|
Spoilers are currently disabled. (All newsposts are visible.) |
||
View the Archives: |
||
 | October 2012 |  |
October 2012 Archived News
News October 31 2012
Master Chiefs in the war room
Microsoft.com has an article about the back end systems that will make your Halo 4 experience magical - go read! Thanks, Arithmomaniac. Update: oddly enough, there's ANOTHER article about the backend framework Halo 4 is built on, over at Yahoo. I guess it's that sort of day. Thanks, XXLChicken. (Louis Wu 19:00:58 UTC) (permalink)
FUD Podcast Episode Eight: Glass Harder
Dani stopped by to announce a new FUDcast - the crew of Forward Unto Dawn (the website) sat down to discuss The Thursday War. If you've already read it, go listen! (If you haven't, this is full of spoilers.)
(Louis Wu 15:45:09 UTC) (permalink)
Waypoint Community Modcast - Episode 30
pete_the_duck let us know that the latest Waypoint Community Modcast has a special guest star - him! Go listen. (Louis Wu 13:27:56 UTC) (permalink)
FaF 10 Days of Halo (Day 5)
Flesh and Faith has a new giveaway for you today - it's another Vote poster! Want it? Just add your name and email to the post. (Louis Wu 13:26:25 UTC) (permalink)
Live-streamed Halo 4 MP, Today
David Ellis tweeted last night that 343 will be live-streaming Halo 4 multiplayer from Major Nelson's digs. Check out the Twitch stream at 11:30am PST! (Louis Wu 11:54:03 UTC) (permalink)
Easy Does It 2 Coming to a Close
Morpheus is pretty disappointed that the participation in his Easy Does It 2 contest is so low - remember, you get a free copy of Halo 4 if you win it! Entries are due tonight at midnight (central time)... so get going!
(Louis Wu 11:52:34 UTC) (permalink)
FUD Limited Edition McFarlane Statue Incoming
Looks like McFarlane is making a Forward Unto Dawn limited-edition statue - you can read about it at GameInformer (thanks, aj1467) or on Spawn.com (thanks, Kevin Hurd). Official unveiling looks to be on Friday.
(Louis Wu 11:50:24 UTC) (permalink)
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Halo 4 promotions are everywhere. Shadders did an unboxing of Pizza Hut UK's Halo 4 pizza (thanks, CyReN), while Kevin Hurd did an unboxing of the Halo 4 DoubleXP Mountain Dew/Doritos Influencer promotional package. Goodies everywhere! (Louis Wu 11:48:22 UTC) (permalink)
Respawn : the Series - Trailer
Laird stopped by with a link to a trailer for Respawn, a live-action fan-made series. The outfits are amazing - keep an eye on this one! (Louis Wu 11:46:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 takes over Lichtenstein
A rather elaborate promotional event took place in Lichtenstein recently - the first word leaked out yesterday when Nak3d Eli posted his teaser, but that trickle of information has turned into a flood. Last night, Hedgemony pointed out a Tweet by bs angel showing Jen Taylor and some militarily-dressed folks... and this morning video has been showing up all over the place. Shadders pointed out this version, while Xbox UK posted this one, and Laird found a couple as well. Electronic Theatre has a small writeup, if you would rather have words, and the Xbox.com Press Center has promo pics. (If you'd rather not download them, Shadders put up a scrollable gallery.) Congrats to the fans who got to participate - go live vicariously! Update: both movies are now available for high-res download from the Xbox.com Press Center (thanks, Samusaaron3). (Louis Wu 11:39:11 UTC) (permalink)
IGN/343 Solace Walkthrough
IGN posted their latest Halo 4 Multiplayer Map walkthrough yesterday - Solace got the full Ryan McCaffrey/Kynan Pearson treatment. Thanks, Mr Daax. (Louis Wu 11:31:30 UTC) (permalink)
Guilt O' Lantern - ending midnight Oct 31
Quick reminder - today's the last day to submit pictures for our Guilt O' Lantern contest... don't miss out on the huge prize pools! (Louis Wu 01:28:06 UTC) (permalink)
News October 30 2012
Secret Halo 4 Event in Zurich, Switzerland
Looks like there was a secret Halo 4 event in Zurich... and Nak3d Eli was one of the invitees. You can watch his promo piece about it... or just wait for the actual content, coming soon! Thanks, Shadders. (Louis Wu 18:39:46 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Bible Anniversary | The Dark Hole
Jefferson let us know that HaloBible's got a new Halo Anniversary tricks montage - It's called 'The Dark Hole', and you can watch it on YouTube, or check out the Tutorial on HaloCreation.org. (Louis Wu 18:36:20 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Trivia Show
Nak3d Eli stopped by to announce that he's got an interactive Trivia Show running on The Game Station's YouTube channel. Go try it out! (I tried the Heroic questions - found them satisfying difficult without being impossible.)
(Louis Wu 18:29:15 UTC) (permalink)
More Puzzle Sleuthing
So yesterday, we mentioned a Tweet that contained a video. Remember how I said our forum is full of people who like to disassemble clues and solve puzzles? They jumped into this video - found some really cool stuff. Again, summaries are on thebruce0's solve page. I'm looking forward to what comes out of all this! (Louis Wu 18:26:14 UTC) (permalink)
FaF 10 Days of Halo (Day 4)
The Flesh and Faith 10 Days of Halo giveaway continues - Day 4 has Mega Bloks goodies! Go sign up. (Louis Wu 18:07:07 UTC) (permalink)
Spartan Fuel Ad Delivers the Laughs
Mountain Dew has a new Halo 4 ad that's a lot of fun - thanks, malfcn. (Louis Wu 18:05:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Waypoint gets an upgrade
There's also a new trailer showing off the new features of Halo Waypoint - you can watch it on YouTube (thanks, Shadders), or you can download it from the Xbox.com Press Center (thanks, Demoncarnotaur). Worth a watch to see how this will integrate with your Halo 4 experience!
(Louis Wu 17:56:37 UTC) (permalink)
Spartan Ops Season 1 Trailer
Halo Waypoint released a new Spartan Ops Season 1 Trailer (thanks, Kermit) - you can also watch it at Entertainment Weekly (thanks, Hypertrooper) or YouTube (thanks, SonGoharotto). It's just a bit over a minute long, and should get you primed for the mode. It contains a bit of secret info at the end - read Kermit's thread on our forum to see how the community is solving this stuff! (You should keep thebruce0's solve page bookmarked for an easy summary of what's been found so far!)
(Louis Wu 17:47:16 UTC) (permalink)
Looking for Ireland's Biggest Halo Fan
If you live in Ireland, and have preordered Halo 4, you have a shot at winning some cool stuff - check out this page at Joe.ie! (Thanks again,
Zeouterlimits.)
(Louis Wu 17:39:26 UTC) (permalink)
Interview with Jen Taylor (and more)
NBC posted an interview with Jen Taylor, and it's liberally interspersed with videos showing off Halo 4 (much of it Campaign-based, all of it - I thought - under embargo until tomorrow). If you're staying dark, stick with the text. (The text is actually a great interview.) If you're not... watch the vids. Thanks, Zeouterlimits.
(Louis Wu 17:37:41 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Interactive Guide (plus help from fans)
David Ellis tweeted about a brand-new Halo 4 Interactive Guide on Halo Waypoint last night - it contains TONS of info about the game. (Thanks, Beorn.) Folks have already begun to pull out art assets to make them more accessible - nillapuddin updated his Helmet guide, VanquishUK pointed out a full collection of Spartan Armor, Plain Ben pointed out his own (lower-res | higher-res). nillapuddin came back with a loadout summary. All in all... a goldmine.
(Louis Wu 17:33:48 UTC) (permalink)
True Colors
Rooster Teeth released Episode 20 of RvB Season 10 last night... and it has some impressive fight scenes! (It's also got some pretty intriguing story elements.) Overall... a great ep - we're close to wrapping it up! Thanks, Vincent. (Louis Wu 17:28:04 UTC) (permalink)
News October 29 2012
A Hard Place and a Rock
Hmm... (thanks, Tha Robbertster) (Louis Wu 22:46:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Swag Overload
Bravo is giving away a LOT of Halo 4 stuff - and he wants to get some of it in your hands. Go watch his video showing off all the goodies - then make sure you get in on the action! (Louis Wu 21:14:14 UTC) (permalink)
Beer is good.
SaveGame sat down with Josh Holmes to discuss Halo 4, missed opportunities, and practical jokes. It's a great read! Thanks, Mr Daax.
(Louis Wu 21:05:53 UTC) (permalink)
Visualizing the Halo Universe, Round 3
Postmortem's back with Round 3 of his 'Visualizing the Halo Universe' challenge - this time he's looking for Sangheili females. What can you offer him? (Read the post for full details.)
(Louis Wu 21:04:09 UTC) (permalink)
Legendary Prizes
SIX min WHISTLE pointed out a Pizza Hut promotion - it's UK-only, but there are some nice prizes to win! (Louis Wu 21:02:18 UTC) (permalink)
A Brief History of Halo: Reclaimers
Urban Reflex has posted another segment of his 'Brief History of Halo' - this one is called 'Reclaimers', and it focuses on... well, us. Go read! (Louis Wu 18:59:43 UTC) (permalink)
Slept Late
This is the brightest spot on this windy Monday morning. (Even if it IS an ad.) Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 16:20:49 UTC) (permalink)
I don't even...
pete_the_duck stopped by with Forge Quacks #46 (the last of Halo Reach) - you really have to watch it, words won't do it justice. (Louis Wu 15:29:36 UTC) (permalink)
10 Days of Halo (Day 3)
mastrbiggy pointed out Day 3 of Flesh and Faith's 10 Days of Halo - sign up to win a Vote poster! (Louis Wu 15:26:22 UTC) (permalink)
The Origins of War: Part One
MaxRealflugel has reopened The Secrets Within, in anticipation of Halo 4. The first new article in a bit is called 'The Origins of War: Part One' - it examines the thematic origins of the Covenant, and what they mean for the Halo universe. Go read!
(Louis Wu 15:24:30 UTC) (permalink)
Forward Unto Dawn comes out of the box
Kevin Hurd put together an unboxing video for the giant Mega Bloks Forward Unto Dawn package - nearly 3000 blocks, $250 or so... see what's inside! (Louis Wu 15:22:55 UTC) (permalink)
HALO-ween: A Co-op Night Contest
Kermit stopped by to announce a Co-op Night contest - join in the HBO Co-op Night, get the lowest time (with modifiers for good behavior), win some cool stuff! Read his post for details. (Louis Wu 15:20:12 UTC) (permalink)
Modeling Halo
A fan sent word of a collection of 3D models of ships, weapons, and structures from the Halo universe - right up to Halo 4! Grave Heart has been using SketchUp to bring Halo components to life. Go check 'em out!
(Louis Wu 15:17:06 UTC) (permalink)
FLAG: Grifball
Goosechecka sent word that this year's Fight Like a Girl tournament will have its first-ever Grifball component! The tourney happens on November 18, using Halo 4, and team registration is $40. Swing by GrifballHub for more information!
(Louis Wu 15:14:00 UTC) (permalink)
News October 28 2012
Continuing A Tradition
Heh - five years ago, we got some cool pics from Skull Leadr - he'd gussied up his jeep with Halo 3 graphics. He just sent along a new shot - the graphics have been updated! Very nice.
(Louis Wu 21:05:51 UTC) (permalink)
10 Days of Halo - Get Some Swag
mastrbiggy and Domino are hosting a '10 Days of Halo' giveaway - each day between now and the launch of Halo 4, they'll be giving away different things. Day 1 is already gone - but Day 2 is up now - go throw your name into the hat! (Louis Wu 14:24:32 UTC) (permalink)
Build a Paper Magnum
Official Xbox HK has posted a PDF that lets you build a paper M6G Magnum - awesome! Go grab it. Thanks, supernatural. (Louis Wu 14:21:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Summary, from ExpertZone
ExpertZone is a website designed to help members get up to speed on Microsoft products. For example, there is information about games that is provided so that salespeople for retail outfits (like GameStop or EB Games) can speak knowledgeably about games they may not have had time to play or study. Shadders recently posted a PDF, put together by Microsoft, that summarizes (in a couple of dozen pages) the critical pieces of Halo 4 that someone might need to know to explain the game to a potential buyer. It's really nicely put together, and it has a bunch of artwork assets that might be of use to folks with a creative bent. Grab a copy from his NeoGAF post! (We've also mirrored a copy, in case something goes wrong there.) (Louis Wu 14:20:05 UTC) (permalink)
News October 27 2012
Winter Contingency: The Generator Room
t00lbox let us know about a secret room in Winter Contingency - watch the video to see how to get in! It's pretty amazing... the technique's not new, but the idea of actually putting together all the pieces and getting inside, that was pretty cool. Go look! (Louis Wu 22:50:46 UTC) (permalink)
IGN looks at FUD Part 4
IGN has posted their own review of Forward Unto Dawn Part 4 - Director Stewart Hendler calls them on one tidbit they missed, but overall, it's a solid look. (Full of spoilers, of course - watch the episode before you read this.) (Louis Wu 16:07:35 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular 324 - now with more quacks
pete_the_duck let us know that the latest Podtacular features a pretty special guest - him! Go listen to a Forge master discuss Halo 4! (Louis Wu 16:03:43 UTC) (permalink)
Life-sized Warthog - now life-colored
Over at NeoGAF, Hypertrooper pointed out that there were new shots of the Halo 4 343-built Warthog (we mentioned it last week), showing a pretty slick paint job, on Twitter - I didn't know where to look, but Demoncarnotaur did. (Louis Wu 16:01:33 UTC) (permalink)
The Face of the Chief
The Halo After Dawn crew did a new interview with Daniel Cudmore, the actor inside the Master Chief suit in Forward Unto Dawn, discussing Episode 4 of that series and how working inside that suit actually was... thanks, Lifejumper.
(Louis Wu 15:59:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 LE Gallery - plus easter egg
Shadders let NeoGAF know that he's posted a gallery of the goodies you get in the Halo 4 Limited Edition package - pretty cool! (He also pointed out a slick little easter egg - if you don't see it, it means you probably don't read GAF. Tashi's happy, though.) (Louis Wu 15:57:18 UTC) (permalink)
StickyIcky
Halo4Montage's Brian Parry pointed us to StickyIcky, a Halo 3 film... this is amazing. The trailer for this came out just under 3 years ago, and I remember being really excited for the final product. (It doesn't disappoint, other than being 30-something months later than I'd expected...) Fantastic camera angles, fantastic kills. Go relive the glory of Halo 3. (Louis Wu 13:52:24 UTC) (permalink)
Silent Cartographer Kill 'Em All Speed Runs
Rockslider's back with new Kill 'Em All runs on Silent Cartographer - that's a lotta carnage! (Louis Wu 13:51:45 UTC) (permalink)
Fails of the Weak 110
Achievement Hunter has a new Fails of the Weak this week (AH.com | YouTube) - some great ones! (Pretty amazing, this long in...) Thanks, Nikko B201.
(Louis Wu 13:51:27 UTC) (permalink)
Goodbye Halo: Reach
David Koschat told us to take a look at Goodbye Halo: Reach - it's a farewell montage from iG infi. Colors are superbright, making all this carnage look almost happy. (It's amazing to see some of the old Matchmaking maps/lists we haven't seen for months or years...) Check it out!
(Louis Wu 13:51:03 UTC) (permalink)
A Plea from an old Bungie Fan
SK1LL4XED is worried about Halo 4 - go read why at Teabag or Die. (Seems to me this would have been better expressed a year or two ago... but everyone's got their own timing.) (Louis Wu 13:50:25 UTC) (permalink)
Trick or Mail Sack
Another Friday has come and gone... another Bungie Mail Sack has been rummaged through. This one will give you insight into the gaming thoughts of various Bungie workers. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 13:49:58 UTC) (permalink)
News October 26 2012
A Brief History of Halo: Mendicant
Urban Reflex continues his 'Brief History of Halo' - the latest chapter, 'Mendicant', brings us up through the fight between Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias. Great reading!
(Louis Wu 18:24:29 UTC) (permalink)
Teabag Prevention Goes Over FUD Ep 4
jake108 let us know that Teabag Prevention's recap/analysis of the latest FUD episode is already online. (Watch the episode first, of course.) See if you missed any bits!
(Louis Wu 17:34:07 UTC) (permalink)
Forward Unto Dawn Part 4
Forward Unto Dawn Part 4 went live this morning - and the action heats up (WAY up). Once again, I'm floored by the overall polish and quality of this film. Go watch! Thanks, Vincent.
(Louis Wu 17:32:26 UTC) (permalink)
Interactive Halo 4 Forge Menu
Der Flatulator put together a small tool that lets you browse through the objects available in Halo 4's Forge. It's a work in progress - he plans to add more features! Check it out. (Louis Wu 17:29:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halloween Awakens
padraig08 put together some cool screenshot artwork to celebrate Halloween - go see!
(Louis Wu 17:27:13 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Action Figures for sale (from a Bungie employee)
agdtinman is selling off some of his Halo toys - there's some pretty unique stuff in that collection! (He worked on putting reference material for the artists who made these - if you're a collector, this is a bunch of stuff you should keep an eye on!) The first auction is live, and a list of what he's selling is also in his post. Go look!
(Louis Wu 17:26:09 UTC) (permalink)
HT Pick of the Week #6: Best Sticks
Edge let us know that the 6th episode of their Pick of the Week series is up - it's all about Best Sticks, and you can vote for your favorite clip. Noice!
(Louis Wu 17:15:26 UTC) (permalink)
Stay Frosty. Erm... ing.
DayandKnightly sent word of a cool surprise he received - looks pretty yummy! (Louis Wu 17:13:14 UTC) (permalink)
Anoj Top 10 Ep 58: All Time Kills
Anoj has released his last Reach Top 10 - this one's called 'All Time Kills', and is full of some pretty impressive clips. (They've all been seen before - this is a Best-Of. Doesn't mean they're not worth watching again, though...) Go watch 'em! (Louis Wu 17:08:36 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fan Fiction
Two new pieces are up in our Fan Fiction section this week - go read! (Louis Wu 17:03:56 UTC) (permalink)
News October 25 2012
AIs, Maps, Forge
The latest Halo Bulletin is now online at Halo Waypoint (and locally in our Halo Bulletin Archive) - it's full of tasty info, including views (and video) of the last new Multiplayer map, Vortex, details about Forge, and mysteries for you to solve. Go explore! (Louis Wu 22:45:54 UTC) (permalink)
LoadnVote is giving away a Halo 4 LE Console
Greenskull sent word of a new contest by LoadnVote - you can win a Halo 4 console! Check out this video for full details. (Louis Wu 22:04:18 UTC) (permalink)
Red vs Blue vs Hollywood (Part 1 of 3)
Infonaut has put together a documentary of Rooster Teeth - the first 9-minute segment is online. It's awesome. You should watch it. (Louis Wu 20:06:05 UTC) (permalink)
Balancing the old and the new
pat_11_5 stopped in to let us know that his interview with 343's Kevin Grace went live on Canada.com today - go see what he has to say about Halo 4! (Louis Wu 19:04:53 UTC) (permalink)
One Year Ago Today - AFoA Anniversary Adjunct
Leviathan is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the completion of 'A Fistful of Arrows' with a final Adjunct page - it's a fitting conclusion to an amazing story. The website for A Fistful of Arrows has been updated, as well. (Louis Wu 19:00:05 UTC) (permalink)
High Charity Playing for Child's Play Charity
We got word from Paul Ference, of HighCharity.org, that their second annual High Charity Halo Marathon, benefitting Child's Play Charity, will kick off on Friday, October 26th. Last year's event raised over $2500 during 72 hours of gaming - they're shooting for a MUCH bigger number this time around. The goal for 2012 is $25,000 - can you help them get there? From the press release:
Viewers of the event will have the ability to unlock "skulls," at different benchmarks of charitable donations, causing the group to play longer. "Aside from giving to charity," says Ference, "our donators will also be challenging us by making the games harder and harder with the more money we raise."
Heh. Sounds like fun! Check out the website for details, or visit their stream page. (Louis Wu 18:57:20 UTC) (permalink)
Halo HORSE 98
Halo HORSE has pretty much stopped being about Halo - I think the actual gameplay discussion takes about 30 seconds in the six and a half minute Episode 98 (AH.com | YouTube). Fun maps, though. Thanks, Nikko B201. (Louis Wu 17:48:25 UTC) (permalink)
German Gameplay from FirstLook
samurai let us know that HaloOrbit has posted a FirstLook 2012 hands-on article - in includes videos showing Regicide on Exile (offscreen, recorded at FirstLook). Text is in German, but readable even with a Google translation. (Louis Wu 17:40:28 UTC) (permalink)
IGN/343 Exile Walkthrough
IGN continues its Halo 4 Multiplayer map walkthroughs - today the spotlight is on Exile. You can watch the vid on IGN.com (thanks, ChrisTheeCrappy) or on YouTube (thanks, CyReN). We've seen this map before - but it's nice to have 343's Kynan Pearson describing the ins and outs. (Louis Wu 17:19:42 UTC) (permalink)
Tyrant's Halo 2 Legendary Walkthrough - Gravemind
The Tyrant let us know that he's released the last level of his Halo 2 Legendary Walkthrough (the hardest) - Gravemind. He made it a little easier (okay, a lot easier) with the Envy Skull glitch, but he will probably be adding a non-skull version at some point. If you want to see the entire guide, the playlist link is here. Nice! (He also sent us this fun little tidbit from a run-through of Metropolis... I laughed. (Louis Wu 16:49:06 UTC) (permalink)
A Table of Doritos
Eurogamer has a thought-provoking (if inflammatory) article about the current state of game journalism, and how it got to where it is. Posted here on a Halo site because it's built around an image of Geoff Keighley amongst Mountain Dew/Doritos Halo 4 promotional material. Thanks, Beckx. (Louis Wu 15:41:12 UTC) (permalink)
Snipe Hunting
Sometimes, Halo is fun. (Who am I kidding - it's almost always fun. But sometimes it's funner than other times.) pete_the_duck and iMonkey777 team up for a flag cap that deserves a toast. (Louis Wu 14:41:36 UTC) (permalink)
Cookin' With Chief
Ibeechu stopped in last night to announce the completion of a labor of love - check out Cookin' With Chief. Delicious! (Louis Wu 14:39:41 UTC) (permalink)
Fate can be a pretty tough dude...
Penny Arcade's Tycho had some thoughts about the monumental task of building on the Halo franchise yesterday. Food for thought. Thanks, HiredN00bs. (Louis Wu 14:36:42 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Soundtrack Limited Edition Unboxing
If you're curious about what comes in the Limited Edition Halo 4 Soundtrack, swing by and watch the Little English Halo Blog's unboxing video. Nice package! (twss...) (Louis Wu 14:34:32 UTC) (permalink)
Remix: The History of Halo
Polygon posted ANOTHER Halo-related bit yesterday, as well - a remix video they call 'The History of Halo'. I loved it. Thanks, Monumental. (Louis Wu 14:33:01 UTC) (permalink)
Data Entry, Risk Management, and Tacos
Polygon has a fascinating article about the user testing Microsoft and 343 have done with Halo 4 - it gives you some unique insight into how some flow decisions are made, and why it's worth putting this much time and effort into ensuring that the team's original vision can be appreciated without too much frustration on the part of the player. There are two embedded movies - one discussing a campaign playtest (minor spoilers, though if you watched Frank play through part of Level 3 at Eurogamer Expo in September, you won't see anything new here), the other showing off a multiplayer playtest. I love this stuff. Thanks to Tashi, over at NeoGAF, and Arithmomaniac, on our own forum. (Louis Wu 14:27:14 UTC) (permalink)
Halo schwag... for cheaper
Last week, we mentioned a Halo auction on eBay that seemed to be somewhat overpriced (at least to me) - a couple of days ago, the seller stopped by our forum, and after a bunch of discussion, has decided to relist the package at a much more reasonable pricepoint. If you wanted to get your hands on a signed copy of The Art of Halo 3, but didn't have $12,000... look again!
(Louis Wu 14:13:32 UTC) (permalink)
FUD Ep3 Review
Deadly Cyclone and COIN-OP.TV continued their Forward Unto Dawn coverage, with an analysis of Episode 3 - good stuff! (Louis Wu 14:10:09 UTC) (permalink)
Podcast Thursday!
In short order last night and this morning, we received three separate reports of new Halo podcasts:
- Robowski told us about Post Game Carnage Report 135 - there's talk of a lemonade stand (in the context of Master Chief)? Odd.
- Dust Storm let us know about a pair of Podtaculars - Ep 321 discusses Infinity Multiplayer, while Ep 322 covers Forward Unto Dawn Episode 3. There's even a PodTV episode discussing the hidden text in last week's Bulletin.
- Woaf announced that Dust and Echoes Ep 25 went live - special guest is Forward Unto Dawn's David Fuchs, discussing the Community Evolved Kickstarter project. (Plenty of other stuff, too.)
Go listen! (Louis Wu 14:08:10 UTC) (permalink)
RC Master Does Something New
RC Master sent word of two new speedrun vids - the first is a Zero-Shot Legendary run on Tip of the Spear (this is amazing), and the second is his New Alexandria Legendary run, now with commentary. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 13:56:34 UTC) (permalink)
Wheatley is 343 Guilty Spark
LostSpartan987 pointed out a really entertaining video that mashes up Halo Anniversary and Portal 2. (I'm surprised I haven't seen more stuff like this.) The integration of the two games' audio is masterful. (Louis Wu 13:46:12 UTC) (permalink)
News October 24 2012
Whoa.
Said Neo. (Louis Wu 23:31:21 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGAF Radio Ep 9
nscuDuncan announced Episode 9 of HaloGAF radio - a bunch of SLRPy dudes discuss Halo 4, Comic-Con, and other semi-relevant topics. Recorded in two pieces, a few days apart. Thank GOODNESS the video version isn't seeing the light of day. Swing by and listen in the format of your choice! (Louis Wu 21:05:46 UTC) (permalink)
The Art of War Games
In addition to the new information on the upcoming DLC War Games maps, thanks to VanquishUK for letting us know where to find some absolutely gorgeous pieces of concept art from the maps themselves. Simply stunning, go look! (GrimBrother One 18:23:30 UTC) (permalink)
Harvesting Major New Map Pass Info
MajorNelson announced today details on the upcoming War Games Map Pass for Halo 4. Included are some first details on the 9 new maps we will be getting over the next few months, including time frames and titles! Definitely worth taking a look at! (GrimBrother One 18:19:23 UTC) (permalink)
FUD Ep 4 Preview (60 seconds to HYPE)
If you simply can't wait until Friday for a taste of the fourth segment of 'Forward Unto Dawn', ComingSoon has a 1-minute preview, and I gotta say... I want it to be Friday now. Thanks, randomrosso. (Louis Wu 15:59:33 UTC) (permalink)
Crawling in the Dark
AssaultGodzilla has released a new Halo Music Video - this one is set to Hoobastank's 'Crawling in the Dark', and as always, cutting is fantastic. Even if you aren't really fond of the song (and I'm not), the video's really nicely done. (Louis Wu 15:57:30 UTC) (permalink)
NYCC Halo 4 Panel - Viewable
If you weren't able to be at the Halo 4 panel at New York Comic-Con a couple of weeks ago, it's finally up in streaming format on the NYCC webpage. (Scroll to the bottom.) Go watch! (Thanks, Asian Inferno.)
(Louis Wu 15:56:00 UTC) (permalink)
Community Evolved update
davidfuchs stopped in with word of an update to the Community Evolved Kickstarter project - it's available only to backers, but it's a pretty interesting tidbit (and you can get in on the action for as little as $1). One thing I hadn't noticed before now - if you want a copy of this book, once it's finished... backing the Kickstarter project is the only way to get it. You've still got 22 days... go check it out! (Louis Wu 15:50:33 UTC) (permalink)
A Brief History of Halo: Mantle
Urban Reflex has compiled some interesting information - you can read his summary if the whole concept of 'The Mantle' is fuzzy in your head. (There were lots of pieces in Cryptum and Primordium that were easily overlooked; UR has done a fine job of concisely summarizing the salient points.)
(Louis Wu 15:46:29 UTC) (permalink)
Red vs. Blue PSA: Voting Fever
The Red vs Blue crew has put together a new PSA - this one is called 'Voting Fever', and suggests some of the issues with Halo 4's release and the US Election happening at the same time. Thanks, CrazY CroaTia.
(Louis Wu 15:43:59 UTC) (permalink)
Never Forget, Free
Joystiq points out that you can get a free download of 'Never Forget' (from Halo 3), performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as a promo for their Greatest Video Game Music 2 collection. Nice!
(Louis Wu 15:41:43 UTC) (permalink)
It's a Halo Thing
NeoGAF's MrBig whipped up a cool little sketch - me likey! (Louis Wu 15:40:15 UTC) (permalink)
CNT Goes Inside 343
Slightly Live posted a link to a video at City News Toronto - they got an inside look at 343's offices. Yes, they went beyond the front hallway. Not bad!
(Louis Wu 15:38:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Launch Gameplay Trailer
If you missed 'Sons of Anarchy' last night, the trailer that showed during the program can be found online - both on Halo Waypoint and on YouTube. It's an official trailer - which means it contains content that 343 doesn't think will spoil the game for you... but if you're staying totally campaign-dark, you should probably skip it, since it DOES tell you a little more about the campaign than you might already know. (It also contains a bit of Multiplayer, and overall is a great piece of promotion.) Enjoy! (Or don't...) (Louis Wu 10:41:36 UTC) (permalink)
A Timely Suggestion
This was tweeted a few minutes ago by Halo Waypoint - use the info wisely!
(Louis Wu 00:59:38 UTC) (permalink)
News October 23 2012
IGN/343 Halo 4 Longbow Walkthrough
IGN has posted their Longbow Map Walkthrough - go check out this snowy crescent! Thanks, NotTheVacuum. (Louis Wu 19:04:56 UTC) (permalink)
HaloBible's Halo Anniversary Tricks
Jefferson stopped in to announce HaloBible's latest Halo Anniversary Tricks montage - this one shows off Silent Cartographer. As always, there's a tutorial.
(Louis Wu 19:02:54 UTC) (permalink)
Forge with Pete 10: Guitar Halo
pete_the_duck surprises me with almost every new Forge With Pete episode... but this latest one (which happens to be the last one) is truly jaw-dropping. He's created Guitar Halo - you can play a Guitar Hero-style game... in Halo. First he shows you how it plays, then he shows you how he did it. Watch it at petetheduck.com, or Halo Waypoint. Gorbleblorf. (Louis Wu 19:01:11 UTC) (permalink)
Reckless
Red vs Blue Season 10 Episode 20 went live last night - things are getting real. Carolina and Church have found something critical, while the rest of the crew is making important choices. Great stuff! Thanks, Vincent. (Louis Wu 18:58:32 UTC) (permalink)
Breaking In: Joseph Ainsworth
Joseph Ainsworth is a Test Engineer at Bungie. That means he tries really, really hard to break things other people make. (Well, he makes tools for testers to use, to make their job easier - but really, they're trying to break stuff, so isn't he, too?) Wanna join him? Read how he got to where he is! (Louis Wu 18:54:07 UTC) (permalink)
News October 22 2012
Pick up FUD on Plastic
Looks like Forward Unto Dawn is now available for pre-order from Amazon, in both Blu-Ray ($16.99) and DVD ($12.99) - thanks, JDQuackers! (Louis Wu 15:46:51 UTC) (permalink)
It's accelerating...
Remember this? Now there's this... and this. Hmm... (Louis Wu 15:40:04 UTC) (permalink)
Cortana - A narrative of John-117
Mig found a nice mashup (Halo 3 and Halo 4 footage, set to a soliloquy from Halo 3) - works pretty well! (Louis Wu 13:59:21 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn - Mid-Season Trailer
The Rooster Teeth crew have cut a mid-season trailer for Forward Unto Dawn - if you haven't been watching, this will inspire you to check it out, and if you have, this will definitely light the fire! Thanks, CyReN.
(Louis Wu 13:55:37 UTC) (permalink)
Visualizing the Halo Universe: Round 2 Winner
Postmortem picked a winner in Round 2 of his Visualizing the Halo Universe contest - congrats, Quirel! Go take a look at the summary - and the cool creations fans come up with!
(Louis Wu 13:54:11 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGAF at NYCC: Day 4
More NYCC fan coverage - Duncan posted Day 4 pictures on HaloGAF.com. I spy a space mop!
(Louis Wu 13:51:16 UTC) (permalink)
A Halo project gets bigger
So last week, we mentioned a project involving Lindsey Sterling, Devin Super Tramp, and Scott Jarvie - looks like it's getting a bit more attention today. Devin Super Tramp updated his Facebook cover photo collection with an amazing shot (thanks, Tawpgun), and the crew from Halo: The Fallen chimed in (thanks, Paul Shelley). Not sure what it's all about - but it looks pretty impressive!
(Louis Wu 13:47:55 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 at NYCC
I totally forgot to post this yesterday - but Domino Theory wrote up his thoughts about Halo 4, as he saw it at New York Comic-Con, over at Flesh and Faith. Given the venue, it's not surprising that Ragnarok and its Mantis(es) got some love - but check it out for thoughts on other weapons, as well. Thanks, mastrbiggy.
(Louis Wu 13:41:14 UTC) (permalink)
News October 21 2012
Scanned - 60 Seconds
The 60 second version of the Scanned commercial has surfaced (thanks, Bornstellar) - I like it! (Louis Wu 20:32:52 UTC) (permalink)
Crotchety Old Miser Reviews Halo Movie
PGCR's SK1LL4XED sent word that he just posted a new Forward Unto Dawn review at TeabagOrDie.com - go see what he thought! (Louis Wu 19:48:44 UTC) (permalink)
Would these sell?
Wow. Just... wow. (Thanks, I guess, to CyReN.) (Louis Wu 19:28:59 UTC) (permalink)
Fun Halo 4 Fan Art
Wow, cool. Check out the Flickr photostream of Adrian Cajili - the Halo stuff includes (in chronological order) a Chibi Master Chief, a Promethean Knight sketch, the Chief vs the Knight, a dancing Spartan, and a colored version of the Knight sketch. Fantastic work! Thanks, UNKNOWN iXi. (Louis Wu 18:42:41 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 LE Xbox - deep discount!
Whoa. FRYS.com has a one-day price on the Halo 4 LE Xbox 360 - $325 (plus shipping)! If you're interested in this product, this is a deal you shouldn't miss. Thanks, CyReN (who found it at CheapAssGamer). (Louis Wu 18:10:17 UTC) (permalink)
Reach Trick/Glitch Compilation Part 2
t00lbox has posted one last compilation of some Halo Reach tricks - fun collection! Check it out. (Louis Wu 17:47:39 UTC) (permalink)
Project Phase - Nightfall
The SuperWaffle let us know that Tenacious Tricking is back with another episode of Project Phase - this one shows off glitches and and tricks on the Reach level Nightfall. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:19:31 UTC) (permalink)
Those Germans Like Weapons...
HaloBase, not to be outdone by countrymen HaloOrbit has put out a Halo 4 mashup vid showing off all Halo 4 weapons. There are actually two versions - a short cut (1:23) and an extended cut (2:12). Go see!
(Louis Wu 16:17:49 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Meets Metal
YouTuber 331Erock has released a video in which he plays three separate Halo songs - Mjolnir Mix, Brothers at Arms and Never Forget. He's a metal dude, so expect that - pretty impressive work! Thanks, Delightful Oonsk. (Louis Wu 16:13:52 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Rewind: Halo 4 Launch Trailer Analysis
IGN's Rewind Theater has tackled 'Scanned', the new David Fincher-directed trailer for Halo 4 - go see if you missed anything! Thanks, BeekleMatter.
(Louis Wu 16:09:30 UTC) (permalink)
THF Machinima Short Film Fest
halofix stopped in to announce the HaloFix Machinima Short Film Fest - submit a short film, you might end up as their official HaloFix Director. Go watch the explanation vid for details.
(Louis Wu 16:07:04 UTC) (permalink)
#EVILAWAKENS
Hmm... what's all this about, then?
(Louis Wu 16:03:52 UTC) (permalink)
News October 20 2012
Watch Halo, Do Good
NartFOpc reminded us that he's playing for Extra Life today - check out there's a YouTube stream to watch, and Nart's Twitch.tv channel has gameplay and chat. If you want to help out, the donation page is here! (Louis Wu 22:08:28 UTC) (permalink)
RISE
NeoGAF's sltPoison whipped up a Halo 4/Dark Knight crossover wallpaper - it's pretty slick! (Louis Wu 20:59:40 UTC) (permalink)
Guilt O' Lantern Bonus Prize
Totally forgot to mention this yesterday, when I posted the prize list for the 2012 Guilt O' Lantern contest... but each winner (all three main prizes, plus the legacy prize, if there is one) will also receive a Grunt Plushy! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET CARVING! (Louis Wu 20:14:33 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Podcast Unlocked Ep 74 - with David Ellis
343's David Ellis sat down with IGN's Podcast Unlocked crew in San Francisco recently - great discussion! (Did you know Ellis has been stabbed in prison? True story.) Thanks, Vire.
(Louis Wu 20:12:36 UTC) (permalink)
Murtaw :: TSK
cardo 8 atl stopped in with a link to his buddy's Anniversary Montage (clips from Anniversary playlists, mostly Classic). Loved the music synch (who knew that the beat in 'Paint It Black' perfectly matched the max firing rate of the Reach pistol?), loved the awareness (check out the Rocket-Rocket-Snipe trip beginning around 2:23), loved the overall gameplay. (Doesn't hurt that he's got a great connection.) Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:10:16 UTC) (permalink)
Fails of the Weak 109
Yesterday was Friday - so it was time for a new Fails of the Weak (AH.com | YouTube). The discussion is... bizarre (Ben Roethlisberger!), but the fails are fun. Thanks, as usual, to Nikko B201.
(Louis Wu 20:06:48 UTC) (permalink)
HT Pick of the Week: No-Scopes
Edge sent word that Halotracker has released its next Pick of the Week montage, featuring no-scopes - and you can vote for your favorite clip. Swing by and see what's on the table!
(Louis Wu 20:00:41 UTC) (permalink)
Anoj Top 10 Ep 57: Multikills
Only two more Anoj Top 10 roundups before he moves on to Halo 4 - that includes this week's, which focuses on Multikills. I actually liked #10 better than the few that came after it... but the top-rated ones are pretty impressive. Thanks, Jordan Bell. (Louis Wu 19:52:43 UTC) (permalink)
FUD Ep 3 - Recap And Analysis
Teabag Prevention's jake108 let us know about a recap of Forward Unto Dawn Episode 3 - go see what they thought! (Spoilers - they liked it.)
(Louis Wu 19:37:19 UTC) (permalink)
Mail, Mail, Language!
Last weekend's internet access was drastically affected by New York Comic-Con and the events that surrounded it - and things fell through the cracks. There have been two mail sacks at Bungie that have gone unmentioned - the October 12 edition contains musings about the supernatural, historical figures, and an interview with Jerome. The October 19 edition focuses on the jobs done by Bungie employees (and how you can get in on the action). We ALSO missed a Breaking In article with Tom Slattery, Bungie's Localization Content Manager (he makes things sound good in languages other than English). Go catch up!
(Louis Wu 19:34:25 UTC) (permalink)
News October 19 2012
Guilt O' Lantern Prizes - Preliminary List Up
Took longer than I'd expected, and I still don't have it all photographed... but the preliminary prize list for the Guilt O' Lantern contest has been posted. (Thanks to both Bungie and 343, not to mention Lawnmower172, for their generous contributions!) If you haven't started carving yet... use this as incentive! The boxes I'm going to be shipping out in mid/late November are going to be absurd. (Louis Wu 18:22:38 UTC) (permalink)
BSR Review: FUD Ep 3
Big Shiny Robot's SenadorKooch took a close look at today's Forward Unto Dawn episode - while he enjoyed it, his review is not all roses and rainbows. Go see what he thought! (Louis Wu 17:28:52 UTC) (permalink)
Strip Halo? Really?
We're all familiar with product placement in TV shows and movies - but sometimes, the end result makes you shake your head. Halo 4 made an appearance in Wednesday night's Hart of Dixie, a show on the CW. Horrible Night explained why it's so awkwardly done (thanks, TheOddOne). Because actually WATCHING the clip at the CW's website is a painful experience, I've snipped out the relevant 100-second bit - you can watch it for yourself, without jumping through hoops. Please don't ask me for those 100 seconds back, though; it's not my fault if you actually watch. (Louis Wu 17:24:59 UTC) (permalink)
A life-sized Warthog
343 is building a new Warthog. It's not like the Weta Warthog they already have - it's actually full-scale. (The Weta 'hog is smaller than the in-game dimensions would suggest, mostly to make it human-sized.) You can get a sneak peek at it in a G4TV segment... that thing is a MONSTER! Thanks, DEEP NNN. (Louis Wu 17:20:39 UTC) (permalink)
Silentium Delayed
Looks like Tor Books has announced that Silentium, the third novel in the Greg Bear Forerunner trilogy, has been delayed - it won't be out in January, as expected, but in March. Bummer! Thanks, TheOddOne. (Louis Wu 17:08:56 UTC) (permalink)
Awakening
ScOuRgE3 stopped by with a link to his newest Halo 4 fan art - nice work! Check it out. (Louis Wu 17:05:45 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Tops Nielson Most-Anticipated List
Mobile & Apps has some results from the Nielson polling group that might surprise - as of this week, Halo 4 is the most-anticipated game for the Xbox 360, beating out Black Ops 2 by a quarter of a percent. (Heh - and that's not within the margin of error?) Less than 3 weeks to wait! (Louis Wu 17:04:06 UTC) (permalink)
Tyrant's Halo 2 Walkthrough - Triple Play
The Tyrant has stepped up his rate of walkthrough chapter completions - to make up for the fact that his coverage of Gravemind isn't finished yet, he's released guides for Uprising, High Charity, and The Great Journey. (There's also a shout-out to Mike Miller in that last one.) We're getting close!
(Louis Wu 17:01:04 UTC) (permalink)
Green and Blue
Edge sent word that he's put together a multiplayer montage of Halo 4 footage, collected from various official releases. Go watch!
(Louis Wu 16:58:03 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular - more like Contentacular!
Dust Storm let us know how busy the Podtacular team's been - Podtacular 319 is live (discussing FUD Ep 2), a new episode of PodTV looks at the Halo 4 Forge footage unveiled by Gamespot last week, and Podtacular 320 takes their first look at the extended fiction of the Halo universe, and how it ties into Halo 4. Don't they sleep? (Louis Wu 16:55:15 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fan Fiction, One Week Late
There were two new pieces in the Fan Fiction queue last week... but we were sorta busy. Sorry about that! Go read 'em now. (Louis Wu 16:51:50 UTC) (permalink)
PGCR 134
Robowski sent word (a couple of days ago, we're sorry) that the Post Game Carnage Report crew teamed up with the Drunken Halo crew to discuss the first couple of episodes of Forward Unto Dawn on PGCR 134. (There's also info about the winner of their XBL voice message contest.) Go listen! (Louis Wu 16:50:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn - Part 3
Forward Unto Dawn Part 3 debuted today - and as 343 promised a few times recently, it DEFINITELY ramped up the excitement. A really fantastic piece of work - something for everyone from the hardest-core extended universe wonk to the most casual "I just wanna see stuff blow up" guy. Go watch it. And again... join in the conversation. (Louis Wu 15:44:14 UTC) (permalink)
Scanned
If you missed Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, you can see the brand-new live-action/CG Halo 4 promo piece 'Scanned' on Xbox's YouTube channel... it's amazing. Go watch it. (And join the discussion on our forum.) Update: It's on the Xbox Press site already, if you want a high-res, downloadable version. Update 2: NeoGAF's Bornstellar combined 'Scanned' with a track from the Halo 4 OST - and it works really, really well. All the way through! Almost as though the action was designed around this piece in the first place... Update 3: crazedone1988 has combined the trailer with Revival in one video, so you can watch it at full resolution. (Louis Wu 11:35:04 UTC) (permalink)
News October 18 2012
Halo Bulletin - Puzzleicious
As is the case on most Wednesday evenings, the Halo Bulletin went live last night. It contains a bunch of stuff you probably could have predicted it would have (new shots of a Halo 4 map - in this case, Meltdown; information about a Halo weapon - in this case, the Mantis) - it also contains stuff you might not have thought about. 'Section 3' has a puzzle which will require people with careful fingers and maybe out-of-the-ordinary tools to solve. There is hidden text that, when combined with similar text in previous Bulletins, might start telling its own story. (thebruce0 has begun to compile the relevant tidbits to make them easier to put together.) And it has pumpkin templates (that you might want to consider for our Guilt O' Lantern contest, whose deadline is coming up in less than 2 weeks!). We, of course, have a local copy (it is much, much easier on low-bandwidth connections) - but wherever you read it... definitely read it. (Louis Wu 20:01:03 UTC) (permalink)
Are You Worthy?
The Swedish promotional 'Are You Worthy?' site we mentioned a few days ago is live now (thanks, Mr Daax). While the contest itself is open only to Swedes, you can certainly participate in the Training Session - and if you like Halo trivia, you should! Some of the questions are simple... some are most decidedly NOT. Are You Worthy? (Louis Wu 19:51:39 UTC) (permalink)
For people with too much money...
Wow. I've seen overpriced Halo auctions before... but this one might take the cake. Over at Halo Waypoint, Pocket Dorkfish has posted a link to an eBay auction in which he's selling some sealed games, some giveaways from release parties/conventions, and a couple of books (including a signed copy of The Art of Halo 3, which is pretty rare). Starting bid? $5,000. Buy It Now for $12,000! Wow. Just... wow. (Louis Wu 19:46:37 UTC) (permalink)
Live-action Halo 4 Ad... incoming!
NowGamer has a small article about the Halo 4 ad premiering tonight on Jimmy Fallon Live - and it includes a teaser pic. Drool! Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 19:40:25 UTC) (permalink)
IGN/343 Halo 4 Haven Walkthrough
One of the earliest Halo 4 multiplayer maps we got to see was Haven - interestingly, it's near the end of IGN's series of Map Walkthroughs. The Haven episode was released this morning - take a look to make sure you've found all the nooks and crannies before you start rampaging on November 6! Thanks, CyReN. (Louis Wu 19:17:01 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Scout
Hedgemony posted a cover for Halo: Scout - as with all of these fake comic covers, he makes me wish someone would actually write the full thing. I gain new appreciation for Halo 4 helmets with each new installment! (Louis Wu 19:13:55 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn Ep2 Review
COIN-OP TV continues their chapter-by-chapter review of Forward Unto Dawn, with another interview with Deadly Cyclone, discussing Part 2. Nice analysis! (Louis Wu 19:12:11 UTC) (permalink)
The Sound of Halo 4
A fan has mashed up the gun sounds of Halo 4 into a musical tribute - well done! Thanks, BeekleMatter.
(Louis Wu 19:07:01 UTC) (permalink)
343 Invades Mexico
Mexican gaming site LevelUp spoke to Kiki Wolfkill and Frank O'Connor about Halo 4 and its development process - it's got Spanish subtitles if you're better with Spanish than English. There's also an interview with artist Gabriel Garza - better known to 343 fans as RoboGabo - though you'll need to understand Spanish to follow this one. (It's pretty interesting - Garza discusses what it takes to make it as a Triple-A developer, with a focus on coming from outside the US.) Solid work all around - go watch! (Did you know that Frank liked The English Patient? I didn't either.) Thanks, Deadly Claw. (Louis Wu 19:05:04 UTC) (permalink)
Shield and Sword: The Monitor
Leviathan is back with another episode of Shield and Sword, his imagining of a Halo campaign in spectacular detail. This is Mission 6: The Monitor. Concept art, dialogue, and a general layout of the level are included. As always... jaw-dropping. I want someone to build this. (Louis Wu 18:46:46 UTC) (permalink)
Achievement HORSE 97
Achievement HORSE is getting closer and closer to 100 episodes - Episode 97 (AchievementHunter.com | YouTube) has Jack and Geoff competing while ridiculing Gavin. (What else is new?) Thanks, Nikko B201. (Louis Wu 18:43:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 shows up in the oddest places
IGN posted a video describing Hugo Weaving's contribution to the Transformers series - if you're wondering why this is getting reported on a Halo fansite, it's because the beginning and the end of the video are 'corrupted' with teasers from Halo 4. Hydranockz suggests it's more Halo 4 ARG-like material. Maybe it's just straightfoward marketing? (Louis Wu 18:38:13 UTC) (permalink)
You Said You Need Me
German site HaloOrbit has made a super-large fan-created piece of artwork available to their registered members (free to register, don't worry) - if you like the artwork, but don't want to register, a medium-sized version is available at the artist's DeviantART site. Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 18:35:34 UTC) (permalink)
Dax Goes to New York, Complete
Over at NeoGAF, Dax01 finished up his NYCC Halo 4 review - Part 3 went live yesterday, Part 4 today. He pulls no punches! (If you missed the first couple of segments, we mentioned them yesterday.) (Louis Wu 18:32:16 UTC) (permalink)
The Top 10 Sgt. Johnson Lines
MixMaker1 compiled what he considers to be the top 10 lines from 4 games' worth of Sgt. Johnson. (Most aren't really lines, but mini-speeches... but it's a great collection nonetheless.) Bungie's JonnyOThan noticed a parallel between some Halo 3 lines which eluded a lot of us, before now. Amazing! (Louis Wu 18:29:34 UTC) (permalink)
News October 17 2012
Halo 4 Infinity Multiplayer - Downloadable
The Infinity Multiplayer Behind The Scenes video is now available for download from the Xbox.com Press Center - if you want a high-def downloadable version (it weighs in at just under half a gig), go grab it! (Louis Wu 21:22:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Fantastic Fan Stuff
Paul Shelley found this page linked from Reddit - that is one heck of a picture! Lindsey Stirling is well-known for her amazing violin-based videos, and Devin Graham is better known as YouTube's Devin Super Tramp. The combination, in the context of that photo, promises to be nothing short of spectacular! (Louis Wu 21:03:48 UTC) (permalink)
H1 freakiness and fun
Rockslider released a new video today - it's just a collection of bizarre or funny things that have happened over hte past few years. Go see what he's got for you! (Louis Wu 20:20:52 UTC) (permalink)
BIT - A Halo 3 Montage with Nazgul and Crispy
Nazgul11 let NeoGAF know about a montage he's recently released - it's a Halo 3 dualtage with Crispy, and the gameplay's quite good! Go check it out.
(Louis Wu 16:25:58 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGAF at NYCC: Day 3 (MegaBloks Party and NYC Nightlife)
ncsuDuncan has posted another batch of photos from HaloGAF's romp in NY last week - this one covers Day 3, specifically the after-hours party on Saturday evening, and New York's nightlife. Fun stuff!
(Louis Wu 16:24:37 UTC) (permalink)
NYCC Halo 4 Impressions
NeoGAF's Dax01 has begun a breakdown of his NYCC Halo 4 impressions - Part 1 and Part 2 are up already. (The full writeup is 3300 words, so he decided to make it more bite-sized.) Go read!
(Louis Wu 16:23:18 UTC) (permalink)
Normal Physics - montage
pete_the_duck and Snipe316 put a new twist (or bump, or something) on 1v1s - go watch! (The ending might make things a little clearer.) (Louis Wu 16:16:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Spoilers (PSA)
The Tyrant wants to help people understand why leaks are bad - check out his Halo 4 Spoilers PSA. And don't make him angry... (Louis Wu 16:15:24 UTC) (permalink)
Dust and Echoes 24
Woaf sent word that Episode 24 of the Dust and Echoes podcast is now live - they take a look at Forward Unto Dawn Part 2, and look closely at the progression system as outlined in last week's Bulletin. Go listen!
(Louis Wu 16:13:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Fan Art
zlatko found a pretty cool piece of fan art at DeviantART - it was created by tobylewin. There's other Halo-related stuff in his gallery, notably this Halo ODST. Go explore! (Louis Wu 16:11:07 UTC) (permalink)
HaloCE - GANGNAM STYLE
Dennis Powers sent word of HaloCE - GANGNAM STYLE, a parody that uses Halo CE guns to actually sing the GANGNAM STYLE song. Nicely done! There's a discussion thread on the Halo Maps forum. (Louis Wu 16:05:30 UTC) (permalink)
The Best of The Best of The Best of The Best
The awesome folks over at ReadyUpLive decided to pass the time waiting for Halo 4 by creating an awesome rap song to showcase their excitement. The beat is great and the lyrics hilarious and creative, definitely give it at LEAST one listen. Do it! (GrimBrother One 15:43:05 UTC) (permalink)
Begin Armed with a Hammer, End Up Armed with Hope
We recently mentioned that our beloved hammer-wielding close friend and community colleague Goosechecka had wona Twitch scholarship for her work not only in the video game community, but also for her work using video games to help people go through therapy. She's gained a lot of much-deserved attention from many non-gaming channels for her work, and this latest article from the Washington Post shows that. It's a great interview with Goose (who is called by her more human name in the article, Kelli), and shows how she's truly making a difference for some people in need around her. Great stuff! (GrimBrother One 15:15:49 UTC) (permalink)
News October 16 2012
Community Evolved
This is an incredibly cool project. Postmortem and the ForwardUntoDawn crew have launched an absolutely awesome tribute to celebrate the first 10 years of the Halo Community. Titled Community Evolved, the still-in-production book takes a look back at the last ten years of community support, activity, and involvement that the Halo franchise has inspired. Some wonderful special guests will be included throughout, and some amazing artwork will be included. If you are a Halo fan, this won't be something you want to miss. As we mentioned, it's still in production, and could use your support to reach its full potential, so please check out their Kickstarter page to see how you can become involved. Things like this continue to show how powerful the bond is between Halo fans, and how special the last ten years has been for all the content created and friendships forged. Go check it out! (GrimBrother One 20:59:01 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Free - Winners Announced!
KontrolFreek has posted a list of winners for their Halo 4 Free contest - congrats to all 6! (I'm impressed - four of them are women.) Even better news for folks who DIDN'T win - HBO was the winning community partner, which means that at some point soon, we'll have ANOTHER Halo 4 LE console to give away. w00t! Thanks to GrimBrother One for noticing the announcement - and thanks to everyone who referred us! Keep your eyes peeled for the contest announcement. (There's a discount code listed on that announcement page - you can buy anything in their store for 10% off with it. Go shopping!) (Louis Wu 17:30:43 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's Meltdown Walkthrough
IGN has posted their walkthrough of Meltdown (watch it on IGN.com or YouTube) - this showed up once before, by accident, but now it's live for real. Go check out this large Halo 4 map! Thanks, CyReN.
(Louis Wu 17:13:12 UTC) (permalink)
Pre-Order Bonuses... out of hand
Huh. If you pre-order Halo 4 at Wal-Mart, you get the Circuit Armor skin as a pre-order bonus. But what if you've pre-ordered somewhere else? Looks like Wal-Mart's selling that skin for 35 cents. And so it begins... (thanks, Amazing Mic). (Louis Wu 16:16:29 UTC) (permalink)
QuackTastical
pete_the_duck stopped in with word of a bunch of new content - Episode 9 of his magical Forge With Pete series is live (Waypoint | YouTube), showing you how to build a game of Breakout in the Halo Reach engine. As always, I'm flabbergasted. He's also posted a new Forge Quack (Blue trees? Cool!), and a new webcomic (a cautionary tale that's relevant this week) - he's been busy! Go enjoy (Louis Wu 15:56:15 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Grifball Events
GrifballHub is planning on livestreaming Halo 4 Grifball on a special Wednesday Night Grifbrawl on November 7 - with the first league signups coming on November 16. Read all the details at their site! (Louis Wu 15:35:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Golden Logo Desktop
This was a little bit ago, but we just heard about it - Firestream celebrated Halo 4 going gold with a new desktop wallpaper. Pretty!
(Louis Wu 15:33:23 UTC) (permalink)
HaloBible Gets out of T and R
Jefferson stopped by to announce that HaloBible had another Halo Anniversary Tricks video - this one shows getting out of Truth and Reconciliation. There's even a tutorial.
(Louis Wu 15:32:17 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGAF at NYCC: Day 3 (Booth and Panel)
ncsuDuncan posted another batch of pictures from NYCC - lots of Halo 4 stuff in there!
(Louis Wu 15:14:56 UTC) (permalink)
Party Crasher (and some help understanding it)
Last night, Episode 19 of Red vs Blue's 10th season went live - and it was a bit confusing, though full of pretty cool moments. There's a thread on our forum if you'd like help deciphering it, kicked off by Bryan Newman (who was actually in the episode). A few days ago, IGN released a Behind the Scenes special feature on Red vs Blue, which might help as well - I know it clarified a couple of bits for me! This season is rapidly drawing to a close - things are getting complicated!
(Louis Wu 14:54:01 UTC) (permalink)
UNSC Infinity
We've seen a small version of this incredible piece of art before... but earlier this month, John Liberto released a large (desktop-sized, even) version of his UNSC Infinity concept art - gorgeous! Thanks, TheOddOne.
(Louis Wu 14:47:32 UTC) (permalink)
I always wondered what happened when I left...
Cracked.com has an article they call '21 Awkward Moments Between Video Game Levels' - and one of them is Halo-related. It's funny for a lot of reasons - not least of which is the appearance of a familiar gamertag. Fun stuff! Thanks, Revenant1988. (Louis Wu 14:42:45 UTC) (permalink)
Are you worthy?
There is a Swedish site that looks to be devoted to some sort of promotion - it's tied in to the Forward Unto Dawn series (it involves Corbulo Academy), and it goes live tomorrow. Go watch the video - and revisit tomorrow! Thanks, Grizzlei. (Louis Wu 14:35:23 UTC) (permalink)
News October 15 2012
Another option for 343 BTS
If you want to watch the new 343 Behind The Scenes, and you have trouble with Silverlight, until Waypoint gets the YouTube problems out of the way, you can watch the video at 1Up.com - thanks, Gr1mLock. (Louis Wu 20:30:12 UTC) (permalink)
Camo Kills
GameStop is offering camo skins for your Halo 4 armor if you pre-order... and there are a couple of funny commercials selling this (one | two). Thanks, Nando13 and CyReN!
(Louis Wu 20:17:01 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Frank O'Connor Interview
Greek site Eternity interviewed Frank O'Connor recently - if you can ignore the background music, it's got some great discussion. Go listen! Thanks, CyReN. (Louis Wu 20:04:45 UTC) (permalink)
Dem Hoodies...
mastrbiggy took a bunch of pictures of fan/343 interactions at the end of NYCC - swing by Flesh and Faith to see 'em! (Louis Wu 19:58:40 UTC) (permalink)
Terminus
Zhestal edited a Reach dualtage with gameplay by Toasty and Cause - pretty nice piece of work. (Heavy editing and some quick cuts, but nice variety.) Thanks, RVideo. (Louis Wu 19:57:39 UTC) (permalink)
HT Pick of the week #4 - Ninja Submissions Montage
Edge let us know (a couple of days ago) that Halotracker's Pick of the Week #4 now has submissions online - you can watch them and vote for your favorites. Subject this time: Ninja Kills. (Louis Wu 19:50:16 UTC) (permalink)
A fan's look at Halo 4
Tawpgun spent some time with Halo 4 at NYCC (and at an afterparty), and wrote up his thoughts (lots of 'em) at NeoGAF. Go read.
(Louis Wu 19:48:14 UTC) (permalink)
Anoj Top 10 Ep 56: Strange Moments
Anoj has a new Top 10 online - Strange Moments is what he calls it, and 'funny' is what I calls it. I thought it'd be all lag-related stuff... but it's not. Thanks, Jordan Bell. (Louis Wu 19:42:55 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 OST Reviewed
Movie Music UK has posted a review of the Halo 4 Soundtrack - go read! Thanks, Joe Bat. (Louis Wu 19:36:01 UTC) (permalink)
Pod TV: Hidden Waypoint Transmission - AFTERMATH
Dust Storm let us know that Pod TV released a new video last week discussing the hidden text in last week's Halo Bulletin. If you missed it - or if you caught it and wondered what it was all about - go watch! (Louis Wu 19:35:42 UTC) (permalink)
David Ellis: Awake & Likeable
David Ellis appeared on the latest episode of IGN's Up At Noon show, where he talks with Ryan McCaffrey about all sorts of things Halo 4. If you are into Halo information and sultry beard-laden man-voices, don't miss it! (GrimBrother One 19:31:24 UTC) (permalink)
FUD Ep 2 Recap And Analysis
The Teabag Prevention crew took a look at Forward Unto Dawn Episode 2 - check out their analysis/recap! Thanks, jake108.
(Louis Wu 19:28:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 to appear at Armageddon, October 19
If you live near Aukland, NZ, you might want to find a way to get to Armageddon, next weekend - Halo 4 will be playable. (Louis Wu 19:25:59 UTC) (permalink)
Progression System explained by RUL
RUL's Greenskull released a video summarizing the progression info in last week's Bulletin - if you're confused, give it a watch.
(Louis Wu 19:23:48 UTC) (permalink)
Offscreen footage from NYCC... maybe
Sometimes, I am sad that 3 days with no sleep will force me to take a day off. My hat goes off to GrimBrother One for staying on top of things this week! Lessee what we got... there were a couple of new gameplay vids posted, showing off-screen footage of Ragnarok from NYCC... but at least one (Halo 4 Ragnarok Gameplay, showing off gameplay by Tashi and filmed by Bravo) is already offline - the automated copyright crushers are being a bit overzealous today. (Halo Waypoint's own BTS, mentioned yesterday, has been pulled down 'due to a copyright claim by Microsoft'.) You can still watch HaloGAF at NYCC: Mantis Gameplay (posted by ncsuDuncan) - but I'm not sure for how much longer. (Louis Wu 19:18:26 UTC) (permalink)
Cal Poly Passion for Halo
Aaron from the Cal Poly Mustang Band wrote in to let us know that they performed a video game suite of music for halftime at their game this weekend. Featured is a great piece of Halo music. Really nice stuff! You can catch the whole video here, or go straight to the Halo bit. Very cool! (GrimBrother One 18:43:41 UTC) (permalink)
News October 14 2012
Behind the Scenes of the Skilling Frenzy
Fresh off the presses comes a brand new BTS video from Halo Waypoint. Dive into the inner workings of Infinity Multiplayer in Halo 4! What are you waiting for? Go watch it! (It's on YouTube, as well, if you have trouble with Silverlight.) (GrimBrother One 20:05:42 UTC) (permalink)
Unggoylievable
Rockslider is back with another awesome Megabattle. This time, he brings us a pretty hilarious 32-Grunt extravaganza from Halo: Combat Evolved. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 19:54:39 UTC) (permalink)
Silent Protest
GeneticSpartan decided to share his opinions of leaked content. I laughed. (GrimBrother One 19:35:55 UTC) (permalink)
Element 117
Our old friend Dark Helmet stopped by to let show us something cool he's been working on. I'd watch that show! (GrimBrother One 19:27:47 UTC) (permalink)
News October 13 2012
Never Fails to Make Me Laugh
Thanks to Nikko B201 for letting us know that Rooster Teeth's Halo: Reach Fails of the Weak Episode 108 is now live. I find it crazy that they can still find so many hilarious things to make me laugh this hard. It's also on YouTube. Go check it out! (GrimBrother One 13:05:51 UTC) (permalink)
Pro Shop
Keeping with the Bravo theme, he also sat down with Kevin Franklin from 343 Industries to discuss some of the options that will be available with the competitive scene particularly in mind. Go and give it a watch! (GrimBrother One 12:46:15 UTC) (permalink)
The Dominion Domain
Bravo has just put out a new video, this time breaking down one of Halo 4's new game modes, "Dominion". Really gets you excited for WarGames! Check it out! (GrimBrother One 12:43:02 UTC) (permalink)
News October 12 2012
He Truly Is Now The Meaning of Life, The Halo Universe, and Everything
We'd like to wish Frank O'Connor a very Happy Birthday from everyone here at HBO. Feet first into his greatest year yet! (GrimBrother One 12:40:11 UTC) (permalink)
The Universe Isn't Going to Clean Itself
Speaking of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Episode 2 is now available. The stakes for Hastati Squad continue to rise and a yet greater threat looms large. Does Cadet Lasky have what it takes to be not just a soldier, but a leader? Go and find out! You can also catch it on YouTube via Machinima Prime. (GrimBrother One 12:36:05 UTC) (permalink)
Who is Dusty Echoes?
The Dust & Echoes podcast is back with Episode 23, as they take a look at the first episode of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. If you haven't heard these guys yet, they are a riot; much recommended! As a bonus, they've also thrown in Part 2 of their "Dust v Echoes CTF match". Go and see who wins! (GrimBrother One 12:31:41 UTC) (permalink)
News October 11 2012
Massive Praise
TheUpcoming recently reviewed the Halo 4 OST... and adored it. Go see why they called it "a flawless effort, and one of the most important and soaring soundtracks to date". Nice! Thanks, @Menachite. (GrimBrother One 23:18:36 UTC) (permalink)
Putting Yourself on the Map in Halo 4
Gamespot has added yet another piece of their Forge reveal puzzle, as 343 Industries' Kynan Pearson takes you through the process and discusses some helpful design philosophies to keep in mind when developing your own maps. It's a really neat watch, go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 21:04:29 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Delivers Their Most Complex Piece of Content Yet
IGN has put up their latest walkthrough of Halo 4 multiplayer maps, this time featuring Complex. Go see what strategies might work for you when the game launches this November! Thanks to Jirornimo for bringing it up in our forum. (GrimBrother One 20:50:00 UTC) (permalink)
Barbara Tries to Bring Home the Bacon
Nikko B201 reminded us that Rooster Teeth has unleashed a new Halo PIG episode on us. Barbara tries once again to prove she's as talented as she is lovely, vying to overcome her recent 5-2 loss to Gavin. See if she can turn Michael into a wallowing swine! (GrimBrother One 20:42:30 UTC) (permalink)
IGNiting a Sense of Nostalgia
Morpheus let us know that IGN has run a feature showing some of their favorite game franchises in a then & now-style display. While they certain employ some... curious screenshot placement, it is interesting to see some well-known game franchises shown side-by-side with their original iterations. Go give it a look! (GrimBrother One 20:35:35 UTC) (permalink)
Be careful out there!
Just a quick warning - looks like pirated copies of Halo 4 are already in the wild (Mexico, this time around). If you're trying to stay dark... this would be a VERY good time to leave. (Louis Wu 09:53:38 UTC) (permalink)
So much to tell you, so little time
Late, late last night, the newest Halo Bulletin went live (on the newly-updated Halo Waypoint, which works much, much, MUCH better than it did before) - it contains a breakdown of the Halo 4 progression system, information about Halo 4 challenges, some details about the Mountain Dew DoubleXP promotion, details about a couple of UNSC ships, and some information about the upcoming Blu-Ray/DVD version of Forward Unto Dawn. There is, of course, a local version. Go read! (If you're careful, you might find... some EXTRA information.) (Louis Wu 09:48:56 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn Ep1 Review
NeoGAF's Deadly Cyclone did an interview with COIN-OP.TV about the video series Forward Unto Dawn (focusing on Part 1, since it's out). Go watch!
(Louis Wu 09:48:05 UTC) (permalink)
News October 10 2012
Dewcisions, Dewcisions
Forbes has an article in which the marketing manager for Mountain Dew explains why the Double XP promotion currently going on is for Halo 4, and not Black Ops II. Fun! Thanks, Deadly Cyclone. (Louis Wu 21:51:24 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespot's Halo 4 Forge Maps Overview
Gamespot has a new Forge video available - it shows off the three new Forge maps (Erosion, Impact, and Ravine), and lets you know what sort of environments you'll have to work in. Once again, 343's Kynan Pearson and Certain Affinity's Lori Zawada are your tour guides. Amazing! Thanks, Vire. (It's available on YouTube, as well - thanks, CyReN.)
(Louis Wu 16:36:00 UTC) (permalink)
Spartan Sighted at Ohio Comic Con
Revenant1988 visited Ohio Comic Con a couple of weeks ago - in full Spartan dress. Check out his post for pics!
(Louis Wu 16:26:47 UTC) (permalink)
HaloBible jumps into Halo Anniversary
Jefferson told us about a new collection of Halo tricks - the HaloBible crew tackled Halo Anniversary. There's a teaser video, to show you what you're getting into, along with a pair of montages: the first one is called Out of Halo (there's also a tutorial), while the second is 'Double Warthog' (also with a tutorial). The tutorials are in French, with pictures. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 16:24:50 UTC) (permalink)
GameOne takes on Halo4
Germany's GameOne posted a half-hour video spotlighting their experience at a Halo 4 press event (HaloGAF's Hypertrooper makes an appearance) - thanks, CrazY CroaTia. This might not have received coverage here at HBO (most of the footage is just discussion between the hosts, in German), but starting at 12:38 is an interview with Frank O'Connor, in English. I enjoyed it! (There are some minor campaign spoilers, if you're staying dark.) (Louis Wu 16:22:31 UTC) (permalink)
Two Big Directors team up for Halo 4 Trailer
It looks like David Fincher and Tim Miller have teamed up to film a 2-minute live-action Halo 4 trailer in Prague recently... The Daily Beast has an article on the collaboration (thanks, ElzarTheBam). The trailer will air for the first time on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Oct. 18 - set your DVRs!
(Louis Wu 16:16:46 UTC) (permalink)
They're definitely deluded.
Fans Domino Theory and mastrbiggy have collaborated to create Flesh and Faith, a new Halo-related blog designed to express their passion for the franchise. Explore, because there's a bunch of fun stuff, but the first meaty piece is an article containing impressions from PAX Prime 2012. Good stuff! Update: both biggy and Domino are attending NYCC this week, and have posted the beginning of their coverage of the event! (Louis Wu 16:12:06 UTC) (permalink)
Potaku Interviews Josh Holmes in Sydney
Josh Holmes talked to Potaku, a podcast crew made up of Kotaku Australia fans - go watch! Thanks, Ozzy Onya A2Z.
(Louis Wu 16:08:29 UTC) (permalink)
Suck it, Red.
A couple of days ago, we mentioned Warm Machine's outdoor photos of Mega Bloks figures; yesterday, Bravo, inspired by these, took his own shots of a really adorable little guy. Go see.
(Louis Wu 16:00:39 UTC) (permalink)
Oboe Plays Halo Reach - LOTS of Reach!
OboeCrazy has continued her romp through Halo: Reach - you can find 4-player playthroughs of Exodus, New Alexandria, The Package, and The Pillar of Autumn linked in this Rooster Teeth journal. Good stuff!
(Louis Wu 15:57:11 UTC) (permalink)
HaloOrbit visits Firstlook 2012
samurai stopped in to let us know that he and other members of the HaloOrbit.de team were at Firstlook 2012, a Dutch expo that took place over the weekend. They've got the first two parts (one | two) of their writeup online - the text is in German, but there are videos and pictures that don't require translation.Update: samurai dropped back in with another link - this is gameplay footage on Longbow (Regicide). Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:52:58 UTC) (permalink)
Wednesday Night Grifbrawl
Kal, from GrifballHub.com, sent word that Wednesday Night Grifbrawl is special this evening - two former Grifball champions face off in a series of three scrimmages. Four Guys One Ball will meet Hot Bikini Guyz on the field of battle! There are even prizes for the audience - be sure to tune in at 9 eastern on GrifballHub's Twitch.TV stream!
(Louis Wu 15:47:42 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Fans Invade Seattle (PAX recaps)
Recently, a couple of flavor videos showing off Halo fans at PAX were released - ncsuDuncan posted 'HaloGAF at PAX Prime 2012', while Greenskull posted 'PAX Prime 2012 Adventures - Day 1'. Whether you were at PAX, and want to relive it, or you weren't, and want a sense of what you missed, you should check these out!
(Louis Wu 15:44:19 UTC) (permalink)
Tyrant's Halo 2 Legendary Walkthrough - Regret (x2)
The Tyrant is back with two separate guides for Halo 2's Regret - one shows how to get through in standard fashion, while the other tosses the Envy Skull into the mix, along with Swordflying and Sputnik-enabled grenade jumping. Decide whether you want to go pure, or enhanced... and get to watching! Update: apologies, Narcogen points out that Tyrant uses the Envy skull in BOTH vids; he's just not exploiting the checkpoint to get infinite invisibility in the first. Sorry! (Louis Wu 15:38:14 UTC) (permalink)
News October 9 2012
Halo 4 Terminal - up on Waypoint
Halo Waypoint has a new video prologue to tease Halo 4's Domain Terminals - skip it if you're staying dark, but watch it if you can. Pretty interesting stuff! Thanks, Demoncarnotaur. (Louis Wu 18:28:33 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Free - we need your help!
We've entered the final week of the KontrolFreek Halo 4 Free contest - and the chances of HBO getting an extra Halo 4 Xbox 360 bundle to give away to you guys are dependent on your participation! We are currently 80 referrals out of the lead - if you haven't visited their Facebook page yet, please do so... and attribute your referral to us! We'd love to give you more goodies. (Louis Wu 17:30:15 UTC) (permalink)
UK Halo 4 Preview Tour - 23-26 Oct
Gamerbase (a UK gameseller) has information about a Halo 4 Preview Tour - 4 days of Halo 4, in Gamerbase stores around the UK. Read the page for specific details! Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 17:15:26 UTC) (permalink)
Telikos Protocol, Episode 1
This isn't STRICTLY Halo-related, but it IS 'Halo-inspired', and one of the principals is a heavy-duty community member, so... If you visit Vanquish Interactive, you'll see that the crew will be on hand this week at New York Comic-Con, and will be selling Telikos Protocol Episode 1 (which was distributed digitally to backers of the Kickstarter project yesterday) at the show! The artwork is fantastic (there's a prelude, containing the first dozen or so pages of Issue 1, available here, for free) - well worth your time and money! Check it out. (Louis Wu 17:08:46 UTC) (permalink)
Exclusive Halo 4 Forge Mode Details at Gamespot
343's Kynan Pearson and Certain Affinity's Lori Zawada team up to give you a bunch of new details about Halo 4's Forge in a new video on Gamespot.com - awesome! Go look. Thanks, Vire.
(Louis Wu 16:14:13 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's Adrift Walkthrough
IGN has posted its walkthrough of Adrift, with commentary by 343's Kynan Pearson. (Go watch it now - looks like Microsoft has updated its Game Content Usage Rules, and the advertising attached to this video seems to be in direct violation of the new 'you can not earn any money for Halo content on YouTube' rule.) Thanks, CyReN. Update: Over at NeoGAF, Frank made it clear that these rules are not new, they've been in this form for months. And there will be clarifications forthcoming to help folks who are worried about what's permitted and what's not. Thanks, Frank. (Louis Wu 16:05:11 UTC) (permalink)
Defrost
RVideo pointed out a Halo 3 communitage called 'Defrost' - each segment is edited by a different fan, so there's a nice variety of styles in this 11 minute montage. Overall, quality's pretty high, and gameplay is a lot of fun. Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:30:19 UTC) (permalink)
Unity Halo 4 Raffle
Plague sent word that Halo Unity is giving away a copy of Halo 4 - and community event you attend on the site, you can receive a new entry in the raffle. Go sign up!
(Louis Wu 15:28:59 UTC) (permalink)
Halotracker Charity Weekend
Edge let us know that Halotracker is running a weekend event to benefit Child's Play - tons of cool stuff being given away, and your participation can be as a player (FFA, 2 Grand Prix races) or just as a contributor (raffle)! Either way, you're eligible for cool schwag. Swing by their site for full details. (Louis Wu 15:15:18 UTC) (permalink)
Do not use on your brain
Shadders noticed a really cool Energy Sword Table Lamp at Etsy - it ain't cheap ($75, plus shipping), but it's definitely gorgeous. Go look! (There are only 3 of 'em, so if you like, buy soon.) (Louis Wu 15:06:31 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4: Making you want to explore
Digital Spy has an interview with Frank O'Connor - it's a great read. Frank talks about some of the overarching goals the team had as they put together the campaign, and how these play out in the finished game. There's also a nice description of the difference between an episodic campaign experience (like Spartan Ops) and a single-segment one (like the standard campaign). Worth your time! Thanks, bluerunner. (Louis Wu 15:01:56 UTC) (permalink)
Unmistakeably Halo
T3 posted a Halo 4 preview - it contains campaign spoilers (minor) and some rather shallow generalizations. Take a look if you're trying to get your eyeballs on everything Halo 4. Thanks, TheOddOne.
(Louis Wu 15:00:43 UTC) (permalink)
Change of Plans
Red vs Blue Season 10 barrels on - Episode 18 was released last night... and it gives you a slightly different look at Church. (Slightly.) This one's pretty much devoid of humor... but what replaces it grounds the characters. Go watch. Thanks, Vincent.
(Louis Wu 14:59:57 UTC) (permalink)
News October 8 2012
It's baa-ack...
For years, it was a tradition at HBO that we would host a pumpkin-carving contest, and you guys would make us feel warm and fuzzy all over with the amazing creations you sent us. Last year, we skipped this tradition, because things were simply too busy to make it happen. We made a lot of people sad when we did that, however... so the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest is back. The prize list isn't live yet... but hey, you're not doing this for prizes, right? (Right?) Don't worry - there will be a sizeable prize list, long before the contest actually ends. Don't wait for us, though - get to carving! Entries can be submitted anytime between right now and October 31 - we'll start the voting process soon after that. Make us proud! (Louis Wu 19:56:39 UTC) (permalink)
You know, unless it was Halo...
Kotaku recently spoke to Stewart Hendler, the director for Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, and discussed how he got involved with the project, how the Master Chief fits into it all, and where the FuD story fits into the universe as a whole. Cool read, go check it out! (GrimBrother One 19:19:00 UTC) (permalink)
The Glove and Boots Debate
This... is amazing. Watch it. Thanks, Pok3R Fac3D. (Louis Wu 16:42:12 UTC) (permalink)
Arena Gaming Columbus 2012 - on YouTube
This weekend, Arena Gaming hosted a pro Reach tournament in Columbus, OH - CyReN went to the trouble of YouTube-ing a number of the matches (including the Finals, the Losers Final, the Losers Semi, and the Halo 2 Scrims. Go watch 'em - some awesome gameplay in there! (Louis Wu 16:41:45 UTC) (permalink)
NERDSWAG: A Master Chiefly Ransom
Podcast site Nerdist is offering a Halo-themed giveaway, with lots of goodies in the pot. Swing by to see how to enter! Thanks, squidhands. (Louis Wu 16:40:54 UTC) (permalink)
A Blocky Ringworld
We've mentioned a lot of Halo LEGO creations - but I don't think I've ever seen a full Halo ring before. Check out Catsy's monster creation (11,000 blocks!). Wonga. (There are other shots, showing off other parts of the ring. I repeat - wonga.) Thanks, TCKaos. (Louis Wu 16:38:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 in Essex this week
If you live in or near Essex, UK, you should try to get to Xtreme Gaming this Friday - they'll be showing off Halo 4 for 5 hours during the afternoon. Thanks, Hypertrooper!
(Louis Wu 16:37:34 UTC) (permalink)
Mega Bloks, Outside
Over at NeoGAF, Warm Machine posted a bunch of great photos of Mega Bloks figures in outside settings... love these! (The full set is here.)
(Louis Wu 16:35:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Examined - Best Controller Setting?
Bravo has taken a close look at the controller settings available in Halo 4, with an eye to what gives you the best competitive advantage. Interesting!
(Louis Wu 16:34:23 UTC) (permalink)
Get Ready to Draw, Pardner
Hedgemony has a pair of potential covers for the upcoming (not really) Deadeye comic - he's not sure the first one works, but I can say with certainty that he's wrong. (The second one rocks, too.)
(Louis Wu 16:33:30 UTC) (permalink)
Frank talks to the French
The folks from Halo Destiny sat down with Frank O'Connor - discussion ranged from how 343 works to what's coming in Halo 4 to Halo 2 Anniversary. Monster interview (25 minutes long) - go listen! Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 16:32:28 UTC) (permalink)
News October 7 2012
Batman?
More off-screen video (plus adrenaline-fueled commentary) from EBGames Expo in Sydney - thanks, Shadders. (Louis Wu 19:48:06 UTC) (permalink)
MS Paint Halo 3 - Contest Results
nscuDuncan stopped in to announce that his MS Paint Halo 3 contest has been wrapped up - you can view the entries (and the winners) on HaloGAF.com. Take a look - cool stuff! (Louis Wu 19:39:24 UTC) (permalink)
Visualizing the Halo Universe: Round 2
Postmortem has kicked off Week 2 of his 'Visualizing the Halo Universe' art contest - this one is focused on "any undesignated human or Covenant ship from the Halo comics". The entries from last week were fantastic - let's see if we can do it again! (Louis Wu 17:10:58 UTC) (permalink)
Triumvirate – Reflections
Forward Unto Dawn (the website, not the movie) has finally posted the third piece of its Reach Datapad analysis trilogy (part 2 came out in June, 2011) - this series can give you a pretty good overview of what the Datapads were all about (and how they altered our understanding of the Halo universe). Thanks, Dani!
(Louis Wu 17:10:29 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular 315 and 316
Dust Storm sent word of Podtacular 315 and Podtacular 316 - the first covers the Mantis trailer, two new maps, Flood Mode, the latest Sparkcast, and the Halo 4 Remix contest, while the second is shorter, and focuses on the first episode of Forward Unto Dawn. Go listen!
(Louis Wu 17:09:03 UTC) (permalink)
Phoenix Seven
Andrew let us know about Phoenix Seven, a Halo Reach screenshot comic he's been working on for quite some time. He sent us a link to his Majhost gallery (which contains all the actual episodes of the comic, plus character profiles, backstory information, desktops, and more. Go explore - and get immersed in his alternate timeline! (Much of it can also be found on his DeviantART page.)
(Louis Wu 17:08:17 UTC) (permalink)
Football and Video Games... great mix
The Ohio State University Marching Band paid tribute to video games during the halftime show of the Nebraska game on October 6. Halo makes an appearance (starts about 3:25, if you're in a hurry), but the whole thing is amazing. (The appearance of Epona on the field blew me away.) Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 17:06:54 UTC) (permalink)
Tricking Out of the Package
t00lbox has another 'getting out of the level' video for you - this one gets you out of the end of The Package, and then shows all the areas worth exploring. Pretty cool stuff! (Louis Wu 17:04:10 UTC) (permalink)
ReachingPerfection in Halo 4's Forge
GodlyPerfection kicked off his Halo 4 Challenge #1 - deadline is New Year's Day 2013, but phase 1 includes pre-production planning. Check out his post for more details! (Louis Wu 17:03:39 UTC) (permalink)
TV Funhouse Ep 1
ReiKo-TV stopped by to announce TV Funhouse Episode 1 - it's a combination of clips from Halo 3 and Reach (some funny, some obnoxious, some pretty cool), along with a few cool trick jumps in Matchmaking. (This was put together by the tricking group Terminal Velocity.) Check it out!
(Louis Wu 17:02:52 UTC) (permalink)
News October 6 2012
Oboe Plays: Halo Reach P.5 (Long Night Of Solace)
OboeCrazy and friends are playing through all the Halo games in chronological order, to prepare for Halo 4. Today, they released Reach Episode 5: Long Night of Solace (yeah, I've been lax about noticing these - you can find the rest in the Associated Videos off to the side). It's just under half an hour long (some judicious edits for the sake of flow), and shows off some nice teamwork. Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:04:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4: NEW Spartan Ops Gameplay from Australia
Some new Spartan Ops gameplay was collected at EBGames Expo in Australia - awesome, wide-open vistas and Gauss Hog action. It's off-screen, and there's no sound, but if you're not trying to stay dark, this will pump you up for the start of the Spartan Ops season! Thanks, TheOddOne. (Louis Wu 19:59:46 UTC) (permalink)
Off-screen Campaign Gameplay from Down Under
Josh Holmes is currently in Australia, at the EBGames Expo - he did a presentation showing off some campaign gameplay. (It's the same segment of Level 3 that Frankie showed off at Eurogamer Expo last week - the video quality is way worse, but the lag is better.) Same spoilers as before - the run-through stops at roughly the same spot (well, a LITTLE bit further). Thanks, TheOddOne. (Louis Wu 17:44:26 UTC) (permalink)
Mail Sack of Plenty
Bungie posted a new Mail Sack yesterday - lots and lots of input from lots and lots of employees. Some great answers to fan-generated questions - go read! (Louis Wu 17:40:58 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Strategy - Dominion: 1st (2nd?) Look
Bravo took a closer look at Dominion, a new Halo 4 gametype - it's the second time he's tried this (the first one was pulled for content he used). Give it a look if you're curious how this gametype works! Thanks, TheOddOne.
(Louis Wu 17:39:39 UTC) (permalink)
Fails of the Weak 107
Friday is Fails of the Weak Day - and the AH crew has released episide 107 (AH.com | YouTube). I saw a bunch of new fails in this one! (Really! It was pretty enjoyable.) Thanks, Nikko B201.
(Louis Wu 17:36:57 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Gameplay, Greenskull interview
Greenskull got interviewed by TrulyIndirectMedia about his YouTube career and Halo 4 - go hear about how he got to where he is! (Louis Wu 17:28:13 UTC) (permalink)
Give us the Chief!
Bryan Simon is back with a new Halo song - this one uses Eminem's 'Without Me' as the inspiration for a plea for the return of Master Chief. Guest rapper u4iX adds his own battle rhymes. Go watch! Thanks, CyReN. (Louis Wu 17:25:33 UTC) (permalink)
News October 5 2012
Teabag Prevention Breaks Down FUD Ep 1
Another Forward Unto Dawn analysis - check out Teabag Prevention's take on the first episode! Thanks, jake108. (Louis Wu 19:53:16 UTC) (permalink)
Hmm...
Did you catch this? Thanks, thebruce0. (Louis Wu 18:52:13 UTC) (permalink)
The Heart it Needs
If you're good with spoilers, IGN has posted a review of the first part of Forward Unto Dawn (thanks, Vire) - they liked some parts, but not others. (Like I said, this one contains spoilers - watch the ep before you read.) (Louis Wu 16:35:25 UTC) (permalink)
Deadpool's home for Halo weapons
Nice - a couple of Halo weapons made it into a recent Deadpool comic. (Not the first time this has happened...) Thanks, TCKaos. (Louis Wu 15:31:23 UTC) (permalink)
Achievement HORSE 95
The most recent Achievement HORSE (
AH.com | YouTube) is a little different than previous episodes - it's less about the Halo, and more about Gavin Free's indiscretions. Thanks, Nikko B201. (Louis Wu 14:52:53 UTC) (permalink)
FUDtopia
More Forward Unto Dawn stuff this morning:
- Big Shiny Robot has an interview with Daniel Cudmore, who plays the Chief in FUD
- Big Shiny Robot (geez, guys) has an interview with Frank O'Connor, focused on the series
- Halo After Dawn has released Episode 9, in which they break down the first episode of the actual movie (thanks, CrazY CroaTia)
- Not fully FUD-related, but it looks like it's part of the promo material - Frank put together a list of 'his favorite Halo videos' - to see them, click the 'Watch Frank's Playlist' annotation in the top left. Some good stuff in here.
- If you want some high-res promo assets, swing by the Xbox.com Press site - there are new photos, logos, and artwork.
Go explore! (Louis Wu 13:37:07 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-themed Fundraiser - lots of goodies!
Dogiojoe let us know about a new fundraiser to benefit Child's Play and Idaho Parents Unlimited - there's a ton of cool 343-signed schwag to snag, so swing by and see what you can do to get your hands on some!
(Louis Wu 13:35:17 UTC) (permalink)
Project Lumoria - Out Now
Project Lumoria was released today - we heard from SirBobbington, who pointed out the Project Lumoria Media page, and the ModDB.com downloads page... we heard from Dennis Powers, who pointed out the Halo CE Maps download page... and we heard from MatthewDratt, who pointed out the above links, along with a release video on YouTube, and a forum discussion on HaloMaps.com. Go grab your copy!
(Louis Wu 13:32:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 lands in Sydney
Halo 4 makes an appearance at EBGames Expo in Sydney, Australia this weekend - ninemsn has an interview with Josh Holmes about what you might expect. Go watch!
(Louis Wu 13:28:40 UTC) (permalink)
HTR Pick of the week #3 - Exterminations Montage
HT Edge sent word that the latest Halotracker Pick of the Week Montage, focused on Exterminations, is now live - you can vote for your favorites!
(Louis Wu 13:28:00 UTC) (permalink)
Forward Unto Dawn, Chapter 1
The first chapter of Forward Unto Dawn went live this morning - swing by Machinima Prime's YouTube channel (or Halo Waypoint) to watch! Get a close look at Corbulo Academy's Hastati squad, and future Infinity commander Thomas Lasky - it's 20 minutes long, and it's a great look into the FUD characters! Check it out. Update: Here's a review from SenadorKooch (spoiler-free), if you want to know what you're getting into. (Louis Wu 11:29:54 UTC) (permalink)
News October 4 2012
The Pelican Rises at Midnight
Mid7night decided to beat tomorrow's flood of FUD information with a video showing off his Halo 3 Pelican in X-Plane... nice! (Louis Wu 22:31:19 UTC) (permalink)
An early look at Meltdown
2900d4u (and his brother, 2good4u2) pointed out an IGN walkthrough on the Dutch-branded version of the site that might have gone up a bit early. It shows off Meltdown, one of the last two Multiplayer maps (this one's a big one, made for Big-Team vehicle combat). Go check it out while you can! (There are also walkthroughs of Complex and Adrift that haven't been publicized yet.) Update: these are all offline now. Hope you got to see 'em first! (Louis Wu 20:45:22 UTC) (permalink)
LEGO Halo 4 Battle Rifle
Black Six sent us a link to Nick Jensen's latest LEGO creation - a Halo 4 Battle Rifle... life-sized! Amazing.
(Louis Wu 20:42:01 UTC) (permalink)
PGCR 133
Robowski sent word that Post Game Carnage Report 133 is live - Halo 4 armor abilities, Promethean weapons, and a court session! Go listen.
(Louis Wu 20:40:53 UTC) (permalink)
Requiem Episode 13
HAL0 M4N let us know about Requiem Episode 13 - recordings, a possibility of a cure, and lots of zombie killing. Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:39:49 UTC) (permalink)
Wednesday Night is Co-op Night... except this week
Kermit wanted to remind everyone that due to the presidential debate last night, Co-op night this week was moved to Thursday (tonight). Be there, or miss Floodgate! (Louis Wu 17:30:40 UTC) (permalink)
Energy Legs
RedGrimRune stopped in with word of a new Halo-related 6th Circle comic... I've HAD that conversation. Including the punchline. (Louis Wu 17:08:06 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Ragnarok Walkthrough With 343i/IGN
IGN has a walkthrough of Ragnarok (the Valhalla remake in Halo 4), with commentary by 343's Kynan Pearson. Go watch! Thanks, CyReN. (Louis Wu 16:16:18 UTC) (permalink)
Flight of Fancy
robofin117 noticed a Doctor Who Halo machinima - if you like the concept of a Halo in your Tardis, check this out! (Louis Wu 16:12:48 UTC) (permalink)
Murder Miners Remakes
A few weeks ago, we mentioned Murder Miners - a low-res indie game that draws lots of inspiration from Halo. Over at NeoGAF, Awesome Barlow pointed out this thread on the Murder Miners forum - it contains all the user-created maps that remake classics from other games (mostly Halo, but CS is represented too). Amazing! (Louis Wu 15:45:20 UTC) (permalink)
Seal the blast doors!
Bravo made another of his literal breakdowns of a Halo trailer - this one looks at the Prometheans video. Awesome. (Louis Wu 15:44:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 X-Play Preview Exclusive
G4TV sat down with Kiki Wolfkill to discuss Halo 4 - and the interview contains some new campaign footage. (As always, stay away if you're staying dark.) Thanks, CyReN. (THC's Clicked actually summarizes the new stuff in a spoiler-containing video on their YouTube channel.) (Louis Wu 15:43:18 UTC) (permalink)
Oh the maps
On Monday, A Halo Fan...natic posted a great parody of Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used To Know' - and the thread turned into poetry gold. (That might be a slight exaggeration.) I'd meant to highlight it then, but got distracted. Please don't penalize the participants for my carelessness... go read! (And participate!) (Louis Wu 15:41:40 UTC) (permalink)
It's Like We All Get a Golden Ticket
This week's Halo Bulletin was delivered to us in golden fashion not only by the ever-svelte bs angel, but by the Halonian High-Queen herself, Bonnie "You're in Good Hands" Ross. The wise mother-spark lent her own words to assist the fans in gaining a more intimate grasp of the herculean task that 343 Industries undertook over the past few years to bring us the upcoming joy that will be Halo 4. It's a fabulous peer inside the studio's efforts, and a perfect match to bs angel's delivery of new screenshots and information from both the new Flood Mode as well as the new map, Abandon. A few remaining sprinkles on the update cupcake will certainly hold you entertained until next week's edition... or at least until Friday, when Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn debuts. At any rate, go read! Update, Thurs 9am ET: The local version is now online. Apologies for the delay! (GrimBrother One 05:32:56 UTC) (permalink)
News October 3 2012
Urk Was Always on OUR A-list
The [a]list just put up a great video interview with Bungie's Eric Osborne Eric discusses Bungie's history, how they interact with their fans and community, and some thoughts on the company's future. Go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 20:08:36 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Soundtrack Remix Contest
Hypertrooper pointed out a Halo 4 Remix Soundtrack contest - there's an official video from Xbox UK (you can download it off the US Press site, as well - thanks, Morpheus), and a contest website to enter your own remix. You've got until October 29 to submit an entry, and prizes are pretty impressive (grand prize package includes a Samsung laptop, a Halo 4 LE 360, a Tritton Halo 4 headset, and a full collection of Official Halo soundtracks - there are plenty of lesser prizes). Get to remixing! (Louis Wu 18:03:21 UTC) (permalink)
More Difficult to Achieve?
xbox360achievements has their Halo 4 Campaign Preview up and live. Go and see what they thought! BE WARNED there are some pretty heavy spoilers. Don't read if you are dark. (GrimBrother One 17:15:01 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Crow's Nest, Legendary, 9:46
Wow. NOKYARD stopped by NeoGAF to point out a speedrun on Crow's Nest by HISTORY100, a new Japanese speedrunner. This video contains all sorts of new techniques that cut almost a minute off the existing Solo Legendary record. Riding the Drones... that's a first, for me. Go watch! Update: RC Master let us know that a render with English-language audio is up on HighSpeedHalo, if you would rather listen to that. (Louis Wu 14:13:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Tournament in South Africa
It looks like Microsoft South Africa is hosting a Halo 4 tourney, with the top prize being a trip to Gamescom 2013 (in Cologne, Germany) next August. Not too shabby! If you live in SA, sign up! Thanks, TheOddOne.
(Louis Wu 14:08:24 UTC) (permalink)
IGN's look at Halo, 10 years out
IGN decided to take a look down the road, and to speculate about where some of their favorite game franchises might be in 10 years. Halo's on the list - go see what they came up with! Thanks, UNKNOWN iXi. (Louis Wu 13:45:44 UTC) (permalink)
October 3 Wednesday Night Grifbrawl
Kal, from GrifballHub, let us know about tonight's Wednesday Night Grifbrawl - Ball So Hard is facing off against Hot Bikini Guyz. It's a best of 3 series - swing by their live stream at 9pm to watch all the action! (Louis Wu 13:43:06 UTC) (permalink)
News October 2 2012
Halo 4 Flood Multiplayer Mode Walkthrough
IGN also has a direct-feed Flood mode video - Kevin Franklin tells you all about the mode. Thanks, IHaveIce. (Louis Wu 17:32:46 UTC) (permalink)
Words and Sounds
It's been a busy few days, and I've been remiss - Bungie has published a new Mail Sack (heist movies, nicknames, and advice for the lovelorn) and a new Breaking In (Stephen Hodde, Audio Designer, awesome stories) since late last week - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 17:23:17 UTC) (permalink)
IGN Introduces Abandon
IGN has a video with 343's Kynan Pearson introducing yet another new multiplayer map - this one's called Abandon. It's a small (4v4), asymmetrical map geared towards CTF, though it looks like it'll work nicely in Slayer as well. It's an abandoned science facility - can't wait to try it out! Thanks, Beckx. Update: The Halo Council already has a breakdown for you (thanks, CyReN). (Louis Wu 16:41:41 UTC) (permalink)
Mantis, Ep 1
Hedgemony also paid tribute to the new Mantis, with a new comic cover. I'd read that!
(Louis Wu 16:40:35 UTC) (permalink)
DaE Eurogamer Special
New content from the Dust and Echoes crew - they've got a Eurogamer Special podcast, covering their impressions of the event (and new Halo 4 material revealed there), as well as the first episode of DAE TV, showing off a new map and some 1v1 CTF. Go listen, go watch!
(Louis Wu 16:36:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 Mantis Desktop Wallpaper Pack
Firestream was pretty impressed with the Mantis - so much so that he created a set of wallpapers in tribute. Go grab some! (Louis Wu 16:33:56 UTC) (permalink)
High-profile toy spotting
We have a pretty strict no-politics policy on our forum, but this isn't really politics, per se... Mig noticed that Halo toys show up at the beginning of one of the most recent Obama promotion pieces. Nice! (Louis Wu 16:27:32 UTC) (permalink)
Remember Me How I Was
Red vs Blue Season 10 Episode 17 went live last night - Church helps Carolina come to grips with some feelings... and (re)learns some critical pieces of the puzzle. Good stuff! Go watch.
(Louis Wu 16:24:33 UTC) (permalink)
The next Halo novel is up for sale
The Thursday War is now available - get your copy today! (Louis Wu 16:14:58 UTC) (permalink)
Walshy grenade tutorial
MLG celeb Walshy has released a video that looks at how grenades have worked in past Halo games... and speculates on what this means in Halo 4. I found it fascinating - definitely worth your time. Thanks, Pok3R Fac3D.
(Louis Wu 16:10:08 UTC) (permalink)
One final Ollie is All that Remains
I saw this yesterday on Halo Waypoint, but didn't get to posting it - Globe is creating Halo-branded shoes and a skateboard. Funky! (Louis Wu 16:08:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4 | Enlist Now
If you live in Europe, Microsoft is running a promotion that might interest you. Twenty lucky fans (five each from the UK, France, Spain, and Germany) will be whisked to an unknown location on October 30 for what will almost certainly be an amazing experience. You must be 18 years or older, and you must be a resident of the country associated with the landing page you fill out. Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 16:04:58 UTC) (permalink)
Videos, and videos, and videos, creep in their petty pace
More Eurogamer content:
- The Halo Council's web guy, Kritical, shares his opinions (thanks, CyReN)
- CheckpointGamesFeed gets footage of a private presentation on Halo 4 (thanks, ElzarTheBam)
- LiteralGaming has 11 minutes of Flood gamplay on Complex - thanks, CyReN
- This video has some pretty impressive gameplay - thanks, Garrett 2U
The off-screen footage just keeps coming! (Louis Wu 16:00:12 UTC) (permalink)
Dun dun dun daaa
I laughed - thanks, padraig08.
(Louis Wu 15:56:11 UTC) (permalink)
News October 1 2012
Snyde Remarks
Recently, 343 Industries' Lead Campaign Designer, Jesse Snyder, took some time to take some questions from the community over Twitter. Fortunately, he decided to forgo the 140-character limitation of the little bird network and post the answers on his blog. It's a really great read, and it might answer some questions you have yourself. Go and check it out! Thanks to Vire for pointing it out. (GrimBrother One 20:22:17 UTC) (permalink)
Unlock and Load - Live!
The DewXP.com website is now live - visit for prizes, rules, and more. (Everything goes active on October 15 - there's a handy-dandy countdown on the page to let you know when you can start entering codes.) (Louis Wu 16:58:04 UTC) (permalink)
RC's VGS: Assassinating Sword Elites
RC Master has kicked off a new YouTube channel - RC's Video Game School. The first video, as he showed on our forum, will teach you how to assassinate Sword Elites in Halo: Reach's campaign. (Yeah... this probably isn't as easy as he makes it look.) (Louis Wu 16:09:22 UTC) (permalink)
Valhalla and the Mantis - Part 2
More Ragnarok/Mantis stuff - Paul B. put up a 9-minute game showing a couple of runs in the Mantis (thanks, CyReN), while Shadders wrote up his thoughts on his blog. HaloForum put together a compilation vid showing offscreen Mantis video (thanks, ElzarTheBam). Frank added a couple of comments to assure folks that the Mantis isn't going to be TOO overwhelming. Update: MixMaker1 let us know he's put up impressions, as well. (Louis Wu 15:55:28 UTC) (permalink)
High-level Haven gameplay
We've seen a lot of off-screen Halo 4 footage, but not a huge amount of high-level gameplay. CyReN pointed out links to some gameplay by BilzozANinja - this video shows a 5-minute game that includes a Sticky Detonator Extermination (it happens right at the end of the game, but there's quite a bit of decent DMR/Carbine gameplay before that), while this one shows a seriously impressive 29-0 run. (This one might worry some of you a little; we had word after E3 that ordnance drops would get harder and harder as the game goes along, to counteract the 'rich get richer' effect... but this guy gets drops after 6, 8, 6, 8 kills, due to huge bonuses for things like a Running Riot, Untouchable, etc.) This last one also gives you a great view of the destructive power of the SAW.
(Louis Wu 15:49:20 UTC) (permalink)
HBO vs The World vs The Mongoose
NartFOpc and some friends were playing in Matchmaking, and most of the other team quit. Sometimes... you gotta make your own fun! (Louis Wu 15:46:02 UTC) (permalink)
CHa0s' Pet Promethean
AddiCt3d 2CHa0s put together a small progression vid showing his work on a 'pet Promethean' - pretty cool!
(Louis Wu 15:45:42 UTC) (permalink)
Visualizing the Halo Universe: Week 1 Winner and Feedback
Postmortem announced the winner of the first week's entries for his Visualizing the Halo Universe contest - congrats, TDSpiral! Check out the post for comments on all entries! (Louis Wu 15:44:16 UTC) (permalink)
Ragnarok - and the Mantis
The big news this morning is a double-punch - it's information that came out last week, unofficially, but the embargo has been raised, and 343 wants you to get an eyeful. Halo 3's Valhalla is back... in Halo 4, it's called Ragnarok. (The remake, at least what we can see of it in the new trailer on Halo Waypoint, or the new image gallery of scenery shots, looks to be pretty faithful to the original.) The second punch? The Mantis, a multiplayer vehicle we saw in renders last week, is playable on this map (and the video has footage). Greenskull already has an impressions video up - go see what he thinks of the map, and the mech! On our own forum, uberfoop kicked off a discussion thread - go add your two cents! Update: looks like I should have held off just a little - nomis78 announced a CommunityCustoms writeup, and CyReN let us know about a HaloCouncil breakdown from xClicked. Folks have been chomping at the bit to talk about this! Update 2: Until Halo Waypoint gets it up onto their own channel, there's a HD version of the Mantis vid on YouTube, posted by GoombaStompShow - nice for folks who can't get Silverlight to work. (Louis Wu 11:02:33 UTC) (permalink)
| October 2012 | |
