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 | July 2006 |  |
July 2006 Archived News
News July 31 2006
Don Miguel and Talent at H3F
Couple of nice montages over at halo3forum.com - Don Miguel's The Real has some great multikills (though I could have done without the acid-trip effects in the middle), and Halzred's editing a new trailer for Talent (apparently his last) - full montage is due out in the fall. Go watch! Thanks, Z. (Louis Wu 22:48:31 UTC) (permalink)
Disaster!
If you uploaded an entry to our Faceplates contest in the last 3 days... we need to ask you to upload it again. AAAAAAUUUGGHH! We had a disk meltdown, coupled with a backup failure; the last (good) backup is from a ways back. I have SOME of the entries - but the vast majority didn't make it through. To be safe, PLEASE upload your entry (or entries) again; I'd rather sort through duplicates than miss some. I'm really sorry about this. Unfortunately, that means that standard artwork uploads in the last week or two are ALSO hosed - so if you submitted any of THAT, to our Uploads directory - please re-upload THAT, as well. I hate Mondays. (Louis Wu 22:04:43 UTC) (permalink)
Frankie Follows the Fans
Interesting - one of the panels at this year's Penny Arcade Expo, coming up in about a month, looks at videogame fans, and how they influence PR budgets:
Forums, Blogs and Fanbois: The Role of Community and PR in the Game Industry
The hardcore community (yes, our community) is cranky and unpredictable yet is still the most sought after audience by publishers. We're early adopters, market influencers and in many ways determine the success of most titles out there. Listen how PR and industry insiders view the community and how they work with it on a day to day basis.
Who did they find to discuss this? Well... Frank O'Connor, among others... should be a fun talk! Thanks, mnemesis. (Louis Wu 20:29:27 UTC) (permalink)
Epidemic
Defy Logic has just released an old-school-style variety tricking vid called 'Epidemic'. Lots of tricks - not too many explained, so you might have trouble figuring out what's 'tricky' about certain segments, but there should be interesting stuff nonetheless. I held off posting this last night, because the High Impact Halo thread referenced by FooFoo showed very few working mirrors at that point - but it's on HIH's front page now, so what the heck. (Louis Wu 19:20:03 UTC) (permalink)
Stark Contrast.
Stuntmutt takes a look at the serial Halo comic (announced for next year) in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:38:55 UTC) (permalink)
New art from Luke McKay
Luke McKay whipped up a really nice little sketch of an ODST - we've added it to his gallery page here. Thanks, Laird. (Louis Wu 12:41:12 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2: Code Name X
Scaraby posted a note about an upcoming Halo-themed paintball game in Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Be ready - event takes place on August 19! (Louis Wu 12:26:33 UTC) (permalink)
Slow News Day
How did this make it onto Kotaku? (Louis Wu 12:24:27 UTC) (permalink)
News July 30 2006
Finding modded Halo 2 games quickly
The admins of XBConnect and HaloMods have gotten together to put together a list of all active servers playing modded Halo 2 games; you can check this list out if you're interested in playing one of these. You don't need to be registered at HaloMods to see the list. Thanks, Excal. (Louis Wu 18:22:26 UTC) (permalink)
MPs Ep 3: The Cure for Invincibility
Chairleg Productions has released Episode 3 of their MPs series - you can grab it at their site in WMP9 format (38.3 mb), or, since it passed the MPRRS, you can use our mirrors (WMP9 version | QuickTime version). Humor remains dry, storyline remains snappy, effects remain polished and slick. Benedict is certainly the CO you can love to hate! (Louis Wu 15:57:28 UTC) (permalink)
Gotta love the hats.
Veegie's raving. (Louis Wu 14:38:02 UTC) (permalink)
Open audition for Halo: Unyielding
Laird posted a plea for voice talent on our forum, for an upcoming machinima project; give his post a look if you've got an authoritative voice! (Louis Wu 14:35:22 UTC) (permalink)
Buttonbasher interviews Eric Nylund
Yesterday was spent in the pursuit of the perfect Halo kill; a really fun lanfest hosted by a (relatively) local RvB fan. As such, news was... on hold around here. Time to clean out the queue. First up: Klind posted his interview with Eric Nylund - Eric talked a little bit about the different vehicles Bungie uses to tell the Halo story (books, the game, the HGN, the upcoming movie), and how they might tie in to each other. He was asked a number of good questions by fans, and his answers bear reading! Check it out. (Louis Wu 14:33:42 UTC) (permalink)
News July 29 2006
A Clan Leader - In Armor
Pinkuh continues to turn out beautiful pieces of Halo-related art - today she posted a rendition of PMS PsychoSKitty, a member of her online clan. Gorgeous work! (We've added it to her gallery page, as well.) (Louis Wu 02:21:44 UTC) (permalink)
Scarry, Scarry Night- er, Face
Another egg - marked off. Check High Impact Halo for the details about Miranda's scar! (Louis Wu 02:07:27 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Helmet for sale on eBay
It's been a while since we heard from Briar's Armor - but he's back, and he's got a Master Chief helmet (orange) for sale on eBay. Starting bid is $200, auction runs for another week - take a look! (Louis Wu 01:23:24 UTC) (permalink)
The 1UP Show - and an interview about the Haloverse
1UP's video blog, the 1UP Show, put up a new episode focusing on Comic-Con - and there's a great interview with SketchFactor and Frankie from about 23:40 through 28:20. (There's a bunch of other Halo-related content strewn throughout the vid - Luke Smith's drive to get as many Halo action figures as he can, an interview with a well-versed member of the Halo community... but the 5 minutes with Frankie and Sketch are definitely a high point. Thanks, Tempus Fugit. (Louis Wu 01:15:32 UTC) (permalink)
Happy Birthday, Podtacular!
Podtacular is celebrating its one-year anniversary - stop by and wish 'em well! (Grab their anniversary montage while you're there...) Thanks, Laird and KP. (Louis Wu 01:03:50 UTC) (permalink)
Coughing Robots and No Pants
The Bungie Weekly Update was posted a little bit ago; it's got some great coverage of Bungie's involvement with Comic-Con last week, along with some XBL playlist info (more of that coming soon), and of course a few choice whaaambulance entries. And a Zidane/Mister Chief animation that would have been even funnier if Zidane's head had been replaced with Frankie's. Oh, wait... it was! (Please don't write us telling us it wasn't. You'll ruin the bald joke.) Read it at Bungie.net - or read it in our Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 00:36:23 UTC) (permalink)
News July 28 2006
Design a Faceplate Contest
w00t! One contest ends, another begins! Before I explain, let me clear out some old business; it took a bit to secure them all, but we can now announce that the 7 winners of the last 7 on the 7th contest - Sacred Lawnmowers - will be receiving copies of the Halo Graphic Novel. (YES!) Okay - on to NEW business. A couple days ago, we mentioned that Bungie had created an official Halo faceplate for the Xbox 360; the problem is, they won't be available for purchase until October. However, they've got two prototypes that they're just itching to give away... so here's your chance! All you have to do is design your OWN cool faceplate (the template is available for download on the Contest page)... and if Bungie thinks it's the cat's pajamas, you'll have your hands on one of these babies before August is over! Go read the contest page for full details; you've got 2 weeks to get your entry in. Gogogo! (Louis Wu 22:14:59 UTC) (permalink)
WikiRiot Ep 9
Sigafoos writes to point out WikiRiot Episode 9 - 40 minutes, 16 mb. Lots of Halowiki-related info, an interview with CoB Relevance, and a call for speech submissions (they're looking to start an accent archive of Halo players). Check it out! (Louis Wu 19:29:48 UTC) (permalink)
RvB's Sarge to be interviewed at Podtacular
Matt Hollum, the voice of Sarge on Red vs Blue, will be interviewed (along with other cast members) on August 9th, over at Podtacular - and they're taking questions now. Swing by and toss yours in the hat! Thanks, Laird. (Louis Wu 19:11:02 UTC) (permalink)
MPRRS upgrade - more data for moviemakers
In response to some feedback we received from forumgoers, Cybrfrk made some changes to the information submitters get from the MPRRS; it's all an ongoing effort to improve the overall quality of Halo machinima released to the public. We hope you keep using the system! (Louis Wu 18:46:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Kitty
Michael Hogsett found this image in a Worth1000 contest - 'Video games that never got made'. (The same contest contained this image, as well... I think I like the Halo Kitty one better.) Check out the rest of the contest - there are some funny ones in there! (Louis Wu 17:06:06 UTC) (permalink)
How to be dumb (according to Joystiq)
Whee! Out with one rumor, in with the next! Joystiq is speculating that from a pure business sense, Bungie would be dumb not to make a couple more Halo games after Halo 3 is released. (In their defense, they admit they have no inside information about this, they realize that Bungie employees have already hinted that this won't happen, and they understand that Bungie is probably already working on other projects.) Thanks, mercury. (Louis Wu 15:25:08 UTC) (permalink)
Originality
QuickTactical and the rest of the Epic Films crew put together 'Originality', a vid that discusses what NOT to do with your next Halo machinima project. They submitted this to the MPRRS - but because of a reviewer who simply didn't get it (and scored it almost 50 points lower than the average), it didn't pass. Luckily, we have two separate scoring algorithms in place - one averages all scores, while the other drops high and low scores; when the outliers were dropped, the movie passed handily. It's rather long (almost 13 minutes), and so rather large - so we're hosting a 'medium quality' version (QuickTactical's terminology) - the WMP9 format is 88.5 mb, the QuickTime format is 89.9 mb. The visual glitches are not a result of the compression, however; they're due to the capture card - you can grab a high-quality version of this film at FileFront (140 mb, WMP9 format) and see for yourself. Bottom line - this film contains a bunch of machinima cliches to avoid; watch it before you make your next film! (Louis Wu 14:41:16 UTC) (permalink)
The Thief Of Bad Gags.
The title of today's One One Se7en was snagged from a Halo fan - who in turn stole it from a dead guy. Seems sort of fitting, given the content of the strip... (Louis Wu 13:58:07 UTC) (permalink)
Development Boredom
Heh - today's Press Start to Play is pretty funny - though it could legitimately be said to contain Halo 2 spoilers. Thanks, Half left. (Louis Wu 13:11:32 UTC) (permalink)
ZE's Halo
We got a note from ZE of ZION ENTITY, who wanted to point out a song he created called HALO. You can hear it on his MySpace page. (Louis Wu 12:34:33 UTC) (permalink)
New content at Dead Man's Hand
Dweezle wrote to let us know about new content at Dead Man's Hand; there's a discussion about glitches, and whether they should be exploited or not, there's an interview with Xbox.com's TriXie (no Halo content, but it's a fun read), and there's a rant about cheating. Give it a look! (And if you're a writer, with an interest in games... drop Dweezle a line (contact info is in the right column of the blog), he's looking for you!) (Louis Wu 12:21:11 UTC) (permalink)
Talkin' to the Chief
KLind stopped by to point out a short interview with Steve Downs he's posted on his blog; a nice look at the actor's side of the game! (Louis Wu 12:08:58 UTC) (permalink)
Watch those Rockets.
This week's Halo Humpday Challenge was played against the Blood Gulch Regulars - a last-minute matchup that ended in Bungie's favor. (Maybe they should schedule ALL their matches at the last minute!) The one thing I learned from the writeup is not to talk smack about KP's mom. Overall, though, it sounded like a lot of fun, on both sides - go read about it! Father Hartley was first on our forum with the news. Update: Big Goalie Dan posted his own side of the story - sounds like they had a blast! (Louis Wu 12:05:43 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Small Fan Fiction update this week - just 10 stories. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 11:58:09 UTC) (permalink)
Wisconsin Tourney, September 2
Video Game Control is running a tournament in Milwaukee, WI in early September; $40pp to register, $2000 prize. More info in this forum post. (Louis Wu 11:52:27 UTC) (permalink)
Eric Nylund is NOT working on Bungie's next title.
Eric Nylund wrote to squash some rumors that have been floating around; You might have seen the note at SPOnG today that speculated that a new, non-Halo Bungie title would be announced at X06 in Barcelona in September. This came hot on the heels of the pickup of a small tidbit from a Nylund blog post a couple of weeks ago (CVG wrote it up here, SPOnG discussed it here - I can't explain why these sites are two weeks behind on this one)... and lots of forums began putting these bits together. Bungie's announcing a new non-Halo title... Nylund, who has a history with Bungie, is working on a new Microsoft title; you can see where the gears started spinning. Stop 'em now; Nylund's newest project has nothing whatsoever to do with Bungie. That's straight from the horse's mouth (well, Nylund's, anyway - not really nice to call him a horse). Now we just gotta figure out if the SPOnG rumors about X06 are true! (Louis Wu 03:04:42 UTC) (permalink)
News July 27 2006
DropShock Ep 20
Bah... missed this last night. DropShock Episode 20 was posted yesterday; just over an hour, 31 mb. Give it a listen. (Louis Wu 18:27:55 UTC) (permalink)
Lost: Halostyle E 6 - The Average Journey Part 1
The MPRRS reviewers have definitely turned up the heat on review times; in short order, the queue has dropped from almost 20 to nearly empty. (There are 5 videos in the queue that are about to be finished, which will drop the queue size to a single movie.) Another passing vid - Episode 6 of 'Lost: Halo Style', from Injured Knee Productions. Cinematography, overall production values, and story polish all continue to improve as new episodes are made; this one's quite good. (If you haven't seen older ones, we're hosting episodes 4 and 5, and episodes 1-3 are available at ikproductions.net.) Grab this latest episode, weighing in at just under 48 mb, in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 15:40:46 UTC) (permalink)
SvF Ep 10 - Flame War: Doppelganger
At long last, Sponsors vs Freeloaders has been continued; Episode 10 was released last night. It's 11 minutes long, and answers a bunch of questions left open in Episode 9 (though it asks a bunch more) - you can grab high and low res WMP9 versions, and a low-res QuickTime version, from the SvF downloads page - and we're making a high-res QuickTime version available here, as well. Thanks to Yaksha, for posting a heads-up on our forum. (Louis Wu 12:15:09 UTC) (permalink)
Jaheijagaj - Realized
Wow - so I'm not even sure what category to put this in. Some time ago, Jillybean described a fictitious board game in a fan fiction she wrote, called The Priestess and the Warrior. It was a regular fixture in the story, as time went on - but it was never described in very much detail. Last night, Dav Flamerock dropped by our forum to announce that not only had he fleshed out the full ruleset... but he'd put together a board and pieces for it, as well. The Microsoft Word document he posted is downloadable from a filesharing site, linked in his forum post - but I've also put together a web version that might be easier to read (and is certainly smaller). A fan creation, based on a fan creation, based on a game... there are definitely a lot of layers here. Check it out! (Louis Wu 11:47:32 UTC) (permalink)
I bet you could pull a chapter with that thing.
Wonga - very cool tow hitch from Mrs. Doublefire... check it out! (Louis Wu 00:47:15 UTC) (permalink)
It's M4GIC!
In a quick 1-2 approval, the MPRRS shot through the second montage from G2 tah Oochie (aka TnA Gooch). More emphasis on gameplay, less on editing effects - I like 'em better that way. WMP9 version is 45.7 mb, QuickTime version is 46.1 mb. (Louis Wu 00:29:40 UTC) (permalink)
Scotty Doesn't Know
Turtle Mann sent along 'Scotty Doesn't Know', a vid set to the song from 'Euro Trip'. The MPRRS reviewers gave it the nod, so grab it in WMP9 format (30 mb) or QuickTime format (29.6 mb). Minor PG-13 lyrics warning... (Louis Wu 00:27:02 UTC) (permalink)
News July 26 2006
Halo Faceplate - A good look
So the first (official) Halo faceplate will be available in stores (for example, links at Gamestop | EB Games) in October; Emerl was the first on our forum to notice this (about a week ago). Overall reaction wasn't REALLY positive... but maybe that's because you couldn't really see the detail in those tiny thumbnail previews? How about a full-sized version? Me... I think it's pretty snazzy. (Louis Wu 20:08:58 UTC) (permalink)
WSJ looks at Halo 2 Entrepeneur
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article about Tom "Tsquared" Taylor, a Halo pro gamer who set up a business to teach people to play videogames better. I was going to pass on mentioning this, because the online version of this story is unreadable unless you have a paid subscription... but HelixBlue reminded me that the dead tree version is out there as well. Nice to see Halo on the front page of the WSJ! Update: w00t - Usul found the article at AOL.com - for free! Go read. (Louis Wu 16:29:05 UTC) (permalink)
Busting Out.
Not only does today's One One Se7en have a corny joke, it has spoilers for Halo, as well. All we need is a rocket teamkill, and we've got the perfect strip. (Louis Wu 12:31:37 UTC) (permalink)
Remember this for the next Con
Heh - Samusaaron3 brought his Xbox 360 faceplate to Comic-Con last week, and got a bunch of signatures... including a mini Mister Chief from Frankie. Nice! (Louis Wu 12:01:58 UTC) (permalink)
Look at me when I talk to you!
Clubinator turned in a pair of Master Gunns quotes from the first 'level' of Halo 2 (the training exercise); we've added them to our Dialogue Databank. Don't mess with the gunnery sergeant! (Louis Wu 11:59:01 UTC) (permalink)
GTR nominated for Podcast Awards
Yesterday we mentioned that Podtacular was up for some Podcast Awards - I neglected to point out that Gamertag Radio, as well, has been nominated in the Gaming category! Make your decision wisely. (Louis Wu 11:27:02 UTC) (permalink)
Joyride missed out.
Wow, very cool. Laird stumbled across some pics of a fan-created Snow Hog, modified from a Battle-Damaged Warthog. I want one! (The guy's .sig rocks, too.) (Louis Wu 11:22:36 UTC) (permalink)
Stood up.
Interested in a no-lead-time Humpday Challenge? Respond to Frankie here - but do it quick! Update: okay, you guys can stop posting in that monster thread - looks like Frankie picked a team about 6 hours ago. (Louis Wu 01:57:49 UTC) (permalink)
News July 25 2006
Care to defend the HGN?
Mike Antonucci, a writer for the Mercury News, blogged a short piece about the Halo Graphic Novel; basically, he hated it, but is hoping someone can rebut his opinion in the comments section. (He's not looking for profanity-laced invective, or l33t-speak; don't bother posting unless you've got something to say. You do no service to the gaming community as a whole if you represent us with drivel.) Thanks to mercury for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 22:21:25 UTC) (permalink)
imSuckerView
imSuck is a Halo machinima artist. He's also the latest subject of Bungie's Community Spotlight series - go read about what's made an impression on him (with respect to the Halo universe) so far! (Louis Wu 20:22:39 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Schwag
Down at Comic-Con last week, SvF's Laird snagged a poster that represents the monthly Halo comic coming out next year - along with some signatures (front | back). Nice! Update: gah, total misunderstanding. That is a charcoal drawing done for Laird by a friend, and signed by the Bungie crew. THIS is the poster created to promote the monthly comic. Must be Monday... (Louis Wu 19:48:52 UTC) (permalink)
Cake Island
Whoa - WOLFBANE 101's 3-year-old son ended up with a pretty cool birthday cake this year! (Louis Wu 19:14:56 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular up for Podcast Awards
Wow, not too shabby! Podtacular has been nominated for two categories in the second annual Podcast Awards - Best Produced and Gaming. Go vote for 'em! (Thanks, Laird.) (Louis Wu 18:49:51 UTC) (permalink)
Project BlueStreak - a boon for modellers
Whoa. TheGhost has created a new tool to 'bridge the gap between 3ds max and Halo' - basically, it's a series of scripts that allows for easy (REALLY easy) imports and exports of Halo models and animations. Project BlueStreak has a site page up - the first released script is the GBXModel Importer. In TheGhost's words: "Basically what it does is reads any exported model tag from HaloCE (which can be accessed with the HEK or some sort of tag extractor) and re-creates the tag in 3ds max." Wonga. A thread's been started on the Gearbox forums for feedback and bug reports - check this out! Update: TheGhost has put together a quick 5-minute tutorial (9 MB, 800x600 .wmv) on how to use the script to import a rigged and textured Ghost model into 3ds max - if you'reunfamiliar with 3ds max and maxscripts, this can show you what the script does. Check it out! (You must watch this on a PC; the encoding is not Mac-friendly.) Update 2: for anyone (like me) who was having trouble viewing the tutorial in
WMV format, TheGhost went to the trouble of creating a Flash version. Beautiful! (Louis Wu 11:16:19 UTC) (permalink)
2 is Better than 1 - Duo Montage
QsK King submitted a duo montage - footage of himself and QsK Icy, edited to within an inch of its life. The MPRRS reviewers liked it - so we're hosting copies for you. It's long - more than 8 minutes - so it weighs in at 111 mb (WMP9 or QuickTime). There's a pretty cool 'sticky-cam' effect at a bit before 6 minutes... (Louis Wu 11:04:26 UTC) (permalink)
News July 24 2006
Horror Scope.
Stuntmutt takes a look at a common XBL-related phobia in today's One One Se7en. If you were scared you were going to go a whole Monday without your corn fix, thank Coolpengwn. (If you're saddened that you ALMOST made it to Tuesday without this, blame Coolpengwn.) (Louis Wu 21:56:59 UTC) (permalink)
The Red Courtesy Phone
And another Halo 2 egg bites the dust. There's been a pretty wild hunt for the last few days over at High Impact Halo; Ducain has summarized the process, and the findings, in this forum thread. it's pretty obvious that this is a real easter egg - but it's always good to confirm these things with Bungie. Jaime Griesemer, Halo 2's Campaign Design Lead, had this to say:
I wondered when someone was going to find this one. Technically, the skull isn't necessary, it just makes it easier. Otherwise you have to play the entire mission without getting shot a single time. I should probably thank Joe [Staten] for getting Ron Perlman to record such a goofy line.
Unfortunately, I don't get the prize for the 'Best Hidden Egg' this time...
Playing through Cairo Station without getting shot seems... impossible, actually, so it's pretty nice that getting the Thunderstorm skull confuses the script, otherwise this would never have been triggered. More intriguing, though, is that last line... it means you guys have missed at least one egg! The referenced HIH thread contains links to HIH-hosted copies of the relevant media, but in the interest of global access, we're putting up more flavors; Original WMP9 vid (7.1 mb) | QuickTime vid (6.9 mb) | mp3 of audio egg (95 kb). Thanks once again to the HIH community; you guys rock! (Louis Wu 19:26:46 UTC) (permalink)
Mastering the Art of the Tease
MTV has an article today about how secrecy is both a necessity and a publicity tool for video game manufacturers - and Frank O'Connor, of Bungie Studios, is their prime evidence. Great read. Frankie, of course, broke the story. (Louis Wu 17:20:42 UTC) (permalink)
Nylund on Inspiration
Interesting - Dry Ice posted a note on our forum with a subject line guaranteed to rile the masses (I almost got annoyed when I saw it) - but the content is pretty solid stuff! Eric Nylund's latest blog post talks about ways to get yourself writing again - and one of the anecdotes he shares discusses a heavy influence on the first Halo novel. I have to admit, it's been a long time since I saw that movie... time for a Blockbuster run? (While you're there, read Eric's reasoning on why he won't answer Halo universe questions. He's not kidding about the monkeys.) (Louis Wu 13:03:55 UTC) (permalink)
Monday Morning Art Flood
I didn't clear out the queue, but there are 20 new desktop images in the Wallpaper section (27, if you count variants) - we'll get there! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 12:52:19 UTC) (permalink)
MediaGamers 2v2 Tourney
Nexus Beat sent us word of a 2v2 tourney being run by a forum member of MediaGamers.com - swing by this thread to read the rules. No prize yet - but they're working on it. (Louis Wu 11:54:47 UTC) (permalink)
ClanSpeak
XerxdeeJ takes a hard look at clans, and what they mean for online play, in the lastest Tied the Leader discussion. Always nice when we get a heads-up in our forum! (Louis Wu 11:33:29 UTC) (permalink)
Blind Men and Elephants
Narcogen has taken the latest Halo Story Page update as a jumping-off place for speculation - some good thoughts about the Halo 3 trailer in there! Give it a read. (Louis Wu 11:18:23 UTC) (permalink)
Final Boss, Karma on top at MLG Chicago
It's all over but the writeups - MLG Chicago finished up yesterday, with Final Boss beating out Storm Ventures (twice) for the 4v4 win, and Karma holding on to his 1v1 winning streak. Full brackets are here. The full writeup of the 4v4 finals should be interesting - we'll let you know when it's up! Thanks to 3Suns for the multiple notices. Update: full 4v4 writeup is now here. Great read! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:03:36 UTC) (permalink)
News July 23 2006
Comedy Skit Series Ep 2
MaritalBlaze54 submitted another comedy vid to the MPRRS; shorts from Mitch Hedburg and Dane Cook, set to Halo action. The reviewers gave it a thumbs-up, so grab a copy in either WMP9 format (28.3 mb) or QuickTime format (30.8 mb). Don't forget your cranium accessories! (Louis Wu 18:52:40 UTC) (permalink)
The Crumpet Speaks
Jillybean, poked by our very own Stuntmutt, posted an update to the Halo Story page - she gave Stuntmutt his moment in the sun (yeah, he needs more of those), but also gathered up a few choice morsels from the banquet table that is the Halo Story mailbag (including, of course, a random shot at Cortana - what Jillybean update would be complete without a shot at Cortana?); go read. (Wow, that was all one sentence. Must be Sunday.) (Louis Wu 17:07:55 UTC) (permalink)
CGI Recap at AMN
Advanced Media Network has a recap of the Championship Gaming Invitational - pics, plus interviews with folks like PMS Clan's Mary Jane. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:40:11 UTC) (permalink)
H3DA looks at the HGN
Ivan Jiron sent us word of the Halo 3 Data Archive, a Halo blog that normally looks at the Bungie Weekly Update, but this week chose to cover the Halo Graphic Novel instead (including speculation about tie-ins to Halo 3). Give it a read! (Again - this one contains HGN spoilers.) (Louis Wu 14:34:31 UTC) (permalink)
HGN Goodies
If you've read the Halo Graphic Novel, there are a bunch of fun tidbits in this forum post, courtesy of Mr. Paul; he spent some time grilling Robt McLees. (If you haven't read it yet... wait.) (Louis Wu 14:29:37 UTC) (permalink)
QuickTactical's WMM Tutorial
QuickTactical wrote up a pretty comprehensive guide for using Windows Movie Maker - if you're just getting started in Halo machinima, and you have a PC, you DEFINITELY should read this piece. He originally posted it on the HaloGrid forums - but gave us permission to host it here, as well. Awesome stuff - a top-notch resource! (Louis Wu 01:20:40 UTC) (permalink)
The End Has No End
Heh - Mintz found a Hooked on Polygon comic that takes sharp aim at the internet rumor mill, and specifically the ridiculousness that occurs when people are dying for Halo movie info. Spot on. (Louis Wu 01:08:13 UTC) (permalink)
News July 22 2006
Monthly Halo Comic - Summer 2007
Whoa, funky. Apparently, a monthly Halo comic, a joint venture from Bungie and Marvel and debuting next summer, was announced during a panel about the Halo Graphic Novel given yesterday at Comic-Con. More info when we know it - but you can read a short article about it at IGN. Thanks, Starbuck. (Louis Wu 12:51:09 UTC) (permalink)
Tetris Forever
Chairleg Productions released Episode 2 of their new series, MPs, this week. This one is shaping up to be amazing - really high production values, including fantastic audio, beautifully-integrated effects, and really smooth cinematography. Humor continues to be high, and character development is really strong. We're helping out with a mirror of the WMP9 version (40.2 mb), and providing a QuickTime version as well (40.6 mb). Check it out! (Louis Wu 12:46:58 UTC) (permalink)
The Kings of Midship meet the Lords of Lockout
Heh - the profiling continues over at MLGPro.com - a rivalry between eX and XiT Woundz, 5th and 4th seeds respectively, is outlined in this article. Thanks again, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 12:37:20 UTC) (permalink)
Johnson Speaks.
As we mentioned a few hours ago, Rockslider uncovered a new speech by Sarge, normally not audible in-game because Johnson is (usually) encountered dead on a pelican... in that time, Captain Spark reproduced the situation and recorded the snippet. You can find it in our Dialogue Databank. (The discussion is still going on in Rockslider's thread.) (Louis Wu 02:51:32 UTC) (permalink)
Who will end up on top?
There's a nice little preview of the upcoming battles to be seen at MLG Chicago, over on MLGPro.com - thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 02:42:57 UTC) (permalink)
JENGA!
The current Bungie Weekly Update was penned by KP, nearly alone in the cavernous Bungie offices as the entire staff of 180 traveled down to San Diego to hang out with the RvB guys at Comic-Con. (Okay, there might have been a few exaggerations in that sentence.) He made the best of what he was left with, and even managed to slip a picture of his XBL avatar onto the front page... when the cat's away, and all that. Go read. Then jump on #hbo on ibo.bungie.org and poke him with a stick. (Special bonus goodness - your eyes will not be assaulted by Mister Chief this week.) Read it at Bungie.net... or read it in our Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 02:35:20 UTC) (permalink)
News July 21 2006
7 on the 7th Results
Our most recent 7 on the 7th contest had the fewest number of valid entries to of any contest to date; I blame the short timeframe and the relatively unorthodox ruleset. That said, we got some great entries! The hands-down favorite of all the judges was Omega's 'Grunt Crossing' - but this is a 7 on the 7th contest, so we don't HAVE just one winner - we have 7. You can see them all from this hastily-put-up page (winners have stars). Congrats to RAWPOWER95 (One One Se7en, painted), Doctor Zoidberg (Mister Chief), ICDedPpl (Legendary Skull, painted), Simen (Marathon logo), ManKitten (One One Se7en - nice lawn!), and przybysz86 (rocket launcher) for making the cut - and thanks to EVERYONE who contributed images to this contest! Frankie and Sketch are down in San Diego for Comic-Con, so I can't even tell you what the winners have won yet - yes, this is unusual. Sorry. Soon! In the meantime, check out the entries. Update: doh! I forgot to pull the .htaccess file - you couldn't get in without a username/pass. Sorry! Fixed now. (Louis Wu 20:33:17 UTC) (permalink)
WikiRiot Ep 8
WikiRiot Episode 8 has been posted - Challenges, Content, and Clan4Food. Check it! (Louis Wu 19:43:56 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie in San Diego
If you're in San Diego, the Comic-Con is the place to be - and SketchFactor has posted some Bungie/Halo-related info on Bungie.net. Go read! (Louis Wu 18:27:52 UTC) (permalink)
Extra Marines in AotCR - and a new speech sighting
Whoa, funky. Rockslider has written up yet another way to gather additional marines on AotCR, in the original Halo - and this way actually gets you a new 16-second speech from Sergeant Johnson. Read his post for more details (Louis Wu 15:53:21 UTC) (permalink)
Crazy
Halfofthetime submitted a music vid that sets Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy' to modded Halo action; nice work. The MPRRS gave it a green light - so grab your copy in WMP9 format (36.8 mb) or QuickTime format (39.2 mb). (Louis Wu 15:30:14 UTC) (permalink)
Xar8's MC Model
Xar8 put together a really cool little Master Chief sculpture - and sent us some pics. You'll find 'em here. I want one! (Louis Wu 14:02:27 UTC) (permalink)
Mac Haul.
Stuntmutt has been playing with new toys. As today's One One Se7en shows, though, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. (I'm going to refrain from any corn references here.) (Louis Wu 13:45:29 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fiction
Sixteen new pieces for you today in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 11:39:39 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox Gaming Radio Vol 1
TheMaker420 sent word of Xbox Gaming Radio (XGR), volume 1 - it contains discussion of many Halo 2-related websites, along with other games. Guest hosts this week are Xetzu and MaCeGac, talking about Oblivion. You can grab a copy from High Impact Noise or 360 Uploads. (Louis Wu 11:25:29 UTC) (permalink)
Zyos Interview at IGN
There's an interview with Matt 'Zyos' Leto over at IGN, as part of the ramp-up to the Championship Gaming Invitational kicking off today. I'm not sure how many top Halo players will actually be there... considering that MLG Chicago kicks off today, as well. Nevertheless, it's a fine read. (Louis Wu 11:17:31 UTC) (permalink)
New Content at Dead Man's Hand
Dead Man's Hand has been busy - lots of new Halo content over there right now. There's a discussion of story-driven games (using Halo as a positive example), a look at the franchisement of Halo (Masterchief Shampoo... hmm), an Ode to Banshee (you know you love something when you start writing poetry about it), and an interview with Athena Twin PMS, one of the leaders of the PMS gaming clan and a Halo fanatic. There's plenty of non-Halo content as well... so get to reading! (Thanks to Dweezle for stopping by and letting us know.) (Louis Wu 11:08:40 UTC) (permalink)
News July 20 2006
Dumbtarded.
KP has put up Bungie's side of the Halo Humpday Challenge story - and surprisingly enough, with the exception of a few nose-tweaks, he was pretty civil about the whole thing. No mention of the loss of their no-losing streak... but then, they really lost that last week, so I guess he's being even MORE gentlemanly about it all. Who'da thunk it? Congrats to the Halowiki guys. (Louis Wu 22:39:55 UTC) (permalink)
2old2play Over 40 Invitational Promo Vid
Interesting - there's a tournament run the 3rd Tuesday of every month (yes, that
means you missed the most recent one by two days) over at 2old2play - in order to enter, you must be at least 40 years old. jynxonline put together a really nice promo vid for it - swing by and watch it! (Man, a tourney where I'm the YOUNGEST player? I'm there.) From the date on the comments of this article, I'd guess this tourney's been going for 10 months now... thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 21:42:49 UTC) (permalink)
Making Movies
trigger119 wrote an article entitled 'Halo Machinima: Why do it?' - he looks at some of the motivations that drive filmmakers. As a jumping-off place for a discussion, this is worth a read. (Louis Wu 21:09:11 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Piano Transcription
Jayshum transcribed the piano part of the Halo 3 theme, heard in the trailer. You can find a lot of info in this forum post. (Louis Wu 21:05:10 UTC) (permalink)
Killed. To Dust.
The Halowiki.net crew played Bungie last night in this week's Halo Humpday Challenge - and no matter what you thought of last week's somewhat sleazy manner of 'not losing', there's no denying that this week the Bungie crew lost. Lost hard, even. Go read LegendaryMark's writeup at HaloWiki.net - KP's still nursing his wounds, it seems, so the Bungie writeup isn't online yet. (I've never heard of the 'cycling' respawn modifier - but it sounds nasty...) (Louis Wu 20:56:28 UTC) (permalink)
Filling in the Blanks
Finn awoke from his real-life 'slumber' to gather some gems from older Weekly Updates; they're not NEW bits, but they're bits nonetheless. You'll find this collection on the Halo Story Page. Now don't bother Finn any more - he's got work to do. (And not for us.) (Louis Wu 15:02:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: First Offensive
Farfalo stopped by to let us know about Halo: First Offensive, a mod for Star Wars: Empire at War. They've got a forum up (link is in the above post), if you want more info! (Louis Wu 13:31:51 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Bling
Yayap the Grunt let us know about a Halo 3 pendant he'd created; check out his work! (Louis Wu 13:29:17 UTC) (permalink)
nooby whacking - gg
New updates over at Tied the Leader; a piece on good sportsmanship, and a fun feel-good bit about Big Team Battle, and how nice it is to go in with a full team of 8. (If you find XerxdeeJ's stats in the included picture hard to believe... believe anyway. They're real.) Thanks to XerxdeeJ for popping into our forum for a heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:16:48 UTC) (permalink)
Triggers Down Talks Tactics
MLG continues to look at the top teams in the ramp-up to MLG Chicago; the latest interview is with Triggers Down. Fun read - thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 13:03:49 UTC) (permalink)
Gamepro's Greatest Moments in Gaming
Gamepro has written up their idea of The 55 Greatest Moments in Gaming; Halo 2 takes 36, for a Berserker in multiplayer, and Halo pulls in #2, for the Maw run. Not too shabby! Thanks, Private Idaho. (Louis Wu 12:56:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 19 2006
Detach predicts Top 8 in Chicago
MLG has posted a summary of the predictions of one of the pros for the upcoming MLG Chicago tourney - interesting to see how well he does. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 17:42:26 UTC) (permalink)
A Fine Use of a Fun Product
Heh - spartanerik noticed a Halo-related construction over at HowStuffWorks, in an article entitled 'How Play-Doh® Modeling Compound Works'; on the off chance that the pic disappears, we've archived it here. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 15:32:44 UTC) (permalink)
HMV Hell
For the most part, movies we host run through the Movie Peer Review Rating System; it gives useful feedback to the movie maker, and it cuts down on the films the staff actually needs to weed through to find the gems. It works really well - though since it's totally volunteer-run, occasionally, movies are in the queue for longer than we'd like. Now is one of those times - my guess is a lot of it is that it's summer, and folks are less inclined to 'work' during their free time. Whatever the reason, occasionally a movie will come along that is good enough that I'd rather it didn't wait through the queue. One of those came in yesterday; imSuck, a moviemaker with a LOT of great movies under his belt, sent along 'HMV Hell', a Halo vid based on the concept of AMV Hell - it's a mashup of a lot of different songs, in different styles, all illustrated nicely in Halo, and wonderfully interspersed with humor. Film quality, as usual with imSuck's work, is top-notch; great visuals, great cinematography, great timing. It's long - just over 9 minutes - but well worth the download. Grab a WMP9 version (125 mb) or a QuickTime version (120 mb) - and enjoy it! (Louis Wu 12:03:55 UTC) (permalink)
Read 'Em And Weep.
Fans in our forum are pointing out that the Halo Graphic Novel is showing up in stores - so today's One One Se7en riffs on Brian Jarrard's Newsarama interview from last week to take another shot at... well, One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 11:48:43 UTC) (permalink)
Mute Radio - the evolution of PwnCasting
Mute Radio, a new venture that has evolved out of MLG PwnCast, opens its doors - it sounds like their focus is shifting from Halo to everything that gamers are interested in (which means that while they'll be appealing to a larger audience overall, we'll be covering them less) - but for now, their first podcast is still pretty solidly Halo-based. An interview with Storm Ventures (a top pro team) and discussions about MLG Chicago fill this puppy. Go listen! And if you like the idea of a podcast that covers movies, music, and other subjects that appeal to gamers, while still covering the Pro Halo scene... bookmark that site! Thanks, Bluestrike2. (Louis Wu 11:34:45 UTC) (permalink)
Enter XiT Woundz
MLG's got an interview with XiT Woundz, one of the top-rated pro teams preparing to compete at MLG Chicago this weekend. Sounds like these guys are ready for the fight! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:28:47 UTC) (permalink)
News July 18 2006
UK Halo 2 Tourney
Riccardo Lee Davies sent us word of a UK Halo 2 LAN tourney coming up in August in Birmingham, West Midlands - it's being run by TriStarGames Ltd., and details can be found on their website. £15/pp to get in, lots of goodies to win (top prize for the 2v2 tourney is a pair of 360s). Check it out! (Louis Wu 22:09:52 UTC) (permalink)
Paper Mache Rocket Launcher
augie doggy put together a paper mache rocket launcher - check out a pic (and a link to a thread over at High Impact Halo, with more pics) in this forum post. Nice work! (Louis Wu 21:41:08 UTC) (permalink)
Hamilton's a killer with a sniper rifle.
Andre Vrignaud is a member of the Xbox Platform Strategy group, and used to be the Drector of Technical Strategy for Xbox Live. His latest blog post contains a Penny Arcade strip that the PA guys created for the XBL team when Xenon (the project that eventually became the Xbox 360) was approved for go-ahead. It focuses on Xbox 2 rumors - and it's pretty funny. And one of them is Halo-related, so I get to mention it here. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 12:21:42 UTC) (permalink)
MediaFest at Halo: Portable
Mintz writes to point out that Halo: Portable has quite a bit of new content for you; a few classic Mike Miller vids (Legend | Winning isn't everything | In Too Deep), along with a portable version of Whammy Kablammy, and a new episode of their podcast. Get to downloading! (Louis Wu 12:11:02 UTC) (permalink)
Runaway Mouths Gather No Truth
Over at Bungie.net, there's a news bit that takes straighter-than-usual aim at a rumor currently circulating - normally, Bungie ignores rumors, but when they get bad enough, they feel like they have to step in. Folks are spreading the word that a 'stealth auto update' has occurred on Xbox Live - that a tree with coconuts was added to Ivory Tower, and that stats are going to be reset. Where do people come up with this crap, anyway? (This showed up on our forum last week - and was shot down completely in short order. I guess other sites aren't quite so fast with this stuff.) As KP says at Bungie.net: there is no update, there is no planned stats reset, this is totally and utterly bogus. Now go back to discussing Denzel Washington's acceptance of the role of Cortana in the upcoming Halo movie. (Louis Wu 00:23:39 UTC) (permalink)
What's that in your teacup?
If scary pictures give you nightmares, don't visit Bungie.net for KP's interview of Stuntmutt - that opening mugshot will haunt your dreams. If you can get past it, though, the rest of the interview's a pretty funny read. The final strip is badly referenced (at least right now) - you can see the large version here. (You might be better off passing it altogether, though...) (Louis Wu 00:10:48 UTC) (permalink)
News July 17 2006
IGN Reviews HGN
Wow - if you weren't excited about the upcoming release of the Halo Graphic Novel, swing by IGN and read Hilary Goldstein's review; it should pump you up. Great summaries without spoilers, nice commentary on where this piece of work fits into the Halo universe. Thanks, AfroRyan. (Louis Wu 20:16:32 UTC) (permalink)
An Apt Pupil.
I have to go lie down - today's One One Se7en has given me pun-overload. (Louis Wu 16:55:13 UTC) (permalink)
Don't mess with ODSTs.
Heh - we got an email from ODST Major General Fannin, who, along with his buddies, engaged the enemy in some paintball combat in Acramandale, NY. They (the 712th UNSC Marine Division) beat the 567th UNSC Marine Division in three rounds, over 7 hours - kill-to-death ratio was 19-7, and a couple of pics came in; one of the competitors | their service patch. Nice work! (Louis Wu 15:46:39 UTC) (permalink)
Sin City Halo - Redux
Northeast noticed a vid on YouTube that reproduces the Sin City trailer in the Halo engine. (It's different from the one we hosted here.) Go watch - pretty good work! (Louis Wu 11:19:09 UTC) (permalink)
News July 16 2006
Time's Runnin' Out
Just a quick reminder: Submission period for the 7 on the 7th contest ends in about 4 and half hours (9 pm PST, midnight EST, 4 am UTC). If you're gonna enter, now's the time! (Louis Wu 23:33:11 UTC) (permalink)
The best looking actress from The Golden Girls.
Midnight In Iraq, a weblog written by a Halo diehard currently serving in Iraq, has a great piece on a Halo tournament at Camp Fallujah, in Iraq. (Midnight won.) Fun read. Thanks, THX Slayer. (Louis Wu 23:31:18 UTC) (permalink)
Klein Oak HS plays Halo (music)
megadude139 found another video of a high school group playing Halo music - this was Klein Oak High School, in Spring, Texas, with the orchestra ensemble playing Halo and Halo music for a variety show in 2005. Pretty nice work! (YouTube, the vid itself is about 13 mb.) (Louis Wu 15:41:19 UTC) (permalink)
Satisfy your Halo Vid Thirst
Shrek writes to let us know about Halo Videos - a new Halo video site containing a pretty impressive collection of montages, gameplay, and humor vids. This is a great source of Halo 1 gameplay vids from back in the day! (Louis Wu 15:24:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 15 2006
WikiRiot Ep 7 - and a new website
WikiRiot, the podcast from the Halo2Wiki crowd, has its own website now - and episode 007. More room for show notes, and more. Go listen - 23 minutes, 9 mb. (Louis Wu 11:55:33 UTC) (permalink)
Recreating the LAN Party Online
We have yet another Game Developers Conference talk for you today - this time, it's Chris Butcher and Bart House, in 2005, talking about 'recreating the LAN party Online'. Fascinating, with tons of info about how Matchmaking works, along with lots of technical details about Halo 2 networking. Slides and audio are available. (Louis Wu 11:47:44 UTC) (permalink)
But is it space-capable?
Bry posted a number of images to our forum - a nicely customized MS Flight Simulator 2004 jet. Can you just see Frankie in the doorway of that thing? (Louis Wu 11:37:31 UTC) (permalink)
Pinkuh's on a roll.
Never say Pinkuh doesn't respond to her fans. Her last image, showing the Master Chief without a helmet, spawned a surprisingly long forum thread, many people loving her interpretation, but others feeling that the Chief should never look this happy. (What a depressing view!) For the latter crowd, Pinkuh sketched a revised Chief - this guy is DEFINITELY not happy. If you find that to be a downer, though, swing by THIS forum post - and turn that frown upside down! Both images have been added to her gallery here (revised chief | disco halo). (Louis Wu 11:31:30 UTC) (permalink)
More Hide and Seek
The Se7enth Prophet decided to copy c0ld vengeance and create a series of Hide and Seek pics - these are on Outskirts, as well (because his disk is scratched) and the pics are photographed off the screen (which makes them a little hard to interpret) - but as of now, they're not all solved, so go look! (Louis Wu 00:05:53 UTC) (permalink)
A flatulent wasp relaxing in a rusty tin can
Frankie's in an up phase, I guess - tonight's Weekly Update takes potshots at Marty (what else is new?), discusses Comic-Con, coming up next week, looks back at FPS's in history, and provides a Mister Chief I never really needed to see. You can read it on Bungie.net, or you can read it in our Weekly Update Archive. KP was first - but he cheated. (Louis Wu 00:01:34 UTC) (permalink)
News July 14 2006
Montages Up
Couple of new films to watch over at Halo3Forum.com - thanks, Z. There's DaYÂ & EXP10S1ON's DualTage - a mix of two players, a mix of Halo and Halo 2. And there's a trailer for HANXU's upcoming montage - some really long-range sticks. WMP9 format for both (135 and 17 mb, respectively). Go watch. (Louis Wu 19:58:33 UTC) (permalink)
There you are, turtle-man!
Captain Spark
his dialogue snippet queue - there are 27 new Brute bits in the Dialogue Databank. As always, you can grab the lot from his website, if you don't want to browse. (Louis Wu 17:21:58 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Buddy Kit
Knuxchao created a Halo Buddy Kit - a collection of sprite parts you can put together to create your own images. Link's at the bottom of his forum post - pretty nice work! (Louis Wu 17:21:35 UTC) (permalink)
The Days Of Good English Has Went.
In anticipation of more entertaining 'Whaaaaamulance' stories in tonight's Weekly Update, Stuntmutt has put together a short guide to proper formatting of your ban protest. Go read today's One One Se7en... and then write up those emails for Bungie! (Louis Wu 14:51:51 UTC) (permalink)
7 on the 7th... what happened?
So the deadline for the latest 7 on the 7th contest is coming up in a couple of days... and we don't have any submissions yet! If folks have been waiting until this weekend to create their lawn-based masterpieces, cool - but if you've forgotten, now's the time to think about it! C'mon... lots of you mow your lawns every week anyway; why not, before you start, cut something cool into the lawn, snap a photo, then go back and finish the job? You get cool schwag for almost no work! (If you're running into trouble with this one, and it's something we screwed up on this end, please - tell us.) (Louis Wu 13:01:51 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fiction
Twenty-three new pieces this week in the Fan Fiction section - busy week! Go read. (Louis Wu 12:57:31 UTC) (permalink)
Prophecy - the official trailer
We usually put up just a couple of copies of movies that pass the MPRRS (a QuickTime version that's generally compatible with versions 5 and up, and a WMP9 version) - but yesterday, a vid passed that simply didn't want to re-encode. Lordstemplar1 submitted a trailer for Prophecy, an upcoming machinima project, in H.264-encoded QuickTime - but attempts to convert it were unsuccessful. I did, eventually, get it into our standard formats - but because I had so much trouble with it, I'm making the original available as well. You can read more about Prophecy on their official website - and you can grab the trailer from us in QuickTime 7 format (26.2 mb), QuickTime 5+ format (25.4 mb), or WMP9 format (19.8 mb). (Louis Wu 12:24:53 UTC) (permalink)
Sound makes it real, music makes you feel.
SteveOll found an interview with Marty O'Donnell on the BBC website; Marty's in the UK to speak at a game developers' conference in Brighton. (They caught him on a beach - in a long-sleeved shirt with an undershirt. Way to enjoy the sun, Marty.) There are some great quotes in there - I liked this one:
"For too long we have let the technology side drive creativity now we have to let creativity drive technology."
Go read the whole thing! (Louis Wu 11:50:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Movie Status - from the Script Rewriter
It's not much - but it's the most REAL Halo movie news we've seen in quite some time. Game Set Watch interviewed DB Weiss, who's currently in the process of rewriting the Halo script:
How far along with the screenplay are you?
Just starting in on an entirely new second draft.
Lest you think it's an old interview that's just being posted now, there's a question that asks for feedback about an article at Gamasutra that was published just a couple of weeks ago. Give the whole interview a read - there's a bit more info about how he got involved. Thanks, Cunbelin. (Given that the script is just beginning to be rewritten, the fan hopes for a 7/7/07 release of this movie are looking pretty untenable...) (Louis Wu 11:31:57 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 wins EMA Award - Again
For the second year in a row, Halo 2 was named Game of the Year by the Entertainment Merchants Association (though last year, it was the Video Software Dealers Association that did the award-giving; they merged with the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association in May to become the EMA). We mentioned the nomination a couple of months ago - I'm not sure if I should be happy that Halo's won twice in a row, or afraid for the industry that they can't find anyone better this year. Thanks, Major Silva, who found the news at Gamespot. (Louis Wu 11:25:56 UTC) (permalink)
News July 13 2006
Never trust a woman with Rockets.
Bungie played another Humpday Challenge last night - this time against the Gunslingers. (These aren't the Tied the Leader Gunslingers - they're an MLG clan, it seems. It's all made more confusing by the fact that the TTL Gunslingers have, as the top story on their website, a piece called 'MLG: Major League Gunslingers'. I think I've got it now, though.) Anyway, They kicked Bungie's butt from here to high noon - Bungie won one of the three games (but should have lost - read the writeup for an explanation). Interestingly, the game they did win was a Rockets game - KP was the first person on the Bungie team to satisfy the minimum score requirement (a far cry from his LAST performance in a Rockets game with Bungie...) - but it wasn't enough. Their not-losing streak ends at 3... except they're crying foul in the last game, and looking to win on popularity. Go tell 'em what you think. (Louis Wu 22:00:55 UTC) (permalink)
Talking to the young turks
A couple of nice articles over at MLGPro.com - 'On a Power Trip - Next Stop: Chicago' takes a look at MoBPowerTripBev.com, one of the up-and-coming teams hoping to play as one of the top 8 teams in Chicago... and 'The Zone 6 Interview: Making A Stand' has Trunkers sitting down with Zone 6, another of those hungry upstarts. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 21:41:47 UTC) (permalink)
Can I hear you say it's only a game?
This Spartan Life has released the final module for Episode 3 - it's a music video/dance segment which revolves around a Halo 2 easter egg. It's awesome. (Watch the synchronization of the dance choreography... and then think about what's involved in getting that just right. I don't think I've ever seen it done this well on such a large scale.) Great special effects, and the song, by glomag with MC Aero, is pretty funny as well. Available in QuickTime format (25.2 mb), .m4v for your iPod (on their Podcast page, 22.3 mb), and soon in WMP9 format as well. (Louis Wu 18:48:38 UTC) (permalink)
A lot of blood, sweat, and tears
Newsarama has interviewed Brian Jarrard about the Halo Graphic Novel; info about how the project started, where the stories came from, how the artists and writers were signed up. Great questions, solid answers - go read! Several brand-new pieces of artwork, as well. Thanks, drummand. (Louis Wu 17:43:11 UTC) (permalink)
Real Life Montage
Covinator and friends put together a 'Real-life Montage'; Halo in their backyard. (Or maybe a park. Whatever.) Pretty funny stuff; he's made it available at FileFront (WMP9 format, 20.4 mb). Grab a copy! (Louis Wu 16:58:19 UTC) (permalink)
Joyride ODST Figure available at Comic-Con
Interesting - turns out the 'Exclusive Figure' to be released at the San Diego Comic-Con this year is going to be an ODST - in two variants. The second contains what looks like pink Fluff all over him - but the packaging suggests it's inspired by the Halo Graphic Novel artwork. Either way, there are only 1200 pieces total, and will be sold only at the convention. Thanks, Mister Froggy. (Louis Wu 16:54:39 UTC) (permalink)
XBLA+Bungie: There's certainly demand...
Hmm... The most recent comment from Bungie about any work they're doing (or not doing) on an Xbox Live arcade title came back in March, in a Bungie Weekly Update. (Well, there was a question about Marathon on XBLA in this update, but Frankie said it's not happening.) In May, during an interview with IGN, Microsoft's Shane Kim was asked about a Bungie XBL title - and while he said it was possible, he didn't think it was happening any time soon. Today, over at Xbox 360 Fanboy, Greg Canessa (Group Manager for Xbox Live Arcade) was asked "is there a title from Bungie in the works?"
"A title from Bungie? Yeah, I can't comment on that, actually... but you know... just stay tuned."
Interpret it as you will - though I'd suggest that there's no real evidence that there's anything that's currently being worked on; it sounds to me like a lot of people would LIKE Bungie to create an XBLA title, but whether it's happening is as yet unknown. Thanks, Doc P. (Louis Wu 16:37:00 UTC) (permalink)
HoBo's Second Montage
A few days ago, a montage submitted by uK x HoBo was passed by the MPRRS - nice timing, nice quality. Advance warning - the first song is pretty rude. R-rated, even. That said - the reviewers said go ahead and release, so we're releasing. WMP9 version is 69.7 mb, QuickTime version is 74.8 mb. (It's six and a half minutes long.) (Louis Wu 14:13:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Development Evolved Slideshow
Last week, we mentioned an audio release of a talk given by Jaime Griesemer, Marty O'Donnell, and Mat Noguchi at the 2003 Game Developers Conference, entitled 'Halo: Development Evolved'. Jaime was kind enough to send along the slides he presented at that talk - so now you can get both the audio AND the visuals! (Louis Wu 13:59:15 UTC) (permalink)
Hillside Battles
Still more original Halo fun with Rockslider - collect your marines and go to town! (Louis Wu 13:10:25 UTC) (permalink)
MPs Episode 1: 26th Century Boy
Chairleg Productions has created a number of Halo-based machinima projects - most (all?) have met with critical success. They're funny, they're well-filmed, they've got high production qualities. They've got a new series just beginning: MPs. They submitted Episode 1 to the MPRRS last week - and were given a high passing score. They asked us to hold off on release of this film, though, to allow for more time in making other episodes; we're nothing if not accomodating. It's Thursday, so it's release day for 'MPs Episode 1: 26th Century Boy'. It's funny, it's big and beautiful, and it makes us want more episodes. it revolves around the lives of a team of Military Police who are decidedly unmilitary. We're hosting the WMP9 version (28.5 mb, also available at Chairleg's website) and a QuickTime version (26.7 mb) - grab the one that works best for you! (Louis Wu 13:01:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Unyielding - a first look
Laird stopped by our forum to present a few teaser pics and describe a new project; a 3d animated Halo space battle video. Swing by, take a look! (Louis Wu 12:43:18 UTC) (permalink)
There can be only one (or maybe more)
Over at Tied the Leader, you can read about how the TTL Gunslingers aren't letting Clan Matches die with the loss of the Clan playlists. Thanks, XerxdeeJ. (Louis Wu 12:39:00 UTC) (permalink)
Some records aren't meant to stand forever.
Heh - depending on how you look at the numbers, Halo is still the media king - or it's not. Much hay was made of the fact that Halo 2 made $125 million in its first 24 hours, and that this beat the record for 'biggest opening weekend box office take', held at the time by Spider-Man ($115 million). Well... Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest just had a bigger opening weekend - $135.6 million. Yeah, but that's 3 days, you say! And the first day was only $56 million! And even if you count the first TWO days (because Microsoft counted the first 24 hours, which technically spanned two business days), it's STill only $100 million! Yeah, well... first off, Halo 2's $125 million takes into account all pre-sales for the game - money for which was collected sometimes months in advance. And second off, if you're gonna compare opening weekends, compare opening weekends; don't start messing around with 'well, it's the opening weekend when the total is below our cutoff, otherwise we're gonna look at per-day grosses'. Any way you cut it - Halo 2 made a BUNDLE, but so did Dead Man's Chest. You decide who you think should be on top. thanks to PhyrVurm for pointing this out. (Louis Wu 12:34:48 UTC) (permalink)
Legendary Library - less than 900 seconds.
When we hosted our 'Going Nowhere Fast' contest a few years ago, the winning time for the Library speedrun was 20:57 - and that was 5 minutes faster than the second-place finisher. Since then, time has been chipped off that record... but yesterday, a new vid was uploaded to High Speed Halo (WMP9 format, 29.2 mb) that blew away the competition. Riptor turned in a 14:25 run - on Legendary. (Well, of COURSE it was Legendary. Duh.) It's pretty amazing; partly for the ways he finds to decrease enemy spawns, partly for how easy he makes some of it look. Make no mistake; the Library, in under 15 minutes on Legendary, is not by ANY measure an easy task. You wouldn't know it from watching this, though... thanks, Ducain. (Louis Wu 12:14:50 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox Live Summary, Halo-style
Only peripherally Halo-related... but interesting nonetheless; Gamasutra has an artcle discussing Xbox Live - and a pretty amazing 60% attach rate for Xbox 360 owners. (That means 60% of all 360s are linked to an Xbox Live account - compare this to the Xbox attach rate of only 10%.) Halo plays a large role in what XBL offers; Halo 2 continues to be the most-played game on Live, Halo trailers account for absurd numbers of download bytes (speaking of which, the Halo 3: Behind the Scenes documentary is now available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace - 400 mb worth of 720p, Dolby 5.1-soaked goodness; go see it as it was meant to be seen), and Halo 2 Vista will be one of the first games (along with Shadowrun) to take advantage of Live Anywhere, a feature that let's you access Live features simultaneously from your Xbox or your PC. (Again, just so we don't start any rumors: Halo 2 Vista will NOT be able to interact directly with Halo 2 Xbox; the Live Anywhere functionality will involve your Friends List in this case.) (Louis Wu 11:56:40 UTC) (permalink)
The Halouvre Film Collection
The Halouvre continues in its quest to collect and display the most artistic fan-created Halo media - they've opened a video section, the Halouvre Film Collection. Attractive, easy-to-use presentation, coupled with the rationale behind each vid's inclusion, makes this collection a solid resource - check it out! Thanks, prometheus. (Louis Wu 11:49:33 UTC) (permalink)
Should be in your hands... by September.
Oddness; has the Halo Graphic Novel been delayed, or is Amazon just a bit messed up? Random Year Old noticed that the HGN's listing at Amazon has a release date of August 2 (not the original date of July 12, nor the recently-posted date of July 19) - and if you want yet ANOTHER date, Marvel's own website suggests it'll be in stores on July 26th. Hmm... anybody got a few bucks for a pool? (Louis Wu 11:36:53 UTC) (permalink)
News July 12 2006
Getting Dumped.
What do you do when you're all out of puns? Well, bathroom humor is always a possibility. Check out today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 12:06:08 UTC) (permalink)
Who's on First?
Over at MLGPro.com, there's an analysis of the top seeds on the Pro (and semi-pro) Halo circuit, as they gear up for MLG Chicago in a week. Nice writeup, though I'd have liked to see at least a mention of the Intel Summer Championships played recently; several of the top teams competed there. (Yeah, I know, it's not an MLG tournament, and doesn't affect MLG standings of any of these teams.) Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:52:24 UTC) (permalink)
Chief, Unsuited
Pinkuh posted an image showing what she thinks the MC might look like without his armor. It's not done, but there's enough there for some serious commentary. It's been added to her Gallery page here (in the unfinished section). (Louis Wu 11:48:51 UTC) (permalink)
Keen, satisfying, creepy, zany
Finn woke up from a nap long enough to gather up a few of the more interesting tidbits to come to light over the past couple of weeks; swing by the Halo Story page for more details! (Louis Wu 11:07:57 UTC) (permalink)
News July 11 2006
The Pedestrian
Matt Barham sent along a link to 'The Pedestrian', a 20-minute-long vid that served as an english project; he and some classmates attempt to bring Ray Bradbury's story 'The Pedestrian' to life. They crammed 14 hours of filming and editing into a single weekend, and the end result is both funny and entertaining. (Not all of it is actually relevant to the book - but then, what can you expect when you put a bunch of guys together in Halo 2?) Who said education can't be fun? Swing by LiveDigital to watch the film (Flash format, about 90 mb). (Louis Wu 20:55:57 UTC) (permalink)
Conquest, Part 2 - Trailer now available
AnubisUK stopped by our forum to point out that the trailer for Broken Console's Conquest Part 2 is now available - swing by their website to grab a copy (10 or 15 mb, depending on size, in both WMP9 and QT). Part 1 was a pretty impressive piece of work, and the trailer for Part 2 is nicely done; check it out, and get ready for the real deal! (Louis Wu 18:21:29 UTC) (permalink)
Damn Skippy!
Captain Spark gathered another bunch of Brute snippets for the Dialogue Databank; they're also downloadable on his website. Those guys are arrogant... (Louis Wu 17:08:42 UTC) (permalink)
Whammy Kablammy
RidgyMrPeepers, of 33 Degrees Films (the website's not resolving for me yet) submitted 'Whammy Kablammy: Explosive Barrel Montage' to the MPRRS, and they said 'release it'. Fusion cores, painstakingly nudged into lines, are used to blow up hogs, people, whatever. Nice patterns! Should appeal to the 'I love to blow stuff up' bit in most of us. Grab this in WMP9 format (26.6 mb) or QuickTime format (26.2 mb). (Louis Wu 10:39:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo music used in military ads
Matt "Deuce" Andoos sent us a note about some commercials he's seeing on the Armed Forces Network in Spain; the US Military is using pieces from the Halo and Halo 2 soundtracks as background music for commercials showcasing various jobs. It's certainly inspirational! (Louis Wu 10:07:30 UTC) (permalink)
Make a montage, win serious bucks
Z pointed out a new Montage Contest over at Halo3Forum.com; total prize money stands at $1500, with at LEAST $700 going to the number one spot. Get to work! (Louis Wu 10:02:32 UTC) (permalink)
News July 10 2006
Spotlight on Ducain
Ducain, the man behind High Impact Halo, the premier Halo 2 tricking site on the web, has been interviewed over at Bungie.net; go see what got him started with Halo! (The questions are quite a bit more serious than the last few spotlights... I think KP is scared of Ducain.) (Louis Wu 22:27:21 UTC) (permalink)
White Button Thugs
Flesh Puppet and Gay-Z put together a new Halo 2 rap; swing by their website for more details, or download it from us (6.6 mb, mp3 format). Definitely NSFW - this one needs a strong language warning. (Louis Wu 20:37:48 UTC) (permalink)
I wanna LAN at this guy's house
Fascinating! I guess I resubscribed to Wired (I'm not in charge of the bills here) and as a gift, I was sent a supplement called WIRED HOME. Turns out it's a reprint of sections of their Jan 2005 issue. Centered around folks with plenty of money to burn, and a serious need for their homes to be the ultimate geek haven. So what you ask? Check THIS out! Most awesome indeed. Here it is on their site. (Ding 15:40:09 UTC) (permalink)
HaloPlanet's First BMU: Guns
DrLime and Dog Fashion have started a new monthly column at Halo Planet, called 'Bungie Monthly Underground' - the first installment is a treatise on the guns of Halo 2, and how they stack up (or, in the eyes of the authors, DON'T stack up) to the guns as implemented in Halo. If you're tired of the 'bring back the pistol!' debates, or the 'Halo 2 is unbalanced' screed, you should pass this one up. Maybe the next installment will contain a slightly less-beaten horse. (Louis Wu 10:51:30 UTC) (permalink)
Metroid Map Tallon IV (again)
A few days ago, we posted a note about Tallon IV, a map from the Metroid Online Mapping Team. We PULLED that note after receiving several emails confirming that the map hadn't actually been released by the team - it had been leaked, and was not (in the eyes of the team) ready for public consumption. Yesterday, I got a note from Seraphim, the MOMT leader - who said that since it was already out there, and wasn't going away, we might as well re-report it, and let as many fans as possible give it a try. Understand that it's not a finished product, and that Slayer is the only useable gametype. That said - give it a look! It's hosted at HaloMaps. (Louis Wu 10:41:03 UTC) (permalink)
117 Spin.
Stuntmutt feels that c0ld vengeance is getting too much front-page space with his rotating screenshots... so today's One One Se7en is his own take on the genre. I think he should stick to humor. Hmm... I mean... oh, never mind. (Louis Wu 02:36:14 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular Ep 71
Podtacular Episode 71 is up; along with the subjects listed in Podtacular.com's news post, part of the interview with Mothergoat is also in here. Go listen! Thanks, Laird. (Louis Wu 02:12:56 UTC) (permalink)
Devil Spawn
Walshy wrote up a Top 5 Worst Places to Spawn list for MLGPro.com - worth a read! (Where you spawn can tell you a lot about what your opponents are doing...) Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 02:08:24 UTC) (permalink)
The Virus of Life
SpartanHunter69 put together 'The Virus of Life', a 9 minute story about zombies taking over the world. There is no dialogue - the movie is pretty creepy without it. The MPRRS reviewers loved the darkness, and the lack of speech. The atmosphere rocks. Grab it in WMP9 format (60.6 mb) or QuickTime format (60.1 mb). (Louis Wu 02:06:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Hide 'n Seek 2 (solved, hours ago)
c0ld vengeance put up another Halo Hide n' Seek on the forum - it was solved less than an hour later by Dojorkan (again). Still worth trying on your own - some great pics in there (this time all from Outskirts). Check it out! (Louis Wu 02:02:47 UTC) (permalink)
News July 9 2006
Joyride Halo 2 Exclusives
Joyride Has put up some pics of the latest 'exclusive' action figures; check 'em out. (An invisible Prophet of Regret?) Thanks, littlebigman. Update: Luke Jeffery points out that the Prophet of Regret is actually a hologram, not invisible. Okay. (Louis Wu 16:56:09 UTC) (permalink)
The Wrong Show
Pixellated found a Halo mention in the current comic from 'The Evil That Men Do'. (Louis Wu 16:53:22 UTC) (permalink)
IST comes down to Str8 Rippin vs XiT Woundz
Str8 Rippin went down to XiT Woundz in a three-game matchup at the Intel Summer Championships - GotFrag's got the play-by-play. Update: Oops, looks like I missed a day. GotFrag's info was only through the Upper Bracket Finals, the first matchup of these two teams; they met twice more, with Str8 Rippin taking both series, to win the overall title (and the $5000 first-place purse). A full writeup is available at Amped - thanks to ZoneManWilf for straightening me out. (Louis Wu 16:50:34 UTC) (permalink)
Pretty Pictures - Questionable Subject
zugy's been working on a program that makes line designs - and his first 'model' is Stuntmutt's One One Se7en character. Check out his blog here. (Louis Wu 16:48:41 UTC) (permalink)
We all KNOW the real winner.
I'm very, very happy this morning. Why? Because over at Gamefaqs, they're running a 'Best.Series.Ever' contest, with two series pairing off each day, and being voted on by their members - and yesterday, Halo lost its first-round battle, with Castlevania. I was really hoping it would lose (which is why this news post is going up the day AFTER the face-off, and not the day OF) - because it means that there will be no more rounds in the next few weeks, so I don't have to receive hundreds of emails from fans who want us to promote the fight and get people to vote for Halo. Folks - these are silly. Don't buy into 'em. (Louis Wu 16:22:44 UTC) (permalink)
News July 8 2006
Station
c0ld vengeance grabbed a really nice 3D shot of the atmospheric processing station hologram visible at the start of the 'The Perfect Plan in the Perfect Storm' chapter of the Oracle level - check it out in regular QT or QTVR formats in this forum post. Beautiful timing! (Louis Wu 13:08:43 UTC) (permalink)
When Cuteness Attacks
Pinkuh's been busy - yesterday she posted an adorable celebration of Bungie Day, and this morning she graced us with an anime version of Miranda Keyes; we've added both images to her gallery page here (Bungie Day | Anime Keyes). Great work! (Louis Wu 12:22:52 UTC) (permalink)
Move Along - One More Time
I didn't want to front-page this without permission from MMaster - but a few days ago, when we posted his remake of the All-American Rejects music vid, I took a few minutes and composited MMaster's version with the original, just to give folks a sense for how closely he tried to match his source material. As my forum post says, some of the synch issues are my fault (there aren't a lot, in any case; it's a pretty nice fit!), and you have to put up with QuickTime format if you want to watch it... but I thought it did a nice job of showing the lengths MMaster went to to match the original vid. I finally heard back from him that it was okay to post this - so I'm posting this. (Louis Wu 12:21:01 UTC) (permalink)
WSVG Preliminary Rounds Over
GotFrag has scores up from the first few rounds of the WSVG Intel Summer Championships, as well as seeding for the final round. As they mention, Final Boss didn't show here, so no matter WHO wins, there's no way to claim total superiority. More gaming this weekend! (Louis Wu 12:15:14 UTC) (permalink)
WikiRiot Ep 6
WikiRiot releases Episode 6 - there's a special interview at the end. 11 mb, half an hour long. Go listen! Thanks, Sigafoos. (Louis Wu 12:04:59 UTC) (permalink)
I miss Jim Henson.
It's not the first time this song has been used in a Halo video (I think our own Cybrfrk gets that credit), but it's a pretty funny movie in its own right - swing by Halo3Forum.com and grab a copy of Muhna Muhna (77 mb, WMP9 format) - it should make you smile. (Louis Wu 12:00:11 UTC) (permalink)
They have weekend Slip N' Slide Tourneys?
Late, but hey... it's Friday. A few hours ago, Frankie posted the Bungie Weekly Update - not a lot to say, except that the Halo Graphic Novel is actually done (w00t!), and a really cool pic from it has been posted. Well, there's a little more. Go read. (Or read it here, in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 04:21:29 UTC) (permalink)
News July 7 2006
Halo CE in the news
Rob Oplawar has started work on a new Halo CE Campaign level; you can check out the website devoted to it (which includes a movie of his progress so far). Get to reading! (Louis Wu 17:30:18 UTC) (permalink)
Ramping Up The Playability.
Bungie took note of things that didn't work in Halo, and came up with alternatives in Halo 2. Stuntmutt comments on one such alternative in today's One One Se7en. Groan protectors - ON! (Louis Wu 13:00:59 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
16 new pieces (stories and poems) up in the Fan Fiction section today; two would have been deleted, but I thought they might help submitters remember that the formatting pseudocode is case-sensitive. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 12:24:59 UTC) (permalink)
7 Rings to rule them all
c0ld vengeance has ANOTHER 3d screenshot for you today; this one shows the 7 Halos from the hologram at the end of Great Journey. The standard QT movie lets you spin around them, while the QTVR version gives you a great view from any angle. QuickTime required, and be patient - this one's a bit larger than most (5-6 mb, depending on the version you pick). If you choose to see the QTVR version in-browser, the controls will remain greyed-out until the whole file is downloaded, so just hang on. (Louis Wu 11:50:40 UTC) (permalink)
RvB in the Daily News
Just Passing By noticed a small writeup of RvB in the New York Daily News - pretty mainstream stuff! (Louis Wu 04:09:02 UTC) (permalink)
Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaambunctious
This week's Halo Humpday Challenge was against the Cayote Cavegirls - if you don't know who they are, the writeup starts off with an interview of their lader [sic]. The overall result - a tie, no matter how KP tries to spin it; this brings Bungie's not-losing streak to 3. (Of course, their winning streak - of one - ended two matches ago, but who's really counting?) Go read the whole writeup - I missed this when it was posted, but Pazicles picked it up. (Louis Wu 03:51:39 UTC) (permalink)
Fan-sponsored Wallpaper Contest
Over at Bungie.net, there's a news story about a Wallpaper contest; it's not specifically geared to Halo, but I'm guessing the majority of the entries will be Halo-related. (Small) cash prizes available for the winners - read the post (and the linked forum thread) for more details. (Louis Wu 03:41:16 UTC) (permalink)
News July 6 2006
Administrivia I hate to write
I don't normally reiterate stuff that's written in FAQs around the site, but I've been getting an awful lot of mail about this one, so I'm going to make a public statement: we're really sorry, we don't have space to announce new Halo websites on our front page. If you just put the finishing touches on a new site, and you want to get the word out... feel free to post a link in our forum, but please don't ask me to put up a news post, because I hate saying no. As it says in our submissions guidelines, if you have something (less nebulous than 'a new cool site!') to share with the Halo community - an article, artwork, whatever - sure, go ahead and send us the link. But if you just want us to announce your site - you need it stress-tested, you lost your forum and need it rebuilt, you're looking for new members, whatever - our front page isn't the way to go. Thanks! (Louis Wu 21:50:07 UTC) (permalink)
Move Along - from MediaGamers
Early this week, MMaster stopped by our forum to post a link to a new video he'd created; it's an exact remake of 'Move Along', a video from the All-American Rejects. (This is different from Clan 0kinawa's remake of that same video.) He submitted the video to the MPRRS, too - and it's good he did, because MediaGamers is out of bandwidth right now, but the MPRRS reviewers loved it. You can therefore grab a WMP9 version (47.4 mb) or QuickTime version (46.6 mb) from our servers - enjoy! (Louis Wu 16:57:09 UTC) (permalink)
7 on the 7th - Crotchety Old Man Edition
It's been a little while (okay, 3 months) since our last 7 on the 7th Contest - but hey, somebody's got to watch for aliens! So now it's summer (at least in the northern hemisphere), and thoughts turn to the outdoors - so what better way to give away Bungie shwag than to require creative outdoor art? To win this contest, we need pictures of your lawn, with a Halo theme in it. (Cut the image, take a picture, finish the lawn - nobody'll ever know.) You have a few other options - go read the full contest rules. And get to planning - we need pictures by a week from Sunday if you want to win stuff! (What can you win, I hear you ask... heh. It's a surprise. But it's coming from Bungie, so you know it's good.) Now get off my lawn! (Louis Wu 16:16:30 UTC) (permalink)
Right this way!
c0ld vengeance continues with his 3D Screenshots series - this time, it's Cortana, looking on as the Master Chief sticks a Brute. Sweet! Available both as a QuickTime rotating vid, or a QTVR file. Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:38:42 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular Goes Content-Crazy
Podtacular has some new updates - Episode 70 is up (looks at community desires for Halo 3, and other games Halo fans play), Pod TV Episode 3 is up (Humpday highlights), and a new official comic called Weekly Porridge is online. (Apparently, it's been around for a while; there are a bunch of episodes up already, though some don't seem to be linked any more.) What are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 13:21:23 UTC) (permalink)
Tied the Leader - Talking Away
XerxdeeJ stopped by to point out that Tied the Leader has been updated - there's a readers poll on sportsmanship, a treatise on teamwork (and whining), and a stroll through the referral logs, checking out what people are looking for. Go read! (Louis Wu 13:14:14 UTC) (permalink)
I am your shield - I am your sword.
I'm not thrilled with YouTube - but this one's pretty darned funny. Swing by to see the original Halo 3 trailer... the special effects on Cortana must be seen to be believed. Thanks to Konrad, via IRC, for this one. (Louis Wu 02:31:35 UTC) (permalink)
Lost: Halostyle Episode 5
The MPRRS queue has been getting pretty long recently - Cybrfrk just brought in some new blood to try and clear out some of the movies that have been languishing. The first pass out of the gate is 'Lost: Halostyle Episode 5' - a continuation of a pretty funny series. (This episode is quite good, as well.) Audio and video quality are topnotch, the storyline is solid, the humor is on, most of the time (an elite singing along to Kelis made me worry a little about nightmares) - this one's a winner. Grab it in WMP9 format (48.5 mb) or QuickTime format (45.8 mb). (Louis Wu 02:26:27 UTC) (permalink)
Gamasutra gets into the podcast game
Over at Gamasutra, they've started their own podcast (everybody's doing it!), and the first one is actually a recording of the talk given at the 2003 Game Developers Conference by Marty O'Donnell, Jaime Griesemer, and Mat Noguchi, entitled 'Halo: Development Evolved'. It's just over an hour long, weighs in at only 14 mb, and is pretty darned interesting to listen to. (The volume level is REALLY low.) Thanks, Char. (Louis Wu 02:20:19 UTC) (permalink)
c0ld's Halo Hide and Seek
He's at it again; c0ld vengeance has posted 10 screenshots on our forum, and challenged you, the viewer, to come up with an exact location for each one. You're going to need to be pretty specific on these... check it out! Update: DOH! 2 minutes after I posted this, c0ld confirmed that Dojorkan had nailed all but one of these. I should have gotten to it sooner... guess you'll have to wait for the next round. (Louis Wu 00:22:51 UTC) (permalink)
News July 5 2006
Foo Mo Jive - Man in a Pod(cast)
Foo Mo Jive, one of the men behind Podtacular, has been Spotlighted over at Bungie.net - KP has gotten the lowdown on the man who blew his one big chance to make money on the Halo community. Art majors the world around - take note! elessar787 was first, it seems. (Louis Wu 21:06:48 UTC) (permalink)
Cutting Remarks.
In today's One One Se7en, Stuntmutt looks at one of the characters that was cut from Halo 2 - maybe Bungie recognized the terrible pun potential and cut it in an attempt to avert disaster. Oh, well. (Louis Wu 15:24:43 UTC) (permalink)
Zombies Ate the Master Chief.
Over at the Escapist, there's a great article about honor-system-based Halo 2 gametypes (with Zombies being the primary example); these will never show up in Matchmaking lists (because they require that everyone play by non-enforceable rules), but they're loads of fun. Really enjoyable writeup. Thanks, mercury. (Louis Wu 15:13:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Portable - now better than ever
Halo: Portable has a bunch of updates - there's a new design, new bandwidth, a new podcast, and plenty of their usual sorts of content. Swing by and fill up your portable device! (Louis Wu 15:01:30 UTC) (permalink)
Play! In Detroit
A few days ago, Hextall27 pointed out on our forum that Play! (a videogame music concert series) will be coming to Detroit on July 12. We didn't pick up on it then, so he sent it to us via email. The Play team is hooking up with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for this event... if you're in the area, check it out! Halo music will be played. (Louis Wu 14:49:06 UTC) (permalink)
Generating Philosophers of Play
Sep7imus noticed an article over at Wired which discusses the lack of a 'Lester Bangs' of gaming. (Lester Bangs, for those of you under 20, wrote about rock music in the 70s and is considered by many to be the first really influential 'rock critic'.) The article isn't really Halo-related (Halo 2 gets a tiny mention in passing), but it does make the point that good game criticism will likely always come from sites like this one rather than mainstream professional 'game critics'. An interesting read! (Louis Wu 14:44:24 UTC) (permalink)
WSVG Tourney Kicks Off
The WSVG Intel Summer Championship kicks off today - doors open at noon, central time. GotFrag will be providing coverage - keep an eye on their site! (Louis Wu 14:00:06 UTC) (permalink)
News July 4 2006
Happy Fourth of July!
And that pretty much does it for today; HBO's taking the rest of this July Fourth holiday off for barbecues, swimming, and maybe blowing stuff up when it gets dark. Enjoy - we're back tomorrow! (Louis Wu 12:27:47 UTC) (permalink)
Questions for Eric Nylund?
KLind has set up an interview with Eric Nylund at the end of the month, and is currently soliciting questions; swing by his forum post for an email address to send them to. The author of Fall of Reach, First Strike, and the upcoming Ghosts of Coral (or whatever it ends up being called) knows quite a lot about the Haloverse... see what you can get out of him! (Louis Wu 12:25:43 UTC) (permalink)
Pinkuh draws Mary Jane
Pinkuh created a pretty cool piece of art for Mary Jane, a co-founder of
the PMS Clan; you can find it in her forum post, or in her HBO Gallery. Those are some long legs! (Louis Wu 12:25:19 UTC) (permalink)
RRX - the next BXR?
GotFrag has a writeup of the RRX glitch, and how players will need to adapt to best take advantage of it. Remember; this is aimed at the pro community, for the most part; Bungie has said that this (and other exploits that circumvent the normal play of the game) should be considered cheating in Matchmaking. Use these in your custom games, or in tournaments, but keep them out of Matchmade games. (Louis Wu 12:24:34 UTC) (permalink)
Spartan Alpha Demo
ban381 posted an old, unfinished Flash game he'd been working on to our forum; artwork is actually quite good. It's not very big, but if we end up crushing his server with this, we'll host a local copy. (Louis Wu 12:24:05 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGM - Halo on Source
HaloGM is a CS Source-based Halo mod using Garrysmod - this forum post contains download links and a few screenshots of Wizard. Take a look! Thanks, Samir Patel. (Louis Wu 12:23:37 UTC) (permalink)
News July 3 2006
Eric Nylund - Up Close(r) with the Fans
Eric Nylund has set up a blog - swing by to keep in touch with the author of two (soon to be three) Halo novels! You can contact him directly via an email link available on his profile page. (Don't abuse this, please - I'd hate it if we lost this opportunity because some fans were a bit too enthusiastic...) (Louis Wu 15:43:45 UTC) (permalink)
WikiRiot Ep 5 (both of 'em)
WikiRiot has two separate podcasts today - gestor and LegendaryMark created 005A while at the Clan of Bobs LAN, and Brathnok did 005B by himself (he didn't make it to the LAN). Almost an hour between the two - go listen! (Louis Wu 15:10:18 UTC) (permalink)
He's Suffering?
Against all logic, One One Se7en has reached a mind-boggling 500 strips. (We're not counting Sundays, holidays, guest strips, or the short-lived Archive.) After reading this one, you'll wonder... HOW? (It's a little like lichen - it can live in really hostile environments with almost no nutrition.) (Louis Wu 13:40:13 UTC) (permalink)
MLG PwnCast Ep 18: Goose Version
MLG PwnCast has released Episode 18, summarizing MLG Anaheim. 5.5-13.4 mb, depending on the version you grab. (Just under 12 minutes, so it shouldn't kill your day.) Go listen! (Louis Wu 13:05:40 UTC) (permalink)
Halo and Terrorism
Heh - a newspaper article in the Halifax, Nova Scotia Chronicle Herald was picked up by Kotaku, where it was seen by MereCatFish; Kotaku and most of the posters in Mere's thread seem to see this as yet another example of the media vilifying video games as potential causes for all sorts of ills (in this case, the Halo-obsessed individual is Zakaria Amara, the alleged ringleader of a group accused of plotting terror attacks in Ontario). I read it slightly differently, though (looks like Cunbelin and My Liege see this spin, as well); the guy didn't start messing with terrorism until HE QUIT PLAYING HALO. In other words: Halo has the potential to keep you out of trouble! I hear it'll make your hair grow back, too. (Louis Wu 12:27:23 UTC) (permalink)
News July 2 2006
Custom Map Team Update
Okay, so I've talked to DJ of HaloImpulse, and it's true, the Custom Map Team did, indeed, go over its bandwidth allotment, and it will cost DJ roughly $400 to pay it down. (The CMT crew is NOT on the hook for this - HaloImpulse, who was hosting their website, is. This is probably a good thing, because the Paypal link on CMT's front page is busted. If you want to donate, hit the Paypal link on HaloImpulse's front page.) The HaloImpulse and CMT links for downloads are currently offline - though they may be back tomorrow. However, the files are still available at HaloMaps.org - demand is high, so if you want to see roughly how long downloads will take, visit their bandwidth info page; it'll tell you which files are being downloaded, and what the average download speed is at the moment. We've also put up a mirror of the files; I make no promises about how long I'll leave it up (if demand begins to be painful, down it will come), but it's there for now. With patience and some net etiquette (be gentle, basically), everyone who wants these files should have access to them, even though the original hosts are down. (Louis Wu 20:18:36 UTC) (permalink)
Pink Foxes
Pinkuh put together a really nice intro image for her newly revamped personal website; she posted it to our forum, and we added it to her Gallery page here. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:18:29 UTC) (permalink)
Sea. Turtle. Kill.
Turtle Mann submitted his fourth montage to the MPRRS - and they passed it, though a few reviewers thought it went a bit overboard on effects. (I'd agree with that, though for the most part it's not too hard to figure out what's going on.) We're hosting a WMP9 version (67.7 mb) and a QuickTime version (63.7 mb) - grab the one that is easiest to watch for you! (Louis Wu 16:39:18 UTC) (permalink)
Oppression Trailer
A few days ago, a trailer for an upcoming machinima called 'Oppression' passed through the MPRRS; it came really, really close to passing. There was a single typo in some of the text, and this typo was mentioned by a large number of reviewers - we got uppity squirrel, the creator, to fix that typo, and we're hosting the vid after all. Looks to be a dramatic film! The trailer is 14.6 mb in WMP9 format, or 14.1 mb in QuickTime format (it's only 2 minutes long). Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:00:34 UTC) (permalink)
Pro Choice?
Stuntmutt has posted a new blog entry, containing a whole bunch of user-submitted strips (I think my favorite is Tragic Nocturne's take on the Vampire Earth controversy), along with some other random One One Se7en-related tidbits. If you feel as though you haven't had enough One One Se7en stuff this week, swing by! (Louis Wu 14:47:35 UTC) (permalink)
sHyRe's Montage Trailer
Over at Halo2Forum.com, Z points out sHyRe's Montage Trailer for download - 41.6 mb, WMP9 format. It's short... but it looks pretty good! Full montage vid coming later this summer. Go download. (No more registration needs to download from H2F.) (Louis Wu 14:42:06 UTC) (permalink)
News July 1 2006
DropShock Ep 19
DropShock Radio has released episode 19 - 1.5 hours, 40 mb. Swing by their site to listen. (Louis Wu 18:38:33 UTC) (permalink)
Overflowing Art Coffers
The Miscellaneous Art queue never stops; even when I clear it, it's non-empty a day or two later. That means these days, when I can't clear it in one shot, it's even worse. I apologize (again) to submitters for the delay they must suffer before their work is seen by the public. Today, we've got 30 new images for you in the Miscellaneous Art Update - sketches, paintings, recreations of existing images, photos - it's all there. Some really cool stuff; dig around. (It's hard to pick favorites, but I love Darknesshasfallen's Arbiter, Maggy Mafia's Grunts, and TeHcAtZorD's Hunters. 'Lockout in Space' is pretty darned cool, as well. And - oh, man. Never mind. Just look at EVERYTHING.) There's still stuff in the queue, so please don't panic if you don't see your work. Update: Bah. We've removed one of the images because it used artwork created by a DIFFERENT artist, without permission. There are now 29 new additions. (Louis Wu 14:07:56 UTC) (permalink)
Arr.
Heh - an anonymous fan sent me this link from the Marathon's Story Page forum - 1 minute Halo. (Spoilers, if you're counting.) Made me laugh. (Louis Wu 12:17:13 UTC) (permalink)
More NZ Press Speculation
If speculating about movie details is your bag, check out this article on Stuff - it's focused on Peter Jackson, but one of his two (known) upcoming projects is Halo, so a good chunk of the article relates to that film. Thanks, Custard. (Louis Wu 12:13:12 UTC) (permalink)
Jay Faerber talks about 'Armor Testing'
IGN continues its look at the Halo Graphic Novel with another author interview - this time it's with Jay Faerber, the writer behind 'Armor Testing'. Interesting read - makes me want the HGN even more! Also contains some new artwork... check it out! Thanks, Black Guard. (Louis Wu 11:58:16 UTC) (permalink)
CMT Needs Help
Ouch - it's happened again. A Halo-related team has gotten in over their heads, bandwidth-wise, and is asking for help. Visit Wave Of Lag's forum post for more details. (What makes me saddest is that there's PLENTY of bandwidth available - for free - for releases like this, if they're set up in advance.) (Louis Wu 11:45:54 UTC) (permalink)
when i gat on it seid i was band
The Weekly Update is up over at Bungie.net; details that should make the hardcore among you salivate, and the rest of you hate Frankie just a little bit more, plus a whole bunch of new Waahmbulance entries. (I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry, actually.) And a Mister Chief that looks like he was scanned out of something... I'm PRAYING it wasn't the HGN, because I want that puppy to sell. Read it at Bungie.net - or read it in our Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 01:59:33 UTC) (permalink)
| July 2006 | |
