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Wednesday, November 10, 2004 |  |
I gotchyer JNAM right here...
mnemesis has resurrected the Acronym issue, now that Halo 2 has been released. If you don't know what this means, read his article at our sister site Bungie Sightings. If you DO know what this means, read it as well... and add your comments. We need brains! (Mmmm... brains... oh, wait, that's Wideload. Never mind.) (Louis Wu 21:33:05 UTC) (permalink)
Thunderdome
In the downtime yesterday, Red vs Blue released Episode 42 (30-50 mb or so), which was odd... and today, they've released Episode 43, which is HUGE (90-100 mb, depending on flavor, for more than 10 minutes of video), which incorporates both the Halo 2 engine... and the product of mind-altering drugs. (I'm not sure what ELSE would explain it.) It's pretty funny... but man, it's weird. (The ending is brilliant, though.) Go grab 'em both. (Louis Wu 21:27:32 UTC) (permalink)
Schwagtacular!
The Bungie Store has even more new stuff for you to covet. Now, the hotly-anticipated Art of Halo Coffee Table Book has been added, along with a few notepads. Go! Buy! Read! Write! Update: fullbore points out that anybody interested in getting an autographed/personalized copy of this book can buy one through Olympic Cards and Comics, which is owned and operated by Eric Trautmann's wife (Eric, of course, being the author of the book). fullbore said that she's happy to hook up any fans with a copy of the book if they can't make it in to the in-store tourney/book signing happening this Saturday. (He's just a satisfied customer, and has nothing to gain from this info.) This is just an option - you're free to buy anywhere you want (as long as you buy SOMEWHERE, of course.) (mnemesis 19:49:12 UTC) (permalink)
The inside of the offices
Robert Valdes, who recently interviewed Pete Parsons for the website How Stuff Works, has written up his experience in the Bungie offices. Nice read. Thanks, Rip-Saw. (Louis Wu 18:00:49 UTC) (permalink)
LAME! and Not Lame.
Couple of new articles for you - a nice writeup in the Washington Post (it had five paragraphs on the front page of the paper, plus an entire page in the middle section - web version requires (free) registration) - except for labeling Joe Staten as the 'leader of Bungie Studios' (I'm not sure Joe would agree with that, though you never know), it does a nice job of describing the shift in perceptions towards video games in recent years, and the role Halo 2 will play in that shift. (Thanks, Wintermute.) And the winner of the 'lamest bentllama quote evar!' (bentllama's very own evaluation) goes to the last line of this CBC News article. Well, you can't be cool all the time. (Louis Wu 17:06:16 UTC) (permalink)
343 Guilt O' Lantern Winners
On September 30, we announced the 343 Guilt O' Lantern contest, looking for the best Halo-carved pumpkin of 2004. Entries flooded in - 86 of them - and on November 2, we posted the entire collection, and asked the Halo community to vote for their favorites. Over 4000 of you did, casting more than 18,000 votes - and we have our winners! The Results page contains scores for all pumpkins, as well as the names of each pumpkin's creator - for all pumpkins that received more than 100 votes. (One thing I found rather interesting - the quality of your pumpkin photography made a REALLY big difference. There are some nearly identical pumpkins that got wildly different scores... and the cause seems clear; if your photo did a lousy job of showing off your pumpkin's detail, folks didn't vote for it, even if it was a great carving job. Something to remember for the next time...) Winners will be notified by email about their prizes - but congrats to EVERYONE who entered, and thanks to the thousands who helped us pick the winners! (Louis Wu 15:46:11 UTC) (permalink)
Putting The c0ld In Vengeance
Stuntmutt exploits a fellow Brit in today's One One Se7en. Just a few more hours... (Louis Wu 15:39:50 UTC) (permalink)
Eggs, Tricks, and Spoilers (oh my!)
We've already received more than half-a-dozen egg reports, or Halo 2 tricks - here's the policy on those. I haven't figured out how we're going to handle Halo 2 tricks yet - but we WILL start posting news about them beginning on Friday. (This way, the European contingent won't be TEMPTED to look before they at least have a chance to buy Halo 2.) Spoiler-laden material will not be posted before Friday, either; yes, there's a new spoiler system in place to block it if you don't want to see it... but sometimes the simple presence is enough for folks to give in. Speaking of the spoiler system - there seems to be an issue with machines that use Windows XP with SP2 installed - something in this configuration is blocking the acceptance of the cookies. I don't have an SP2-equipped machine here, so I can't test it (the cookie system works fine on my XP/SP1 box), so if anyone has any suggestions about WHY SP2 might be keeping the system from working, I'm all ears. Thanks! (Louis Wu 15:15:31 UTC) (permalink)
More on the Battle Guide
A few weeks ago, Ross Mills found a 'Halo 2 Battle Guide' on Amazon UK. There was almost no information. There's now a cover photo and a synopsis - apparently, it will teach you not just to get through the room, but to be a better gamer. Still no word on when it will actually be released ('December' is as specific as it gets). (Louis Wu 15:00:23 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Widescreen problems?
A large number of threads over at the Bungie.net and TeamXbox forums have sprung up in complaint at the way Widescreen mode works in Halo 2. Apparently, multiplayer,
vertical-splitscreen mode is great... but in regular campaign mode, many parts of the HUD are offscreen to some degree. I don't have time to check all the threads, but if you're interested in this subject, you can find them here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (thanks, Joseph Bat). If we get any official word on this, we'll be sure to pass it along. (Louis Wu 14:54:59 UTC) (permalink)
Shunji talks death
Interesting article (and interesting comments) over at Mat Noguchi's blog; a look at why some gamers might not appreciate the checkpoint system. Thanks, Ross. (Louis Wu 14:51:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Tribute vid
Btcc22, of TouringNet.co.uk, wrote to tell us that a Halo Tribute Video is online at his site. 61 mb, WMP9 format. 1:30 of screenshots, followed by 10+ minutes of single and multiplay footage. (Louis Wu 14:50:14 UTC) (permalink)
Truth to Mercy
Several people have sent in translations of the coded message in the 'Conversations with the Universe' booklet that comes with the Limited Edition of Halo 2. I've chosen KOPD's version because it comes with a handy-dandy translator, and it's already on the web... but thanks, too, to HeroicDarby and Ben Artes for sending in copies. If you're still without a copy of LE, and you're expecting one, hold off on this until yours comes; it's fun to try and translate it yourself. (Louis Wu 14:33:39 UTC) (permalink)
A taste of the strategy guide
Piggyback Interactive has put up a 12-page sampler of the Halo 2 Strategy Guide for download (3.8 mb, free registration required). There's enough there to 1) spoil early levels for you, and 2) give you a decent sense of the quality of the guide. Some very nice work there! Thanks, Benn. (Louis Wu 14:28:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo press around the net
First off, let me get some of the press out of the way. There's a LOT of it. (Surprise, surprise.) I've broken things into categories; I'm sure there's stuff I missed, and I'm also sure that some things are duplicated (many articles are syndicated, and picked up by other sites; occasionally, they're not properly marked, and I miss a dupe... live with it). There are hundreds of articles I DIDN'T include - I'm not sure how many more of these I'm willing to do, so the day might come when we just have to say 'everyone's writing about this' and be done with it. Also, the order is somewhat random - it's the order things came in to me. This SHOULD help make the list more palatable, actually - you won't be reading the same thing over and over again. Anyway, on to the articles:
Writeups of launch events
- MLGPro.com (Atlanta)
- Furhman Online (Times Square)
- Bungie.net (Seattle)
- Gamespy (San Francisco, video only)
- CNET (San Francisco)
- Mlive.com (Ann Arbor, MI)
- MSNBC.com (Time Square, with annoying video)
- Seattle Times (Seattle)
- Mlive.com (Flint, MI)
- MTV (Times Square, nice pic of nof)
- IGN (Melbourne and Sydney)
- Randall Glass (Seattle)
- Associated Press - Interview with Miguel Chavez and Blackstar, picked up in LOTS of places, including Wired, NewsFromRussia.com, Newsfactor.com, ABC News, Denver Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, SFGate.com
- Xbox.com (Times Square, video of nof and Miguel Chavez)
- Update: Dang, I forgot one! Blackstar posted his experiences in northern Massachusetts over on Rampancy.net. I even knew about this one. :(
Reviews
- Gamereactor (Norway, this time - 10/10, contains spoilers; thanks, Victor)
- Lawrence.com - 90% (This score was heavily weighted towards campaign - mp would have received a 100%)
Articles
- CNN Money (update with new numbers - thanks, 8 million people)
- Agana Pacific Daily News - Guam release coverage
- Reuters - 1-day take is $100M
- eWeek - release coverage
- Gamespot - hello, it's out
- Sydney Morning Herald - release coverage
- Seattle Post Intelligencer MS bigwigs tout Halo 2
- Wired - $100M report
- Ireland Online - release coverage
- Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel - Halo 2 vs GTA: SA
- The Inquirer - $100M story, with claim of 10 million sales by Xmas
- SignonSandiego.com release coverage, another nice pic of nof
- Chicago Sun-Times - release coverage
Big sites
- 1Up.com:
- 1UP Review
- XBN Review
- GMR Review
- EGM Review
- Strategy Guide (with a drinking game)
- Gamespy.com:
- Collector's Edition Review
- Midnight Madness in SF video (see above)
- Analysis of Bungie's Stats system
- Review of SmartJoy FRAG keyboard/mouse adaptor
Comics:
- Crtl+Alt+Del (Thanks, Ross Mills)
- Penny Arcade (thanks, Ross Mills)
If this isn't enough for you, there's a ton more over at HaloPlanet (thanks, Rams).
(Louis Wu 14:15:13 UTC) (permalink)The floodgates open soon
There is an astounding amount of Halo news built up in the past 18 hours - I'll do my best to wade through it later this morning. Just wanted to throw a note up to say the site is still alive, and faring well for its short respite from the grind. :) You folks have been busy! (Louis Wu 10:55:19 UTC) (permalink)
Tuesday's news in brief:
Monday's news in brief:
