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 | October 2004 |  |
October 2004 Archived News
News October 31 2004
Free Halo stuff at Game Revolution
Stuntmutt pointed out a nice little contest over at Game Revolution - Enter, you've got a chance to win some cool Halo schwag. (Louis Wu 20:52:41 UTC) (permalink)
Goodbye, HBO-Coerce
A quick reminder - HBO Coerce is going offline at midnight EDT tonight. (That's about 7 hours from now, for folks who can't do the math.) Go play some last minute Halo CE! (Louis Wu 20:49:11 UTC) (permalink)
New Flash at Newgrounds
Biography of Master Chief, Part 1, at Newgrounds. Wronchi takes liberties. Thanks, Blade. (Louis Wu 20:37:56 UTC) (permalink)
Frightful.
Stuntmutt, too, has gotten into the spirit, with a special holiday One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:51:56 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 in Entertainment Weekly
Yesterday, Sep7imus mentioned that the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly contained an article about Halo 2. He couldn't scan it, though. Today, Finchmeister found an online link for the same article - no scans necessary. (Louis Wu 17:45:43 UTC) (permalink)
New Halo 2 Action Mini-Figures
ONI_operative_343 found a new Halo 2 action figure mini-pack (it doesn't seem to be advertised on Joyride's site). You can see it (and buy it) at DieCastExpress.com. (Louis Wu 17:43:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halloween Comic
Kevin Ryan made a Halo 2 Halloween comic last winter - Red Leader suggested now is a good time to remind people. You can find it at Black Arts Studios. (Louis Wu 17:41:04 UTC) (permalink)
Spike TV's Ultimate Halo 2 Gamer
Alex Barnes noticed a commercial on Spike TV for a show called 'Halo 2 Ultimate Gamer'. (We posted the casting notice for this a couple of weeks ago.) If you want to watch - check out showtimes. (Coming up this Thursday and Saturday.) (Louis Wu 17:38:58 UTC) (permalink)
Bus Shelter Posters
mecka wrote to say that he works for a company that is putting up large Halo 2 posters in public transport shelters across Melbourne, Australia - and he snapped a pic (164K) of one of these babies before pasting it up. It's about 1.8 m (6 feet) tall. Pretty! (Louis Wu 17:36:18 UTC) (permalink)
Dutch Gaming Awards
There's a Dutch site that's hosting some sort of game awards, and Halo 2 is up for 'New Hit Award'. The whole site is in Dutch, and I don't really know what happens with the winners, but wouter van der fluit is pretty insistent that we post this. If you're Dutch, and can translate/give us more info... do me a favor, and don't. I'm willing to post links to non-english sites here and there... but for the most part, the vast majority of our readers can't access this info, and it's better posted on a country-specific website. Thanks! (Louis Wu 16:28:24 UTC) (permalink)
Celebrities playing Halo 2 - for some people
Sean Kelly pointed out a new clip on the MTV website promoting this week's Making of Halo 2 video (showtimes are here). Once again, it's XP/IE only. Some websites suck. (Louis Wu 16:21:04 UTC) (permalink)
The Australian Spin
The Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun had a short article on Pete Parsons, the 'man behind Halo 2' (that's a direct quote) and a previous Melbourne resident. There's a followup next week. Pooston sent us a digital photo of the article (229K). (Louis Wu 16:15:30 UTC) (permalink)
ILB Training - now open to more
A few days ago we mentioned a page on the I Love Bees website that discussed a closed invite to a 'training session' in 4 large cities - as of last night, that invite has been opened to several hundred people per city. Go visit the page, and if you're in the area, follow the instructions and get yourself included! Thanks to Major Hellion Youngblood and weephun for sending word. (Louis Wu 15:54:31 UTC) (permalink)
Heretic, Hero
Mostly working on pumpkin stuff today (the number of entries nearly doubled overnight), but there's other Halo news. In an attempt to staunch the flood of emails about the new Official Halo Soundtrack clip over at nilerogers.com, I'll post that now. It's called 'Heretic, Hero', and the snippet is 1.1 mb (1:10 long). As always, preferred listening method should be the Listening Station at the website. There are now 11 clips to listen to. The first heads-up came last night, from Hunt3r. (Louis Wu 15:29:59 UTC) (permalink)
Think before you write twice
To all the people who send mail to us: READ THIS. A week ago, Count Zero posted a note stating that he was going to stop reading and answering mail until after Halo 2's release, to avoid spoilers. The rest of the crew has pretty much decided the same thing. Since that point, HBO has been maintained, in its entirety, by ONE PERSON - me. I've been doing my best to answer all mail that needs answering, add all news that needs adding, update all sections that need updating... but I'm human. I miss things. Sometimes I decide that things aren't important enough to add, and I forget to send mail explaining that. PLEASE - do NOT send news to multiple addresses here if you don't get a response - they all go to me right now. Hopefully that will change again in a week or two, but for now... please, be patient, and understand that I'm pretty close to the limit of what I can realistically do when it comes to maintaining this website. Mail telling me you're angry about something not being updated will NOT be handled gracefully - for that I apologize now. You can avoid the nasty mail by NOT COMPLAINING. Thanks. (Louis Wu 13:58:58 UTC) (permalink)
News October 30 2004
Homefront is out.
Quick note, before heading to dinner - Homefront has finally been released. If you own Battlefield: Vietnam... go grab it. Thanks to lots of people, but Zavaro was first. (Louis Wu 21:10:20 UTC) (permalink)
The Gathering
Major Nelson, the Xbox marketing guy, has a blog entry up from yesterday about a gathering of 'the most influential fansites from across Europe' - he's talking Xbox fansites, now. They got lots of cool treats... but the last might have been the best:
To cap off the day, we held the very first European Halo 2 Tournament with winners walking away with cool prize packs...including a new Samsung mobile phone!
Oh, the goodies you get when you run a fansite... HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! (Thanks, Cybrfrk.) (Louis Wu 15:37:38 UTC) (permalink)
Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere.
Just got finished organizing the entries so far for the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest - I have to say, I'm really impressed. There are currently 37 entries... and some are AMAZING. The contest is still open for another 36 hours or so; at Midnight EST tomorrow night, we close the doors to entries. Then, sometime Monday, or Tuesday if Monday is REALLY awful, the entire collection will go up for voting; folks will have about a week to pick their favorites. Then give US a few days to tally the votes - and sometime soon after Halo 2's release, we'll announce the top three entries. I'm looking forward to this one! (Louis Wu 15:33:52 UTC) (permalink)
New enemy - extracted
Very nice - BOLL extracted one of the more interesting pictures from the Halo 2 Montage now available at Halo2.com (it's PC-only, to save you a download if you're on a Mac). Now, if you're one of the people who felt that the mere existence of a creature not present in the first Halo should be considered a spoiler, DON'T LOOK AT THIS - but it's the same baddie that's popped up in a bunch of places now, and you STILL don't know much about him. We have a regular jpeg (67k), or, if you want to use this in artwork, BOLL's original PNG file, with nice transparency (432K)... and the same image, without the glow border (317K). Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:41:27 UTC) (permalink)
OXM UK says OK to Halo 2
Another review comes back perfect - this one is OXM UK's Halo 2 review, another 10/10. So far, of the OXMs, only OXM US has rated Halo 2 less than perfect... Thanks, Andy C. (Louis Wu 13:33:34 UTC) (permalink)
Commercial Screen Grabs
A couple of Halo community regulars have pulled screenshots out of the hi-res 60-second commercial - you can find rapture's faves over at cookedgamers.net and BOLL's picks on 7708.net. Speculation will have to be amongst friends, or on other forums - ours is still offline, for another week and a half. Sorry! (Louis Wu 13:30:53 UTC) (permalink)
UNSC Re-cruet-ment.
Bah. You might have noticed that there's been an absurd amount of news recently - and sometimes, things fall through the cracks. Yesterday's One One Seven is one of those things. It's posted now... sorry. (Hmm... upon reflection... maybe you'd have been better off spared that particular pun...) (Louis Wu 12:33:11 UTC) (permalink)
Dre'al takes a spill
Tina Leyk dropped by last night with another incredible piece of artwork - this one's called 'Close Call' - she says it started out as a random doodle (unrelated to Halo), ended up as that. You can find it on her art collection page here (last picture). All I can say is... wow. (Louis Wu 12:27:33 UTC) (permalink)
New Halo 2 content at IGN
Two new IGN articles for you today - a VERY high score in a Japanese Xbox magazine for Halo 2, and a ridiculously high-end version of a Halo 2 readiness guide (this one might be Insider-only, I'm not sure). $640,195 - plus tax. Plus the game. Wonga. (Louis Wu 12:12:01 UTC) (permalink)
Stubbs the Zombie PR
We finally got an official announcement from Aspyr about Wideload's new Halo-engine-based game, Stubbs the Zombie. The press release can be found here, and you should visit the game's official website for more info. (Louis Wu 12:08:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 at Canada.com
Gruntkilla found a new Halo 2 writeup over at Canada.com - sounds like they had fun playing it. (He also mentions a contest being run by their Montreal broadcast station - if you live in Quebec, you can enter to win a free Xbox with a copy of Halo 2 by sending your mailing address, phone number and the words Halo 2 at iwin@globaltv.ca.) (Louis Wu 11:59:12 UTC) (permalink)
New (mini)screens - now without overlaying
Adam Daniel extracted the new screenshot snippets from the nilerogers.com Listening Station interface (we mentioned them yesterday - you can see them here, here, here, and here. He also composited them into one image, if you'd rather grab that. Thanks, Adam! (Louis Wu 11:51:34 UTC) (permalink)
Halo2.com new content
Owm points out that Halo2.com has been updated again - the previously off-limits sections (password-protected) are now open. You can find screensavers (mac and pc), a short (15-second) new promo movie (wmp9 format), and more. Go look! (Scroll around the middle ring until you see the prophets - they're behind that.) (Louis Wu 11:45:24 UTC) (permalink)
Featurette Availability
For folks who want direct downloads of the large QuickTime version of the featurette we posted last night, community members have come to your rescue. Nick has posted a copy on HaloDev (though you'll ONLY be able to access it through that link - pasting that anywhere else will lead to a redirect), and Coylter has put up a copy on Gamingmatrix (rar format, right-click or option-click to download). There's also, now, a smaller version (320x240, 25 mb) hosted by us. The WMV links in Sketch's Bungie.net post are still valid, for folks who DON'T want QuickTime. And yes, about a million people noticed the small clip that has Chris Butcher talking about XBL has a Blood Gulch evolution on the screens behind him. (Starts about 5:16 into the movie.) Enjoy! (Louis Wu 11:35:22 UTC) (permalink)
Charity Drive in danger of fragmenting
Small update on the Halo for Charity drive... I think some care needs to be taken here. We got mail from KilaOne (the person who started the idea on the Bungie.net forums) saying that talks were underway with ESA, but that a little time would be needed to straighten things out - and then we got more mail from Richie McKee, who said that over on the IGN boards, they've already decided to go with a different charity, and they're pushing for direct donations. It's laudable to want to help... but unless you don't care whether one BIG push is made or lots of LITTLE ones (less effective, in my opinion), you shouldn't try to take over setup of this process... it looks like KilaOne and the Electronic Software Association has it under control at the moment. Thanks! More news when we know it. (Louis Wu 11:28:52 UTC) (permalink)
More on violence and... Xboxes?
A little off-topic, but... Spideroptics sent us another example of journalists cutting a few corners to make a point. His local paper, the UK Guardian, put up a couple of articles recently about GTA: San Andreas (here and here), mirroring content in the print edition. What amused him was the picture (150K) that was published in the paper with these - not only is the guy in the pic not actually PLAYING a game (he's watching a promotional video), but he's holding an Xbox controller - and as of right now, GTA: SA is a PlayStation2-only game. Again, the Xbox is unfairly dragged into a discussion of violence (it might actually have a PLACE in the discussion, but it should be brought in fairly, no?). Following the recent Today Show silliness, it's making me think less and less of mainstream press with respect to gaming news. (Louis Wu 11:23:18 UTC) (permalink)
Hi-res QT of the Multiplayer Featurette
There's plenty more news, but it's gonna have to wait until morning - I've got stuff to do. In the meantime - I have a Hi-res version of the Multiplayer Featurette for you, in QuickTime format. It's a bit washed out when compared to the original - but I was in a hurry. ;) We're a bit short of large bandwidth this close to the end of the month, so I've BitTorrented it. If you really hate it (or you can't use BitTorrent), there are other options - IGN has put up both a high and low res version... but they're both HUGE. (The high-res is 640x480, 209 mb, the low-res is 320x240, 53 mb.) Gamespot, as well, has a couple of QTs up: 152 mb for the high, 71 for the low. (Thanks, JHawk.) You have to be an Insider or a Gamespot Complete member, as well, to get to those. That torrent file? It's 51 mb. Grab it now! (I'll have a 320x240 version - in the range of about 20 mb - up by tomorrow.) (Louis Wu 02:32:22 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo 2 Music
Man... take the kids to a couple of Halloween events, the mailbox just FILLS. Many, many people wrote about the two newest pieces over at nilerogers.com - Ghosts of Reach and The Last Spartan. Again, the Listening Station is wonderful... if you're on a fast connection - otherwise, the snippets are here and here. (Louis Wu 02:20:54 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Weekly Update - at RvB
Today's Weekly Bungie Update is over at Red vs Blue, in honor of the RvB team visiting Bungie this weekend. Unfortunately, that means that a significant chunk of Halo fans can't actually see it - because viewing posts on the forum requires that you be registered on their site... and being registered requires an email address that is NOT Hotmail or msn or other large, free provider. Because of this, we're doing something we've not really done before - we're mirroring the update so folks can see it. I think both Bungie and RvB would understand. Go read it - at RvB if you can, here if you can't - because it's a fun read. The team (those that are back from vacation, that is) seems far more relaxed now that the game's in the can. The community team is busy... but then, they're always busy. What else is new? And oh, yeah... Happy Birthday, Shishka! (I think he's 13 now.) Update: It's now on RvB's front page, and so viewable by all (thanks, Ross). All you miss is the Mister Chief art. (Louis Wu 01:59:29 UTC) (permalink)
News October 29 2004
Eye Candy
New video, straight from Bungie - the new trailer (both long and short versions), in English, French, German, and Italian... last summer's movie teaser... and the bonus of bonuses, a multiplayer featurette yanked off the Making of Halo DVD (high and low res, 88 or 44 mb, WMP9 format). Go watch the fantastic fllmmaking of Jim McQuillan and Film Oasis as they turn Bungie opinion and chatter into a work of art. Yeehaw! (While we're mentioning the launch ad, we should mention that the German version is also available in DivX format from HaloUniverse.) What are you waiting for? (Mac users - we'll do our best to get a QT version out in the next day or so. This came as a total surprise, though, so it's not ready yet.) (Louis Wu 20:08:15 UTC) (permalink)
FHM and Halo 2 team up
According to the Digital Bulletin, Microsoft has paid FHM.com a quarter of a million dollars for a partnership, with promotion on the site the payoff. Loading times are pretty horrible right now, so I can't actually see the Halo 2 minisite... but much of FHM's content seems to be not safe for work. Interesting choice of venues... (Louis Wu 13:02:24 UTC) (permalink)
Killzone good, but not Halo competition, says BBC
The BBC looks at Killzone... and decides it's not really a Halo-killer. Surprise, surprise. (Remember, they're available on completely different consoles.) Thanks again, demonelite. (Louis Wu 12:55:02 UTC) (permalink)
Big Screen Battle
Eep - I keep forgetting this one. In Great Britain, there's a Big Screen Battle tourney coming up on the 4th of December, in 5 Vue Cinemas around GB. Check the page for details. demonelite gets the first heads-up for this one, yesterday sometime. (Louis Wu 12:52:31 UTC) (permalink)
Crystal Xbox for Canada
If you live in Canada, the Xbox Limited Edition Crystal Pack is (or soon will be) available. Crystal Xbox, matching Controller S, a couple of games, and a two-month trial subscription to Live comes with it, for $250CDN (about $200 US). Play Halo 2 clearly! Thanks, Brian. (Louis Wu 12:47:13 UTC) (permalink)
Review time
New Countdown article at IGN - 'Five Things to Expect from IGN's Review'. Get prepared... or something. (Louis Wu 11:09:40 UTC) (permalink)
Back to the Beach
New strip over at Halo Babies - philosophic, sort of. There's also a gorgeous new wallpaper by Gruntsbane. (Louis Wu 11:05:04 UTC) (permalink)
TXB Wallpaper
TeamXbox has posted a new Halo 2 wallpaper, based on Zoe's fantastic parting gift, coupled with a screenshot. Lighting comes off as being a bit funny... but it's nice. Thanks, Dirty Dozen. (Louis Wu 11:02:23 UTC) (permalink)
Ratings from around the world
International gaming press continues to rate Halo 2 quite highly - Official Australian Xbox Mag gave it a 10 (thanks Gossip and Pooston), Holland's Power Unlimited gave it a 93% (they said it 'wasn't revolutionary'), and Belgium's Gunk Magazine gave it a 95%. (Thanks, Herman Karper.) (Louis Wu 10:59:53 UTC) (permalink)
Charity by Gamers
Over the past few days, many, many people have sent us links to this forum post at Bungie.net. KilaOne suggests a Halo 2 movement - each person buying Halo 2 donates one dollar to the Make a Wish Foundation (he actually leaves the door open for a different charity). He contacted the Electronic Software Association (the group behind Night to Unite) and got a positive response - it's unclear if anything can be organized this late in the game, but if it's possible, we'll certainly tell you about it! (Louis Wu 10:55:40 UTC) (permalink)
I want that blue one.
Recoil points out a new set of Halo 2 figures previewed over at figures.com. They'll be available at Musicland and Gamestop this December. Gorgeous! (Louis Wu 10:49:57 UTC) (permalink)
Launching Halo in Finland
Another launch party - this one in Helsinki, Finland. Details (for folks who can read Finnish) on this page. There's gonna be an armored personnel carrier there? Wow. Thanks, Scanner Darkly. (Louis Wu 10:44:33 UTC) (permalink)
Dutch outrage subsides
Looks like Microsoft wasn't thrilled with the negative press they got over the alleged price-fixing in the Netherlands yesterday; GCShop has gotten word that they'll be getting at least SOME LE copies now. Thanks again to Elite TAR for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 10:42:05 UTC) (permalink)
The Halloween Spirit
Heather Dawn sent along a couple of pictures of the Halloween costume her 9-year-old son created, painted, and worked to finish this year. (We're going to have to open a costume section one of these days, I think.) There's a front view and a side view - pretty darn impressive! (Louis Wu 10:38:50 UTC) (permalink)
The Today Show, and why they stink
Yesterday, Matt Soell, once the community voice of Bungie, now an employee of Wideload, mentioned a segment on the Today Show that steamed him. I'd missed it - but it showed up on MSN.com (thanks, Ceiroh). To find it, you'll need to be on a PC, and you'll need to be using Internet Explorer. (I was unable to decipher the page's code to the point where I could extract a movie URL.) Go to www.msn.com, and click the 'MSN Broadband Highlights' about halfway down the page. Search for 'Hot Debate over Violent Video' to find the clip. What got Matt - and what gets me - is that the entire piece is about the uber-violence of GTA: San Andreas, and how bad it is for kids... but right in the middle, with no explanation or warning, is a single clip of the Master Chief reloading his shotgun. Huh? THIS STORY DOESN'T MENTION HALO IN ANY WAY. Bah. As a parent of young children, I'm offended by the patronization. (Louis Wu 09:50:16 UTC) (permalink)
The Music Continues
There are two new musical clips from the Halo 2 soundtrack at nilerogers.com - Ancient Machine (snippet is 53 seconds, 830k) and the Second movement of Incubus' Odyssey (snippet is 1:16, 1.2 mb). The Listening Station on the site works quite well for broadband connections - easy to compare pieces. Plus, with these two new pieces, you get glimpses of two brand-new screenshots in the Flash presentation. First heads-up goes to Recoil. (Louis Wu 08:59:47 UTC) (permalink)
Spread Zombie Love, Sputum Included
Aspyr has posted a press release for Stubbs the Zombie on their own site - now we know it's a 'stirring tale of one man's hunger for love, justice...and brains.' Publication date is summer 2005, on Xbox, PC, and Mac. There are plenty of other tasty tidbits in the press release - check it out! (Thanks, Andrew Lewis.) And with that... I'm off until tomorrow. Update: Kevin Goetz of Inside Mac Games points out that they've got 4 screenshots of the game on their site. Mmm... brains! Update2: Jonah points out ANOTHER article, this one at Gamespot, with a fifth image, and a video interview for Gamespot Complete members (QuickTime format, 3:23 86 mb). Lots of good info from Alex Seropian there. (Louis Wu 00:55:14 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Fanfest in Seattle
Wonga. SketchFactor posted a note today about a Bungie-sponsored fanfest in the Seattle area on November 8 - go read the details! Looks like it'll be fun - more details coming! (Louis Wu 00:51:32 UTC) (permalink)
He's a mean one, that Mat...
Mat Noguchi is a master coder... but he's as mean as the webmaster when he wants to be. Got a question about Halo code, and not afraid to get chewed out about it? Post it in this thread on the B.net forum, and see what you get back! (Louis Wu 00:51:04 UTC) (permalink)
Walk of Game - Again
Again - rough night, more news in the morning... but some quick stuff to hold you over: Over on Bungie.net, they're reminding you to keep voting for the MC in the Walk of Game poll. (We mentioned this several weeks ago, but apparently the MC is losing now. You can vote every day, but voting ends on the 31st... go help!) (Louis Wu 00:44:54 UTC) (permalink)
News October 28 2004
Rebel Without a Pulse
Wideload, Alex Seropian's new company, has finally announced the name (and subject) of its first title, which will be made using the Halo engine: 'Rebel Without a Pulse', a 'multi-format zombie action title' to be published by Aspyr Media next year. There's a press release at Yahoo News... except that Yahoo can't seem to find it for me. There's a small blurb about the game (with a quote from the press release) over at Voodoo Extreme for folks who want a LITTLE more info - when we get our hands on the actual press release, we'll post it. Update: According to a Wideload representative, the difficulty in finding the press release stems from a DNS problem - we all need to be patient. Fun tidbit - the actual title of the upcoming release is "Stubbs the Zombie in 'Rebel Without a Pulse'" - the focus is on Stubbs, not his epithet. (Louis Wu 15:52:09 UTC) (permalink)
New Goodies to Buy
Swirlfire noticed a couple of new items at the Bungie Store - an LED rechargable flashlight, and a lanyard. If you gotta have every tchotchke, go buy! (Louis Wu 15:31:12 UTC) (permalink)
Price fixing? Or something else?
This came in yesterday, but I wasn't around enough. Elite TAR sent us a link to a Dutch site with a rant about MS business practices - I'm basing this news post on his translation. Apparently, GCShop.nl is a student-run store which sells games at cost, in an attempt to give students an alternative to piracy. They were intending to sell Halo 2 LE copies for 52 Euros - but Microsoft told them that if they didn't raise the price to the MSRP of 65€, they wouldn't actually receive any. And they didn't. The biggest problem with this story is that other online stores (like, for example, this one in Germany) offer the Limited Edition for something very close to the reported 52€... and do NOT have this problem of price-fixed blacklisting. In any case, the issue is apparently being discussed in several forums around the net - folks should realize that there might be another side to this story. Update: Just noticed another article (this one in English) about this with roughly the same explanation as Elite TAR's (though without an explanation of how other retailers in Europe are managing to sell for less than the MSRP without a problem). Thanks, Slashdot. (Louis Wu 15:18:02 UTC) (permalink)
Taking out those aggressions
Calvin comes up with a novel way of passing the time until November 9 in today's Calvin and Halo. Thank goodness the weather here doesn't match his, though... (Louis Wu 15:09:26 UTC) (permalink)
TXB says it'll be worth it
TeamXbox has posted a Top Ten Reasons why Halo 2 Will Live Up To the Hype article - there's a good bit of meat there. Go check it out. Thanks, Mid33. (Louis Wu 15:07:15 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Guide for (some of) the masses
Eric "Moose" Policaro writes to say that he's got a Halo 2 guide that includes all currently released or confirmed information on the game. Unfortunately, if you're a Mac user, you'll have real trouble reading the guide (your best bet is Internet Explorer, and even that's borderline), and if you're a PC user that doesn't use IE, you won't be able to use it either. If you have Windows IE, though, go look. (Louis Wu 14:44:10 UTC) (permalink)
Thursday's Reading
Thirteen new pieces for you (several poems and a parody song included) in the Fan Fiction section today. Go see what you can find. (Louis Wu 14:31:29 UTC) (permalink)
Fashion Chief
This is just... odd. Thanks to Gossip, for finding the (in his words) "silliest cameo of
a video game character." (Louis Wu 12:34:37 UTC) (permalink)
Halo PC - another retrospective
A long, interesting post from Randy Pitchford, over on the Gearbox forums. It was in reply to a pretty negative post that covered a lot of old ground - but the response itself does a better job of explaining why Halo PC ended up the way it did than a lot of responses in the past. Worth a read, if you've ever been disappointed in the gameplay of Halo PC. (Pitchford spends less time blaming Bungie/Microsoft for the problems, and more time explaining the decisions that led to the problems.) Thanks again to Narcogen at Rampancy.net. (Louis Wu 12:32:05 UTC) (permalink)
That's what I call temptation.
Wow - almost 2 weeks before release, and some stores already have their copies of Halo 2 (with strict orders not to sell them before November 9, of course). Pics in this Teamxbox forum thread, heads-up goes to Rampancy.net. (Louis Wu 11:03:27 UTC) (permalink)
First Strike German preview
Marc, from Halo Universe, writes to say that they've got a preview of "Erstschlag" (First Strike in German) up on their site - you can read the first chapter. You can also win 3 copies of the novel and 2 Halo 2 Plantronics headsets. Helps if you read German. (Louis Wu 10:57:43 UTC) (permalink)
Bottle caps. I wanna see bottle caps.
IVIr I3ob wrote to say he and a frind had made a Halo 2 SMG out of Home Depot paint sticks. New one for me... (Louis Wu 10:55:07 UTC) (permalink)
Biggest Fan Ever
Mothergoat writes to say that his contest to find the Biggest Halo Fan Ever has ended - won by Conrad Tobias. Visit this forum thread for some pictures that might... well, scare you. (I'm hoping he set a lot of this stuff up just for the contest...) (Louis Wu 10:50:29 UTC) (permalink)
Campaign or Multiplayer?
Another Countdown to Halo 2 article at IGN - a look at whether you should start with Campaign or Multiplayer when you get the game. Rather than answer the question themselves, they went to IGN message board readers. Lots of different views. (Louis Wu 10:45:15 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Commercial - Extended
Variation was able to send us a 60-second variant of the Halo 2 commercial now playing on US television (Hopefully, today, I'll be able to find time to compile a list of all the different versions that have been put out there). It's the same commercial - just fleshed out a bit. This version is 320x240, and available in both WMP9 format (2.3 mb) or QuickTime format (3.7 mb). More grist for the speculation mill... Update: Thanks to ajenteks, who pointed out that our links for the 60-second commercial are totally swamped. I've tossed new copies on mythica.org - both the WMP9 version and the QuickTime version are there. Grab whichever mirror is faster for you. (Louis Wu 10:42:16 UTC) (permalink)
More details on the MTV special
We mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but the official press release came out yesterday, so here's the word from the top about the upcoming MTV special:
New York, NY - October 27, 2004 - MTV: Music Television today announced that "Making the Video Game: Halo 2" will premiere on MTV on Friday, November 5th at 11:00pm ET/PT, and MTV2 on Saturday, November 6th at 9:00pm ET. The special will give viewers an unprecedented inside look at the most anticipated video game of 2004. "Making the Video Game: Halo 2" will go behind the scenes to discover the secrets, the storylines, and the graphics that will keep every last obsessive Halo fan glued to their TV. The special will also include interviews with the game developers, celebrity Halo fans, and the bands involved in the new soundtrack including Incubus and Hoobastank. Both the game and soundtrack hit stores on November 9th.
"The MTV audience is the gaming audience," said John Shea, EVP, Sponsorship Development and Integrated Marketing, MTV, VH1, and CMT. "Halo 2 is destined to be one of the biggest video games of the season and we're excited to give fans a behind the scenes look."
The press release also contained the first official (as far as I know) notice that Halo sales have passed the 5 million mark. Nice! (Louis Wu 10:33:29 UTC) (permalink)
Midnight Madness Store Locator
Wondering who might be selling Halo 2 at midnight on November 9? Worried because there are no EB Games near you, and you're afraid you might miss out on the early purchase? Never fear, Xbox.com has come to your rescue - if you live in the US. Visit the Midnight Madness Store Locator, put in your zip code and the maximum distance you're willing to travel, and you get back a list of all stores participating in this event in your area. I discovered that even here, in the boonies, there are 4 stores within 10 miles that are participating... Thanks, Steve Cherrier. (Louis Wu 10:28:52 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Desktop
If you're an IGN Insider, there's a new Halo 2 desktop available to you. If you're not an Insider... sorry. Thanks to MarkHawk and creaper609 for letting us know. (Louis Wu 10:22:53 UTC) (permalink)
New music at nilerogers.com
I'm not even gonna try and count the number of people who wrote to us about the two new clips at nilerogers.com - there are dozens of them. KNIGHTOFDRAGONS was first, though. Launch the Listening Station if you're on a fast connection, and give a listen to snippets from 'Peril' and 'In Amber Clad' - they're both great. If you're on a slow connection, you can grab the 'Peril' snippet (1:16, 1.1 mb) and the 'In Amber Clad' snippet (1:13, 1.1 mb) separately. (Louis Wu 10:11:54 UTC) (permalink)
Cold Pizza invites - out there!
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned a contest in which 50 lucky winners would get to play Halo 2 on live TV in Times Square on November 4 - yesterday, we heard from Brian Graham that he received one of the invites, and last night, we discovered that our very own Miguel Chavez got another one! Looks like HBO will be nicely represented. Keep your eyes on ESPN's Cold Pizza show on that Thursday morning, to see this goodness. (Louis Wu 10:05:30 UTC) (permalink)
Comics and more
MiD33 points out that the first three episodes of his HALOlego comics (among other things) can be found at his new website, ForTru7h. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 10:00:44 UTC) (permalink)
TWL Championships Live on haloTV
Been out all day, the Halo mail is PILING up - I'll get to it eventually, I hope. Wanted to post this now, though, because of the time factor. haloTV is broadcasting TWL's 5v5 CTF Pro League championships, starting just 90 minutes from now (8:30 cst). The stream will be capped at 250 viewers, so get in soon! (Louis Wu 00:04:05 UTC) (permalink)
News October 27 2004
Don't Bet On It.
MC discovers that even GS doesn't want to hear it in today's One One Se7en . (Louis Wu 14:12:54 UTC) (permalink)
Preorder leaflets showing up
Ross Mills sent in scans of a Halo 2 leaflet he noticed in multiple stores (front and back) - they're clearly direct from Microsoft, but it seems a tad late to me for folks to be BEGINNING to collect preorders... Nice pic on the front. Update: Sorry, I didn't make it clear - this is from the UK - the November 11 release date is not a typo, that's just what the Europeans have to live with. (Louis Wu 14:10:33 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Slayers
Countdown to Halo, IGN style: today they're looking at the SmartJoy FRAG device (mouse and keyboard for an Xbox), and wondering if it'll kill Halo 2. Thanks, John Rivas. (Louis Wu 14:04:36 UTC) (permalink)
Australian Giveaway Postponed
Eep - the AussieXbox giveaway we mentioned yesterday was postponed - it will relaunch on November 9. Sorry, folks! (Thanks, Leighland Okey.) (Louis Wu 14:01:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 and the Art of Storytelling
Over at Howstuffworks, there's an interview with Pete Parsons, in which Pete holds forth about how important a story is to a video game. It's a great read, and should give you insight into what Bungie is trying to do with its universe. Frensa Geran was first with the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:58:24 UTC) (permalink)
ILB - wrapping up?
Looks like the ILB game is coming to an end; followers have been instructed to meet in several large cities around the US for a 'hands on training exercise' on November 4th, if they are over 17. GhaleonEB, who sent this to us, believes this will probably be some hands-on Halo2 Mulltiplayer for participants of the ARG. Details are on this page at the ILB site, and he found it at the Netninja BeeWiki. (Louis Wu 13:48:23 UTC) (permalink)
Camper n00b
My generic webcomic has a Halo 2-related strip yesterday. This strip, in general, might be considered not safe for work. Thanks, Corgana. (Louis Wu 13:43:54 UTC) (permalink)
Goes well with coffee
CJ Denny woke up to a 2-page Halo 2 article (with an interesting ad) in the business section of his local newspaper (the Virginian Pilot) last Saturday. He kindly sent along scans - Page 1 (238K) and Page 2 (379K). (Louis Wu 13:41:42 UTC) (permalink)
Submitting your pumpkin pics
Many folks have noticed that the ftp uploads section isn't working as expected - this is because it was turned off a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, until this morning, it was also listed as the primary method of entry submission for the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest. This problem has been rectified; there is now an easy-to-use upload option for submission. Sorry about the confusion! (Louis Wu 13:30:01 UTC) (permalink)
It's movie night at HBO
We've got a bunch of backlogged movies that folks have submitted - there have been some recent releases that have swamped us. There's also some extra bandwidth online right now, so why not make use of it? Over at Boomerica.com, thanks to KP, we've got a film called 'There and Back Again', from Andras Ostrom. It sets Halo footage to dialogue from Starcraft, and it works petty well. Minor spoilers for folks still worried about original Halo spoilers. QuickTime format, 3:29 long, 7.6 mb. While we're mentioning movies, the third segment of 'Heart is a Lonely Hunter' is also available tonight - 39.3 mb from either mythica.org or files.bungie.org. (Search our news for earlier segments, or the entire file in one shot.) (Louis Wu 02:24:40 UTC) (permalink)
B.net pours it on
Nine thousand people noticed the new Top Story at Bungie.net - it's a Dual Wielding guide. Which weapons work together, how to use particular pairs, that sort of thing. First heads-up goes to Swirlfire, who was beaten only by Frankie, it would seem. Every single one of you, however, managed to miss the 7th Column Themes article - there's a new theme builder (HTML template for messing with) for folks who want to customize their 7th Column chapter - except for The Morningstar. (Louis Wu 02:12:31 UTC) (permalink)
News October 26 2004
Da Brutes
Homefront, the Battlefield Vietnam mod, is back on Planet Battlefield, ad has a new update - new pics of Alpha Centauri and new Brutes. Check 'em out! Thanks, Grant. (Louis Wu 20:53:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Guide at R.net
Speaking of Rampancy.net - it looks like they've got the beginnings of a Halo 2 Guide up, based on assets from the Halo2.com website. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 20:42:44 UTC) (permalink)
Map Management Simplified
Wonga - if you play Halo CE, and are tired of slow loading times when you start the program, check out Map Manager, which makes it easy to swap in and out maps for particular sessions. Heads-up goes to Rampancy.net. (Louis Wu 20:40:24 UTC) (permalink)
Turn up the lights for Andrew
Andrew Zulpo, half of the Fire Team Charlie team at Xbox Ottawa, sat down recently with the Junkyard boyz - you can find his Spotlight covering topics like what games not to play on a Nintendo 64, and knowing jack about jack. Thanks, Mhaddy. (Louis Wu 20:30:52 UTC) (permalink)
Stirrings at Bungie.net
Couple of new news posts over at Bungie.net - Frankie posted a few more details (thanks, James P.) about the MTV special coming up next month (we mentioned it a couple of weeks ago), and SketchFactor points out a new Aluminum Cover Journal book and a new hoodie for sale at the Bungie Store. (Louis Wu 17:35:31 UTC) (permalink)
Australian giveaway
Another goodie at AussieXbox.com.au today - a Halo 2 prize pack giveaway. Open to Australian and New Zealand residents, entry just requires answering a few easy questions. Thanks again to Gossip. (Louis Wu 16:36:47 UTC) (permalink)
Whoa - some guys are waiting for Halo 2!
This could have been written anywhere, but it was written in Central Ohio. The News Journal has a story about a bunch of Ontario High School students playing Halo - waiting for Halo 2. The fact that this is news is the news story for me. (Louis Wu 14:37:33 UTC) (permalink)
That Cabose...
Hawaiian Pig continues his Red vs Blue Set Piece series, even though the HBO forums are down - he just moved them over to the Red vs Blue forums. Nice work on a scene from Episode 40! (Louis Wu 14:17:11 UTC) (permalink)
Watch for brainwaves
Calvin and Halo looks at the spoiler problem today, as well - and Calvin's solution might be better than my under-the-bed one. (Louis Wu 14:13:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 on the radio
(sexy)Josh Britt wrote to tell us that the radio station he works for is starting a half-hour radio show devoted to Halo, hosted by SexyJosh himself. The first show is tomorrow at 9:30 pm EST, and can be found at www.gameshoutradio.com. (This will be followed at 10 pm by a community chat show, and one of the questions is 'How do YOU think Half-Life 2 will compare to Halo 2?' Since they used to be a Half-Life-only radio station, they're gonna need Halo defenders. Stop by. (Louis Wu 14:10:42 UTC) (permalink)
Stephenson likes ILB
Slashdot interviewed Neal Stephenson last week - it's a fascinating read. (Well, it is if you like Stephenson. I do.) Kudos to Preston the Cyberdog, who noticed a tiny mention of Halo 2 in it. (Question 6 dealt with the melding of games and novels, and Stephenson's answer involved the I Love Bees phenomenon.) (Louis Wu 14:04:42 UTC) (permalink)
This is getting sillier by the day.
IGN's latest article in their Countdown to Halo 2 (you gotta wonder if they're not thinking, about now, that it might have been better to start this countdown closer to November 9...) is called 'The 10 Things You Must Have to Play Halo 2'. On the list is a lot of food, some scantily clad women (not sure how that's gonna help the girl gamers), and a stereo system. Um... I'd have to say they missed a few important pieces - like Halo 2, an Xbox, and at least one controller. Oh, well. (Louis Wu 13:41:36 UTC) (permalink)
Another note about spoilers
Okay, I think some of you are going a little overboard. I got several messages yelling at me for not warning people about the spoilers in the new commercial, and I got torn a new one for posting Mothergoat's newest piece, 'Death of Cortana' (even though the FIRST time we mentioned that we made it clear that he got the idea from First Strike, NOT Halo 2, and that he knows nothing about the Halo 2 storyline). If you believe there are spoilers in the new Halo 2 commercial, I'd recommend that you grab a pillow, climb under your bed, and stay there until November 9 - because otherwise you might look out the window, see a schoolbus, and realize that the fate of the universe might rest on the Master Chief RIDING a schoolbus through the sun of the Covenant Homeworld... and be spoiled. In short, people... calm down. If it's on our front page, I will GUARANTEE that it's not a story spoiler. Period. (Louis Wu 13:36:54 UTC) (permalink)
Brains over brawn
Kevin Ryan writes to point out that Afterwar part 7 is up over at Black Art Studios. Pictures speak louder than words. (Louis Wu 13:30:38 UTC) (permalink)
Small changes at halo2.com
A number of people have pointed out that halo2.com has been updated - one of the damaged warthog mini-pics in the Humans section has been replaced with the ATV (though there is no large corresponding version - and no, this doesn't mean that Bungie was lying when they said the ATV was no longer in the game), and the passworded areas behind the Prophets have been updated to actually CHECK passwords - meaning, presumably, that if you got the right passwords, you'd be able to access the content behind them. I'm pretty sure Leighland Okey was first with the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:21:01 UTC) (permalink)
Enjoy.
Gossip found a nice article over at Aussiexbox.com.au - the Master Chief has taken over half of a sign that's belonged wholly to Coke for 30 years. With an appropriate tagline, it looks like the Australian advertisers for this game have put a nice feather in their caps! (Louis Wu 13:14:58 UTC) (permalink)
Ineluctable who?
There's a small update over at the Halo Story page - tie-ins between Halo and Ulysses? You bet. Go read! (The machine's acting flakey these days, so please - if you have trouble connecting, just try again later. You don't need to tell us there's a problem - handling the extra flood of email just means it takes us LONGER to fix the problem. Thanks.) (Louis Wu 02:20:16 UTC) (permalink)
That Halo 2 Commercial
Thank you to the DOZENS of people writing in with links to a small (320x240) version of the newest Halo 2 commercial - but thanks to metaphyber, we've got a nice hi-res version for you. 640x480, available in both QuickTime (5.4 mb) or DivX (3.8 mb). We just got word that there's a smaller DivX (480x352, 2.4 mb) at Filerush, and many, many people have told us about the copy uploaded to Brian Towne's community server (mpeg1, 320x240, 5 mb). Grab whatever works for you. (Louis Wu 02:13:12 UTC) (permalink)
Listening Station at nilerogers.com
A number of people pointed out that nilerogers.com now has a Listening Station, a small flash app that lets you listen to all four released soundtrack snippets in one window. If you missed any, check it out! (Louis Wu 01:57:58 UTC) (permalink)
That Halo Parody 6
Bruce points out a new flash animation at Newgrounds - it's called That Halo Parody 6. (I suppose that means that there are 5 earlier ones.) Um... well, my mother said if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. (Louis Wu 01:52:15 UTC) (permalink)
What are they to say now?
The first recordings of the Halo 2 commercial that ran earlier today are starting to appear on the net. We're still gathering mirrors, but it's available for now from Mythica.org. This is, for the record, a direct-feed version of the video seen in the shakeycam EB "briefing" video from a few weeks back. Look for it on TV tonight! (Count Zero 01:49:39 UTC) (permalink)
News October 25 2004
ANOTHER Halo suit
Mad Cow sent in pictures of the Master Chief costume he built for a costume contest - it took place last weekend, and he won first prize. (We mentioned this suit about a month ago.) You can see a few shots of his suit - here, here, and here. If you want to see it in construction, visit his suit page. He thought it would be cool to have two suit updates in the same day. (Louis Wu 23:16:11 UTC) (permalink)
Bandwidth ain't free
The DJ of HaloImpulse writes to say that HBO-originated visitors grabbing two large downloads have contributed to several hundred gigabytes of bandwidth eaten in a very short time... he wanted to make it clear that donations ARE accepted. (Louis Wu 22:13:29 UTC) (permalink)
Spoilers - too much to handle?
Many people wrote to point out that Bungie.net is considering shutting down their forums, as well, for the next two weeks; your vote counts. visit, vote. (Louis Wu 21:56:43 UTC) (permalink)
One Man's Journey to a full MC suit
A year ago, Chris Bryan began making a Master Chief wearable suit. (This was before anyone had ever heard of Nightmare Armor.) We followed his progress with pictures for several months... and then I began to get backlogged... and I stopped posting them. Chris didn't stop sending them, though, or working on his suit - and I've FINALLY brought the page up-to-date. The first of the non-posted pictures came in on March 27, and they've come steadily ever since. Go check out the progress of this labor of love! (Louis Wu 19:21:35 UTC) (permalink)
Coop is splitscreen only
It's official - multiscreen Coop is not part of Halo 2. IGN has confirmed this fact with Microsoft (and I've confirmed it with Bungie, as well). You can play Coop on a single screen - as you can in Halo - but one player per screen, whether via system link or XBL, is out. Sorry, folks! (Louis Wu 18:56:03 UTC) (permalink)
The commercials have started
A number of reports have come in about Halo 2 commercials showing up on normal US channels (a wide range of them). We don't have any for download yet - but if anyone manages to save a good copy, let us know - we're happy to host it. (Louis Wu 18:02:13 UTC) (permalink)
PLF
Deimos Fawkes, of Subnova, has put together a techno tribute to I Love Bees - though non ILB-followers who enjoy techno should like it, too. MPEG-4 format, 4:42 long, 4.3 mb. It's called 'Parabolic Lemonade Failure'. (Also available in mp3 format.) (Louis Wu 16:31:54 UTC) (permalink)
Story Boarding.
akba points out that after a long quiet spell, Adventures in Disaster is back - with a new strip by Boxer, celebrating a lanfest that happened here about 2 weeks ago. In fact, they're SO back that they've invaded One One Se7en... or something. (Louis Wu 16:20:40 UTC) (permalink)
Simple Countdown
Dennis McKnight sent along a small Java countdown to Halo 2; unzip this, change to the directory it's in, and run either 'javaw Countdown' (if you're on a Windows machine) or 'java Countdown' if you're not. (Obviously, you must have Java installed on your machine.) It throws up a small window, minimizable, with the number of seconds remaining until midnight, November 9. (Louis Wu 16:11:19 UTC) (permalink)
Random Images
I was cleaning out my inbox (in preparation for clearing out the art queues, once again woefully behind), and found a few images that don't really have a place to go in our heirarchy, but are worth showing anyway. ragereset sent in a pair of photos (here and here) showing a bus he saw in downtown Sydney, Australia a couple of weeks ago. The second one is blurry because rr drives a manual transmission car, and it's hard to photograph and drive at the same time. And linus wanted to show us the depths of his love for Halo 2 - he actually painted a Halo 2 logo on his retainer. Wow... (Louis Wu 15:53:27 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Ts - at EBGames
Jonah points out that EBGames is now selling a pair of exclusive Halo 2 T-shirts. (I'm not sure about that 'exclusive' part - but they're certainly selling them.) (Louis Wu 15:31:06 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 needs your help!
Future Publishing is hosting the Golden Joystick Awards, an annual competition for fan opinion about video games (we mentioned them last month). Apparently, Halo 2 is currently leading GTA San Andreas in the only category it's been nominated for (Most Wanted Game for Xmas 2004) - but a big push towards Playstation 2 owners is about to commence, so that might change. This competition is only open to residents of the UK - but if that's you, go and make sure that Halo 2 gets its due! Thanks to Pete Parsons and Mr Danger for the info. (Louis Wu 15:26:44 UTC) (permalink)
Death of Cortana
Mothergoat has just released what will be his last Halo song, for many reasons. We posted news about a teaser for it not too long ago... the full version of Death of Cortana is poignant, graceful, and beautiful. 3.8 mb mp3, hosted by us. Go listen. (And Mothergoat - good luck, in everything you do. Your music rocks!) (Louis Wu 14:45:34 UTC) (permalink)
Bottom to the Top - in one shot
Missed this over the weekend... but Ms Man, in his quest to finish the unfinished in Halo before Halo 2 comes out (I just made that up, I don't know if that's really his goal), has blasted his way all the way from the bottom of Halo (the level)... to the top. Wow. Movie link, and a forum thread to talk about it, can be found over at High Impact Halo. Thanks, Ducain. (Louis Wu 13:35:14 UTC) (permalink)
Frankie should be proud
We don't generally announce new websites on the front page any more, because there are so many of them these days that it would swamp our news... but this one is special. This came to my attention yesterday - and I must say, the concept rocks. Check out Misterchief.com... and let Mister Chief never die! (Louis Wu 13:18:14 UTC) (permalink)
New art at HB
Halo Babies has posted a large art update, including artwork, desktops, and a fan strip. Go see what's new. (Louis Wu 13:09:47 UTC) (permalink)
Plantronics Headset review at HU
Halo Universe (sporting a spiffy new design and a faster server) has an article up about the Plantronics Halo 2 headset. It's in German, though. If it's in your power, go read! Thanks, Marc. (Louis Wu 13:07:10 UTC) (permalink)
Mail service stopping
I've received one too many messages of the form "I heard that [spoiler] is in Halo 2, is that true?". To preserve my own enjoyment of the game, I'm going to have to stop reading my email folder entirely for two weeks. This means that a lot of messages are going to go unanswered; wallpaper submitted through email should still get through since Louis already handles that, but mail asking general questions, especially about stuff that could be found by a little research on the site or stuff about the contents of the final game that you shouldn't know anyway, may fall by the wayside. Blame the guy who leaked it (not "the French", OK?). (Count Zero 12:45:39 UTC) (permalink)
News October 24 2004
These guys are nuts.
Wow. Dunno how long this is gonna last... but Halo Impulse is offering a MASSIVE (1.3 GB) map pack, containing 264 individual Halo CE maps. Close to every map created to date, I think (minus a couple still in development). If you've got a really big pipe - go get it! (Louis Wu 23:39:53 UTC) (permalink)
Looks like an uphill battle...
If you ever wondered why the Master Chief has so much trouble winning those GameFAQs polls... check out their current poll. The question is 'Do you plan to buy Halo 2?' - and right now, the winning answer is 'No, I don't have an Xbox' (36%) followed by 'No, I don't want it' (23%). Not a lot of Xbox users there... Thanks, Strato. (Louis Wu 23:35:24 UTC) (permalink)
Dialogue Databank - useable again
Payoff! The Dialogue Databank, an underused but rich resource of HBO, has been ported to a far more robust backend; you shouldn't run into any more problems using it. (Hehe - famous last words.) Extra bonus - it's much faster now. (Louis Wu 23:22:21 UTC) (permalink)
Sunday is Work Day at HBO HQ
Quick Note - updates will be sparse today; work is continuing behind the scenes, and on real-life (non-computer-related projects) on this grey Sunday. Apologies. If you've sent content that hasn't been posted, please be patient - we'll almost certainly get to it eventually. (Louis Wu 14:30:49 UTC) (permalink)
Weekend Reading
Been a little while since we managed a Fan Fiction update - there are 18 new stories waiting for you in there. Go see what you can find! (Louis Wu 00:40:34 UTC) (permalink)
News October 23 2004
Top of Boarding Action
Foxygrandpa, Silverspoon, and Ms. Man have made it to the top of Boarding Action. There's a bit of extra hardware involved - some sort of box that allows control of multiple players. There's a video - 32 mb, WMP9 format - showing the details. All this and more can be found in the forum thread at High Impact Halo. Nice! (Louis Wu 20:18:58 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Championships
The Major League Gaming Championships kicked off today - and coverage has begun over at the MLGPro.com website. It will continue throughout the day and tomorrow - check back! Thanks, Dolbex. (Louis Wu 15:46:35 UTC) (permalink)
Casual Friday
Wolfy writes to point out a new episode of Marines at Sector 7 Halo. I dunno... the problem here seems like it will resolve itself, pretty quickly... (Louis Wu 13:20:28 UTC) (permalink)
Home Front almost ready to go
This came in yesterday, but I managed to overlook it. The Home Front team has posted another update on the Junkyard forums - screenshots of a redone map, and a fixed release date (next Friday, actually). Go read. Thanks, Mhaddy. (Louis Wu 13:17:41 UTC) (permalink)
Gettin' Ready
IGN's Halo 2 Countdown article today is 'Five Ways to Prepare Yourself for Halo 2'. I'm sort of glad none of them involve vaseline. (Louis Wu 13:15:06 UTC) (permalink)
MTV video - again
Finalcutmac points out that there's a video link for the MTV vid we mentioned yesterday, right on the MTV page that contains the story. (Look in the right navbar for 'Audio & Video'.) Unfortunately, they actively weed out Mac users - something I find pretty dang annoying. I therefore extracted the url to the actual video stream - this should work on any platform with the ability to read mms streams. (Unless, of course, they change it.) Update: Looks like the direct URL has been turned off; someone at MTV decided they didn't like direct-linking. I can't really blame them, except that I think it's really dumb that they won't let Mac users even TRY. (We have a perfectly functional WMP9 that works just fine with their movie...) Sorry, folks. (Louis Wu 13:12:26 UTC) (permalink)
Visiting Old Friends
If you're a registered member (free) of RedvsBlue.com, you can grab Episode 40 from their forum. 7:22 long, ranging from 31 to 48 mb, depending on version. I gotta say... it's gettin' weird. Thanks to Ross Mills for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:07:48 UTC) (permalink)
Lonely Hunter - Part 2, finally
Apologies for the delay - I promised last week that we'd continue releasing segments of 'My Heart is a Lonely Hunter' every few days, and it's been almost a week. I realize that more than 1500 of you have grabbed the entire movie via BitTorrent in the last couple of days... but many are still waiting patiently for the smaller pieces. You can grab Part 2 either on mythica.org or files.bungie.org - Part 3 will follow soon. (Part 1, if you missed it and can't handle the BitTorrent version, can be grabbed at the links in this news post.) [I actually wrote this - and posted it - about 12 hours ago... but somehow, I managed to forget to actually FINISH the posting process. Sorry to everyone involved.] Update: the DJ writes to say that all released pieces so far (the trailer, part 1, part 2, and the full 30-minute movie) can be found on Halo Impulse, as well. Thanks! (Louis Wu 12:08:08 UTC) (permalink)
Sonny Chiba would SO pwn him...
Wonga. Amazing as it sounds, Frankie is STILL continuing with the Bungie Weekly Updates - this one is at Subnova. New TV spots coming next week, a sick SketchFactor, and a guest Mister Chief rendering by BOLL. Go read! (And Sketch - here's hoping you get better!) Thanks to Eric Biro, who let us know while I was watching Big Fish with my family. Update: oops - Boxer points out that I misread the bit about Sketch - it's his DOG that's sick. (I guess i thought Frankie was insulting him while he was down. :) ) Sketch - here's hoping your dog gets better! (Louis Wu 02:20:55 UTC) (permalink)
News October 22 2004
French Commercial - now viewable
Another one from Hikaru-119; he's uploaded the French commercial mentioned earlier to Brian Towne's public service server - you can grab it from there. 2.2 mb, MPEG1 format. (Louis Wu 21:49:38 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Xbox Live Starter Kit - again
I didn't really think this was news, since it existed in Germany a month ago - but loads upon loads of people are writing to us about it, so... looks like as of today, Microsoft has OFFICIALLY announced the Limited Edition Halo 2 Xbox Live Starter Kit in Europe - it comes with a copy of Halo 2 (but not, confusingly enough, the LIMITED EDITION copy), an Xbox Live Voice Communicator, and a 12 month subscription to Xbox Live, all for £59.99. There's a press release at Gamespot, among other places. (Louis Wu 21:42:14 UTC) (permalink)
Earth City
nilerogers.com continues its posting spree, with another snippet from the Halo 2 Soundtrack - this one is called Earth City, and is 2:40 long. The flash art is quite nice, but if you're on a low-bandwidth connection, the direct link to the snippet is here. Lots of heads-ups from fans, looks like the earliest one came from Hikaru-119. (Louis Wu 21:32:05 UTC) (permalink)
Will I Be Able To Play The Piano?
Stuntmutt feeds off a great scene in Aliens for today's One One Se7en - looks like MC ain't no Bishop. (Louis Wu 15:35:46 UTC) (permalink)
Movies
Two new video clips for you today, around the web; Xbox Central is hosting an MTV news clip showing the 'Halo 2 Council' (celebrities getting special Halo 2 goodies) and the Pelican case'd Xbox/screen that's among their loot: 8 mb, WMP9 format (thanks, Ben Bayes), and there's a higher-res version of the leaked EB Games commercial we saw a couple of weeks ago; unfortunately, the only place it's currently available is on a site hosting pirated information, so we're not going to pass out the URL. (It's also in French.) Thanks, Hikaru-119. Update: Gah, I should have passed on this news item altogether. Warbow points out that the MTV piece is no longer available, either. Sorry. (Louis Wu 14:41:19 UTC) (permalink)
Answering Questions
Ryan McCaffrey, from OXM, stopped by the TeamXbox forums to answer specific, non-spoiling questions about OXM's review of Halo 2, out now to subscribers in the December issue of the magazine (and on newsstand shelves on November 2). As of right now, there aren't a lot of answers, but there sure are a lot of questions. Thanks, Myles Leadbetter. UPDATE: Be careful when following along here- spoilers are starting to show up. -CZ (Louis Wu 12:50:20 UTC) (permalink)
Using that Mouse with Halo
IGN has reviewed the SmartJoy FRAG device, the mouse/keyboard combination for the Xbox. Overall, they liked it, though they said it worked better with some games than with others. Halo was near the top of the list of 'good' games. Thanks, Joe Larson. (Louis Wu 12:32:58 UTC) (permalink)
EP Game Servers host talks about Halo
There's a short interview with Nathaniel, one of the owners of EP Game Servers, over at BlamDink.co.uk. He takes a decidedly Gearbox-centric view of the development situation for Halo Custom Edition and Halo PC - that is, Gearbox is doing everything they can to help the fans, and the only roadblock is the big bad Microsoft and its left arm, Bungie. I suppose that's one point of view. (Louis Wu 12:30:04 UTC) (permalink)
Books for Fans
There's a new article over at Xbox.com about 10 fans who won all three Halo novels (two of them signed by the author). You can read their explanations about why they wanted the books. Thanks, Littlebigman. (Louis Wu 12:22:52 UTC) (permalink)
Excuses? You're asking for a beatin'.
Today's IGN Countdown article gives you 5 excuses to try with your significant other in order to garner some screentime on November 9. I can't see any of them working, unless your significant other has the intellect of a small fern. (Louis Wu 12:19:13 UTC) (permalink)
Da Funnies
New comics up - there's a wordless (but not even remotely hard-to-understand) strip over at Halo Babies... and a look at the MC's improvements over at Master Chief and Cortana. And yesterday, there was a continuation of the Joe and Monkey strip we mentioned recently - with another new one today. (We're definitely getting away from Halo-related... but it's a story, so...) (Louis Wu 12:12:16 UTC) (permalink)
Nico chats up the Elder One
Just a reminder, since it rolled off the front page so quickly - there's a great new interview of Marty O'Donnell in our Miscellaneous section. If you haven't read it yet - go do so! (Louis Wu 02:13:28 UTC) (permalink)
HEY LOOK SEVEN
Thanks to the very large number of people who wrote in to tell us that OXM has published their Halo 2 review and rated the game a 9.7- the highest score the magazine has ever given out. As usual, we'll post scans in a month, once the magazine is no longer for sale. (Count Zero 00:43:16 UTC) (permalink)
News October 21 2004
Rockin' Cellos and Fake Monks
Marty O'Donnell is probably the most interviewed employee of Bungie Studios - whether it's because he loves to talk, or because his expertise outstrips the rest of the team, I couldn't say. Most of the time, though, the questions fall into a relatively narrow range... everyone asks the same sorts of things. Nico Audy-Rowland, the man behind the music at Rooster Teeth (Red vs Blue and The Strangerhood), decided to strike off into untrodden terrritory... and Marty followed, gracefully. We've got a 30-question interview that ranges from nitty-gritty technical stuff to the philosophy of composing, and lots of subjects in between! Go read it, and gain a bit more insight into this almost-enigmatic musician! (Louis Wu 21:11:01 UTC) (permalink)
Parents - They Make Life Hard
Today's Calvin and Halo shows what happens when you let a single event take over your life. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you... (Louis Wu 19:15:05 UTC) (permalink)
October Edge now online - finally
This should have gone up over a week ago - but things have really been a little crazy around here. Last month's Edge Magazine had a gorgeous 8-page spread on Halo 2 (Plus the front and back covers, the inside cover, and the Enter editorial column) - we've finally put it online in our Press Scans section. The text was up on Edge's site weeks ago - but the pretty pictures are worth the look. (Louis Wu 19:14:31 UTC) (permalink)
I Always Win
Tony Albert sent along a kind note with a description of some new music of his:
I've been a lurker of the forums and news pages for a couple of years now, and although my involvement in the community is non-existent, my admiration for the creativity surrounding Halo is immense. That said, I wanted throw my own creativity into the fray by submitting a song to you that I have written in homage to Halo. I believe it has universal appeal, but hopefully readers of Eric Nylund's 'Halo: The Fall of Reach' will be hard pressed to identify it's speaker as anyone but the master chief, John 117 himself.
The song, a 6.4 mb mp3, can be grabbed from our server. Solid southern rock, with a nice Halo-based theme after the second chorus. Give it a listen! (Louis Wu 17:40:59 UTC) (permalink)
Now that's a lot of bots.
Mhaddy from the Junkyard writes to point out yet ANOTHER Homefront update on the Junkyard forums. (These guys are stepping up the pace.) There are 12 new screenshots of single player mode (which is just multiplayer mode - with up to 63 bots). There will be another update on Friday, with a release date announcement. (Louis Wu 13:28:28 UTC) (permalink)
Sound Player
Speaking of repurposing assets... I wasn't going to mention this right away, because I was hoping for a reply from the website owners first... but the number of emails we're getting from viewers makes it hard to wait. Over on the Mountain Dew/Slurpee Halo 2 page, there's a new download - they're calling it the 339 SFX Player. It's a downloadable Flash application, for both Mac and PC, and it's simply an interface for playing 'over 50 exclusive Halo sound clips'. The problem is - every single one of these clips was taken from our Dialogue Databank, with no credit whatsoever to the original collectors. If you really want sound clips - visit the Databank; there are over 1200 snippets, instead of just 50 (though you don't get the funky Flash interface for listening to them that way). With this flood of Halo-related advertising hitting the net (and other avenues) recently, it seems that a few places have forgotten about general ethics. (Louis Wu 13:23:30 UTC) (permalink)
About those Gamespy art 'assets'
A number of people have written us about 'new screenshots' at Gamespy.com - these are neither new, nor screenshots. They simply extracted a bunch of the artwork from the newly remodeled halo2.com. Oh, yeah - and then they put their own watermark on it. (Louis Wu 13:10:55 UTC) (permalink)
Follow directly - but with hesitation
Okay, I wasn't going to post this, because it's clear that the folks at nilerogers.com WANT you to watch the flash animations that go with the music... but for a lot of you, that's a less than perfect solution; the animation doesn't preload, it streams... which means if your internet connection isn't suitably fast, you hear a second or two of music, followed by 5 or 10 seconds of silence, followed by a few seconds of music... and so on. This is clearly not what ANY musician would want for their audience. You can download the full 2:55-long snippet (this is NOT the entire song this time, thank goodness) here, and play it when you've got the WHOLE thing. Please visit the main website in any case, and check out the info they've got there; I'm not trying to circumvent their ability to let you know what they offer, I'm simply trying to give people a chance to hear this music as both Marty O'Donnell and Incubus would WANT to hear it, rather than in pieces. The list of people sending in links (as well as the list complaining about the choppiness) is far too large to enumerate, but thanks to all. (Louis Wu 12:15:07 UTC) (permalink)
Ivory Tower - from the inside
Another IGN Countdown article - this one is a short summary of Ivory Tower, one of the multiplayer maps that beta testers got their hands on. Read it for a summary and a couple of basic gameplay mode ideas. (Louis Wu 12:09:10 UTC) (permalink)
Lonely Hunter - in full
Well, it took longer than any of us expected - but you can now grab 'Heart is a Lonely Hunter' in one fell 203 mb swoop. If you don't know what this movie is, here's the first news post I made about it. We'll continue releasing chapters for folks who don't want the whole thing in one shot - but for those with a fast connection, you can grab the entire movie tonight, and watch the whole 30 minutes without waiting. I just watched it again this afternoon... and I must say, I still believe this is one of the best pieces released in the Halo community - ever. Update: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter website is back up with a new forum, if you'd like to discuss this movie. (Louis Wu 00:54:37 UTC) (permalink)
GTA Vs. Halo 2
IGN continues their Countdown to Halo 2 series with a showdown - Halo 2 vs Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Yeah. Thanks, Creaper609. Update: In a twist that's vaguely surreal, it looks like GTA: SA has ALSO been pirated and released to the net, before official publication. The Gamespot article is eerily similar to the Halo 2 piracy articles from last week. Given the number of megaahit titles being stolen this way, I wouldn't be surprised to see some major changes in how copy protection is handled in the future (changes that will, like as not, make life far more inconvenient for law-abiding consumers). Thanks, Dean. (Louis Wu 00:53:28 UTC) (permalink)
Truth and Recon - livin' large
A few days ago, we mentioned that Ms Man had made it to the bottom of Truth and Reconciliation - at the time, there were only photos and a short, hard-to-understand vid. At this point, there's a full 12 minute, 42 mb WMP9, showing the whole level, with step-by-step instructions. It's really impressive. I don't have an alternate download link right now - but if Ms Man's bandwidth runs out, we'll add one tomorrow. There's a forum thread over at High Impact Halo about this stuff. (Louis Wu 00:42:31 UTC) (permalink)
Streaming Halo from WCG
The World Cyber Games website is streaming video from many of the Halo matches in this year's tournament - you can find them on this page. Registration (free) is required to watch. Thanks, Bagre. (Louis Wu 00:36:14 UTC) (permalink)
Follow - up for your ears
Over at nilerogers.com, there's a new snippet available from the Halo 2 soundtrack - this one is Odyssey 1st Movement, from Incubus. Looks like the web team there has learned their lesson - figuring out the direct URL to the mp3 isn't as easy as it's been in the past... and it's doubtful that this one is longer than the snippet itself. Hehe. Anyway - go listen. Thanks to Alex Cross, Eric Biro and Zachary Hahn, who let us know within seconds of each other. (Louis Wu 00:16:22 UTC) (permalink)
Tall order
There's a new episode of Afterwar (episode 6) over at Black Arts Studios - looks like the Master Chief might be in trouble! (Louis Wu 00:15:57 UTC) (permalink)
A beta tester writes a book
Speaking of books... Ross Mills ran across a curious entry at Amazon UK. It's a book entitled "The Halo 2 Battle Guide: Advanced Combat Techniques", and purports to be written by 'an experienced Halo 2 Beta tester', chock-full of multiplayer tips. Publication date is December 17. As far as I can tell, it is not offered by Amazon in the US. (Louis Wu 00:15:22 UTC) (permalink)
More on the Piggyback Guide
eddie m pointed out a 'Trade Kit' for retailers made by Piggyback Interactive for their upcoming Halo 2 Strategy Guide. It contains different covers (including a very nice large version), an insert and a product sheet. The download is 2.1 mb, and requires registration (free). It's still unclear whether there's going to be a difference between the Prima guide available in the US and the Piggyback guide available in Europe - but they seem to have the same cover, so... (Louis Wu 00:14:56 UTC) (permalink)
Please follow closely. This portal is the first of ten.
Alex Cross pointed out this post mentioning that a new Halo 2 Soundtrack snippet has been posted to nilerodgers.com. This track is called "Follow (1st movement of the Odyssey)", and it's done by Incubus. Hardcore! (Count Zero 00:04:42 UTC) (permalink)
News October 20 2004
John Wayne v Stuart Little.
Once again, the end of the day arrives, and the day's One One Se7en is almost passed over. Today, that would be depressing, because it covers a subject that inspired headlines like "THE DEATH OF XBL!" when it was first announced... and Stuntmutt's take was so close to my own I actually turned around to see if he had been watching me. (He'd need pretty good eyes, given that he lives about 3000 miles from here... but you never know.) (Louis Wu 22:42:52 UTC) (permalink)
International Shenanigans
Uriel has written a rant about the bungling of the Halo 2 LE release in Germany - apparently, a pretty bad job of estimating how many would sell was done. The language is not for kids, but the anger is universal. (Louis Wu 22:31:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Moo!
Another Halo 2 sighting in random web comics - today's Joe and Monkey drops the name. Thanks, The Tropical Storm. (Louis Wu 21:33:36 UTC) (permalink)
Art doesn't have to cost.
Want to see the artwork that made Halo as beautiful as it is, but think that $22 is too much to pay? Wal-mart is selling it for $13.83 - that's a couple of bucks cheaper than Amazon. (Realize that you're eating away at Eric Trautmann's royalty check every time you look for bargains, though...) Thanks, ZigZag Master. (Louis Wu 21:30:34 UTC) (permalink)
Silly old duffer, eh?
rockslider has added a Halo dictionary to his site - it's called 'Halo in a nutshell', and it's pretty dang funny. Go read some. (Louis Wu 21:27:56 UTC) (permalink)
Chance to win a Yellow Hog
Holly Wright, who owns littleplasticmen.com, a site that sells action figures, wrote to tell us about the HALO Forward Command Center (HALOfcc), a new subsection devoted to Halo, with news, giveaways, and of course, Halo action figures (both current and older). The deal that makes this newsworthy: from now through the end of November, customers will have a chance to win the Halo 2 Yellow civilian 'hog - it's a 'chase figure', which means there's one randomly inserted in every 5 or 10 boxes of toys. (In many places, workers pull the chase figures and sell them on eBay or to friends, and the general public never even gets a shot at them.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:52:16 UTC) (permalink)
Awesome browser, awesome game
kapowaz has put together a pretty fun wallpaper (preview here, 36K) that ties together the new Firefox web browser (final release is scheduled for November 9 - does that date sound familiar to any of you?) and a certain game you might have heard of. If you like it, it's available in 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x864, 1280x960, and 1600x1200. (Louis Wu 20:46:21 UTC) (permalink)
TalkXbox Reviews Plantronics
JMan of TalkXbox writes to let us know they've got a review of the new Plantronics Halo 2 Xbox Live headset over on their site. There's some good info in there, so check it out! (mnemesis 17:58:25 UTC) (permalink)
You know what I hate worse than pirates?
Okay, I'm back, but I won't be able to post news for several more hours - this afternoon will probably see a flurry of posts in the few hours before the timestamp rolls over to midnight UTC. Sorry about that. (And innumerable thanks to mnemesis, who kept the front page from being blank most of today, and Count Zero, who answered a BOATLOAD of mail.) That's not what this news post is about, though. It seems that someone has been posting info from the Halo 2 leak on various sites, using my name as the poster. Totally, totally uncool. I will NEVER post illegal information on ANY website - and if I've got breaking news about something, it sure as heck isn't going to end up in a comments section of another news site. For those who are offended that I would have done this - don't worry, I didn't. For the record - if you see my name attached to questionable info on a different Halo website, please, send me a note so that I can try and clear it up. Thanks. (Louis Wu 13:36:37 UTC) (permalink)
Ho! Ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Lie! Stab!
There's a new B.Net Top Story, "The Bungie Guide to Game Modes - Part One: Swords". You've still got a few weeks to prepare yourselves, so get reading! Thanks to Anubis for the heads-up. (mnemesis 01:33:34 UTC) (permalink)
Rockets On Prisoner Results
Wolfy writes to let us know that the Rockets On Prisoner awards for 2004 have been decided. Check 'em out! There's some real entertainment in that bunch. (mnemesis 01:32:25 UTC) (permalink)
1.5 Million Trillion Bazillion
This was basically covered yesterday by noted globe-trotting gadfly Louis Wu, but enough people sent in mail noticing a particular bit of info in the latest press release for Halo 2. Apparently, over 1.5 million copies have already been pre-ordered. If you're one of those dedicated pre-consumers, you can sigh contentedly with satisfaction, knowing you've been counted. Me, I'm #137,204! (mnemesis 01:29:57 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Store Updated
James Phelps noticed that the Bungie Store is now offering pre-ordering for three of the new Halo 2 figures. Now's your chance to ensure you get the Brute, the new MC, and the Warthog. Update: Doh! There's a new Master Chief Hoody, too. Thanks, Dave. The store's filling out nicely! (mnemesis 01:28:05 UTC) (permalink)
News October 19 2004
Leaky Pipes
As noted by the errant Louis Wu (who shamelessly noticed it first on Rampancy.net), Evergreen98 at the Junkyard has a reflection on the Halo 2 leak and the community response to it. It's an insightful read (not sure about the comparison to downloading music - NOTHING about the transmittal of intellectual property over the internet is that simple), so go check it out! (mnemesis 16:34:37 UTC) (permalink)
Big Time
Reality check - if you thought WE were psyched about Halo 2, check the hype over at Yahoo Finance. Those are some pretty big superlatives they're tossing around in there... Update: oops, looks like that's just a standard press release; Rampancy.net points out Major Nelson's blog, where it's spelled out. Sorry about that. They're STILL pretty big superlatives, though. (Yeah, and now I'm REALLY gone for the day.) (Louis Wu 11:07:52 UTC) (permalink)
A heads-up about a quiet time
For the next couple of days, I'm not going to be around much. Hopefully, mnemesis and Count Zero can keep up on some of the news that comes in - but please... be patient, and do not send news items to my personal address if you want them to actually have a chance of being posted before Wednesday or Thursday. When I get back, I'll be working on a couple of real problem machines - several sections of HBO will be spotty until then. These include The Halo Story Page, the Tips and Tricks section, and the HBO Forum Archives. Please don't send us email about outages - we know about them. Sorry about this! (Louis Wu 05:48:57 UTC) (permalink)
But Mom...
Calvin has come up with one very viable approach to keep from being spoiled in today's Calvin and Halo. (Louis Wu 05:45:12 UTC) (permalink)
A cool grand in Michigan
Kevin Bunch writes about a Halo Tournament in Eastpointe, Michigan, on October 23; Entry fee is $60 per 4-man team, payout is $1000 for first place. More details can be found in this forum post. (Louis Wu 05:34:35 UTC) (permalink)
I Love Bees - in the news again
Following up on yesterday's story from Wired Magazine, IGN has posted a 3-page look at the I Love Bees phenomenon. If you've been keeping your nose out of this one, this might be a good place to find some basic info about the ARG. (Louis Wu 05:30:04 UTC) (permalink)
60 Minutes Video, too
Alto Darknight points out that in addition to the transcript we mentioned recently covering this week's 60 Minutes Australia piece on Halo 2, there's also video. I can't watch it where I am... but you should. (Louis Wu 05:23:24 UTC) (permalink)
Circuit City with a new (mini) screen
Again, a number of people sent in links to this image at Circuit City - some wondered if it was a leaked shot. That seems unlikely, but the filename (and path) of the image would suggest that this came from an upcoming issue of PC Magazine. We'll have to wait and see if this is true. First props go to Samir Patel. (Here's a local version, in case that one disappears.) Update: Dr. Nick writes in to mention that "mag" in this case most likely refers to "Magnavox" and not "magazine." As evidence, he points to these other shots of televisions (Sony, Apex, etc.). (Louis Wu 05:04:58 UTC) (permalink)
That's what it looks like...
Thanks to the many, many people who sent in pictures of Halo 2 on the Bungie.net webcam today - we first heard about this from Shishka (surprise, surprise - I wonder who actually set it up?), but the first submitted picture was from Adam Daniel. (Louis Wu 05:00:20 UTC) (permalink)
News October 18 2004
Halo in the news
Two more Halo 2 news stories today: there's the transcript of the recent 60 Minutes Australia preview of Halo 2 (thanks, Joshua Rennert), and a piece in the Washington Post on games used for serious purposes mentions Halo in passing as a game loved by soldiers in Iraq (thanks, Adam Daniel). Press, press, and more press! (Louis Wu 20:54:19 UTC) (permalink)
Maclean's looks at Halo 2
Bah. ferory sent in a scan of the September 20th issue of Canadian Weekly magazine Maclean's this weekend - I forgot to put it up. It's up now in our Press Scans area. A one-pager on Halo 2 - in a pretty mainstream magazine! Nice. (Louis Wu 19:50:38 UTC) (permalink)
Stories - and a warning
10 pieces for you today in the Fan Fiction section - that's AFTER I deleted 57 duplicate submissions of the single piece by JCDentonCZ. (I left one, even.) What makes this more amazing to me is that he was part of the conversation a couple of days ago when something like this had happened before (though not NEARLY to this absurd level) - and it was made CLEAR that even though an error popped up on submission, the actual submission went through fine. If you're wondering why the Fan Fiction section is so flakey... it's (in part, at least) because of idiots like this, wildly overloading the system. (Louis Wu 19:31:34 UTC) (permalink)
Pelican is ready to go!
Compassghost, deprived of his ability to post his cool flash stuff on our forum, has asked us to point out two new Pelican-related pieces over on the Halo Babies forums. Pretty nice work! (Louis Wu 19:21:40 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox.com Readiness Guide - two more parts
Xbox.com has updated thier Halo 2 Readiness Guide, with Part 2 (Enter the Halo Universe) and Part 3 (Tips from the Halo 2 Beta Testers) now online. The first gives you a nice list of appropriate books, movies, and music to help get you in the mood - the second gives you tips from beta testers on gameplay strategies. Good stuff in both. Early props go to MELEE, who sent this in last night. (Louis Wu 19:17:38 UTC) (permalink)
' .'
Stuntmutt takes a look at potential casting pitfalls in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 13:38:28 UTC) (permalink)
Homefront Update
Homefront, the Battlefield: Vietnam mod, has lost their home temporarily because Gamespy's dynamic servers are down - so they've got an update posted over at the Junkyard. Today is Covenant day, it seems. Thanks to Mhaddy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:36:40 UTC) (permalink)
Now that's a RANGE.
Wow - two WILDLY different audio submissions today - actually, one came in this weekend, but I didn't get to it (sorry, guys!).
- Welcome to Halo was created by Kil and Lox - it's a Halo-themed version of the Welcome to Atlanta remix from Jermaine Dupri. Guns and rap - they just seem to go together, don't they? 3:21, 4.6 mb mp3
- Death of Cortana Sample is another Mothergoat creation - don't worry, there aren't any spoilers here (at least none that Mothergoat knows of); he came up with the idea after reading First Strike. A moving piano piece - I'm looking forward to the full version. 1:36 long, 1.4 mb mp3
Grab them both - or pick the style that appeals to you. (Louis Wu 13:33:19 UTC) (permalink)
The Puppetmasters Speak
Wired News has a great article on the I Love Bees phenomenon - a look at what's behind it, and how it's affected people. The whole shebang comes to a close on November 9, just in time for Halo 2 - I can't WAIT for the summaries after that. This particular game, while not a product of Bungie, DOES tie in to the Halo 2 storyline, and will provide quite a bit of useful backstory for folks interested in the entire Halo universe. Just a few more weeks! The final quote in the article is priceless. Thanks, Stephen Smith. (Louis Wu 12:53:46 UTC) (permalink)
On Halo 2 and Piracy
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, has taken a long, hard look at the whole piracy issue (specifically with respect to the Halo 2 leak), and has blown out a few myths, and dispelled a few unreasonable rationalizations. It also looks at WHY the community has reacted the way it has. Definitely worth a read. (Louis Wu 12:48:50 UTC) (permalink)
13b for the masses
In early September, Fire Team Charlie released FTC13b as a member-exclusive movie. This saddened many people who wanted to see it, but didn't want to (or couldn't) pay the $10 membership fee. Well... now you can watch it anyway - just visit the site for details. Thanks, Ash! (Louis Wu 11:01:36 UTC) (permalink)
High Encryption
Today's Penny Arcade might, or might not, involve a game you're all familiar with. You'll have to crack the code to decide. Thanks, KP. (Louis Wu 10:50:40 UTC) (permalink)
The Fate of the Forum - decided
I've turned off the Fate of the Forum poll - the 'Yes' percentage is almost exactly 77.7% of the total vote, and that was too good to pass up. ;) (It's been hovering around this point for the last 18 hours or so, but I wanted to give it a little longer last night.) Four thousand or so of you have weighed in on this - and 3/4 of you want the forum shut down, to avoid spoilers. We talked, behind the scenes, about opening the forum back up in a moderated form - you could post, but your post would be queued until a moderator approved it. This would eliminate the chance for spoilers on the forum - but would 1) slow down conversation dramatically, since posts wouldn't be viewable until a moderator got around to approving them, and 2) would guarantee spoilage for moderators. It was a narrow vote, but the 'keep the forum closed' voices won in the end. So - that's what we're going to do. The forum will reopen on November 11; if you're actually playing the game, we'd recommend you come back even later than that. (Once you've STARTED playing, it's totally up to you to keep your nose out of the forum; we can't be your willpower FOREVER, you know. :) ) In the meantime, we're going to try and upgrade the forum software; you may or may not notice the visual differences (depends on the viewing mode you use, I suppose), but hopefully you'll notice the under-the-hood tweaks by how much easier they make some things. And if you really miss community conversation, there's always our IRC channel; the moderators are pretty brutal when it comes to spoiler chat, so you're reasonably safe there. (Louis Wu 10:05:21 UTC) (permalink)
Next up - a Plantronics view inside the ear
Daily Game has posted Duke's Diary - the story of a controller's visit to San Francisco to play Halo 2. Yeah, you read that right. Now go read it. (Louis Wu 02:13:13 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Theme: Mjolnir Mix
Wow... very nice. If you visit nilerogers.com, you can listen to a 1:45 long snippet of the Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix - composed by Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, with guitars by Steve Vai. It rocks. Thanks, palatine. (The Flash popup that goes with the song is pretty nice, but if you're having trouble with it, the music is here.) (Louis Wu 00:18:17 UTC) (permalink)
News October 17 2004
The Halo 2 Council?
Gah. I wrote this up this morning - but forgot to post it. Credit goes to Rampancy.net, which is where I found it. Over on MTV.com, there's a story about "the Halo 2 Council", a group of '7' (if you count each of three bands as '1') who receive a specialized xbox/screen combination and a copy of Halo 2 before November 9. It's not at all clear 1) how this list was compiled, 2) WHY this list was compiled, or 3) why Bungie allowed these 7 discs out of their hands when nobody else is getting them... but that's the way celebrity is, I guess. (I'd be pretty unhappy if I were a member of Breaking Benjamin - I'm one of three popular bands to be featured in the game, and the OTHER TWO get Pelican cases? Ouch!) Thanks to the dozens of people who wrote pointing out that we missed this story. (Louis Wu 20:33:11 UTC) (permalink)
Reassurance from Bungie
Yesterday, we pointed out a story on Xbox.com in which an editor of OXM stated that they'd have a world-exclusive pre-release Halo 2 review that covers Campaign play. We got word today from SketchFactor that yes, it's true, they're going to have the only published story with a street date before November 9 - but that they did this story in conjunction with Bungie, and they aren't releasing any plot spoilers for the game. There WILL be new information - but it's nothing that would ruin the single-player game, and it will be in a special sealed section of the review in any case. If you want to read it, you actually have to rip it open. Bungie still wants you to have a pristine single-player experience (if you can) - they aren't letting anyone OFFICIAL ruin that. (Louis Wu 19:53:29 UTC) (permalink)
Did Those Piercings Cost A Buck-An-Ear?
Stuntmutt's taken his own (well, okay, someone else's, repackaged) view of the entire leaked Halo 2 issue in a special Sunday One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:20:19 UTC) (permalink)
The bottom of T and R... DONE
Whoa. Ms Man has managed to get to the bottom of Truth and Reconciliation, winning c0ld's contest and proving me a pessimist. Pictures will be up on his site later today, a movie tomorrow. Congratulations! (Louis Wu 17:13:14 UTC) (permalink)
Movie Mirrors
More mirrors for yesterday's high-quality Heart is a Lonely Hunter release - Djof points out that it's available on the Psyjnir.org Hotline server, and the DJ has put a copy up at HaloImpulse. Don't miss this one! The next episode comes out in a couple of days. (While we're mentioning HaloImpulse, they've also got the QuickTime versions of last week's video Bungie Update up, as well.) (Louis Wu 17:10:52 UTC) (permalink)
Best Trick Ever Vote - Finals!
Dark Helmet, over at HaloPlanet, has set up the 'favorite tricks' votes - go and make your opinion known! There's a Favorite Multiplayer Trick vote, a Favorite Coop Trick vote, and a Favorite Single-Player Trick vote. The choices you have are the ones nominated and seconded in the past two weeks on the High Impact Halo forums. Update - looks like the polls were broken, or something. A new poll page is up. (Louis Wu 17:06:14 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 on 60 Minutes (AU)
A couple of people mentioned that Halo 2 was the subject of a story on 60 Minutes in Australia - apparently, it's news because it's looking like November 9 (and the days that follow) will 'affect the industrialized world' with the number of 'sick' days taken. The web release is here, and a transcript is coming soon. Thanks, Octavian and ragereset. (Louis Wu 16:58:58 UTC) (permalink)
That page most of you have seen...
Churchofhalo found a funny error message on the net - the images are busted, but the text is humorous. (Louis Wu 16:54:37 UTC) (permalink)
New resources for alien text
Holy moley... in the last couple of days, a TON of tools for decoding the alien font used on halo2.com have come out - and now, you can find not one, but THREE different fonts available for writing your own messages on Wallpaper or whatever. We mentioned two tools yesterday - now there's a third (37K), and it's functionally identical to Chappy's Konfabulator widget, except that it runs on a PC and is built with .NET. The three fonts come from MrFluffyPants (8k), Multipilot (8k), and eek (5k). Grab 'em all, see which one suits you best. Okay - there's plenty more news for today - but real life takes me away from the computer for a bit; back in a couple of hours. Update: focused7 has updated his decoder to sort shapes by common feature. Link has been updated. (Louis Wu 14:59:30 UTC) (permalink)
Open... or closed?
Wow. The email response to the closing of the forum has been surprising, to put it mildly. Folks writing to us have been overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the forum closed until November 9. However - I want to hear from the whole HBO community, not just those who bother to write emails. To that end, I've set up a simple poll - please cast your vote. Thanks! (Louis Wu 03:12:48 UTC) (permalink)
News October 16 2004
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Every once in a while, a Halo movie comes along that's head and shoulders above almost everything else out there. Great filmography, awesome sound, fantastic voice acting... if you look back on all of the Halo machinima creations that have been released (we're not talking music videos now, or gameplay presentations), there are only a couple that are up there in a class that can stand alone, be of interest OUTSIDE the Halo community. (Red vs Blue is probably the most prominent example.) Now (in my opinion), there's a new one. 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' is a 30-minute movie which has it all; great acting, great storyline, great cinematography, great music, great effects. Humor and pathos, all rolled into a Halo-driven package. 30 minutes is WAY too much to release on the web in this format, so they've broken it up into 6 episodes. The first one (as well as a 1:14-long, 7.5 mb trailer) is available on the HiaLH website; It's 2:51 long, 20 mb, in QuickTime format. To ease the load on their server, we've mirrored this episode at mythica.org (and the trailer, too). Episode 2 will be released sometime early next week. Our forum is still down, so comments should be sent directly to the team (check their Contact page for email addresses) or to us - we'll pass them along. Update: As many of you have noticed, the HiaLH website is offline right now, for exceeding their bandwidth. We're tossing up another mirror of both of these files; you can find the trailer and Part 1 at files.bungie.org. We're talking about BitTorrenting the entire thing, but give us some time to work it out. (Louis Wu 15:18:51 UTC) (permalink)
Freebies with Halo 2 in Canada
Recoil points out nice bonus deals from Canadian sellers, if you haven't already ordered your copy of Halo 2. Best Buy is offering a free T - the Blue '2' logo on the front, 'Go Earth. 110904' on the back. (This doesn't seem to be available on the online store, and Recoil doesn't say what color this shirt is; most of the freebies I've seen have been black, though a white one exists, as well.) Over at Futureshop, they're offering free mini action figures (one of two packs). Again, this doesn't seem to be available online, so visit your local store. (Louis Wu 14:34:56 UTC) (permalink)
Full story mode laid out - in December OXM
There's a note over on Xbox.com from the Assistant Editor of the Official Xbox Magazine talking about their next issue, and the massive Halo 2 article planned for it. The mag will be out on November 2, one week before the game is out, and will contain (it looks like) information about the entire Campaign mode. Up to you whether you buy it then, or wait until after you play. (Subscribers, of course, will get it even sooner.) Thanks, Ash. (Louis Wu 14:27:40 UTC) (permalink)
Sk8r Chief.
Oh, man... in all the mess of yesterday, I managed to forget to post yesterday's One One Se7en. That might have been a good thing... you decide. It's up now. (Louis Wu 14:21:32 UTC) (permalink)
Lockout
IGN's Halo 2 Countdown article for yesterday is called 'Lockout', and gives a couple of decent Multiplayer ideas for use on the map Lockout. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:12:24 UTC) (permalink)
Halo2.com translating simplified (for macs)
Very cool. Chappy has created a Konfabulator widget (138K) to ease translation of the code found on halo2.com. This requires Konfabulator, a MacOSX in-system javascript runtime engine that allows you to put cool functions on your desktop. This one is pretty useful, if you're trying to decode a message; simply click the appropriate symbols, and the message will be typed out in the text bar at the top. A sample screenshot is here (78K). Again - this works in MacOSX only. Update: I just noticed that there's a PC equivalent, of sorts - IWTPH2 created a small app that allows you to do the same thing. A tad harder to use - but it runs on a PC, which the widget does not. :) (Louis Wu 14:09:00 UTC) (permalink)
Broken, glass filled, acid-ruined ruminations
While I took the night off, the Halo world went on - and Frankie posted another Bungie Weekly Update, this time over at Rampancy.net. He rants a bit about piracy, and then describes a weeklong Press event in San Francisco he just got back from, where journalists were allowed to play the game from start to finish, in order to write their reviews in time for the November deadlines. There's some nice imagery in his description of Legendary difficulty... Go read it, and feel sorry for the crying Mister Chief. We got lots of notes - earliest one was from 343. (Louis Wu 13:34:19 UTC) (permalink)
MTV Special on Halo 2 next month
On Breaking Benjamin's website there's a mention of an upcoming MTV Making the Video Game: Halo 2 special, which they will be featured in. It'll air on both MTV and MTV2 between November 5 and November 9 - a full list of showtimes can be found in the link above. Thanks, Ted Ruscha. (Louis Wu 13:21:17 UTC) (permalink)
News October 15 2004
Halo2.com - in progress
For folks working on the decoding of the various pages at halo2.com, there's a great thread over at the Unfiction forums; you'll find a really useful decoder based on shape, rather than alphabetical order. (If you want alphabetical order, there's also this one, posted over in the Bungie.net forums - but the signal to noise ratio is much higher over there.) Pretty much all of the text has been decoded at this point. (I even know it's right, because BOLL cheated, and extracted the XML file that's being used to GENERATE the text - and it's in English. No, I'm not gonna show you what he found, because it's not particularly sporting.) The only things that are not yet decoded are the three password-protected screens in the Prophet subring. And according to one person on the Unfiction forums, those will not BE decoded until the Flash asset involved is actually updated with a real password. So for now, enjoy the site, and the new glimpses into the wonder of Halo 2... and try not to stumble over any major spoilers on other sites. Update: for the lazy among you, NK has decoded the entire site, graphically. It removes the enjoyment of doing it yourself... but hey, nobody's forcing you. Because it's far too much work right now to set up a page where you can see these one at a time, I've packaged them all up (43 images in all) - you can grab them here (1.8 mb). Thanks, NK! (Louis Wu 23:41:21 UTC) (permalink)
Speculation Marches On...
Need something to read? Something to fire up the neurons and kick the axons in the pants? Try the Halo Story Page. Chock full of conjectural hypothesizing and loaded with really neat stuff. And it's been updated. Today. By me, strangely enough. (mnemesis 21:44:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo2.com has relaunched
The overhaul of halo2.com is complete - sort of. It's pretty much unviewable on a mac - it works well on XP/Firefox and XP/IE (though the IE version takes over your screen; there's no way to get to the desktop any more, without closing the window). The outbound link is also busted, though I'm sure they'll fix that at some point. All text is in the same code as the teaser stuff we mentioned last night. It's fun to explore - though there ARE vehicles, weapons, and buildings (and maybe aliens - I haven't fully explored it) that you've never seen before... that's your spoiler warning. There are at least 3 downloadables - I found some wallpaper. Thanks to Elite TAR, who pointed it out first. Update: I was wrong - the site IS viewable on a mac; OSX/IE5 seems to be a useable combination. (I didn't even test IE before, since Microsoft abandoned development on it over a year ago.) Thanks, -Nash--housewares. Update 2: w00t! BOLL managed to find a direct link that lets you view the main part of the site (at least the North American version) in a window - it's now watchable on Macs (any browser)! (It'll also respond better for PCs that aren't the top of the line...) Thanks, BOLL! (Louis Wu 18:06:33 UTC) (permalink)
Common sense. Want some?
It hurts to do this, but the forum is shut down for the foreseeable future. Why? Because even though our stance has been consistent, folks out there still don't take to heart our policy on leaks, spoilers, pirating, etc.
Considering it's not a right but a privilege, instead of tearing our hair out for the next few weeks until Halo 2 officially launches, we'll turn it off (you can still read, but you can't post) if we think you folks are making things too difficult for us to moderate and stay on top of.
Why do we have to feel like we're fathers punishing our bratty children? I don't know, I really don't. Peace out. (Ding 17:56:41 UTC) (permalink)
That's gotta hurt.
Forgot to post this last night - Hawaiian Pig did another RvB MegaBattle pic, but with a twist - it's the Anti-Leak Edition. Ouch! (Louis Wu 16:02:23 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 artwork emerging
Kryptonic lets us know about a new piece of artwork by vegasmike over at DeviantArt. Before you go - realize that this is a sketch of a new enemy that shows up in the latest issue of EGM; some people consider its mere EXISTENCE to be a spoiler. If that's you, don't follow the link. For the rest of you, check out this really nice sketch! (Louis Wu 15:42:05 UTC) (permalink)
More eBay Halo action
pOgO points out an auction on eBay.co.uk for a pop art Halo 2 painting. I sort of wish the artist had chosen a pose that DIDN'T come straight from a screenshot... but it's a nice work, anyway. (Me, I wouldn't be selling stuff like this when Microsoft Legal's in such a tizzy... but then, I'm a coward.) Speaking of eBay, the full action figure auction we mentioned recently has heated up; current bid is over $1,000, and the number of visits has turned the counter over. It's still a deal - you're getting stuff you can't actually buy ANYWHERE - but man, that's a lot of dough. (Louis Wu 15:38:21 UTC) (permalink)
Comics, comics, and more comics. And other stuff.
More new comics out there today... J_Speeder talks about a new episode of E.A.R."T.H." (though it's in movie form, and a mammoth 45 mb, on Freewebs, so I'm guessing it won't be accessible within about 10 minutes of this news post), and Halo Babies has a new strip up, looking at one area Cortana MIGHT not be the sharpest tack in the box. (Halo Babies also has an interview with the creators of MC and Cortana, and an anti-piracy message up as new content.) Go see! (Louis Wu 15:26:18 UTC) (permalink)
Piracy is for Punks
Today's IGN Countdown to Halo 2 article is a diatribe about pirating - appropriate, and a pretty good read (awesome if you contrast it to the last few in this series). Go check it out. First heads-up came from Mumbly JoE, last night. (Louis Wu 15:11:15 UTC) (permalink)
Harr!
Pallor points out today's edition of GU Comics, commenting on the Halo 2 piracy issue. Sounds about right... (Louis Wu 12:38:11 UTC) (permalink)
It's all coming together
Everyone and their brother has pointed out that 1) the same symbols that had appeared on the Halo 2 teaser wallpaper for the Halo2.com site relaunch have appeared on the site itself, clearly in a countdown to the changeover. And the code itself has been cracked, by hundreds (if not thousands) of people - the wallpaper reads 'BTW Cortana is hot now', and the site itself reads 'All your base are belong to us and we love bees'. Yes, there'll be more. No, I don't know yet how in-depth our coverage is gonna get; the ILB storyline hasn't fully played out yet (though it's pretty darn close now), and I'm loathe to remove the discussion ban from our forum. Bottom line, though - you can stop telling us about this, and stop posting it on the forum. It's there, and we know. Thanks! Update: here's a good thread on the decoding - pretty pictures. (Although he can't add very well - total image size is 126k.) (Louis Wu 02:37:08 UTC) (permalink)
Sarge on Board
Murph McManus points out that a new MC and Cortana comic is up. (Louis Wu 02:29:38 UTC) (permalink)
Piracy FAQ up on B.net
Shishka wrote a nice FAQ about the leaked copy of Halo 2, and what spreading it might mean to you, specifically, over on the B.net forums. Some of the content is Bungie.net-specific - but folks should take heed of the warnings about the banning of your Gamertag from the Halo 2 experience... Thanks, kwdono04. (You might have trouble accessing this post; B.net is being flakey right now. Keep trying.) (Louis Wu 02:26:13 UTC) (permalink)
Yet another XBL headset option for you
dwchief pointed out a new cordless XBL headset from Logitech - it looks nice, but it ain't cheap. ($79.99, though that includes a communicator, which the $50 corded Plantronics does not. I don't count the 2 free months on XBL, since you can get that almost anywhere.) I was amused by the actual text - "the ability to play Xbox Live games over the Internet with complete cordless freedom -- from up to 30 feet away -- for the first time." I mean... how useful is that... if your controller is sitting over by the television set? Anyway, dwchief found the info in this Teamxbox article, and there are more details on Logitech's product page. 30 foot range aside, the ability to go cordless is actually quite nice, as you might find when you're juking in your chair, trying to get away from that nasty elite... (Louis Wu 02:20:39 UTC) (permalink)
Things to Read
While we're on the subject of Fiction - there are 8 new pieces in the Fan Fiction section today. Enjoy. (Louis Wu 02:02:38 UTC) (permalink)
Danger! Falling Grunts
rockslider points out that Frontline With Suzie is back on the airwaves with an interview with some little people. (Louis Wu 01:54:44 UTC) (permalink)
That's sort of how I feel, too...
Gah. The other thing I missed yesterday was Blackstar's latest Calvin and Halo. Which is kind of a bummer, since it really was appropriate for yesterday. Go read. (Louis Wu 01:37:31 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2: Flashback
I missed yesterday's countdown article at IGN - but it's almost worth missing, because it perpetuates a myth that simply isn't worth perpetuating. It's a story from IGN editor Hilary Goldstein about a conversation he had with Pete Parsons a year and a half ago. Pete told him that Halo was not coming out in 2003; he discusses how that made him feel. The thing to remember, however, is that at that point, nobody had announced ANY date for Halo 2's release - this was a courtesy heads-up to a journalist, not 'being told that Halo 2's being delayed'. Go read, but remember, November 9 is the first date EVER OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED AS A RELEASE DATE FOR HALO 2. Thanks to the myriad of folks who pointed this out... I think El337 was first. (Louis Wu 01:27:21 UTC) (permalink)
News October 14 2004
Track Listing for Halo 2 Sountrack Volume 1
Sumthing Distribution, the producer behind the Halo 2 Soundtrack, has put up a track listing for Volume One. There are some typos (Mjoiner?), but you can see what percentage is O'Donnell/Salvatori music, and what percentage is from other bands. (The Incubus piece is 4 movements!) Thanks, Cybrfrk. Update: Oops, seems like Multipilot found an article over at TeamXbox with that listing (though no link back to the source, tsk, tsk) several hours earlier. Sorry, Multipilot! (Louis Wu 20:47:43 UTC) (permalink)
Piracy Sucks - Still
Wow. Some scumbag uploaded a Halo attract movie to our ftp space; we served a lot of copies before someone was kind enough to tell me about it. I've shut down our ftp space for the time being - I don't have time to monitor it minute by minute, I'd rather it were offline than being used like this. Folks who need to upload files to us - feel free to email me, I'll give you a private, temporary link (use it or lose it). [Update: This does NOT mean you should mail me asking to see the video - it's people who do that make me wish I could reach through the internet and smack you upside your head.] It sucks that the majority end up suffering for the idiocy of a few... but that's the way it goes. In a similar vein, SketchFactor over at Bungie.net has asked for the community's help in shutting down sources of this leak; yeah, they'll keep coming back up, but the hope is, the number of people outraged will actually exceed the number breaking the law. Also, Deimos Fawkes, of Subnova, has posted an address where you can send mail; he'll do the job of weeding through duplicates and the like before forwarding to Bungie. Update: Apparently, the term 'attract movie' isn't as common as I thought. If you leave your Xbox idling on the start screen for Halo (or Halo 2), it will eventually cycle through several movies - showing solo, coop, and multiplayer gameplay. One of these movies, for Halo 2, was what was uploaded. (The name goes back to arcade games, I think, when 'attract mode' was the gameplay that would show on the screen to entice you to drop your quarter in the slot.) (Louis Wu 20:29:57 UTC) (permalink)
Multiplayer Mudslide Madness!
Old-schooler xzzy drops into the forum to mention a Halo CE multiplayer map he's finished, available now (and at an old-time hard-core url, to boot ;-)). He's also got a few screens showing it off. It looks great, so come on! Help keep HaloCE alive! (mnemesis 19:43:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Launch Party in London
On November 10, there will be a Halo 2 Launch party at London Bridge (England) - it's open to all UK residents 18 or over. If you want to win tickets, visit Xbox.com! (Louis Wu 13:04:47 UTC) (permalink)
Online Halo Tourney on Halloween
Halo-2 points out a tournament on Xlink Kai, an Xbox tunneling app; they're kicking off their latest iteration with a big Halo'een tournament. Details are in the forum post. (Louis Wu 11:19:20 UTC) (permalink)
Reality in Halo, Part VII
Mhaddy, over at the Junkyard, points out the latest in the series of analyses of Halo from a US Military perspective - this time up, it's The Library. This one's a bit more personal, since it's just the Chief... I suppose that's true of the next few, as well. Go read! (Louis Wu 11:14:19 UTC) (permalink)
He likes it!
Again, we're 12 hours late - but what can you do? Eric Trautmann mentions that his author's copy of The Art of Halo showed up yesterday - and he's happy with the end result. (That's a good thing; I'd be nervous if the AUTHOR was unhappy.) Thanks, KiGlow. (Louis Wu 10:51:40 UTC) (permalink)
Piracy sucks.
As many of you already know, there is a cracked copy of the French PAL version of Halo 2 out there on the net. I suppose it was inevitable - but that doesn't mean it's okay with us. Leaked screens, descriptions of not-already-released areas of the game (both single and multiplayer), links to downloads - all of these will get you permanently banned from our forum, so don't put them there. Please understand our position; we started this site in 1999 to pay homage to Bungie - we really felt they were the best gaming company out there, bar none, and we wanted to create a place where people could appreciate their work. When that work is stolen and released without permission, everybody loses. Bungie loses revenue, and control over their own intellectual property. Fans who choose NOT to download the product (and it's rather large, and in a format most Americans don't have the capability to read) lose, because information about the game will begin circulating weeks before they can get their hands on it. Folks downloading the pirated game lose because it's nearly certain that Microsoft will get a copy, as well, and once they have a fingerprint for this, your chances of getting on XBL are nonexistent. (Yeah, sure, you can use it for LAN games, and on networks like XBC and Xlink Kai - but it's possible someone will be monitoring those networks as well.) I'm sad today. (Louis Wu 10:21:34 UTC) (permalink)
That's a lotta figures
Brian Towne, the man behind Mythica.org (and a rabid Halo Action Figure collector) pointed out this auction on eBay today. Every action figure released so far (barring the brand-new Halo2 figures), including a bunch of pretty rare exclusives. There are still 4 days left in the bidding, but it's already up to $305. Back in April, a similar (though smaller, due to the fact that Series 4 and Series 5 hadn't been released yet) collection went up - and I bid on it (and won it). Unfortunately, I was stiffed by the seller, and eBay turned out to be no help - no action figures for me, and a lot of money out of my pocket. I know the seller this time around - in fact, he was in my house a week ago - and I'd sure vouch for him... but you might be bidding against me for this collection. (Don't let that stop you - I've got most of these already, so I'll drop out before it gets absurd. :) ) In any case, if you've ever regretted not buying action figures, this is a pretty darn good opportunity to get every single one of them in one fell swoop. (Louis Wu 01:23:27 UTC) (permalink)
News October 13 2004
After War - A Halo 2 Comic
Red Leader points out After War, a comic (more of a graphic story) drawn by Kevin Ryan. They start here, and the latest episodes were posted today. (I'd never seen them before - they're pretty good.) (Louis Wu 22:14:24 UTC) (permalink)
Multimedia Blitz - this Friday
Gaming Horizon has a story on the relaunch of Halo2.com, the official Halo 2 website; new screenshots, new movies, 3 brand-new wallpapers. Wonga! (Remember, we already mentioned the teaser wallpaper - you can get a sense for what it looks like by tossing it into an image processing app (like Photoshop) and fiddling with the levels.) (Louis Wu 21:45:49 UTC) (permalink)
Have You Done It All?
Interesting forum post from princeofthesword - a challenge to do some of the cooler things discovered about the first Halo, for yourself, before November 9. Yeah, lots of you have done all of these, and more... but many, many more of you haven't. And this is a good chance to see just how rich the first game really was! (Louis Wu 21:27:35 UTC) (permalink)
Protect the Coolbox!
Hehe - G-NOx points out a Dutch Halo 2 contest - beat the Cherry Coke monsters, win an Xbox Halo 2 pack (crystal Xbox, Halo2). You have to be Dutch to win - but anyone can play; it's just Space Invaders. I hit 55,000 before I got too bored. :) Read the post on how to find the game. (Louis Wu 20:23:11 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper for the upcoming halo2.com relaunch
DKo5 points out a post on the Shacknews forum made by one of the people working on the redesign of halo2.com. There's a Wallpaper 'gift' in the post... nice. Update: ChibiJosh posted the wallpaper directly to OUR forum, too. (Louis Wu 19:46:51 UTC) (permalink)
The Art of Halo - thoughts from the author
Hehe - Eric Trautmann described being fully paid for his work on The Art of Halo, due out in early November, in his blog. (If you're near Olympia, Washington, on November 13, you can get it signed, even.) There's also a nice ramble about how he feels about this whole process, and the Halo fan community as a whole. Eric wondered how long it would take a fansite to notice this update; Rampancy.net had it posted about 3 hours after it went up. We, unfortunately, are lagging a bit; we're 12 hours behind them. I'm slipping... (Louis Wu 15:46:25 UTC) (permalink)
Society's Crime.
Stuntmutt takes a look at societal mores once again in today's One One Se7en. (This was inspired by the Wired article posted recently... and some other stuff.) (Louis Wu 15:14:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2v2 tourney in NJ
nexus points out a 2v2 Halo Tourney in Dover, New Jersey on October 23 - $35 entry fee (discount with a Gamestop coupon), $800 payout. More details can be found in his forum post, or their website. (Louis Wu 14:44:19 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's Inspiration
IGN continues their downward slide (and I do mean DOWNWARD) into Halo 2 with a new article entitled 'On The Pot' - describing how the author gets his best info about Halo 2, and where. Yes, it's what you think it is. This series better ramp up soon, or I'm gonna have to stop posting links... (Louis Wu 14:11:16 UTC) (permalink)
Babies in 3D
There's a bunch of Halo Babies fan-generated 3D artwork over at... well, Halo Babies. Go look! (Louis Wu 14:07:06 UTC) (permalink)
The Worst Halo 2 Tournament?
No, they don't mean it's gonna be terrible - they mean its a fusion of Worst, a popular Japanese manga that's coming to America, and Halo 2, a popular video game that's coming... well, everywhere. A Halo 2 tourney in mid-November, with Worst and Halo-related goodies for prizes. Check out all the details on the Digital Manga page. (Louis Wu 03:26:47 UTC) (permalink)
Corpse Humping... and No Bullets
Tina Leyk is back, with two new Fur-Lo comics; they're both great looks at multiplayer... erm, fun. Or something. (I've been there, on BOTH of these...) (Louis Wu 03:16:31 UTC) (permalink)
Gamertags - back.
Okay, enough people have been whinin- er, clamoring for the return of the HBO-XBL Gamertag list that I put it back up tonight. What it DOESN'T have: I've yanked the ability to list what games you play. (This is why it disappeared in the first place; new games were being added to XBL so quickly that I couldn't keep up, and people complained that the games they were playing weren't yet on the list. It was easier just to yank it.) Think of it now as a way to find HBO regulars on XBL to play Halo 2 against. (Louis Wu 02:43:14 UTC) (permalink)
That man works FAST.
Wow. Hawaiian Pig has ALREADY whipped up a MegaBattle set piece from Red vs Blue episode 39... wow. (There's also a really nice little wallpaper in there.) (Louis Wu 02:22:43 UTC) (permalink)
SpikeTV Casting Call - Moved!
A couple of days ago, we mentioned a Spike TV casting call; it was happening in Santa Monica, CA, on Tuesday. It's been rescheduled; the actual event will be tomorrow, Wednesday, October 13, at 10:30 am. The full casting notice can be seen here. (Louis Wu 00:30:21 UTC) (permalink)
News October 12 2004
Sleep works, too. Ask Rip.
It's almost, but not quite, the end of Tuesday - this episode of Calvin and Halo makes it in under the wire. (No guarantees on how long it'll be readable; our backup servers are both choking.) It's a big 'un... but then, the job Calvin is trying to do is a big 'un. (Louis Wu 23:29:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo PC Tweak Guide
Team Radeon has put out a guide to Tweaking Halo PC - lots of information on making HPC run nicely on your computer. Check it out! (Louis Wu 19:57:38 UTC) (permalink)
Breaking Benjamin - in .WMA format
Soulblighta found another version of the Breaking Benjamin track off the Official Halo 2 soundtrack; this one's at the MSN Music site. He found the link in an Xbox.com newsflash. If you'd rather listen to the song as a .wma stream than a Flash animation, this is your ticket. (Louis Wu 17:30:44 UTC) (permalink)
Video Cornucopia
A whole passel of movies for you this morning: a couple of 'Where are we now?' vids and a promo for the Homefront mod.
- Hikaru-119's 'With Us' looks at where the Human race stands...
- kwdono04's 'The Final Countdown' recaps our views of Halo 2 from announcement day through the present...
- The Homefront team has released their Version 2 Video, a cinematic look at what's available in this Battlefield: Vietnam mod (and it looks pretty awesome).
Go grab the ones that interest you! (Louis Wu 13:51:50 UTC) (permalink)
Early Gameplay for Canadians
Bali, continuing to cull the best Halo 2 content from Xbox.com, points out a Contest for Canadians; as long as you're of legal age, you're eligible to Play Halo 2 before it hits the stores. Fill out the form (really, just click the 'sign me up' link) and boom, you've got a chance to be flown to Toronto on October 25th to play Halo 2 multiplayer with the band The Music - two weeks before everyone else. Not bad! (Louis Wu 12:19:38 UTC) (permalink)
The Best Laid Plans...
Red vs Blue Episode 39, kicking off Season 3, is now available for download. It's 8:45 long, and currently only available in Lo-Res formats (they haven't started the sponsorship stuff yet). QuickTime is 49 mb, DivX is 48 mb, WMP9 is 36 mb - and whatever format you grab, the whole thing is pretty durn funny. Go watch! (Louis Wu 11:12:48 UTC) (permalink)
A new reality show?
If you live in Southern California, Spike TV is looking for outgoing 18-30-year-old men and women who are crazy about Halo. Hmm... More details can be found in Konrad's forum post. (Louis Wu 10:54:44 UTC) (permalink)
USA Today profiles Halo 2 soundtrack
synide sent along a clipping from yesterday's USA Today newspaper about the Halo 2 soundtrack. There's one thing you gotta say for adding high-profile musicians to your soundtrack - it gets you mentioned in a newspaper with a daily circulation of more than 2.5 million copies. (Louis Wu 10:36:42 UTC) (permalink)
Gaming Gear for sale - to benefit kids
Interesting. There's a charity dinner being hosted by the Entertainment Software Association to raise money for a non-profit foundation that supports children's groups - and this time around, they're auctioning off a large number of items for the cause. There are a lot of items, so sorting out the Halo-related ones might be rough... but look around, there's everything from an autographed Halo Special Edition Xbox, to a Halo 2 Sergeant Johnson Personalized Outgoing Message for your answering machine, to a roto-molded fiberglass Master Chief figure standing more than 3 feet high. Remember - the money all goes to charity. Lots of folks sent this in - looks like Dusty was first. (Louis Wu 10:28:35 UTC) (permalink)
Site problems
To all the folks sending word that the Fan Fiction and Dialogue Databank sections have stopped working properly - we know. The tool that used to fix that problem has somehow broken - until we can get it fixed, these sections are spotty, at best. Sorry. (To stave off the inevitable offers - there's no way to move these sections to machines at other sites; we appreciate it when people try to help, but we've got to fix this one ourselves. Thanks!) (Louis Wu 10:18:08 UTC) (permalink)
If you're not buying Halo 2...
IGN continues its countdown to Halo 2 with an article about the competition - games coming out the same week as Halo 2. Games like Mario Tennis, and Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge. Hmm. (Louis Wu 10:15:28 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly Update Vid - QT, not squished
Took MUCH longer than I'd anticipated, but the aspect-corrected QuickTime versions of the Weekly Update movie are now available for download; your best bet is to snag one of the BitTorrent links for the Hi-res version, or a direct download for the smaller one. Thanks to all the hosts providing bandwidth here - this community ROCKS! (Louis Wu 00:01:32 UTC) (permalink)
News October 11 2004
Bungie Weekly Update - Video
Bah. I was hoping that the QuickTime versions would generate quickly... but nothing ever goes as planned. Earlier today, Bungie released 'Bungie Weekly Update: Sexy Girls Gone Wild Video Edition' - which isn't nearly as racy as it sounds, though it IS a nice walk through the Bungie offices. Bungie.net is swamped at the moment, so we've put up a mirror list of both direct downloads and BitTorrent seeds for grabbing this movie. If you don't like WMP9 format (or you'd rather that the aspect ratio be correct) you might want to wait until the QuickTime versions are done - they're both 16:9 (the way the movie was intended to be) and should be online shortly. Meanwhile, if you're mirroring these files, feel free to send us links; we'll add them to this page. Thanks! (Louis Wu 21:08:40 UTC) (permalink)
Times Square - Ground Zero on November 9
Bali has noticed a new Newsflash on Xbox.com - a story about the Halo 2 Launch Party, which will take place on November 8th at the Toys R Us in Times Square, in New York City. Special guest appearances, prizes for gamers, and some pre-release playtime for a limited number of lucky folks. Details at both Xbox.com and ToysRUs.com. (Louis Wu 19:41:37 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2: Gold.
Sketch sends word that Halo 2 is Gold. This means it's done, certified, in the box; time to start duplicating. There are far more details, if you're into that kind of thing, over at B.net. The critical piece, though, is that it's DONE. (Louis Wu 16:49:00 UTC) (permalink)
Dialogue Databank - updated!
Wow. It took way too long - but I've finally cleared out most of the Dialogue Databank queue - there are 157 new entries today, including an entirely new Multiplayer section (really clean - thanks, Captain Spark!). There are large swaths of new Jackal and Elite sounds, as well. Go see what you can find! (Louis Wu 15:29:43 UTC) (permalink)
Blow me away
A brand-new cut from the Halo 2 soundtrack, by Breaking Benjamin, has been released on nilerodgers.com. Thanks go to WRATHofGOD, of halo-zone.com, for the heads-up. It's still not clear how (or if) this is actually used in-game. Update: Although we've known about the 2-volume soundtrack, today it's been officially announced by Sumthing Else Music Works. More details can be found at TeamXbox (thanks, MiD33) and DailyGame (thanks, GoogleAlerts). (Louis Wu 14:35:30 UTC) (permalink)
Team Complete almost ready to kick off
Missed this yesterday - there was a story at TeamXbox about Team Compete, a group which is firing up a couple of leagues for Halo 2 competitive play. There's an Open League, free to everyone with a XBL account, that will have a $2500 cach prize purse for their inaugural season... and a Pro League, which will require a fee for membership, but will have a $25,000 cash prize purse for the season. More details will be forthcoming, as the season gets closer (play will start on November 9). Thanks to HaloPlanet for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:13:03 UTC) (permalink)
On the cover of Reach Today...
BOLL went to the trouble of importing a Halo 2 MC from Singapore - then he took it outside, and had a photo shoot. Luckily, there are no bikini shots. (Louis Wu 13:04:01 UTC) (permalink)
HUD? More Like HDD.
Today's One One Se7en was inspired by a forum conversation with Dave Candland, interface designer for the Halo 2 HUD. Poor MC... (Louis Wu 10:46:51 UTC) (permalink)
Stories to start the week
We'll start you off this Monday morning with 11 new pieces in the Fan Fiction section. Read with your coffee... (Louis Wu 10:42:27 UTC) (permalink)
Zyos in the spotlight at Gamespot
Couple of notes from Jonah yesterday - lots of stuff slipping through the cracks. First was an interview with Matt Leto, better known in the Halo community as Zyos, over at Gamespot. There's a video interview that goes with it; streaming for the masses, 52.3 mb of QuickTime goodness for Complete members. Cool fact - in the past 12 months, Matt has won $55,000 in Halo tournaments. (He's 20 years old!) (Louis Wu 00:44:16 UTC) (permalink)
He did WHAT?
Ms Man has once again shown that there's more to Halo than you knew. This time, he managed to get a Banshee outside AotCR. Completely outside the level. To the point where you're looking at the map - as an enclosed space. And you're not in it. The video is 4:36 long, and 16 mb in WMP9 format. We've mirrored it, and created a QuickTime version (16.9 mb). Thanks, Juggertrout, for pointing out another jawdropper. (Louis Wu 00:21:57 UTC) (permalink)
News October 10 2004
Yayap.com DS server - Halo CE goodness
DocOctavius stopped by the forum to point out the new Yayap.com Halo CE dedicated server, running 'most of the best Halo CE maps in various gametypes'. The entire map collection can be downloaded from the website - if you haven't played many of the Halo CE custom maps, here's a chance to see a whole bunch in one place! (Louis Wu 22:00:05 UTC) (permalink)
Want a life-size MC? Hope you're Canadian...
If you're Canadian, go visit your local Blockbuster video; i fyou pre-purchase Halo 2 or Halo 2 LE before November 9th, you're entered to win one of four life-sized Master Chief statues. Details on this Promotions page. (I could find no similar page for US-based Blockbusters.) Thanks, D_BRINGER. (Louis Wu 21:31:24 UTC) (permalink)
Freeloaders Strike Back
Yaksha points out Sponsors vs Freeloaders Episode 2: Freeloaders Strike Back, a movie parodying the relationship between Red vs Blue sponsors and those who want hi-res versions of the videos without paying for them. It's 9 minutes long, 12.7 mb large, in WMP9 format. There's some explanation of what this is about (and links to the first episode) on their website. (Louis Wu 21:14:44 UTC) (permalink)
New images begin to appear
Rocketwidget pointed out a couple of new images; one is a small screenshot that can be seen on the EB Games page devoted to Halo 2 LE (it's a shot of the MC boarding a ghost being driven by a White Elite), and the second is over at GameWallpapers.com; it's an 'Exclusive for Registered Users' image ($14.95/year), a preview can be seen here. He found both of these over at the Xbox365 forum. (Louis Wu 20:19:49 UTC) (permalink)
Last Year's Pumpkins - Again on Display
Thanks a million to SketchFactor, who managed to find the pictures of last year's finalists for the Bungie.net Halo-ween contest (the inspiration for our very own 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest). You can see these - and maybe get some ideas - in our Guilt O' Lantern section. (Louis Wu 20:09:25 UTC) (permalink)
We Will... well, go watch it.
There's a new video from Ms Man - a whole series of funky glitches and tricks. 12:44 long, 14 mb, WMP9 format. Some really cool stuff in there. You can find a link to it in this forum post - if bandwidth runs out, drop us a note, we'll put up a copy. (Louis Wu 17:20:27 UTC) (permalink)
You can't stop the Internet...
The big news this weekend was a leaked commercial shown at an annual meeting of EB Games Store Managers, and filmed on the sly by one of the participants. Quality is AWFUL, but the content has been enough to galvanize Halo (and general Xbox) forums all over the web. It's clearly not out there with the blessing of those who made it, so I'm not going to post a link on the front page, but there are literally dozens of posts on our own forum with links to this small video, and other sites have put up mirrors for it; if you want to see this, finding it should be trivial. If you're one of those who thought that the new alien information in the most recent magazine articles was 'Spoiler' material, DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO. As far as I know, this was intended to be released to the public sometime in the next few weeks (close to the end of October). This is NOT the video Frankie alluded to in Friday's Weekly Bungie Update - that is something totally different. If we get more info about this commercial, we'll be sure to pass it along. (Louis Wu 16:15:03 UTC) (permalink)
News October 9 2004
Lego EVERYTHINGs.
Dang. Fury Three has updated his around-the-net collection of Halo Lego links - there's a lot of stuff out there! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 21:10:51 UTC) (permalink)
EB Games late stores - be careful
Blackstar noticed that his local EB Games was on the list of stores planning to open at midnight on the 9th - but calling the store itself gave him a different answer. Contacting EB Games directly yielded the info that stores can decide whether or not they'll be open; your best bet is to call your store before heading out there. (Louis Wu 19:35:45 UTC) (permalink)
IGN - Filling the Days
IGN has decided to prepare for Halo 2 by posting Halo 2 content every day until release. The first article is 'Ten Things To Do While Waiting for Halo 2'. It's pretty much as silly as it sounds. (There's also an article about the Halo 2 soundtrack, but most of it is the explanation Marty posted on our forum, and then later again on The Marty Army chapter of the 7th Column.) (Louis Wu 18:11:48 UTC) (permalink)
The Art of Halo - Details
ZigZag Master points out that The Art of Halo entry at Random House has been updated; the cover is up, and a description of the contents is now available. It should be out in the next 4 weeks or so. (Louis Wu 17:57:40 UTC) (permalink)
Randy Pitchford at HaloImpulse
The dirtyJ (among other people) passed along info about HaloImpulse, a new Halo CE website. There's lots of content - but what attracted my attention was an interview with Randy Pitchford. Once again, Mr. Pitchford explains where Gearbox sits with regard to support of Halo PC and Halo CE, and where he thinks the games sit in the overall field of PC-based FPS titles. No matter where you stand on the issue, it's an interesting read. While you're there, look around the site - there's some nice stuff there. (Louis Wu 17:51:23 UTC) (permalink)
Slurpee Sounds Clarification
To the four thousand people who sent us email about the Slurpee Prophet voice not actually being a prophet... yep, it's true. Whoever built that site actually took their audio content from OUR Dialogue Databank - that 'Prophet' clip is actually a Jackal, slowed down and reversed, and it was submitted by Patrick Naedele back in December 2003. Likewise, the clip you hear for the Master Chief was submitted by Captain Spark in July 03, and the Grunt clip came in in September. The Elite clip actually comes from Bungie.net's Dialogue Archive, not ours. (Again - these aren't SIMILAR clips - they're the SAME clips.) Yes, I should have noticed the Jackal voice yesterday. Sorry. No, this doesn't mean that we've actually heard a prophet speak. Sorry. (Louis Wu 12:16:42 UTC) (permalink)
That Webmaster... ooohhh...
The weekly update isn't what folks expected - but it will be... just a few days later than we thought. Look for it on Monday. In the meantime, enjoy a rockin' new screenshot and an entertaining explanation from Frankie on our forum. (Louis Wu 01:51:46 UTC) (permalink)
News October 8 2004
More Crisp Death
MrFluffyPants has turned in a writeup of the Crisp Death lanfest last weekend - you can find it (with pictures and everything) over at the Junkyard. Extra bonus - no pics of me. :) (Louis Wu 20:50:54 UTC) (permalink)
Talking Wallpaper
There's more new wallpaper for you - this time, at the Win It Before You Can Buy It Halo 2 Sweepstakes page at Mountaindew.com. Hit the 'Downloads' link at the top of the page, you can grab shots of the Chief, Grunts, Prophets, and Elites - and when you drag them into the display box, they speak. It's the first time we're hearing a Prophet voice... First heads-up goes to modified. (Louis Wu 19:57:04 UTC) (permalink)
Pretty pics for a Friday
Well, the Wallpaper section has now been moved over to nikon, as well; there are still a couple of minor display glitches, but nothing that will really affect your viewing pleasure. This means I can finally start clearing out some of the desktop images sent to us in the past couple of weeks; you'll find 10 new ones up and posted. There are some really nice ones this time around! (Louis Wu 19:28:23 UTC) (permalink)
Hero to Goat - in just 3 hours
Hehe - rule number one about trolling: know your audience. thunderhawk555 (who's been around our forum for quite a while, but just today earned his Trolling stripes), posted a note purporting to contain information from the upcoming EGM issue (due out to subscribers soon, and on store shelves by the 14th or so). In it, he discusses a gametype that many people have proposed over the years - and describes how Frankie tells the EGM guys all about it. Folks were drooling... until Frankie himself stepped in and stomped - HARD - on both the rumor, and the fact that it was included in EGM. Hehe - and now it looks like thunderhawk555 was simply parroting information he found on the XBLGamers forum (a host for multiple false rumors) - and passing it off as his own! Moral of the story: if you're going to make stuff up, make sure you're doing it in a place where folks can't fact-check you. (Louis Wu 17:56:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Fan Art - up for auction
Here's one I've never seen before - a Halo fan has whipped up a watercolor (seems to be inspired by this screenshot), framed it, and put it up on eBay. Starting bid is £5. (The artist is in the UK.) Makes you wonder... you think Microsoft might step in at some point? Comments can be left for the artist in this forum thread. (Louis Wu 17:40:05 UTC) (permalink)
Pretty skin
whoknew spent a couple of weeks modifying his Xbox - nice results! (Louis Wu 16:57:36 UTC) (permalink)
Unexpected Allies.
Glorp. I already pointed out I can be careless with regular updates - I almost forgot today's One One Se7en. Which would have been really sad, because this one is quite funny. (Louis Wu 16:33:54 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fiction
15 new pieces added to the Fan Fiction database today... see what you can find! (Louis Wu 16:32:04 UTC) (permalink)
Are you the biggest fan ever?
Mothergoat filled us in on the details of the contest mentioned earlier - write up the details of what makes you the biggest Halo fan ever, and you could end up in a big news story on Lawrence.com. The best writeup will winn a copy of Halo 2. Full details can be found on Mothergoat.net. (Louis Wu 15:57:25 UTC) (permalink)
The perks of the electronics business
J.D. dropped us a note about a Halo 2 event being put on for a yearly supplier convention held by Best Buy in Orlando today. This, apparently, is using the final build of Halo 2, and is running on 4 Xboxes and 4 TVs, for 16-player action - 15 minute matches. Plantronics is there, as well. Sounds like a good time! (No, it's not open to the public.) (Louis Wu 15:51:41 UTC) (permalink)
MC's still in Australia
ITLB writes to point out a few snapshots of the Master Chief, captured at an NRL game in Homebush, Sydney. That guy gets around! (Louis Wu 15:47:02 UTC) (permalink)
To the Bottom of Truth and Reconciliation
c0ld 'Sisyphus' vengeance has started a new contest; if you can get to the bottom of Truth and Reconciliation, on Xbox and with no modding, you can win a copy of the mosaic poster (97k) recently displayed at the Crisp Death lanfest here, plus a copy of Halo 2. Good luck! (Louis Wu 13:35:59 UTC) (permalink)
I looked for a unifying theme... none, sorry
Gah - two OTHER comic-related offerings today from around the web; Dork Tower mentions Halo (thanks, Brad) and there's a new episode of Marines at Sector 7 (thanks, Wolfy). Go read! (Louis Wu 12:48:13 UTC) (permalink)
Sure looks done to me...
A bunch of people sent us a Bungie.net webcam shot from last night - the first was this one, sent in by Cybrfrk. Looks like it passed certification, doesn't it? (I'm guessing we'll get the news sometime today, officially.) Update: looks like Cybr found it here. Sorry, Nil. (Louis Wu 12:42:42 UTC) (permalink)
Incubus - in the news
We got a couple of notes about Incubus yesterday - they're another of the mainstream bands whose work is being used in Halo 2, you might remember. The first comes from uberblue, whose friend saw them in concert in Charlotte, NC a few days ago - apparently, they played the first 20 seconds or so of the Halo theme, and then their DJ somehow morphed that into Pistola, one of their more popular songs. (You can listen to various small clips of it on the Media page of their web site. What's even odder, however, is this news report, which suggests that the lead singer might not have even MADE it to that concert - he was arrested in New York, on the way down, for having a switchblade in his carryon bag. (Not Halo-related at all, except that had he not cleared it all up in time, uberblue's friend wouldn't have heard anything.) Don't worry - we're not going to start covering bands with ties to Halo 2, I just thought it was interesting that we got two separate Incubus-related tidbits on the same day (heck, they're even related to the same EVENT), and one showed that they've clearly got Halo 2 on their minds. (Thanks, John.) (Louis Wu 12:35:39 UTC) (permalink)
Baby baby baby Why you wanna treat me this way?
It's Friday, so there must be an update at Halo Babies. Wait, no, there are two... there's a new strip, of course (I'm thinking that mrsmiley and Gruntsbane have forgotten that whole cutscene on the bridge), but there's also a pretty nice new wallpaper done by nrek. Take a look! (Louis Wu 12:24:42 UTC) (permalink)
Mothergoat opens the doors
Mothergoat writes to point out that mothergoat.net is finally open - all of his Halo-related videos and music (including the previously unreleased-by-itself piano portion of Hail 117 Anthem) are now available to download. Plus, he says there's a Halo-related contest coming today! Keep your eyes open. (Louis Wu 12:20:27 UTC) (permalink)
Hah! It's Chumble SPIZZ.
Gah. I got so busy I forgot to come back and post Blackstar's Thursday offering for Calvin and Halo. I'm really sorry about that. Even more so because if you're in school, you might have been able to use this today. Such is life sometimes. (Louis Wu 12:18:04 UTC) (permalink)
News October 7 2004
Wanna Play Halo 2 Early?
Wonga. Get thee hence to MLGPro.com, and read the details about how you could get yourself into an elite group of 50 people who get the chance to play the final build (shipping version) of Halo 2 multiplayer - 5 days before the rest of the world. Before you get TOO excited: You must be 18, and you must be able to get yourself to Times Square in New York City on November 4. GOGOGO! (Louis Wu 18:04:50 UTC) (permalink)
Chicks dig Halo
Trunks points out a new Halo-related Trunks and Soto, a webcomic. (If it's not yet viewable from the front page, you can go there directly.) (Louis Wu 15:10:38 UTC) (permalink)
Professional Gaming - in NYT
The New York Times Technology section has an article today (registration required, free) on The World Cyber Games - and competitive gaming in general. Major League Gaming gets a nice mention, and Halo champion Zyos is the article opener. Good read! Thanks, Dolbex. Update: Dr. Nick provides an easy way to see this. (Louis Wu 15:08:23 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 at Ubercon?
Hmm... is Halo 2 going to be playable at Ubercon IV next week at the Meadowlands in New Jersey? It's certainly listed on the LAN Gaming page... thanks, insaneidiot432. Update: this seems to be a random claim by a random group... Bungie, officially, has no plans whatsoever to show Halo 2 at Ubercon. Maybe they're gonna show a movie? (Louis Wu 14:58:05 UTC) (permalink)
More free Halo 2 headsets
mottpees points out another giveaway for Halo 2 headsets - 12 of them this time, at XBL Primetime, a subsite of Xbox.com. Go sign up! (Sweeps link is on the right.) (Louis Wu 14:31:32 UTC) (permalink)
Win lots of action figures
Looks like Forerunners.org is giving away all 6 Master Chief action figures - just sign up and you've got a chance to win! This was apparently posted on B.net a week ago, but I missed it until Littlebigman pointed it out on our forum. Sorry! (Louis Wu 14:15:21 UTC) (permalink)
More on pop music in Halo 2
Will H. points out that there's a news item on the Breaking Benjamin website (three from the top right now) discussing their contribution:
Breaking Benjamin have contributed a BRAND NEW song entitled "Blow Me Away" that will be featured in the upcoming Halo 2 video game and soundtrack. Both will be released on November 9, 2004. The song will featured via a full stream on the official Halo 2 site soon.
Keep your ears open! (Louis Wu 13:13:49 UTC) (permalink)
Still waiting for top shrinkwrapping jobs...
Gamespy, clearly short of material to write about, has put up a 'Top 10 Game Boxes of the Season' article. Halo 2 came down with Number 7. Thanks, Bored_Dude. (Louis Wu 13:09:02 UTC) (permalink)
Oops.
A number of stories came out last night about the Halo 2 preorder issue; apparently, rather than being an UNDERestimate (as I thought), the Seattle Times' value of one million preorders was an OVERestimate; official counts put it around 750,000. Oops! First clarification report I read was at Gamespot. (Louis Wu 12:18:29 UTC) (permalink)
Zanzibar - before November 9?
NiTrOuSoXiDe sends word that the Halo CE Zanzibar mod is far enough along to release screenshots - and you can find 3 of them in this thread on the Gearbox forums. Dang, that looks nice! (Louis Wu 12:14:31 UTC) (permalink)
News October 6 2004
Perhaps Halo-ween?
I'm beginning to think Tim Buckley is looking for hits from Halo sites or something... today's Ctrl-Alt-Del is Halo-related, again. I gotta give him credit for nailing the attitude of an awful lot of us, though... Thanks, Bonekin. (Louis Wu 18:06:09 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Interview at GBase
GBase, a Swiss gaming site, has posted an interview with Bungie (it's not clear who was actually interviewed, but I'd guess it was Cam Payne or Pete Parsons). It's a decent read; most of the information inside has been said before, but there's always a new twist or spin, or a question that hasn't been asked yet. (It was clearly originally written in German, and then translated to English, but it's quite understandable.) The screenshot on the second page looks new to me, too. Thanks, ash. (Louis Wu 17:54:09 UTC) (permalink)
Falling grunts and taking the long way
Rockslider has added a few more enjoyable activities to his Bad Cyborg site; check the October 6th bullet in the Recent Updates list. This is a great site; content reigns supreme, but display isn't unpleasant or awkward. No pics - just stuff to do. Fast. (Louis Wu 17:39:48 UTC) (permalink)
Slowly modernizing...
This may or may not be relevant to you - but it's pretty darn relevant to me. The Miscellaneous Art section has been moved over to nikon.bungie.org, a far more capable server than what it was on before. All old links should work without any intervention on your part; the only real difference to you, the user, is that the section should be available far more often. (During busy times, it should be faster, too.) Wallpaper won't be far behind. (Louis Wu 17:29:01 UTC) (permalink)
Hey! I want some of that!
Hehe - Koolice sent us a screenshot (108K) of his MSN Messenger client from last night - looks like Anim8rJB (John Butkus, one of the Bungie Cananimators) was on XBL, playing... what? How could that be? Is it done? (Louis Wu 16:21:50 UTC) (permalink)
Conker can read?
Hehe - look where the Master Chief is showing up these days... (Full article is here.) (Louis Wu 15:09:33 UTC) (permalink)
Sniping Made Easy
Mr Chubster submitted (a LONG time ago, it seems... sorry about that) a movie called 'Sniping Made Easy' - some really, really nice shooting. 4:36 long, 480x360. There's a QuickTime version (26.3 mb) and a WMP7 version (29.8 mb). There's a multiple killtacular at the end that I would have HATED to be on the other side of... (Louis Wu 12:14:17 UTC) (permalink)
National Day Off, eh?
Nice... redeemermatt points out a few of the ads running for Halo 2 on msn and other places... I like. (Louis Wu 12:10:16 UTC) (permalink)
Herald Sun says brace for impact
An article in the (Australia) Herald Sun newspaper today talks about the marketing blitz about to kick off for Halo 2. It contains a summary of some of the more notable Australian events related to Halo 2 - and except for the crack about 'constantly revised release dates', is pretty accurate. Thanks, Dr. Nick. (Louis Wu 11:59:55 UTC) (permalink)
The Emperor's New Clones.
One One Se7en makes an old joke new. Well, current, anyway. (Louis Wu 11:08:52 UTC) (permalink)
HBO COERCE signing off
Brandon Raffensperger, better known as gwdpto, the owner of the HBO-COERCE Halo CE server, posted a note explaining that as of October 31, HBO-COERCE would be going offline - there are multiple reasons, but Halo 2 is the top one. He's hopeful that they'll be back with a Halo 2 dedicated server before too long! Brandon, and everyone else who had a hand in making HBO-COERCE such a success this past year - thanks. The rest of you - you've only got about 4 weeks of playtime left on this server - go play! (Louis Wu 10:47:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 German Launch Promotion
Markus Tacker lets us know about a Halo 2 launch promotion in Frankfurt, Germany:
this morning I noticed a black Poster on a wall in the subway station Hauptwache showing the Master Chief and the headline "Are you ready to save the world?" (in german). On the bottom there were snippets to be ripped of (similar to these announcements searching for apartments) with an accesscode and the website url http://www.rettediewelt.com printed on it.
The access code is 010678DR.
You will find a nice flash with great sound and some silly games (text is german) promoting the launch party in munich.
I tried that access code, and got rejected; there were more prompts, but I couldn't read them. If you read German, give it a shot! Update: I guess it matters which browser you use. Worked fine in Firefox. If you can guess your way through the answers to the subsequent quiz, you can get a Halo 2 countdown wallpaper. Thanks to everyone who helped out. (Louis Wu 10:43:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 leads a killer lineup
According to the Seattle Times, Halo 2 has presold more than 1 million copies at this stage, making it the highest presale in the history of video games. (I've heard higher numbers - but they probably did more homework than I did.) It's the leader in a blockbuster season for Xbox, according to Andrew Jenkins, Xbox product manager. Go read the rest of the article (Louis Wu 10:33:05 UTC) (permalink)
Kubrick shirt surfaces
Major Nelson, the marketing guy at Xbox who gets such cool stuff, has gotten hold of (and taken pictures of) a limited-edition Halo 2 Kubrick T-shirt. It's pretty cool. I'd wear one. (No, I don't think you can buy one.) Thanks, A B. (Louis Wu 10:25:43 UTC) (permalink)
CNN looks at WCG
CNN has put up a story on the World Cyber Games that kicked off yesterday in San Francisco. Halo takes up the last few paragraphs. (With almost $40,000 in cash and prizes on the line for the top 8 competitors in Halo, this is another of the biggies. If the same people who win this competition also take high honors in New York in 3 weeks, October could be a very good month for them!) Thanks, ICDedPpl. (Louis Wu 10:22:11 UTC) (permalink)
MLGPro Championship in NY
The 2004 Season Championship for Major League Gaming will be held in New York City on October 23rd and 24th - and details can be found over at MLGPro.com. There is $50,000 in prize money on the line, with the vast majority of that going for Halo. (Quick addition makes it look like $40,000 is available for Halo, about $8000 for Super Smash Brothers, and $1000 each for Soul Caliber 2 and Gran Tourismo 3.) There are also tons of non-cash prizes. Go read the details, and get in on the action! (Louis Wu 10:14:38 UTC) (permalink)
News October 5 2004
Still need a cool headset?
haloTV is into week 3 of their Plantronics Halo 2 headset giveaway, with 6 more headsets to go out. The response has been tremendous - so they're giving you chances to win that aren't just 'put your hat in the ring and pray' (though that option is still there). Make the coolest haloTV wallpaper, or logo, or video, or do the craziest stunt for them... you'll win a headset. Check out the Headset Giveaway Forum for more details (registration required). (Louis Wu 21:25:32 UTC) (permalink)
Wait - is that if you're bad, or good?
Calvin and Halo speculates on a pretty nice way to go out... (Louis Wu 16:20:50 UTC) (permalink)
Best Trick Ever Vote
Dark Helmet has put forth the question - what are some of the best Halo tricks ever? Ducain stepped up to the plate with an entire section of the High Impact Halo forums devoted to the issue. Nominate your choices, and then come back and vote! Rules are here. Thanks, ash. (Louis Wu 16:14:50 UTC) (permalink)
Capture the Flag - Flashed
Bluestone has posted a new Flash movie called 'Capture the Flag' - it's under 2 mb, and hosted at both 343GS and Newgrounds. Nice animation. (Apologies - he sent me mail about this on Saturday, but it got buried in the flood.) (Louis Wu 16:12:31 UTC) (permalink)
Compassghost flash work at Halo Babies
Over the past few weeks, Compassghost has been posting pretty cool artwork for a Flash movie he's working on. I haven't added these to the Misc Art section because there are just too many of them; I considered offering him space for a separate page, but someone else did that and he said he wasn't really interested... so they've never really been mentioned on the front page. However, he's now posted the entire collection in a thread over on the Halo Babies forum, and says that future creations will be added to that thread. If you want to see this work before the movie comes out, that's the place to go! (Louis Wu 15:09:16 UTC) (permalink)
Tuesday Torrent of Talk (of sorts)
Geez - you go a weekend without posting any Fan Fiction updates, you suddenly have 23 pieces to deal with. Lots of poetry this time around. (Louis Wu 14:42:39 UTC) (permalink)
A keyboard and mouse - on your Xbox
On Saturday afternoon, Recoil brought a new product to our attention - the SmartJoy FRAG, an adaptor that allows you to connect PS/2 mice and keyboards to your Xbox. (We were sort of busy Saturday, and didn't get to this right away.) Folks on many forums are up in arms about this, talking about how it will totally destroy Xbox Live - because a controller will never be able to keep up with a keyboard/mouse combo when it comes to accuracy. There are a few things to remember: any developer can remove the advantage of a mouse by enforcing a maximum turning speed (something that won't
really affect gameplay with a controller at all), and most people do not have their Xbox set up in a place where it would actually be convenient to play with a keyboard and mouse combination (let's not even DISCUSS 4 keyboards/4 mice). However, it's something to think about. According to César Berardini at TeamXbox, Microsoft has not yet responded to questions about this product. For more reading, and a movie of the product in action playing Halo, check out the Lik-Sang page or TeamXbox's coverage. Be aware - this product is not yet available for purchase. (Louis Wu 14:15:46 UTC) (permalink)
The calendar that never was
Ross Mills found a listing on Amazon.com for a Halo 2 Wall Calendar for 2005... except that it's not available. Huh? (Details list a publication date of July 1, 2004. Bravardo (the publisher) doesn't seem to have a website.) Curious... Update: Mike Scott says the listed ISBN number is invalid - did this EVER exist? Update 2: Xenos found a page which states that this calendar was cancelled. Oh, well. (Louis Wu 12:58:45 UTC) (permalink)
News October 4 2004
Axons... HOOOO!
Boxer reminded me a couple of hours ago that today's Adventures in Disaster has been posted. Gotta watch them coordinates... (Louis Wu 22:46:00 UTC) (permalink)
Speedier Hogs
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, points out a tutorial showing how to use HexEdit, HMT, and some plugins to increase the speed of your Warthog. Since it's posted on the MacDev site, I'd assume this works on Mac Halo. (You'll need to register on MacDev to be able to read this.) (Louis Wu 18:57:51 UTC) (permalink)
Wow - now THAT'S nice-looking.
Major Nelson, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, has posted a picture on his blog of a metallic, embossed Halo 2 poster - looks pretty wild! Thanks to Anim8rJB for the heads-up. (Major Nelson also has pics of the final packaging of the Plantronics headset.) (Louis Wu 18:36:42 UTC) (permalink)
MLG-TV Takes Off
Major League Gaming has launched MLG-TV, a free version of their for-pay Video on Demand. There are several vids up now, including shakeycam video from the San Fran tourney, and the LA Paintball Aftermath. Quality is quite good, especially considering what you're paying for it (NOTHING). check it out! Thanks, Dolbex. (Louis Wu 18:27:31 UTC) (permalink)
Ka...
Some of the zanzibar-based movies showed a new (for Halo 2) gametype called Assault - not to be confused with the Assault variant of CTF. A description of the gametype can be found in the Halo.fr writeup that went online a couple of weeks ago. A potential conversation between teammates DURING this gametype can be found in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 18:02:07 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Babies Fans Put Out
Boatloads of new fan-created artwork showed up this weekend at Halo Babies. We already mentioned the Tina Leyk piece - but there's much, much more. Go see. (Louis Wu 17:56:09 UTC) (permalink)
Piggyback making a UK Halo 2 guide?
Piggyback Interactive, a highly-respected UK-based strategy guide publisher, held a contest for game store managers recently, asking for the best reply to "Why should I buy the Halo 2 guide with the game?" The winners were announced today - they're all fine reasons to buy a strategy guide. (Me, personally, I'm holding off until I've finished the game before I get one.) The weird part, however, is when you visit Amazon.co.uk. Both the Piggyback guide and the Prima guide (which will be marketed in the US) are listed for pre-sale... but the picture shown on the Prima page is exactly the same picture shown on the Piggyback contest page. I guess we just wait and see. Thanks, eddie m. (Louis Wu 17:50:25 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper in other places
Nesnora, over at the (newly remodeled and super-cool) Red vs Blue site, has posted another of her realistic renderings of Halo locales; this one is called 'Shiela was Here', and is an amazing view of Sidewinder. Prints should be available sometime in November. (You will not be able to follow that link until you sign up at Red vs Blue; it's free, and there are so many cool features that there's no reason NOT to sign up.) While I'm discussing great offsite wallpapers, serpx found a cool Halloween-related wallpaper over at DeviantArt. Nice work! Update: Nesnora has kindly made 'Shiela was Here' accessible on her own site, as well - no signup required. (Louis Wu 16:42:16 UTC) (permalink)
Pimp up Halo
MiD33 has posted a beta of his 'Pimp up Halo' game over at Newgrounds; at this point, the most fleshed-out module is the warthog, thanks to the artwork of Ian McConville (used with permission), but there's also some basic changes you can make to a scorpion tank and a Marine. Flash-based, it lets you change colors, guns, added features... fun to mess around with for a couple of minutes. Take a look! (Louis Wu 16:30:34 UTC) (permalink)
October Halo 2 Wired article online
daedalus was the first to let us know about the Wired Magazine article going online - text AND pictures. We'll still be providing press scans for the dead tree version once the November issue is on newsstand shelves... but you can read it now over at Wired.com. Once again - there is absolutely nothing in this article that we here at HBO would consider 'spoilers' for the Halo 2 Story; if you read this piece and disagree, please don't send us angry mail, simply stop visiting our site. Thanks! (Louis Wu 15:23:09 UTC) (permalink)
Instability
Verdafolio pointed out that Demented Puppy is hosting an older multiplay vid that Clan Alphabase made, called Instability. 11.2 mb, WMP9 format. (Registration required for download.) (Louis Wu 15:08:04 UTC) (permalink)
Point of Impact
Today's Ctrl+Alt+Del is Halo-related... and shows why it's important to have roommates you can trust. Thanks, russellfamily. (Louis Wu 14:59:13 UTC) (permalink)
At least shipping is only a penny...
Big-O found a pretty funny error on the CompUSA Halo 2 page; somehow the date and the price got melded, so Halo 2 costs $1,109.04. Ouch! (If it gets fixed, look farther down in the thread; Brian Towne snagged a screenshot for posterity. It's still that way now, though, 2 days later...) (Louis Wu 14:42:21 UTC) (permalink)
Online Sniper Tourney
˜fm˜ and °MDS are organizing a Halo 1v1 Sniper Tournament, played on Halo PC and Halo CE. If you want to participate, you have to register on the °MDS forum. Be aware that this is a German clan. You'll find more information in this section of their forum. (Louis Wu 14:38:21 UTC) (permalink)
Rockets on Prisoner - final phase
On Saturday night, Wolfy sent word that the Rockets on Prisoner nominees (culled from user voting) have been posted - look them over, pick your favorites, and go vote! There's a small thread on our forum with comments, if you'd like to add your own. (Louis Wu 14:31:10 UTC) (permalink)
Fog and Foliage be damned
Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews of the Junkyard points out that part VI of the "As Real As a 'Survivor' Elimination" series is up. A Marine Corps pilot looks at the military realism of the events in 343 Guilty Spark, and talks about what he would have done had these events actually happened to him (as opposed to how he played through the game.) As always, worth the read! (Louis Wu 14:27:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Dancing Baby
Tycho/Howard found a pretty funny Flash animation over at Newgrounds; someone else who's angling to win a Plantronics Halo 2 Headset from HaloTV. A for effort, A for humor... I'd give it to him. (Louis Wu 14:14:47 UTC) (permalink)
Slurpee Schwag
ghaash points out that the 7-Eleven/Mountain Dew Halo 2 Slurpee Cup website is now online - with chances to win Halo 2 before you can buy it. They're giving away lots of copies of the Limiited Edition version of Halo, plus a couple of trips and a bunch of T-shirts. Eligibility is limited to the US and Canada, and you must be of legal age in your country. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:11:07 UTC) (permalink)
I wanna see him waltz.
wopkins has posted a new movie showing MC doing the Can Can. It's hilarious. 1.7 mb in WMP9 format, 1.3 mb in QT format. (Louis Wu 14:09:17 UTC) (permalink)
More LAN pics
More Crisp Death pics - clarksbrother put up all the pics he took (137 of them), and Konrad posted a bunch, with comments. KP wrote up his experience (an astounding amount od driving for the cause), including a scan of the original Mister Chief Blueprint, a one-of-a-kind piece showing where Frankie started, and Dan Chosich added a teaser for the footage he collected (sounds cool!). Dizzy seems to have spent the majority of the lanfest chatting on AIM or IRC. More writeups might on the way. (Louis Wu 14:01:44 UTC) (permalink)
News October 3 2004
Et Tu, Stuntmutt?
Stuntmutt sent in a special Sunday strip for One One Se7en - it addresses one of the biggest points of contention on our forum right now. Warning - it's 200K large. Speaking of Stuntmutt, it seems he's been cheating on us; or at least, he's producing content for other sources, and not telling us. Bad Stuntmutt! He's got an entire blog going over at blogspot - it contains commentary, lost strips, and (most recently) some awfully cool work by Stunt and Tina Leyk. Seems they agreed to swap strips; you can see her offering to him, and his offering to her... both are great. On this lazy Sunday afternoon (I'm running on 5 hours of sleep in the last 60), this stuff is easy on the eyes. Update: Ross Mills points out that a picture of the new, leaked pic of a 'super-secret' action figure (search our forum if you don't know what this is about) is displayed on Stunt's blog. Since nobody has any clue whatsoever what this model is of, or whether, in fact, it even IS a character in Halo 2, I'd disagree STRONGLY that its presence on Stuntmutt's page is a spoiler in itself... but if you think that it is, I would suggest that you stop visiting this site completely for the next month or so. I will not be mentioning anything related to story spoilers at all, but items like this show where your opinion and mine diverge, so the only way to be sure you're not 'spoiled' is to simply stop visiting. (Louis Wu 17:56:05 UTC) (permalink)
The Carnage has ended?
Well, I don't know for sure, but when I left last night around 3AM, the festivities were winding down. We all had a blast and if you check out the forum, you'll see that some photos are starting to show up. Special thanks to all of you that spent greenbacks to fly in. Especially CYBRFRK and Shishka from the west coast. You guys are cool! Update: Sorry, there didn't actually seem to be a link there. Fixed, now. (Ding 15:27:14 UTC) (permalink)
News October 2 2004
Let the Carnage Begin
Okay, it's time to start waking up the slugabeds lying all over my house; we've got furniture to move, and Xboxes to wire together, and Halo multiplayer to... well, play. Crisp Death kicks off in a couple of hours, and that means no more news posts for a little bit. Enjoy your Saturday! (Louis Wu 12:19:44 UTC) (permalink)
Severe Headaches
EvilBurger pointed out that a new Subzero Rivalries is up; definitely has a Caboose-like feel to it. He's experimenting with a new coloring style - and I'd say it works really well. Check it out! (Louis Wu 12:04:07 UTC) (permalink)
Leyk on Babies
Tina Leyk seems to have caught the baby bug; her second new piece in a row is a Halo Babies tidbit. I must say... it's gorgeous. Check out her Fan Art page for 'Baby MC vs Baby Elite' - I've really got to get me one of those carbine water rifles! (Louis Wu 11:30:27 UTC) (permalink)
Marty on Music
Marty O'Donnell talked to the Music 4 Games crew about the audio in Halo 2, from what went in to what didn't, how the outside contributors were used, what's still to come, and more. It's a great read - swing on by! (Louis Wu 11:19:52 UTC) (permalink)
Please Wait Here.
Okay, I doubt the overlap between HBO visitors and NPR listeners is really big, so you're gonna have to bear with me here. National Public Radio in the US has a program called 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' - it's a news quiz. If you call in, and take the quiz, and win, your prize is that NPR newscaster Carl Kasell (who has a pretty distinctive voice) will leave the message on your phone's answering machine. (You know, the one that says "we're not here right now, leave a message" - although you can have Carl say anything you want him to.) Why is this relevant to you, the HBO viewer? Because Tim Dadabo, the voice behind 343 Guilty Spark, has agreed to perform a similar service for the winner of the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest. Yep, that's right - if you win, your answering machine could tell callers, in the inimitable voice of 343 Guilty Spark, how much of a genius you are... or how fascinating the lost call is. Or whatever you choose. An incredibly generous offer, in my opinion - so do your best! (Louis Wu 02:32:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Preview at Xboxlive.fr
Xbox LIve France has a preview of Halo 2, written up during the European tour last month. It's in French (naturally), but there are plenty of pretty pictures (mostly on the last page, unless you're a REALLY big fan of Cam Payne). Thanks to caudronix for pointing this out. (Louis Wu 02:16:30 UTC) (permalink)
Owning 343GS
No Hables is getting in on the vidmaster action; he's posted a movie in which he runs through 343 Guilty Spark, using zero bullets... and only ONE grenade. On Legendary. Movie is 12:15 long, 31.2 mb large, in WMP9 format. It's got a couple of double-take moments. If he runs out of bandwidth, let us know - we'll see what we can do to help. Download it now! (Oh, yeah, and don't forget to read the Weekly Update; it was posted so close to HBO's end-of-day that it only stayed on the front page for a couple of hours.) (Louis Wu 01:57:24 UTC) (permalink)
News October 1 2004
It ain't gold... but it's close!
Frankie has posted an update (kinda) on Bungie.net; the game is done, as far as Bungie's concerned, but it's out for Certification. However, there's plenty of reading material; info about making clans, how busy Frankie is (in between getting his butt kicked by Mat Noguchi - or wait, was that just 'kicked out of the game'? Maybe both), and gametypes, and stuff. Go read! (Louis Wu 22:57:46 UTC) (permalink)
It was Time... on, uh, a line
Man, it took a while... but it's done, and it's pretty. mnemesis has unveiled the Halo Story Timeline (to date) - including information from Microsoft, the books, and the game (though the actual GAME timeline for Halo is NOT included). If you're curious about backstory events, this is the place to look! (Louis Wu 20:26:16 UTC) (permalink)
A Star for Halo (or Master Chief)
Halo and Master Chief have been nominated to get a star in the San Francisco Metreon's 'Walk of Game'. If you want to help, you have to register (email address needed); you can vote once per day through October 31. At the moment, Master Chief and Halo are far and away the top picks for Game/Character - if you want to help keep it that way, stop by! Thanks to Frankie, at B.net, for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:11:56 UTC) (permalink)
Headsets for free - and you're late!
Ah, phooey. Two days ago, synide sent along a link to this week's Plantronics Headset giveaway at haloTV - there's even an extra set (on top of the normal 6) up for grabs. Sorry about the delay. (I was reminded when I saw a news post about this on the HaloPlanet front page.) Go win already! (Louis Wu 16:35:19 UTC) (permalink)
More Mullins work surfaces
Not very long ago, in our forum, Skeletor posted a link to some new artwork by Craig Mullins. I ended up having to yank the link, because the work wasn't actually supposed to be seen by the Halo community quite yet... but in the communications I had with Craig about that piece, a number of OTHER Halo pieces have come to light. Now, we mention Mullins work whenever we notice it, because, quite frankly, it rocks. I decided this morning, however, that there were now enough Halo-related pieces that I should probably put together a separate showcase page for Mullins Halo art here at HBO. You'll find older pieces you may have seen, years ago... but you'll also find 2 (and maybe 3) pieces you've NEVER seen before; study them, and see if you can figure out how Craig evokes such atmosphere from a few brush strokes. As more work pops up, we'll continue to add it. (Thanks to Cybrfrk for pointing out the cinematic piece.) (Louis Wu 12:58:18 UTC) (permalink)
Don't Start Watching Any Serials.
Stuntmutt takes a look at the new shield/health system again in today's One One Se7en. You gotta love helpful AIs... (Louis Wu 10:38:40 UTC) (permalink)
And the fans keep giving
Uncle Mato has kindly donated some Halo gear to the 343 Guilt O' Lantern loot pot; we've upped the second prize collection to include an S-type controller, and added a third prize. More goodies for everyone! (Louis Wu 10:33:51 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fiction
7 new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today - more poetry than anything else (including some haikus - whoa, does that bring back memories!). Go see. (Louis Wu 10:28:26 UTC) (permalink)
Indestructable Eight Ball of Doom
Plenty of new content over at Halo Babies - a new strip, of course (it is Friday), plus new concept art, and a nod to MC and Cortana, another comic strip that's recently come back online. (Louis Wu 10:22:29 UTC) (permalink)
It's different... but WHY?
Looks like there was ANOTHER Xbox.com article I missed last month - this one is called One Chief to Rule Them All, and it looks at what makes Halo stand alone in the field of Xbox titles. Not a bad read, overall. (Louis Wu 10:17:23 UTC) (permalink)
1227 stores - that's a lot.
GhaleonEB posted a link containing a list of all the EB Games stores (sorted by state) that will be open at midnight on November 9 to sell Halo 2. If you want to be sure you get started playing at the earliest possible moment... check this list for a store near you. (Louis Wu 10:04:24 UTC) (permalink)
Ms. Man Vid Archive
Ms. Man created a collection of multiplayer trick movies, back in the day. (None of them, for some reason, are in our Movies database... I'm not sure why.) His website went offline, and the vids were gone... until now. Ducain points out a post on the High Impact Halo forum containing a list of all the movies folks have been able to round up, linked locally. If you've never seen any of these, go grab some - they're pretty fun. (Louis Wu 10:02:01 UTC) (permalink)
The BBC takes a closer look
There's a new article on Halo 2 in the BBC's Technology section today; most of the info is well-known to hardcore Halo fans, but it's pretty fun to see such an in-depth article in a mainstream news source such as the BBC. They look at what is known about single-player (not much), how multiplayer has evolved since the first Halo, the chances of a Halo-based big-screen movie (pretty slim)... and what's next for Bungie. From the sound of things, it's not going to be Halo 3. Go read! (Louis Wu 08:36:16 UTC) (permalink)
The Strangerhood
Recently, a new website put together by the Red vs Blue team went live - The Strangerhood is a new machinima series that uses the Sims 2 engine for storymaking. This is totally unrelated to Halo - except that a team that came together to make Halo-based movies originally is making this. An astounding number of folks wrote to tell us about it, so rather than let this flood CONTINUE, I figure we'll actually mention it. There are a number of articles about the new series prominently linked on their front page, as well as an intro trailer that can be downloaded. It's really well done, and if you enjoy machinima, you should check it out - but please, don't send us news about this, because even though we love the guys involved, it's not Halo-related. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 08:29:12 UTC) (permalink)
| October 2004 | |
