|
Search the News Archive |
Spoilers are currently disabled. (All newsposts are visible.) |
 |
Friday, December 31, 2004 |  |
 |
Weekly What's Update - for some
Working on this New Years Eve Day, Frankie has posted the last 2004 Weekly What's Update over at Bungie.net - except the link isn't working for everyone. It's worth a read when you can get in, though - there's some good stuff in this one. (The most interesting bit to me, actually, was about Marathon, not Halo:
Dorothy asks,
I was wondering if Bungie still sells that game Marathon. It's really hard to find now-a-days.
We don't, but you CAN download it for free from a number of places. Google it. There are even updated versions with fancy new-fangled graphics. Bungie has sorta given its blessing to this kind of thing. It's not strictly legal, but nobody's coming after you either.
This isn't the same as saying 'you can safely serve copies of the games to people', but it certainly leans closer to that attitude...) Go read it now, or if you're getting an error message, wait a bit and read it later. Thanks, Frankie. (Louis Wu 21:25:56 UTC) (permalink)
Now THAT would be cool on a mantel.
A 13 inch, 4 pound metal statue of the Master Chief is now for sale on eBay. Starting bid is $100, but reserve is higher than that. If you bid, notice that shipping will be from Paris, France, so take that cost into account. The fact that Frankie weighed in on the thread suggests that this puppy is real. Thanks, Zerostar. (Louis Wu 20:50:17 UTC) (permalink)
Joint Effort
NINJ4 posted an animated One One Se7en on our forum - not only in line with Stuntmutt's brand of humor, but it takes a SHOT at Stuntmutt. What more could you want from a One One Se7en? (Louis Wu 20:34:53 UTC) (permalink)
The Prophets chose YOU!
A couple of days ago, Captain Spark released 62 new dialogue snippets, downloadable in one zipped bundle from his website. If you'd rather pick and choose which snippets you get (or like the ability to search for text), these snippets have now been added to our Halo 2 Dialogue Databank. Happy hunting! (Louis Wu 14:55:23 UTC) (permalink)
Metropolis never looked so good.
Twenty-five new panoramic shots just got added to BOLL's HALOrama collection - mostly multiplayer, but some impressive campaign shots, too. Go look! (Louis Wu 13:44:23 UTC) (permalink)
Donkey Chief.
It's hard to argue with Stuntmutt's reasoning in today's One One Se7en - this is the pièce de résistance in his argument that Halo 2 is a regression to simpler times in console gaming. (Louis Wu 13:11:07 UTC) (permalink)
Zombies Expansion
VerdaFolio has written up an article on the Dawn of the Dead gametype - but this one covers much more than a simple rehashing of the rules. It looks at what levels are good for gameplay, plus game variants that might be enjoyable. Thanks to Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 12:44:26 UTC) (permalink)
Pretty, but still confining
Rampancy.net continues its analysis of Halo 2 with Impressions of Delta Halo. Again, the things that work, and the things that don't, areas that are fun and areas that are not. Very well-written. (Louis Wu 12:41:02 UTC) (permalink)
Odd NTSC/PAL issue
When we posted the 'Hot Pursuit' cutscene (with the Heretic escaping in a Banshee), Jillybean mentioned that whenever SHE watched the scene, the Heretic crashed into a wall before flying away. I'd never seen this - but a couple of other Europeans agreed, that's the way it was for them. This seems to be a timing issue, based on the PAL/NTSC differences. (I thought Bungie had removed that particular constraint from the game... guess I was wrong.) BOLL was kind enough to send along some footage - I've put up small versions of the PAL cutscene (QuickTime and WMP9), so you can see the difference. Weird! Update: At least two PAL users have chimed in to say that the crashing does NOT happen on their Xboxes. Bottom line - we have no idea why he crashes for some people. (Louis Wu 12:13:14 UTC) (permalink)
Awkward is as awkward does.
Halo Babies is back with a new series - and there's a new Cortana (just like in Halo 2). Check out the strip - and some Cortana concept sketches. (Louis Wu 11:33:27 UTC) (permalink)
More on video games and combat
Yesterday, we mentioned an article that suggested that video games might help train people to be better soldiers. It inspired quite a bit of discussion on our forum. Today, MIT's Technology Review has an article about what soldiers in Iraq do on their off-time... and it seems a lot of it is 'play video games'. The end of the article, however, suggests that the soldiers themselves don't think that the game-playing gets them any more prepared for real combat - another set of voices, weighing in. (Louis Wu 11:22:55 UTC) (permalink)
Finishing off the Gas Giant
We're releasing two more cutscenes this evening over in the Cutscene Library: The Oracle and Edification bracket the Heretic Boss Battle. (I don't THINK just those words are spoilers, in and of themselves... but if you consider them to be, please accept my apologies.) Enjoy! (Louis Wu 00:19:23 UTC) (permalink)
THEM vs US
Another Machinima series starting up - THEM vs US: A Zanzibar Story. Currently there's just a teaser up on the page, but they promise more to come. Their hook - it's all being done over XBL. The performers have never met in real life. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 00:14:09 UTC) (permalink)
That Weasel Cranks Out the Vids
More video madness: over at That Weasel Television, the community has been uploading mountains of new video footage - much of it is trick material, but there are also a number of gameplay/music vids. If you're jonesing for new video material (and I'm having a little trouble seeing how you could be, these days, but hey, it takes all kinds), swing on by the TWTv Halo Exclusives page and see what you can find! (Louis Wu 00:10:55 UTC) (permalink)
MTV's Making The Video
Back in early November, MTV put up a special called 'Making The Video Game: Halo 2', which took a sort of documentary look at the making of the game. (It wasn't very much like the DVD that comes with the Limited Edition... but it was interesting. Bungie.net mentioned it here - we put up some info here.) As far as I can tell, today was the last day of its rotation in the MTV on-air schedule... so we can put up a copy for download. Or... more accurately, we can publicize a download that's been available for quite some time. Icetiger, over at HaloPlanet, recorded this and posted it at FilePlanet a couple of months ago - it's 21 minutes long, WMP9 format, 77.5 mb (commercials yanked). For folks who don't want the WMP9 version, I've created a QuickTime version - 77.8 mb. Grab the one that works best for you! Update: this movie, in both QuickTime AND WMP9 flavors, along with several other recent movies, are now available also at That Weasel Television - if you'd like the WMP9 version, but don't like (or can't use) FilePlanet, this is for you! (Louis Wu 00:03:16 UTC) (permalink)
Thursday's news in brief:
Wednesday's news in brief:
