) (permalink)

Sunday Net News
A few articles that have popped up in the last day or so:

• Computer and Video Games - review, 10/10, plus 83 smallish screenshots (thanks, 3Suns)
• Springfield (MO) News-Leader - Halo's pretty good (I'm gonna stop posting links to these stories)
• South Bend (IN) Tribune - general interest Halo 2 story
• Carzorthade (net comic - Friday's strip was Halo 2-related - thanks, Cameron Hassler)

The press seems to be slowing down a bit. (Louis Wu 19:49:18 UTC) (permalink)

Writing fake news is stupid.
in what has to be a REALLY early April Fools joke, Xbox365 has put up an article about two youngsters (15 and 20) in the UK who allegedly turned the family's car "into an alien tank similar to the one found in the chilling game [Halo]", and then crashing it into the wall and dying. The mother of one of the boys is quoted as saying 'why don't the government step in and stop me from buying them for my children?' For the record - none of the facts in the story are verifiable by any other internet source. There's nothing in the Daily Mirror (the newspaper purported to be the source of this story), there's nothing in any other news source about Stalybridge... the barrister mentioned in the article (Edmund Woolf) has no phone listing whatsoever in the UK (seems rather suspicious for a barrister), there's no record of the 'similar story' youth (whose story of a Mario suit killing fellow students seems ridiculous beyond belief)... I suppose I'm posting this because I'd really hate to see this rumor gain any credence. (Louis Wu 19:07:54 UTC) (permalink)

Sleepy Sunday
Yesterday was spent in the house of Miguel Chavez (along with more than a dozen other Halo fanatics), playing Halo 2. For this reason, I'm a little behind on Halo news. (Luckily, it was a slow news day anyway.) I'd have caught up by this point... but family obligations will keep me from here for another few hours; check back later today for more Halo goodness. (I'd also love to write up some of yesterday's activities; there were some interesting things I learned. No promises, though, because I'm ALREADY way behind on stuff I've said I'd do.) (Louis Wu 14:18:08 UTC) (permalink)

News November 20 2004

Frankie interviewed on the Not So Late Show
Gah - I totally forgot to grab this this morning, or post it. :( clarksbrother interviewed Frankie yesterday on his local TV show (phone-in interview), and has made the audio available to the masses (almost 24 minutes, 8mb). Go grab it - then let him know what you think! I'm out for the rest of the day... (Louis Wu 16:49:19 UTC) (permalink)

Saturday Lit
Writers were pretty busy this week - 33 new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section, posted in the last 4 days. Go read! (Louis Wu 15:22:30 UTC) (permalink)

ToyFare scans at Joyride
Joyride Studios has posted scans from the latest issue of ToyFare magazine, a story focused on the Joyride Halo action figures. Thanks to Littlebigman for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:04:18 UTC) (permalink)

Mike Miller Looks at Legendary
I missed this when it was first posted, but found it after reading another forum post (thanks, Alex!) - Mike Miller sat down and wrote out a pretty sizeable review of gameplay in Halo 2 on Legendary. There's some really, really interesting info in this post. Tips on weapons combos, honest talk about what works, and what doesn't, gameplay-wise, discussion of improvements (and degradations) of various visuals - this one is well-thought-out, well-written, and comes from someone with impeccable credentials (if the name Mike Miller doesn't mean anything to you, search our movie database - or maybe our news database is better, since his most recent movies aren't yet catalogued). Check this one out! (Some spoilers for folks who haven't finished the game yet.) (Louis Wu 12:14:42 UTC) (permalink)

WaLKa's Tribute to Halo
WaLKa posted a Halo tribute vid on our forum, showing off some great Halo gameplay. The video is WMP9 format, 8 mb. I've posted a QuickTime version, as well, for thot want one (8.3 mb). Nice playing, coupled with nice timing... (Louis Wu 12:02:09 UTC) (permalink)

RvB set pieces Part VI
Hawaiian Pig has posted what he says is the last collection of RvB set pieces - posed hi-res screenshots to match scenes from RvB movies. There are four new shots in this collection - really nicely done. We're gonna miss these! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 11:44:01 UTC) (permalink)

WWU
Frankie's second Weekly What's Update got posted tonight... except it's not Frankie, it's Chris Butcher and Max Hoberman answering questions. They talk a lot about the matchmaking system, so if you have questions, go read it - they might have answers for you! (Louis Wu 04:59:31 UTC) (permalink)

News November 19 2004

The llama speaks - with a mic
bentllama has updated his weblog with a couple of common-sense items - if you're sending someone a Friends request on XBL, you might consider actually TALKING to them and telling them who you are and why you want to be their friend... and if you're without a headset mic, should you REALLY be playing in team games? (Well, that second one might be a little harsh... but they're both things to think about.) Just your friendly neighborhood pancake-lover, trying to make your Live experience less stressful! (Louis Wu 20:47:22 UTC) (permalink)

Stats tools look to ROCK - soon.
Whoa. Remember that Flash/Coldfusion contest we mentioned yesterday? The deadline had been today... but it's now extended two weeks, to December 3. One person taking advantage of the extra time is another Macromedia employee (not eligible for any prizes, but dang, I'm looking forward to the final product anyway) - Kevin Hoyt released a screenshot and a featurelist for Halo Reader 1.0, which looks AWESOME. Check it out! (Thanks, Mike.) (Louis Wu 20:19:31 UTC) (permalink)

Burnie - Better Than Gus
Great new interview with Burnie, of the Red vs Blue team up at Bungie.net right now. There's info about how far they've come, what's planned in the future, and, of course, discussion of how much better than Gus Burnie really is. There's also a brand-new movie (WMP format only, unfortunately). Go give it a read, and a viewing! Thanks to A of T for the first heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:47:46 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Weekly Update Archive - complete
Several people have pointed out to me that the fact that you could shoot grenades out of the air was posted in a Bungie Weekly Update. I went to our database and did a few searches - I tried 'grenade', and 'shoot', and 'plasma', but I couldn't find it. I realized that our database was a bit out of date (at least a month, in fact) - so I brought it up to the present. (I didn't include last week's Weekly What's Update - because that's a new feature, and will eventally have its own section - though I did search through it manually.) I must say - even with the updated version, I cannot find this reference folks speak of. If anyone has better information about where to find this quote, I'd be happy to credit them here. Thanks! Update: Thanks to Archaos46, who pinned down where this reference came from. It was the interview that Gamespy did with Tyson Green on November 1; page 2 contains this quote:

[...]it is now possible (albeit extremely difficult) to snipe and detonate them midair, but they are pretty true to the original aside from that.

Glad to get that out of the way! (Louis Wu 19:18:19 UTC) (permalink)

Will the dean catch on?
Nate Robinson pointed out an editorial cartoon he created for his university newspaper (The University of Washington Daily); I'm wondering if that's Sep7imus' door there... (Nah. He doesn't teach at UW.) Love the priorities! (Louis Wu 18:02:14 UTC) (permalink)

Sales records, funny reviews and auctions
Halo 2 has set another sales record - 104,000 units in its first week of sales in Australia (beating GTA: San Andreas, which sold about half that its first weekend). This article at Aussie Xbox (thanks, Gossip) said the previous 1-week record was 68,000 units (but doesn't say what game). However you slice it, Microsoft is coming out on top with this one. In other news: This review at the Indiananapolis Star (4 stars, no idea what the scale is) deserves recognition for a nice turn of phrase; they're discussing the controls of Halo 2, and how similar they are to those for Halo - but they say "newcomers shouldn't fret because addiction will lead to a mastery of the controls." Love it! And there's a rather bizarre auction over at eBay right now; Halo 2 LE for $1000. The seller is not trying to fool you - he TELLS you you're getting a $54.99 game: "Please be prudent in your search for Halo 2. They are available EVERYWHERE! But, if you want to throw away your money, please throw it at me." (Louis Wu 16:50:09 UTC) (permalink)

The Maw, through the eyes of a soldier
Part X, the final segment, of "As Real as a 'Survivor' Elimination", the military analysis of Halo's gameplay, has now been posted at the Junkyard. Sounds like they're not completely done with the topic, though - there's a 'big announcement' coming next week. (Louis Wu 16:30:56 UTC) (permalink)

Inpunstible.
Stuntmutt has not one strip today, but TWO. There's his regular One One Se7en, which continues the study of the Drone, but there's also a Guest Halo Babies strip over at halobabies.net. Too many puns spoil the... something. (Louis Wu 16:21:01 UTC) (permalink)

Wha...?
You can shoot grenades out of the air? As Neo would say... Whoa. (Louis Wu 03:48:14 UTC) (permalink)

Net Reading
Quick netnews listing before I head out tonight...

Reviews

• The Adrenaline Vault (5/5 - thanks, Target4Hire)
• Stuff (New Zealand) - No score, but 'best game on the Xbox'

Articles

• The Economist - The Halo Effect (looking closely at hype claims - thanks, D. Nadal)
• Kansas CIty Star - Halo 2: The Real Deal (Halo lives up to hype)
• Straight.com - info on how to enter a contest that pairs band The Music up with Xbox Canada - Halo and The Music schwag on the line (Actual contest site is here)
• The New Haven Register (my local paper) did an article... on me, I guess. (If the online access bugs you, a scan of the dead tree edition is here.)

I gotta say, I'm really loving bugmenot.com - I used to pass over subscription-only articles, but now I'm posting them. Visit if you need help getting in. (Louis Wu 03:39:44 UTC) (permalink)

Maybe he needed a ruby.
MereCatfish decided to write up his OWN Halo 2-buying experience. See how many times you ask the screen "what... are you an idiot?" (I think I got to 6.) (All in fun, Mere - but man, you DID do some silly things.) (Louis Wu 03:22:20 UTC) (permalink)

King of the Hill
Oddworld wrote an article on the amazing first-day success of Halo 2 for his school's newspaper, the Carnegie-Mellon University Tartan (actually, for an included arts/style guide, Pillbox). We've put it online here so everyone can read it. (Louis Wu 03:16:14 UTC) (permalink)

More Strategy Guide Freebies
Last week, we pointed out a 12-page sampler of the Piggyback/Prima Strategy Guide (it's the same book, on both sides of the Atlantic - the Piggyback team wrote this, Prima is marketing it in the US). Tonight, Frankie put up a note that includes direct download links for another few pages from Bungie, and a link to still MORE pages at Prima's site. Go get 'em! (Nothing's the same as actually HAVING the book... but it's a great start; you can download 22 of the 226 pages right now!) (Louis Wu 03:13:21 UTC) (permalink)

Art. Real Art.
Cool new schwag at the Bungie Store - a signed, limited edition (500 total) mylar print of Lorraine McLees' awesome Halo 2 MC; 8x10 for $25. Get yours today! (Thanks, Shishka.) (Louis Wu 03:07:58 UTC) (permalink)

Clan Stuff - Don't Worry, Be Happy
If you logged onto XBL today, and your clan status wasn't anywhere to be seen, don't panic. They're working on it. No data is lost; you don't need to rebuild your clan. Read Sketch's note over on Bungie.net for more details. (Louis Wu 00:25:29 UTC) (permalink)

We demand a rematch. In a couple of months.
Well, except for LYING about the score on the first game [Update: he fixed this], the writeup Frankie posted over on Bungie.net about the whupping we took last night at their hands is relatively accurate (if a bit depressing). Go read about it - but realize I'm not nearly as old as Frankie makes me out to be. And the real reason Bungie won is because bentllama completely reversed his normal teamkilling behavior and actually went after his opponents, for once. (He shot me in the MIND a whole lot of times.) (Louis Wu 00:19:16 UTC) (permalink)

News November 18 2004

Object Lesson
Thursday isn't quite over, as far as our news page goes... and Blackstar has squeaked in a new Calvin and Halo under the wire. I hope my kids aren't as smart as Calvin... (Louis Wu 22:54:48 UTC) (permalink)

Multiplayer Info Mission
Dolbex points out that MLGPro.com is collecting questions for Bungie about multiplayer. Time is of the essence; the list will be sent off in about 24 hours. If you've got a question - go ask! (Louis Wu 18:44:01 UTC) (permalink)

Of Halo 2, and Halo
Some folks have noticed I haven't written a Halo 2 review yet. Some folks have wondered why. Part of the reason is that my only complete experience with the game was a marathon run-through in October - I had been given a single day to finish the campaign mode, and I wasn't sure how long that was going to take; I didn't 'stop to smell the roses', so when all was said and done, I didn't feel comfortable writing an entire review based on this experience. I've been slowly making my way through the game again on Heroic - I don't have that much time for doing this, so I'm only about halfway through. When I'm finished, THEN I'll write a review. In the meantime, though, there are some interesting thoughts from pretty respected community members - Ducain started a thread this morning discussing his unhappiness with his own feelings toward the game. There's some thought-provoking stuff in there. (Please - do NOT turn this into a flamefest. You're welcome to disagree, agree, whatever... but keep the discussion civil. Thanks!) (Louis Wu 17:11:44 UTC) (permalink)

Learning to Fly
We've said, over and over again, that we're in the process of building a rather feature-complete Halo 2 Tricks site, as a joint project with High Impact Halo. Because of that, until it's actually finished, we're generally sending folks to HIH with their tricks (anything collected there will be added to the new site once it's finished)... but Dark Helmet posted a trick so cool recently I COULDN'T pass it up. Many folks have been playing around with the Energy Sword glitch; it's been known for almost a week that if you start a lunge attack you can't finish, your sword will allow you to 'fly' to the target - WHEREVER that target is, whenever you get the chance to attack. There are a bunch of multiplayer movies showing this already (a nice one was made by Ducain and crew yesterday)... but Dark Helmet has gone them one better - he's done it in Campaign mode, solo. The first vid was a teaser; it was 3:12 long, 13.7 mb large, and didn't explain ANYTHING. Yesterday, he released a how-to vid, showing exactly how to do this at home. The video is 8:38 long, 41.1 mb, and pretty amazing to watch. Because it's WMP9 format, I've gone ahead and whipped out a QuickTime version for folks who need it - this one needs to be seen. (QT is 27.9 mb.) People complained that destructible vehicles would lessen the jumping you could do in Halo 2... Dark Helmet proves they're all full of hot air. (Louis Wu 15:51:57 UTC) (permalink)

We can stab it with our steely knives...
Ain't It Cool News has yet another take on the 'Halo as a movie' rumor - this one dropping a whole bunch of big names in the movie biz. It's STILL just a rumor... but there's Ridley Scott's name again... Thanks, Nicework. (Louis Wu 13:53:51 UTC) (permalink)

Spotty Herbert knows all
Stuntmutt and c0ld vengeance braved the cold streets of London last week to get their hands on copies of Halo 2 (and some good curry). The writeup is quite well-done; if you're not used to British slang, a couple of bits might have to be guessed at, but it's not hard at all to put yourselves in their shoes. Stuntmutt pointed this blog entry out on our forum. (Louis Wu 13:48:24 UTC) (permalink)

If it's not one thing...
You fix some stuff, you break other stuff. There's a forum thread over at bungie.net where people are screaming about new-found lag in XBL Halo 2 matches. I know nothing about the specifics of yesterday's autoupdate - but it seems to me that if you decrease the testing you do to find the best match, bandwidth-wise, for a game (which HAS to be the case; after all, the total time taken has dropped dramatically), you MUST be allowing for more leeway in the matches found... which means you've increased the opportunity for things like lag. If we get any more specific/technical info about this subject from anyone at Bungie, we'll be sure to pass it along! (Thanks, Wraith.) Update: Chris Butcher has replied in the original thread, explaining the mechanics of the change in the matchmaking code; the search for 'best host' is unchanged, but the search for 'best game' (which happens first) has been greatly speeded up by expanding the number of games being seeded. According to Chris, this means there's nothing that was changed that should manifest as laggier games; his best guess is just that last night was worse than usual for general internet connectivity, but they're going to be closely monitoring the situation for the next few days. (Thanks, Sketch.) (Louis Wu 13:39:07 UTC) (permalink)

Flash/CF stats challenge
Very cool. Mike Chambers, an employee of Macromedia, set up a contest for programmers using Macromedia products: come up with a Flash/Coldfusion-based application that makes the best use of the Halo 2 stats data available from Bungie.net, win cool schwag. The contest ends tomorrow - we heard about it because Mortalis Deus sent us a link to the website of Eric Dolecki, who's been working on an entry - you can find a couple of blog entries (this one has a preview of where he was going, and this one shows off his final entry) with info. If you want to enter, there's still time! (Louis Wu 13:12:58 UTC) (permalink)

Net News
A few Halo articles from around the web:

• The Hornet (Fullerton College) - Halo is the coolest game ever.
• Philadelphia Enquirer - Halo mostly lives up to the hype
• Dallas Morning News - Choosing the M-rated game for YOUR kid (registration required - use Bugmenot.com for a login)

Tell the world.
Deathwhore pointed out a focused Cafe Press site (his, I think) where you can express your love for Halo in the real world. Pimp your ride! (Louis Wu 11:41:12 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Matchup.
Forbes did a Monday Matchup this week comparing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with Halo 2. It's basically a slideshow of competing facts about the two games. Interesting numbers! (There's also a small poll on the main page, asking which game you think is more impressive - Halo's winning by a 2:1 margin.) Thanks, Pete. (Louis Wu 11:37:17 UTC) (permalink)

Halo on your phone
D_BRINGER mentions that his website now has a WAP component; if you have a WAP-enabled phone, you might want to check this out. (Louis Wu 11:33:21 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 Soundtrack in the top 200
Buried deep in an article about how many albums Eminem is selling is a tiny note mentioning that Halo 2's soundtrack debuted on the Billboard charts this week at number 185. Not bad! Thanks, Finchmeister. (Louis Wu 11:31:30 UTC) (permalink)

Tour Bungie, Help Kids
Gabe, of the Penny Arcade team, posted a note about a charity dinner for Child's Play, an organization devoted to bringing games to sick kids. One of the auction prizes: "Tour of Bungie - How does a monster game like Halo 2 get made? This is your chance to meet the developers and see where the magic happens." Nice! Thanks to Bonekin, who was first with the heads-up. (Louis Wu 11:27:37 UTC) (permalink)

What it's like backstage
IGN was along for the ride on the Backstage Pass sweepstakes a couple of weeks ago - the writeup can now be found on their site. Looks like it was fun! (Louis Wu 11:20:46 UTC) (permalink)

Pwned.
Clan HBO (well, a ragtag collection of us, anyway) just played Bungie in the second weekly Halo Humpday Challenge... and got toasted. We were doing okay, actually, after a rocky start, on our favorite gametype (Beaver Creek Shotties-only CTF), but Sketch decided it had been running too long, and ended the game. Our second and third attempts were dismal failures, and we'll be headed home with our tails between our legs. I'm sure there'll be some suitably humiliating writeup by morning over on B.net. I'm going to bed now, to avoid thinking about it. (Louis Wu 03:34:21 UTC) (permalink)

Eat the Path
Thanks to the many people who wrote in to point out an article on HowStuffworks where Chris Butcher goes into detail about Halo 2's AI. Take a look behind the curtain and see exactly what's going through those Elites' heads as they roast you with their dual plasma rifles. (Count Zero 01:44:37 UTC) (permalink)

News November 17 2004

Halo 2 Update
The update we mentioned earlier has now been formally announced on Bungie.net - with a list of all the fixes it presents. If you've got Xbox Live, connect and you'll get the autoupdate. (If you don't... well, you won't. The writeup has suggestions on how to get this update if you DON'T have a broadband connection - though most of the enhancements are online-related, anyway.) (Louis Wu 20:18:38 UTC) (permalink)

A Grand Don't Come For Free
Interesting - Mike Scott found a suit of Halo armor on eBay - starting bid is $1000 (considerably cheaper than Nightmare Armor's offerings). There's a bunch of info about how it was made on the page, as well. Auction ends in a bit under a week... take a look! (Louis Wu 18:36:06 UTC) (permalink)

Droning On.
Stuntmutt looks at a new Halo 2 character, and speculates on its origin, in today's One One Se7en... (Louis Wu 17:28:12 UTC) (permalink)

Documentary Press Release
It's taken a week - but there's finally a news release about the Collector's Edition DVD that's bundled with the Limited Edition version of Halo 2 that focuses on the filmmaker, Film Oasis. Go read it - and learn a little bit more about the team behind this documentary. (Louis Wu 17:10:46 UTC) (permalink)

Update coming soon?
Hmm. TotalVideoGames.com is reporting that Bungie has announced an Xbox Live update for Halo 2 to be released around noon pacific time. I can't find any record of this announcement on Bungie's site... but this ROUGHLY corresponds to the timeframe given last week by Bungie, so maybe I'm just being blind. Update: looks like TVG got their info from a Major Nelson post on the Xbox.com forums. Thanks, Ethan Edwards. (Louis Wu 17:06:00 UTC) (permalink)

Halo and Goodbye
Gossip pointed out a new Halo-related webcomic over at Walking Is Still Honest - I think I've played with those guys. (Louis Wu 16:54:28 UTC) (permalink)

SpikeTV's VGA 2004
Last year, Spike TV hosted their Video Game Awards, and our forum was pretty underwhelmed, even though Halo 2 and Halo PC both won awards. Well, they're coming around again, and SpikeTV.com is currently accepting votes for various candidates - Halo 2 is up for Game of the Year, Best Soundtrack, Best First Person Action, and Best Graphics, and Jason Jones is up for Designer of the Year. The Awards will air on Spike TV on December 14. Thanks, Spike. (Louis Wu 16:51:45 UTC) (permalink)

Halogen: work continues
Dispraiser writes that Halogen, the Command and Conquer-based Halo mod, has begun to release skinned renders of some units and buildings. Take a look. (There's also a promo movie for download, if you'd like to see what some of the models look like all the way around.) (Louis Wu 16:42:31 UTC) (permalink)

What a difference a week makes...
Wow. Remember when Halo 2 was second only to The Legend of Zelda on GameRanking's all-time best list? That slot is now held by Half-Life 2... and Halo has fallen to 11th. OUCH! (Louis Wu 15:48:00 UTC) (permalink)

Around the net
Morning articles:

• Wired - unsatisfying ending
• Mechroneal.com - Midnight Madness writeup
• Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun - Halo 2 is worth the hype
• USA Today - Halo 2 highlights gap between old and young
• Electronic Toybox - Seattle Fanfest writeup

Also, thegamecouch.com reviewed Halo 2... and liked it. (96/100.) (Louis Wu 10:54:06 UTC) (permalink)

Caaaaaaaake...
Eric 'Siva' Salzman, who's posted some pretty nice desktops in our Wallpaper section, celebrated his wife's birthday a few days ago with a Halo-themed cake (front and side views). (The X is for 'extraordinaire' - a fine epithet for a wife.) Siva says, "This is the first time I've tried to incorporate Halo into food and it was fun!" Go ahead - try this at home! (I'm only wishing I got to this on the 14th, so Mrs Siva X could have had another birthday present...) (Louis Wu 10:04:22 UTC) (permalink)

Once upon a time the end.
Confused by the Halo 2 storyline? Can't tell who's on which side? Jillybean wrote a really short (less than 400 words) summary of events, pinning down the key story points. It should go without saying that this contains pretty major spoilers, and shouldn't be read until you're done with the game. (Louis Wu 09:57:52 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie's Vehicle Guide
Bungie has also released a new Guide - this one is for Vehicles in Halo 2. It's pretty much the vehicle pages out of the manual, with an added 'Tips' paragraph for each vehicle, explaining how best to use them (or fight them). I can't even tell you who was first - my mailbox is FULL of notes about this one. (Louis Wu 03:24:04 UTC) (permalink)

HaloPC 1.06 Update (not automatic)
Bungie has released the 1.06 update for HaloPC, which fixes a rare but nasty bug; the auto-updater won't work for this, so visit the web page and follow the instructions. (There is also a download for the 1.06 Dedicated Server.) Ross Mills was first out of the gate with this. (Louis Wu 03:18:33 UTC) (permalink)

News November 16 2004

Video Games Grow Up
Peter Marks pointed out that today's Talk of the Nation program on National Public Radio contains a segment on video games, and how they're evolving into an entertainment medium that's not just for kids any more. The talk (not surprisingly) involves Halo 2 to a great degree. If you can't find a station playing this near you right now, the audio will be available online after 6 pm Eastern (3 pm Pacific) today. (Louis Wu 20:50:19 UTC) (permalink)

Ten new desktops
Chipping away at the artwork backlog - another 10 desktops up today in the Wallpaper section (dating from early October). We'll get there! (Louis Wu 20:38:13 UTC) (permalink)

It's just money, right?
User Friendly's comic today is Halo-related... and MAN, does that strike a chord. Thanks, E1337 (Louis Wu 17:51:08 UTC) (permalink)

A year in the making... done!
Last week, Chris Bryan finished his labor of love - a self-made Master Chief suit, wearable and gorgeous! I didn't get the pictures up when they came in; I'm sorry about that. They're up now, though - go check out the last 3 steps! He did an amazing job. (Louis Wu 17:45:55 UTC) (permalink)

Sentinel Released
We don't normally post submitted press stuff as-is, but after looking over Grenadiac's summary of Sentinel, there wasn't anything I wanted to pull, so here's the announcement in his words:

After several months in development, Kaptain Kommie and Grenadiac have released Sentinel, an advanced server browser/manager for HaloPC and HaloCE. Some of its advanced features include: mapfile and bitmap verfication to prevent cheating, mod registration, automated downloading/installation of new maps, server hammering for full servers, buddy list, player search, easier dedicated server setup, support for mIRC commands when joining/quitting or while playing on a server.

• Screenshot 1
• Screenshot 2
• Download Thread

The origin of a REALLY famous bit
Nico, of Red vs Blue and Trocadero fame, was listening to his Myth II soundtrack... and suddenly recognized a riff. "I KNOW WHERE THE HALO THEME CAME FROM!" he yelled. Listen for yourself. This is a 24-second snippet (378K) from the Myth II Epilogue, a 4 and a half minute dirge that beautifully finishes the game. (Louis Wu 15:21:31 UTC) (permalink)

Forum sampling
Our forum is flying past these days at the speed of light - it's hard to keep up. (We're still averaging over 1000 posts/day since we reopened.) A few random posts that were worth a quick mention:

• Hawaiian Pig points out another one of those 'Which Character are You?' games
• serpx points out an easy way to collect NPC dialogue, for recorders
• XLR8 brings word of a Bungie.net thread with a funny analogy
• Captain Spark bundles up the first 70 dialogue snippets he's recorded from Halo 2 and makes them available. (This is temporary - but don't fret; if you miss them, they'll be in our soon-to-open Halo 2 Dialogue Databank before long!)
• SIDEARM finds a nice BBC article on Craig Mullins

There are thousands more - we're working on a longer-term solution to the information overload, but for now, you'll just have to muddle through. All the big names from the Silver Age of Tricksterism - Frogblast, Dark Helmet, xbill, dozens more - are back and messing with the innards of Halo 2, finding new stuff every day. (I'm really hoping we have a solution for THIS, as well, pretty soon - the sheer quantity of new content is daunting.) (Louis Wu 15:05:05 UTC) (permalink)

Life on the Edge
Shadow, of Sector 7 Halo, wrote up his Midnight Halo 2 experience - go read. Thanks, Wolfy. (Louis Wu 14:42:14 UTC) (permalink)

Games that Should Have Been
Team Overkill sent in a forum thread from a Nintendo forum - you really gotta wonder about the people who take this stuff at face value. (This is being posted for its humor value, not to incite people to start a platform war - go look, laugh, leave. Try not to be annoying.) (Louis Wu 14:39:14 UTC) (permalink)

GI stirs the pot
There's been a lot of talk about a 'Halo 3' around the net; Bungie denied that anything will be coming out on February 9th, but the stories continue. This month's Game Informer has an article in their 'Loose Talk' (rumors) section claiming that Bungie is "already hard at work on the series' third iteration on Xbox 2." Seems feasible... but again, this is speculation only. There is NO official word from anyone at Bungie. (Thanks, Hardrive-116.) (Louis Wu 14:35:20 UTC) (permalink)

Kubrick Figure
Several people have pointed out a page on the Japanese Xbox.com site that seems to be about the Halo 2 Kubrick figure; if anyone wants to summarize what the page is about, we'll add it here. (Thanks, enigM@.) Update: Kaboris translated this nicely on our forum. (Thanks, Kaboris!) Apparently, it's a contest open to anyone who bought one of the original 30,000 Limited Edition copies in Japan. (If you bought your copy outside Japan, you're not eligible.) 4000 of these people will get a mini-Kubrick figure; register your serial number to enter. Winners will be notified by mail around January 18, with prizes to be distributed in February. Nice! (Louis Wu 14:30:41 UTC) (permalink)

Playin' with the stars
cptn mexico found an article that adds another player to the Game With Fame promotion (we posted the Willis McGahee press release last week) - guitarist Ben Burnley from Breaking Benjamin will be participating tomorrow night, 9 pm Eastern. Go play! (Louis Wu 14:28:50 UTC) (permalink)

Reviews and news
Last Thursday, BOLL sent us a note about a Halo review at Tom's Hardware; they didn't actually have the review up, they had a page that said 'we're not sleeping until this review is finished! Keep refreshing this page!' Every day, I went back. Nothing. Finally, today, Zaknafein pointed out that they'd put a review up - at a different URL! Doh. (If the URL is anything to go by, they posted it on the 13th.) There's no overall rating - but they loved the audio and gameplay, liked the graphics, weapons, A.I., and story, were okay with the vehicles, and thought the level design needed work. Other reviews around the net today:

• MLGPro.com has a bunch of fan reviews posted. Pro players will weigh in later this week.
• The Edinburgh Student Newspaper believes Halo is just shooting Teletubbies, and isn't very good.

And geez, while we're here, let's get the Halo 2 press from around the net out of the way:

• BYU NewsNet - release coverage
• Paly Voice - release coverage
• Daily Times (Philadelphia) - Halo 2's popularity
• IGN - A Second Look (Editors revisit their thoughts)
• GamesIndustry.biz - Halo 2 has sold more than a quarter million units in the UK in its first week (3rd fastest selling title on record)
• The Daily Northwestern (Illinois) - silly article about people having Halo stolen (among lots of other stuff)

I'm sure there'll be more as time goes on. (Louis Wu 14:25:40 UTC) (permalink)

Competition Halo 2
h4l0m4st3r noticed a Halo 2 Challenge happening at 64 EB Games around the US on December 4th - you're playing to win a new Dodge Dakota. njhalo pointed out a $1,000 New Jersey Halo/Halo 2 (and some other games) tourney in Dover, NJ. And Dry Ice sent word that the Worst Halo 2 tourney (we mentioned it last month) has results from rounds one and two now posted (round 3 is next weekend). (Louis Wu 14:04:46 UTC) (permalink)

OMG IT WON'T DIE
Gamespy pulled the Half-Life 2/Halo 2 grudge match off the front page yesterday, and at the time, Halo 2 was down by about 800 votes. I thought, okay, that's the end of this one. BUT NO! They've LEFT IT RUNNING, and people still want us to tell you to vote again. Man. Will you guys just go win this stupid thing, so it can go away? (Halo 2 is still down, but only by about 600 votes right now.) (Louis Wu 13:16:14 UTC) (permalink)

Give him your wallet. Now.
BOLL has found (with the help of some new modding tools from TF6) a pretty cool unused character in Halo 2. Personally... I'm pretty darned happy this one never made it in... they seem NASTY. (Louis Wu 02:26:18 UTC) (permalink)

It Ain't So, Joe.
For the record: word from Bungie is that the 'Coming February 9th' rumor is exactly that - a rumor. A baseless, false, totally untrue rumor. I won't pass along the exact wording... but it was pretty clear in its meaning. Someone's pulling your leg. And by 'your', I mean the internet - even Slashdot was promoting this puppy. (Louis Wu 02:03:30 UTC) (permalink)

News November 15 2004

The Poll That Just Won't Die
Bah. Gamespy STILL hasn't finished up that Grudge Match between Halo 2 and Half-Life 2, and right now, Halo 2 is losing by 900 votes. They should be turning it off pretty soon, so visit Gamespy's front page, and vote, so folks can stop telling me to post this. (Louis Wu 22:48:47 UTC) (permalink)

Out of the Terrible Twos
Whoops! I've got to head out, but KP reminded me that today is the third anniversary of the release of Halo - a good day to be happy about! (It's also the second anniversary of Xbox Live - and wow, what a long way THAT has come!) Happy Birthday, Halo! (As for all the other news that's building up - tonight. I'll get to a bunch of it tonight. I hope.) (Louis Wu 20:28:23 UTC) (permalink)

February 9?
Whoa. This is FIRMLY in the rumor category, until I see some evidence, but Slashdot is reporting that there's a note at the very end of the credits screen that states 'Coming February 9th' - if you finish on Legendary. Utopian Gamers, where /. got their info, suggests that it's a heads-up for Halo 3 in 3 months... I have trouble believing that. What it DOES mean (if it's even really there), though, is anybody's guess at this point. More if and when we learn something. (Louis Wu 18:50:16 UTC) (permalink)

I wonder what V2 looked like?
A certain hippo-lover tipped us off to a new product from Motorola, coming soon... MAN that interface looks familiar. I know I've seen it somewhere before... (Louis Wu 18:42:33 UTC) (permalink)

Santa Claude.
That darn Stuntmutt... always sniping. One One Se7en gets it wrong today, though - I'm not particularly jolly. Just ask the people who email me. (Louis Wu 14:59:38 UTC) (permalink)

Halo/XBL egg
Hehe - we're holding off on most tricks/glitches/eggs until the joint HIH/HBO site is up and running (in the meantime, remember to submit your stuff to High Impact Halo!), but this one was too good to let go. Mike Basus was looking at his HDTV screen, waiting for matches to start in Live, and noticed that one of the lines of what looks like alien text is actually the lower half of text in the Halo font. He's decoded this much so far:

"DAVID CANDLAND IS THE GREATEST UI DESIGNER EVER"
[then there are 13 characters he doesn't understand:] "LIVEINTREEISI"
"HIS WORK IS ASTOUNDING AND HE IS VERY HUMBLE"

I gotta wonder - did Dave put this in, or was someone yanking his chain? Nice find, Mike! Update: Confirmation from a close relative of Dave's clears up that this was, in fact, added by Dave, and as late as October, had not been noticed by the majority of Bungie employees. The best kind of egg! (Louis Wu 10:25:55 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: The Movie - Again
Uriel points out an article on the German SCIFI-NEWS site; it talks about a Halo movie to be announced in Variety this January. Ed Harris as Keyes, Samuel L. Jackson as Johnson, with Ridley Scott directing... they even have storyboards that haven't been seen yet (unless they come from the Art of Halo book, which hasn't arrived here yet...). Uriel points out that there are plenty of factual errors in the text, and that this is all RUMOR until confirmed somewhere - but man, it's a rumor that just won't die, no matter how often Bungie says 'we don't like the idea of a Halo movie'. (Louis Wu 10:20:24 UTC) (permalink)

Reviews - they're not so happy
Reviews this morning:

• Daily Trojan (USC student paper) - general review (no score) - thanks, Annie M.D. Update: They did, in fact, give it a rating (though it's not displayed online): 4.5/5.
• Thread (New Zealand) - 4.5/5
• The Battalion (Texas A&M student paper) - no score, but 'just more of the same'

There's also a multiplayer overview from the Daily Trojan - thanks, Annie M.D. (Louis Wu 10:14:04 UTC) (permalink)

Glitching for fun and profit
Halo GT has put together another film - GT #11 starts out with some tank launching off shields, and gets to the top of the world. There are also a bunch of funny glitches on the second half of the film. Some stuff I haven't read about yet. 30 mb, QuickTime format, available from HaloGT.com. (Louis Wu 10:04:40 UTC) (permalink)

Xbox.com - a hotbed of new content
Wow... the folks at Xbox.com have been busy. TONS of new articles...

• Spotlight on Halo 2 sound
• The Sins of Halo (what it's made people do)
• Book Report: First Strike
• New and Improved (what's better in vehicles and weapons)
• A Smarter AI
• Rev Your Engines (a look at vehicles)
• Double Your Guns (dual-wielding guide)
• The Backstage Pass page has FINALLY been updated with winner info
• Minor Spoilers (story synopsis - there ARE spoilers here)
• Launch coverage: New York at 3 pm, 6 pm, 7 pm, 9 pm, overall, Seattle coverage, LA coverage

Thatsalotta articles. (Louis Wu 09:57:48 UTC) (permalink)

Halo brew at the Norwegian launch
Rhox, from HaloNorge.com, points out a set of pictures he took at the Norwegian launch party last week. Funky chairs! (Louis Wu 09:35:56 UTC) (permalink)

News November 14 2004

A little about recent problems
Folks have been noticing some glitches on our website recently; we've been getting a LOT of mail. The explanation is pretty technical - but for those interested, I've written it up. Check the 'Read Why' link to the right. If you continue to send mail about these problems without reading this, we'll likely just send you the link; we're not trying to be rude, we're trying to deal with the astounding quantity of email that comes in while still actually maintaining the site. Thanks! (Louis Wu 22:24:25 UTC) (permalink)

More Reading is More Gud.
Once again, in the crush of Halo 2 news, regular sections of this website are being neglected. I wish I had a solution for that. I've processed the Fan Fiction queue (languishing for almost a week) - another 20 pieces are up for your perusal. Hopefully, artwork is coming soon. (Louis Wu 21:26:12 UTC) (permalink)

Halo around the net
A few new articles around the net for you; IT AsiaOne wrote up an overview of the game, and Alexis visited an I Love Bees training session in Illinois last week - his writeup is over at Rampancy.net, with pictures added later. Reading is gud! (Louis Wu 20:39:13 UTC) (permalink)

TruthMedia, indeed.
Something Awful reviewed Halo 2 - sort of. Like much of the content on SA, this is a total farce. If you read it, don't let your blood boil... it's TRYING to piss you off. Some of the comments are quite funny. gspawn was the first to notice. (Louis Wu 20:33:02 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Fanfest pics
Marsguy posted a set of pictures he took at last week's Halo 2 Fanfest hosted by Bungie. Nice shots! Comments can go back on our forum. (Louis Wu 20:26:05 UTC) (permalink)

Fan reviews at HP
HaloPlanet has a nice collection of fan-written reviews, broken handily into spoiler- and non-spoiler-laden categories. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 17:18:47 UTC) (permalink)

Tricks, and what's gonna happen with 'em.
We've been flooded with submissions for tricks, glitches, eggs, and the like, and we plan to open a section to house all these goodies in the not-too-distant future. The problem is... it's not coded yet. However, this doesn't mean you're out of luck if you're looking for hosting for your tricksterism. I'm proud to announce an upcoming joint project between High Impact Halo and HBO - two of the best-known names in Halo oddness are teaming up to bring you the most complete tricks site on the web. While the new home is built, you should post your tricks on the HIH forum - Ducain will grab them from there and add them to the main HIH site. As soon as the new home is built, we'll import all existing Halo 2 tricks into it (and provide a nice interface for new additions). There are many things on the plate right now... but this one has pretty high priority! (Louis Wu 02:40:06 UTC) (permalink)

News November 13 2004

Spoilers, and cookies.
Man... you guys are hardcore. I had a small problem with the spoiler system today - took me about 15 minutes to fix it. In that time, I received 10 notes - a couple were just confused, 3 were angry, the rest were giving me a heads-up... our spoiler system was broken, and was showing weird stuff. Remember, this is a low-budget operation; I don't have a development server, so fixes happen on the live server, in real time; sometimes, I have to put some debugging code in to see what's going wrong. If you see odd stuff, how about you wait 10 minutes and then look again, before you start mailing me that it's broken? Thanks.

While we're on the spoiler system - there are a number of you that continue to have trouble setting a spoiler cookie on your computer. With one exception, every single problem that I've heard about involves Windows XP with SP2 installed. I've done as much testing as I possibly can without an actual SP2 machine (I've had more than a dozen people with this combination playing with settings to see what works and what doesn't) - without exception, all of my testers were able to set cookies successfully. If you can't, it's more than likely that you have something blocking cookies - something in your privacy settings, or a software firewall (like Norton Internet Security), or something similar. There's nothing at all I can do about that. That's your computer. You need to accept first-party cookies, and (I think) accept session cookies. Beyond that, any blockage is on your computer; I can't tell you what's wrong, because I'm not there. Sorry. (Louis Wu 19:36:38 UTC) (permalink)

A three-year-old mystery... solved
Anton P. Nym found a tidbit in the Art of Halo book that might explain why there are no Flood Hunters... nice! (Louis Wu 19:03:49 UTC) (permalink)

Land of the Free, Home of the Bald
Halo Babies has a couple of guest strips from akba - one points out the bald mrsmiley, who also wants to remind you that the Bungie Baldathon is coming to an end soon (today is your last day to submit entries). Get going! (Louis Wu 18:56:35 UTC) (permalink)

ILB DVD at FP
If you have a problem with BitTorrent, but still want a copy of the I Love Bees commemorative DVD, you can grab it from Fileplanet (thanks, Shorty). (Louis Wu 18:53:57 UTC) (permalink)

Net news for Saturday
News roundup is a bit smaller than it's been recently; sites are winding down, maybe?

Strategy Guides:

• 1UP.com (campaign and multiplayer - thanks, John Rivas)

Articles:

• IGN - Halo 2 UK launch coverage (thanks, John Rivas)
• TeamXbox - review of SmartJoy FRAG (thanks, John Rivas)
• TeamXbox - a writeup of a clan challenge (thanks, John Rivas)
• Slate - Halo 2 as a 'nuanced political experience'
• Spong - Halo 2 isn't selling at all in Japan
• Salem (Oregon) Statesman-Journal - local kids beat the game Update: Mintz08 claims this contains a major story spoiler. I can't find it on short view, but beware.
• Tucson Citizen - Halo 2 multiplayer is great, despite lack of coop

Comics:

• Crtl+Alt+Del

Not bad. Should keep you busy! (Louis Wu 18:36:02 UTC) (permalink)

Yep, he's in there...
Jay Weinland confirmed that Brian Morden lives on in Halo 2 - though we don't know yet what line is his. If you don't know who Brian Morden is, you can search our news, or read this guide at Bungie Sightings. (Louis Wu 17:30:22 UTC) (permalink)

Sheet Music - you're on your own.
Marty O'Donnell has posted a pretty definitive statement about Halo 2 (and Halo) sheet music - he's okay with fans transcribing it, but he's not going to be doing it himself. (There are solid reasons for this.) Read the post on his 7th Column chapter for more details. Thanks, Jarrad Whitaker. (Louis Wu 16:48:53 UTC) (permalink)

Frankie says... lots of stuff.
It's not a Weekly Update... exactly. It's a Weekly What's Update. This week... that means a reader Q&A. A pretty substantial one, too. Discussion of Halo 2 bugs (and potential fixes)... answers to common complaints... more. Go read! (Louis Wu 03:33:31 UTC) (permalink)

I know what you did last summer.
Dan Chosich, longtime member of the Halo community and a fan moviemaker extraordinaire, lived a dream this past summer - and recently, he talked to Cybrfrk about it. The interview contains some pretty interesting info... go read! (Louis Wu 03:19:04 UTC) (permalink)

Wideload's CEO interviewed at Xblnext
DoctorEvol, of Xblnext.com, recently talked to Alex Seropian about Wideload's upcoming Halo-engined game, Stubbs the Zombie. There's not a lot of new info there - but sometimes, any info is good info! Give it a look. (Louis Wu 03:08:12 UTC) (permalink)

Game Guide at Gamespot
KP noticed an enormous Halo 2 Game Guide (Single-player only - multi comes later) at Gamespot. Weighing in at almost 6 mb, this PDF has 86 pages of pictures and text to get you through Halo 2. Unfortunately, it's only available to Gamespot Complete members. If you have a membership, though, go grab it! Update: Oops, my bad. There's a free html version for everyone - it's only the downloadable PDF that's Complete-only. Sorry about that! (Louis Wu 03:05:23 UTC) (permalink)

News November 12 2004

Gamespy finishes Halo 2 with a bang
Four new pieces from Gamespy today about Halo 2:

1. Pile-on: Gamespy editors discuss the game in a roundtable format
2. A PC Perspective: Gamespy's PC editor looks at the game from the PC users' viewpoint
3. Halo 2 is for Lovers: does Halo 2 fit in your personal life?
4. Tip and tricks: Ways to beat the game

According to Editorial Manager John Keefer, there's even one more, coming a bit later. (Louis Wu 22:38:29 UTC) (permalink)

Special discount on LE action figures
Kyle Knight, from the figures.com, wrote with a special offer on action figures. If you visit DieCastExpress.com, you'll find a special Limited Edition Halo 2 Evolution Set - a metal box with a Halo 1 Chief, a Halo 2 Chief, and some special postcards - the price is $49.99. If you use the coupon code 117F on checkout, you'll receive a $10 discount from figures.com. Not a bad deal, if you want one of these boxes! (Louis Wu 22:13:25 UTC) (permalink)

Yeah, more articles - but read 'em.
Three articles I put aside yesterday to make sure I commented on them... and wouldn't you know it, I forgot all about them. The first was in the New York Times (free registration required), and David Jalomo was the first to point it out. A comparison of sequels, Halo 2 and GTA:SA. Halo 2 comes out on top in the writer's opinion. The second was at Joystiq.com, and was called 'Taking a Step Back' - it tries to strip away some of the hype, and look at what might be missing from the game; it's well-written and thoughtful. The last was linked from Slashdot - someone compiled all the negative comments they could find in Halo reviews into one big review (with footnotes). Interesting concept, I suppose. Thanks, Mr Yun. (Louis Wu 22:04:37 UTC) (permalink)

Foundation on your Xbox
A number of people have found an unlockable multiplayer map called Foundation - but reports vary wildly with regard to what is needed to get it. Official word from Bungie will be coming next week - so hold tight! (Louis Wu 18:50:48 UTC) (permalink)

BOLL tries a SmartJoy FRAG
There've been a few online reviews of the SmartJoy FRAG keyboard/mouse adaptor (search our news for links), but now BOLL has written one of his own. I trust this one - partly because I've seen him play, partly because there's less hype than I've seen in some of them. In any case, it's a new point of view. Go read. (Louis Wu 18:43:54 UTC) (permalink)

Football star says Bring It On
This is one of the odder press releases we've received... (Louis Wu 17:37:47 UTC) (permalink)

About credit
Okay... just a heads-up. A TON of people are sending in egg/glitch/trick reports. A ton more are reporting these same things on forums all over the net. There have already been a couple of fights on our forum about credit, and who was 'first' - if this keeps up, we'll stop crediting people altogether for the glitch (though we'll credit them for the pictures or movies we use to show it). Folks - there are 2.5 million people out there with this game. Face it - almost anything you do, someone else probably already did. Live with that. If we hear about something we haven't heard about, and we post it, credit will go to the person we hear about it from. If Someone else can show that they posted it first, somewhere, we'll append the entry. (This is how we did it for Halo, as well.) If people are stupid enough to tell us that they discovered these tricks days or weeks before Halo 2 was released, they'll be banned from submitting this sort of material here; we don't support piracy. Everyone - take a step back, take a deep breath, PLAY THE GAME. This isn't about who gets credited with the first Hippo sighting on Headlong - it's about how much fun you have KILLING the guy who's looking at hippos. (Louis Wu 17:15:03 UTC) (permalink)

Problems... and their fixes
Bungie has acknowledged a few of the outstanding problems with Halo 2 - widescreen HUD display, long wait times for matchmade games on live, and "dirty disc" problems - and has said they're working on solutions. More when we know about it! (Louis Wu 16:40:55 UTC) (permalink)

There Are Those Who Said This Day Would Never Come...
Today's One One Se7en says hi to old friends. (Louis Wu 16:37:36 UTC) (permalink)

More drums for Blow Me Away
Will Henderson points out that there's a remixed version of Breaking Benjamin's Blow Me Away on their website. It's Flash-only; the music is actually embedded in a .swf file, so slow connections might have a problem. (Louis Wu 16:35:37 UTC) (permalink)

More loot
Mechroneal points out that he, too, won a cool thingy at his local EB Games on Monday night. He says a writeup's coming soon. (Louis Wu 16:33:32 UTC) (permalink)

ILB DVD - Go ahead and download
clarksbrother points out that the I Love Bees DVD torrent that has been mentioned in our news a couple of times (and which has moved at least once) now has official sanction from the folks who MADE the DVD:

We know that it was hard (if not impossible) for many of you to get to the live events where the DVDs were being handed out, and we're doing our best to set up an alternate distribution mechanism.

In the meantime, it is absolutely fine to post and distribute the bit torrent versions of the DVD. We will try to post an official version on the site sometime soon.

In hindsight, I probably should have confirmed that BEFORE we posted links... but all's well that ends well. (Louis Wu 16:30:51 UTC) (permalink)

What everyone is saying
Is this gonna be a habit? (I hope not...) Daily article roundup:

Movies:
A bunch of people have already released vids for Halo 2 - we've held off until today posting them so people wouldn't feel tempted too early.

• nukedude put together a multiplayer montage, with a couple of tiny bits from single player. Minor (really minor) spoilers. 32 mb, QuickTime, hosted by Gil27.
• HaloGT is hosting Halo GT Video #10 - glitches and cool stuff, some wild things to look at. (Spoilers galore.) In DivX format, 28.7 mb, or QuickTime format, 27.8 mb. The divX version is also mirrored on Syzygy1.com.
• Not really Halo 2 - but it's the first time the public can see this. A long time ago, Bungie made a cool little surround sound test, using a nicely rendered grunt and a hunter. You could only see it if you knew someone. Now, anyone with a copy of the Limited Edition can see it - just go to the Set-up section. Thanks, KingScott.
• Frogblast is back. With a vengeance. Utfoo has been updated with tricks from nearly every single solo level in Halo 2. Vids, pics, the works. The guy doesn't stop. Try not to kill his server. (I'm gonna see what we can do about setting up a mirror, just in case.)
• A number of people have found skulls on Campaign levels. At least TWO of these removes your HUD altogether. (In fact, I suspect that's what they're there for - making Halo movies will be a LOT easier with no HUD right off the bat. :) ) MarkHawk pointed out a movie in this forum thread - we've had a few more submitted, and will do our best to get them posted.
• Fileplanet is hosting a 'man-on-the-street' vid talking to people waiting outside an EB Games. 38.9 mb, WMP9 format. (Thanks, Ross.)

Halo-related Webcomics:

• Applegeeks (thanks, Crassworm)
• Crtl+Alt+Del (thanks, Black Six)

Recent Reviews:

• Xblnext.com - 10/10
• ContraCostaTimes.com - A-
• The Triangle (Drexel U.) - no numerical score, but they liked it.
• The Olympian (Olympia, WA) - 5/5

Articles

• IGN and its readers celebrate Halo (thanks, John Rivas)
• IGN covers difficulty levels (thanks, John Rivas)
• [80 million stories on how much money Halo made its first day - deleted]
• Yahoo Finance - Halo Strategy Guide sells 270,000 copies in one day - becomes one of the fastest-selling new books of the decade
• eChannelLine - Halo 2 leaves Hollywood in the dust
• All Things Considered (NPR) - audio coverage of Halo 2; listener complaint that original mention suggests only men play Halo 2
• News.com - more on the use of Halo 2 to fight Xbox hackers

Wonga. (Louis Wu 16:23:28 UTC) (permalink)

The floodgates reopen
Well... the HBO forum, after 4 weeks of downtime, is now back online. Didn't take long for regulars to notice (2 minutes, it looks like) - I'm not sure what that means for my day. For everyone's sanity - story discussion is permitted, but PLEASE - be considerate, and mark posts with an *SP* tag if you're going to post spoilers? Thanks. Welcome back, everyone! (Louis Wu 13:15:20 UTC) (permalink)

News November 11 2004

Small delay on forum opening
Apologies. The plan was to reopen the HBO forum this evening - but I can't be around to supervise it, and I'm a little afraid of the starting explosion. We're going to hold off until tomorrow morning (Eastern time). You should spend the interim period playing Halo 2, soldier! (Louis Wu 23:19:48 UTC) (permalink)

There's a price for everything.
Blackstar sent along a Calvin and Halo that probably resonates with a goodly number of you... (Louis Wu 18:21:27 UTC) (permalink)

But did he get Halo 2, as well?
MovieMaker5087 went to a Halo 2 event at his local Circuit City - and won a pretty cool raffle prize. As he pointed out, one of these went on eBay recently for over $2000... (Louis Wu 13:24:24 UTC) (permalink)

If you can't beat 'em...
Hehe - went to read the MS press release on GameInfoWire this morning... and was pretty amused by the advertising choices. Realize that all the black text (headline included) is part of the actual press release - GameInfoWire inserted a text ad in the middle (the red text near the top - 'Shop for...'). Bizarre choice, or brilliant marketing? (Louis Wu 13:21:08 UTC) (permalink)

Toys
LBM points out that Joyride has updated their website with a finished picture of the Drone action figure. Should be available in January. (Louis Wu 12:56:40 UTC) (permalink)

There's Something About Halo
A bunch of people pointed out a new Halo 2 video in Flash format over at Newgrounds - looks like Spartan39 was first. It's all of Halo - as we hope it wasn't for you. (Louis Wu 12:54:30 UTC) (permalink)

Morning Web Roundup
Article roundup - again. I'm leaving out the huge number of stories about how Halo grossed $125M its first day, because, heck, we put up the press release already.

Reviews

• Canada.com - 4/4
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer - 3.5/4
• Richmond Times-Dispatch - 4/?
• Halo Source - 89/100
• Computer and Video Games - no number score (thanks, 3Suns)

Articles

• Dallas-Fort Worth Star Telegram: Halo 2's good, but not worth the hype
• TechNewsWorld: Halo 2 is popular
• Mlive.com - Halo 2 is selling fast
• Motley Fool: Halo 2 is popular
• Hartford Courant: release coverage (thanks, KP)
• Kotaku: MS is banning users with modded boxes
• Business Gazette: release coverage
• Springfield (MO) News-Leader: release coverage
• Daily Princetonian: Halo 2 is bad for grades
• Eurogamer: Halo's out in Europe
• TeamXbox: MS makes big ad deal in Europe (thanks, MiD33)

Overall summary: Halo 2 is pretty popular! (Louis Wu 12:52:39 UTC) (permalink)

Gamers - a demographic to be reckoned with
We got a note from William Vitka - who's started a new column about gaming at CBSNews.com. His choice for topic for his first column? Guess. Feel the love. Gamers are on the move! [Note - CBSNews.com seems to have moved this article - the original URL points to a piece on LEGO Star Wars. You can find the original Halo piece here. -lwu] (Louis Wu 02:32:39 UTC) (permalink)

Wanna talk about bees?
ARGN.com (the website that hosts Unfiction, the forum where most of the interesting discussion about the ILoveBees phenomenon took place) has an article about a phone-in chat with the ILoveBees actors this coming Saturday, at noon pacific time. The access number is 1-404-920-6610, the code you need to punch in to join the conference is 516230#. (Don't call now - do this Saturday morning.) Thanks to David Byrd for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 02:14:02 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie vs. The World
Whoa. New article at Bungie.net - the Halo Humpday Challenge. Simply put, Bungie is taking on one group per week in a 3-game, knockdown, dragout fight, winner walks away with bragging rights. First on the chopping block - IGN.com. They... well, go read. Who's it gonna be next week? You'll have to wait and see! (Louis Wu 02:08:40 UTC) (permalink)

Where's my bonus check?
Yesterday, Peter Moore blithely predicted that Halo 2 would have a $100 million day. He was wrong. They sold 2.4 million units in 24 hours, racking up $125 million. Moore is now estimating that it was the biggest launch of any entertainment product in retail history. You can read the official press release for more details. (Fluff, yes... but pretty danged impressive fluff.) (Louis Wu 01:49:14 UTC) (permalink)

News November 10 2004

I gotchyer JNAM right here...
mnemesis has resurrected the Acronym issue, now that Halo 2 has been released. If you don't know what this means, read his article at our sister site Bungie Sightings. If you DO know what this means, read it as well... and add your comments. We need brains! (Mmmm... brains... oh, wait, that's Wideload. Never mind.) (Louis Wu 21:33:05 UTC) (permalink)

Thunderdome
In the downtime yesterday, Red vs Blue released Episode 42 (30-50 mb or so), which was odd... and today, they've released Episode 43, which is HUGE (90-100 mb, depending on flavor, for more than 10 minutes of video), which incorporates both the Halo 2 engine... and the product of mind-altering drugs. (I'm not sure what ELSE would explain it.) It's pretty funny... but man, it's weird. (The ending is brilliant, though.) Go grab 'em both. (Louis Wu 21:27:32 UTC) (permalink)

Schwagtacular!
The Bungie Store has even more new stuff for you to covet. Now, the hotly-anticipated Art of Halo Coffee Table Book has been added, along with a few notepads. Go! Buy! Read! Write! Update: fullbore points out that anybody interested in getting an autographed/personalized copy of this book can buy one through Olympic Cards and Comics, which is owned and operated by Eric Trautmann's wife (Eric, of course, being the author of the book). fullbore said that she's happy to hook up any fans with a copy of the book if they can't make it in to the in-store tourney/book signing happening this Saturday. (He's just a satisfied customer, and has nothing to gain from this info.) This is just an option - you're free to buy anywhere you want (as long as you buy SOMEWHERE, of course.) (mnemesis 19:49:12 UTC) (permalink)

The inside of the offices
Robert Valdes, who recently interviewed Pete Parsons for the website How Stuff Works, has written up his experience in the Bungie offices. Nice read. Thanks, Rip-Saw. (Louis Wu 18:00:49 UTC) (permalink)

LAME! and Not Lame.
Couple of new articles for you - a nice writeup in the Washington Post (it had five paragraphs on the front page of the paper, plus an entire page in the middle section - web version requires (free) registration) - except for labeling Joe Staten as the 'leader of Bungie Studios' (I'm not sure Joe would agree with that, though you never know), it does a nice job of describing the shift in perceptions towards video games in recent years, and the role Halo 2 will play in that shift. (Thanks, Wintermute.) And the winner of the 'lamest bentllama quote evar!' (bentllama's very own evaluation) goes to the last line of this CBC News article. Well, you can't be cool all the time. (Louis Wu 17:06:16 UTC) (permalink)

343 Guilt O' Lantern Winners
On September 30, we announced the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest, looking for the best Halo-carved pumpkin of 2004. Entries flooded in - 86 of them - and on November 2, we posted the entire collection, and asked the Halo community to vote for their favorites. Over 4000 of you did, casting more than 18,000 votes - and we have our winners! The Results page contains scores for all pumpkins, as well as the names of each pumpkin's creator - for all pumpkins that received more than 100 votes. (One thing I found rather interesting - the quality of your pumpkin photography made a REALLY big difference. There are some nearly identical pumpkins that got wildly different scores... and the cause seems clear; if your photo did a lousy job of showing off your pumpkin's detail, folks didn't vote for it, even if it was a great carving job. Something to remember for the next time...) Winners will be notified by email about their prizes - but congrats to EVERYONE who entered, and thanks to the thousands who helped us pick the winners! (Louis Wu 15:46:11 UTC) (permalink)

Putting The c0ld In Vengeance
Stuntmutt exploits a fellow Brit in today's One One Se7en. Just a few more hours... (Louis Wu 15:39:50 UTC) (permalink)

Eggs, Tricks, and Spoilers (oh my!)
We've already received more than half-a-dozen egg reports, or Halo 2 tricks - here's the policy on those. I haven't figured out how we're going to handle Halo 2 tricks yet - but we WILL start posting news about them beginning on Friday. (This way, the European contingent won't be TEMPTED to look before they at least have a chance to buy Halo 2.) Spoiler-laden material will not be posted before Friday, either; yes, there's a new spoiler system in place to block it if you don't want to see it... but sometimes the simple presence is enough for folks to give in. Speaking of the spoiler system - there seems to be an issue with machines that use Windows XP with SP2 installed - something in this configuration is blocking the acceptance of the cookies. I don't have an SP2-equipped machine here, so I can't test it (the cookie system works fine on my XP/SP1 box), so if anyone has any suggestions about WHY SP2 might be keeping the system from working, I'm all ears. Thanks! (Louis Wu 15:15:31 UTC) (permalink)

More on the Battle Guide
A few weeks ago, Ross Mills found a 'Halo 2 Battle Guide' on Amazon UK. There was almost no information. There's now a cover photo and a synopsis - apparently, it will teach you not just to get through the room, but to be a better gamer. Still no word on when it will actually be released ('December' is as specific as it gets). (Louis Wu 15:00:23 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 Widescreen problems?
A large number of threads over at the Bungie.net and TeamXbox forums have sprung up in complaint at the way Widescreen mode works in Halo 2. Apparently, multiplayer, vertical-splitscreen mode is great... but in regular campaign mode, many parts of the HUD are offscreen to some degree. I don't have time to check all the threads, but if you're interested in this subject, you can find them here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (thanks, Joseph Bat). If we get any official word on this, we'll be sure to pass it along. (Louis Wu 14:54:59 UTC) (permalink)

Shunji talks death
Interesting article (and interesting comments) over at Mat Noguchi's blog; a look at why some gamers might not appreciate the checkpoint system. Thanks, Ross. (Louis Wu 14:51:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Tribute vid
Btcc22, of TouringNet.co.uk, wrote to tell us that a Halo Tribute Video is online at his site. 61 mb, WMP9 format. 1:30 of screenshots, followed by 10+ minutes of single and multiplay footage. (Louis Wu 14:50:14 UTC) (permalink)

Truth to Mercy
Several people have sent in translations of the coded message in the 'Conversations with the Universe' booklet that comes with the Limited Edition of Halo 2. I've chosen KOPD's version because it comes with a handy-dandy translator, and it's already on the web... but thanks, too, to HeroicDarby and Ben Artes for sending in copies. If you're still without a copy of LE, and you're expecting one, hold off on this until yours comes; it's fun to try and translate it yourself. (Louis Wu 14:33:39 UTC) (permalink)

A taste of the strategy guide
Piggyback Interactive has put up a 12-page sampler of the Halo 2 Strategy Guide for download (3.8 mb, free registration required). There's enough there to 1) spoil early levels for you, and 2) give you a decent sense of the quality of the guide. Some very nice work there! Thanks, Benn. (Louis Wu 14:28:17 UTC) (permalink)

Halo press around the net
First off, let me get some of the press out of the way. There's a LOT of it. (Surprise, surprise.) I've broken things into categories; I'm sure there's stuff I missed, and I'm also sure that some things are duplicated (many articles are syndicated, and picked up by other sites; occasionally, they're not properly marked, and I miss a dupe... live with it). There are hundreds of articles I DIDN'T include - I'm not sure how many more of these I'm willing to do, so the day might come when we just have to say 'everyone's writing about this' and be done with it. Also, the order is somewhat random - it's the order things came in to me. This SHOULD help make the list more palatable, actually - you won't be reading the same thing over and over again. Anyway, on to the articles:

Writeups of launch events

• MLGPro.com (Atlanta)
• Furhman Online (Times Square)
• Bungie.net (Seattle)
• Gamespy (San Francisco, video only)
• CNET (San Francisco)
• Mlive.com (Ann Arbor, MI)
• MSNBC.com (Time Square, with annoying video)
• Seattle Times (Seattle)
• Mlive.com (Flint, MI)
• MTV (Times Square, nice pic of nof)
• IGN (Melbourne and Sydney)
• Randall Glass (Seattle)
• Associated Press - Interview with Miguel Chavez and Blackstar, picked up in LOTS of places, including Wired, NewsFromRussia.com, Newsfactor.com, ABC News, Denver Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, SFGate.com
• Xbox.com (Times Square, video of nof and Miguel Chavez)
• Update: Dang, I forgot one! Blackstar posted his experiences in northern Massachusetts over on Rampancy.net. I even knew about this one. :(

Reviews

• Gamereactor (Norway, this time - 10/10, contains spoilers; thanks, Victor)
• Lawrence.com - 90% (This score was heavily weighted towards campaign - mp would have received a 100%)

Articles

• CNN Money (update with new numbers - thanks, 8 million people)
• Agana Pacific Daily News - Guam release coverage
• Reuters - 1-day take is $100M
• eWeek - release coverage
• Gamespot - hello, it's out
• Sydney Morning Herald - release coverage
• Seattle Post Intelligencer MS bigwigs tout Halo 2
• Wired - $100M report
• Ireland Online - release coverage
• Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel - Halo 2 vs GTA: SA
• The Inquirer - $100M story, with claim of 10 million sales by Xmas
• SignonSandiego.com release coverage, another nice pic of nof
• Chicago Sun-Times - release coverage

Big sites

• 1Up.com:
  • 1UP Review
  • XBN Review
  • GMR Review
  • EGM Review
  • Strategy Guide (with a drinking game)
• Gamespy.com:
  • Collector's Edition Review
  • Midnight Madness in SF video (see above)
  • Analysis of Bungie's Stats system
  • Review of SmartJoy FRAG keyboard/mouse adaptor

Comics:

• Crtl+Alt+Del (Thanks, Ross Mills)
• Penny Arcade (thanks, Ross Mills)

If this isn't enough for you, there's a ton more over at HaloPlanet (thanks, Rams).

The floodgates open soon
There is an astounding amount of Halo news built up in the past 18 hours - I'll do my best to wade through it later this morning. Just wanted to throw a note up to say the site is still alive, and faring well for its short respite from the grind. :) You folks have been busy! (Louis Wu 10:55:19 UTC) (permalink)

News November 9 2004

This is the Nostromo, signing off.
Okay, that's it for today. As you may or may not have noticed, the Vote link for the 343 Guilt O' Lantern is now offline - we'll be announcing winners in the next day or two. News that comes in today may or may not get lost in the deluge - give us a couple of days, and if we've missed something you think is important, feel free to ask us about it. (Do NOT resend submissions - just ASK if we got them. Thanks.) Have a great Launch Day (with apologies to Europeans)! (Louis Wu 15:58:43 UTC) (permalink)

A Plethora of Words
Wow, has it really been almost a week since I posted a Fan Fiction update? Well, there are 27 new pieces in there for you to read... if you're not too busy playing Halo 2, that is. Go get 'em! (Louis Wu 15:55:03 UTC) (permalink)

Was this you last night?
Now THERE'S an appropriate Calvin and Halo. Thanks, Blackstar. (Louis Wu 15:27:00 UTC) (permalink)

Will the sequel live up to the hopes?
One more article for your perusal - Darren Waters of the BBC asks what made Halo so special? (It's separated from the rest of the articles because 1) he told me about it after I'd posted the rest, and 2) mostly, he asked me.) Go read. (Louis Wu 14:29:59 UTC) (permalink)

Fanfest T's
Hopsheda was one of the lucky ones to make it to yesterday's Launch Fanfest put on by Bungie in Seattle - he sent along some pics of the T-shirt they were giving out (front, front closeup, back, back closeup). Ooh... how long till they show up on eBay? (Louis Wu 14:19:10 UTC) (permalink)

More Bungie Gear
Stormwraith pointed out that again, there is new content in the Bungie Store (and thanks to the folks who wrote in about the hats a few days ago - I never got around to posting that). New stuff to see:

• Legendary Hooded T-Shirt
• UNSCDF Marine Bucket Hat
• Halo 2 Cap
• Grunt Water Bottle

Keep looking, if you've got money to spend, they want to take it from you! (Louis Wu 14:12:08 UTC) (permalink)

Desertplat
Speaking of Halo CE, MasterGrief pointed out a post on the Gearbox forums announcing the first Halo CE Single-Player map download. It's a remake of Truth and Reconciliation - at least the ground part. (I didn't have time to go farther than the bottom of the grav lift.) Lots of invisiElites, and you have a flamethrower instead of a sniper rifle. Interesting. Be sure to read the post about how to start - and stop - the game, or you'll be pretty frustrated. (Louis Wu 14:07:44 UTC) (permalink)

More Zanzibar Megabattle pics
STB pointed out two more Zanzibar Megabattle pics, created with the new Halo CE mod - one he did himself and a series done by Da Real Logan. Nice work on this map! (Louis Wu 13:53:25 UTC) (permalink)

Keyes, through the eyes of a soldier
Mhaddy writes to say that the Junkyard has released part IX of their 'As Real As a Survivor Elimination' analysis of the military correctness of the Halo gameplay - Keyes is analyzed. Check it out. (Louis Wu 13:43:52 UTC) (permalink)

Around the net
Okay, as I said, news is gonna be light today. I AM going to try and clear out the inbox before I call it a day, however. There were, of course, oodles of new reviews and articles online overnight; here's a smattering. (Yes, there are hundreds we're not getting to. Sue us.)
Reviews

• C.Net - 9.4 (Thanks, Matt Belanger)
  Update: Oops- this is just the Gamespot review, rebranded - my bad. Thanks, Alex Jarvis.
• GamesRadar.com - 95% (thanks, Richxbox)
• Talk Xbox - 9.9 (and it's review 117! Thanks, Joel Kownacki)
• IGN - separate review of Collectors Edition, 9.8
• UnderGroundOnline - A+

Articles

• Xbox.com - First in Line; check out the OvK guys! (thanks, Eric Biro)
• TeamXbox - Fans camping out... there they are again! (thanks, MiD33)
• CTV.ca - Waiting for the game
• AZCentral.com - waiting for the game
• Reuters - Halo 2 will make MS rich
• The Gate - Titled 'Spoiler Alert'; you know what to expect
• London (Ontario) Free Press - Halo and Soundtrack are awesome (spoilers here)
• Seattle Times - Playing Halo early in Seattle
• Reuters - Waiting in line
• Trenton Times - rakin' in the dough
• VNUnet - Waiting in line
• Amarillo.com - Biggest release of the year

WARNING: Many of the reviews contain spoilers, at least for the beginning levels of the game. Some contain bigger spoilers than that (I've tried to list them, but it's EASILY possible I missed something.) If you're worried about spoilers... COME BACK AND READ THESE LATER. Please don't complain to us if you read something that you think spoils the game for you - our advice for folks wanting a pristine experience is to GET OFF THE NET. (Louis Wu 13:34:47 UTC) (permalink)

When comments are misinterpreted...
This one is worth reading, too - though I'd hasten to encourage anyone choosing to participate in the discussion to STAY CALM and leave the fanboi-ism at home. Matt Hamilton pointed out a thread on the Free Republic website - the title of the lead-off article says it all: 'Microsoft video game "a damning condemnation of the Bush Administration"'. The entire premise is based on a reported comment by Joe Staten in Entertainment Weekly:

"You could look at it," Staten says of his Halo 2 storyline "as a damning condemnation of the Bush Administration's adventure in the Middle East."

(Realize that I gave you zero context for that comment.) The next 130+ posts are a stream of anti-Democrat rants that range from one-liners to multi-paragraph denouncements of Joe. Finally, at Comment 137, Joe himself steps in. Turns out the original reporter missed a small bit in that quote. It's the sentence immediately following the original quote, and it reads "But you'd be wrong." To this point, comments were popping up every couple of minutes... in the 46 minutes SINCE Joe posted, not a single person has piped up. In any case, Joe's comment is a nice insight on what the main plotwriter felt you should be able to take home from Halo 2's story... you should go read it. And maybe keep an eye on the thread, to see if any of the visitors who so harshly maligned Joe before they knew the score (and before they knew he'd show up) can swallow their pride and apologize... (Louis Wu 02:19:48 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 Live on haloTV
News is gonna be really light tonight, with a bit of a supplement in the morning - most of tomorrow is going to be news-free. Before signing off, though, there are a few things to point out. First up: haloTV will be sending out a live multiplayer-only broadcast, direct from an Xbox, showing off Halo 2 to anyone not lucky enough to grab their own copy at that hour. Check it out! (Louis Wu 02:08:00 UTC) (permalink)

News November 8 2004

OMG THAT'S TOO MUCH WRITING
Wanna be ready for Halo 2? Go read the MAMMOTH guide that Bungie.net just put up as its top story. (Mostly, it ties together all the pieces Bungie's written UP to now... but if you go back and read them all, you'll be late for your midnight appointment with a gamestore.) Thanks, DoctorEvol. (Louis Wu 22:16:12 UTC) (permalink)

More news than you can shake a stick at
I'm not sure if this is gonna become a standard feature, or if it's just because of the hype surrounding the launch, but it's time for another lightning round of news posting.

• That Weasel sent word that the latest 'Grunts Are People Too!' video (Episode 12, Halopalooza) is online, and can be downloaded in WMP9 format (18.6 mb).
  
  
• Cybrfrk pointed out an article in Major Nelson's blog that might make you want to puke.
  
  
• A few people pointed out that the latest w00tness is up now - the story is getting pretty intricate.
  
  
• BRASH noticed a Master Chief reference in a bizarre Flash animation with political overtones.
  
  
• Captain Spark wrote up a Game Day Preparation Guide for the Mature Halo 2 Player (read: old fogeys - OLDER THAN ME). Funny.

And, of course, more news articles:

• Canada.com - Halo as a pathmaker
• TheIndyChannel.com - winner of 'Day's Stupidest Headline'
• CNN Money - Is it big enough?
• Toronto Sun - Halo's not for everyone (thanks, Tina)
• Toronto Sun - Halo 2 Flu (thanks, Tina)
• Wall Street Journal - MS Banking on Halo (thanks, linus)

PLEASE - if you're gonna send in a link, would it kill you to paste it into our news search box before you mail it? Results come up in seconds. Really. Thanks! (Louis Wu 22:04:43 UTC) (permalink)

HBO - Spoiler-free, if you want it that way
After some goofy mistakes, the new spoiler system is online. Instead of two choices, you now have four (well, only three are actually useful). Hit the 'Huh?' link below the spoiler indicator graphic at the top of the page for more details. I'm sure there are still problems - it was a mess to set up. If you want to report them, something more than 'OMG IT DUZNT WERK D00D' would be helpful. Thanks! (Louis Wu 21:35:32 UTC) (permalink)

Pumpkins - Turning into Carriages Soon
Quick Reminder - today's the last day to vote for your favorite pumpkins in the 343 Guilt O' Lantern competition! If you haven't voted yet... GO NOW. (Louis Wu 19:39:54 UTC) (permalink)

HiaLH, Part 6 (end)
Eep - forgot to put this up yesterday. The final piece of Heart is a Lonely Hunter, for those who are still waiting, can now be grabbed off mythica.org and files.bungie.org. 44.7 mb, 7:16 of conclusion goodness. Sorry for the delay! (Louis Wu 17:26:03 UTC) (permalink)

The Penultimate Bungie Giga-Quiz 1.0
poena.dare is back - with the Penultimate Bungie Giga-Quiz 1.0. Wonga! (Don't ask me why it's not the Ultimate Giga-Quiz - I can't imagine him doing this again.) 343 questions to test your knowledge of Bungie lore - and you don't have to do it all in one sitting! You can read the 'official' press release on our (lamentably empty) portal site, or just get over to the quiz itself. Warning - it relies heavily on Javascript, and is broken with Safari. (Works fine with Firefox on OSX, though.) (Louis Wu 17:08:56 UTC) (permalink)

MLGPro.com Poll
"Will Xbox LIVE hold up under the stress of 1.5 million users tonight and tomorrow?" Dolbex wants to know! Go vote. (Louis Wu 16:52:15 UTC) (permalink)

Artwork from a master
Tina Leyk stopped by last night with another fantastic piece - this one was done with acrylics, on canvas, then scanned. (She's pretty unhappy with the scanwork; the picture, in her opinion, loses a lot in the translation. I'd LOVE to see the original, because the scan is gorgeous.) Check it out! Nice (subtle) Mullins tribute, even. (And stay tuned... there might be more cool artwork on the way today.) (Louis Wu 16:47:26 UTC) (permalink)

'Nuff Said.
Today's One One Se7en is 3000 words long. (Louis Wu 16:47:04 UTC) (permalink)

Eggs... in Screens
Already, the eggs are starting to get posted. Hawaiian Pig points out this pic, with its Seventh Column logo staring you in the face, hidden in plain sight. And Daeryl Rodriguez (with help from Konrad) found what he thinks is a mirrored Halo 2 symbol on the right breastplate of Master Chief's armor in this picture (it's not in any others - just a weird shadow?). I'm sure there are more. (Louis Wu 16:18:28 UTC) (permalink)

Zanzibar Megabattle pics
Falcon Zero sent along a pair of Megabattle pics (first, second) composed on the recently-released Zanzibar mod for Halo CE. Awesome! (Louis Wu 15:26:48 UTC) (permalink)

Clan Registry
Shadow Panther writes to point out the Xbox Clan Registry (and specifically the Halo 2 Clan List) at Shadowpanther.net. If you've got a clan page, you should add yourself! (There's a link that explains why a website is required for registration.) (Louis Wu 15:23:15 UTC) (permalink)

He dared you. Tackle him.
Bentllama has updated his blog with some enthusiastic thoughts about the next couple of days, and some pretty cool pictures of Halo 2 ad stuff in Toronto. Check it out! Thanks, Ross. (Louis Wu 15:20:09 UTC) (permalink)

Never Surrender
New nilerogers.com content today - Never Surrender is now up in the Listening Station. Snippet is 1:29 long, 1.4 mb large, and is contributed by Rogers himself. Interesting dub mix. Thanks, sharpe. (Louis Wu 15:11:31 UTC) (permalink)

Can you read this much news?
There are dozens upon dozens of Halo 2-related stories out there today - here's a sampling:

• Fresno Bee - Anticipation builds (Thanks, Will)
• New York Times - Microsoft's invested
• Springfield (MO) News-Leader - Gamers hot for midnight
• USA Today - Halo as a cattle prod
• TheManRoom - Plantronics headset review
• Seattle Times - General excitement
• XA Radio - Release party
• Seattle Times - a retrospective
• GameIndustry.biz - this could make Xbox profitable this quarter
• Update: The Boston Globe - Halo 2 is more destructive than the original (thanks, Mike)

I tried (with the exception of the New York Times, which SHOULD be an exception) to stay away from articles that required registration to read. There are also new reviews:

• X-Plays (5/5 - thanks, Frensa Geran)
• ETBGaming (10/10 - thanks, Anthony Manley)
• Gamereactor (Swedish, this time; 10/10, thanks again, Victor - and again, beware of spoilers)
• Update: The BBC gave Halo 2 a 9.5 - nice! Thanks, Stephen Smith

And, of course, comics:

• Crtl+Alt+Delete (Lothar Hex was first
• Penny Arcade (thanks, Ross Mills - who also was unhappy by the 'spoiler content' in the attached news article - though I'd suggest that it's only a spoiler if you think it is; you STILL don't know anything)

Whew! That's a lot of news to get through in one shot. (Louis Wu 14:18:41 UTC) (permalink)

If you're not ready now...
Framerate posted a Guide to Getting Ready for Halo 2 over on HaloPlanet - mostly it's about how to hook your Xbox up to XBL, but there are also some tidbits about food and chairs in there. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 13:53:38 UTC) (permalink)

Hot out of the gate
Recoil was the first to point out that Halo 2 is at the very top of Gamerankings' Overall Game Rank list - at this point, topped only by The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. (When he wrote, last night, it was above even that - but has dropped recently with a few lower scores.) We'll keep an eye on this for any dramatic changes. Warning: several of the reviews listed there are chock-full of spoilers; read at your own risk. (Louis Wu 13:42:25 UTC) (permalink)

RvB Overload
Red vs Blue is planning on releasing 3 episodes in the next 48 hours - WONGA. Episode 41 is up now (in both high and low res) - keep your eyes open for the rest. (Louis Wu 10:54:47 UTC) (permalink)

You people need to take a deep breath.
Okay, 9 million people wrote to correct the one-line mention I made of the Gamepro review yesterday. I'm gonna cut and paste from one of the answers I sent, since I'm tired of writing this. Gamepro doesn't give an overall one-digit ranking, so I went back to the Halo review from them to see how we reported that; what I did there, clearly, was average the four values. (They gave Halo a half-point higher ranking on both Graphics and Control than they did Halo 2.) Doing that here gives a 4.625/5, which I rounded down. It is totally unreasonable to report them as a 5/5 when they ranked control at 80% and graphics at 90%. Again - my reporting had nothing whatsoever to do with the 'Community ranking' they list - it was purely using their own numbers. Now can you stop telling me I did the math wrong? Thanks. (Louis Wu 10:34:55 UTC) (permalink)

Lock and Load
Kevin634 writes to point out a Halo 2-themed comic in the Toronto Daily Star. Hehe, that is SO my son right now. ;-) (mnemesis 05:05:10 UTC) (permalink)

The Last Halo LAN? Never!
Former Bungie community flame-meister and current Bungie intern Shishka has offered a write-up of the recent Fall Foliage: Crisp Death LAN gathering held at Castle Wu. Last LAN party, though? Time will tell, I suppose. Check it out, and thanks to James Phelps for the notice. (mnemesis 04:34:28 UTC) (permalink)

I Loved Bees
The (massive) chat transcript of the Ilovebees PM Chat has been made available here. Get comfy and prepare for a long read, then hit that link! Thanks to Steve Patterson for the heads-up. (mnemesis 04:18:43 UTC) (permalink)

News November 7 2004

Lightning Round
Bunch o' rapid-fire news, to clear the inbox before the clock ticks over (and because I likely won't be around to post more news before tomorrow):

• Eurogamer gives Halo 2 a 9/10 - 1 point above Halo (thanks, mad.max)
• Break Point offers another Zanzibar CE mirror
• Gamepro gives Halo 2 a 4.6/5 (thanks, BlazeFlare)
• Bungie.net gets the Gameviewer online for stats (thanks, Argent)
• They've also put the manual for Halo 2 online (thanks, Dustin)
• In fact, they've updated the entire Halo 2 Info section (thanks, Speny)
• MLGPro.com posts a review and tons of media for Halo 2 (thanks, Dolbex)
• A live chat with the people behind the I Love Bees is just finishing up - we should have a transcript for you tomorrow. (Some really cool info, storywise - thanks, Steve P!)

Whew! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday night. (Louis Wu 23:45:24 UTC) (permalink)

Zanzibar CE - Released
And lest you think all there was to do was read about Halo 2 and look at tons of new media, the Custom Edition Halo 2 team has finally released Zanzibar CE - you can download it off EPGServers or HaloImpulse. It's 22 mb. Thanks to a dozen people who all wrote within seconds of each other. Update: And another one - thanks, VII Toast. (Louis Wu 20:21:11 UTC) (permalink)

The Embargo Lifts - read what the press thinks
The Halo reviews have begun pouring in: IGN Has a review up for the common folk, with a HUGE list of Insider-only content. (Some of the video stuff isn't there yet, it seems - check back soon.) 9.8 overall score. Thanks, Adur()n. Gamespot, as well, has a boatload of Complete content, and a 4-page review for the rest of the world (9.4 overall). Thanks, Eric Biro. And Gamespy has THEIR review up - 5/5. And of course there are dozens of new screens - just look around. :) More coming... Update: There's also TeamXbox, who gave Halo 2 a 9.9 in their review, and also piosted a whole passel of features, including multiplayer variants with video walkthroughs, an interview with Brian Jarrard, and tons of screens and movies. (Louis Wu 20:16:53 UTC) (permalink)

Work continues on Halo CE
A couple of quick Halo CE bits - Kornman has released Tool++, a remade of the HEK's TOOL with a GUI wrapper and some extra features (thanks, MaterGrief), and haloTV will be broadcasting live footage of the long-awaited Zanzibar CE mod tonight about 9:30 eastern (thanks, BJN1990). (Louis Wu 16:44:54 UTC) (permalink)

Midnight sales nitty gritty
Dark Bastion discovered that the way the EB Games midnight release is going to work is this: As you're waiting outside the store, you'll be given a flyer with a number on it; they'll be calling folks into the store in batches of 10, by number. You might want to do your best to get a flier as early as possible... (Apparently, there's also a voucher for a free year of XBN magazine - not a bad deal!) He also mentioned that (in his local EB Games store, at least), the official Soundtrack is already available. (Louis Wu 16:17:05 UTC) (permalink)

Winning stuff is fun
Contests around the Halo community: mrsmiley points out the 2004 Bungie Baldathon - shave your head, send in pictures, win a shot at Halo schwag. And D_BRINGER told us about a Wallpaper contest at Halo S - winner gets a free gmail account. And though it's not really online, it IS Halo-related, and a contest: Cerberus told us about his local radio station (between Baltimore and Washington DC), 99.1 WHFS (website is here) - they're giving away a copy of Halo 2 LE, the new soundtrack, and an XBL Starter Kit to the 9th caller (when they tell you to call), all weekend long. Update: Eric Delgado says that a radio station in the Tampa Bay/St. Pete area (98.7 WILD) has the same sort of deal - except you can register on the web. (Louis Wu 16:12:36 UTC) (permalink)

Danish review, and general Screenshots policy
Victor wrote in with details about Gamereactor's Halo 2 review (Gamereactor is a Scandinavian gaming mag) - it got a 10/10, with the following pros and cons (thankfully translated by Victor):

Pros: Amazing graphics, formidable sound and captivating game play in both single- and multiplayer.

Cons: You must have good knowledge of the world of Halo in order to fully understand the story.

He also sent a link to the actual review (in Danish). There are a bunch of new screenshots; we're going to break with our usual tradition of giving credit to the first place that posts screens, because Microsoft distributed HUNDREDS of screens to press (and yes, for the first time in a long time, we were on the list), and they'll be ALL OVER THE NET by this afternoon. (The embargo ends at noon Pacific time today, so you'll be seeing screens, reviews, and all sorts of other things flooding the net in the next few hours. We'll do our best to keep up.) Update: Another Scandinavian voice heard from - VG Nett gave Halo 2 a 6/6. Thanks, aksel. Update 2: warning, morriss points out that the Gamereactor review is full of story spoilers. Again, since I don't read Danish, I'm taking his word for it. (Louis Wu 16:00:56 UTC) (permalink)

If you're STILL not ready...
Xbox.com also put up 'Halo 2: Launch Party Time' - part four of their readiness guide. Thanks again, John Rivas. (Louis Wu 15:53:46 UTC) (permalink)

The Bees Knees
MrFluffyPants wrote 'The Buzz Ends' for the Junkyard about the commemorative DVD given out at the various Training Events (and yes, we know, the BitTorrent link we posted a couple of days ago is dead, there's not much we can do about that), and Chris Remo, of Idle Thumbs, wrote up his experience at the San Francisco event (including an interview with Halo 2's Lead Product Manager Cameron Payne) in an article entitled 'I Love Halo 2. And Bees.' Update: Scott Weisgarber points out a new tracker for the DVD - currently 42 seeds, you should be able to get this puppy. (Louis Wu 15:52:41 UTC) (permalink)

What regular people are saying
Random mainstream press articles from around the net recently:

• What makes Halo so addictive? A writer in San Diego tackled this topic.
• A New Zealand Herald writer takes to the streets dressed as Master Chief, and talks about it.
• The Edmonton Sun discusses the Halo 2 hype machine.

While we got multiple notes about these, Google was first with each. Update: Hawaiian Pig points out an article that was published next to the Edmonton Sun article in his local (Toronto) Sun - another Bentllama piece. Man... they just don't stop. (Louis Wu 15:50:35 UTC) (permalink)

Microsoft's helping with midnight sales
Thousands of stores are opening for midnight sales on Monday night... but only 5 are sponsored by Microsoft. Articles are at both IGN and Gamespot. Thanks, John Rivas. (Louis Wu 15:44:07 UTC) (permalink)

Now that's a BOATLOAD of music.
Thanks to eaglesquad, who pointed out that the Homefront team has released their entire soundtrack, work by Justin Durban, aka EdgeN (if the name doesn't sound familiar, you haven't been following the Halo fan music scene). It's 26 tracks of music, 90 minutes in all, and fits into two nearly 100 mb downloads (each) off of Fileplanet. Visit the Homefront website for links! (Louis Wu 15:36:00 UTC) (permalink)

Funny accents and gorilla-rhino hybrids
Yet another Bentllama piece in the Canadian press - they love this guy! (Where are all the interviews of the OTHER 5 Canadians on the team, dammit?) Best quote: Bentllama talks about Bungie staff trying to play all the way through Halo 2 using only melee attacks: "That's quite hard on legendary." Um.. yeah. (Louis Wu 15:31:05 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 Skin for WMP10
Many people noticed a new Halo 2 skin for Media Player 10 - you can see a mini-screen of it on this page, or just download it from there. Folks who've installed it and sent us notes about it are universally happy. Bentllama was first to mention it. (While you're there, you can follow a link to this Xbox.com article we never mentioned - Hollywood's Hooked on Halo, and it shows.) (Louis Wu 15:26:57 UTC) (permalink)

More Nile Rogers at Gamespy
Gamespy extended their interview with Nile Rogers (the first part was listed Friday - you can read the new material starting on this page. It's all about what differentiates Halo's music - specifically the popular-band-generated music - from other video games. Good read. Of the dozen people who sent this in, Ross Mills was first. (Louis Wu 15:22:46 UTC) (permalink)

Heart of the City
Many people noticed that Sunday's Heart in the City (a syndicated newspaper comic strip) was Halo 2-related. Adam McDougall sent us the first scan on Friday, even. Since it's now online on the official Heart in the City website, we'll just point to that. (We'll post one of the half-dozen scans we received once it's no longer available on that site, and update this news item for folks who go looking for it.) (Louis Wu 15:17:25 UTC) (permalink)

That Weasel in the Spotlight
Apologies for the lack of updates yesterday. A combination of factors (not the least of which was an 8-hour rebuild of my main work machine) kept me from posting news. On to the flood. Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews points out a new Spotlight over at the Junkyard - That Weasel, of That Weasel Television, holds forth on his life - it's quite long for a Spotlight. Go read! (Louis Wu 15:12:49 UTC) (permalink)

Wu Speaks
Our very own Big Kahuna, Mr. Louis Wu has been interviewed over at Halo4U. Head on over and check out how he reveals the launch date for Halo 3. OK I was kidding folks, just kidding! Thanks to Rampancy for the heads-up! Update:Oops, this is old news. My bad! Thanks Abdomen for the correction. (Ding 13:44:49 UTC) (permalink)

News November 6 2004

Not a single pancake!
There's an interview with Nathan Walpole, better known as bentllama around the Halo community, one of the Canadian animators on the Halo 2 team, over at Simpatico/MSN. Nice read! Thanks, Farhang. (Louis Wu 16:39:38 UTC) (permalink)

Ferrex talks levels
Gamespy continues their saturation coverage with an interview of Tyson Green, aka Ferrex, level designer for Halo 2. If you're wondering what's different about Halo 2 (in comparison to Halo 1 level design), read this! (Louis Wu 13:27:35 UTC) (permalink)

IGN Content
Couple of new articles at IGN today - the Countdown article is about the I Love Bees phenomenon, and the 'Training Exercises' that happened on Thursday around the US. And an article called 'Bungie.net's Battle Plan' gives you an overview of what's going to be available from the Stats section of Bungie's website - the stuff you can see for yourself, now, plus some pretty astounding information that's NOT available to he public yet (check the last page of the article). Definitely worth a read! (Google beat everyone in letting us know about these - sorry.) (Louis Wu 13:15:37 UTC) (permalink)

Sprite Paste
Ryllick was the first to point out that today's Ctrl+Alt+Delete is Halo 2 related... in fact, might explain a few mysteries. (Louis Wu 13:07:09 UTC) (permalink)

The Library Loves Bees
The Library, a compendium of Halo information, has been updated again, this time with an I Love Bees section (including a summary of the game). If you've been waiting for someone to make it clear, go read! (Louis Wu 13:04:05 UTC) (permalink)

1UP pours on the juice
1UP.com has two new Halo 2 pieces up for you to read - the electronic version of the December 2004 EGM article (with 10 new screenshots - top of the page, added Wednesday), and the 1UP Preview, an entirely NEW piece (as far as I can tell) with lots of good info but no new screens. Check 'em both out! (Thanks to Ben Vera for the heads-up on the 1UP piece.) (Louis Wu 13:00:46 UTC) (permalink)

Outfit your fridge in style
Shorty (Will) noticed some new magnets over at the Bungie store - they're adding stuff at a rapid rate these days! (Louis Wu 12:32:09 UTC) (permalink)

Not So Late Show wants your questions
clarksbrother managed to secure an interview with a Bungie employee for his local TV show - and is asking for questions to pose during the interview. If you'd like to have your ideas considered, jot 'em down and add 'em to the database! (Louis Wu 12:30:04 UTC) (permalink)

G4TV - Content Overload
Tons and tons and tons of new Halo content at G4TV today:

• Halo 2 Council: The Kutcher Connection does a sort of 'Six Degrees of Separation' thing with the Halo 2 Council members... except it's one degree.
• Halo 2 Continues Music-Video Game Tie-In Trend ties together... um, music videos and games.
• Nile Rodgers on Producing Halo 2 Soundtrack is another interview with Niles Rogers.
• New A.I. for the Halo 2 Guy looks at the advances in AI over the first Halo.
• Art as Game: Halo 2 tries to pin down what makes Halo great.

In addition to that, there are streaming versions of all four Halo 2 Day Red vs Blue commercials (Flash and WMP formats) - and if you can't stand those, you can grab 320x240 downloadable QuickTimes of the two we hadn't already posted: Sick Day (1.8 mb) and Back From the Future (1.1 mb). Wonga. Is that enough? Thanks to Ben Vear for starting off the search. (Louis Wu 02:34:28 UTC) (permalink)

Stabbing Man Says Farewell
Frankie's posted the last Bungie Weekly Update ever over at TeamXbox. He talks a lot about the new Stats page at Bungie.net (and what's coming down the road - trust me, he's not kidding about that face flying off stuff), and about reviews that are coming out, and about what's gonna happen next week... but mostly, he's just saying goodbye to a tradition. I'm very sad the Mister Chief art isn't showing up... but I'm guessing that'll get fixed soon enough. Go read. Thanks to KNIGHTOFDRAGONS, for being the first to actually point out where this was. (Louis Wu 02:13:28 UTC) (permalink)

News November 5 2004

The View from Here
Marcie O'Donnell, long-suffering wife of audio god Marty O'Donnell, has put down on paper (well, a hard drive somewhere, anyway) her thoughts about the upcoming release of Halo 2. What it brings, what it takes away. How it's different from what we had before. It makes some assumptions (like, there aren't any female players - not true, but I suppose in the overall picture, it's a decent-enough generalization), but it's funny, and it's true, and it's worth reading. If you're a player, read this and remember the women who support you (wives, girlfriends, mothers). Maybe even show this to them and have THEM read it. And then reflect on how lucky Marty is to have found this woman. (Louis Wu 23:01:22 UTC) (permalink)

Free stuff for pics
If you're going to a Halo 2 event... bring a camera. Your pics might win you cool stuff from Major Nelson. Thanks, Cybrfrk. (Louis Wu 22:19:30 UTC) (permalink)

HiaLH, part 5
For folks still downloading pieces of Heart is a Lonely Hunter we've got part 5 online for you today - 28 mb, QuickTime format, from both mythica.org and bungie.org. Enjoy! (Last piece will probably go up this weekend... unless I forget.) Don't forget to visit the website for more info! (Louis Wu 21:42:25 UTC) (permalink)

MLG writes up Cold Pizza
Nice writeup on the Cold Pizza event by Dolbex, of MLGPro.com. Some good pics, too. (Free registration required for the pics.) Go look! Thanks, nof. (Louis Wu 21:05:33 UTC) (permalink)

He's thinking about setting up a shrine...
Ramon Ochoa, a man who "hated first person shooters with a passion until Halo came along", sent along a couple of pictures of some new construction in his home (here and here), plus a bonus pic of the stealth invader. Amazing what this game generates in its fans... (Louis Wu 20:50:23 UTC) (permalink)

Halo is teh funni
Web Comics related to Halo today (that we know of):

• Queen of Wands - funny, barely safe for work (thanks, AZC)
• Carzorthade - Nightmare Armor related... I can sympathize with the sentiment (thanks, NiceMissMayonnaise)
• Don't forget w00tness - the Halo series continues (and gets serious)

I'll bet good money that there are more, as Tuesday approaches. Update: Sippan wanted to make clear that he, too, had a web comic with Halo material - that it was 5 months ago is irrelevant. Sippan - consider yourself linked. (Louis Wu 20:37:31 UTC) (permalink)

Cold Pizza Halo 2 Footage
Conner, a stalwart of Clan Plaid (a group of Old Ones, in Bungie terms) managed to capture yesterday's Cold Pizza footage on ESPN yesterday - there's a nice interview with Sundance Digiovanni, of Major League Gaming, with some Halo 2 playing in the background. If you don't blink, you'll see our own Miguel Chavez, the king of BS, wearing a Clan Plaid shirt and whaling away in the first 15 seconds or so. The video is 23.1 mb large, in QuickTime .mp4 format, and you can grab it from files2.bungie.org. (I just tested it on a Windows XP machine with a current version of QuickTime (NOT Pro), and it works fine, so please don't send us mail telling us it's broken. There's no time right now to re-encode, and no bandwidth to host a second copy if someone ELSE re-encodes... remember how much you're paying for this, folks!) Update: Conner points out that if you're having trouble playing the .mp4 files, grab a copy of VLC Media Player - it works flawlessly with mp4s, it's free, and it's available on pretty much any platform (you might have trouble finding an executable for a Timex Sinclair, but otherwise...). I know nobody reads these news posts any more... but really, the file DOES work, the link is NOT broken, and if you're having trouble, it's on YOUR end. Thanks. (Louis Wu 18:03:34 UTC) (permalink)

Screenshots to Die For
XLNC is saying goodbye to Halo HUDless screens - with a pretty darn impressive sendoff. Check out his 11th, and final, batch of screens - the man has an eye for this stuff. Awesome. (Louis Wu 17:51:13 UTC) (permalink)

The posters are here! The posters are here!
W00t! Halo 2 posters - FINALLY AVAILABLE at the Bungie Store. (There's also a calendar.) Check 'em out! (Thanks, Ryan.) Update: And a hat! (Thanks, Stormwraith) (Louis Wu 17:12:34 UTC) (permalink)

Beaten at your own game.
Boxer created a very special HBO-hosted Adventures in Disaster today, commenting on Spike TV's Ultimate Gamer presentation (it showed last night, and will be on again on both Saturday and Sunday). It also owes a tip-o'-the-hat to One One Se7en - where do you think that joke came from originally? So while we're tipping One One Se7en, we might as well put up today's strip - because there are enough Stuntmutt-related news posts already today, and because burying this one and the shot it takes at our forum isn't such a bad thing. So read 'em both. (Louis Wu 16:55:17 UTC) (permalink)

Clan Linkage appears at B.net
Bungie.net has begun the upgrade process to prepare for Halo 2 - well, they began it a long time ago, but we're starting to see the new features. If you have a 7th Column Chapter, you'll notice a new sidebar - Halo 2 Clans. You can now link up to 7 clans to your chapter. (Of course, you have to CREATE and register your clan first - which means you have to get Halo 2. Still... it's lookin' good!) Thanks to Narcogen at Rampancy.net, who found this on cookedgamers.net. (Louis Wu 16:34:47 UTC) (permalink)

Latex Masks - no auctions, but still available
Matt Geuther, of maskmasters.com, wrote to say that eBay pulled his Latex Master Chief mask auctions (we mentioned them a couple of times recently) - but that he's willing to sell them to you directly. Pictures can be seen in the oldest news post about this - our local copy of the eBay auction is still up, and contact info is on his website. (Louis Wu 16:18:24 UTC) (permalink)

Polls, polls, everywhere...
Generally, we're opposed to polls - they're popularity contests, not real bellweathers of public opinion. However, the masses like 'em, so... There are a couple to note today - first is the Gamespy Grudge match we mentioned a few days ago; Halo 2 is holding on against Half-Life 2... but only by the slimmest of margins; they have a 500 point lead (out of more than 50,000 total votes). This doesn't end until the 9th - see what you can do! (Reminder thanks go to Cyberg4.) Likewise, over at Game Music Online (a place that should LOVE Halo, because it's got some of the best in-game music out there), The Master Chief is being crushed by the competition (Sepiroth from FF7, Link from Zelda, and Dante from Devil May Cry, among others) for the title of 'coolest male video game character' - this isn't right! (Thanks, FattestMatt.) From: "Matt Hiebert" (Louis Wu 16:14:04 UTC) (permalink)

The British - they're subtle, you know.
Stuntmutt and Ross Mills have both reported in with word of a new ad campaign in the UK - Stuntmutt heard a radio ad that was truly subtle:

10 sec if I'm any judge - it was the Halo monks chanting the theme. Then a deep, old man's voice says "from November 11th, work won't matter any more." No other branding.

(Classy!) If we can get copies of these (and permission to host them), we will. Likewise, Ross saw Halo 2 posters up around a college campus in southern England with the tagline "Come November 11th, Lectures won't matter any more." These are my kind of ads! Update: Ross tells us it was Tiana Whatley who actually found the posters. (Louis Wu 16:06:06 UTC) (permalink)

Gamespy interviews Nile Rogers
Speaking of Nile Rogers, Gamespy continues their week-long coverage with an interview of the man, discussing how he got involved in the soundtracks, and on to more general topics, like how music fits into games (and how it differs from other entertainment media). It's huge, and it's fascinating. Go read. Many people sent this in - looks like DirtyDozen was the first. (Louis Wu 15:43:48 UTC) (permalink)

Steve Vai Recording Sessions - on tape
New content at Nilerogers.com - they've put up video recorded during the Steve Vai sessions. Streaming vid (Flash format) - a great look behind the scenes! Check it out. Update: Oops! In my haste to mention the video piece, I neglected the new audio snippet also available - Connected, by Hoobastank. The snippet is 1:20 long, and 1.3 mb large, and sounds very different from everything that's come before it. Go listen (and check out the new mini-screen on the Listening Station Flash page!). (Louis Wu 15:36:50 UTC) (permalink)

Interview with some web guy
HALO4U has updated his eponymous website - including an interview with... um, me. Except for getting my gender wrong on the front page (I suppose Louis looks a lot like Louise), it's a solid representation - go read. (Louis Wu 15:25:33 UTC) (permalink)

Psst! Wanna copy of that ILB Commemorative DVD?
It's been mentioned around the net (for example, here on Rampancy.net) that attendees to yesterdays's I Love Bees 'Training Exercises' (multiplayer Halo 2 gameplay) received commemorative DVDs - at least one person has already ripped it and put it up for BitTorrent download. Unfortunately, there's only a single seed at the moment (with a full copy), so downloads will be relatively slow until more people finish the download. If you're up for a 2.4 GB download, and want to see what was given out to the lucky attendees, this might be your chance. (Thanks to Mike J for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 15:20:32 UTC) (permalink)

Piracy - it's the next big thing.
Matt Slagle wrote a sizeable piece on piracy, and how it's affecting gamemakers, for the AP newswire. So far I've seen it on Yahoo News, MSN.com, The Globe and Mail (Canada), and the Washington Post. I'm sure it'll show up elsewhere. It's a good read - and not just because he quoted me. :-> Thanks to everyone who wrote in about this. (Louis Wu 15:06:23 UTC) (permalink)

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200 GP
FTC 15, released to members a few days ago, is now available to the masses. 9:10 long, in DivX and QuickTime formats, weighing in at 32 and 31 mb, respectively... go watch. (There are BitTorrent links you should use if you can.) Thanks, Andrew! (Louis Wu 15:02:12 UTC) (permalink)

Next Stop: New Mombasa
Halo Babies has posted the final episode in the 30-strip series that started in April. The door's open, though... the news post makes it clear that Gruntsbane is taking a break for a bit - the site will continue with fan art and contests, but new 'official' strips will be a little bit down the road. (Louis Wu 14:55:42 UTC) (permalink)

We gotta dial back.
Just a quick note - individual shops that are having special events at midnight on Tuesday have begun to write to us, asking us to let people know what they're up to. I'd love to - but we can't (unless you want the news page of this site to consist of hundreds of these announcements every day). I'll make a blanket statement - a HUGE percentage of gaming emporiums are doing something cool on Monday night - call your favorite and see what's up there! (Sorry about this.) (Louis Wu 08:26:44 UTC) (permalink)

Local Lad Makes Good
Ontario's London Free Press has an article on enigmatic Cananimator Nathan "bentllama" Walpole, a native of that fine city. Some good background there, for all you Llama-fans. ;-) Thanks go to NiZZZZ for the mention. Update: Just to give credit where it was due - Steve Patterson sent in a scan (202K) of this article early this morning - I was simply holding it until the newspaper was no longer for sale. [-lwu] (mnemesis 03:57:40 UTC) (permalink)

The Rivas Report, pt. II
Ace unpaid and unofficial reporter John Rivas notes that IGN's latest countdown article deals with the ILB experience, which apparently ended last night. More news as events warrant. (mnemesis 03:46:06 UTC) (permalink)

The Rivas Report
John Rivas writes to mention that Gamespot has an article (as does IGN) that discusses a few stores in the midwestern states that may or may not have broken the retail date embargo. Before you go careening down the highway, crossing state lines, evading the various law enforcement agencies of the land, and ending up in a huge destructive car chase through downtown Chicago, make sure you read the article(s). And remember that Microsoft legal is probably way ahead of you. (mnemesis 03:44:29 UTC) (permalink)

Watching My Back at ESPN
As mentioned a few posts back, I made it into ESPN's Cold Pizza Halo 2 event today. My experiences are relayed here! (Ding 03:17:12 UTC) (permalink)

Beta Stats - sort of
A number of people noticed that Bungie.net's Stats page was up for a short time - at the moment, it seems that ALL of Bungie.net is down. I'd expect it'll be like this for the next few days - they've got an awful lot of stuff that has to work by Tuesday, so be patient. (Louis Wu 00:29:42 UTC) (permalink)

Another G4 Halo 2 Day Commercial
ZiplocBodyBag and Cybrfrk have grabbed a second G4TV commercial starring the RvB team - this one is Church and Sarge, and it's only 10 seconds. 1.6 mb, hi-res QuickTime format. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 00:06:40 UTC) (permalink)

News November 4 2004

Listen up, you maggots!
Not really Halo-related, but Dave Scully (Sargeant Johnson) rocks, so it's worth a read. Dave will be hosting The Lunchtime Show with David Scully, a political satire show broadcasting on Sundays from 12:30 to 1:00 at the Static Factory. Thanks to Frankie at Bungie.net for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 19:29:39 UTC) (permalink)

Eastern European Spyware Rocks.
Gamestyle got the lowdown on ten super-secret features of Halo 2 - I'll guarantee you haven't read about ANY of these! Thanks, Lothar Hex. (Louis Wu 19:22:57 UTC) (permalink)

The Big Splash
Adam Daniel found ANOTHER New York Times piece today - a piece about Blockbuster video game launches. Focus? Yep. Halo 2. Go read! (Louis Wu 19:19:32 UTC) (permalink)

Everywhere. Just... everywhere.
The Halo 2 launch is even gonna be big in Singapore. Read about it. (Louis Wu 16:38:03 UTC) (permalink)

ILB at NYT
Sep7imus sent in a nice link to a story in today's New York Times Circuits section. (Free registration required.) It's a decent overview of the I Love Bees game, which ends today. If you've held off following this, this might be a nice door in. (Louis Wu 16:36:14 UTC) (permalink)

Norwegian Launch Party
Spill Magazine in Norway is giving away 4 tickets to the Norwegian launch party: visit this page, answer a pretty trivial question, you're entered to win. (I think.) All info comes from Kabeer Nasir, since I don't read Norwegian. (Louis Wu 16:11:56 UTC) (permalink)

High Charity
8 million people noticed that nilerogers.com put up a new clip from the Halo 2 soundtrack - this one's called High Charity, and the snippet 1:19 long, 1.2 mb large. A little spooky, too. Great screen in the Listening Station flash presentation for it. someboy was first - but thanks, all! (5 to go!) (Louis Wu 16:02:32 UTC) (permalink)

XBN Halo 2 article online - now
Rocketwidget noticed that last month's XBN Halo 2 spread (one of two Halo-related articles in the magazine) is now online - full text is here, and all the new screenshots that are part of the story start here. We'll still be putting the press scans up in the next week or two - but you cna get all the goodies (for this article, anyway) online right now! (Louis Wu 15:59:09 UTC) (permalink)

Armor Games
We got a fun step-by-step from Devastator yesterday - he got hold of some pieces from the Nightmare Armor guys, and used them to make himself a nice costume. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 13:35:23 UTC) (permalink)

Midnight on the Pitt Street Mall
Tim Bennett sent along a scan (166K) of some street press for the Sydney (Australia) Halo 2 launch party - looks like it's gonna be fun! Update: a bit more on the event is here, at Aussie Xbox (thanks, Gossip). (Louis Wu 13:01:35 UTC) (permalink)

Animation Editing in Halo CE
Kornman has released a small application that can edit animations for Halo - go grab a copy from the Gearbox forums! Thanks, MasterGrief. (Louis Wu 12:54:00 UTC) (permalink)

Walk of Victory
Finchmeister points out that the Walk of Game voting is over; they haven't confirmed the vote yet, but you can see the current ranking on the website, and the two top winners in the Game/Character section are Halo and Master Chief. Looks like the last minute push might have helped! Unless something weird happens, Halo will live on as a customized, brushed-steel star on the floor of the Metreon in San Francisco. Way to go! (Louis Wu 12:51:31 UTC) (permalink)

My closet's getting full.
Speaking of comics, today's Calvin and Halo looks at the crazy world of collectibles... and brings up a pretty good question. (Louis Wu 12:47:23 UTC) (permalink)

Leprechauns?
Comic Oni sent along a link to a new comic strip he made for a Halo 2 clan - here's hoping the Photobucket bandwidth holds out. (Louis Wu 12:45:34 UTC) (permalink)

Killing a lot of grunts
Gamespy put up an interview with Marty O'Donnell as part of their weeklong Halo 2 coverage - as always, Marty's fun to read. Thanks, John Rivas. Update: Uriel reminded me that when multiple people are updating the site, sometimes things get posted twice. Sue me, I'm human. (Louis Wu 12:29:44 UTC) (permalink)

Of Music and Sound
It's day four of Gamespy's weeklong Halo 2 coverage, and today they've got an interview with Bungie's resident maestro, Marty O'Donnell. Thanks to John Rivas for the heads-up. (mnemesis 05:46:25 UTC) (permalink)

Global Midnight Madness
IGN's newest Halo 2 Countdown article looks at timezones, and how they affect who plays when. Plus some gratuitous prurient picture captions. (Louis Wu 03:59:20 UTC) (permalink)

G4 Halo 2 Day ads - first variant
There's a new series of commercials running on G4TV - promoting November 9 as Halo 2 Day at G4. They're commercials, so I'm guessing they won't mind the extra exposure... and the ad itself was put together by Red vs Blue, so I'm guessing the Halo community will enjoy them. ZiplocBodyBag and Cybrfrk captured and converted one of these (Grif and Simmons), and you can grab a QuickTime version from our server (3.1 mb). If we can get ahold of the Church/Sarge one (and any other ones that happen to be out there...), we'll post those, too. (Louis Wu 03:53:19 UTC) (permalink)

Penny Arcade Pimps Halo 2
Jordan Montreuil (and half a dozen other people) pointed out a blurb from Gabe in today's Penny Arcade news about some ads PA made for Microsoft about Halo 2. He couldn't actually find the ads (and neither could I) - but keep an eye open for them! (Louis Wu 03:42:13 UTC) (permalink)

Free is a very good price.
Couple of giveaways to mention: Xboxcheats.com is giving away a copy of Halo 2 every day of November after November 9th (thanks, gizmoe)... and 92.3 KROCK (out of New York) is celebrating Halo 2 Week by giving away Halo 2. Details are in this news item, with online entry info here (thanks, Dan Chosich). (Louis Wu 03:36:34 UTC) (permalink)

Traveling in Style
Major Nelson put up a small bit about the winners of the Halo 2 Backstage Pass competition - including a nice shot of the Halo 2-branded stretch Hummer used to haul them around. Looks like they'll be having some fun tomorrow! Thanks, Cybrfrk. (Louis Wu 03:32:02 UTC) (permalink)

Daily Show Clip
Yesterday, Ding mentioned the John Stewart Halo plug - thanks to Jakedagreat, we've got a 1.9 mb QuickTime clip of the action. Check it out! (Louis Wu 03:29:45 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 - Masterchief
A number of people have pointed out this website, tied somehow to the Desktop Master Chief. (I at first believed that the music videos were totally fan-created - I still think they're pretty amateurish, personally, but this seems to be an official site, so what do I know?) Some interesting stuff there, in any case. (Louis Wu 03:21:32 UTC) (permalink)

Must... Chat... On... Forum...
Spud from Haloplanet wants to remind anyone who is jonesing for some Halo 2 discussion that they've been doing a hell of a job keeping their forums leak-free, and are justifiably proud of their efforts. If you've been looking for a place to discuss the Halo universe, but don't want to get spoiled, give them a try! (If you're a regular here, be polite - we don't want to tarnish our impeccable reputation! ;-)) (mnemesis 01:12:49 UTC) (permalink)

Aussie Halo 2 Love
James Swinbanks writes from Australia to let us know that there's an online Halo 2 article at the Sydney Morning Herald site. He also wants to let us know that the Australian OXM has a big 13-page article on the game, and that it received (what else?) a 10/10. :-) Thanks, James! (mnemesis 01:11:34 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 on SpikeTV
Mid33 sends word that Spike TV will be featuring Halo 2 today on this week's Ultimate Gamer, and that they've got a teaser of the show online. It's footage that's been mostly seen before, but that shouldn't stop you. Go to it! (mnemesis 01:03:36 UTC) (permalink)

More new miniscreens
Once again, Adam Daniel has extracted the latest four images from the nilerodgers.com Listening Station interface. You can grab them here, here, here, and here. Don't let that stop you from visiting Nile's site, though. (mnemesis 01:02:30 UTC) (permalink)

News November 3 2004

The Schwagging Continues
More new stuff at the Bungie Store for you. Looks like a white Halo 2 logo tee and a new mad cool brain sponge. Check it out! Update: There's also a Dry Tech jersey. Woo woo. (mnemesis 17:33:48 UTC) (permalink)

The first of many Wallpapers
As mentioned frequently, the Art sections here (Miscellaneous Art and Wallpaper) have been neglected for too long - it's been almost a month since we added any new desktops. Unfortunately, one of the oldest items in the queue was a Halloween-themed image... apologies. The first 10 are up right now in the Wallpaper section, with more coming each day. (I'll do my best to get Misc Art going soon, too.) (Louis Wu 15:39:22 UTC) (permalink)

Pretty pics for your phone
deftangel found a page on the Samsung (UK) website offering Halo 2 downloads for Samsung mobile phone users. If you've got one... go look! (Louis Wu 15:22:14 UTC) (permalink)

3rd Movement of the Odyssey now up
Hellion points out that the third movement of Incubus' Odyssey has now been posted to the nilerogers.com website. The snippet itself is 1.9 mb, 2:00 long. Go listen! (And keep your eyes open - there are still 6 tracks on the album that have not been added to the Listening Station.) (Louis Wu 15:10:57 UTC) (permalink)

A cult phenomenon, I tell ya!
Wow. I stopped by misterchief.com today, just to see how things were going - I'm pretty amazed by the fan art this site is attracting. If you haven't visited... go. It's funny stuff. (Louis Wu 13:56:33 UTC) (permalink)

Valor
pushbak has created a new vid - it's called 'Valor', and it's basically a promo for a video he's planning to make for Halo 2. The look and feel are strongly reminiscent of some of Dan Chosich's work - nice editing, overall. It's 17 mb, QuickTime format, and it's available at files2.bungie.org. (Louis Wu 12:46:15 UTC) (permalink)

Halo in Time
TK421 mentions that there's a short article about video games (with a focus on Halo and Halo 2) in the November 8 issue of Time Magazine (page 116). It claims that games are striving for more emotional involvement. If we can get a scan, we'll post it next week. Update: Lojack found an online version - no scan necessary. (Louis Wu 12:41:42 UTC) (permalink)

They've got a pool!
Ack! Yesterday, we got word from Andrew, of Fire Team Charlie, that FTC 15 had been released for members. Somehow, I totally spaced on it after replying to him. If you're a member, go grab it now (80 mb, DivX-encoded AVI, with a QuickTime coming some time today or tonight). If you're not... it should be available to the public in lower-res formats in the near future. As usual - it's great. Introduction of many, many new characters in this one - and new vocal talent. It rocks! (Louis Wu 12:33:42 UTC) (permalink)

Styled By Vidal Sassy-Soon?
One One Se7en takes a look at the upgraded Cortana graphics. (No, not those bits, you sicko.) (Louis Wu 11:49:43 UTC) (permalink)

More w00tness
NiceMissMayonnaise found an older Halo-based series at w00tness, the comic we mentioned yesterday. It starts on January 6 and runs for about a month and a half. (While we're at it, the next panel of the CURRENT series is up.) (Louis Wu 11:29:07 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 tourneys at Media Play?
bourwa writes to say that Media Play (a chain of stores) is hosting some Halo 2 tournaments next weekend (Saturday the 13th). There doesn't seem to be any info online, but if you live near a Media Play, it might be worth a call! (He's a supervisor in a Michigan store, and they're hosting one.) (Louis Wu 11:12:10 UTC) (permalink)

A Good Read
The latest IGN Countdown 2 article tells you to go read a book while you wait. They even suggest one. Three, actually. Looks like Jason Ware beat Google this time around with the heads-up. (Louis Wu 11:07:14 UTC) (permalink)

MLG joins ESPN for Cold Pizza
Eep, almost missed this - Dolbex pointed out an article at MLGPro.com mentioning that MLG has joined with ESPN in sponsoring the Cold Pizza contest tomorrow, in which 50 lucky winners will be playing Halo 2 live (on TV) in Times Square. Good luck, folks! (Louis Wu 10:41:20 UTC) (permalink)

Take the Blue Pill... er, Helmet
Matt Geuther, latex-mask-maker extrordinaire, was so impressed by the 2000+ hits he got to his already closed eBay auction (noted here the other day), that he went and set up auctions for another green helmet, a red one, and a blue one. Halloween may be a whole year away, but now's the perfect time to stock up and avoid the rush! (mnemesis 07:14:06 UTC) (permalink)

Exit Polling Covenant Aliens
Just a few minutes ago, during Jon Stewart's LIVE Daily Show covering the USA Election Day shenanigans, when Jon turned to Rob Cordry to discuss some large projection screen graphics, Rob was actually playing HALO. And not as some anonymous 'console shoot-em-up game' but as the ACTUAL game of Halo. Jon surprises Rob and asks him in shock if he's playing HALO. Rob sez he's just exit polling... covenant aliens! What did Rob say to the screen before realizing he was caught? "Yah, suck it! Suck it! Where's your alien plasma rifle now, bitch!"

Truly, the folks at the Daily Show, know their Halo! (Ding 03:40:12 UTC) (permalink)

Everyone Loves A Good Story
For day 3 of their weeklong Halo 2 coverage, Gamespy managed to wrangle an interview with Bungie's Cinematic Director, Joe Staten. Lots of great, non-spoiler stuff in there. Go read! Thanks to John at Gamespy for the info. (mnemesis 03:33:34 UTC) (permalink)

Holy...
Wow. If you live in the Seattle area, read this NOW. Major Nelson, the Xbox Marketing guy, has a free ticket (one ticket) for someone to play Halo all day Thursday. Winner to be picked at random tomorrow night (Wednesday, 3 November) from the folks who send in entries. Make sure you follow all the rules on that page, and that you're eligible. Nice deal! (Thanks, Cybrfrk!) (Louis Wu 01:32:33 UTC) (permalink)

w00tness
Someone sent in a note about a webcomic called w00tness - apparently, a Halo-based storyline is just starting. Nice artwork - keep your eyes open for the next pieces! (Louis Wu 00:52:15 UTC) (permalink)

Five to Play
Hmm... looking over the two dozen news posts that went up recently, I realized that I'd managed to neglect yesterday's Countdown to Halo 2 article from IGN. It was called 'Five Other First-Person Shooters to Play While You Wait' - and, well, yeah, that's what it was. (Yes, Halo was number 1.) (Louis Wu 00:48:34 UTC) (permalink)

Just so you're not bored...
TeamXbox is getting into the 'what do do while you're waiting' game with an article entitled 'Halo 2 Survival Guide'. You probably don't have the time (or money) to complete EVERYTHING on the list at this late date... but hey, you might get some ideas. Credit to John Rivas for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 00:45:39 UTC) (permalink)

Clowns are expensive.
Mat Noguchi answered a LOT of questions recently - some of his answers are even useful. (Most of them are entertaining, so it's worth a read regardless.) Lots and lots of people sent in word about this, but Frankie beat you all. (Which, I suppose, is reasonable, given that he wrote it...) (Louis Wu 00:41:19 UTC) (permalink)

News November 2 2004

Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Part 4
Cary Trussler reminded us that in all the hoopla and hype in the buildup for Halo 2, we've forgotten to continue our piecewise release of the 'Heart is a Lonely Hunter' movie - Part 4 is now available at mythica.org and files.bungie.org. 38.7 mb, 5:35 long, QuickTime format. Search our news for more information about this movie, if you're not already familiar with it. (Louis Wu 21:47:03 UTC) (permalink)

Power Up mag
WRATHofGOD found a digital magazine called 'Power Up' at Xbox.com - it weighs in at a hefty 40 mb, but contains tons of info about Xbox Live, and some of the games you can play there. One of those (predictably) is Halo 2. Nice find! (Louis Wu 21:44:07 UTC) (permalink)

But what if he'd been right?
Calvin whiles away the time to Halo 2 by scaring the pants off of Hobbes in today's Calvin and Halo. A fine activity, if you ask me. (Louis Wu 21:26:26 UTC) (permalink)

Lots and lots of reading material
The Fan Fiction section, neglected for almost a week (mere moments on the Misc Art/Wallpaper neglect timescales, unfortunately), is now up-to-date - there are 20 new pieces for your reading pleasure. Enjoy. (And hopefully, one of these days, I'll find the time for art updates too.) (Louis Wu 21:24:16 UTC) (permalink)

More Halo 2 goodies
Chris "Snowcone" Rasco writes to point out a Halo 2 giveaway on Snackbar-Games.com - sign up for the chance to win one of three copies of Halo 2 (one LE and two regular). You must be a citizen of the US or Canada, and the drawing is happening on Friday. Free stuff is good! (Louis Wu 21:02:06 UTC) (permalink)

The Second Coming
Lawrence.com has posted an article about Halo 2, and the road that led to it (starting way back in the 70's with Pong). Nice read! (Thanks, Mothergoat.) (Louis Wu 20:59:26 UTC) (permalink)

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, everywhere...
Wondering what that funky pumpkin to the right is all about? It's Boxer's way of paying tribute to an important duty. Click on it and read more! (Louis Wu 20:29:05 UTC) (permalink)

Fanfest Update
Sketch has written up some extra details for the Bungie Halo 2 Launch Fanfest - what's on the agenda, who can go, when and where it is, and so on. If you're in the Seattle area, this should be a must-visit! Thanks, Target4Hire. (Louis Wu 19:54:49 UTC) (permalink)

Heavy Price Paid
Another snippet from nilerogers.com today - Heavy Price Paid (1:30 long, 1.4 mb for the music itself). Great screenshot to look at in the Flash presentation, as well. Looks like Richard Heerey was first this time. (Louis Wu 19:39:20 UTC) (permalink)

Theme Building: an Easier Way
Not too long ago, Bungie posted a Theme Builder on Bungie.net - an HTML template for creating new themes for their 7th Column site. The problem is, most designers work better in some sort of visual mode - jumping back and forth between their design and Bungie's HTML (in both the main file and the style sheet) can get confusing. To the rescue comes Rip-Saw. He's created a layered photoshop document (zipped, 282K) with every element on its own layer, nicely labeled - adjust things to LOOK as you want them to, and then just translate back when you're finished. Should save loads of time. He apologizes for the fact that there "may be a few errors in the labeling, and one or two CSS elements were left out due to me not being able to figure out what they were for". A small price to pay for such a convenience! (Louis Wu 19:20:51 UTC) (permalink)

Mig waxes nostalgic (or maybe just his car)
RevDotNed let us know about an interview with community stalwart Miguel Chavez over at xblGames.com - it's a great read from someone who's been a major part of the Bungie fan community for most of the time there's BEEN a Bungie fan community. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:57:07 UTC) (permalink)

Pumpkin Voting
Whew! After a lot of messing around, we're finally ready to accept votes for the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest! Now, keep in mind, there are 85 separate entries - and you're only allowed to vote once. Therefore, you should put it off until you have a few minutes to peruse the choices - it would be no fun if you only got through half of them! (Voting is open for a full week - through next Tuesday - so don't feel you have to rush to get it done.) The entry page should give you an idea of the best way to navigate through the entries - PLEASE READ IT. (I know a lot of people just want to get started, but if we start getting mail like 'OMG I messed up can you let me try again?' we're gonna be ignoring it.) Limits - you can only vote once per IP address. This stinks for families sharing a single address - but them's the breaks. So: Go read the instructions, then browse through the pumpkins and pick your favorite 5. (That's how many votes you get.) We'll be tallying points to find the top 3 - with a runoff vote if necessary down the road. And thanks to BOLL for his invaluable help in the last 12 hours! (Louis Wu 16:51:19 UTC) (permalink)

HomeLANFed talks Halo 2
Two great interviews at HomeLAN Fed today - Pete Parsons discusses what makes Halo 2 great, and Rikki Khanna, of AKQA (the folks behind the new halo2.com website) talks about what went into making the site (and its unique language). Thanks, John Callaham. (Louis Wu 16:01:41 UTC) (permalink)

Halo2.com goodies
Hehe - Bomber of doom found a nice little egg on the Halo2.com site. It was noticed a few days ago that if, after viewing the console and contents, you closed down the holo link (pressed the purple button below the screen), you'd see a pair of covenant craft take down a human battlestation. When it first appeared on the site, it was marred by the absence of the Earth graphic in the background (once the battle started, the earth went solid white). That's been fixed, and you can watch the station be destroyed, and then burn up in the atmosphere. If you click the top covenant craft after the destruction, though, before the pieces hit the atmosphere, you hear Joe Staten taunting... well, humans, in this case, I guess. (Turning the console on and off again at this point will produce one more small animation - that of a Pelican burning up in the atmosphere.) Lots of nice work there! (Louis Wu 11:39:16 UTC) (permalink)

Finland likes Halo 2, too
Halo 2 continues to wow the world press - Finland's Pelit gave it a 96/100 (two points more than they awarded the original). Thanks, Scanner Darkly. (Louis Wu 11:25:35 UTC) (permalink)

New schwag at the Bungie Store
KNIGHTOFDRAGONS was first among a dozen to point out the new Halo 2 Luggage Tag as well as the Halo 2 Backpack recently added to the Bungie Store. The pocket-emptying never ends! (Louis Wu 11:23:16 UTC) (permalink)

So where IS our camoflauge armor?
The Junkyard continues their series of level analyses from a military perspective, with Part VIII - Two Betrayals. As always, an interesting read. Thanks, Mhaddy. (Louis Wu 11:20:41 UTC) (permalink)

Xbox-Exodus - schwag for content
Absolute0 pointed out a competition on Xbox-Exodus - create material that can be hosted on the site, you're entered to win strategy guides, t-shirts, or DVDs. Details are on the page (Louis Wu 11:17:12 UTC) (permalink)

Gamespy talks vehicles and weapons
Two new Halo articles at Gamespy today - the first is an interview with Lead Designer Jaim Griesemer about Halo 2's vehicles (lots of tasty info, though he dodges the 'spoiler-like' questions), and the second is a talk with Tyson Green (aka Ferrex) about Halo 2's weapons (again, plenty of useful info about stuff you've heard of, with a studied lack of spoilers). Go read 'em both! focused7 beat everyone, including Gamespy's editor, in letting us know about these. (Louis Wu 11:01:06 UTC) (permalink)

Making those few extra quid
A couple of days ago, Spideroptics pointed out that prices for Halo 2 in the UK are rising - a month ago, the norm was £29.99, now £31.99 is more common, and there's even a company that's selling it for £44.99 - cheek! (Many of these companies have raised their prices in the past week or so.) Is this just profiteering... or is this related to the alleged price-fixing in the Netherlands? (Louis Wu 10:55:11 UTC) (permalink)

A poll that's getting to people.
Wow... this must be a big deal to someone... I've gotten mail from Microsoft's PR firm AND from Bungie employees about this, AND it's on Bungie.net's front page. Gamespy is running a new Grudge Match - Which are you more excited about, Halo 2 or Half-Life 2? Right now, Halo 2 is winning - but it matters to a lot of people that it stays that way, so go vote! (Bottom left corner of the page.) (Louis Wu 02:54:42 UTC) (permalink)

News November 1 2004

Want (pumpkin) pie now.
Quick update on the 343 Guilt O' Lantern competition... We have a total of 85 submissions, and building a mechanism whereby you can pick the best 3 without getting totally overwhelmed is non-trivial. It will almost certainly not be finished tonight - hopefully, it'll be ready for public consumption tomorrow. There's still plenty of voting time left, so don't worry - we aren't in danger of missing any prize deadlines... yet. :) Thanks for your patience! (Louis Wu 22:48:02 UTC) (permalink)

Adventures in Disaster: The Movie
Speaking of akba, his site is hosting the next in Boxer's Adventures in Disaster comic series. This one is a poster for an upcoming movie. I'm not sure I want to see it. (Louis Wu 22:34:57 UTC) (permalink)

Flawed Legacy and more Odyssey
Two new snippets at Nilerogers.com today - Flawed Legacy (the actual snippet is 1:50, 1.7 mb) and 4th Movement of the Odyssey (snippet is 2:10 long, 2.2 mb, with a nice screenshot). Thanks to all who wrote in - akba was first. (Louis Wu 22:31:24 UTC) (permalink)

Brian and Pete talk Halo 2
Yet another msn-based (read: Macs not welcome, non-IE browsers not welcome) movie - If you visit the MSNBC Technology and Science Front Page, there's a link in the upper right corner, under 'Also in the News' - it reads "Video: Sneak Preview of 'Halo 2'". It's a short interview with Brian Jarrard and Pete Parsons, talking about what's new and improved with Halo 2. Thanks, Angel Navarro. (Louis Wu 22:25:48 UTC) (permalink)

You Should See Their Alphabet Soup.
As you're reading today's One One Se7en, remember... our news contains links to several decoders. Don't fret. Just search. (Louis Wu 16:45:24 UTC) (permalink)

Woof.
Sizeable art update over on Halo Babies - check it all out, including a pretty cool Spartan dog. (Louis Wu 15:46:46 UTC) (permalink)

RC2 Halo 2 Preview
SEspider is a regular around here, as well as an action figure retailer in real life. He recently received a new product booklet showing upcoming goodies, and sent along a scan of the Halo pages (141K). Some you've seen, some you haven't. (Louis Wu 15:39:26 UTC) (permalink)

MJOLNIR Remixed
JPOGDNA, from Sector 7 Halo, put together a video showing the transition between Halo and Halo 2. 4:21 long, 20.1 mb large, QuickTime format. Hosted by EdgeFiles. Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:33:34 UTC) (permalink)

I wonder what the logo looks like?
Hehe - Nick Atkinson points out that there are lengths you can go to to express your love for Halo that will be recognized only by like-minded individuals. Check out the official name of his Cabinetmaking business. (Louis Wu 15:29:56 UTC) (permalink)

Cold in the Dark
A new Subzero Rivalries was posted last night, just in time for Halloween. (There's even a moral in there. Somewhere.) Thanks, Hawk 7886. (Louis Wu 15:27:43 UTC) (permalink)

Goodies from EB Games
EBGames.com is hosting a Halo 2 sweepstakes - go register wto win lots of good stuff. You must be a US resident to enter, and you must enter by November 9. Thanks, HALOChat. (Louis Wu 15:20:44 UTC) (permalink)

Gamespy Interviews Frank O'Connor
Gamespy has kicked off its weeklong Halo 2 coverage with a great interview of Bungie.net's Frankie. Some clear discussion on why items got pulled, stuff about XBox Live, and more. Go read! (And stop back every day this week for more good stuff - that first link lists what's coming each day.) Thanks, John Keefer - and dozens of others. (Louis Wu 15:15:54 UTC) (permalink)

New... something at MSN Entertainment
M3XGhost39 found some odd 'screenshots' over at MSN Entertainment. They're pretty tiny, and they're a mishmash of already-released shots, shots that WILL be released in the next few days (but are currently under embargo), and shots I've never seen before. To top it off, they're in the 'Celebrity Photos' section (I guess there's no 'screenshots' section there). Go look. (No spoilers - at least none you'll recognize as such.) (Louis Wu 15:07:42 UTC) (permalink)

Latex MC Mask
beetlecrazy12 found an interesting latex mask on eBay - unfortunately, I didn't get this posted last night in time for folks to actually BID on it. Still cool to see. I've put up a static (no links) local copy for when this auction rolls off eBay. (Louis Wu 14:55:37 UTC) (permalink)

Impend at nilerogers.com
Once again, a night not posting Halo news has generated a few dozen notes about a new clip over at nilerogers.com - it's called Impend. This time, it seems like there's a a small error in the page code; the copy-and-paste from Heretic, Hero wasn't fully converted. Browsers that use the Object definition (like IE on Windows) will get the flash animation... those that use the Embed parameter (pretty much everything else) will see a white box. I'm sure this will be fixed soon - but in the meantime, you can at least grab the music snippet itself... it rocks. First heads-up was Julien LeBlanc, about 12 hours ago. (Louis Wu 12:00:43 UTC) (permalink)

Halloween Love
Halloween Love Now here is a woman who cares about her man. LadyRziha created a Master Chief costume for her husband - it's not as polished as a Nightmare Armor suit, but there's a whole lotta love there. Check it out! (More news tomorrow - too much trick-or-treating tonight.) (Louis Wu 02:29:33 UTC) (permalink)

November 2004

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