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Friday, November 5, 2004 |  |
The View from Here
Marcie O'Donnell, long-suffering wife of audio god Marty O'Donnell, has put down on paper (well, a hard drive somewhere, anyway) her thoughts about the upcoming release of Halo 2. What it brings, what it takes away. How it's different from what we had before. It makes some assumptions (like, there aren't any female players - not true, but I suppose in the overall picture, it's a decent-enough generalization), but it's funny, and it's true, and it's worth reading. If you're a player, read this and remember the women who support you (wives, girlfriends, mothers). Maybe even show this to them and have THEM read it. And then reflect on how lucky Marty is to have found this woman. (Louis Wu 23:01:22 UTC) (permalink)
Free stuff for pics
If you're going to a Halo 2 event... bring a camera. Your pics might win you cool stuff from Major Nelson. Thanks, Cybrfrk. (Louis Wu 22:19:30 UTC) (permalink)
HiaLH, part 5
For folks still downloading pieces of Heart is a Lonely Hunter we've got part 5 online for you today - 28 mb, QuickTime format, from both mythica.org and bungie.org. Enjoy! (Last piece will probably go up this weekend... unless I forget.) Don't forget to visit the website for more info! (Louis Wu 21:42:25 UTC) (permalink)
MLG writes up Cold Pizza
Nice writeup on the Cold Pizza event by Dolbex, of MLGPro.com. Some good pics, too. (Free registration required for the pics.) Go look! Thanks, nof. (Louis Wu 21:05:33 UTC) (permalink)
He's thinking about setting up a shrine...
Ramon Ochoa, a man who "hated first person shooters with a passion until Halo came along", sent along a couple of pictures of some new construction in his home (here and here), plus a bonus pic of the stealth invader. Amazing what this game generates in its fans... (Louis Wu 20:50:23 UTC) (permalink)
Halo is teh funni
Web Comics related to Halo today (that we know of):
- Queen of Wands - funny, barely safe for work (thanks, AZC)
- Carzorthade - Nightmare Armor related... I can sympathize with the sentiment (thanks, NiceMissMayonnaise)
- Don't forget w00tness - the Halo series continues (and gets serious)
I'll bet good money that there are more, as Tuesday approaches. Update: Sippan wanted to make clear that he, too, had a web comic with Halo material - that it was 5 months ago is irrelevant. Sippan - consider yourself linked. (Louis Wu 20:37:31 UTC) (permalink)
Cold Pizza Halo 2 Footage
Conner, a stalwart of Clan Plaid (a group of Old Ones, in Bungie terms) managed to capture yesterday's Cold Pizza footage on ESPN yesterday - there's a nice interview with Sundance Digiovanni, of Major League Gaming, with some Halo 2 playing in the background. If you don't blink, you'll see our own Miguel Chavez, the king of BS, wearing a Clan Plaid shirt and whaling away in the first 15 seconds or so. The video is 23.1 mb large, in QuickTime .mp4 format, and you can grab it from files2.bungie.org. (I just tested it on a Windows XP machine with a current version of QuickTime (NOT Pro), and it works fine, so please don't send us mail telling us it's broken. There's no time right now to re-encode, and no bandwidth to host a second copy if someone ELSE re-encodes... remember how much you're paying for this, folks!) Update: Conner points out that if you're having trouble playing the .mp4 files, grab a copy of VLC Media Player - it works flawlessly with mp4s, it's free, and it's available on pretty much any platform (you might have trouble finding an executable for a Timex Sinclair, but otherwise...). I know nobody reads these news posts any more... but really, the file DOES work, the link is NOT broken, and if you're having trouble, it's on YOUR end. Thanks. (Louis Wu 18:03:34 UTC) (permalink)
Screenshots to Die For
XLNC is saying goodbye to Halo HUDless screens - with a pretty darn impressive sendoff. Check out his 11th, and final, batch of screens - the man has an eye for this stuff. Awesome. (Louis Wu 17:51:13 UTC) (permalink)
The posters are here! The posters are here!
W00t! Halo 2 posters - FINALLY AVAILABLE at the Bungie Store. (There's also a calendar.) Check 'em out! (Thanks, Ryan.) Update: And a hat! (Thanks, Stormwraith) (Louis Wu 17:12:34 UTC) (permalink)
Beaten at your own game.
Boxer created a very special HBO-hosted Adventures in Disaster today, commenting on Spike TV's Ultimate Gamer presentation (it showed last night, and will be on again on both Saturday and Sunday). It also owes a tip-o'-the-hat to One One Se7en - where do you think that joke came from originally? So while we're tipping One One Se7en, we might as well put up today's strip - because there are enough Stuntmutt-related news posts already today, and because burying this one and the shot it takes at our forum isn't such a bad thing. So read 'em both. (Louis Wu 16:55:17 UTC) (permalink)
Clan Linkage appears at B.net
Bungie.net has begun the upgrade process to prepare for Halo 2 - well, they began it a long time ago, but we're starting to see the new features. If you have a 7th Column Chapter, you'll notice a new sidebar - Halo 2 Clans. You can now link up to 7 clans to your chapter. (Of course, you have to CREATE and register your clan first - which means you have to get Halo 2. Still... it's lookin' good!) Thanks to Narcogen at Rampancy.net, who found this on cookedgamers.net. (Louis Wu 16:34:47 UTC) (permalink)
Latex Masks - no auctions, but still available
Matt Geuther, of maskmasters.com, wrote to say that eBay pulled his Latex Master Chief mask auctions (we mentioned them a couple of times recently) - but that he's willing to sell them to you directly. Pictures can be seen in the oldest news post about this - our local copy of the eBay auction is still up, and contact info is on his website. (Louis Wu 16:18:24 UTC) (permalink)
Polls, polls, everywhere...
Generally, we're opposed to polls - they're popularity contests, not real bellweathers of public opinion. However, the masses like 'em, so... There are a couple to note today - first is the Gamespy Grudge match we mentioned a few days ago; Halo 2 is holding on against Half-Life 2... but only by the slimmest of margins; they have a 500 point lead (out of more than 50,000 total votes). This doesn't end until the 9th - see what you can do! (Reminder thanks go to Cyberg4.) Likewise, over at Game Music Online (a place that should LOVE Halo, because it's got some of the best in-game music out there), The Master Chief is being crushed by the competition (Sepiroth from FF7, Link from Zelda, and Dante from Devil May Cry, among others) for the title of 'coolest male video game character' - this isn't right! (Thanks, FattestMatt.)
From: "Matt Hiebert"
The British - they're subtle, you know.
Stuntmutt and Ross Mills have both reported in with word of a new ad campaign in the UK - Stuntmutt heard a radio ad that was truly subtle:
10 sec if I'm any judge - it was the Halo monks chanting the theme. Then a deep, old man's voice says "from November 11th, work won't matter any more." No other branding.
(Classy!) If we can get copies of these (and permission to host them), we will. Likewise, Ross saw Halo 2 posters up around a college campus in southern England with the tagline "Come November 11th, Lectures won't matter any more." These are my kind of ads! Update: Ross tells us it was Tiana Whatley who actually found the posters. (Louis Wu 16:06:06 UTC) (permalink)
Gamespy interviews Nile Rogers
Speaking of Nile Rogers, Gamespy continues their week-long coverage with an interview of the man, discussing how he got involved in the soundtracks, and on to more general topics, like how music fits into games (and how it differs from other entertainment media). It's huge, and it's fascinating. Go read. Many people sent this in - looks like DirtyDozen was the first. (Louis Wu 15:43:48 UTC) (permalink)
Steve Vai Recording Sessions - on tape
New content at Nilerogers.com - they've put up video recorded during the Steve Vai sessions. Streaming vid (Flash format) - a great look behind the scenes! Check it out. Update: Oops! In my haste to mention the video piece, I neglected the new audio snippet also available - Connected, by Hoobastank. The snippet is 1:20 long, and 1.3 mb large, and sounds very different from everything that's come before it. Go listen (and check out the new mini-screen on the Listening Station Flash page!). (Louis Wu 15:36:50 UTC) (permalink)
Interview with some web guy
HALO4U has updated his eponymous website - including an interview with... um, me. Except for getting my gender wrong on the front page (I suppose Louis looks a lot like Louise), it's a solid representation - go read. (Louis Wu 15:25:33 UTC) (permalink)
Psst! Wanna copy of that ILB Commemorative DVD?
It's been mentioned around the net (for example, here on Rampancy.net) that attendees to yesterdays's I Love Bees 'Training Exercises' (multiplayer Halo 2 gameplay) received commemorative DVDs - at least one person has already ripped it and put it up for BitTorrent download. Unfortunately, there's only a single seed at the moment (with a full copy), so downloads will be relatively slow until more people finish the download. If you're up for a 2.4 GB download, and want to see what was given out to the lucky attendees, this might be your chance. (Thanks to Mike J for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 15:20:32 UTC) (permalink)
Piracy - it's the next big thing.
Matt Slagle wrote a sizeable piece on piracy, and how it's affecting gamemakers, for the AP newswire. So far I've seen it on Yahoo News, MSN.com, The Globe and Mail (Canada), and the Washington Post. I'm sure it'll show up elsewhere. It's a good read - and not just because he quoted me. :-> Thanks to everyone who wrote in about this. (Louis Wu 15:06:23 UTC) (permalink)
Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect 200 GP
FTC 15, released to members a few days ago, is now available to the masses. 9:10 long, in DivX and QuickTime formats, weighing in at 32 and 31 mb, respectively... go watch. (There are BitTorrent links you should use if you can.) Thanks, Andrew! (Louis Wu 15:02:12 UTC) (permalink)
Next Stop: New Mombasa
Halo Babies has posted the final episode in the 30-strip series that started in April. The door's open, though... the news post makes it clear that Gruntsbane is taking a break for a bit - the site will continue with fan art and contests, but new 'official' strips will be a little bit down the road. (Louis Wu 14:55:42 UTC) (permalink)
We gotta dial back.
Just a quick note - individual shops that are having special events at midnight on Tuesday have begun to write to us, asking us to let people know what they're up to. I'd love to - but we can't (unless you want the news page of this site to consist of hundreds of these announcements every day). I'll make a blanket statement - a HUGE percentage of gaming emporiums are doing something cool on Monday night - call your favorite and see what's up there! (Sorry about this.) (Louis Wu 08:26:44 UTC) (permalink)
Local Lad Makes Good
Ontario's London Free Press has an article on enigmatic Cananimator Nathan "bentllama" Walpole, a native of that fine city. Some good background there, for all you Llama-fans. ;-) Thanks go to NiZZZZ for the mention. Update: Just to give credit where it was due - Steve Patterson sent in a scan (202K) of this article early this morning - I was simply holding it until the newspaper was no longer for sale. [-lwu] (mnemesis 03:57:40 UTC) (permalink)
The Rivas Report, pt. II
Ace unpaid and unofficial reporter John Rivas notes that IGN's latest countdown article deals with the ILB experience, which apparently ended last night. More news as events warrant. (mnemesis 03:46:06 UTC) (permalink)
The Rivas Report
John Rivas writes to mention that Gamespot has an article (as does IGN) that discusses a few stores in the midwestern states that may or may not have broken the retail date embargo. Before you go careening down the highway, crossing state lines, evading the various law enforcement agencies of the land, and ending up in a huge destructive car chase through downtown Chicago, make sure you read the article(s). And remember that Microsoft legal is probably way ahead of you. (mnemesis 03:44:29 UTC) (permalink)
Watching My Back at ESPN
As mentioned a few posts back, I made it into ESPN's Cold Pizza Halo 2 event today. My experiences are relayed here! (Ding 03:17:12 UTC) (permalink)
Beta Stats - sort of
A number of people noticed that Bungie.net's Stats page was up for a short time - at the moment, it seems that ALL of Bungie.net is down. I'd expect it'll be like this for the next few days - they've got an awful lot of stuff that has to work by Tuesday, so be patient. (Louis Wu 00:29:42 UTC) (permalink)
Another G4 Halo 2 Day Commercial
ZiplocBodyBag and Cybrfrk have grabbed a second G4TV commercial starring the RvB team - this one is Church and Sarge, and it's only 10 seconds. 1.6 mb, hi-res QuickTime format. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 00:06:40 UTC) (permalink)
Thursday's news in brief:
Wednesday's news in brief:
