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Thursday, February 5, 2009 |  |
Halo 3 February Matchmaking Update Active
Bungie's updated Halo 3's Matchmaking on Xbox LIVE - the February update is now online. Information on playlist changes, Double XP weekends, and your next chances at Recon armor are all up. (Double XP this week is Grifball.) (Louis Wu 21:34:42 UTC) (permalink)
Oh No You Didn't
The guys at SmoothMoveFilms took the song that went along with the commercial for Mercenaries 2 last summer, and set it to some Halo action. End result is fun. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 21:28:55 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Manual Available
The Ensemble team has made the Halo Wars Manual available on the Halo Wars website, in PDF format. (It's in the top newspost at the moment - and since there's no permanent page to link to, here's a direct link to the file.) 3.7 mb, 48 pages. Grab a copy! Thanks, L3giticus. (Louis Wu 21:03:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Legend 3 Tribute 2
eckosama stopped by with word of a tribute to Mike Miller's 'Legend' vids (search our news if you've never seen them) - it's a Halo PC vid, with some nice moves! Take a look. (Louis Wu 17:22:58 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars on XBLM
The Halo Wars demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace (for Gold account holders); release seems to be rolling by region, so if you can't get it right away, be patient. It's 1.4 GB in size. You can also download the Call to Battle trailer (though this is available on YouTube (thanks, onebitrocket), or in HD from us in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats, 47 mb). It's a morning for Halo Wars! Update: Oops, forgot a bit. If you swing by 'Inside Xbox' from your 360 dashboard, you'll find a piece named 'Insider Moves: Let the Halo Wars Begin'. It was posted last week, so it's possible that it'll roll off the main Inside Xbox page, but I'm assuming you'll be able to find it in the Archive after that point. (If not, we'll make it available for download from here.) It contains some useful control tips for Halo Wars that might or might not be obvious from the demo tutorials. Worth a watch, if you're playing! (Louis Wu 13:13:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Hands-On at G4TV
G4 TV has a hands-on review of Halo Wars that's mostly a video playthrough of Campaign Mission 3. Go watch if you want to see Grizzly tanks in action. (Louis Wu 12:34:45 UTC) (permalink)
Smoke And Mirrors
The Catfish let us know that 2501 Episode 11, following Squadron E, is now up. (Louis Wu 12:34:23 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Open Casting Call
Bryan Newman asked us to let you know about his casting call - his team needs Halo 3 actors, and they know what they DON'T want. Watch the video for details. (Louis Wu 12:34:06 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3: ODST and Multiplayer Maps
I thought this was common knowledge at this point, but apparently it's not - and it bears repeating in any case: sketchfactor confirmed yesterday that when Halo 3: ODST touches down this fall, every Halo 3 multiplayer map - original shipping maps, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic packs, Cold Storage, and the three new exclusive maps that will debut with ODST - will be available in the box. They've finalized how the logistics of play will work - but are still waiting for word from Microsoft on when they can clarify this for the fans. (His wording - 'available in the box' - suggests that they might come as download codes, rather than on the disc itself - which would be a disappoinment for folks looking to outfit LAN parties inexpensively.) Regardless of those details, however, the bottom line is, if you buy ODST, you'll have every Halo 3 multiplayer map ever released.
(Louis Wu 12:33:21 UTC) (permalink)
The lengths cheaters will go to...
nash--housewares noticed an article at Wired about an increase in the use of hacker techniques in Halo 3 matchmaking. It's definitely not common... but apparently, some people are turning to approaches like Distributed Denial of Service attacks in order to win Halo 3 matches. (The article suggests that you can lease a 'zombie' (a PC controlled by virus-installed software) for $2 per unit - and with 40-60 of these units, you can destroy your opponent's chance to play. Are there really that many people willing to spend $100 to win a game of Halo 3? Really?)
(Louis Wu 12:31:24 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Highlights... and a Debate
Bungie's Blog noted a video entitled 'MLG Top Ten Series: Episode 3', showing off 10 clips collected by B Mc Gann and Static Hazard in MLG matchmaking and custom games. I don't think I'd agree with the order (#4 is WAY more impressive than 3, 2, OR 1), but they're good gameplay moments. Go watch! (When you're done, swing by Hawty McBloggy's - she's opened a debate on whether Major League Gaming (I assume she means specifically Halo 3) is a professional sport or not... weigh in!) (Louis Wu 12:28:15 UTC) (permalink)
The Future of the Halo Franchise
Jason Pace, Microsoft's Halo Studio's Lead Producer, talked to VideoGamer.com about the future of the Halo franchise. What he says will reassure some fans, and scare others. (Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, reacted to an early excerpt with a little bit of fear. I think the discussion of a dancing Grunt game in the full interview might add to that.) (Louis Wu 12:27:28 UTC) (permalink)
Wednesday's news in brief:
Tuesday's news in brief:
