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 | January 2002 |  |
January 2002 Archived News
News January 31 2002
Story page comes back to life
Woohoo! mmemesis goes on a posting spree at the Halo Story page; more than enough to chew on, for now! In addition, Ape Man is back - seems he (or more precisely, his internet connection) was the victim of an overzealous backhoe operator... but he's back up and running now, so we should see some new material soon. (Anyone jonesin' for those Level transcripts yet?) (Louis Wu 01:45:49 UTC) (permalink)
Reviews page cleaned up
Dunno about the rest of you, but for me, the Reviews page was beginning to get unwieldy; too many entries to load smoothly. Accordingly, it's been redesigned; it now shows 20 reviews at a time, and you can choose to see only the one you're interested in. Now back to the Gameplay pages... (Louis Wu 01:39:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo movie - ain't happenin'
To all those people sending in reports of the Halo movie rumored on this Dutch site (among other places) - please, no more. It just ain't true. Matt Soell, on our forum, succinctly denies that a movie is being discussed. (As I told a few of you via email, I was planning on ignoring this... but a flat denial by Bungie seems worth the post.) (Louis Wu 01:36:17 UTC) (permalink)
News January 30 2002
The tricks keep coming
Two more submissions for the Gameplay Tricks page - Cal drops off a passel of pics showing the tippety-top of Damnation... and Phear X shows you how to get on top of the base beacon pole (which stands on top of the base) on Sidewinder. What folks won't try... (Louis Wu 17:21:30 UTC) (permalink)
Story page still alive
Apologies to all who've been writing to the Halo Story page - the crew seems to have run into time issues. Never fear, though, things will be back on track soon! mnemesis added another tidbit last night from Alan Wu - that Marathon link just won't die, and now there are other options for the bigger picture! Check out the Story page news... and don't hesitate to send along your wild ravings; nothing's being thrown away, so it'll be there when the team gets back to it. (Louis Wu 14:03:16 UTC) (permalink)
The Cole Protocol comes online
silverx10 writes to say that a new Halo fansite is up and running - The Cole Protocol has been ensuring the safety of the planet Earth since 2552. Currently, they have gameplay tips, character descriptions, and a couple of level walkthroughs. Content is going up quickly... check it out! (Louis Wu 13:57:07 UTC) (permalink)
First up... then down
Dueling Cartographers! Two different collections have been added to the Gameplay Tricks section - Team 7HR33 submits a movie showing a beautiful dismount from the top of Silent Cartographer... and Randy Glass gives us a cookbook movie that will have you driving the heights in no time. (Randy's page contains multiple mirrors for his film - thanks once again to the Psyjnir Complex for their hotline hosting!) If the submission rate ever slows down, I'll even get around to making the page more navigable! Followup: Randy has posted a pretty hilarious bloopers film (1:25, 4.8 MB), showing a bunch of the times it DIDN'T work... the last one had me in tears. (Where'd it go?) (Louis Wu 06:58:40 UTC) (permalink)
Another Halo review, Junkyard updates
Vector40, of the Junkyard, points out a newish Halo review over at Monolithic Illusions. Reading the text, you might get the impression that they weren't too impressed... but the final score was a 9.5/10. Go figure. We've added it to the Reviews page. (You know... while you're over at the Junkyard, checking out Vec's review news, you should take a gander at his newly remodeled Weapons Guide, the first step in a total overhaul of the Halo section. Lots to see!) (Louis Wu 05:42:00 UTC) (permalink)
Rocket Jumping Tutorial
Another stunt movie: Phear X has created a 13 mb, 1:41-long clip showing how to rocket jump to the top of Sidewinder. It's currently being hosted by Brian Towne, of mythica.org (Brian, you da man!) - grab it! (Looks like it's also on the Psyjnir Complex's Hotline server - you guys rock, too. ;) ) Eventually, this'll be added to the Tips and Tricks page. (Currently, we're swamped like you wouldn't believe.) (Louis Wu 00:41:12 UTC) (permalink)
I see a red video...
Kurisu has created yet another music video - this one's a little strange; lots of repeating footage. You can check it out (8 megs, .wmv format set to 'Paint It Black') at his site. (Louis Wu 00:33:26 UTC) (permalink)
Three more French Halo reviews
genohunter has pointed out a number of new French Halo reviews - Hard Gamers Consoles gave it a 94%, OverGame.com gave it 8.5/10, and HardGamers (more general) gave it a 92%. (He thanked Firfin for the heads-up for these.) We've added all of them to our Reviews page. (Louis Wu 00:26:45 UTC) (permalink)
Enormous numbers of screens added
A couple of months ago, GameKult.com (a French gaming site) put up their Halo review... since then they've added a mind-numbing 152 screenshots. Almost none of them show unique material - they're simply a nearly comprehensive look at the first four levels of the game. They are unique to GameKult, though, so we felt they should be in the Screenshots database here (we try to be comprehensive). Thanks to the wonders of scripting technology, I was able to add them without pain to myself... so if you are having trouble viewing them at GameKult, check 'em out in our database. (Louis Wu 00:25:59 UTC) (permalink)
News January 29 2002
Outer Edge and XGR review Halo
Another pair of Halo reviews popped up a couple of weeks ago - we missed 'em (again). The Outer Edge and X-Treme Gaming Radio both liked Halo a lot (A and 98%, respectively)... we've added both reviews to our (getting-rather-full) Reviews page. 63 reviews - with an average rating of 95.1%... not too shabby! (Thanks to Blue's News for the heads-up on these two.) (Louis Wu 10:34:16 UTC) (permalink)
Dragula mirrored again
Sorry for the downtime... our upstream provider was doing some intrusive testing on the circuit, trying to find some problems which seem to have vanished. It was planned, if that's any consolation. :) During the downtime, we found another mirror for the Dragula music video - thanks to Nero for this! You can grab either the large (34 MB) or small (16 MB) versions here. (Louis Wu 09:29:11 UTC) (permalink)
Miscellaneous Covenant
John "Xcruiser" LaGaipa sends in a nice little sticker (well, okay, a virtual sticker) for our Miscellaneous Art collection. Check it out! (Louis Wu 03:55:59 UTC) (permalink)
Sniping from the Tower...
Metafire has taken a series of pretty pictures of a curious rock formation high on the wall of Blood Gulch... and put them together to show another way up and out of Blood Gulch. (These were originally mentioned on our forum, and are being hosted here with permission.) Check 'em out on our Gameplay Tricks page! (Louis Wu 02:45:28 UTC) (permalink)
Renegade gets another mirror
Once again, Brian Towne steps forward and provides a home for the latest Halo music vid - you can find it at Mythica.org. 40 megs... (Louis Wu 02:38:56 UTC) (permalink)
News January 28 2002
Casualty of naming
Tom Murphy sends in the second installment of his 'Casualties of War' series - it's a little confusing, since it 1) has a small section that got left out of the introduction, and 2) is labeled Part 2, though the body says it's Part 1 (the real Part 1 was the introduction). My bad for labeling it this way - sorry. Anyway, go read it (by itself, or together with the first installment) in our Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 22:19:07 UTC) (permalink)
Mmmph!
Goodness. Remember those fraternity pranks, where they tried to stuff as many people as possible into a car? TitaniumPez has gone the other way - and stuffed as many vehicles as possible into a small cave on Sidewinder. I'd hate to try coming through that teleporter now... Check it out on our Gameplay Tricks page. (Louis Wu 22:00:19 UTC) (permalink)
New Fanfic-inspired art
Jason O'Brien has created another image for the Fan Fiction series, 'The Wanderers'. We've added the image link to the story for which it exists, and placed it by itself in our Miscellaneous Art section. Take a look! (Louis Wu 21:33:24 UTC) (permalink)
Explanation behind the obsession
While on the subject of the Psyjnir Complex... seems they've got a new comics storyline started. Take a look in their Comics section... (Louis Wu 20:46:03 UTC) (permalink)
Soil video gets a home
Psyrixx, of the Psyjnir Complex, has graciously offered to host the newest Halo music video - you can grab it from the Complex's Hotline server. (Again, if you don't have a Hotline client, grab one (they're free) from BigRedH.) Thanks, Psyrixx! (Other mirror offers gratefully accepted as well, of course.) (Louis Wu 20:38:48 UTC) (permalink)
MC plays C-S
Whoa - Halo in Counter-Strike... nearly there! Check out the images of strykerwolf's latest work in this forum post. I just... wow. (Louis Wu 16:49:49 UTC) (permalink)
New music vid looking for a home
The music videos keep coming in... this time, we have a 4-minute, 40 megabyte video that has E3 2000/nVidia commercial footage put to Soil's 'Halo', created by Spike Bebop. It currently has NO homes - anyone willing to step forward to mirror it? Drop us a line! (Louis Wu 16:40:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines hold their own this week - a new member joins, with almost 1500 units, nicely augmenting the team total (welcome, highlander!). Int_21 holds on to Le Crunch Honneur... but *-=SHARkY=-* is coming up quickly from behind. Fadecourt leaps 70 teammates to take the Frogblast award this week. How did you do? Check the 7 day stats to find out! (Louis Wu 16:21:10 UTC) (permalink)
There's blood on them thar walls!
Well, kiss mah grits - another easter egg has surfaced. Space Cowboy has discovered some graffiti left on the Maw by Ferrex, one of Halo's level designers. Now what I want to know is... did he make it to the Longsword after finding this? Check out all the details on our Easter Eggs page. (Louis Wu 06:14:14 UTC) (permalink)
On Top of old Blood Gulch...
Another victim of our overwork... Amechwarrior uploaded a series of pics showing his (and his brother's) efforts to get on top of Blood Gulch - the first batch went up almost a week ago, though he was still a good distance from the top. On Saturday, he uploaded a new batch, showing what the map looks like from above... way above. (If we'd been more on top of things, the folks who opened up Random Vector yesterday would have realized that their February Challenge had been beaten... before they even posted it! Our bad.) In any event, Amechwarriors pics are now immortalized on our Gameplay Tricks page - check 'em out! (Louis Wu 05:12:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo movie poster
Heh - noticed this over at the Battleground: Halo forums - someone's gone and created a Halo Movie poster. Nice work! (Louis Wu 04:01:20 UTC) (permalink)
New video mirrored
Brian Towne has mirrored the newest music video, since Angelfire seems to have closed down the original site. You can now find it here, at mythica.org. Thanks, Brian! (Louis Wu 03:24:47 UTC) (permalink)
OXM images made into a mural
DT_Spike snagged the images from the OXM scan we put up yesterday, and did some airbrushing, a little blurring, some editing... came up with a pretty slick mural (almost 2000 pixels wide). Check it out in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 01:54:30 UTC) (permalink)
Strange days...
Another chapter from Gasmask comes in - Halo: A Strange Tale (Part 5) is posted to our Fan Fiction section. Marathon connections continue... and now here come the Pathways. (Louis Wu 01:43:57 UTC) (permalink)
News January 27 2002
The music videos keep pouring in
Apologies for the lack of posting - huge amounts of time have been sucked up fixing hardware problems. Yesterday, a note from Senator32 came in - yet another music video has been posted. This one is made up from existing clips (rather than newly-recorded material) - the E3 2000 movie, the Gamestock 2001 movie, and others - and it's set to Linkin Park's 'In the End'. Take a look! (You'll need to copy that link ,and paste it into a new browser, rather than clicking on it, to get around the host's ban on referral links.) (Louis Wu 21:31:26 UTC) (permalink)
OXM Jan 02 scans posted
Recently, a contest being run by the Official Xbox Magazine was mentioned on our forum. We were going to hold off on posting the article it came from (until the Press Scans section was completed)... but the contest ends in a month, so it seems to make more sense to put it up now. The article is 11 pages long, and contains an ENORMOUS amount of information... several pages are clearly marked as spoiler material, but in fact, the whole article could be considered spoiler material. It's definitely worth a read, though... go to it! (Louis Wu 07:24:13 UTC) (permalink)
News January 26 2002
Random Vector comes online
Triplex Virus writes to let us know that a new Halo site has come online - Random Vector is devoted to tricks, hacks, and wishes for the mythical Halo 1.5. Check 'em out for some fun pics! (Louis Wu 22:22:57 UTC) (permalink)
Second Halo music video mirrored some more
Thanks to Brian Towne, who has mirrored both the large version (33 MB) and the small version (16 MB) of Phear X's Halo music video (this is the Silent Cartographer film, set to Rob Zombie's Dragula) at Mythica.org. Check 'em out, if you didn't get 'em via Hotline! (Louis Wu 22:18:59 UTC) (permalink)
Get a Banshee... fast
Another Gameplay Tip - it's common knowledge that the pair of Banshees on the natural bridge on the Assault on the Control Room level are worth grabbing... but now you have access to a short video showing you what is probably the fastest CONSISTENT way of doing so. (Yes, you can run out there and grab it under the noses of the Elites... but every once in a while, you'll be outrun, and boom, down you go.) Mark Levin has created a Banshee Boost video - check it out on the Gameplay Tricks page of our Tips and Tricks section. (Louis Wu 17:02:38 UTC) (permalink)
The Fan Fiction continues to pour in
Another pair of stories have found their way into our mailbox - Albino Joe sends us an interesting viewpoint on a contentious portion of the Halo story (don't read this if you're not up for spoilers), and Gasmask sends in part 4 of his Strange Tale saga. Check 'em both out (along with almost 250 other pieces) in our Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 16:36:42 UTC) (permalink)
Halo walkthroughs at GameFAQs
Walkthroughs: Neogamer has updated his Halo FAQ/Walkthrough to version 0.9 (it'll be bumped to v1.0 when he finishes his Multiplayer stuff) - it's available at GameFAQs, among other places. Also at GameFAQs (same URL, even) is a new Walkthrough by R.K. Raja - it contains most of the info from the Halo manual, plus a walkthrough/strategy guide. The element both of these are missing (in fact, that every guide I've seen so far is missing) is a discussion about the different strategies that work on different difficulty levels - most walkthroughs seemed to be aimed at those playing on Normal. While this makes sense - most folks LOOKING for a walkthrough are playing on Normal - it would be really nice to see an in-depth, well written guide showing how to get through certain areas on Legendary, for example. Ah, well - one can dream, can't one? (Louis Wu 12:04:28 UTC) (permalink)
News January 25 2002
Another music video looks for homes
Phear X has created another music video, and is looking for hosting, as well. It's pretty standard Halo gameplay (there's some fun stuff at the end) set to Rob Zombie's 'Dragula'. While I'm loath to discourage new creative material, this video has a few issues;
- It's pretty big (there are two flavors, a 33 meg version and a 16 meg version - it's 3 and a half minutes long)
- Unfortunately for Phear, the subject material has been done - a LOT; it concentrates on the beach scene of Silent Cartographer, and there are literally dozens of movies that came out of E3 using similar footage
- It's not very high-quality video (this is due to the capture source, a digital camcorder - it's acceptable, but nowhere near crisp)
All that said, we'd be happy to facilitate the mirroring for anyone who wants to help out. Drop us a line if you're able to help, and we'll get you the movie. (Part of the reason for elaborating here was to make it clear that if you want to make a movie for the community, you should consider finding a niche. Aaron Suhr did that admirably - his footage was fantastic, in terms of its novelty. Video is too big, and bandwidth costs too much, for folks to want to host a lot of the same-old, same-old.) Update: Both flavors (well, the big one right now, the small one very shortly) have found their first mirror on the Psyjnir Complex Hotline server. Go take a look! (Louis Wu 23:26:59 UTC) (permalink)
Joypad Halo review posted
Another shout-out to genohunter - he's dropped off a pretty positive 6-page Halo review from the January 2002 issue of Joypad, a French Console mag. Yes, it's in French. Check it out in our (soon to be finished... hopefully) Press Scans section. (Okay, it's true - it's the only article in the new format. They're coming - really!) (Louis Wu 23:02:16 UTC) (permalink)
Story Speculation Rampant
For those who haven't noticed, the Halo Story page has finally kicked into high gear. (Blame me - they were waiting on some scripting work.) The submissions have been piling up,but they're beginning to pare down that backlog! Check it out, and add your own speculation! (Louis Wu 22:42:40 UTC) (permalink)
The French love Halo
genohunter points out a pair of French Halo reviews - one from Consoles-France.com (posted on Christmas day, of all days), the other from GameTeam Xbox. Both were quite positive - 95% and 9.5/10, respectively. These have been added to our Reviews database. (Louis Wu 22:38:10 UTC) (permalink)
Numbers, numbers, everywhere...
Fanatic drops off a swirly, digital image for your desktop - you'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 21:31:38 UTC) (permalink)
The Psyjnir Complex adds HL
Psyrixx writes to let us know that The Psyjnir Complex has a new hotline server - you can find it at 216.229.182.74. No login/password needed... check it out! Update: Geez, guess I should read ALL my mail. The Halo Music Video released yesterday can now be found on this Hotline server - if the other mirrors are not giving you joy, try this one! (Louis Wu 21:24:35 UTC) (permalink)
An old series gets revived
After a few months of waiting for new artwork, Chris Cox has decided to submit the next two chapters of his 'The Wanderers' series - you can read them separately, here and here, or you can read the whole series in one shot. Don't forget to leave him feedback! The Fan Fiction page continues to grow... (Louis Wu 21:10:30 UTC) (permalink)
New poll at bungie.net
Eep - new poll at Bungie.net, and we missed the start! 'What is your favorite section of the Halo Tru7h and Recon site?' Go vote! (Only 100 folks have, so far...) (Louis Wu 08:19:36 UTC) (permalink)
FAQ overhauled
Thanks to Mark Levin, who's overhauled our FAQ - there are still a few questions to add, but the info, by and large, is very up-to-date. You'll also find that there's quite a difference between the spoiler and non-spoiler versions of the FAQ - for those who haven't played Halo, and want to experience it without the taint of knowing what's coming, the FAQ contains general information, but nothing that will ruin the game for you. For those who've already played through Halo, there's quite a bit more info; gameplay tips, extra info, and so on. Check it out! (Louis Wu 08:10:09 UTC) (permalink)
More video mirrors
More mirrors for the music video (this one's definitely worth watching):
- Aaron Suhr's mac.com space
- Omnicon (thanks, B_Sharp!)
- *Ar-Isildur's home hotline server (last resort; slow)
I love you guys... (Louis Wu 06:23:50 UTC) (permalink)
Going where no tank has gone before...
A few days ago, Cal sent in a number of pretty nifty shots taken on Sidewinder. Some of 'em just make you go 'hmm...' Well, they got lost in the shuffle... but we unburied them. Check 'em out! They've been added to the rapidly growing Tricks page... which is going to need a better navigation system, and soon. (The backlog of tricks submissions is currently running in double digits... apologies. For those in the queue - be happy you're not in the Gameplay Tips queue, which is even longer! I gotta find some serious updating time...) (Louis Wu 03:30:58 UTC) (permalink)
First Music Video Mirrors up
The first mirrors for Aaron Suhr's music video are up - they'll get swamped fast, due to their alone-ness, but there should be more coming. (If you can help, write us.) Thanks to Beorn, who provided two different mac.com download sites (Site 1 and Site 2). Enjoy! (Louis Wu 01:42:07 UTC) (permalink)
News January 24 2002
Cool video looking for mirrors
Aaron Suhr has made a pretty amazing Halo music video - Bush's 'The People That We Love' has been accompanied by a fantastic collection of clips of... well, you gotta see it. Unfortunately, it's 15 megs, and we simply don't have the bandwidth for it. Aaron doesn't, either - so we're begging for volunteers; anyone with a big pipe and a big heart, drop us a line, we'll get you the movie and let folks know of the mirror sites. Thanks! (Louis Wu 20:32:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo in France
[HELL]-genohunter writes to point out a pair of Halo previews on two French sites; Nihon-fr and MaxoeGames.com. Both are quite positive. There's also word of Halo stories in both the January 2002 Joypad (console gaming) and Joystick (PC Gaming) - scans of the Joypad article will be coming soon. Halo is taking over the world! (Louis Wu 03:01:37 UTC) (permalink)
A grim future, indeed...
Tom Murphy sends in the first installment of his new series, 'Casualties of War'. So far, it has nothing to do with Halo... but we'll cut him a little slack. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 02:53:37 UTC) (permalink)
News January 23 2002
The Fun Stuff... again
Fun stuff updates: We've added a small note about yesterday's Gameplay Trick - a number of readers sent in a far simpler solution... yesterday's Easter Egg has been updated with a nearly complete list of translations... and a new Gameplay Trick entry has been added: Mark Levin shows, in a video, how to visit that infamous 'Lone Marine' on 343 Guilty Spark. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 17:16:41 UTC) (permalink)
When editors go awfully wrong
The January 2002 issue of PC Gamer UK (off the shelves as of yesterday) contained a Devil's Advocate column (238K) in which Kieron Gillen, Deputy Editor of PCGUK, raves about how Halo will NOT come to the PC (because if it did, the Xbox would fail, apparently - and if the Xbox fails, FUTURE good games will not be ported to the PC). Bizarre logic? Yes. But hey - it's in a mainstream UK gaming mag, which means a lot of gamers will read it... so it's worth knowing about. And in case anyone wasn't sure - he's completely, utterly, absolutely wrong about Halo not coming to the Mac/PC. It is. And that's that. Thanks to Berk for the scan! (One of these days, we'll even get our Press Scans page populated - there are a few dozen articles here which just need to be listed...) Followup: This should teach me to comment on unknown entities... Apparently, on page 42 of the same issue of PC Gamer UK was this passage:
Good news: ex-cover star halo is finished! Bad news: it's on the Xbox. Ignore grumpy Kieron's Devil's Advocate column (p.22), and take bungie at their own word: their excellent first person shooter will be arriving on the PC. The only question now is when and in what form. On the Xbox, it's a highly playable shooter with vehicles, with some sterling game design and gorgeous visuals. Give it us."
(They also gave it 5/5 for an Anticipation Rating.) The column, it seems, is often used for stupid arguments. Ah, well. Thanks to Griffon for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 06:51:05 UTC) (permalink)
7 new wallpapers
poena.dare #CP#g has uploaded 7 new desktop images, extracted from the Halo Game Manual (available online at Xbox.com) - they really do make nice desktops. Check 'em out in our Wallpaper section! (And Matthew - who's Howard Zimmerman, anyway?) (Louis Wu 06:36:50 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Update-a-thon
New stuff at Halo: Truth & Reconciliation, including a One on One with Halo's artistic lead Marcus Lehto, new outtakes and a new gallery section. Pax (Crux Fidelis 03:21:38 UTC) (permalink)
News January 22 2002
Video Banshee Tutorial posted
Mark Levin has created a 7 MB, 90 second video showing multiple locations for shooting down that first Banshee on Assault on the Control Room - getting hold of this will allow you to explore the level without having to deal with any enemies. Check it out in our Tips and Tricks section. Nice work! (Louis Wu 18:05:18 UTC) (permalink)
How good are your eyes?
To atone for the sin of bad imagery, we've added another easter egg to the page - this one can be found at the start of multiplay. Check it out on the Halo Easter Egg page! Thanks to Allenthar for this submission. (Louis Wu 16:55:46 UTC) (permalink)
Updated egg pic
Apologies for the low image quality of the easter egg picture added yesterday - some of you let me know, in no uncertain terms, that it wasn't particularly useful. It's been changed - should be better now. (Still spoiler material, of course. :) ) (Louis Wu 16:41:17 UTC) (permalink)
Solid squashing for add-on rumor
Though this rumor was (mostly) squashed by Matt Soell on November 25, on our forum, Xbox Gamers has asked for, and gotten a definitive answer about, the supposed 'Halo 1.5' add-on for Xbox Halo. It's not gonna happen, folks. (Louis Wu 09:21:37 UTC) (permalink)
Lan Pics from SF
Psyrixx, of the Psyjnir Complex, has posted pictures of the first LAN party of The Bay Area Halo Playing Group... nice equipment! Check it out. (Louis Wu 01:13:02 UTC) (permalink)
News January 21 2002
Just hangin' out...
Sometimes, it's nice to just climb a tree and enjoy the scenery from 20 feet off the ground. Of course, it helps when there are leaves... and when you're not dead. Check out Tom Wittman's 'up in a tree' pics in our Gameplay Tricks section. (Louis Wu 21:48:33 UTC) (permalink)
I wanna see Cortana's!
And another egg is added to the Halo Easter Egg page. As far as I know, nobody's noticed this one yet - and I have to give credit to Bungie's Mordia, who let it slip in casual conversation (he assumed it was common knowledge) - but it's pretty funny nonetheless! It should go without saying that just reading this page will spoil you if you haven't played yet... but I'll say it anyway. (Louis Wu 20:25:26 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 14 day stats posted
The Halo SETI Marines take on on the chin with the loss of R3ality, who left with 870 units... but they remain in 61st position in the Battle of the Teams. More Marines submitted units in the past 2 weeks than is normal - nice going! Were you among the workers? Check the 14 day stats page to see. (Louis Wu 19:13:26 UTC) (permalink)
One Ghost, coming UP
Electus Unum has created a fun little movie (30 seconds, about 5 megs) showing a neat trick - he puts a Ghost on top of a Blood Gulch Base with no outside help. No extra people, no rockets, no grenades, no nothing... except the Ghost. We've posted it to our overflow space at mac.com... 5 megs on HBO's puny pipe scares me. :) We'll add this to the Tricks page sometime tomorrow, probably. Update: a number of people have written in or (in one case) posted to the forum with the info that the Ghosts simply climb the ramps to the base roof, if you hit them right - no terrain bouncing needed. Still - this is a pretty fun vid. :) (Louis Wu 08:47:46 UTC) (permalink)
Banshee tutorial posted
At the end of December, Enzyver posted a series of pictures showing how to collect the first Banshee on Assault in the Control room. Well... they've now been submitted here, and added to our Gameplay Tricks section. (I've reduced the images to fit a more common browser size, but if anyone wants the original images, they're linked from the individual pages (along with sizes).) Once again, apologies for the backlog - there's only one of me doing this stuff right now! (Louis Wu 04:25:19 UTC) (permalink)
News January 20 2002
Yet MORE wallpaper
Goodness, even MORE wallpaper. Jean-Philippe Hamel submits a new desktop for an upcoming PC Halo clan, the Next Generation Troopers. You'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (This stuff seems to come in waves.) (Louis Wu 16:11:37 UTC) (permalink)
Latest Bungie screens added to db
We've added the latest batch of Bungie screenshots (from the Truth and Reconciliation site) to the Screenshots Database. Warning again: MAJOR STORY SPOILERS INSIDE. (Louis Wu 16:06:07 UTC) (permalink)
GameSpot Portugal looks at Halo
Zapf Dingbats noticed a FAQ, of sorts, at GameSpot's Portugal site; weapons, baddies, and a vehicle. (Unfortunately, the images for the baddies are copy-and-pasted from the previous page - but 'grunts.jpg' and 'jackals.jpg' work (if you simply replace the image link that's there). I couldn't figure out what they called the Covenant Elite pic. Interesting find! (Louis Wu 15:34:37 UTC) (permalink)
Who has a monitor that big?
In a fit of devotion that borders on insanity, Etienne "Djof" Boucher has submitted 6 versions of a Marathon/Halo desktop image, in two color schemes, and in sizes ranging from a reasonable 1024x768 to a rather outrageous 3200x2400. You'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 05:49:42 UTC) (permalink)
MC and PoA... nice
Prae drops off a pretty nice desktop - check it out on our Wallpaper page. (Louis Wu 05:39:38 UTC) (permalink)
Those crazy tanks...
Amechwarrior took some fun shots of a Scorpion on its side... and NthDegree256 has posted them for him. Check out the details in this forum post. (Louis Wu 05:35:23 UTC) (permalink)
GamingNoise.com says Halo is GotY
Mastasnypa writes to say that GamingNoise.com has given Halo its Game of the Year title - we tried to verify this, but it's actually in a 8.4 MB, 75 minute mp3, and after 6 or 7 minutes of... stuff (none of which had anything to do with the awards), I decided I couldn't listen any more. If you want to listen, though... go for it. Update: Apparently they didn't give Halo Game of the Year awards... just Xbox Game of the Year. (Grand Theft Auto 3 won the whole enchilada.) Thanks to Nijhazer for the heads-up. Second Update: Mastasnypa wanted it clear that the misunderstanding was mine, not his - he stated that GN gave Halo the Xbox game of the year title, and I misread his email. (It's STILL a silly report.) (Louis Wu 05:32:03 UTC) (permalink)
News January 19 2002
More Fan Fiction - incoming!
Another chapter of 'Halo: A Strange Tale' has come in - Part 3 does some pretty heavy Marathon/Halo tying... check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (While it's fantastic that authors have a universal feedback device in Vector40, it would be nice if others who read the stories dropped off their comments, as well...) (Louis Wu 22:13:48 UTC) (permalink)
Where did Jonesy go, anyway?
The EggMan Cometh... another (known) easter egg is added to the Halo Easter Eggs page; the Pillar of Autumn bulletin board makes its way into the light. More on the way! (Louis Wu 21:29:13 UTC) (permalink)
Halo on an AIM Buddy icon
Heh - Ben Bayes writes to say that badassbuddy.com has just put up a new AIM Buddy icon showing the Master Chief doin' his thing. Amazing what you can fit in to 50x50 pixels... (Louis Wu 20:28:40 UTC) (permalink)
More Story stuff
The Halo Story page gets another update... more on the Ark of the Covenant, and plenty of speculation about Cortana, the Master Chief, and the Covs... Check out the news! (Louis Wu 12:27:09 UTC) (permalink)
Grunt bars
The Halo Easter Eggs page grows again... this time, it's the Food Nipple Grunt. I'm not 100% sure of the discoverer... so if you think you found this before December 2, please, send in documentation (a forum post,either here or at another Halo forum, would probably be best) and we'll change the source! We've also added some extra media for the first egg - an MP3 version of the song, and a short video showing the exact location of the egg. More coming soon... (Louis Wu 03:59:32 UTC) (permalink)
IGN calls Halo GotY
IGN has posted its Overall Game of the Year - and unfortunately, it's an Insider article. We can't bring you all the commentary and discussion... at least not until it gets moved to the free part of the site. The bottom line, though, is that Halo took the honors, beating out Grand Theft Auto 3 as Game of the Year. Congrats! (Thanks to DT_Spike for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 03:56:27 UTC) (permalink)
Hey-ho, hey-ho! Halo good for Europe? No!
Bungie's Truth and Reconciliation website has been updated - a new page of screenshots (MASSIVE spoilers for those who haven't played, amazing demo of Bungie's way-cool screenshot-taking technology for those who have), and a new section on the Outtakes page - including a music-less version of the big grunty thirst speech. (If you don't know what that is, check our Easter Eggs page a bit later tonight.) There's also a pretty interesting rant by Joseph Staten, over on the main Bungie.net site. Thanks to Skeletor for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 03:20:52 UTC) (permalink)
News January 18 2002
Fall of Reach reviewed by 3DAP
Interesting... 3DActionPlanet, usually busy covering games, has written a review of 'Halo: The Fall of Reach'. They're pretty impressed with the job the book does at explaining some of the backstory of the game:
frankly, it should be included with every copy of Halo.
Nice to see the book getting wider coverage! Thanks to Battleground: Halo (a 3DAP affiliate) for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 05:21:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo takes Best Action at IGN
IGN has put up their 'Best Games of 2001' feature, and Halo won both Editors' and Readers' Choice awards for Best Action Game. Nice! Thanks to Ruzhyo for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 04:51:33 UTC) (permalink)
The Eggs have Started
It's been a long time coming... but we've begun to populate the Halo Easter Eggs page. At the moment, there's just a single entry... but there are more coming. Be aware that 'Easter Eggs' will be pretty stringently defined - we're not talking bugs, here, or weird behavior (they'll go somewhere else in this same section); we're talking deliberate items added by Bungie folk designed to reward the adventurous/observant. We'll do our best to credit the first documented finding of each egg... and nothing will get posted without verification from a HBO staff member. (No 'unlock the guns by finishing Legendary in 3 hours' stuff!) That said, visit the Easter Eggs page to see our first goodie! (Louis Wu 04:35:07 UTC) (permalink)
Ooh, ick.
If you thought our speculation about the origins of the Carrier Form of the Flood were a bit off the wall, wait until you check the updated Flood Mechanics page - the REAL info is considerably stranger. (Louis Wu 02:32:29 UTC) (permalink)
They're stylin'...
This came in a few days ago - I was out of town, on a slow connection, and I filed it. Then I forgot about it. Which is a shame... Team 7HR33 created a short (18 seconds, 2 mb) movie showing some VERY stylish hunter killin'. Coop play, one takes a hunter from the front, the other from the rear... one shot each. Flawless... and nearly simultaneous. (Quality, as with all Team 7HR33 material, is quite high.) (Louis Wu 02:30:56 UTC) (permalink)
News January 17 2002
They're creepy and they're kooky...
Curious about the Flood? Wondering what it is you've been shooting so much of? Thanks to the above-and-beyond help of Dave Candland, we're able to bring you Flood Mechanics, a section devoted to the inner workings of the Halo's most corrupted life forms. Obviously, this is chock-full of spoilers... but you wouldn't even be reading this if you had spoilers turned off, so go to it! (Louis Wu 20:43:34 UTC) (permalink)
Another GameFAQs poll to smash
Last week, Halo took GameFAQ's Xbox Game of the Year daily poll, with 60% of the 16,000 votes cast. Currently, the poll of the day is 'Overall Game of the Year'... and Halo is being trounced - a measly 5% of the 5500 votes cast so far puts it in 5th place (and only a dozen or so votes ahead of Diablo II). See what you can do about this... thanks to VeeoftheMiB@aol.com for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:04:31 UTC) (permalink)
I want one.
Whoa - Team 7HR33 continues its groundbreaking ways, this time with a rather interesting picture. (You'll find discussion of it in this forum thread.) Hummanahummanahummana... (Louis Wu 09:57:24 UTC) (permalink)
A little angular so far, but way cool
strykerwolf continues his modeling ways... this time it's the Master Chief. Check out the links in his forum post - they're not ready for prime time at this stage, but Counter Strike might be gettin' some Halo lovin' soon! (Louis Wu 09:53:37 UTC) (permalink)
Arks, and sevens, and Thermopylae, oh my!
A number of new submissions for the Halo Story page have been processed - speculation continues unabated, and the religious underpinnings of Halo become more and more clear. Check 'em out at the Halo Story page! (Louis Wu 09:36:22 UTC) (permalink)
News January 16 2002
Halo Symbology, on a platter
Wow. Over the past couple of years, there have been a number of posts concerning the various symbols visible in Halo (and a theory or two)... but never have they all been put together in so pretty a format as Team 7HR33 has done. Check it out! (We'll be adding this to the Halo Story page in the near future, hopefully.) Speculation as to meaning may begin! (Warning: these could be considered spoilers, to some.) (Louis Wu 21:57:20 UTC) (permalink)
More screens added to db
We've added the 23 new screens from the Computer and Video Games review mentioned earlier to the Screenshots database (as well as a funny screen created by Bungie for an article on the Seventh Column site last week - thanks to Freewill for reminding me about it). Remember - there are major spoilers in the CVG shots (not to mention some pretty psychadelic colors...) - visit only if you're not saving yourself. (Louis Wu 21:53:09 UTC) (permalink)
CVG reviews Halo
Thanks to DT_Spike, who pointed out that Computer and Video Games put up a Halo review last week - we managed to miss it. It's a pretty glowing review... but be warned, it's FULL of spoilers (both in the review itself and in the accompanying screens). We've added it to the Reviews page here, and we'll be adding the screens to the Screenshots database soon, as well. (Louis Wu 21:20:24 UTC) (permalink)
Overall GotY at IGN
IGN has put up an Overall Game of the Year poll - see if you can help Halo rise to the top! Thanks to Adam Daniel for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:02:13 UTC) (permalink)
Pull that license!
Johnnycab & MuFF DaDDy spent a little time putting vehicles up in a tree on Blood Gulch, and were kind enough to send us the pics. You'll find 'em in our Tips and Tricks section. (Yes, there are tips coming soon. I promise!) (Louis Wu 05:47:45 UTC) (permalink)
When in doubt, use Halo
Halo sighting at the Consumer Electronics show, held recently in Las Vegas - It's a display for the Altec Lansing XA 3051 Dolby Digital 5.1 solution, aimed at gamers... and what better way to show it off? (Full-size image is here.) Thanks to Caerdwyn for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 04:07:41 UTC) (permalink)
News January 15 2002
I thought it was too big...
Brizzle sends in some very nice shots showing what you can put inside the Blood Gulch bases. Check 'em out in the Tips and Tricks section. (Louis Wu 06:03:12 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Story Page updates
The Halo Story page has been updated with a number of items. There's still more in the queue - if you sent in speculation, don't worry, we haven't lost it! Check out the news page for the latest. (Louis Wu 05:31:08 UTC) (permalink)
What was the best Xbox Game of the year?
Eep - almost missed this! Elbert Wall pointed out that the Poll of the Day at Gamefaqs was 'What was the best Xbox Game of the Year?' Luckily, that's STILL the question... and the answer, according to the almost 16,000 people who voted so far, is Halo (with 60% of the vote). Go add your voice! (Louis Wu 05:28:55 UTC) (permalink)
Older Tricks images added
Several days ago, Ben Kane added a pair of pictures to his collection of interesting places - unfortunately, they didn't make it here until this evening. You'll find them in our Tips and Tricks section. (They're right down at the bottom, and I won't describe them so that folks who don't want to be spoiled don't have hear about them.) (Louis Wu 05:24:40 UTC) (permalink)
Halo takes GotY at GA
The Gaming Age poll we mentioned a few days ago has ended, and Halo took the Game of the Year title, with 31% of the vote. Thanks again to op_ivy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 02:35:28 UTC) (permalink)
Maybe life IS art.
Speaking of familiar things... Matt Soell makes a Truth and Reconciliation post pointing to an interesting weapons page; does that gun remind you of anything? (Louis Wu 02:08:43 UTC) (permalink)
A familiar look to a new game
Legends is a new freeware game in development with the Torque game engine (the engine that powers Tribes2 - and made available by Dynamix for low-cost development). An anonymous tip suggested we take a look at the newer skins; a set released a couple of weeks ago looks rather... familiar. Sincere flattery, it is! (Louis Wu 01:55:15 UTC) (permalink)
News January 14 2002
Picking up that flag's gonna be tough...
Congrats to Spatula, who posted (over on the TeamXbox forums) pictures of a scorpion, among other vehicles, INSIDE the Blood Gulch base... nicely done. (We'd be happy to add these pics to our Tips and Tricks section, with permission from Spatula... hint, hint...) (Louis Wu 05:24:26 UTC) (permalink)
New Wallpaper added
New wallpaper was dropped into our ftp dropbox yesterday - but without attribution. You'll find it in our Wallpaper section, but if you know who created it, please drop us a note! (Louis Wu 04:58:45 UTC) (permalink)
What if...?
PCDestroyer submits an interesting look at some of the moral questions touched on in 'Fall of Reach' - check out 'Halo: Project Zeus' in our Fan Fiction section. (He's asked for feedback; this story is an experiment for him. Be sure to leave him some comments!) (Louis Wu 04:51:10 UTC) (permalink)
News January 13 2002
Halo stands out at Gamespot
Gamespot has put up the results of their 2001 Readers' Choice Awards; Halo took Best Xbox Game (with an overwhelming 71% of the vote), and 2nd Best Video Game overall (behind Grand Theft Auto III for the PS2). Thanks to mastasnypa for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 09:22:26 UTC) (permalink)
And again, fanfic
Gordi turns in another chapter of his unnamed series - this one is called 'Whiskey Nine'. It's good - read it. Fan Fiction section, of course. (Louis Wu 09:12:41 UTC) (permalink)
Tips and Tricks still coming!
Quick note; for those sending in submissions for our Tips and Tricks section, please don't lose hope; I'm still on the road, and won't be able to add these before the middle of next week, when I arrive home again. I haven't lost them, though! (Louis Wu 09:07:41 UTC) (permalink)
More long wallpaper
Germain Couët turns in another large image for use as a desktop - check it out in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 09:03:02 UTC) (permalink)
If Bungie didn't...
Halo: A Strange Tale, Part 2 enters our Fan Fiction collection - and aside from some spelling anomalies, it seems to want to tie Marathon into Halo a tad more tightly. Check it out. (Louis Wu 08:27:41 UTC) (permalink)
News January 12 2002
BGH changes color
Battleground: Halo's new layout is now live. Check it out. (Louis Wu 00:26:50 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Soundtrack coming soon
In a briefly worded post, Marty O'Donnell clarifies the status of the Halo Soundtrack project:
1 CD All Halo music
soon(tm)
Yep, we're droolin... (Louis Wu 00:21:04 UTC) (permalink)
New Fanfic Submitted
Gasmask sends in the first installment of 'Halo: A Strange Tale', looking at the exploits of the MC and Cortana about 6 months after Halo. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 00:15:02 UTC) (permalink)
News January 11 2002
Japanese Xbox launch details
Games Radar has an article on the Japanese launch of the Xbox - Release date is set for February 22, and launch price is 34,800 yen (a little over $250). Even though shooters aren't as popular in Japan as they are in the US, it's still a little surprising that Halo is not a launch title. Thanks to Veebs for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:52:28 UTC) (permalink)
Yeah, yeah...
Heh - Mark Levin points out this page, devoted to an Xbox emulator. Sounds exciting... except that the screenshot of the emulator showing Halo in action looks... somewhat familiar. Okay, REALLY familiar. In fact, I don't think you can actually REPRODUCE this scene in the shipping version of Halo. Ah, well... careful what you download. More info: Further investigation by folks who are good at this sort of thing (read further down in the thread) suggest this is nothing more than a hoax, and a poorly done one at that. (Louis Wu 19:42:03 UTC) (permalink)
GamesDomain 'previews' PC Halo
Reg Juice Schultz, Vitamin and KillGore =PN= all dropped us notes to let us know that Games Domain has posted a 'Preview' of PC Halo. There's really not a lot of information there... and whatever decent speculation you MIGHT find is diminished in value by the final line:
Expect more details on the acclaimed title update very soon. With a Spring 2002 release promised, we can't wait for Bungie's masterpiece to grace our desktops.
To be clear: NOBODY with any authority to do so has 'promised' a Spring 2002 release. Even so, it's interesting to see that the previews are already beginning. (Louis Wu 19:19:12 UTC) (permalink)
BGH is overhauling
Chmee writes to point out that Battleground: Halo is being revamped. The front page says only 'Reformat in Progress'... Update: SonicStorm, of BGH, has asked us to adjust our post to respect BGH's privacy until the new site design is live. Keep an eye on them for developments. (Louis Wu 19:08:52 UTC) (permalink)
More Fan Fiction
Tom Murphy releases two Fan Fiction articles; the third installment of Pride and Honor (depressing) and a satire called 'Halo: A Comedy' (a little depressing, as well, for how close to reality it comes). Check 'em out in our Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 06:21:30 UTC) (permalink)
More outtakes and Covenant craft at T&R
More new content hits Truth & Reconciliation! Outtakes and concept art for Covenant craft hit the site. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 04:58:18 UTC) (permalink)
News January 10 2002
HSP going strong
For those who didn't notice, the Halo Story Page processed a slew of submissions yesterday... several sections got updates. Make it a daily (or almost-daily) stop! (Louis Wu 22:06:37 UTC) (permalink)
GotY poll at Gaming Age
Gaming Age has a Quick Poll - Game of the Year? Halo is currently leading (with Grand Theft Auto 3 close behind). Go vote! Thanks to op_ivy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 22:03:39 UTC) (permalink)
Chris Butcher transcript up
Get Into The Game has put up the transcript of the chat with Chris Butcher... and it's a great read! Lot's o' good technical info... and some silliness:
Go read the rest; chock-full of AI info, advice for budding developers, literary inspiration, and much more. A very worthwhile visit. (Louis Wu 17:49:44 UTC) (permalink)i am tyler durden does the Master Chief wear boxers or briefs?
chris butcher [peeks]
let's just say he's the ultimate commando
24 hours of Halo
Forum regular *Ar-Isildur of *WP* is hosting an end-of-chemo party that focuses on Halo - read the details here. 24 hours of Halo goodness... it's gonna be worth the trip. (Louis Wu 09:12:40 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Pentathlon coming up
Miguel Chavez points out that Bungie.net has put up a new QuickPoll - who do you think is going to win the Bungie Pentathlon this Friday? Before you vote for the best-named team (Online Cinematesticle - made up of the Online, Cinematics, and Test teams), remember that multigenarian Marty O'Donnell will be anchoring the tug-of-war. (Louis Wu 09:08:59 UTC) (permalink)
New Fan Fiction
Images dance past, flashing by at increasing speed until he cannot begin to decipher what they might be. Next come the lights, expanding into thin lines stretching endlessly, arcing behind some unseen horizon. As he watches, they bend and ripple against each other, dissolving amongst the rainbow spectrum like the pattern of waves crisscrossing one another far upon a windswept ocean.
Gordi turns in another installment of his as-yet-unnamed saga, this one titled 'Prelude to Paradise'. You'll find it in our Fan Fiction section - don't forget to leave him feedback! (Louis Wu 08:16:31 UTC) (permalink)
Mac Publisher STILL unknown
Interesting MacWorld tidbit: During downtimes at the MacOSX Gaming presentation area, a movie looped all day, showing footage from current and upcoming Mac games. One of the clips showed Halo... footage from the E3 2000 movie. At the bottom was written 'Halo: Published by Bold by Destineer'. Luckily, Peter Tamte of Bold was on hand to clarify; the movie was made by an outside contractor, and contains... questionable info. (The content - from a 2-year-old movie - should have been a clue...) Tamte stated that Microsoft has not made any statement about who is doing the conversion, nor who is publishing the Mac version... and until they do, no statement at all is appropriate. All he's willing to confirm is that Halo is coming to the Mac. Until Microsoft (or Bungie) makes a formal decision, any speculation is just that - speculation. (Louis Wu 07:10:04 UTC) (permalink)
News January 9 2002
Chat with Butcher ends, transcript by tomorrow
The chat with Chris Butcher just ended. Some nice questions were asked and getintothegame.com will be posting a transcript of the chat by tomorrow morning.
I'd have a transcript myself but I foolishly chose Java for the chatroom and that didn't allow me to copy text. Oh well. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 23:03:39 UTC) (permalink)
No word yet on Mac porter
Inside Mac Games caught up with Peter Tamte here at MacWorld yesterday... and one of their topics of conversation was Halo.
As for Halo, Tamte confirmed what Microsoft has been saying: Halo will come to the Mac. Other than that, no details were forthcoming whether Bold will publish it.
Not a lot of info... but when there's more, we'll give it to you! Thanks to Mike Patton for noticing. (Louis Wu 21:35:40 UTC) (permalink)
Matt explains lack of PC info
In an uncharacteristically patient (for this subject) post, Matt Soell elaborates on the reasons that information about the PC version of Halo hasn't been forthcoming - definitely worth a read for those impatient for new info or confirmation of the project's continued existence. Thanks, Matt! (Louis Wu 21:00:16 UTC) (permalink)
A million yet?
That's a lot of copies... Halo sales, according to information released by Microsoft at the Computer Electronics Show (via Wired Magazine) have topped 750,000 copies in the first 2 months of availability. Not too shabby! Thanks to Mr. Yun for the article heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:47:49 UTC) (permalink)
Chat with Chris Butcher today
Don't forget that getintothegame.com is holding their chat with Chris Butcher at 4 PM CST today. There you can ask a multitude of questions about Halo. Yes, even the "will there be a PC/Mac version?" question.
Register now if you haven't already! Pax. (Crux Fidelis 08:57:38 UTC) (permalink)
More hotels need hi-speed access
Heads-up to all: I'm finally (after a pretty long day on planes) in San Francisco... until tomorrow, I don't have much of an internet connection, so don't expect too much in the way of updates. (Crux is around, though...) Tomorrow should be better. (Louis Wu 03:42:06 UTC) (permalink)
Comics as catharsis
Psyrixx needs more sleep. Definitely. (Preferably without dreams...) (Louis Wu 01:33:28 UTC) (permalink)
News January 8 2002
Q&A with Rob McLees
Bungie is holding yet another Q&A session, this time with Rob McLees. Head over to this page for the details and get some art-related questions in! (Please no "is there a PC version coming?" I mean, c'mon. There are more interesting questions that can be raised especially about various things in Halo alone. The PC/Mac question will be ignored, as will many others.) Pax. (Crux Fidelis 23:07:16 UTC) (permalink)
GamePro screens added
We've added the 65 screenshots (LADEN with spoilers) from the GamePro Strategy Guide we mentioned a couple of days ago to the Screenshots Database. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 11:06:28 UTC) (permalink)
But what if he weren't John?
The Halo Story Page gets its first submission... Biblical connotations everywhere! Check it out. (Louis Wu 06:53:50 UTC) (permalink)
Amazon pushes Halo
Heh - turns out the Editor of Amazon.com's 'Xbox Delivers' feature (a newsletter delivered to over 100,000 Amazon visitors) is a Halo fan - this week's note is devoted to Halo, and all the goodies you can get with it. Take a look! (Louis Wu 02:36:34 UTC) (permalink)
Phoenix Tidbit
Torsten Kuhnke points out an interesting little passage on this page; a writer named John Tynes is apparently working in a writing capacity on a Bungie Xbox game that's due out in about a year. [Best guess: Phoenix.] Scroll down about 6 paragraphs:
Happily, my writing work for Bungie Studios at Microsoft has resumed just in time to help finance this little indulgence. I'm working on an X-Box videogame for them that is coming out in about a year.
Hmm... fodder for a new website, it seems. :) (Louis Wu 02:27:46 UTC) (permalink)
Tips N' Tricks gets some content
The first two entries to our Gameplay Tricks page have been added; both have been seen before, but we're starting to get organized. DT_Spike's vehicle collection on Blood Gulch has been moved over from its random location... and the page created by Ben Kane, formerly hosted at Geocities, is here now. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 00:25:01 UTC) (permalink)
News January 7 2002
Game Critics reviews Halo
Game Critics has put up not one, but two Halo reviews - and they're different enough that they both make the Reviews listing here at HBO. One maintainer was disappointed by the compromises induced by the Xbox conversion, the other raved about Halo's playability. Check 'em both out! (Louis Wu 17:50:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo SETI Team 7 day stats posted
Blam!... At long last, the Halo SETI Marines regain a position (to 61) in the Battle of the Teams, halting a multi-week downward slide. No new team members... just a readjustment of the SETI servers, it seems. However, the total number of Marines who turned in a unit this week is down - are you on the list? Check the 7 day stats page to find out. (Louis Wu 16:50:59 UTC) (permalink)
Climbing the old-fashioned way
As though called by the upcoming new 'Tips and Tricks' section, Ben Kane has updated his collection of odd places in Halo, including easy-to-follow visual directions for getting to the top of 343 Guilty Spark without jumping on the dropship. More to come, it seems... but start here! (Louis Wu 09:12:16 UTC) (permalink)
A new day dawns...
Been a long time coming... but this old site finally got a solid shaking-up. Everything's been reorganized to be easier to find... and new sections, for new content, have FINALLY been added. The chunk you want to be looking at is labeled 'Game Fun' over in the navbar to your left... the brand-spanking-new Halo Story Page finally sees the light of day, and the Tips and Tricks section (empty now, but to fill up soon) will provide a home for all manner of gameplay hijinks. Feel free to send along comments/complaints/suggestions - it's new enough that we're open to feedback. (The timing, btw, is propitious... three years ago yesterday, bungie.org was born. We'd have gone live then... but we figured waiting for the 7th made more sense...) (Louis Wu 08:54:57 UTC) (permalink)
News January 6 2002
Visual Halo Guide at GamePro
Uriel points out that GamePro has put up a pretty nice little Halo Guide (complete with a whopping 65 screenshots) for your playing pleasure. WARNING: There are major story spoilers here; do not read this unless you've finished the game (or are completely stuck somewhere). We'll add the screenies to our database in the near future. (Louis Wu 05:44:03 UTC) (permalink)
haloXperience comes online
haloXperience has gone live, a bit ahead of schedule. It's not all there yet... but they're pretty enthusiastic; if you read German, go visit! (Louis Wu 05:31:49 UTC) (permalink)
The Covenant haven't left
Kapitsa's finger jerked backwards. Hard. Covenant fighters began to take damage and explode. The Viper's 400-megajoule laser began sending pulsed, invisible, and deadly rays of energy towards the Covenant fighters. Flores' Viper opened up, too.
More great fanfic from Kellen Squire - life on the edge of the combat theatre. Check out 'Jericho VII - Drakkar Flight', in our Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 05:23:15 UTC) (permalink)
News January 5 2002
Lost Fiction surfaces
Tom Murphy sends in Part 2 of his 'Pride and Honor' series... strong hints of Steakley in there. A good read! You'll find it, and lots more, in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 02:19:40 UTC) (permalink)
News January 4 2002
Halo chat with Chris Butcher
getintothegame.com is holding a Halo chat with Chris Butcher on January 9th. All details on this page. Pax (Crux Fidelis 19:50:48 UTC) (permalink)
On top of old smokey...
Ben Kane and Greg Mouland have managed to get on top of Truth and Reconciliation... not much up there. You can find pics at Ben's Geocities site. They're still working on new stuff! (Oh, and for folks having trouble getting on top of the Dropship to jump to the top of 343 Guilty Spark - Ben writes that they did it a different way; they jumped off a rock. No grenades/partner boosting needed. Maybe they'll put together a pictorial showing WHICH rock. :) ) (Louis Wu 19:11:59 UTC) (permalink)
Cool Portuguese pic
Razorback drops off a cool pic from the cover of a Portuguese magazine, BGamer - he wants to know where they found it. Me? I wanna know where I can get a bigger version. (Louis Wu 19:05:10 UTC) (permalink)
Corrections and admissions...
David Candland admits to ignorance of Shakespeare (or maybe it's just innocence... nah) with regard to one of the Outtakes posted yesterday at the Truth and Reconciliation site. And he acknowledges that lone marine on the hill... Dave, you're supposed to stay tight-lipped, geez. (Louis Wu 19:02:03 UTC) (permalink)
Got Apex reviews Halo
Got Apex has reviewed Halo, as part of an overall Xbox review; they gave it a 10/10. We've added the entry to our Reviews listing. Thanks to fate for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:47:50 UTC) (permalink)
Screenshots Database updated
The 21 new shots posted recently at Bungie's Truth and Reconciliation website have been added to our Screenshots Database. One-stop-shopping, and all that. (Louis Wu 05:00:15 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox to VGA? Yep.
Noctavis, from Rampancy.net, has put together a list of Xbox-to-VGA adaptors that might be of interest to you, if you want to play Halo on your computer monitor. Check it out here. (Louis Wu 04:58:11 UTC) (permalink)
New images at T&R
Halo: Truth & Reconciliation gets some more content, including alien vehicle concept art, multiplayer screenshots and some funny outtakes. Pax. (Crux Fidelis 02:34:22 UTC) (permalink)
I want that Engineer!
Wow. TheDarkRaven13 went to the trouble of transcribing the entire EGM interview with Jason Jones, and posting it to the IGN forums. Some good stuff in there! (You finally get the other half of the 'I would have been your daddy' quote...) Thanks to gdnt for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 01:41:08 UTC) (permalink)
News January 3 2002
The History of Halo
Well, I was hoping to hold off on this for a few days... but due to a mail problem, it's already a couple of weeks late. Knight Premier sent in a 'Noah's Ark' theory of the history of Halo way back on December 20... it's interesting to see the same sorts of speculation flying around our forum right now. You'll find this (and other speculations) for a short time on our Theories page... but it'll be moving next week. WARNING - there are major story spoilers inside. (Louis Wu 19:14:18 UTC) (permalink)
JJ interview in EGM
Thanks to Nate, who points out that the latest Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine contains an interview with Jason Jones. As soon as we can get our hands on this, we'll try and get you more details. (Louis Wu 17:46:15 UTC) (permalink)
More Halo oddities...
Deimos™ writes to say that he put sleep ahead of honor and chose to wait until this morning to point out this page at Subnova, a collection of Halo bugs and oddities. Silly man... you can sleep when you're dead. Included are shots from the top of 'Halo', weird rendering bugs, and another picture of the infamous 'secret marine' on 343 GS. (If you don't know what this means, don't follow the link - he's more fun to find on your own.) (Louis Wu 14:38:36 UTC) (permalink)
All your banshees...
Mattgyver has put up a very nice tutorial for stealing yet another Banshee on level 5. This one has been mentioned, but never laid out so prettily before. Some of the nicest shots were made possible by an earlier Banshee-stealing tutorial... (Small warning - there ARE spoilers here, if you're trying to stay pure.) Time for me to get back to coding. (Louis Wu 10:29:20 UTC) (permalink)
Going where no man is supposed to go
Ben Kane and Greg Mouland have managed to take the first pics atop the cliff on 343 Guilty Spark (the one you can get to by jumping on top of the initial dropship, then jumping across as it leaves), and have also taken some nice shots atop the Silent Cartographer level. You can find these pics on Ben's Geocities site. (Hopefully, by this time next week, we'll have a home for this sort of thing, for those interested in contributing.) (Louis Wu 10:22:31 UTC) (permalink)
Legendary Ending Scene filmed
We shouldn't even be telling you this... but hell, he made the films. If you haven't yet beaten Halo on Legendary, but you're still anxious to see the special cutscene at the end, John Kramlich has made it possible; the critical part is available on his site, in both Sorensen 3 and MPEG 1 formats. If you watch these without earning them, though, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Louis Wu 10:08:44 UTC) (permalink)
The Marines keep going
Hot pink plasma shot out of the enemy turret guns and flung through space barely missing one the fighter ships. Two more fighter ships appeared around the side of the Covenant War Cruiser and commenced firing at the guns.
Tom Murphy takes a look at life after Halo in the first part of his new Fan Fiction series, 'Pride and Honor'. Check it out in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 02:10:14 UTC) (permalink)
News January 2 2002
More on Xbox names
Ruzhyo, working on the suggestion of Mr. Yun (that the Xbox name and the random names assigned to multiplayers choosing the default setup come from the same pool), has compiled a rather large list of possible names for your Xbox. (38 of 'em, to be exact.) There are some still missing (Quick Save, for example), but the list jibes well with the Xbox Names list we started (and abandoned) last month. (Some entries on our list are suspect; they were sent in by people who had already changed the name of their Xbox in another game.) Look for a definitive list (or something close) soonª! (Louis Wu 22:23:21 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Game changes URLs
Firfin writes to let us know that the URL of the French site Halo Game has changed. We've adjusted our links page accordingly. (Louis Wu 20:57:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo FAQ/Walkthrough updated
Neogamer has released version 0.7 of his Halo FAQ/Walkthrough - you can find it on GameFAQs, or FunXbox, or one of a couple of dozen other sites. It runs up through level 7 at this point (if you can't guess, the point release shows the completed levels). Thanks to draxes, who pointed it out today. (Louis Wu 20:19:25 UTC) (permalink)
Never let 'em see you sweat
he inimitable Freewill, unstoppable with that digital camera, has posted damning photo evidence of the Carnage on Deerfield Lane - stop by Bungie Sightings and check out the setup! (Louis Wu 19:20:18 UTC) (permalink)
Carnage can be beautiful
Eep - posted this yesterday, forgot to mention it here. The promised Carnage Report from the second HBO Junkies lan party can be found on our forum. Bottom line - it was a LOT of fun. Go read the details. (Louis Wu 15:13:08 UTC) (permalink)
News January 1 2002
FoR-based Fanfic
Kellen Squire sends in a Fanfic based on Jericho VII, a planet lost to the Covenant in 2535. Ground fighting from a jarhead's point of view... check out 'Jericho VII' in our Fan Fiction section. (Louis Wu 21:24:12 UTC) (permalink)
MacGamer says enough
The MacGamer crew has put up its Editor's Choice Awards for 2001... and Halo wins 'Game That Most Qualifies as "Not Worth The Wait"'. Ouch... maybe they need to rent an Xbox for a weekend... Thanks to *Ar-Isildur for the heads-up. Update: Skeletor points out that we should also mention that Halo tied for the 'Thing We Most Look Forward To' award, as well... schizophrenic bunch, that MacGamer crew... (Louis Wu 21:04:02 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Online joins the fray
Oops - this came in a couple of days ago, but I managed to pass over it - Halo Online has come... well, online. A nice looking, muted site - don't bother with Netscape, you'll get source code only. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:20:10 UTC) (permalink)
Cutscene scripts at BGH
Battleground: Halo has put up a new feature: their Halo Script page. Currently, it contains the scripts for the first three levels of Halo, with more to come. Helpful, for anyone who missed some dialog along the way! (Louis Wu 01:18:38 UTC) (permalink)
Halocenter.com for sale
Got a new Halo site to put up, and need a good domain name? Halocentral.com is up for sale at eBay. Bidding starts at $9.99, with no reserve. souja gets the nod for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 01:06:15 UTC) (permalink)
| January 2002 | |
