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February 2010

February 2010 Archived News

News February 28 2010

Robot Voices and Silly AI
Bungie's Dev Blog has been updated with a short summary of the beginning of the 'first full campaign mission play-test' - Marcus looks at what's still missing, and how things have changed over the years. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 18:59:29 UTC) (permalink)

More Machinima, in a nice format
James Potts let us know about VirtualFlicks, a new machinima site - swing by to see some exclusive machinima. Swing by and try it out - see what they're offering, and how you can contribute! (Louis Wu 18:59:12 UTC) (permalink)

Grin + Bear It - I am.
Today's Grin + Bear It, at HMB, moves away from tasteless jokes and into the realm of tasteless disability jokes. At least it's consistent... (Louis Wu 18:58:53 UTC) (permalink)

Wait, wait... killikatari?
Morpheus put together a quiz that asks you about the names of Halo series medals. How good is your multiplayer memory? (Louis Wu 18:56:59 UTC) (permalink)

News February 27 2010

Brokeback Time
Yesterday's Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots collection is called 'Brokeback Time', and there are some AMAZING screenshots in there. I think 'Fractured' and 'Demoralized' are my two favorites - but there's really not a bad shot in the group. Go look. (Louis Wu 21:48:16 UTC) (permalink)

Update on BerserkerBarage
AngelicLionheart heard from Logan's brother Tyler - info is here. If you want to help out the family, or you're interested in attending the funeral, stop in. (Louis Wu 21:38:48 UTC) (permalink)

MadAtoms: Video Game Speed Dating
There aren't a lot of comics being updated regularly any more, so fixed-day updates make less sense. GandhiArnold stopped in with a link to MadAtoms, a humor blog. Video Game Speed Dating takes a funny look at various video game characters, and the trials they might have to endure. Master Chief is present. (Louis Wu 21:33:07 UTC) (permalink)

The Port that Wouldn't Die
Man, oh man... you write something down and put it on the internet, SOMEONE's gonna find it. Matt Waggle is a 3D and Concept Artist that's been working in the game industry for about 5 years. For the first half of 2007, he was working as a contractor on Halo 3. If you check his resume, you'll see that he's listed this time as "Halo 3 (X-box 360 and PC)" - which led Game Guru (who found the same info on Matt's LinkedIn profile) to conclude that Halo 3 PC was in development as late as May 2007. What happened to it? Well, there hasn't been any word - but other than this snippet, the only evidence that it existed at all has been a banner that appeared on some Microsoft pages showing a picture of Halo 3 in a 'Games for Windows' context. In fact, in August 2007, CVG concluded that work hadn't started yet, since Frank O'Connor had said that Halo 3 PC wasn't even "a twinkle in [Bungie's] eye" during an interview at that point. Hmm... Update: Frankie is pretty unequivocal about the status of Halo 3 PC:

Halo 3 was not then, and is not currently planned for PC.

In the words of Emily Litella, never mind. (Louis Wu 17:12:46 UTC) (permalink)

In other news, water is wet.
Halo: Reach made Gamespot's "Most Anticipated Games of 2010" - whoa, what a surprise. Thanks, thatSeniorGuy. (Louis Wu 17:10:34 UTC) (permalink)

A followup on the BWU...
What does it mean when you feel the need to update your dev blog with a line like "steve cotton is working on one of the craziest things ever in a halo game." (and absolutely nothing else)? I guess it means Steve's doing something droolworthy! (Louis Wu 17:09:51 UTC) (permalink)

For the record, she LOVES his air viola move.
Bungie's Weekly Update is live - lots of little Reach tidbits (most of which don't actually SAY anything, but all of them will get you titillated), details about the Emblem contest, podcast woes, and voicework of the stars. And a sad farewell to BeserkerBarage. Go read! (It is, as always, also available in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 01:11:59 UTC) (permalink)

News February 26 2010

ODST ZBrush Character Model
Brighton rendered a turntable of his ODST model created with ZBrush; pretty cool! (It's still a work in progress; he's got more slickness to add.) Tell him what you think on our forum. (Louis Wu 20:43:40 UTC) (permalink)

Surprisers Mile
Ooh, almost missed this at Bungie.net - it's a story about an obstacle course being hosted by HaloCharts. Prizes include a 12 Month LIVE card, Halo Legends, and McFarlane action figures. Go read about it! (Louis Wu 19:45:12 UTC) (permalink)

Escape to the Movies: Halo Legends
The Escapist posted a video review of Halo Legends - go watch to see what Movie Bob thought. Thanks, Speedhuntr. (Louis Wu 19:13:04 UTC) (permalink)

GDC Fireside Chat
Looks like Geoff Keighley will be hosting a fireside chat for GamesBeat - the topic will be "How to Build a Blockbuster Franchise", and one of the two guests is Joe Staten, Bungie's design director. This will take place on March 10, in San Francisco, during the Games Development Conference. Sounds intriguing! (Louis Wu 18:05:36 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Vids
Couple of videos for your watching pleasure in B.net's Comm Chatter today:

• Carpe Diem is a montage from Snowmann and Alien - heavy on the editing, but not to the point that the gameplay is unwatchable. (Some very nice effects.)
• Halography is a screenshot montage in high def - five minutes of great shots, at 1080p if your computer can handle it.

HaloCharts Favorites are back, baby!
HaloCharts Favorites are back - you can submit your best screenshot, video, or map variant for the weekly rotation. Winners get a cool Player Page award on HaloCharts (and the satisfaction of being favorited). Go read all about it at HaloCharts! Thanks to urk for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 18:02:16 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Friday - Easy As Pie
FyreWulff is hosting another Firefight Friday - this one is on Alpha Site, and it's on Easy only. (Read the challenge details to see why.) Go get 'em! (Louis Wu 16:02:22 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 82
Hawty McBloggy has posted the top-rated captions from last week's pic, and a new, nicely innuendoed pic, at her site for the latest round of Friday Caption Fun. Go play. (Louis Wu 16:01:52 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Five new pieces are up for your perusal in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 16:00:38 UTC) (permalink)

Life can be fragile
Logan Starline, known to the Halo community at large as BerserkerBarage, died yesterday from complications resulting from an infection. He was 27 years old. That's simply too young to go. He's been around the Halo scene (and has been a Bungie fan in general) for quite some time - you can read an 'Average Joe' interview urk did with him last fall, and you can check out his video walkthrough of Marathon 2: Durandal. If you'd like to pay your respects, his good friend Achilles1108 has set up a forum thread at Bungie.net. (ElusiveEagle519 posted the news on our forum, as well.) I'm at a loss for words; he was a nice guy I'd met once and played with online a few times, and I NEVER expected to be writing words like these about him at this stage. Rest in peace, my friend. (Louis Wu 14:26:18 UTC) (permalink)

News February 25 2010

I guess he could be making wind noises...
Okay, so remember when we mentioned that Greg Grunberg was going to be doing voice work for Halo Reach? Looks like it's got at least ONE loud moment... (Thanks to NeoGAF's Ssparks for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 22:59:17 UTC) (permalink)

I think I could win the Meat Shield one.
Cody Ryan Brigan stopped in with some very, very cool pics; he's hosting a Halo 3 tourney in April, and he's going all out on trophies. Go see some of the work in progress! (Louis Wu 20:45:43 UTC) (permalink)

Get Hammered, Yo
It's Thursday, so it's time for another Double XP Weekend - as we mentioned yesterday, this week's list is Grifball. (Louis Wu 20:43:40 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Movies
New movies available to you, courtesy of Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Temperature Rising is a Halo 3 montage from Orangeclock. 3 minutes, minimal editing... just kills.
• Premeditated Splatter is a Halo 3 Hogtage from Elite C 56. The name is funny because most of the splatters are NOT intentional.
• Lightsaber Duel is... surprisingly, exactly that. Two Spartans (excuse me, a Sith Lord and a Jedi) duke it out on Guardian with Star Wars Lightsabers. Pretty nicely done!

Make some popcorn. (Louis Wu 20:42:14 UTC) (permalink)

Braainnn Shootttsss
Zombie League Gaming is hosting a screenshot contest - send them the infection-related screenshot, win 1600 MS Points. Full details on Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 20:35:51 UTC) (permalink)

Halo speed drawing
Halochief89 filmed his drawing of a chapter pic for his fanfic/art project, Clairvoyance - you can see it here. (Louis Wu 16:44:41 UTC) (permalink)

Greg Bear's Forerunner Books - coming later
F1rsTxLas7 contacted Greg Bear on Facebook recently, and learned that the first book of the Forerunner trilogy that Bear is writing probably won't be out before 2011. (As recently as last month, we thought it might be out in July 2010, because that's the date Amazon is stating on its website.) Just a quick sidenote - F1rsTxLas7's post contains a mention by Bear of "the Halo folks in their new digs". This is almost certainly 343 Industries, and NOT Bungie - please don't mistake this as evidence that Bungie has completed its move to downtown Bellevue. (Louis Wu 14:36:15 UTC) (permalink)

Daddy lets us stay up later.
Over at 360Junkies, MDK x2002x posted his thoughts about the future of the Halo franchise - and what it might mean for fans. I think I probably disagree with the notion that you have to decide where your loyalties lie... but it's certainly true that management will be changing hands, and this has the potential to change the flavor of your interactions. Give it a read, see what you think! (Louis Wu 14:27:54 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Series 7 Figures - Video Reviews
InnerRayg pointed out some video reviews of McFarlane's Series 7 figures - the good news is quality control has improved dramatically over Series 6! Go watch. (Louis Wu 14:25:04 UTC) (permalink)

Our engineers don't follow, they lead.
Dang, we forgot to post the second half of CVG's Halo: Reach interview with Marcus and Brian; swing by their website and give it a read. It's a look forward, more than a look back - and it has some interesting info! (Louis Wu 02:07:10 UTC) (permalink)

Charity Action Figure Sale - Buy Early!
Seraph XXVII stopped in with prices and pics of the action figures he's selling to raise money for Dan and Aimee, and Child's Play. (Details in this post, if you missed them.) He's giving HBOers first crack at these puppies - they'll be on eBay soon! (Louis Wu 01:19:29 UTC) (permalink)

Mythic Photographers - Week Two
Last week's Community Spotlight group, Mythic Photographers, have updated their favorites with a new batch of files - swing by Bungie.net to read about the map Mongoose Station, or go straight to Bungie Favorites to see all the files. (Louis Wu 01:18:11 UTC) (permalink)

Fly Away
New montage from Axilo and Friends - thanks, urk. Looks like someone got a scrubber, and decided to play with it! (Louis Wu 01:16:55 UTC) (permalink)

Running Riot Podcast: Recording LIVE in minutes
Here's hoping you're reading this soon after it's being written; the Running Riot Podcast is recording live in less than 90 minutes. 9:30 pm Eastern, Wednesday night, Kete's interviewing the couple that had a big-time Halo wedding last year! Thanks to Bungie's Comm Chatter for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 01:13:36 UTC) (permalink)

News February 24 2010

Halo 2 Memorial Montage - Your Help Needed
We got an email from 'H2 Memorial' pointing out a forum post on Bungie.net - the group Halo 3 In The Workplace (H3ITWP) is putting together a Halo 2 Memorial Montage, and they want your input. They're looking for clips, screenshots, or just farewell messages. All categories of submissions have pretty strict guidelines, so be sure to read the B.net post for full details. You've got until April 18 to submit - help them make this one great! (Louis Wu 16:28:58 UTC) (permalink)

Aisha Tyler to VA in Reach
Actress Aisha Tyler becomes the latest to reveal a Reach voice-acting gig - thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 12:20:15 UTC) (permalink)

Escapin' from the A-R-K
Steven wrote a song called 'Escapin' from the A-R-K', using the tune from Myley Cyrus' 'Party in the USA' - you can find the lyrics, along with a karaoke version of the real song, at Hawty McBloggy's (you'll have to put them together yourself). O....K. (Louis Wu 12:19:04 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Elite line drawing
Justinian stopped in with a line drawing he did of a Halo: Reach Elite. He's not completely satisfied, but it's fine work! (Louis Wu 12:18:09 UTC) (permalink)

Small H2 Vista Egg Sighting
Stephen Loftus noticed a graphic he'd not looked closely at before as he was wandering through Halo 2 Vista - and found a small tribute, maybe to the Halo 2 Vista Art and Design Lead? (Louis Wu 12:17:50 UTC) (permalink)

Building Weapons
Ajemsuhgao, over at NeoGAF, posted a render done by a friend - it's an untextured version of Reach's Assault Rifle. (You can see the final version at the modeler's portfolio page.) Bee-youtifull! Poke around for a verion of the ODST SMG, too! (Louis Wu 00:41:32 UTC) (permalink)

Project: Conquest
SnowJP 360 wanted to see if he could launch himself to the top of every 'Tier 1' building in ODST (the buildings in the main gameplay area). There are 33 of these. He did this, so he decided to document it; the launches are all pretty similar, but the feat's quite cool. Check it out! Update: SnowJP 360 clarified that this was done by Anakade - my bad! (Louis Wu 00:10:58 UTC) (permalink)

Top 10 Most Expensive Video Game Budgets Ever
Digital Battle has posted an article called 'Top 10 Most Expensive Video Game Budgets Ever' - Halo 3 came in at #6, with a price tag of $55 million. (They didn't count the $200 million spent PROMOTING the game...) (Louis Wu 00:09:54 UTC) (permalink)

Fall of 1997 - Fall of 2010: Bungie's Halo
CVG has posted another Lehto/Jarrard interview - it's really, really hard to squeeze more info that they're willing to talk about out of those two (they've already covered pretty much everything imaginable in the other 465 interviews given at X10)... but CVG did their best. And this is only Part 1! Part 2 comes tomorrow. (Louis Wu 00:08:20 UTC) (permalink)

Double XP Weekends through mid-March
FyreWulff pointed out that Bungie's Halo 3 Matchmaking Playlists page has been updated with early March Double XP Weekends - go see what's coming up! (Louis Wu 00:07:25 UTC) (permalink)

Love knows no armor
Eddie 071 noticed a video from Adam Grumbo about a date between Master Chief and a Stormtrooper. (I'm pretty sure I've seen this before, on the 405th - but it's new to Vimeo, and the quality rocks, and it's funny, so go watch it.) (Louis Wu 00:05:57 UTC) (permalink)

Be a Hero - Soon
Bungie wanted to remind you that you've only got a few days left to buy a 'Be a Hero' t-shirt from the Bungie Store, if you want the proceeds to go towards the Haiti fund... starting in March, they're keeping the money again. (Louis Wu 00:04:45 UTC) (permalink)

Average Joe: PKF_647
Tuesday's Average Joe is a guy who has been a Bungie fan for over a decade, who makes cool pano art, and who hangs out on Bungie.net. Go read more. (Louis Wu 00:03:25 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday Afternoon at the Movies (on Tuesday Night)
Later than usual - sorry - but here are a couple of vids that appeared in Bungie's Comm Chatter on Tuesday:

• Animal is a Halo 3 montage from Brennanimal.
• Greenskull's Randomtage 4 is... well, Greenskull's fourth randomtage.

Always room for montages... and jello. (Louis Wu 00:02:06 UTC) (permalink)

Aftermath
urk also had word of a new wallpaper from AirForceHero - it's called 'Aftermath', and it's pretty powerful! (Louis Wu 00:01:45 UTC) (permalink)

Celebrate Facility B5D's 2nd Birthday
Facility B5D is coming up on their second anniversary, and they're celebrating with lots of events. A summary can be found on B.net (thanks, urk), and the website is keeping this thread on their forum updated with late-breaking details. Join in! (Louis Wu 00:00:32 UTC) (permalink)

News February 23 2010

Hawty gets snarky
Hawty McBloggy found a pic of a Canadian-branded Master Chief in Vancouver... they're everywhere! (Louis Wu 10:57:36 UTC) (permalink)

The Magic. It's Happening.
The Bungie Dev Blog got a new update last night - a photo of some pretty happy-looking devs watching... something. Something cool, apparently. Thanks, ElusiveEagle519. (Louis Wu 10:56:47 UTC) (permalink)

Somewhere in the Heavens...
Harking back to the old days of crack-pipe speculation, Cortana 5 stopped in to our forum to lay down a theory about the origins of Bungie's storytelling. Man... I feel like I'm back in Hamish's domain! (If you're a really, really, REALLY old-timer, this stuff might not be new to you... but for most Bungie/Halo fans, it's a nice summary of some of the early inspirations.) (Louis Wu 10:55:48 UTC) (permalink)

Assault Rifle prop for sale
arbitersaids is selling an Assault Rifle prop - looks like a painted Plasma Blaster - to make money for school. If you want one of these but don't feel like painting it yourself, here's a chance to buy one! (Louis Wu 10:54:07 UTC) (permalink)

News February 22 2010

Halo CE Goodness
Dwood dropped us a line about an Ivory Tower remake for Halo CE; at the moment, it's for multiplayer, but a single player version is planned. (He's hoping for feedback to see whether the added features are worth the effort.) Check it out, and let him know! He also mentioned something pretty cool - swing by YouTube to view a Zombie Test from CtrlAltDestr0y. It's... go watch it. Update: apparently there's a link to a public alpha of the single player version of the Ivory Tower map in this thread on Halomaps. (Louis Wu 21:27:37 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Sandbox
Today's Tag and Release feature at Bungie.net looks at screenshots on Sandbox - they range from clever to gorgeous. Go look! (Louis Wu 17:56:30 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Theme Song
odious T (gotta love that gamertag) sent word of a video he'd found on YouTube - it's a fan playing the Halo theme. Starts slow... but MAN is it great. Take the 3 minutes and check it out; you won't be disappointed. It's incredible what 40 fingers can do! (Louis Wu 15:46:21 UTC) (permalink)

Forward Unto Dawn: Winter Contingency
NeoGAF's Dani, pining for the loss of a Halo site devoted to getting underneath the skin of the universe, has created his own. Swing by Forward Unto Dawn, and check out his first article, Winter Contingency - it's a look at Reach, and the importance it plays in Human history (as defined by Halo, of course). It draws info from many sources, and brings together most of what we know about this planet, up to now. Give it a read - and be sure to leave your comments! (Louis Wu 15:45:40 UTC) (permalink)

Killer Cookies, and More, at HMB
Hawty McBloggy found some pretty cool hand-painted Master Chief cookies - that you can actually buy! Check 'em out - then design your own, and get 'em printed for that special someone. (Warning: they ain't cheap.) While you're there, check out her other Halo offerings this morning - there's been an Oonsk sighting in Halo 3, and Grin + Bear It recycles an old joke (somehow, that didn't seem like a bad thing when Stuntmutt was doing it). (Louis Wu 15:44:33 UTC) (permalink)

Ode to the Lost: A Halo Tribute
DarkReign2021 whipped up a new Halo music video - it's called Ode to the Lost, and it's a tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in the fight against the Covenant. ("Whipped up" is probably the wrong term; it suggests he slapped this together between episodes of Adult Swim, while eating a peanut butter sandwich with one hand. Clearly some serious love has been put into this - watch it, it's pretty cool.) (Louis Wu 15:42:29 UTC) (permalink)

10 Most Badass Video Game Aliens
Minime637 found a Top 10 list at PlanetXbox360 - it's counting down the most badass videogame aliens Two of the Halo universe's enemies make the list. Not bad! (Louis Wu 15:41:55 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - the Finale
Congrats to CRASH JENN, who cleared out our lingering Kikowani Station entry in the Hide, Seek, Snap contest. We're nearing the finish line - we've got three more codes! The last three images are up - but there's a twist. For pictures 21 and 22, it's not enough to simply GET to a location - you have to do it with stuff. Go look! (Louis Wu 15:41:12 UTC) (permalink)

Hidden gems from DA
Gtag=Reluctant Chaos was cruising DeviantART, and noticed some very cool Elite Councilor fan art. The artist has also posted the lines for the same pic, so you can see how this developed... and don't miss this powerful rendition of another Halo denizen. Great stuff! (Louis Wu 15:39:30 UTC) (permalink)

News February 21 2010

I don't have words.
Sometimes, a random act of kindness comes out of the Halo community that simply floors me. This morning, I read a post from Seraph XXVII that blew me away. He's got a pretty amazing collection of Halo paraphenalia - you can see a dozen or so pictures of it in his forum post. But it's about to get smaller; he's selling all of his Halo 1 and Halo 2 figures. It's not because he needs a new car, or wants to buy a PS3 - it's because he wants to give back. 50% of the proceeds will go to Child's Play... and 50% will go to help out a longtime Halo fan and his girlfriend (we mentioned their plight last week). Seraph has never met Dan or Aimee - he just wants to help.

Help him help.

Full details of what's for sale is up now - he's giving the HBO community first crack. It'll all be on eBay soon, so grab what you want! (Louis Wu 15:39:45 UTC) (permalink)

DXS3 Episode 2 Part 1
CROSSFIRE is back - Dimension X Season 3, Episode 2, Part 1 is now online. (Ten minutes long, to conform with YouTube limits.) Episode 1 was mentioned back in July of last year; there have been some issues with the crew over the past couple of months, so future sections are uncertain. This is a shame, because the cinematography, voice acting, and storyline are all worth watching! (You gotta love crazy scientists.) Check it out. And let him know if you like it; maybe that'll help with the next sections! (Louis Wu 15:21:47 UTC) (permalink)

BladeRunnery
ElusiveEagle519 stopped in with word that the Bungie Dev Blog had been updated with a cool piece of concept art, to commemorate the Alpha milestone. What does it say to you? (Louis Wu 15:11:53 UTC) (permalink)

Reach is absolutely Halo
New interview with Brian Jarrard and Marcus Lehto over at Xbox360Achievements. Surprisingly, there are still new tidbits to be learned! Good stuff about Spartan customization, "nose hair geometry", bits about map philosophy, the beta, and more! Worth a read. Thanks, Aglor. (Louis Wu 15:10:21 UTC) (permalink)

Rooster Teeth News
Good stuff coming from the Rooster Teeth crew: Grifball Expansion will be unfolding at Halo Waypoint over the next couple of weeks (Episode 1 went live yesterday), and the new season of Red vs Blue will begin on April 1, 2010. w00t! Thanks to kappalocust for bringing it to our forum. (Louis Wu 15:09:35 UTC) (permalink)

Scraping The Barrel
Taco Power needed to clear out a bunch of old clips - so he made a montage. They're funny clips! (Louis Wu 15:08:36 UTC) (permalink)

HBO Customs - play Halo with nice people
rolandk73 and Hyokin have been building up interest and attendance for a weekly Friday-night gathering they call "HBO Customs Night". It's not officially endorsed, or anything... but let's face it; the staff here is never going to find the time to set up something like this, so if you're interested in playing Halo 3 customs games with folks from the HBO forums, this might be a nice alternative! It's in the news today because it finally has a webpage. Thanks, Hyokin. (Louis Wu 15:07:50 UTC) (permalink)

Places to shoot people
Our policy on magazine scans is "no posts before the issue is off the newsstands" - but Morpheus stopped by with a single-page scan of a bit from a recent GameInformer, and we're gonna let it slide. (I don't actually know what issue it's from - but it's only a partial page, and even the most recent issue hit stands almost a month ago.) It's a feature called 'Top 10 FPS Multiplayer Maps' - and Halo's Blood Gulch makes #4 on the list. Nice! (Louis Wu 15:06:53 UTC) (permalink)

News February 20 2010

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Grunts
Over at I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots, the latest Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots list has been posted; this one focuses on Grunts. My favorite is 'Ode to 300'. Go look! (Louis Wu 18:48:37 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - Hint Posted
It's been a while since we posted a new round of Hide, Seek, Snap - the second image from Round 12 is STILL not solved. So we've put up a hint - at least now you know where it's from! Take a look, and see if you can clear out this round and let us get on to Round 13! (Louis Wu 18:44:44 UTC) (permalink)

Greg Grunberg to voice-act in Reach
CaptainTony stopped in with a link to Joystiq, and an interview with Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman from Heroes, among other credits). Looks like Grunberg will be doing some voice work for Reach next week! (Louis Wu 18:28:25 UTC) (permalink)

Halo MC meets MW2 nuke
Big Appleton took some stock Halo footage, blended it with some Modern Warfare 2 stuff, and turned out a very short funny. Go see! (Louis Wu 18:28:07 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Cutscenes - in Dutch
Aylmer van As let us know a few days ago that he'd begun translating the Halo 3 cutscenes into Dutch - swing by his YouTube channel to browse through the already-finished ones. More coming! (Louis Wu 18:27:24 UTC) (permalink)

Project Aftershock - Update
We last mentioned Project Aftershock, a Halo mod for Crysis, back in December. Recently, we heard from =SW=warlord, the project's creator - he's been working steadily, and pointed out the most recent page with the latest updates on the CryMod forum. Gorgeous! (Louis Wu 18:22:35 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wars, Cheap
Micro Center is offering Halo Wars for $10 + shipping. (If you have one near you, you don't even need to pay shipping.) Nice price! Thanks, Black Six. (Louis Wu 18:21:57 UTC) (permalink)

The Future of Firefight
OXM has a quote from Brian Jarrard that suggests that Reach will probably have Firefight... and that there could be a Matchmaking component to it. Good news for those of us who had trouble finding games when we wanted them! (Please - do not take this newspost as a promise from Bungie that Reach will have Firefight, or that Firefight in Reach will be available via Matchmaking; nothing has been announced, we're simply trying to read between the lines.) (Louis Wu 18:21:02 UTC) (permalink)

Royal is the right way to do EVERYTHING
The Bungie Weekly Update is live at Bungie.net (and, of course, in our Weekly Update Archive, though I had to re-render the funny vid in order to make it show up here). Lots of good stuff - network playtests, droolworthy weapons, great audio clips, clarifications about multiplayer map environments, ridiculous hints, gorgeous wallpaper-ready cover art, suggestions for better on-screen performance, and more. No complaints. No regrets. Just drool. (Louis Wu 02:46:36 UTC) (permalink)

News February 19 2010

Living Dead: Living on LIVE
We missed it yesterday - but Living Dead is the Double XP Weekend list of choice this time around, and it's live now. B.net has the full details. (Louis Wu 19:40:52 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Movies from B.net
Lessee:

• Community Montage Week 3 is a montage
• Raincoat is a jump video
• Symphonies is another montage
• Never Again is yet another montage

Go watch. (Louis Wu 19:38:57 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Friday: Bunker Hill
FyreWulff is back with another Firefight Friday; this one is set on Security Zone, and you can pick your difficulty. Swing by his forum post for links, and prepare to fight! (Louis Wu 19:38:38 UTC) (permalink)

GTTV Ep 304, now with more Brian and Marcus
The GTTV episode from last night is now online at GameTrailers - the interviews with Brian and Marcus are right at the start of the show. The footage is all from the ViDoc (or of Geoff Keighley and the Bungie guys), but the discussion has some interesting tidbits. Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:27:26 UTC) (permalink)

You gotta wonder what's in that rear-view mirror...
Hawty's back with another round of Friday Caption Fun - high-rated captions from last week, and a new screen that should make you do a double-take. Go play! (Louis Wu 15:11:25 UTC) (permalink)

HaloContest - Closing Down
Morpheus let us know that HaloContest will be closing down in March; it's costing too much to run. It's going out with a bang, though; winners of the latest contest will have a choice between 4000 MS Points, a 12-month LIVE subscription, or the 2-disc edition of Halo Legends. Submit your clip or screen! (Louis Wu 15:10:30 UTC) (permalink)

Making gamers feel comfortable
Leviathan stopped in with word of an interesting in-store display at a Best Buy in Missouri, courtesy of IGN. I think that would get ME into the store! (Louis Wu 15:08:55 UTC) (permalink)

Kotaku talks to Sketch about Reach
GrimBrother One pointed out a pair of articles at Kotaku - they both involve questions for Bungie's Brian Jarrard. The first asks about Reach's Beta (key tidbits to be picked up by the gaming press: the beta might hit 3 million people, the max number of players in a multiplayer game may be over 16), and the second talks about how Halo 3 Matchmaking will NOT shut down when Reach multiplayer goes live. Discuss! (Louis Wu 15:07:59 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Very, very light week in the Fan Fiction section - one entry, consisting of a poem. Check it! (Louis Wu 15:06:34 UTC) (permalink)

News February 18 2010

Tom Cruise would approve
All the Right Moves is a cool new article on Bungie.net - Troy McFarland, Bungie's Mocap Specialist, talks about his job (and how his work will make your Reach experience oh so much better). Go read! (Don't mind urk's obsession with spandex.) (Louis Wu 23:43:33 UTC) (permalink)

Mass Murder, by Species
Back in September, Open Season challenged Halo players to kill 7 billion grunts by Bungie Day, 2010. Apparently, we beat that date by 5 months. New challenge? 7 billion brutes by Reach release. More details at B.net. (Louis Wu 23:41:23 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Video Cornucopia
Spent the day away from the computer - came back to a plethora of movie offerings at B.net:

• Anoj is back with Top 10 Halo 3 Guardian Kills: Ep 48. (Link in B.net post goes to Honorable Mentions - the actual Top 10 is here.)
• Sandstorm 2 is a montage from Sandman - heavy on the editing.
• Just the Two of Us is a dualtage from iEli X and Zero - mellow.
• Indiana Pwns is a funny parody trailer from ChrisOfTheDead - nice work.
• Bearin Yooden is the newest creation from Phatcorns - combines the awesome camerawork of Team Scoog with the awesome camerawork of Quentin Tarantino. Don't miss it.

Whew! (Louis Wu 23:26:19 UTC) (permalink)

I think I'm that stuff that HITS fans...
Jimmy Jangles wants to know - are you a Halo fan or a Halo Fan? (Yes, it's a subtle distinction, at least written down... but there's an ocean of perception between the groups, in reality.) Check out his examples, and figure out which one you are! (Louis Wu 13:06:43 UTC) (permalink)

Alpha RC1 - a reality!
minasodaboy, at NeoGAF, was the first (I saw) to notice that the Halo: Reach Dev Blog was updated a few hours ago - looks like the first Alpha release candidate is finished! Go read about what that means... and get excited! (Louis Wu 12:59:54 UTC) (permalink)

The Cutest Master Chief... EVAR
Hawty McBloggy has a pic of... well, you gotta go look. (Louis Wu 12:59:22 UTC) (permalink)

Legends Reviews Continue
A couple of new Halo Legends reviews - IGN seemed to like it a lot (thanks, Minime637), while Kotaku wasn't so sure (thanks, Avateur). Go make up your own mind! (Louis Wu 12:58:51 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Forge Forum Map Pack 2
The MLG Halo 3 Forge Forum has put together a 12-map pack with some gorgeous work inside - swing by the MLG Forum for info and screenshots, or just visit the Forge Forum's Fileshare to download the maps. (Actually, the count is a bit suspect; the PR and the MLG Forum post both say 12 maps, but there are 18 maps marked 'MLG H3FF MP2' in the Fileshare. Either way - there's a lot of play options.) Check it out! Thanks to both urk, who posted this on Bungie.net yesterday, and Rehn Miller, who contacted us directly, for the heads-up. Update: apparently, we got our link from Bungie.net, which had it wrong; they used the link for the FIRST mappack. The correct link has been swapped in above (and right here, too). Also: "the map pack contains 12 featured 4v4 maps, with 2 more 4v4 maps being up to the judges standards of gameplay, the rest are FFA, 1v1 and 2v2." Hope that clears things up! (Louis Wu 12:57:54 UTC) (permalink)

Awake and Alive
Yet another music video from AssaultGodzilla - this one pays tribute to Halo Legends. As always, great timing! (Louis Wu 12:57:25 UTC) (permalink)

Community Spotlight: Mythic Photographers
There's a new Community Spotlight up at Bungie.net - in the spotlight this go-round are the Mythic Photographers. As you might guess, they're big on screenshots. Read about what drives 'em on B.net's front page, and then check out some of their favorite files in the Bungie Favorites section! (Louis Wu 12:56:35 UTC) (permalink)

News February 17 2010

Game over, Clyde. Game over.
gex sent word that Clyde & Roy (the pilot) is online - this is something I've never seen before. Really nice editing! Go watch it on YouTube - here's hoping there'll be more eps in the future! (Louis Wu 18:30:09 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday is Movie Day at Bungie.net
Tons of new movies highlighted today on Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• IGN's Top 10 Halo 3 Kills for the week of February 10 is full of funny moments.
• Frantic is... well, frantic (it's a minitage). I have a headache.
• Remembrance is a Campaign Screenshot Montage from whitesoxrule.
• Community Carnage: The Show is a Halo 2 montage designed to remind you about all the awesome stuff in that game.
• Arby 'n' the Chief in LA is up to episode 6 (we last mentioned Episode 3, so we missed 4 and 5, I guess). Say hello to Sonic, Mario, and more.

That's a lotta videos! (Louis Wu 17:51:58 UTC) (permalink)

Conquering the Control Room Pit
HB sa' lamee, Grunty, surtic, and xlax007 have found a consistent way to get to the bottom of the Halo 2 Control Room pit - this is normally impossible, since there's a death barrier at the top of the hole. They've figured out a rather amazing way of keeping that death barrier from spawning in the first place... you should watch. Thanks to Ducain for pointing this out. And thanks to the HIH crew for continuing to push the limits of what's possible! (Louis Wu 17:14:17 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Talks Reach to Waypoint
This went up yesterday, but there were problems with audio synch - looks like this has been fixed. The Halo Waypoint team interviewed Marcus Lehto and Brian Jarrard (in a funkily-lit space) - the discussion is different from many of the other interviews we've seen recently. Looks like cutscenes are going to be scarce (or nonexistent) in Reach! Also, don't start thinking you'll be moving around the universe; Brian confirms that the entire game takes place on Reach itself. (Louis Wu 16:30:16 UTC) (permalink)

Not as good as it should be
io9 wasn't thrilled with Halo Legends - go read why. Thanks, Toxic Mayhem. (Louis Wu 14:55:58 UTC) (permalink)

G.A.N.G. Awards Finalists Announced
The Game Audio Network Guild has announced finalists for the 8th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards - winners will be announced at the GDC in San Francisco on March 12. I couldn't find the press release online, so we posted it here - Halo 3: ODST is up for Music of the Year, and Best Interactive Score. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:41:36 UTC) (permalink)

All you have to do is shoot it in the air.
Heh - I can see the kid in this video becoming a new Halo meme - check out his Halo Assault Rifle! Thanks, Trasher. (Louis Wu 14:41:18 UTC) (permalink)

ThingFling Halo Gear - Again
Back in October, ThingFling offered a package of 10 assorted Halo wallets and belt buckles for $10 plus shipping. The deal's back today - you've got about 16 hours left. Thanks, Zerowind117. (Louis Wu 14:40:49 UTC) (permalink)

Marcus talks to GT
serpx noticed another Marcus Lehto interview - this one is over at GameTrailers. (Louis Wu 14:40:32 UTC) (permalink)

I could eat your eyes...
Can you mix love and war? Of course. Swing by Hawty McBloggy's for a Master Chief decked out for Valentines Day. A little late, but hey - love is timeless! (Louis Wu 14:39:59 UTC) (permalink)

Brian and Marcus at 1UP, transcribed
Jussy117, of the H3ITWP forum, transcribed the 1UP Podcast interview with Marcus Lehto and Brian Jarrard. Since you have to be a member of the H3ITWP group to read Jussy's post, squidhands kindly reposted it at NeoGAF, where everyone could read it. Good stuff. (You can listen to it yourself, but it's not very long, and the podcast is nearly 2 hours.) (Louis Wu 14:39:27 UTC) (permalink)

Do I get another Christmas break, too?
It's mid-February, but that doesn't mean that a Halo-themed Christmas Tree isn't welcome - this one even has Flame Grenades hung on it! Thanks, Hawty. (Louis Wu 14:38:56 UTC) (permalink)

Win me back, Bungie
A blogger with Destructoid sat down with Marcus Lehto at X10 and asked him to bring him back into the Halo fold. Go see how successful Marcus was! (Louis Wu 14:38:27 UTC) (permalink)

Love is in the air
I missed this nsfw-ish video highlighted by (who else?) Hawty McBloggy on Monday - but it's pretty funny. Can you get jiggy on Xbox LIVE? This song seems to think so... (Louis Wu 14:38:01 UTC) (permalink)

Eurogamer Previews Reach
Eurogamer has a preview of Halo: Reach, based on what they saw at X10 - swing by for yet another take on that material. (Louis Wu 14:37:36 UTC) (permalink)

News February 16 2010

Average Joe: Anelf3
The Average Joe interview at Bungie.net this week is with Anelf3 - I last saw him at PAX 08, nice to catch up! (Louis Wu 22:23:17 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday Vids from Bungie.net
Some videos that showed up in Bungie's Comm Chatter today:

• Out of Work Spartan Ep 4 - this is a fun series. Spartan Z06 is doing his best to show you how to make French Toast. Nice mix of live and videogame footage.
• Capture That Flag 3D shows you a flag cap with stereographic video - cross your eyes and check it out!
• Master Chief Theater 3000 Episode 404 covers the ODST Kizingo Boulevard cutscenes. (We forgot to mention this earlier today.)
• Betrayal is a Halo 3 Dualtage from FoMan123 and Hawkeye543, and has a lot of betrayals. (You'd never have guessed from the name, would you?)

Go watch! (Louis Wu 22:21:35 UTC) (permalink)

Hittin' on that crack pipe
pete_the_duck has decided to try and suss out what the first level of Halo: Reach looks like, based on the screenshots we've seen so far. It'll be a while before we know if he's right or not - but it's a pretty cool thought experiment in any case! (Louis Wu 15:18:53 UTC) (permalink)

Halo represented in BAFTA nominations
The annual BAFTA awards will be announced on March 19 - but nominations went live today. Halo 3: ODST is up for the Multiplayer award, and Halo Wars is up for the Strategy award. Nice! (Louis Wu 12:54:48 UTC) (permalink)

A call for help from an old friend
This isn't Halo-related, but HBO's always been a family, and sometimes family needs help. We got word from ICDedPpl (search our news if you don't remember him) that his fiancée, Aimee, has been diagnosed with a tumor inside her skull - you can read about it on his blog. There's a PayPal link up if you can spare anything, but prayers and emotional support are also gratefully accepted. Dan, and Aimee - we're pulling for you! (Louis Wu 12:54:01 UTC) (permalink)

Covering Your Six
XerxdeeJ let us know that Tied the Leader has awakened - they want to unite Halo gamers with an umbrella of gaming networks that never leaves you without playing partners. Go read 'Calling All Lone Wolves' - and get ready for Reach with Friends! (Louis Wu 12:53:29 UTC) (permalink)

Jun's Story
Air Force Hero whipped up another Reach wallpaper - this one is called 'Jun's Story'. Take a look! (Louis Wu 12:53:09 UTC) (permalink)

Bleepers, Episode 1
Treeskunk Productions has posted 'Bleepers, Episode 1' - take Crow's Nest cutscenes, add strategically-timed bleeps, and you get something that may or may not be funnier than the original. (Actually, how can you improve on 'To War.'?) Go watch, and decide for yourself. (Louis Wu 12:52:13 UTC) (permalink)

WP talks to Marcus Lehto
Worth Playing has an interview with Marcus Lehto - it's amazing, but there's still MORE to ask (and be answered about) that hasn't been hit by the other 342 interviews in the past week! Marcus, my hat's off to you - the ability to talk to this many outlets and still find something different to say is a true skill. (Louis Wu 12:51:43 UTC) (permalink)

Taking video analysis to the next level
Eurogamer counted frames on the gameplay shown in the recent ViDoc, and drew some conclusions about both framerate and resolution. Time will tell if they're correct or not... (Louis Wu 12:51:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Review
Jason MacIsaac, an editor with Electric Playground, watched Halo Legends, and wrote up his thoughts. Go read 'em. (Louis Wu 12:50:37 UTC) (permalink)

Love is in the Air
It went up Sunday, but a poorly-timed server upgrade (utterly my fault) made it hard to reach for part of yesterday... so I'm announcing the latest episode of Halo Action Figure Theater today, instead. Bad wordplay deserves some maturation time, anyway. (Louis Wu 12:49:59 UTC) (permalink)

40k models, continued
Batou stopped back in with some older Warhammer-based Halo figures - he's been doing this for a while! (Louis Wu 12:49:27 UTC) (permalink)

McFarlane 2010 Offerings
Toy Fair 2010 happened yesterday - and the news out of McFarlane is Reach-filled. GrimBrother One started the party with a link to Kotaku, but InnerRayg pointed out a lot more pics at Figures.com, and later came back with pics from Cool Toy Review. Go get your fill! (I gotta say, the VISR stuff looks weird.) (Louis Wu 12:48:41 UTC) (permalink)

News February 15 2010

7 years of missing you
Per tradition, today we note the passing of stalwart friend Brian Morden. Known by his tag ∗Ar-Isildur, Brian was a regular on our forums, dispensing of his youthful wisdom to all around. A Bungie fan first and a Halo fan second, Brian shared with many of us a love of video games and the social interaction it fostered. Thus all the more painful seven years ago when Brian succumbed to Ewing's Sarcoma at the age of 19.

So if you weren't around then, you're probably asking who exactly is Brian? This is a great page that covers everything Brian, including my story of visiting his hometown to attend his memorial - where those in his personal and internet life intersected. Here on H.B.O. you can pull up all mentions of Brian. Next, visit the Brian Morden Foundation and join the cause to fund cancer research as well as support those afflicted with Ewing's Sarcoma. And finally, while you're there, please sign the guestbook and let folks know he's still remembered.

Personally, if I can share a moment of honesty with you, I feel I have failed to properly redirect this remembrance. While his passing was a terrible loss to us and worthy of note, I'd rather we celebrate Brian's spirit, and what better way than to note his birthday, January 10, 1984. Seeing as this is the 7th anniversary of his passing, I think it's fitting that we 'retire' this annual post, and I will strive to change when we remember Brian henceforth. (Ding 17:34:15 UTC) (permalink)

Reach reaches
Kotaku has added their writeup to the growing collection of journalist impressions of last week's X10 Reach presentation. They're skeptical, it sounds like. (Louis Wu 17:15:41 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap: Round 11 solved, Round 12 up
Our Hide, Seek, Snap competition got two new winners from Round 11 this weekend - Man Demon snagged the Halo 3 shot, and SaberUmbra picked up the ODST shot. Nice work, guys! Two more Johnson codes out the door. (AfroRyan's legacy lives on!) We've posted Round 12 - two shots from Halo 3: ODST. Find 'em, reproduce 'em, win a Johnson code! (Louis Wu 14:58:29 UTC) (permalink)

Question Reality
Lando Griff1n told us about a new montage called 'Question Reality', available at HaloMontage.com. Gameplay is by Fitzy and Smite, editing is by Hazmat v2. 9 minutes long. Hazmat definitely pushes the technical bar of Halo montage editing, though if you're not one for fast cuts and overeffects, this one might be too much for you. Available in streaming HD, or in a 400 mb download. (Louis Wu 14:55:36 UTC) (permalink)

360 Backgrounds from Reach artwork
Over at NeoGAF, Letters took the X10-revealed box art and created a couple of backgrounds you can use on your 360. Pretty cool! (Louis Wu 14:46:19 UTC) (permalink)

Valentine's Day
AssaultGodzilla stopped in yesterday with "Valentine's Day", a video set to the Linkin Park song of the same name. Clips match lyrics, timing is spot-on. Not so sure about the message... (Louis Wu 14:44:54 UTC) (permalink)

News February 14 2010

An old friend in a new place
Looks like a small nod to Halo might have made it into Mass Effect 2... thanks, TheSneak. (Louis Wu 14:23:29 UTC) (permalink)

Taking Pretty Big Risks on Reach
Joystiq has an interview with Marcus Lehto, as well - the man's got a lot to say! (Louis Wu 14:18:47 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: LEGO Warthog
Yoraish whipped up a LEGO Warthog - interesting take! (Louis Wu 14:18:07 UTC) (permalink)

Portuguese Halo - Subtitles Only
Marcelo Vega, of Brazil's TooGamers, let us know that while Halo Legends is available in Brazil, it only has Portuguese subtitles - no dubbing. (Local stores have already broken the February 25 street date; he was able to pick up a copy today.) (Louis Wu 14:17:04 UTC) (permalink)

Interfacing with the Press
Marcus Lehto and Brian Jarrard talked to IGN - there's a ton of great info. Will you be playing as all the members of Noble Team? Question Answered. Will the beta give you a flavor of what's coming in the final product? Question Answered. Are multiplayer maps just going to be repurposed Campaign spaces? Question Answered. Is Brian rockin' the 'grizzled combat journalist' look? Question Answered. Go watch. Thanks once again to NeoGAF's Kibbles. (Louis Wu 13:31:42 UTC) (permalink)

It's a rocket to my heart, baby
Pete Cooper stopped in with a pic from an in-progress Rocket Launcher being built by a denizen of the 405th - MAN does that look good! (Louis Wu 13:11:46 UTC) (permalink)

Hawty McBloggy's Valentines Day Offerings
For those who feel less than loved this Valentines Day, Hawty McBloggy's got your back; she's posted a collection of ten 'UnValentines', with Halo-themed rejection messages. Funny, useful, a little sad... yep! But wait... what if everything's going great, but you want to send your love some Halo-themed gooey-ness? Don't worry, she's got that covered, too. Along with 'not so nice eValentines', and 'dirty eValentines', and 'sweet eValentines'. Go check out the entire collection at one easy url: Hawty McBloggy's Gamer eValentines. (Louis Wu 13:09:54 UTC) (permalink)

TXB sez Reach is one of the best
Over at NeoGAF, Kibbles pointed out a Reach preview from TeamXbox - they really liked what they saw at X10. Give it a read. (Louis Wu 13:09:12 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - is that it?
I think maybe it's time to call it quits with the Hide, Seek, Snap contest - a shame, really, since we still have seven codes left to give away, but there's nobody left submitting solutions. We'll give it another couple of days, I suppose. If you're still missing a Johnson code for ODST's Firefight, we want to help you! (Louis Wu 13:06:55 UTC) (permalink)

When life gives you lemons, think zombies
rolandk73 went hunting through eBay in search of Halo goodies - he found some funky stuff. Check it! (Louis Wu 13:06:11 UTC) (permalink)

Sunday Comic Roundup
Yesterday's Ctrl-Alt-Del's 'silly' makes an analogy I'm pretty sure I'd never have thought of myself... thanks, gunluva. And while we're doing comics, we should (hmm, wrong word) mention Grin + Bear It, over at Hawty McBloggy's - Luke is clearly a frustrated XXX scriptwriter. (Louis Wu 13:05:29 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Partners for Life
Not surprisingly, the Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots collection this week is love-themed... go check out 'Partners for Life'. Mostly safe for work (seeing as how they're all wearing armor). (Louis Wu 13:03:21 UTC) (permalink)

Trying out software the proper way
Hedgemony recently got a copy of ZBrush - and what's the first thing he decided to model? Yeah, it's Halo-related, baby! Go Hedge! (Louis Wu 13:01:33 UTC) (permalink)

WarHalo 40k
Batou has been creating custom Warhammer 40k models - check out some recent ones! Detailing is amazing... (Louis Wu 12:59:26 UTC) (permalink)

Fun at Walmart
PsH Bling walked around down in his MJOLNIR armor, and filmed it (maybe with a phone cam?). You can watch. There's also a thread on the 405th Forums. (Louis Wu 12:59:00 UTC) (permalink)

Grifball: Expansion - coming to Waypoint
T51b noticed that a new Rooster Teeth series is coming to Halo Waypoint, starting next week - the trailer for 'Grifball: Expansion' is online now, and the first episode will be aired on February 20. We've put up 720p versions of the trailer on the web, for folks who want to see what they'd be missing: grab it in either WMP9 (32 mb) or QuickTime (26 mb) formats. (If you watch it on Waypoint, don't miss other goodies, like Valentines screens, or the unsegmented version of Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, or the new Reach ViDoc... or tons of other stuff! (Louis Wu 12:55:54 UTC) (permalink)

GameTrailers: Top 10 Games of the Decade
GameTrailers posted a video countdown of the Top 10 Games of the Decade - Halo came in at #4. Nice! Thanks, Gtag=Reluctant Chaos. (Louis Wu 12:53:16 UTC) (permalink)

Classes are out, Elites are in
Two early topics of discussion (and worry) about Halo: Reach were the presence (or absence) of class-based warfare and the presence (or absence) of Elites in Multiplayer. In a video interview over at Gamespot, Marcus Lehto nails down both of these issues, pretty clearly. (Fast-forward to about 1:30 in, if you're impatient, though the whole interview is worth listening to.) Thanks, DEEP NNN. (Louis Wu 12:51:46 UTC) (permalink)

News February 13 2010

Firing Neurons, and GIFs you can't unsee
We didn't post this last night - but you should go read the Bungie Weekly Update, cause there's lots of good stuff in it. There's a recap of the Reach reveal this week (with some tantalizing comments about changes in how things work), along with a summary of the cash raised for Haiti, some information about ways you can win cool stuff for Reach by participating in the sendoff for Halo 2, a reminder of the 1 vs 100 show with Marty and Frank last night (did you watch?), and some Valentines goodies from Stosh. Check it out! As always, you can find a copy in our Weekly Update Archive, if you so choose. (Louis Wu 13:18:48 UTC) (permalink)

News February 12 2010

Paid in Blood Preview
Laird stopped in with a preview of a new project he's working on with John Graham (Jon CJG) - nice rendering! (Louis Wu 20:43:46 UTC) (permalink)

Territory Captured.
In all that drooling while we waited for the Bungie ViDoc, we neglected to notice the start of the Team Control Double EXP weekend playlist yesterday - swing by Bungie.net for a full rundown of the gametypes and maps. (Louis Wu 20:42:10 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 80
Hey - Friday Caption Fun is running again at Hawty McBloggy's! Some great captions for last week's pic, plus a nice Valentines-themed pic for this week! Go see. (Louis Wu 17:25:28 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Europe Info
Alessandro let us know that Halo Legends looks like it will actually appear in Europe dubbed in Italian, English, German and French - all in Dolby 5.1. (Apparently, Italy often gets standard Region 2 discs with an added dub/subtitle - but it looks like this time Warner's going all out!) (Louis Wu 17:24:13 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just 3 new pieces are up in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 17:23:16 UTC) (permalink)

Once More Unto The Breach
As many of our forumgoers have already discovered, the Halo: Reach ViDoc promised earlier this week is now online - swing by Bungie.net for download links. It's a nearly eight-minute look at what Bungie hopes to accomplish with the release of this game - and it shows off the really polished documentary style Bungie is becoming known for. All the taglines we've heard so far have been tucked in ("from the beginning, we knew the end") - but just as the content is full of new tidbits, so is the discussion. Download this in the highest-res you can manage, because it's worth it. And make sure your movie viewer allows you to step through frames, because they've put in quite a number of goodies that will be chewed over by fans for weeks to come. Update: for those with trouble with direct downloads, or the web in general, it's on YouTube and Xbox LIVE Marketplace. (Louis Wu 15:55:52 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Team, ennobled
newguy2445 has posted another batch of Reach wallpapers - really nice work. You should check 'em out! (Louis Wu 15:30:48 UTC) (permalink)

CE United 20 Questions: Jan/Feb
Willy from CE United interviewed Adam Grumbo from the 405th.com - you can read his 20 questions on his site. Solid interview! (Louis Wu 15:30:08 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Helmet for Sale
Renegade_Squadron is selling a one-off ODST helmet he built - it's nearly done, and if you pay the 'Buy It Now' price, he'll finish it for you (or you can do it yourself). Swing by and take a look! Starting bid is $165, and there are about two and a half days left on the auction. (Louis Wu 15:29:51 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Friday: An Air About It/Chasm Schism
FyreWulff is back with another round of Firefight Friday - this week, the competition is on Windward or Chasm Ten, depending on difficulty. Swing by his forum post for full details! (Louis Wu 15:29:09 UTC) (permalink)

Custom Painted Spartan for Sale
Andrew Squires wants to paint you a 12-inch Spartan. Your colors, your choice of details. The auction listing has some photos of work he's done - but what you're bidding on will be your own creation. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 15:28:18 UTC) (permalink)

A five-year-old challenge falls
Wow. Over at High Impact Halo, HB sa' lamee filmed a Halo 2 feat that's been discussed for years - he successfully launched himself from the Covenant to the Human gondola on Quarantine Zone... and lived. Check out the newspost by Nofirefrog for the history on this one, then read HB sa 'lamee's writeup and watch the vid. The tenacity of these tricksters never ceases to amaze me... (and thanks to Grumpy for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 15:27:00 UTC) (permalink)

Blood on the VISR
Pete Cooper was watching Band of Brothers, and decided to write an ODST-themed version of 'Blood on the Risers' - his poem is called 'Blood on the VISR'. (If you don't know the song itself, it's a parody of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and a good version of it - with lyrics - can be found here.) Gory be! (Louis Wu 15:26:33 UTC) (permalink)

Meeting Frankie: Priceless
RedGrimRune went to the IGN screening of Halo Legends in San Francisco yesterday - you can read the details on his blog. Awesome artwork! (Louis Wu 15:26:16 UTC) (permalink)

X10 Musings, Round 1
There are many, many new pieces online from game journalists who were present at the X10 presentation yesterday - here are a few:

• IGN's First Look discusses the 'huge, epic battles' you'll be fighting.
• Gamespot's First Look mentioned the conversation-causing assertion that "all of the multiplayer maps are taken directly from the single-player campaign", among other things.
• Joystiq put up an article focusing on Reach's 'Definitive Halo' status, and another mentioning the 'pretty big risks' Reach will be taking. (No details on what those risks are.)
• According to 1UP, Reach will be the 'Ultimate Halo'.
• Gamespy reconsiders the value of entry to the Reach Beta, and decides that ODST was, indeed, worth the price.

I'm sure there are others, but I've got an appointment to give blood. (You might want to check Twitter feeds of folks like Geoff Keighley, Dave Ellis, and Bungie themselves. Lots more - those happened to be the three windows open when I wrote this.) More news later this morning! (Louis Wu 12:26:29 UTC) (permalink)

News February 11 2010

Reach Beta: It's coming soon!
So if you're not cool enough to be invited to the X10 event in San Francisco today, you might want to swing by Bungie.net - they're showing off new screenshots, new art assets... and a date for the Halo: Reach Beta. Is your calendar open on May 3, 2010? WELL, OPEN IT, SOLDIER! (Louis Wu 21:39:47 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wedding Redux
Stephen Totilo revisited Desirai Labrada and John Henry one year after their famous Halo wedding - go check out his writeup at Kotaku. (Louis Wu 17:48:35 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Afternoon at the Movies
Thursday movie offerings at Bungie.net:

• Nocturnal Emissions is a jump video.
• Full Throttle is a Goosetage.
• Queso Man 7 is a mishaptage.

Go Watch! (Louis Wu 17:44:26 UTC) (permalink)

Hint and ye shall receive
A couple of hours ago, we posted that one of the Hide, Seek, Snap images from Round 10 was still unsolved - and provided a second clue. Almost immediately, chris101b sent us a screenshot. Nice work, Chris! We've posted two NEW shots for you - this time, there's one each from Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. Go reproduce them, and get your OWN Johnson code! (Louis Wu 17:41:28 UTC) (permalink)

Amazon's Platinum Hits Sale
For another couple of days, Amazon has a deal going - buy two Platinum Hits, get a third free. Halo 3 is on the list ($28), as is Halo Wars ($30) - go stock up and save a little scratch! (Louis Wu 15:29:12 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - Really? You're stumped?
Folks STILL haven't come up with a solution for the latest Hide, Seek, Snap image - so we've added a second clue. And we've had word from the first Round 10 winner that Sgt. Johnson codes do, in fact, still work, even though the original cards said that they'd expire on January 31 - so reproduce our screen, and win your own! (Louis Wu 15:21:19 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 Maps - Downloadable Again!
Last night, we heard from xoools that he was re-downloading the Halo 2 maps again - and the fact that they were back online was confirmed a few hours later on our forum, when urk stated that you could grab them again. Go do it - you want to have them in time for Bungie's farewell in April! (Louis Wu 14:10:57 UTC) (permalink)

I blame the beer.
Hawty McBloggy called on the power of Google to discover the pitfalls facing Cortana - here's hoping Google's wrong this time around. (Louis Wu 14:10:01 UTC) (permalink)

Tank - load the jump program.
Nevan stopped in to let us know about a video created in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - it looks like Warthog Launching is back! (Well, sort of; they're not actually Warthogs, but the physics allows for some great backseat flying.) Take a look. (Louis Wu 14:07:49 UTC) (permalink)

News February 10 2010

Beast Mode On: Updated Favorites
Hey, it's Wednesday - so it's time for a Community Spotlight update at Bungie.net. Swing by to read an interview about the map 'Good Time', and make sure you check out the rest of the updated Favorites. (Louis Wu 19:27:48 UTC) (permalink)

Finnish Spartan - Replica BR-55
Totally forgot to post this yesterday - but Finnish Spartan sent us pics of a scratch-built Battle Rifle he's put together - if you like what you see, he can sell you one! This one's mostly designed off the Halo 2 model.

156k

93k

146k

He also included a link to a YouTube video showing off the gun - looks great! (Louis Wu 18:04:40 UTC) (permalink)

DiabolicReborn's Solo Jump Video
DiabolicReborn has a few solo jumps (no explosions) that you might find useful - check 'em out! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:04:19 UTC) (permalink)

Community Carnage wants you - to play Halo 2
Community Carnage is handling their own end-of-life event for Halo 2 - swing by this Bungie.net post for full details, and links to help you get involved. (Louis Wu 18:04:01 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Update
The Chronicles of ODS Steve is up to #60 with 'Demons Come In Black Too', posted today at Hawty McBloggy's. We neglected to post Sunday's Grin + Bear It - I'm hoping that particular plotline is nearly finished. Still no word on when we'll see the next Reclaimer. (Louis Wu 17:32:24 UTC) (permalink)

Mach 1, at 23 miles
ElusiveEagle519 found a video discussing the Red Bull Stratos project - an attempt to break a bunch of humans-falling-to-earth records that have stood for 50 years. Felix Baumgartner is looking to become a modern-day Helljumper! Pretty cool. (Louis Wu 17:31:59 UTC) (permalink)

HaloContest's January Montage
Morpheus stopped in to announce the HaloContest January Montage (and his attempt at 50 front-page mentions) - swing by to watch and see who won! (Louis Wu 17:31:43 UTC) (permalink)

1 vs 100 Extended Play - Halo Edition
Yesterday there was a Halo-specific version of 1 vs 100 on Xbox LIVE - if you missed it, FyreWulff streamed it on Livestream. (It starts in this video, about 9 minutes in, and finishes up in this video.) You can't win anything by playing today - but you can see how up-to-snuff your Halo knowledge is! (Louis Wu 17:31:07 UTC) (permalink)

Not Happy about Halo 2
bluerunner found an old meme, updated with a new bit of news. No more Halo 2? Call Eva! Update: bah. Looks like this vid has been yanked already. (Louis Wu 17:30:48 UTC) (permalink)

News February 9 2010

Reach Developer Blog - Now Open
Domino Theory noticed the Reach Dev Blog, a joint project from Marcus Lehto and Joe Tung - it seems to have been live for over a week now! Check out some cool concept art from Reach, and some tidbits about where development currently stands. This will be a site to watch! (Louis Wu 21:26:19 UTC) (permalink)

First Reach ViDoc to Air at X10
SketchFactor (who posts as 'ManCannon' on NeoGAF) confirmed that Bungie will be present at X10 in San Francisco this week - and that they will be showing off a brand-new ViDoc. (This ViDoc will hit Marketplace on February 12 - Friday.) Thanks, Robbert014. (Louis Wu 20:56:26 UTC) (permalink)

ODST and Reach LEGO Awesomeosity
Stalid Autumn has built a lot of Halo-themed creations out of LEGO - check 'em out in his Flickr stream. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 20:25:39 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday's CC Vids
Bunch of vids available on Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Community Montage Week 2 is a bunch of clips tagged 'Extermination', put together (with minimal editing) by Alec944
• Orange and Blue is a Halo 3 montage from a bunch of different players - lots of sticks
• Remembered is a Halo montage from another bunch of players - all MLG gameplay
• One Day Wonder is a montage from - well, One Day Wonder. (Editing by Snip3tality)

Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:25:14 UTC) (permalink)

Ruler of all that he sees
Hawty McBloggy found a pic that explains why you can't sprint in Halo... (Louis Wu 20:24:54 UTC) (permalink)

One Life Remaining S1E9
Jon CJG has the latest episode of One Life Remaining (S1E9) online now - thanks, Hyokin. Sort of weird to see Halo characters playing MW2... (Louis Wu 20:24:35 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap Update
Apologies - the Hide, Seek, Snap contest has been on hold, sort of, for the past week. (Life is not always gentle, and Halo is not always priority one.) Congrats to CrudeDiatribe, who was the first to submit a correct answer for the second of the Round 10 shots - the first one hasn't been successfully reproduced yet. (We've added a hint to the page - if this STILL doesn't bring an answer, we'll provide another one soon.) Sorry for the delay! (Louis Wu 20:23:23 UTC) (permalink)

News February 8 2010

Halo: OWaW - now with Firefight
newguy2445 sent word of a new update for Halo: Out With a Whimper, the sidescroller being developed by TriBlox. Looks like they've added Firefight to their game! Check it out. (Louis Wu 21:21:38 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Guardian
Bungie.net has posted a new Tag and Release feature - this one has unique insights into the map Guardian. Beautiful stuff! (Louis Wu 21:20:51 UTC) (permalink)

Get a 360 with every Halo game thrown in
CVG is giving away an Xbox 360 Elite with every available Halo game - just put your name in the hat. (Louis Wu 20:38:21 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends reviews appear
ElzarTheBam found a review of Halo Legends. Frankie found another one. (Louis Wu 20:35:59 UTC) (permalink)

The Master Chief - Victorious
The Halo fan who's been showing up at Saints games all season long (we last mentioned him in October) made the front page of CNN.com yesterday. Avateur grabbed the shot. (Louis Wu 18:12:28 UTC) (permalink)

Picking Your Battles
Wired Magazine looks at how age affects players of First-Person Shooters; they talk to 'Grandpa Walsh' - a 25-year-old pro. Apparently, it's not really that older players are worse - it's that younger players are better. (Louis Wu 18:03:45 UTC) (permalink)

Luck Halo
ZaneZavin put together a few clips that he calls 'Luck Halo' - fun moments! Just two minutes long. (Louis Wu 18:02:58 UTC) (permalink)

I gotchyer Display Emblem right here
Hawty McBloggy's Inappropriate Halo: Reach Emblem Contest is over, and she's posted the winner (and a gallery of honorable mentions). That woman can make ANYTHING sexual... (Louis Wu 18:02:30 UTC) (permalink)

News February 7 2010

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Strike a Pose
The Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots theme this week is 'Strike a Pose' - I'm lovin' these! (Louis Wu 16:02:07 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Fanart
newguy2445 announced a bunch of new Reach fanart he created with recently-released assets - some great stuff in there! (Louis Wu 16:01:47 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Premiere in SF
Frankie stopped by to point out a note on IGN - looks like Halo Legends will be presented in San Francisco on February 10 (this coming Wednesday), at the AMC Metreon. Tickets are free, and the IGN article explains how you can try and grab one. As ElusiveEagle519 reinforced, the article even has an exclusive clip from Origins, Part 2. (Louis Wu 16:01:19 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 2 DLC no longer available
So it turns out that Microsoft has already taken downloadable content for the original Xbox offline, in preparation for the termination of the service for that console in April. Why is this a bad thing? Because many of us haven't grabbed recent copies of the Halo 2 downloadable maps - and the Xbox 360 has a nasty habit of corrupting original content. Without those maps (which you can no longer download), you can't play in any of the current Matchmaking playlists. Ugh! Thanks to Avateur for the heads-up. (Bungie says they're working on it.) (Louis Wu 16:00:12 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Waypoint taking over Halo Wars Support
At the end of this month, Halo Waypoint will take over support of Halo Wars from Robot Entertainment, consolidating their hold on the Halo franchise. Thanks, Voho. (Louis Wu 15:56:38 UTC) (permalink)

Goodies on Halo Waypoint
Don't you just love it when weekends turn out like you planned 'em? Back for a little bit, to update you on a few of the things that have been going on since Friday. Let's start with Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, Part 4 - it went live, as expected, yesterday, and finishes the Frank O'Connor-penned short story Waypoint started 3 weeks ago. It's a great piece of work, and if you'd rather see it in one unbroken run, it'll be up on Halo Waypoint next week in its complete form. While you're there, don't forget all the other stuff they've got for you! (Louis Wu 15:55:51 UTC) (permalink)

News February 6 2010

Emo Tears and Unstoppable Death Dealers
The Bungie Weekly Update was posted earlier this evening - it contains info to drool about (if you knew what urk was actually looking at, that is), some good news about Elites, some really cool news about shield effects, an update on the 1 vs 100 Halo event (looks like it's going to be February 9 (Tuesday), not February 12, as originally posted), more fun icon submissions, and other goodies. Go read it! It is, of course, available in our Weekly Update Archive, should you choose to read it there. Update: the original date of February 12 for the Frank and Marty show is actually correct. The official announcement says that the show on the 9th is "followed immediately" by the Halo-themed show - but by "immediately", they mean "3 days later". Thanks, Voc and Cocop. (Louis Wu 02:25:06 UTC) (permalink)

News February 5 2010

I Love Bees Scouting Notes
Folks who love the details behind a project are gonna love this tidbit from Wonderland - one of the people responsible for finding public phones for use in the I Love Bees ARG has passed along the original scouting notes she wrote up to Cory Doctorow, for a new publishing project. Fun! Thanks, Ross "I think I'm up to 136 now" Mills. (Louis Wu 20:33:23 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 79
Hey, did you know it was Friday? That means Friday Caption Fun at Hawty McBloggy's! Check out the caption submissions for last week's pic (funky backwards shot) and add your own for this week's shot (funky frontwards double-flag jump). woohoo! (Louis Wu 20:27:47 UTC) (permalink)

untz untz untz (oonsk?)
If you're jonesin' for a rave, swing by Bungie.net and watch 'The Third Halo 3 Light Show' - lots of colors, lots of explosions, lots of techno. (Louis Wu 20:23:38 UTC) (permalink)

Nights Sorrow
Bungie has word of a pretty cool fan-created desktop dedicated to Halo: Reach - check it out at DeviantART! (Louis Wu 17:22:46 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Friday: Lost Zoo
FyreWulff is back with another episode of Firefight Friday - this challenge is called 'Lost Zoo' (it'll take place on Lost Platoon). Visit the website and sign up for the difficulty that makes you comfortable - and get to battling! (Louis Wu 16:33:51 UTC) (permalink)

MitHoM: Part 4 of 4 Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Halo Waypoint will be presenting the final episode of 'Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian' - the banner below leads to a teaser pic. If you haven't read the story in Halo Evolutions, this should be a nailbiter! (Louis Wu 13:14:43 UTC) (permalink)

End of an Era
Rod noticed that there's an announcement up on MajorNelson.com stating that as of April 15 of this year, Microsoft will no longer be offering LIVE service for the original Xbox - or (more relevantly for readers here) for original Xbox games. This means that if you want to play Halo 2 on Xbox LIVE, you have just a bit over 2 more months to do it. Update: looks like there'll be an actual farewell celebration... thanks, Sketch! More when we know about it. (Louis Wu 13:14:15 UTC) (permalink)

Scion is your Sword
Hedgemony found a page of pictures and text put up by cosplayer Scion, devoted to a costume of Cortana - she built her costume in time for the 2009 Canadian National Fan Expo, but this is the first we're seeing it! Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:13:51 UTC) (permalink)

Becoming a Fanboy Again
IGN talked to Frank O'Connor about Halo Legends, and many other Halo-related things - swing by to read the details. (Did you know he thinks the Halo movie could be the next Avatar? Wait, maybe that's not what he said...) Thanks, Gilver. (Louis Wu 13:13:22 UTC) (permalink)

Arbi7er
AssaultGodzilla is back - this time he's created 'Arbi7er', set to Link Park's 'Numb'. The music may be tired, but the clips are well-chosen, and the timing, as usual, is quite good. (I will say that although I've seen FAR too many Halo videos set to this song, it's actually quite appropriate here.) (Louis Wu 13:12:56 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Soundtrack
Jordan491 noticed that (at least for US residents) the iTunes Store contains previews of all the songs on the Halo Legends Soundtrack, and gives you the opportunity to preorder it. Many of the pieces are off the Halo soundtracks - but quite a number are not. (The $9.99 download price is considerably lower than Amazon's $15.98 preorder price.) Go see! (Louis Wu 13:12:11 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just three new pieces available for you in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read 'em! (One of the pieces, Halo Clairvoyance Chapter 3, is also available at DeviantART, along with its cover art - thanks, Halochief89.) (Louis Wu 13:08:15 UTC) (permalink)

News February 4 2010

Jub Jub Revisited
There's a fascinating writeup on Bungie.net right now - Steve Cotton looks back on the development process that brought Guardian into being. Give it a read to see where Guardian has been, and how it became what you play on today! (Louis Wu 21:58:23 UTC) (permalink)

Film Review - Halo Legends, Part 1
Alternative Magazine Online has a review of 'Halo Legends, Part 1' - pretty much all the episodes that have been shown in their entirety on Halo Waypoint. The second half is coming soon (I'd assume after February 16). (Louis Wu 20:41:29 UTC) (permalink)

First MLG Pro-Gaming Combine
If you're someone who believes you could be a Halo pro, if only there were a way to break into the big leagues, MLG's first Pro-Gaming Combine is for you. Amateurs who participate have a shot at the bright lights, big city. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:39:47 UTC) (permalink)

MC in da Halo
Hyokin stumbled across MC in da Halo, a two and a half year old Flash animation created by Renegade-Hamster. If you've ever thought some of the aspects of the beginning of Halo 3 needed a bit of ridicule, you'll like this. (Louis Wu 20:35:08 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Character Model
Brighton stopped in with word of his work-in-progress ODST model he's been making - swing by DeviantART to see the latest version, or Zbrush Central to see images showing the progress. (Louis Wu 20:33:02 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Playlist Fun
FyreWulff pointed out that the Playlists page at Bungie.net has been updated - we've got info on playlists most of the way through February now. (Don't forget - this week's Double XP list is Maption Pack, loaded with community-built maps. It's unclear at this point whether they're updated versions or not - DEEP NNN let us know about a thread on the B.net forums discussing the list, where you can add your two cents about the playability.) Get on LIVE! (Louis Wu 20:18:39 UTC) (permalink)

IGN Top Kills of the Week - Feb 3
IGN has posted their latest Top 10 Halo 3 Kills video (this one is through February 3) - and I have to say, these made me laugh. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 19:31:02 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends, for free
Loot Ninja is giving away three copies of Halo Legends (on Blu-Ray) to folks who comment by February 7 (Sunday night). Go sign up! (Louis Wu 19:29:38 UTC) (permalink)

The Old and the New
A contemporary playwright has combined Halo 3 and Shakespeare with his play, 'When in Disgrace', on stage in Louisville, Kentucky later this month. (The play's not ABOUT Halo, or Shakespeare - but the opening scene contains both.) (Louis Wu 19:28:09 UTC) (permalink)

Cortana gets duped
Cybrfrk sent word that Jen Taylor, the voice of Cortana, had a co-starring role in last night's episode of Leverage, 'The Future Job'. (You can see details about the episode at TVRage.com, or wait a week and watch it on TNT.) Nice! (Louis Wu 19:27:38 UTC) (permalink)

New montages from Bungie's Comm Chatter
Two new montages got posted today:

• Alec944 combed through rendered videos on B.net tagged with the word 'Splatter' - watch players get smushed.
• Narcotic's first montage (edited by Muggsy, dedicated to Jeremy Michael Grant)is heavy on the saturation, all MLG gameplay.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:27:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halcylon's Halo Poster Pack
mendicantbias noticed that Halcylon is offering wallpaper based on his really cool Halo-themed posters. Lots of resolutions, and links back to the original posters if you'd rather have one at a time! (The individual posters are also included in the Poster Pack download.) (Louis Wu 16:54:51 UTC) (permalink)

ONI Logo, EPS format
SK Crisis was kind enough to upload an EPS version of the ONI logo he'd created last week - if you'd like this for use in creating artwork, go to it! (Louis Wu 16:39:18 UTC) (permalink)

That guy needs a Nerf gun.
Hedgemony found a Plushie Chief! (Well, not really a plushie... it's more of a foam Chief. Still pretty danged cool!) (Louis Wu 16:38:17 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 - District 9
eckosama pointed out a very cool recreation of the District 9 trailer, created with Halo 3 and ODST clips. Really well-done! (Louis Wu 16:36:44 UTC) (permalink)

Community Spotlight: Beast Mode On
We missed a Bungie.net Community Spotlight yesterday; Beast Mode On was the focus. The front-page article has an interview with the group, and the Bungie Favorites section is populated with some of their choicest files. Go see! (Louis Wu 16:35:31 UTC) (permalink)

Halo-themed 1 vs 100
Looks like the season finale of 1 vs 100 will have two special Halo guests - Marty O'Donnell and Frank O'Connor! Watch next Friday, February 12! Thanks, Minime637. (Louis Wu 16:34:12 UTC) (permalink)

Flying the UH-144
Mid7night has been working on his UH-144 Falcon in X-Plane - check out the latest pics and video! (Louis Wu 16:33:13 UTC) (permalink)

News February 3 2010

Calling All Halo Fans
Morpheus pointed out a new section on Xbox LIVE Marketplace - it's in the 'Spotlight' section, and it's entitled 'Calling All Halo Fans'. It contains links to all the downloadable Halo content on LIVE (map packs, games on demand, and avatars/themes), another link to Waypoint, and links to all the Insider videos done about Halo topics. Nice to have everything in one place! (Louis Wu 19:43:39 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comm Chatter Movie Roundup
Just three vids for you, it seems:

• TSquared is back with Pro Tips for Longshore at G4TV. I haven't faced folks who've used these yet (well, maybe the Sniper one) - so they're pretty fresh tips!
• Static Hazard and B Mc Gann put together Top 10 Big Team Battle Kills, Episode 1 - a bit on the long side, but the kills are fun.
• Wafflebrains made a montage called 'Hang Ten' - a player riding on top of a Banshee can do some serious damage!

Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:13:56 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Update
This update is pretty light - the only new Halo comic material we know about is a new episode of ODS Steve. #59 (The Best Laid Plans) has Steve suggesting a plan of attack that really doesn't inspire confidence... (Louis Wu 18:56:52 UTC) (permalink)

I wonder how many of these will turn into tattoos?
Hawty McBloggy, unhappy with Bungie's requirement that user-designed armor emblems be sexually innocent, has kicked off a new contest - the Unofficial Inappropriate Halo: Reach Emblem Contest. Read the post for full rules and prize descriptions. And go be inappropriate. (Louis Wu 18:53:34 UTC) (permalink)

BOBBBBBB
pete_the_duck's tale of sidekick rivalry ended this morning - in a very surprising way. Swing by the final forum post to see it! (Louis Wu 18:29:52 UTC) (permalink)

Abandon all hope.
AngelicLionheart found some poetry he'd written a while back - call these 'Gravemind, Revisited'. (Louis Wu 18:18:53 UTC) (permalink)

Why go free when you can pay?
Document noticed a new book for sale on Amazon.com - it's called 'Factions of Halo', and it's selling for $49. It weighs in at a meager 75 pages... and a large green stamp on the cover proclaims "High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA Articles!" Aglor nailed down the rationale behind buying this, I think. (Louis Wu 18:16:12 UTC) (permalink)

A Long(shore) Time Coming
Life is, once again, getting in the way of Halo. Sorry. Yesterday, the Mythic II Map Pack (Longshore, Heretic, Citadel) were released, for 800 MS Points, on Xbox LIVE - if you never bought ODST, here's your chance to get your hands on some great multiplayer maps! (Louis Wu 18:13:09 UTC) (permalink)

News February 2 2010

Ten of Gaming's Greatest AI Characters
Hellforge put together their list of Ten of Gaming's Greatest AI Characters - Bungie took five of those slots, all by themselves. W00T! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:04:41 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday Afternoon Movies from B.net
Yep, there are more...

• Ich tat es für das lulz has a lot of non-BR kills.
• Volitation is a Rocket Race montage.
• IMS: Halo 3 Trailer takes the whole murderous cone idea just a step too far.
• Rewind is a quadtage, so you don't get bored of one playstyle.

Should keep you busy for a while... (Louis Wu 18:03:59 UTC) (permalink)

Dun Dun Dun
pete_the_duck's back with the second installment of Bob vs Oonsk - I can't tell who I'm rooting for! (Louis Wu 13:32:32 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief in College, Redux
So a few days ago, we mentioned a pretty cool painting of Master Chief on a college dorm room wall - Hedgemony had dug it up on DeviantART, and shared it with our forum. Turns out, Hawty McBloggy had already contacted the artist at that point, and was waiting for permission to release very cool in-progress shots of the creation of said painting. They're up now - swing by and see how this bad boy came to life! (Louis Wu 13:31:26 UTC) (permalink)

Little Chief, Updated
Sqorck updated his 'Little Chief' game - he's added a menu and a few other things. He still doesn't know where this is going, gameplay-wise, but in the meantime, it's fun to look at! Swing by YouTube to see the latest. (Louis Wu 13:30:06 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Heroes Journey Sweepstakes
Halo Waypoint is running a sweepstakes - GrimBrother One noticed a note on the Waypoint Twitter feed announcing this. Prizes include a trip to 343 Studios, along with a bunch of smaller prizes (Xbox 360s, copies of the video). The Sweepstakes itself is running on Facebook, but codes (to help unlock new content, like poster art and exclusive video clips) can be found on the Halo Legends Facebook profile (different from the Sweepstakes app), MySpace profile, and Warner's Legends website, in addition to the Legends Twitter feed. Go play - new codes every day! (Louis Wu 13:29:22 UTC) (permalink)

Cheapest Legendary in a While
Forrest let us know that the Halo 3: Legendary Edition is on sale (for the next 15 hours, anyway) at 1saleaday - for under $30. Doesn't your cat need a helmet? (Louis Wu 13:28:49 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief Theater 3000: Episode 403
Pyrosmile has released Master Chief Theater 3000 Season 4 Episode 3 - they take a look (and a few shots at) the Uplift Reserve scenes. There are also releasing content that was originally 'member-only' on their YouTube channel - outtakes and such. (Louis Wu 13:28:17 UTC) (permalink)

News February 1 2010

Making of The Life
fxguide has an interview with Rob Moggach, visual effects supervisor and lead compositor on the Halo 3: ODST live-action trailer, about the work his team did to make that piece come alive for us. Fascinating read! (Louis Wu 22:31:05 UTC) (permalink)

Cortanalicious
Is Fergie a Cortana fan? Hawty McBloggy thinks so. Go see why! (Louis Wu 22:26:30 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Cool
Bungie posted a new 'Tag and Release' collection - the word of the week is 'Cool'. Fun shots! (Louis Wu 22:25:08 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup (sort of)
Grin + Bear It continues its edgy storyline - not my taste, but the readers seem to love it. That's your only Halo comic update of the day... Update: eep - what am I saying? Halo Action Figure Theater just updated, as well! (I have to say, I have no idea at all what's going on, but hey... what else is new?) (Louis Wu 22:21:41 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Poster/DVD Contest from 360Junkies
360Junkies' Jonathan Heier let us know that you can win a Halo Legends poster - and maybe even a copy of Legends. Their contest starts today, and runs through February 15th at Midnight (PST). Go sign up - free is good! (Louis Wu 22:07:52 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Monday Movie Movie
We missed the afternoon's video dump on Bungie.net - but never fear, we're catching up now!

• SpitFIReKyD 'friends' decided to mess with him. He gets the better of them - I guess he's not someone you should mess with.
• Twisted Metal made a solo trickjumping vid. Some pretty cool ones!
• Eamonn made a Halo 3 montage - HD carnage.
• WatchThis!Gaming posted their sixth episode of Top 5 Halo 3 Plays - lots of snipers.
• 360Cinema has a Top 10 Halo 3 Exterminations vid. I'm hearing Daleks. (Exterm on Big Team Battle? That's insane.)
• There's a new IGN Top Ten Halo 3 Kills vid - this one focuses on stickies.

Whew! That was a decent weekend queue! (Louis Wu 22:05:09 UTC) (permalink)

OMG
pete_the_duck dropped by with some heart-stopping pics - go look! (Louis Wu 14:49:03 UTC) (permalink)

Keep it Frosted!
NeoGAF member jergrah pointed out a page on Assortmentofgeeks.com showing off some very cool cupcakes created by the crew at Wink cupcakes in Seattle. Mmmm... (Louis Wu 14:48:39 UTC) (permalink)

Grand Valley
TDSpiral also whipped up a gorgeous piece of artwork - this one's concept art rather than promotional, but it's just as nice to look at. (He started a thread about it on our forum, as well.) (Louis Wu 14:47:58 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach poster by Halcylon
Halcylon has whipped up a very poster for Halo: Reach - it's not quite big enough for large-format printing, but it IS quite nice to look at. Thanks to ElusiveEagle519 for bringing it to our attention. (Louis Wu 14:47:08 UTC) (permalink)

IGN for Haiti - Oonsk Sells Big
Gah. I missed the IGN for Haiti auction endings yesterday, and they don't seem to have put up any way to look at already-finished auctions, so it's unclear how they did. I DO have a link for the Oonsk and Mister Chief painting by Frank O'Connor, though; I can't tell you who won, but I can say that the final price was $662. Not too shabby at all! (Louis Wu 14:46:08 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap: Round 9 over, Round 10 live
The two Halo 3: ODST screens for Round 9 of our Hide, Seek, Snap contest were successfully reproduced (congrats, Mushroomy and bhwrice - you both have new Sgt Johnson codes!) - and two new screens (from Halo 3 again) are available for Round 10. Still missing a Johnson code for ODST Firefight? Here's another pair of chances! Go find 'em! (Louis Wu 14:45:08 UTC) (permalink)

February 2010

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