About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
Concept Art
Halo Bulletins
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum

Clan HBO Forum
ARG Forum
Links
Admin
Submissions
Uploads
Contact

January 2010

January 2010 Archived News

News January 31 2010

EV Warthog - now night-capable
Chlazza stopped in yesterday with word of an update to his EV Warthog (we mentioned it a week ago) - it now has lights (head and tail)! Scroll down to the '2010-01-29' update. Looks fantastic! (Louis Wu 17:32:03 UTC) (permalink)

News January 30 2010

TXB readers ask - Frankie answers
Frankie took a little time to answer some TeamXbox reader questions - the Q&A is online now at TXB. Some silly questions, but some good ones, too. And as usual, Frank does a pretty good job of answering. Check it out! Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 16:37:31 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Getting Hammered
I guess it's in honor of the Double XP list this week (Grifball) - The Top Ten list over at Halo3Screenshots.com is called 'Getting Hammered', and man, are those pictures cool. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 15:11:13 UTC) (permalink)

Fan-made Reach Wallpapers
newguy2445 decided to see what HE could do with the Halo: Reach assets - I'd have to say, he's a pretty talented guy! Check out his new wallpapers! (Louis Wu 15:10:49 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: Help Haiti Shenanigans
a flyin hobo whipped up a montage of some of the fun and craziness that happened last week during the Help Haiti stretch - watch lots of heart-festooned players act like nuts! (Louis Wu 15:09:55 UTC) (permalink)

Lockheed's HULC - a step towards MJOLNIR
We've talked about exoskeletons in the past - modern-day companies are working on systems that assist humans to enable feats of strength that would not be possible without the skeleton. Enda noticed a new one - this one is called the HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier), which just got a new power source that will allow users to perform for 72+ hours. We're definitely getting closer to the Spartan project! (Louis Wu 15:09:23 UTC) (permalink)

The Art of the Deviant
Hedgemony rounded up some cool Halo-related artwork on DeviantART - a two-page spread posted by the artist of Halo: Bloodlines, a cool shot of the Master Chief on a dorm room wall, and some funky pixel art. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 15:07:21 UTC) (permalink)

New Reach Wallpapers from Game Informer
GrimBrother One noticed a bunch of new wallpapers available at Game Informer (he got the URL wrong, but don't worry, this one works). They make nice use of the assets released in the past couple of weeks. (Louis Wu 15:06:50 UTC) (permalink)

McFarlane officially announces Reach Figures
mr.sci-fi pointed out a news announcement on Spawn.com, with additional info about the McFarlane Reach figures coming this fall. Go read! (Louis Wu 15:06:14 UTC) (permalink)

Vectorized ONI/NMPD logos
SK CRISIS stopped in last night with some cool hi-res versions of the ONI logo - and Stephen Loftus followed up with his own version (along with an NMPD logo). Great stuff! (Louis Wu 15:05:47 UTC) (permalink)

Retrograde Episode Four: Affliction
Silvac let us know that Retrograde Episode 4 (Affliction) is now live - the story becomes a little less confusing, but no less bizarre. (Louis Wu 15:05:09 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Team Profiles - Complete
Game Informer has finished up their 'Noble Team Profile' series - yesterday, they posted both Jun-266 and (as a bonus) Noble 6. Check these out for great little tidbits of info about the characters you'll interact with (and be) in Halo: Reach! (Louis Wu 15:04:46 UTC) (permalink)

ReachBusters
The Bungie Weekly Update is so full of real information this week it's not even funny. Tons of rumors busted, tons of new tidbits, tons of STUFF. Go read it. (And listen to it. And stuff.) As always, there's a (validating) copy in our Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 02:03:54 UTC) (permalink)

News January 29 2010

Hide, Seek, Snap - Now up to Round 9
Congrats to leafman343, who reproduced the remaining Round 8 screenshot from our Hide, Seek, Snap giveaway - another Johnson code, out the door! Swing by the contest page for a pair of Round 9 images - these two come from ODST, rather than Halo 3! Get to work! (Louis Wu 15:55:49 UTC) (permalink)

MitHoM: Part 3 of 4 Tomorrow (plus Grifball Fun!)
Halo Waypoint will be presenting 'Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, Episode 3' beginning tomorrow - the banner below leads to a teaser pic. If you've got Xbox LIVE Gold, don't miss this! If you're intrigued by Waypoint, you should take the opportunity this weekend to partake in the Double XP Weekend Playlist. The Waypoint team will be playing all weekend (but specifically on Sunday from 1-5pm PST); meetups will be random, but the best footage from the games they play will be included in a highlight reel showcased on Waypoint at some point. Good stuff! (There's no press release about this - yet - on the Waypoint website, but we'll update this newspost if one appears.) Update: the offical press release is up now. (Louis Wu 14:47:24 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 78
Hawty McBloggy has posted a new edition of Friday Caption Fun - great captions from the last round, along with a pretty cool shot that's looking for your wit for this week. Go play! (Louis Wu 14:46:44 UTC) (permalink)

Game Informer Reach Podcast
Game Informer has posted a Special Edition Podcast, focused on Halo: Reach. It claims to feature 'exclusive music from the Halo: Reach soundtrack', though this seems to be simply the Lone Wolf score from the VGA trailer. The podcast has impressions from GI writers that saw the game in December, along with questions from fans (answered by those writers). One hour long. Thanks to big ander, over at NeoGAF, for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:45:16 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Friday
FyreWulff wants you to to join him - he's kicked off Firefight Friday, a site designed to facilitate ODST Firefight challenges and overall fun. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 14:43:49 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Wars - now On Demand
Halo Wars has become the most recent entry into the 'Games on Demand' collection - you can download it straight to your Xbox via LIVE, if you choose. It's not the CHEAPEST way to get it (in the US, the price is $29.99, a few bucks more than Amazon's price) - but it's certainly convenient! (Louis Wu 14:42:27 UTC) (permalink)

New Reach figures coming from McFarlane
mr.sci-fi noticed (via Halo Waypoint's Twitter feed) that Todd McFarlane is working on Reach action figures, to be released at launch. Not a HUGE surprise, I guess - but cool to know! (Louis Wu 14:41:50 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Bloogyo poked his head up with Rat's Nest Chapter 24 (six different pages - just keep pressing 'Next'), and TTL Demag0gue is back with Reclaimer 240 (Pure) - Reclaimer is warned against hasty action. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 14:41:01 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Four new pieces are up for your reading pleasure in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 14:40:16 UTC) (permalink)

Art Assets Galore at B.net
Swing by Bungie.net - there's yet ANOTHER batch of new art assets online for your viewing pleasure. More renders (that Falcon is GORGEOUS), and the Ordnance section has been updated, as well. (Extra little tidbit, courtesy of urk: the Plasma Pistol has splash damage now.) (Louis Wu 14:33:36 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Team Profile #4
Gilver was first to mention the newest Noble Team Profile at GameInformer - go check out the details on Jorge! (Louis Wu 14:33:12 UTC) (permalink)

News January 28 2010

Double XP Weekend: Grifball
It's Thursday - a new Double XP Weekend is kicking off. This week? It's Grifball. (Unranked, I think.) Go hammer someone! (Louis Wu 23:31:37 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap Update
One of the two images we posted yesterday in our Hide, Seek, Snap ongoing Sgt. Johnson Code giveaway was reproduced (congrats, Crackshack) - the other one is still up for grabs. Get yerself a code! (Louis Wu 15:01:34 UTC) (permalink)

Keep It Covered!
Hawty McBloggy found a truly awesome bed covering - of course, she used the opportunity to make lots of 'Clean/Dirty' jokes. Regardless, the blanket is hawt - in many senses of that word. (Louis Wu 15:00:35 UTC) (permalink)

Runnin' n' Gunnin'
Team Scoog is back with a new montage - the thing I love about these montages is the epic camera movement. in "Runnin' n' Gunnin'", Phatcorns manages to make regular gameplay look deeply important! (There's a moment when a hog flies gloriously off a Sandbox base... only to land and explode immediately; it made me laugh out loud.) Check it out - definitely worth the time. (Louis Wu 14:57:56 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Team Profile #3
Another Game Informer goodie: Noble Team Profile #3 looks at Kat, Spartan 320. Go see why you should be scared of her! (Louis Wu 14:57:13 UTC) (permalink)

Point of Impact
Bungie posted 'Point of Impact', an article that discusses some of the new weapons you'll be getting your hands on when you dive into Reach. Go check out details on the Assault Rifle, the DMR, and the Needle Rifle! And if that's not enough info about the new additions to the Halo Sandbox, the bottom of the article has a link to the latest Bungie Podcast, where guests Joe Tung and Sage Merrill talk about what you can look forward to. Awesome stuff! (Louis Wu 14:56:01 UTC) (permalink)

GrifballHub.com's Favorites Updated
We nearly missed this, but the second round of GrifballHub.com's file picks went live yesterday in the Bungie Favorites - go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 14:55:09 UTC) (permalink)

Game Informer's Reach Cover Art
Game Informer posted an interesting interview with Alex ChinYu Chu, the artist behind the Reach issue cover art. It's a great look at how this sort of thing comes together! (Louis Wu 14:52:03 UTC) (permalink)

HBO News Widget - now with more Oonsk
terminator182 let us know that his HBO News Widget has gotten a minor update - some little tweaks... and Oonsk! Go grab a copy. (Louis Wu 14:51:42 UTC) (permalink)

IGN for Haiti - home stretch
There are just three days left in the IGN for Haiti auctions - there are hundreds of goodies up for sale, but if what you're interested in is Halo schwag, here's the lot. Frankie's Mister Chief/Oonsk pic is up to $350! (Louis Wu 14:51:05 UTC) (permalink)

News January 27 2010

Hide, Seek, Snap Round 8
Hide, Seek, Snap is back up and running! Swing by the Contest page for the Round 8 images - be the first to reproduce one of 'em, win a Sgt. Johnson code! Go! (Louis Wu 19:32:26 UTC) (permalink)

New McFarlane Model: Halo Wars Arbiter
We mentioned McFarlane's Series 8 figures (due out this summer) back in December - but UGO's got the first pic of the new Arbiter model I've seen. Looks fantastic - even if my browser won't let me zoom in. :( (Louis Wu 18:34:15 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie's Reach Project Page - now with Renders
Not getting enough Reach content? (I think you might have a problem, but...) Bungie's just posted a bunch of renders (mostly from the recent article on 3D artwork, but also some cutouts) in their Reach Project section. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 18:26:06 UTC) (permalink)

Sackboy needs a voice.
urk pointed out Little Big Halo, a mashup of Halo 3 and the PS3 game Little Big Planet. Misunderstandings are SUCH a bother... (Louis Wu 18:24:04 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Hoodie - much cheaper
A few months ago, we mentioned a Halo hoodie from Mark Ecko - it was $88, and sported a 'Noobs Get Pnw3d' shoulder patch (with the UNSC Eagle carrying a teabag). If you sort of liked it, but couldn't stomach $88... check it out now. It's $19.99 plus shipping. (Still has the stupid shoulder patch, though.) (Louis Wu 18:20:11 UTC) (permalink)

Spoiled for Choice
TeamXbox has interviewed Frank O'Connor about 343 Industries, the Halo franchise, and what has and hasn't worked in the past (and where that might lead in the future). Overall, a fascinating read - I was a little disappointed with his response to ODST (he was relieved, in a way, that it wasn't more successful than it was, because that would have made his job harder this year as Bungie ramps up to the release of Reach), but mostly he was pretty open and frank with the interviewer about some of the potential avenues for Halo development going forward. Check it out! Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 16:18:26 UTC) (permalink)

Chronicles of ODS Steve: Two Face
The only Halo comic we know of that's updated since Monday is over at Hawty McBloggy's - ODS Steve #58 takes a look at the dangers of being Emile. (Louis Wu 16:17:43 UTC) (permalink)

Get up-close and personal with Emile
Game Informer has posted their second 'Noble Team Profile' - this one focuses on Emile, Spartan 239. (Thanks, Kibbles and CaneCutter. The main page, as pointed to by CaneCutter, has a bigger pic - but Kibbles' pic has no watermark.) Our forum has a lot to say about this one. (Louis Wu 15:29:15 UTC) (permalink)

Tools, Tech, and Team - all Advanced
Last night, Bungie.net posted 'Halo: Reach - 3D Art Evolved' - it's an article which details the development of various assets through the years, with some great comparison shots. 3D Art Lead Scott Shepherd discusses how Bungie attacked the asset issue in Halo: Reach. Go read the rationale behind some of the changes - and look at the pretty pictures! (There's a large thread on our forum, started last night by Minime637, if you want to toss your two cents in.) (Louis Wu 15:04:25 UTC) (permalink)

News January 26 2010

Reach to make a showing at X10
Yesterday, ElzarTheBam pointed out that Microsoft had announced X10, an industry expo for showing off upcoming titles and hardware. (The last one of these was X06, at which both Halo Wars and the Peter Jackson/Wingnut Halo project were announced.) There wasn't much info, so I let the news go - but today Joystiq is claiming that Halo: Reach WILL be present there. New footage? I guess we'll have to wait and see! (Louis Wu 21:53:46 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Posters for Auction in the UK
Last summer, there were a bunch of posters distributed at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, celebrating Halo Legends - we just got a note from ostemb0r that three of these are on sale on eBay from a UK seller (Toei's 'Odd One Out' | Bones' 'Prototype' | 4C's 'The Babysitter'). If you live in the UK, and you'd like one of these on your wall... now's your chance! (Louis Wu 19:58:55 UTC) (permalink)

Inspiration for the DMR?
Crackshot53 recognized a brand-new (in OUR world) gun called the 'Kel-Tec RFB' when he looked at the new DMR in Bungie's Reach assets. Screenshots are in his first post, and a video of the RFB firing can be found here. Seems like a pretty solid gun! Maybe Bungie liked it too? (Louis Wu 19:24:44 UTC) (permalink)

Hard Justice: S2E13
Thanks to Hyokin, who noticed the new Hard Justice (Season 2 Episode 13) is live - things aren't looking good for Bernard and his friends! (Louis Wu 19:24:21 UTC) (permalink)

HaloCharts Firefight Challenge 3: Choke Point
Halocharts has a new Firefight Challenge for you - get to Firefightin' on Rally Point, and meet their minimums to win! Thanks again, urk. (Louis Wu 19:11:52 UTC) (permalink)

Average Joe: x Lord Revan x
A new Average Joe has gone live - urk interviewed new Bungie Ninja x Lord Revan x. Go see what he has to say. (Louis Wu 19:08:39 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Emblem Contest Update
If you've been working on an emblem for Bungie's Reach Multiplayer Emblem contest (they mentioned it in last week's Update), you should probably read this - Dave Candland has some suggestions based on early submissions. (Louis Wu 19:06:50 UTC) (permalink)

Reach iPhone Wallpapers
A Bungie.net user whipped up some nice Reach-related iPhone wallpapers - swing by to see what's new for adorning your phone! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 19:03:18 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday B.net movies (well, and Monday)
Movies posted in Bungie's Comm Chatter in the last couple of days:

• Brothers Final is a Halo 3 montage from Vidol and Shausty - nicely understated, as far as editing goes.
• Sir LIGHTSOUT225 created a seven and a half minute montage of Rocket Race clips, in honor of last week's Double XP list. Some really awesome clips!
• There's a montage called 'The URKtage' - it has nothing to do with Bungie.net's urk, except that it's a tribute to him, I guess... but the clips are fun.
• B1z3rker, of the H3AsiiM community, whipped up a 'Community Montage' as part of a new series of them - snipetacular.
• Greenskull's back with another Randomtage - bizarre clips from campaign and multiplayer. Just fun stuff. (Well, some stupid stuff. But mostly fun stuff.)

That's a bunch to watch! (Louis Wu 19:01:20 UTC) (permalink)

I'll take ridiculous polls for 500, Alex
In what might be the silliest poll I've seen in years, MSNBC wants to know what you think the 'sexiest game' is - and Halo 3: ODST is on the list. (uh... what?) At least it's in last place... If you need someone to blame, it was rolandk73 who noticed. (Louis Wu 16:04:08 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief Theater: 3000 Episode 402
Eep - we missed the release of Master Chief Theater 3000 Season 4 Episode 2 yesterday - Pyrosmile covered Tayari Plaza in this one. (Louis Wu 14:53:57 UTC) (permalink)

LEGO Warthog
grantix built a LEGO Warthog, and wants your opinion. go look. (Louis Wu 14:45:07 UTC) (permalink)

It's-a me, Master Chief!
Hawty McBloggy found someone who put Mario's head on the Master Chief's body... then tattooed the result on his arm. Why choose between your two favorite characters? (Louis Wu 14:44:15 UTC) (permalink)

Legends to be Screened in London February 3
If you live near London, you might want to consider a special screening of Halo Legends, to be held on February 3 at 6:30. The Coventry Telegraph has all the details - this will be the only chance to see Legends on the big screen in the UK. (Louis Wu 14:43:02 UTC) (permalink)

Win Legends and Legends Soundtrack at GI
O'Connor-Read pointed out a new sweepstakes at Game Informer - they're giving away 10 packs that include the Halo Legends Two-Disc DVD Special Edition along with the Halo Legends Original Soundtrack, and all you have to do is register on their site and click a picture. Contest runs until February 9; if you don't win, you'll have to wait a week after that to buy the DVD, but the soundtrack is being released that day. (Louis Wu 14:40:55 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Info Falls
Bungie massively updated its Reach Project page last night - you'll need to do some serious exploring. We mentioned Screenshots yesterday - but new Concept Art is up, and the Personnel section has been populated (you can read these in a more linear fashion on the front page of Bungie.net, as well). Good stuff! Thanks to CaptainTony for noticing early. If this isn't enough info for you - swing by GameInformer's website; they've put up even MORE info about Carter-259 (thanks, CaneCutter). (Louis Wu 14:35:23 UTC) (permalink)

News January 25 2010

Kiva?
pete_the_duck was first to notice some gorgeous hi-res versions of those Reach screenshots that have been hitting the net today over at Bungie.net - filenames might provide clues to Reach's campaign! There are currently 18 new shots in the Screenshots section - but they seem to be going up one by one, so there might be more by the time you get to them. (Louis Wu 22:38:56 UTC) (permalink)

Swedish Article now Translated
DJ Lars finished translating the entire Gamereactor.se article we mentioned this morning - swing by his newspost for a far more readable version than Google provides! Update: Looks like a different Gamereactor site has put up its OWN translation! Whee... (Louis Wu 21:44:40 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Hero
Today's Tag and Release feature at Bungie.net focuses on the Hero logos seen everywhere in Matchmaking last week - lots of great shots! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 18:51:03 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach Developer Commentary
It's Battle of the Magazines! Game Informer has posted 'Halo: Reach Developer Commentary' - a seven-minute video narrated by Marcus Lehto that gives you an overview of what you can expect from Halo: Reach. (The imagery is simply the screenshots and art assets already seen last night in the Gamereactor article, but the discussion has tons of new details.) (Louis Wu 18:47:02 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
New comics for you today:

• Grin + Bear It gets more tasteless over at Hawty McBloggy's
• TTL Demag0gue lets us know about Reclaimer 239 (Cold Storage) - and we learn something new, and surprising.

Go read. (Louis Wu 16:45:40 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach - Being Definitive
Edge has a new interview online - this one is with Mission Lead Niles Sankey and Campaign Lead Chris Opdahl, and it discusses battle sizes, and Bungie's approach to combat for Reach. Go read it! (Louis Wu 14:50:46 UTC) (permalink)

Robots get you fired.
Not sure how we missed this - but GameInformer put up a second article a few days ago with an in-depth interview with Marty O'Donnell. (It's matched up with the Reach Score video we mentioned last week.) It's a pretty interesting read! Go take a look. (Louis Wu 11:36:50 UTC) (permalink)

Gamereactor Plays Halo: Reach
The Reach content embargo ends today, January 25 - and Sweden got to that date long before the US. Over at NeoGAF, Syringe pointed out coverage by Swedish gaming site Gamereactor - the text is in Swedish (though Google will translate... kind of), but the pictures are understandable in any language. There's concept art, screenshots we've never seen, and environment art (and images from the reporter's trip to Bungie's offices, as well) - go take a look! (A thread on our forum has already picked out some of the juicier tidbits...) Update: DJ Lars has translated the first half of the article - go check out a much more readable version! (Thanks, DJ Lars!) (Louis Wu 11:04:39 UTC) (permalink)

Be a Man
Asian Inferno sent us a link to a video he created in 2006, and uploaded to YouTube before Halo 3 was released - it sets Halo cutscene action to a song from the Mulan soundrack. To my surprise, it holds up reasonably well! However, there's something really disturbing about watching Sgt. Johnson singing with Donny Osmond's voice... (Louis Wu 11:00:22 UTC) (permalink)

Men of Valor
Hedgemony found some old World War 2 propaganda posters (Australian ones, since that's where he lives), and updated them with Halo content to celebrate Australia Day today. Take a look! (Louis Wu 10:57:13 UTC) (permalink)

HaloContest's December 09 Montage
Morpheus stopped by with HaloContest's December 09 montage - take a look! (Louis Wu 10:56:04 UTC) (permalink)

News January 24 2010

EV Warthog
Chlazza got a Remote Controlled Warthog - but was unhappy with the power setup. So he rewired it to use lithium-polymer batteries. Swing by his site for full details - all that thing needs is a mini-LAAG! (If, for whatever reason, we break Chlazza's site, we'll put up a mirror.) (Louis Wu 21:46:54 UTC) (permalink)

Retrograde Episode Three: Remnants
Silvac let us know that Retrograde Episode 3 has been released - quick followup to Episode 2, last week. I'm not sure I get the story... (Louis Wu 18:04:09 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: EVA
Halo 3 Screenshots posted a new Top Ten list on Friday, as usual; this one is called 'EVA', and shows off some truly amazing views of the EVA armor. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 15:27:46 UTC) (permalink)

That would be a tough name to go through life with.
ZZoMBiE13 wondered if anyone had ever met Oonsk's cousin... (Louis Wu 15:26:36 UTC) (permalink)

He ain't got time to bleed.
TDSpiral stopped by with a whole new way of seeing Oonsk. I think Halopedia might be his first target... (Louis Wu 15:12:38 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Falls - on your desktop
Over on NeoGAF, dilatedmuscle whipped up a cool Reach-related wallpaper - and Cocopjojo helped out by hosting a larger, desktop-sized version. Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:11:28 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Effect 2 Launch Trailer
BlueTeam1138 decided to see if Halo footage could be coupled with audio from the new Mass Effect 2 trailer - I'd have to say he was pretty successful! Check out the "Halo Effect 2 Launch Trailer". (Louis Wu 15:10:02 UTC) (permalink)

News January 23 2010

Oonsk and Mister Chief - for Haiti
Remember that awesome Oonsk/Mister Chief pic Frankie whipped up a few days ago? Looks like it's going to be auctioned off by IGN as part of their IGN for Haiti Charity Event. Tune in on January 27 for your chance to nab it! Thanks to NeoGAF's Tashi0106 for the heads-up.

Hide, Seek, Snap Round 7: Winners
Congrats to RobboForever and NICKOFSTEEL, for being the first to identify and reproduce the latest Hide, Seek, Snap screens - two more Sgt. Johnson codes out the door! We're going to take a little break posting screens - there'll be another image soon! (Louis Wu 19:56:40 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach - Gutting the Engine
Edge continues to post Reach content on their website - the latest article is called 'Halo: Reach - Gutting the Engine', and once again Marcus Lehto, Joe Tung, and Brian Jarrard discuss the inner workings of the Reach development process. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 19:55:51 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... does Jason have a Master Chief Thermos?
Over at LoadingReadyRun, there are a few rejected ideas for stories on this week's episode of the Escapist News Network - 'Halotar' is pretty funny. Thanks, Rosco-128. (Louis Wu 19:54:35 UTC) (permalink)

Clairvoyance - coming along
Halochief89 has been working on his 'Clairvoyance' illustrated story over at DeviantART - we mentioned Chapter 1 a few days ago, but the artwork for it wasn't up yet. (It is now.) He's also finished Chapter 2 - and the Chapter 2 artwork (I like this one a lot). Check out his latest post for details on what's coming next. (Louis Wu 19:53:59 UTC) (permalink)

Vintage Fisticuffs: The Grand Canyon
If you're over at Halo Waypoint to check out Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, Part 2 (don't miss it), there's a new feature, as well: Vintage Fisticuffs, a series of videos that will look back at some of the epic battles in Halo's campaigns. First up: The Grand Canyon, the battle on Two Betrayals leading up to the destruction of the second pulse generator. What a great idea, Waypoint! It's all nicely narrated (and played, one would assume) by fan-turned-Waypoint employee Vociferous. Check it out! Thanks, Morpheus. (Louis Wu 19:52:37 UTC) (permalink)

Timelapse: War Torn
Decadence Night has created his 200th panorama - given the nice round number, he decided to lean towards 'ridonkulous epicosity' in its creation. Check out 'Timelapse: War Torn' (be sure to click through for the full-size, 5215x2302 pixel monster). As Marty might say... "lots of people die." (Louis Wu 19:51:47 UTC) (permalink)

HBO News Widget: Reach Edition
terminator182 is back with a new edition of his HBO News Widget - that little plugin that shows you HBO news stories from the OSX Dashboard. This one is Reach-themed, and much prettier than the old one. Take a look! (Louis Wu 19:50:02 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Weekly Update: The Smoking Jacket Edition
The Bungie Weekly Update went live about an hour ago - some tantalizing details about Reach's development, a followup on the Help for Haiti campaign (nice job, community!), an announcement of a way for you to get your own artwork into Reach, some obviously pressured kind words for the older contingent of the development team, and a picture that would horrify me... if I could stop laughing long enough to be horrified. Check it out! (It's in our Weekly Update Archive, as well, of course.) (Louis Wu 01:40:28 UTC) (permalink)

News January 22 2010

MitHoM: Part 2 of 4 tomorrow
A reminder: the second of the four parts of 'Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian', the Frank O'Connor-penned, ONE-animated tale of heroism and intrigue, will go live on Halo Waypoint tomorrow. Click the banner below for a sneak peek at a teaser shot. (Louis Wu 19:34:05 UTC) (permalink)

Destination Moved.
Hankerin' for some rocket-racin'? You're in luck - this week's Double XP Weekend playlist on XBox LIVE is Rocket Race. Full details are up at Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 19:13:11 UTC) (permalink)

I need a cake server.
Swing by Bungie.net for a truly delicious-looking Master Chief cake - that's a lotta squirts from the frosting bag! (Louis Wu 19:09:33 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Movies from B.net
Couple of new moviews you can find in the Bungie.net Comm Chatter today:

• Funny Halo 3 Fail and Laughs 10 has 4 minutes of funny fails. (Maybe not funny for some of the participants...)
• Revelation is a montage from L for Letterz - 10 minutes of snipe/BR action.

Go watch. (Louis Wu 18:30:09 UTC) (permalink)

Stand down, team!
As promised, we've uploaded the rarely-heard 'All Clear' speech Sgt. Johnson gives if you get to him quickly enough (and with enough survivors) on AotCR, as recorded by Rockslider a couple of days ago. This is a more complete version of the speech submitted by Captain Spark two and a half years ago. (Louis Wu 18:02:57 UTC) (permalink)

Between Two Points
TTL Demag0gue announced that Reclaimer 238 is live - it's still fun to mess with the Reclaimer, I guess. Poor guy! (Louis Wu 18:02:35 UTC) (permalink)

'Lots of people die.'
Game Informer continues ITS Reach coverage with an interview with Marty O'Donnell talking about Reach's score. (Well, the trailer's score, anyway.) Fun tidbit! Go watch. Thanks, 2900d4u. (Louis Wu 17:39:16 UTC) (permalink)

The Homecoming Clip - now online at GT
As mentioned a few days ago, you can see a scene from The Homecoming on last night's GTTV - online now at GameTrailers.com. (The Legends scene starts around 17 minutes in.) (Louis Wu 14:52:45 UTC) (permalink)

Motivational Friday Fun
Hawty McBloggy is changing things up this week - Friday's Fun is a new game: take her pics, make an entertaining Motivational poster from them. There are already a few funny ones there - go add your own! (Louis Wu 14:48:31 UTC) (permalink)

Edge trickles out a bit more info
ElzarTheBam pointed out a new article on Edge's website - it seems like a followup question or two from yesterday's interview. Just a morsel, but I guess you have to use what you have! (Louis Wu 14:43:00 UTC) (permalink)

Unexpected Chapter 2
ODST Sarge stopped in to announce Unexpected Chapter 2 (we mentioned Chapter 1 back in July) - dialogue is a bit difficult to hear at times, but the story's interesting! I still have a problem with a Canadian Civil War... I mean, aren't they too polite for that sort of thing? (Louis Wu 14:41:45 UTC) (permalink)

Pro Tips with TSquared: Citadel
General Vagueness noticed a new Pro Tips with TSquared episode on G4TV - this one covers Citadel, and can help you get around the map dying less. (He also mentioned a hint of upcoming Reach info from G4, though there's no word on when.) (Louis Wu 14:41:05 UTC) (permalink)

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Looks like ThinkGeek is selling a Daft Chief Master Punk t-shirt - buy it for the description alone! Thanks, Travis Vils (who has one HELL of a long memory - I wonder if he still answers to NeoN?). (Louis Wu 14:38:08 UTC) (permalink)

Showing some Heart for Haiti
PsH Bling wanted to show off Bungie's Hearts for Halo... in the real world. I don't think this counts towards Bungie's $100 per thousand players... but it's cool. (Louis Wu 14:37:25 UTC) (permalink)

Retrograde Episode Two: Respite
Silvac let us know that Retrograde Episode Two (Respite) is finally online - it was a Halo CE-based machinima we first mentioned back in July. Wanna watch someone lose their mind? You came to the right place. (Louis Wu 14:37:04 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Six new pieces are up for your reading pleasure in the Fan Fiction section. So what are you waiting for? Go read! (Louis Wu 14:36:25 UTC) (permalink)

News January 21 2010

TGIF #48: Be a Hero!
Forge Hub's jumping into the 'Help Haiti' boat with a 'Be a Hero!' Edition of their Thank Goodness it's Forge-Day event; it was scheduled for tomorrow, but has been moved to today to get more people online with Heart emblems. Swing by Bungie.net or Forge Hub for details! (Louis Wu 19:31:37 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday's Movie Crop
A couple of new vids for you from Bungie.net's Comm Chatter: Bipolar Nick gets overexcited about Narrows Kills, and Alen releases a montage called 'Dream' (really nice editing by Soupy). Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:25:05 UTC) (permalink)

Bad Cyborg - revisiting AotCR
Rockslider is back with more Bad Cyborg goodness - this update focuses on a quick-descent trick off the first bridge on AotCR, and contains a video showing you how to get a handy checkpoint (for repeated tries), and a video showing how to get a bunch of extra marines, an extra hog, and a rarely-heard Johnson speech (we'll add this to the Dialogue Databank soon). You can read a summary of the new material on our forum, the material itself with details and commentary on his Bad Cyborg site (BCM7 | BCM8), or simply watch or download the movies from the HBO mirror of his media. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 18:12:07 UTC) (permalink)

Be A Hero - Today!
I was heartened (no pun intended) to see all the Haiti-induced shoulder emblems on LIVE players last night - and was asked a number of times about them by folks who weren't wearing them (so there are enough for the average player to sit up and take notice). You've still got another day to show your support and increase the amount of money Bungie will be donating; the effort runs through midnight (Pacific Time) tonight. An aftershock hit yesterday morning (5.9, so significantly smaller than last week's 7.0, but still devastating, given the current conditions there) - so need is urgent. Wearing that Heart emblem is the easiest way in the world to help - do it! (Louis Wu 13:44:55 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap: Round 6 Winner, Round 7 Screens
Hide, Seek, Snap continues apace - III Hyokin III was first with the Round 6 answer. Enjoy that Johnson code! Round 7 has two screens - don't send us both (you can only win once). There are still 15 codes to win (though we're almost out of screens - gonna need a new batch, stat!), so don't lose hope! (Louis Wu 13:41:57 UTC) (permalink)

2009 Best of Halo Awards: Winners!
Hawty McBloggy has posted the results of the 2009 Best of Halo Awards - spectactular artwork by Halcylon, and some great choices in there by the fan community! I think an additional award should go to Rooster Teeth for the best acceptance speech. Go check out the results - and thanks, once again, to Hawty, for all her hard work! (Louis Wu 13:14:30 UTC) (permalink)

Edge: Tales from the Fall
Edge's latest issue has Reach on the cover, as well - and they're starting to put excerpts of the goodness on their website. The first article online is called 'Tales of the Fall', and it's an interview with Marcus Lehto, Joe Tung, and Brian Jarrard. I have to say, while it's short, it's awfully promising - go give it a read! Thanks to ElzarTheBam for noticing. (Louis Wu 13:09:24 UTC) (permalink)

Oonsk Lives! (on canvas)
Well, Halopedia didn't think much of Oonsk (a nascent article detailing his existence was deleted within a few hours of its creation)... but that doesn't stop him from filling vital roles in the Halo universe. Frankie dropped by with a photo of a new painting he created - apparently for a soon-to-be-announced charity event. I'd buy THAT for a dollar! (Probably even more!) (Louis Wu 13:07:58 UTC) (permalink)

FyreWulff Finishes the Fight
FyreWulff announced that his 'Firefighting for Haiti' online gameplay is over, having raised $703 for a great cause. Thanks, 'Wulff! (Louis Wu 13:05:45 UTC) (permalink)

Here's what we've got up 'til now...
Game Informer continues their 'Reach' coverage (except for Day 1, it really hasn't been 'Reach' coverage as much as 'Halo' coverage, but apparently that will change soon) - yesterday's article was called 'The Abbreviated Fiction of Halo'. If you don't know much about the Halo story, give this a read. (Louis Wu 13:05:17 UTC) (permalink)

Fan art - it's what's for breakfast.
A couple of new pieces of art showed up on our forum last night - TDSpiral revealed 'Last Glimpse', a raw look at a Gravity Hammer from the perspective of a downed ODST (I liked it a lot), and GrimBrother One showed off a bit called 'Darkness and the Intolerance of Waiting' - Cortana and the Chief. Check 'em both out! (Louis Wu 13:04:07 UTC) (permalink)

News January 20 2010

Community Spotlight: GrifballHub.com
This week's highlighted community group is Grifballhub.com - swing by Bungie.net for a mini-interview and their Favorite files, filling up the Bungie Favorites page. (Louis Wu 20:56:04 UTC) (permalink)

Movies, Movies, and More Movies (and a contest)
A million movies at Bungie.net (well, okay, not quite a million):

• Top 10 Halo 3 Airborne Kills: Episode 47 is the latest from Anoj. You know what to expect.
• Why is he singing? is a bizarre machinima - I'd have left this out if there weren't so many. I don't get teh funni.
• The Comeback is a montage from MeH Leier - lots of snipes.
• High Impact Halo has yet another new Halo CE-based Warthog vid - this one launches 2 hogs.

While you're watching movies, check out the 'Be A Hero' Film Clip contest, hosted by the leaders of a Bungie.net group - you could win 4000 MS Points for turning in the coolest clip that meets the rules. W00T! (Louis Wu 20:46:03 UTC) (permalink)

Heretic, Citadel, Longshore - YOU CAN BUY EM (soon)
Whoa - great news. The three new Halo 3 Mythic maps that were released with Halo 3: ODST are FINALLY going to be available for download on Xbox LIVE, starting February 2. Only a bit over 4 months late! Thanks, Kotaku (and GrimBrother One). (Louis Wu 18:02:15 UTC) (permalink)

Sumthing Else announces Halo Legends Soundtrack
Thanks to Greg O'Connor-Read for letting us know about the press release for the Halo Legends Original Soundtrack - you can read the full release around the web (the first copy I found was at MCV). The soundtrack will be available on February 9, a week before the Legends disc itself is released. Go read about it! (Louis Wu 17:20:38 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
Two new comics for you today: DeepCee has updated Chronicles of ODS Steve - #57 (Cry Havok) is now live on Hawty McBloggy. I think things are gonna go boom soon... and TTL Demag0gue let us know that Reclaimer 237 (Apostate Awakening) is online - things seem to be going well for Ferial. Go read! (Louis Wu 16:57:55 UTC) (permalink)

'Murder Mode'? Really? Pfft.
Ah, springtime (well, not quite) - the smell of new life... and fake video clips. ElzarTheBam pointed out a video purporting to show the opening of the Halo Reach public beta. Consensus of the forum? FAKE. Don't get fooled, kids; there'll be REAL leaks out there soon enough, but this ain't one of 'em. (Louis Wu 16:33:23 UTC) (permalink)

Exploiting the love
I totally forgot to post this yesterday - it went live Monday night, but Tuesday was a very, very bad day. I didn't ignore it because I didn't like it - it was just an oversight. Cody Miller continued his series of Lonely Island parodies - Sh*t in a Box takes a look at pricing for special editions. I've been humming this all morning... (Louis Wu 16:21:53 UTC) (permalink)

A slightly early look at Reach Screens
It looks like EB Games Australia was the first site on the internet to break the embargo on Reach screenshots - you can see eight shots (in relatively low res) directly on their site, plus 3 more that never got linked (9 | 10 | 11). These are the same screens that Game Informer used in their print story - so if you were one of the thousands who checked out the photographed pages that circulated the internet last week, here's your chance to take a better look. Thanks to Kakansho for the heads-up - the thread of discussion is already quite long! (Louis Wu 16:11:59 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - Round 5 won, Round 6 live
This batch of Hide, Seek, Snap screens must be much easier - we had four responses in a 3-hour span last night. The first successful recreation was sent in by rvbsithhead, who won another Sgt. Johnson code for Firefight. Swing by and see what you can do with the Round 6 shot! (Louis Wu 16:11:34 UTC) (permalink)

Lots of Halo Stuff for Sale
Austin Childres is selling a very large collection of Halo schwag - go visit the auction page on eBay for a full description. Action figures, books, games... it's a lot of stuff. Starting bid is $350, and there are still four and a half days. He's trying to buy his first car! (Louis Wu 16:11:00 UTC) (permalink)

Blood Line #5 - Cover and Summary
CaptainTony pointed out that the cover for Blood Line #5 (the latest Halo comic series from Marvel) is on Marvel's website, along with a summary. Sounds pretty grim! (Louis Wu 16:10:34 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Clairvoyance Chapter 1
Halochief89 stopped in to say that the Halo Clairvoyance story has a new chapter up (though the artwork for it won't be coming for a bit). Go read it at DeviantART. (Louis Wu 16:10:00 UTC) (permalink)

Be a Hero - Gameplay Phase Starts Tonight!
A reminder: The 48 hour period during which your choice of emblem worn on Xbox LIVE in Halo 3 or ODST can contribute to Bungie's financial donation to the Haiti relief effort begins in just four and a half hours - be sure to visit the Be A Hero page and read the instructions for properly setting your emblem so that your gametime counts! (That was a really awkward sentence. Let's try that again. Visit the Be A Hero page to learn the exact heart-based emblem to put on your Halo 3 Spartan or ODST Marine. Then, wear it online between Wednesday just after midnight through Thursday just before midnight - both PST - and you will count towards the $100 per thousand players that Bungie will be contributing to the Haiti Relief effort. Was that better?) (Louis Wu 03:31:15 UTC) (permalink)

News January 19 2010

Average Joe: DTA MoonDawg
There's a new Average Joe interview up at Bungie.net - DTA MoonDawg talks about teabagging and playin' Halo. Go see. (Louis Wu 19:36:59 UTC) (permalink)

Any of those guys called 'Obi-Wan'?
H3AsiiM has released 'In the Clutch, Episode 2' - it's a Top 5 Clutch Plays video showing off some key team-saving action. Great stuff! Thanks to Bungie's Comm Chatter for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 18:27:26 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Podcasts for All
Next week has a couple of community podcasts broadcasting live - Zoxin It Up! LIVE will be hosting a Game Night on January 22, and the Running Riot will be hosting Bungie.net Ninja Duardo on January 25. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:25:24 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - speeding up!
Whoa. We had THREE successful screenshot takers for the latest Hide, Seek, Snap image - looks like x 2900d4u x was fastest. Congrats, and enjoy your Sgt. Johnson code! Round 5 is now live - let's see how long it takes to get to Round 6! (Louis Wu 16:41:43 UTC) (permalink)

The Homecoming clip to premiere on GTTV
GrimBrotherOne noticed a tweet from Geoff Keighley - if you want to see a new Legends clip from The Homecoming, watch Spike's GTTV this Thursday at 12:30. (Louis Wu 16:37:01 UTC) (permalink)

Epic Films 4th Year Anniversary Video
QuickTactical stopped by to announce Epic Films' Fourth Year Anniversary Video - check his post for multiple download opportunities. Go watch for a bunch of short skits built by Epic's members. (Louis Wu 16:33:22 UTC) (permalink)

Blender 3D-based Halo Mini-game
Sqorck let us know he's working on a Halo mini-game in Blender 3D; you can swing by YouTube to see where he stands, progress-wise. That guy's pretty cute! (Louis Wu 16:33:01 UTC) (permalink)

Into Hell - Complete
Remember the picture snippet from Phoenix-06 we mentioned a few days ago? The full version is now up at DeviantART. Great work! Thanks, AngelicLionheart. (Louis Wu 16:30:39 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Clairvoyance
Halochief89 is writing a Halo short story - with illustrations. Check out the details in his forum post, and visit DeviantART for the first pic! (Louis Wu 16:30:12 UTC) (permalink)

News January 18 2010

Firefightin' for Haiti
FyreWulff is running a Firefight marathon - except for sleep, he's going to be playing Firefight, looking to raise money for Haiti. If you want to help, swing by and watch - and donate! (Louis Wu 22:45:36 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief Theater 3000 - Episode 401
Smiley let us know that Master Chief Theater 3000 is back with Season 4 - Episode 1 is now online, and looking at the start of ODST. Check it out! (Louis Wu 22:28:59 UTC) (permalink)

Need a month of LIVE? See Halo Report
SpartanL27 stopped in with word of a contest at Halo Report - post a comment on the article and you're in the running for an Xbox LIVE Gold 1-month card. Easy Peasy! (Louis Wu 22:25:14 UTC) (permalink)

OOOOOONSK
If you want to play a silly Flash game (and maybe save the earth), head on over to NeoGAF, and check out the Oonsk game! (Thanks, Dani. I think.) (Louis Wu 17:21:02 UTC) (permalink)

343: Managing the Halo Franchise
Game Informer has an interview with 343 Industries' Frank O'Connor, Josh Holmes, and Bonnie Ross, discussing how the Halo franchise grew into what it is today, and what they hope to accomplish in the future. Go watch! Thanks, 2900d4u. (Louis Wu 17:10:50 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - Round 4
It took a little longer than we'd planned, but there's a new image up on the Hide, Seek, Snap page - be the first to reproduce it, and you'll get a shiny new Sgt. Johnson code in your inbox! Thanks, as always, to AfroRyan. (Louis Wu 17:07:32 UTC) (permalink)

Happy birthday, Fezzer!
Hawty McBloggy has a new birthday cake for your visual enjoyment - this one is a SERIOUSLY gooey-looking Xbox 360 with a Halo theme to it. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:07:05 UTC) (permalink)

VZG Halo 3 Music Video Montage
LoneStarGamer let us know that he's posted a new Halo 3 music video montage (sort of like HMV) - you can watch it at Blip.tv. Clips range from funny to silly - but if there's something you don't like, don't worry, there'll be something new in 30 seconds. (Louis Wu 17:06:44 UTC) (permalink)

Comic Monday
Got a couple of new comics for you today - the newest Grin + Bear It went live on Hawty McBloggy yesterday, and Reclaimer 236 (Crux) is live, according to TTL Demag0gue. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 17:06:14 UTC) (permalink)

News January 17 2010

HBO's taking Sunday off
It's a quiet day, Halo-wise, and a rather busy one, personally - enjoy the break in your Halo news, we'll be back tomorrow! (Louis Wu 18:05:49 UTC) (permalink)

News January 16 2010

Halo on SuperNews!
Zerowind117 pointed out that Supernews Episode 6 has a visit from the Master Chief. Very odd show... and I think it might be the first time I ever saw Master Chief vanquished by beer. (Louis Wu 20:36:07 UTC) (permalink)

Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian - Part 1
Don't forget - the first segment of 'Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian' went live today on Halo Waypoint. ONE's animation, coupled with Frank O'Connor's story (and some interesting voice-acting) results in a pretty nifty feature! If the story's unfamiliar to you (it shouldn't be, because the Halo Evolutions collection is some of the best fiction in the Halo repertoire), the full press release can be found on the Halo Waypoint web portal. (Unlike the Legends previews, this one is not just 24 hours only; if you miss it today, it'll be up for the indefinite future.) (Louis Wu 17:27:29 UTC) (permalink)

Sangheili with Sword: colors
You remember that really cool line drawing ZZoMBiE13 did of an Elite about a week ago? He decided to color it himself. Spectacular! (Louis Wu 16:30:44 UTC) (permalink)

I'm on a Ring
Cody Miller has decided to continue his Lonely Island Parody series (you might remember the first entry) - his latest creation is called "I'm on a Ring", and again, he needs help with the recording. I'd be shaking my head if I weren't laughing so hard. (Louis Wu 16:29:45 UTC) (permalink)

Impressionistic Chief
Hawty McBloggy highlighted a piece of art called 'Chief Splat', created by skuzzmunch - I think it's pretty cool! (If you like it, check out this variant, too.) (Louis Wu 16:28:53 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Free Fallin'
Halo 3 Screenshots has their latest Top Ten collection online. This one is called "Free Fallin'" - check out the Havok-aided poses! (Louis Wu 16:27:59 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Multiplayer - a new fantastic point of view
Director of Xbox Marketing Stephen McGill (yeah, yeah, biased source) is telling Computer and Video Games that "Halo: Reach takes the legacy of Halo's rich multiplayer gameplay to an entirely new level, delivering experiences that we think old and new players alike will enjoy for years to come." We haven't heard a lot about the multiplayer yet - but 'an entirely new level' sounds pretty good! Thanks, Domino Theory. (Louis Wu 16:26:36 UTC) (permalink)

Be a Hero!
Bungie wants to help you help folks in Haiti - buy a 'Be A Hero' t-shirt from them (or anything at all from the Bungie Store, through the end of February), they'll donate 100% of the profits to the relief effort. Change your emblem while playing Halo 3 online, and they'll contribute cash (more details in the B.net announcement). Do both - do more! Help Bungie help Haiti. Go Go Go! (This announcement takes the place of this week's Update, so we've included it in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 01:20:48 UTC) (permalink)

News January 15 2010

Friday Video Fun
Wait, is it Friday afternoon already? Looks like you can watch a few new vids on Bungie.net's Comm Chatter today:

• Hero Of War is a music video set to Rise Against's 'Hero of War' - a solid tribute to fighting men and women.
• Daydream is a Halo 3 montage from vShocKz and Ticket - 9 minutes long. Editing is fully-saturated.
• IGN's back with another episode of their weekly Top 10 Halo 3 Kills - as always, these are great not because they're totally spectacular, but because they highlight moments we ALL encounter in day-to-day matchmaking.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:13:14 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 77 (and more)
It's Friday - so there's a new Friday Caption Fun up over at Hawty McBloggy's. Some great captions for last week's bizarro pic... plus a NEW bizarro pic for you to caption this week. (How many Avatar references can we get?) While you're over there, you could check out yesterday's Twitter T&A Thursday - Hawty asked folks to come up with new names for planets in the Haloverse. Some intersting choices in there! (Louis Wu 15:23:40 UTC) (permalink)

Dark Void Rescheduled because of ODST
According to an article at G4TV, the reason Dark Void is available this week, rather than last fall, is Halo 3: ODST. When Capcom found out that ODST was being released in late September, they bumped Dark Void forward to January, so as not to have to compete. (Louis Wu 15:22:57 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
Pair of new comics for you today - Elnea posted Halo Action Figure Theater #197 (SNAFU), wherein things get confusing, and TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of Reclaimer 235 (Viral Anarchy), wherein Indigenous Adjuvant explains the roots of Viper's brilliance. Check 'em both! (Louis Wu 15:22:21 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Shines for MS
NPD released a list of the top ten US retail console games for 2009 by units - and Halo 3: ODST is on it. It is, in fact, one of only two Xbox 360 games on it. Thanks, Dani. (Louis Wu 15:21:37 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just three new pieces are up in the Fan Fiction section this week... shouldn't take you long to read 'em! (Louis Wu 15:21:08 UTC) (permalink)

News January 14 2010

More concept art for Operation Chastity
Phoenix-06 continues his Operation Chastity concept artwork (we mentioned an older piece in September) - he's posted a sketch of Robert Savage, a character in the movie. (This is apparently a small piece of a larger pic.) Looking good! Thanks to NoobToob for noticing. (Louis Wu 20:10:46 UTC) (permalink)

GI's Reach Coverage looks Backwards
Game Informer is continuing their release schedule of Reach coverage - as promised, a new article is up. It's not Reach-related, though; it's a look back at Halo 3: ODST, with some help from Joe Staten. I was interested to read that Firefight was planned for Halo 3, but didn't make it in because of time constraints. (I had never even heard RUMORS of it before ODST.) (Louis Wu 19:06:48 UTC) (permalink)

Movies for all
Wanna see a bunch of videos? Head on over to Bungie.net - their Comm Chatter is chock-full today.

• Bloogyo released Lawltage 5 - shenanigans abound.
• SilentShadow84 has reated 'The Coagulator' - a 9.5 minute machinima about a guy wearing some armor I'd LOVE to have.
• Camohhh released his first Halo 3 montage, with editing by DS Designs. Music worked really well.
• In 'Ghosts N Stuff', HolyJunkie combined ODST Firefight footage with techno for some Oonsk-flavored carnage. (No, Oonsk doesn't make an appearance - but I heard him chanted over and over while I watched...)

If that doesn't occupy your free time this afternoon, you have too much free time. (Louis Wu 18:58:31 UTC) (permalink)

2009 Best of Halo Awards - Last Chance to Vote!
Hawty McBloggy would like to remind you that it's the last day to vote for your choices in the 2009 Best of Halo Awards event - swing by and make your voice heard! (Louis Wu 16:46:07 UTC) (permalink)

Unit #2 Alpha group
Tony 'ubald' Marcotte is on a roll - just a day after his last render, he whipped up Unit #2 Alpha group, which we've added to his gallery here. An awesome-looking team! (Louis Wu 16:44:06 UTC) (permalink)

Bonecrusher
Mendicant Bias discovered a pretty cool model over at DeviantART - it's called 'Bonecrusher', and it was created by RobertoGamez. It's not NECESSARILY an Elite... but it sure shares a lot of features with one. (A warning, if you explore - the rest of the artist's gallery is NSFW.) Update: cheapLEY points out that this looks like a reworked version of Mike Jensen's Tank Elite - I wonder if there's permission for that? (Louis Wu 16:43:04 UTC) (permalink)

UCSD 2010 Winterfest - Play Halo 3 and more
Tex stopped by with word of a videogame fest at the University of California, San Diego that's open to the public - along with a Halo 3 tourney, there are tons of other games you can play with. Check out her link! (Louis Wu 16:42:36 UTC) (permalink)

News January 13 2010

Bungie Favorites Update: Death by Mongoose, Week 2
It's Wednesday, so Bungie's updated Bungie Favorites - it's the second batch of material from Death By Mongoose. You can read about one of their racetracks, or you can simply look through the entire collection! (Louis Wu 19:33:40 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
I thought I'd wait and see if the Wednesday Reclaimer was posted - but it doesn't seem that it's going to be. You can still visit Hawty McBloggy's to read ODS Steve #56 (City Planning), or Halo Action Figure Theater to read Episode 196 (The New Girl) - government idiocy and mysterious resurrections are both covered. (Louis Wu 19:03:37 UTC) (permalink)

Mysterious Screenshot Contest
Black Water Ops wants you to take screenshots with the theme 'Mysterious' - top shots win points and LIVE cards. Details at their website - thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 18:31:02 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Afternoon at the Movies
New vids for you, courtesy of Bungie's Comm Chatter today:

• High Voltage is a montage from the team High Voltage, with editing by Kapow. Good gameplay, interesting effects.
• Jump Sequence has released ONE, a trick jumping montage. Fun flying!
• Lyko and Spankem had KlassicXL edit their dualtage, Brace - heavy on the effects.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:28:55 UTC) (permalink)

Avatar borrowing from Halo? No, says Cameron
James Cameron talked to G4TV a couple of days ago - and he reminded Halo fans that are criticizing Avatar for its similarities to Bungie's game that Bungie's game owes quite a bit to Cameron's earlier work (Aliens) - and that if he's referencing anything, it's that. Thanks to deftangel for pointing this out. (Louis Wu 15:00:53 UTC) (permalink)

Average Joe: Halcylon
We missed this yesterday - but Bungie posted a new Average Joe interview, this time with Halcylon. (Most recently, he's known for the Halo Periodic Table.) Go read about a truly talented Halo fan! (Louis Wu 15:00:11 UTC) (permalink)

News January 12 2010

HaloCharts Firefight Challenge
HaloCharts has a pair of Firefight Challenges going on right now, with a whole bunch more to come - swing by to read about Insecurity (Security Zone Challenge) and Windswept (Windward Challenge). These are great for meeting other players and winning fun stuff! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 21:28:23 UTC) (permalink)

Rookie no more
Tony 'ubald' Marcotte has another render up in his gallery here - this one is called 'Rookie no more', and takes a darker look at the growth of a Spartan. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:18:02 UTC) (permalink)

It's Rainin' Videos
Bungie's Comm Chatter has more videos than you can shake a remote at:

• Hardass Space Adventures continues with 'Bring Your Orphan To Work Day' - I don't think Hardass's friends understand what kids are all about. Especially kids like Lyle.
• B Mc Gan and Mc Gann2 released Dualistic Proelium - HD gameplay collected from Social and MLG lists.
• A bunch of fans put together footage from Rocket Race to create Shuttle, a Rocket Race montage.
• Red Bull Sniper has a montage called 'Fury of the Noob 3' - DPM's pretty high.
• Greenskull built a 'Randomtage' - it's pretty random.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:50:06 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Team talks to GI
Game Informer continues their Halo: Reach coverage - there's a video interview with some of the team behind Reach. Not a lot of actual REACH content - but you'll get a glimpse into the people building the game! Thanks, 2900d4u. (Louis Wu 17:26:14 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - Round 3 Winner
Congrats to Playkid, who successfully reproduced our Round 3 screenshot for the Hide, Seek, Snap contest - a Sgt. Johnson code is on its way! (We don't have a Round 4 image up yet; things are a little crazy around here. Hopefully soon!) (Louis Wu 16:19:49 UTC) (permalink)

I don't think that's what Cortana meant...
Cody Miller was struck by inspiration (or maybe a falling brick) and came up with a not-safe-for-work ditty. Text-only; you'll have to sing it in your head. (Careful.) (Louis Wu 16:18:40 UTC) (permalink)

2009's Most Popular Xbox Live Titles in Australia
Yesterday, we mentioned the 2009 top 20 Xbox LIVE titles in the US, courtesy of Major Nelson. Today, Kotaku Australia has posted the top 10 most popular titles for the year in Australia. Halo 3 was number one, there, too. (ODST came in at #7 - the Aussies liked it more than the Americans did!) (Louis Wu 16:17:09 UTC) (permalink)

The Heart of Midlothian Comes Alive
We don't usually use prewritten blurbs, but this one's pretty good:

343 Industries has partnered with ONE to create a stunning motion comic based on Frank O'Connor's Halo: Evolutions short story. Told in ONE's unique artistic style, "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian" is a story of bravery and sacrifice in the darkest parts of space. "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian" will air weekly as a four-part series exclusive to Halo Waypoint, starting this Saturday, January 16th. After the final episode, the Midlothian series will be available on Waypoint indefinitely so fans can come back to watch this amazing story again and again.

We're happy to be able to bring you the trailer in 720p downloadable beauty - you can grab a copy from us in WMP9 (24.4 mb) or QuickTime (29.4 mb) formats. This was a wonderful story in the Evolutions collection, and an animated retelling makes my feet tingle. Go grab the trailer - and look forward to Part 1 on Waypoint this Saturday! (Louis Wu 12:58:04 UTC) (permalink)

News January 11 2010

Tag and Release: Security Zone
The latest Tag and Release feature is live on Bungie.net - screenshots snapped on Security Zone. Go see 'em! (Louis Wu 22:38:47 UTC) (permalink)

Some of those were... odd.
Apparently, last year's Halo-themed wedding made a list of '15 Insane Weddings' at WeddingABC.net - but don't worry, they're doing great! Their one-year anniversary is right around the corner. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 22:38:28 UTC) (permalink)

One Life Remaining S1E8
One Life Remaining, S1E8, went live last week. We know, because it made Bungie's Comm Chatter. Go watch. (Louis Wu 22:38:10 UTC) (permalink)

Edge 211 - Got Reach?
Looks like Edge's next issue will be chock-full of Reach info, as well - thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 15:27:13 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Promotional Trailer
CrazedOne1988 decided to make a promotional video for Halo 3 multiplayer - go see how he did! (Louis Wu 15:26:16 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Orlando goes to Believe The Hype
Congrats to Believe The Hype, the winners of the 2009 MLG National Championship, which took place in Orlando this weekend. (They flew through the tournament, winning every series they played in; they beat Final Boss 3-2, Instinct 3-2, Str8 Rippin 3-2, and Classic 6-2 to walk away with $100,000.) Full results and writeups (and rebroadcasts of the game streams) can be found at MLGPro.com. (Louis Wu 15:25:18 UTC) (permalink)

Top 20 LIVE games of 2009 - Halo 3 Takes Top Honors
Major Nelson posted the Top 20 LIVE games of 2009 yesterday - and Halo 3 is at #1 on the list. (ODST came in at #8, and the Halo Wars demo was at #11.) Nicely done! Thanks to CaptainTony for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:24:14 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Three new comics for you today:

• Hawty McBloggy has the latest Grin + Bear It - I don't know what to say about it.
• Elnea's posted Halo Action Figure Theater #195 (No Reply) - I think maybe Six and John might have overreacted...
• TTL Demag0gue stopped by to announce Reclaimer 234 (Interrogator) - Indigenous Adjuvant discusses some questionable procedures he was involved in.

Go read! (Louis Wu 15:12:55 UTC) (permalink)

I'm hearing techno.
Oonsk is taking on a life of his own - yesterday, ZzoMBiE13 sent along a tribute. You can see the full-sized version by clicking on the thumb... Update: even Stuntmutt is getting in on the act. (Louis Wu 15:01:15 UTC) (permalink)

News January 10 2010

Info on upcoming Halo Lit
CaptainTony has done some digging - and come up with the following info: Amazon has Greg Bear's first Forerunner novel slated for release on July 6, 2010, and McMillan is listing a due-in-March 'Halo Boxed Set', which CaptainTony speculates might be the first three Tor-published Halo novels (Ghosts of Onyx, Contact Harvest, and The Cole Protocol), packaged together. While release dates are not set in stone until they're officially announced, book release dates as posted by Amazon have a MUCH better track record than video game release dates - so even if they're off by a little, July is a decent target for the first of the Bear-authored trilogy. Looking forward to it! (Louis Wu 21:35:27 UTC) (permalink)

Geddan Halo Master Chief
If you're not up on internet memes, you might have missed 'Geddan', a craze originated in Japan a couple of years ago. The ModHalo crowd wanted in, though, so Geddan Halo Master Chief was born. Thanks (well, maybe), Pepsi. (Louis Wu 20:55:28 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots: Thel 'Vadam
Halo 3 Screenshots is back with a new Top Ten collection, this one focused on Thel 'Vadam (otherwise known as The Arbiter). And what a glorious collection it is! Go look. (Louis Wu 20:34:46 UTC) (permalink)

GI Members say Reach might be Biggest Seller of 2010
GamesIndustry.biz surveyed almost 10,000 industry professionals about their predictions for 2010 releases - Halo: Reach was tapped as the biggest seller of the year. Here's hoping they're right! (Louis Wu 20:30:16 UTC) (permalink)

The birth of an icon
So if you don't visit NeoGAF, you're missing some fun stuff. Junior Member Flipyap looked at the GI cover a couple of days ago, and posted a cropped shot of Kat's shoulder. Since not everyone got the point, Flipyap made it clearer - and soon after, even pointed out the little guy's name. Oonsk is now the default HaloGAF mascot... and he's so adorable he's spawned a commercial. (Yes, of course, he's been added as a cornershot here.) GO OONSK! (Louis Wu 20:25:41 UTC) (permalink)

GI Cover Artist Info
Hedgemony dug up some information about the artist responsible for the Game Informer cover art - awesome to see that the chosen artist cites Craig Mullins as an influence! (Louis Wu 20:08:50 UTC) (permalink)

News January 9 2010

Keep It White!
Hawty McBloggy has a picture that was created in the snow for... dogs? I dunno. It's cute, though! (Louis Wu 17:25:33 UTC) (permalink)

The Making of 'Origins I'
Halo Waypoint has posted The Making of 'Origins I', the Legends episode we saw on Waypoint last week. It's a fascinating glimpse into the building of this overarching storyline, and it includes tons of footage from the second half of Origins (which none of us will be able to see before Legends is released on DVD at the end of February). If you have an Xbox LIVE Gold account, go watch! (Louis Wu 16:57:31 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Orlando - National Championships
In case you're wondering what there is to watch this weekend... it's the MLG 2009 National Championships in Orlando, with $100k on the line for the top team. The landing page is here, on MLG's website, and the live stream schedule is here. (Just visit their homepage for the stream itself.) Good luck to all the teams! (Louis Wu 16:42:32 UTC) (permalink)

Top 10 Halo 3 Big Team Battle Kills
The latest Top 10 Halo 3 Series is up to Episode 46 - Big Team Battle Kills. The kills themselves are pretty good... but the Countdown Extras make this one. Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:42:04 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie's Winter Pentathlon, documented (sort of)
Wondering how the Winter Pentathlon went for Bungie yesterday? There are a bunch of photos up on Bungie.net (it looks like fun was had by many) - congrats to the Grizzled Ancients for pulling out the win! (Louis Wu 16:28:23 UTC) (permalink)

Integrating FPS and RTS
RC Master wondered if Reach might include some RTS features, courtesy of Forge's successor... and Hawaiian Pig added a substantial analysis of his own. Would this be fun? Who knows? It's sure interesting to speculate about, though! (Louis Wu 16:25:42 UTC) (permalink)

Game Informer Begins Reach Inundation
Well, the big news of yesterday afternoon was the announcement of Game Informer's February issue - Scotty, on our forum, was the first word I saw. There are Twitter updates from GI editors and tidbits all over the place - GI will be releasing new Reach information nearly every other day through the month. Looking forward to the flood! (Louis Wu 15:42:55 UTC) (permalink)

News January 8 2010

Rollin' Skee Balls and Checkin' Control Schemes
It's way, way early - but the Bungie Weekly Update keeps Bungie.net's front page looking bare this Friday. I guess they're gearing up for the Winter Pentathlon, and can't be bothered with news. It's okay, though, because there's some good stuff in there, even if urk couldn't get specific. Go read! (It's in our Weekly Update Archive as well, of course.) (Louis Wu 18:49:25 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Comic Roundup
A couple of new comics for you today:

• Elnea's posted 'Carry That Weight', a slightly risqué episode of Halo Action Figure Theater (okay, maybe not so risqué). Gotta love the sword, though.
• TTL Demag0gue let us know about Reclaimer 233 ("Eternity") - where AIs get philosophical.

Go read 'em! (Louis Wu 17:52:15 UTC) (permalink)

Hide, Seek, Snap - Round 2 Winner, Round 3 Pic
I've been a little lax about checking the entries for the Hide, Seek, Snap contest - we had a winner on Wednesday! Congrats to Scarmando, who picked up a code for Sgt. Johnson in Firefight, courtesy of AfroRyan. And there's a new image up now - check out Round 3, and if you're the first to reproduce the pic, you'll get a code, too! (Louis Wu 15:03:08 UTC) (permalink)

Reach: Return of an Old Foe
Leviathan created a new image inspired by the Halo: Reach trailer - amazing. Go see if you need new wallpaper. (Louis Wu 14:52:02 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 76
Friday Caption Fun is live at Hawty McBloggy's - some great captions for last week's pic, and a new pic that made me laugh. Go see what you can come up with! Friday's Fan Fiction Just five new pieces up this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 14:51:39 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Legends Official Soundtrack
CaptainTony noticed a quick mention of the Halo Legends Official Soundtrack during Robbie Bach's talk at CES yesterday - and DHalo found a listing for it at Amazon. Not a lot of info yet, but it'll be out next month! (Louis Wu 14:51:05 UTC) (permalink)

Sangheili with Sword
ZzomBiE13 posted a new line drawing that is just dying for some color; swing by DeviantART to see it! (He's willing to pass along the layered PSD to folks serious about coloring it; read the description.) (Louis Wu 14:50:49 UTC) (permalink)

Good things coming for RvB
AssaultGodzilla stopped in with a bunch of information about Red vs Blue and some cool stuff coming up in the future; information about the next season of Reconstruction, info about the animated short that showed at PAX 08, and some interesting info about upcoming TV broadcasts of RvB material. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:50:24 UTC) (permalink)

January DXP Weekends updated
FyreWulff let us know that the Matchmaking playlists have been updated again - you can see the announcement on Bungie's forum, or swing by FyreWulff's wiki for info on ALL DXP lists so far. (This week's list, kicked off yesterday, is Mythic Brawl - and for a little bit longer, the 7 on the 7th list is live, too. Go play!) (Louis Wu 14:49:59 UTC) (permalink)

News January 7 2010

An early glimpse of Reach artwork
Wow. NeoGAF's Gribbix noticed a piece of artwork on Game Informer's website last night - it was taken down quickly, but not quickly enough, it seems. (The placeholder article it was attached to had a date of January 9, so it's likely we'll see it 'officially' in two days.) Meanwhile, check out the hawtness early! (And shame on GI for testing stuff on a live site.) (Louis Wu 19:43:04 UTC) (permalink)

Influential Shooters
IGN UK has put together a list of the Most Influential Shooters of All Time - 7 are PC-only, 1 is multiplatform, one is for PS3 (the upcoming MAG - sort of silly to call it 'most influential of all time' before it's even released), and the final one... is Halo 3. Thanks, Gilver. (Louis Wu 19:25:05 UTC) (permalink)

MovieTacular
Four new movies today over at Bungie.net's Comm Chatter (yeah, I know, we're using the OLD 'tacular' definition, not the new one - blame urk for not posting a fifth movie, I guess):

• im so good at halo looks at two perspectives on obnoxiousness (inside and outside) - love the Canadian accent.
• The Grunts of Firefight will make you wonder how people come up with their ideas. If you can get past the disturbing aspects of this project, it's pretty funny.
• Bipolar Nick has 'Halo 3 Top 10 Guardian Kills: Episode 1' - very dark, hard to see, but what you can see is nice.
• Black Light is back with Phil Day Thirteen: Championship I - more Phil goodness.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:10:22 UTC) (permalink)

More Proof that Bungie's Gonna Take Over the World
IGN has posted an article about how the Gears of War franchise could benefit... from some of Bungie's innovations. It's a good read! Thanks, GrimBrother One. (Louis Wu 15:57:43 UTC) (permalink)

Sugar Overload
Mendicant Bias sent word of a page of game-related cupcakes - it says 'random order', but given the position of the one Bungie-related entry (#77), I'm skeptical. Mendi credits Snorkle256 from the HMB Forum for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:43:17 UTC) (permalink)

2009 APG Creative Strategy Award Followup
Back in August, we mentioned that the Halo 3: Believe ad was up for the APG 2009 Creative Strategy Award; we never followed up. Those awards were distributed in October - and McCann Erickson went home with both the Gold and Grand Prix awards for that campaign. We're late - but better than never! (Louis Wu 15:29:23 UTC) (permalink)

It's your money. He's just sayin'.
Over at Koku Gamer, the latest episode of the Angry Joe Show asks "Was Halo 3: ODST a Disappointment?" Angry Joe is angry. (Mostly, he's angry about the price.) Adam Grumbo from the 405th redeems this. (Louis Wu 15:26:54 UTC) (permalink)

Mmm... fries
Hot Blooded Gaming thinks Halo 3 was the most overhyped game of the decade - agree? Disagree? Want more 7-11 cups before you decide? (For what it's worth - Halo 3 was announced at E3 2006, not 2005.) (Louis Wu 15:25:36 UTC) (permalink)

2009 Best of Halo Awards - Voting Opens
Hawty McBloggy has posted the nominees for ten separate categories of Halo goodness, just so that you can vote for the 2009 Best of Halo Awards. Swing by, read the details, and then get to picking your favorites! You've got a week. (Louis Wu 14:01:32 UTC) (permalink)

PWN'D Support Group
Brandon noticed a new College Humor video (he found it at Geekologie) - funny for gamers in general, with direct Halo references. Definitely worth a watch! (Louis Wu 14:01:09 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie at the GDC
If you're going to be in San Francisco in mid-March, you might want to check out the Game Developers Conference - no fewer than six Bungie employees will be speaking.

• Jaime Griesemer, Gameplay Designer, has a talk called "Design in Detail: Changing the Time Between Shots for the Sniper Rifle from 0.5 to 0.7 Seconds for Halo 3" (did you even know?).
• Brian Jarrard, Community/PR Director, is participating in a session (along with a number of other developers from other companies) entitled "Community 2.0: Integrating Social Design into the Production Pipeline". How important are you? Brian's gonna let you know!
• Marty O'Donnell is on a panel called "The Musical Recipe of Emotion" - it'll make you cry.
• Harold Ryan, Bungie's President and Studio Manager, is part of a group offering a full-day tutorial entitled "The Best of Times The Worst of Times: Building an Independent Dev Studio in 2010". (Heh.)
• Brian Sharp, Lead Engineer, will be speaking on "Concrete Practices to be a Better Leader" - he currently leads 3 teams that develop all of Bungie's tools, so he probably knows what he's talking about.
• Jay Weinland, Audio Lead, will be giving a short lecture entitled "Materials vs. Audio: Object Interaction Sound Design in Halo" - maybe he'll bring pumpkins to smash!

If we learn of any other talks, we'll point 'em out! (Louis Wu 13:59:17 UTC) (permalink)

Indestructible
AssaultGodzilla is back with another Halo music video - once again, he manages to keep my attention with a cool video, even though the musical style is one I don't listen to often! Go check out 'Indestructible'. (Louis Wu 13:58:57 UTC) (permalink)

2010 Winter Pentathlon Preview
It's time, once again, for the Bungie Pentathlon, that orgy of bacchanalia that happens every January - swing by Bungie.net for a description of the festivities, and some pictures that might scare or excite you, depending on your level of depravity. (Louis Wu 13:58:29 UTC) (permalink)

Community Spotlight: Death by Mongoose
There's a new Community Spotlight up at Bungie.net - go read about a group that believes that 'goose splatters are awesome. Go read about 'em! (Louis Wu 13:58:08 UTC) (permalink)

The Forgotten Spartans, Part 8
Late yesterday, urk mentioned 'The Forgotten Spartans, Part 8', a nearly 22 minute film from Darknal (Part 7 was 15 minutes long, and came out last April, and earlier episodes were mentioned a year ago). Lots of work here! (Louis Wu 13:57:20 UTC) (permalink)

News January 6 2010

Wednesday Watching Wishes
A couple of new videos from your friends at Halo3.org - erm, I mean Bungie.net.

• The first Halo 3 Mythbusters vid has been re-released in HD. Still great stuff!
• Halo 3 In The Workplace is back with another montage - fun kills.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:10:13 UTC) (permalink)

Best Music of the Year
Greg O'Connor-Read let us know about an article on 1UP that has some very nice things to say about the Halo 3: ODST Official Soundtrack. Worth a read! (Louis Wu 16:33:02 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Comic Roundup
A few new comics for you this fine Wednesday - looks like the regulars are back to work!

• Elnea posted Halo Action Figure Theater #193 ("Hard Day's Night") - Chuck Norris is getting tired? WHAT?
• Hawty McBloggy informed us of Chronicles of ODS Steve #55 ("The Oracle") - and you get an insight as to why Grunts are considered cannon fodder in the Covenant.
• TTL Demag0gue stopped in to announce Reclaimer 232 ("Gambit: Failed") - we meet an old friend... who might not have good news.

Go read! Update: Adam Susskind told Bungie.net that he had started a webcomic he won't be finishing. (You might remember a machinima version of it, from a couple of months ago...) (Louis Wu 14:14:30 UTC) (permalink)

Mining DeviantART for Halo Gold
Hedgemony went digging through DeviantART for cool new Halo pics - he found a couple. Rosco-128 added one, too. (Louis Wu 14:14:03 UTC) (permalink)

News January 5 2010

Selecting the Best
A+E Interactive has posted an article looking at past winners of the Game of the Year title, and how it breaks down across gametype and geographical boundaries. Interesting stuff! (Louis Wu 22:02:43 UTC) (permalink)

Haters Be Hatin'...
WikiCheats (part of GameTrailers) has posted their SUPER MEGA GAME AWARDS 2009... and ODST went home with 'Most Generic Game of the Year'. Sadface... (Thanks, Gtag=Reluctant Chaos) (Louis Wu 21:54:34 UTC) (permalink)

Untz untz untz
Remember those freaky Spartans from yesterday, who participated in the Mummers Parade in Philly a few days ago? Well, it turns out they participated in the Mummers show that night - and won. I missed the transforming motorcycles the first time through... Thanks, PhillySpartan. (Louis Wu 21:39:28 UTC) (permalink)

Moviemania at Bungie.net
urk's filling the airwaves with Halo-related videos:

Blasting Off for Christmas is a 7-minute Rocket Race Double EXP Weekend Montage - kaboom.
• 360Cinema's Top 10 Halo 3 Kills shows off... well, the top 10 kills as picked by the crew of 360Cinema. Duh. (Quality could use work, but the kills are fun.)
• What's Going On? is a 30 second machinima with a surprise ending.
• WatchThis!Gaming has a 'Top 5 Halo 3 Plays, Episode 4' vid - some great clips.
• KillPie is back with Ice Cream Man, a two-minute Halo music video telling a funny story.

While you're over there, check out the latest Average Joe writeup - Gnome13 talks about his life and loves. (Louis Wu 21:34:43 UTC) (permalink)

Imagine Cup 2010 - do good, win stuff
Microsoft is hosting the Imagine Cup 2010 student competition - win and you're $25,000 richer. Registering can win you $10,000 instantly, which is cool... or you could be one of 100 winners of a copy of Halo 3: ODST just for entering! What are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 13:42:56 UTC) (permalink)

It's like BioShock, except it's Halo
Hawty McBloggy found a fan who built an entire Halo environment... for his fish. Lucky Fish! Update: DOH! Chris101b reminded us that we posted pictures of this aquarium five months ago. WHERE'S MY STEEL TRAP? (Louis Wu 13:38:47 UTC) (permalink)

Fighting Fire
Narcogen has had a chance to take Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode for a spin - and he has some bones to pick. Go read his critique, and see how much of it you agree with! (Louis Wu 13:38:24 UTC) (permalink)

Division Zero - First Trailer
Zee-V70 stopped in to announce a trailer for 'Division Zero', a machinima he's building with tie-ins to the Reclaimerverse (that's the universe created by TTL Demag0gue and his "Reclaimer" comic). Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:37:37 UTC) (permalink)

When Good Isn't Good Enough
Minime637 pointed out an article over at IGN - a hardcore Halo fan discusses why, in his opinion, Halo 3: ODST doesn't deserve the 'Game of the Year' title. Agree or not, the article is well-written; give it a look! (There's a pretty lively discussion going on in our forum, as well.) (Louis Wu 13:36:56 UTC) (permalink)

Vidmaster Co-Op Night at Co-Optimus
Co-Optimus wants to help you get through the Vidmaster Challenges in Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST - this Friday is a 'Halo Waypoint Co-Op Night', focusing on the Vidmaster Annual, Vidmaster Endure, and Vidmaster Déjà Vu Achievements. Swing by to see how you can play! (Louis Wu 13:36:25 UTC) (permalink)

Games make you more powerful
hnc pointed out an academic article that looks at how our processing speed increases as we play video games (Halo gets a direct mention). It was published in Current Directions in Psychological Science (if you have a subscription, the article can be downloaded here), but it's also available on the author's website. Give it a read, and see how you get better with each overkill! (Louis Wu 13:36:02 UTC) (permalink)

News January 4 2010

TGG's Top Ten Games of 2009
The Girl Gamer posted their Top Ten Games of 2009 - Halo 3: ODST came in at #5. Who says girls don't play first-person shooters? (Louis Wu 22:13:24 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Chasm Ten
Bungie's also back with a new 'Tag and Release' - this one highlights screenshots grabbed on Chasm Ten. Great stuff! (Louis Wu 22:12:49 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie's Back on the Job
Bungie.net has a couple of vids for you in the queue that built up while they were on break - Christmastage 2009 is a four-player montage with a yuletide flavor, and Firefight: One More Night is sort of a stylized ODST Firefight montage. Go watch! (Louis Wu 22:09:52 UTC) (permalink)

Mummers?
What is this I don't even
(thanks, I guess, to gunluva) (Louis Wu 14:50:02 UTC) (permalink)

Were It So Easy
Hawty McBloggy also has news of a new Arbiter tattoo - it's the start of what will eventually be a full Halo sleeve. Pretty nice work! (Louis Wu 14:49:09 UTC) (permalink)

The 10th Dancetage
Check out The 10th Dancetage - there's a lot in there to shake your head at, but there's also a ton of funny stuff (and a very clever use of Puckett pro commentary). Don't take it too seriously (and turn the volume down if you're at work). (Louis Wu 14:47:33 UTC) (permalink)

Monday Comic Roundup
Been a while since we had an actual roundup...

• TTL Demag0gue let us know about Reclaimer 231 (Best of Intentions) - someone new is on the scene.
• Elnea's posted another episode of Halo Action Figure Theater - Episode 192 ('Tell Me Why') gives Jason some pretty unfriendly options.
• Hawty McBloggy made sure we knew about the latest Grin + Bear It, which takes a pretty deserved shot at Halo 3: ODST.

Go read 'em! (Louis Wu 14:46:59 UTC) (permalink)

Out With a Whimper: Progress Update
Mr. Ri sent word that progress continues apace on Halo: Out With a Whimper - you can find a report on where things stand on the TriBlox forum. We haven't heard from them since July, but from the looks of the screens in the latest update, they've been pretty busy! (Louis Wu 14:46:21 UTC) (permalink)

MJOLNIR Armor Test
The PsH Team has been working on Spartan armor - a test shot is up in the DeviantART space of PsH Bling. Interesting poses! (Louis Wu 14:45:37 UTC) (permalink)

The Candy Coated Wonder Road - Neighborly Love
We didn't notice right away, but a new episode of Darkspire's 'The Candy Coated Wonder Road' - 'Neighborly Love' - went live a couple of weeks ago. A life lesson about neighbors is included... (Louis Wu 14:45:17 UTC) (permalink)

News January 3 2010

Spoilers Say Goodnight
FyreWulff noticed that the spoiler cookie we had had expired - so no newsposts marked with a 'spoiler' tag could be seen. Since there haven't BEEN any newsposts marked with a spoiler tag in a year and a half (and only a handful in the year or two before that), I decided it's time to retire the cookie system. At some point, all code that reads cookies will be removed - but for now, the system is hardcoded to give everyone a 'read all' setting. (This isn't currently true with the RSS feed - but since there's no way to see 18-month-old newsposts in the RSS feed, this should be irrelevant.) We'll continue the current policy of not posting news with spoilers without warning - but at the moment, there's not a problem with that, either. (Louis Wu 20:18:26 UTC) (permalink)

Dance Little Liar
Pierre Tartaix told us about a new machinima from TGO GMBH - Dance Little Liar tells a sad tale of cowardice and betrayal, but does so without any spoken dialogue. (As with their last vid, all text is in comic balloons.) This video is available on YouTube and Vimeo, as well as their own site. (Louis Wu 15:06:11 UTC) (permalink)

1UP's 2010 Picks
1UP.com is looking at the Top 10 Xbox 360 Games of 2010 (maybe a little early) - Halo: Reach makes the list. Definitely in good company there. (Louis Wu 15:05:51 UTC) (permalink)

Best of the Rest, Continued
Two more Joystiq editors weighed in on their 'Best of the Rest' feature (we mentioned it yesterday) - and both Kevin and Richard put Halo Wars on their lists. Nice! (Louis Wu 15:05:18 UTC) (permalink)

The Province's Top Games of the Decade
Halo 2 made The Province's (part of Canada.com) Top games of the decade article. It "changed the way people played games." (No argument here...) (Louis Wu 15:04:42 UTC) (permalink)

News January 2 2010

MiniDrop
Unique Name stopped by with news of a pretty cool ODST Drop Pod made of LEGOs - and it fits a little trooper. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:18:44 UTC) (permalink)

Origins, Part 1
Just a reminder (too late, if you're in Australia - sorry): Origins, Part 1 (nearly 11 minutes long) is available for today only on Halo Waypoint, on Xbox LIVE. If you have a Gold account, go watch it! (If you don't, it'll be available for purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD in February.) It tells the story of the Forerunners, and the sacrifice they felt they had to make. (This story is told - albeit more obliquely - in the Halo 3 terminals, as well.) (Louis Wu 15:25:12 UTC) (permalink)

Getting inside a Halo story
If you're a writer, or want to be a writer, or maybe just someone interested in the process of writing, the two authors of one of the more powerful stories in the Halo: Evolutions collection ('The Mona Lisa') wrote up their accounts of how the whole thing went down. Jeff VanderMeer's tale (complete with great pictures) is here, and Tessa Kum's breathless account is here. Both are fascinating. Both have been up for a few months - thanks to Popeck, over at NeoGAF, for pointing them out last night. (Louis Wu 14:56:36 UTC) (permalink)

Greatest Halo 3 Screenshots of 2009
bs angel highlighted a montage purporting to show off the Greatest Halo 3 Screenshots of 2009. There are definitely some great ones in there! (Louis Wu 14:56:12 UTC) (permalink)

Joystiq's Best of the Rest
Joystiq's editors put up their picks for the best offerings of 2009 - only one mentioned Halo 3: ODST, but hey, that's more than 0! (Louis Wu 14:55:41 UTC) (permalink)

Easy Does It
Morpheus kicked off a new contest yesterday - swing by his forum post for full details. You're playing Halo 3 (and/or Halo 3: ODST) on Easy - and looking to score as many points as you can. You can win ODST or Reach. Good luck! (Louis Wu 14:55:19 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction - on Saturday
Once again, I forgot to update the Fan Fiction section yesterday with the week's offerings. (I blame the whole holiday thing.) Mistake is rectified now - go read the new pieces! (Louis Wu 14:54:53 UTC) (permalink)

News January 1 2010

Reclaimer 2010
TTL Demag0gue dropped by to announce that Reclaimer isn't dead, just sleeping - and in fact, not even sleeping! Episode 230 ("Reclaimer") is now live. This was, apparently, a response to a to a fan plea. (Louis Wu 17:21:43 UTC) (permalink)

Tricking, Halo 1 style
eckosama stopped in with two old-school vids - a montage of Halo campaign tricks (with a seriously bizarre aspect ratio) and a vid his friend made, showing 8 hunters in the final AotCR cutscene. (This is pretty amazing.) Go watch for some really fun reminiscence! (Louis Wu 17:20:12 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: ODST in Kotaku AU's Top 10 for 2009
Kotaku AU is counting down their favorite games from 2009 - and Halo 3: ODST came in at #6. Thanks, mattroe. (Louis Wu 17:19:45 UTC) (permalink)

Wow, you guys are too serious.
So last week, kilaM0Mjaro asked us to announce the Halo Nation News Network - ostensibly a new program devoted to Halo news. It was really PG LIVE Episode 7 (a collection of funny skits and tidbits), a long-delayed continuation of a series that PraetoriaGuard has been releasing for some time. The HNNN announcement was supposed to be a joke - but apparently, it backfired... and nobody watched. So M0M wrote back and asked if we'd tell you the truth - it really ISN'T an episode of HNNN, it's PG LIVE Episode 7, and it's funny, goshdarnit. So go watch it. And make M0M happy. (Louis Wu 17:17:40 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 75
It's a new year - but Hawty McBloggy isn't throwing out the fun community interactions with the bathwater. Friday Caption Fun, Round 75 is online, just as though this were a normal Friday. There are, of course, some funny offerings for last round's picture, as well as a new shot, aimed to start the new year off with a bang. (Yes, I stole her line. I'm starting the new year off with a theft.) Go check it out! (Louis Wu 17:17:23 UTC) (permalink)

The Decade We Found Halo
Hidesquadron1 looks back on how Halo has impacted his life in a blog entry at Channel Hide - give it a read, and see how close it matches your own experience with the games! (Louis Wu 17:17:02 UTC) (permalink)

We're All to Blame
AssaultGodzilla stopped by yesterday with a new video to celebrate the new year - it's called 'We're All to Blame', and it's an update on last year's entry. Check his post for links to the old and the new. (Louis Wu 17:16:38 UTC) (permalink)

Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2010 - the year of Reach! News might be a bit light today (well, this entire weekend), but don't worry - we'll catch up! (And don't forget - the Hide, Seek, Snap contest is still going on; reproduce our latest pic, and be the first to do it, and you'll win yourself a Sgt. Johnson code!) Okay, on to what's currently in the queue... (A fun sidenote: this is our 3818th day of operation, and newspost #28,500 - we've averaged more than 7 newsposts a day, every day, for the past 10.5 years. Wow.) (Louis Wu 17:13:18 UTC) (permalink)

January 2010

We are NOT Bungie, Inc.! Bungie Inc. are bungie.net!
Halo © Bungie Inc., 1999-2012, Microsoft 2012-2024
Intellectual © halo.bungie.org, 1999-2024