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Tuesday, August 24, 2004 |  |
Halo 2 Countdown Widget
Almost lost in the insane postage about Bees and discussions of BitTorrent, a post last night from Joshua Pettigrew pointed out a Konfabulator Widget he created to count down to the release of Halo 2. Konfabulator is a Javascript engine that runs on the MacOSX desktop - if you don't have MacOSX, you don't need this widget. (Louis Wu 20:33:14 UTC) (permalink)
Zanzibar Gameplay - in Hi-Res Glory
In the past few days, many sites have put up shakeycam video of public Halo 2 play - and many sites have been shut down by the demand. The sad thing is... quality has been HORRIBLE on almost every single released movie. Demand is still huge, because people want to see how this game plays... but it's like trying to enjoy the dance by rubbing a clear spot in the glass on the outside of the barn. Dolbex managed to grab almost 20 minutes of direct-feed footage of an 4v4 at last weekend's MLG-hosted Downpour event in Seattle, and he's shunted it over to us for release to the masses. Before you get a link, there are a few things you should know:
- This is NOT the final version of Halo 2; this is the E3 build of the map Zanzibar, created 4 months ago, and VASTLY altered since that point. If you see something that you don't like, chances are Bungie saw it also, and fixed it.
- There is no public demo of this level; this event wasn't even on the list of public Halo 2 showings. It was not mentioned beforehand because Bungie wanted it to be a surprise for the MLG guests, and because they didn't want people coming to the tournament SPECIFICALLY for Halo 2. In other words; this was a one-time deal, don't expect to see another showing like this.
- The game depicted here is mostly MLG staff and volunteers; the screen you're watching is mrsmiley, of Halo Babies.
- If you like this stuff, there is about an hour and half MORE footage at MLGpro.com and is primarily pro players playing Halo 2 in the world's first Halo2 tourney. Players like Ogre 1, Strangepurple, Darkman, Ogre 2, and Zyos. You can view it by becoming a member of Video On Demand ($20 to help support HaloTV/server costs).
All that said, I've taken Dolbex's footage and encoded it to a not-server-crushing 123 mb, and we're releasing it via BitTorrent. If you don't have a BitTorrent client, you can grab one here. Once you've got that, point it to our Seattle Halo 2 Footage seed, and don't forget to leave the window open when you're finished, to share the bandwidth love! The demand for this file is going to be huge; you can make it less painful to everyone involved by chipping in. (Later today, I'll release a smaller segment for bandwidth-challenged folks... please be patient.) Update: A lot of people seem unfamiliar with BitTorrent, and are complaining about slow download speeds. An explanation of exactly why this is happening and how BitTorrent works is beyond the scope of this post. However, the reason we are inflicting BitTorrent on you is that given the size of this movie and the tremendous demand for it, this is the only way we (or anyone short of, say, FilePlanet) could afford to host this movie. Bandwidth costs money- lots of bandwidth costs LOTS of money, way more than any fansite can afford. Just remember, when you finish downloading, please don't close the BitTorrent window. Think of it as a favor to the community that has brought you this movie- you just downloaded it from all the people who didn't close their windows either, and everyone who downloads it later will be able to do so thanks to you. Every little bit counts, so please help us justify posting more movies like this in the future. (Updated by CZ) (Louis Wu 15:58:41 UTC) (permalink)
When Pigs Fly
Alpha Base is launching (ugh) a new contest - it's... omg, it's a regular warthog jump contest. Launch a warthog as high and for as long as you can, win prizes. Man, i do NOT envy the judges of this thing... Go read the details over at their site. Heads-up goes to Verdafolio. (Louis Wu 11:55:32 UTC) (permalink)
Lots and Lots and LOTS of 2v2 footage
(GT)Juggler points out that he's got tons of 2v2 footage on the HaloGT website (redesigned and overhauled, by the way); all the individual matches from the 2v2 mini-tournament that happened at the Dead Babies LANfest a few weeks ago are online on his media page. The 9 regular films have no sound (though they still average over 20 mb each), and the 3 finals have sound, and are a bit meatier. Go see what you can grab! (Louis Wu 11:45:19 UTC) (permalink)
Next Up: MC on a Pogo Stick
Nil, building on some community speculation, finished off this picture of a new Halo 2 vehicle... but then confirmed that the MC could do worse. Thanks to Anton P. Nym for starting this whole mess. (Louis Wu 11:33:02 UTC) (permalink)
Big Cortana
MrSmiley mentions that Halo Babies has a Fan Strip up today, and wanted to point out that their Avatar contest (ending soon) is now open for voting to members of the site. Check it out! (Louis Wu 11:22:49 UTC) (permalink)
Monday's news in brief:
Sunday's news in brief:
