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June 2010

June 2010 Archived News

News June 30 2010

Popcorn Fodder
Videos at Bungie.net today include:

• Intensity, a Halo Reach screenshot montage from Commander GX
• CuelLEGACEY's Halo 3 Montage in HD - with 3 years of clips - is nicely annotated
• Rush is a Halo 3 montage from KBlocker that's heavy on the sniping.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:07:04 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie Dayathon - one week out
FyreWulff provided an update about his Bungie Dayathon - the website is almost finalized, and you can contribute now if you choose. Lots of hours, lots of games! (Louis Wu 17:42:29 UTC) (permalink)

TTL Thunderdome
Looks like a TTL-hosted tournament, the GGN Tournament of Champions, is going down today - swing by Tied the Leader to read about it now, and watch the proceedings after 3pm Central (2.5 hours from now). Thanks to XerxdeeJ for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 17:41:27 UTC) (permalink)

An Empty Room
TTL Demag0gue stopped in with word of the newest Reclaimer - the Reclaimer learns that he doesn't know much. (Louis Wu 17:40:25 UTC) (permalink)

Narrative Evolved
Dani has taken a good long look at the way the Halo games tell their stories - you can read his analysis on Forward Unto Dawn. Very interesting - and thought-provoking about game-based storytelling in general! Go see. (Louis Wu 12:50:21 UTC) (permalink)

He's a talker, not an arm-wrestler
HipHopGamer talked to Brian Jarrard about a bunch of stuff - Halo Reach, non-Xbox platforms, what's coming next, Kinect/Move, Activision, and more. It's a monster interview (nearly 25 minutes long) - bet you wish you got this sort of face time with Bungie's Community Director! (Louis Wu 12:49:39 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Firefight vid up
According to the Halo Waypoint Twitter feed, there's a new video on Waypoint with some interviews collected at the E3 Reach party. Some people you've seen before, some you haven't - a nice three-minute piece! Thanks, GrimBrother One. (Louis Wu 12:45:48 UTC) (permalink)

Run, Chief, Run
Master Chief Pets #3 is now live at Hawty McBloggy - at some point, these guys are gonna learn that some creatures don't make good pets... (Louis Wu 12:45:16 UTC) (permalink)

News June 29 2010

Tuesday Video Fun
New vids at Bungie's Comm Chatter today:

• Frenetic Array is a Halo 3 montage from Australia's #1 Halo team (Frenetic Array) - very pretty editing, lots of multikills, my only real complaint would be that the first two minutes are all intro.
• The second installment of the Halography screenshot montage series contains shots from ODST - pretty.
• HaloReachForum put together a community montage of clips from the Reach Beta - just a couple of minutes of footage, but nice quality.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 17:39:53 UTC) (permalink)

Fall of Beta, Pages 5-6
pete_the_duck continues his 'Fall of Beta' series - dark scans, but readable. Check out pages 5-6! (Links to earlier pages are in the forum post.) (Louis Wu 11:54:44 UTC) (permalink)

Invasion - in Copper
Back in December, Hawty McBloggy found a guy who rendered the Master Chief in copper. The guy's back - with a new piece, this time showing off an Elite vs Spartan showdown. Really cool piece of work, and if you visit his DeviantART page, you can download a monster 2852x2280 version of it, showing off all the detail. Very cool! (Louis Wu 11:34:55 UTC) (permalink)

Lord Hackensack, of the Roundalots... nice.
Red vs Blue Revelation Chapter 11 (Restraining Orders) went live last night - we learn some interesting stuff about Caboose, and Wash and Doc are finding... something. Go watch! (Louis Wu 10:57:14 UTC) (permalink)

South Philly Vikings - Got Talent?
The last time we saw the South Philly Vikings, it was during the 2010 Mummers Parade. Last week, Draganos noticed they were on America's Got Talent... and yesterday, Merc found a promo clip showing them off. Check it out! (Louis Wu 10:56:43 UTC) (permalink)

Naughty Bear Believes
Naughty Bear is a game that comes out today - its creators have created a parody of the Halo 3 Believe ad using their engine. Pretty cute! (Wait, is that the right word?) Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 10:55:40 UTC) (permalink)

I Don't Care
AssaultGodzilla is back with yet another Halo Music Vid - this one is set to Apocalyptica's "I Don't Care", and features his now-familiar timing sync and appropriate clips. Take a look! (Louis Wu 10:55:22 UTC) (permalink)

Things You Won't Expect 10
Chris101b released the last of his Things You Won't Expect vids - don't miss the start. (Louis Wu 10:54:42 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Seven
Yesterday afternoon, a new Tag and Release feature went live on Bungie.net - the term this time is 'Seven', and while it might take you a minute or two to figure out why some of these were labeled with that term, there are plenty more where they came from. Go look! (Louis Wu 10:54:06 UTC) (permalink)

News June 28 2010

Firefight: Custom Insanity
If you were wondering whether custom gametypes would earn you credits in Reach... the answer is yes. According to an article at MTV Multiplayer, it will be a fraction of the credits you earn in Matchmaking - but you'll still earn them. Intriguing! (While you're out and about, swing by Joystiq for another Reach Firefight Preview, as well.) (Louis Wu 21:06:09 UTC) (permalink)

Light Movie Day
Just a pair of new vids today on Bungie's Comm Chatter: DJ Special K has remixed Mike n Cheese's "I'm a General in Halo 3", and Roadblock has released his final Halo 3 montage. Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:24:48 UTC) (permalink)

CAG raises money for Child's Play
According to Bungie.net, Cheap Ass Gamer has a charity drive for Child's Play, based on their Grifball team. Swing by the B.net post for full details on how money will be raised, and where to go for more info! (Louis Wu 19:18:43 UTC) (permalink)

TRR Podcast - Live with TTL Tonight
The Running Riot is back with a new podcast tonight - XerxdeeJ, from Tied the Leader, will be gracing the studio. Swing by the TRR website by 9:30 pm ET (9:00 if you want a shot at being backstage), and give a listen! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 19:15:54 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: the Downfall of a Judge
Word of advice: if you're a circuit court judge, and you're looking for a partner to play Halo 3 with... don't pick someone you've ruled against in your courtroom. Joseph Carico did this last year... and because of it, he's vacated his seat on the bench ("until further notice"). One would hope that judges had better... well, judgement than this. (Louis Wu 16:04:28 UTC) (permalink)

FTC Ep 10: Pack It Up
Young Street Productions is back with Forecast The Series, Episode 10 - the start of Season 2. Vacations are usually good things to take after a stressful situation... but not always. Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:57:14 UTC) (permalink)

Lessons from the Beta
GamePro has an interview with Brian Jarrard, discussing the lessons Bungie learned from the Reach public beta. Cool backstory on the matchmaking bug we experienced on Day 1, description of bugs that needed the scale of the beta to be sussed out, anecdotes about sifting the opinions from the actual bugs... an interesting read, overall! (Louis Wu 15:49:24 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' the Chief: Out of Reach (S04E01)
Arby 'n' the Chief is back - the first episode of Season 4 is called 'Out of Reach'; Master Chief and Arby are gearing up to play the Reach Beta in early May... if all goes according to plan. Which it never does. Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:47:29 UTC) (permalink)

HMB Third Annual Bungie Day Community Project
Hawty McBloggy is gearing up for Bungie Day, coming in just over a week - swing by and read how you can contribute to her community project! (Louis Wu 15:42:45 UTC) (permalink)

The Calm
TTL Demag0gue visited this morning with word of the reawakening of the Reclaimer strip - they no longer seem to be numbered, but Reclaimer finds himself in a new location, one fraught with mystery. (Louis Wu 15:42:25 UTC) (permalink)

Antak, Sangheili Berserker
Illogical Lynx dropped in with word of a new piece of fan art - he did a pretty nice job with an Elite! Go see. (Louis Wu 15:42:02 UTC) (permalink)

Duct Tape Weapons
Deafhawk36 has made a bunch of Halo goodies out of cardboard and duct tape, and cheap/free base bits - amazing what you can do with basic supplies. (Love the log-based Rocket Launcher.) Take a look. (Louis Wu 15:37:00 UTC) (permalink)

Halo's Final Run
DarkReign2021 is back with a new Halo music video - it's called 'Halo's Final Run', and focuses on timing. (Louis Wu 15:36:27 UTC) (permalink)

News June 27 2010

Japanese Halo Fan Art - Round 2
AssaultGodzilla dug through Japanese art forums for another large batch of Halo-related artwork - as we did last time, we've put up a local mirror of the images, for posterity. AssaultGodzilla claims none of this as his own; he is simply bringing it to a wider audience. (Louis Wu 15:48:30 UTC) (permalink)

A Sparrowhawk in the Grand Canyon
Mid7night continues to work on his X-Plane Sparrowhawk - it's fully textured now, and flying through the Grand Canyon! That thing is SERIOUSLY manouverable. (Louis Wu 15:48:14 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Team Collection
Minime637 whipped up some pretty interesting wallpapers based on Noble Team art assets - check out previews in his forum post, and follow the links to his DeviantART pages for the final products! (Louis Wu 15:47:30 UTC) (permalink)

Hail the Fail Whale
Today's Grin + Bear It pays homage to Twitter. And Firefight 2.0. Check it at Hawty McBloggy's. (Louis Wu 15:46:50 UTC) (permalink)

Things You Won't Expect 5-9
chris101b has had some uploading trouble recently, so episodes 5-9 of his 'Things You Won't Expect' series of video shorts have been combined into one vid. It's a grab bag! (Louis Wu 15:46:11 UTC) (permalink)

News June 26 2010

What could have been
The MTV Multiplayer Blog has some interesting tidbits gleaned from Brian Jarrard during a play session last week - Bungie had considered a "Halo 4", telling the story of the Master Chief after he woke up from the cryosleep he entered at the end of Halo 3. (The ide never really made it out of pre-production.) And Reach will not "open up a whole bunch of doors that [they're] not going to close" - this is good news, given that they're moving away from Halo! Go read the details. (Louis Wu 14:33:44 UTC) (permalink)

Fun at Hawty's
TOTALLY forgot to post this yesterday - but it was Friday, which means it was time for another Friday Caption Fun round at Hawty McBloggy's. Check out the best entries from last week - and a new (and funky) pic you can help with this week! While you're there, check out the Spartan Laser cake - you can actually BUY it! (Louis Wu 14:33:19 UTC) (permalink)

We Loved Thee, Space Squirrel
The Bungie Weekly Update is live - bug squashing, studio shenanigans, teases, and a great double hijack. Go read it! (It is, of course, available in our Weekly Update Archive, as well - no need for Silverlight!) (Louis Wu 02:23:51 UTC) (permalink)

News June 25 2010

Intentional Techno
GrimBrother One noticed an article at Kotaku - Stephen Totilo got the low-down on the seemingly out-of-character music in the Reach campaign demo unveiled at E3. It IS Marty's work, and the fact that it's different from everything else you've heard is intentional. Nice to know! (Louis Wu 19:15:00 UTC) (permalink)

Sneaky Spartan
It's like a rebirth of Halo Babies, or something... (Louis Wu 18:55:25 UTC) (permalink)

The Ultimate Elite
So last fall, we mentioned a project a couple of times (one | two) - a team called 'Kre8-fx' was building an animatronic Elite costume. Well, it looks like they're back - urk just highlighted the latest post from the team on the 405th forums... and I'm having trouble pulling my jaw up off the floor. There are a pair of images you can see in the post itself, plus a few more down below (if you've got a login for the 405th); if you don't, we've hosted local copies of these three (we'll pull 'em if that's a problem). Check head | spy | scary - amazing stuff. (Louis Wu 18:37:58 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Video Fever
New vids for you, up on Bungie's Comm Chatter this afternoon:

• The Detonation is a Halo 3 montage from Kottiz - guy likes his sniper.
• Top 10 Halo 3 Splatters: Episode 54 is the latest from Anoj - lots of splats.
• Cloud (a Pro player with Team Instinct) gave a bunch of clips to Vidol, who put together a teaser montage to advertise something coming out soon. Fast cuts, but you still see the ridiculous gameplay.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:35:15 UTC) (permalink)

Collecting Rewards
Interesting interview with Brian Jarrard and Chris Carney over at Gamasutra this morning - they discuss the Halo Reach Beta, and the take-home messages from it. It's a monster - 6 pages of good questions and better answers, lots of info about how the lessons learned in the Beta will be applied in the final game. Check it out! (Looks like Epyon MX noticed this too - if you're looking for a place to discuss this, use his thread!) (Louis Wu 14:55:13 UTC) (permalink)

Vehicular Annihilation
Minime637 was browsing YouTube, and ran across a vehicle montage with some nice gameplay - go check out oaklesss' Vehicular Annihilation. (Louis Wu 14:52:54 UTC) (permalink)

Spartan-II Emblem
Exige created what he thinks Spartan-II emblem should look like... pretty snazzy! (Louis Wu 14:35:35 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Banshee Battle/Post Mortem
Ready for more Fire Team Zulu challenges from FyreWulff? Banshee Battle is a Campaign challenge on Kikowani Station, while Post Mortem is a Firefight challenge on Alpha Site. Pick your poison - and kill some Covies! (Louis Wu 14:31:48 UTC) (permalink)

CE United's 20 Questions for June
Willy's back with another 20 Questions for the month of June - he interviewed Krewtaun, a guy who makes videos highlighting entertaining dialogue in the Halo campaign. Fun read! (Louis Wu 14:29:15 UTC) (permalink)

Stephen Loftus - now on Waypoint!
We missed this when it went live a couple of days ago, but Stephen Loftus' Scale Comparison can now be found on Halo Waypoint - it's even got new artwork that isn't in the HBO-hosted version! If you've got Xbox LIVE, swing by and check it out! Thanks to both General Vagueness (who noticed the announcement before it went live) and doober187 (who pointed out the actual article). (Louis Wu 14:09:43 UTC) (permalink)

MLG - like Make a Wish sometimes
Pennybags stopped in with a heartwarming story from the MLG forums - a community outpouring for a kid who just wants to play with pros. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:08:40 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight on Beachhead
There's a full game of Firefight, recorded on the map Beachhead, by the Halo Waypoint team - no voiceovers, just gameplay. (Not always very GOOD gameplay - but gameplay.) You get a great sense of the level itself, see what Wraiths can do, and so on. Thanks, GrimBrother One! (Louis Wu 14:04:00 UTC) (permalink)

Double EXP Weekend: Living Dead
Thursdays come awfully fast these days - I totally missed it when one went by yesterday. But if you were paying attention, the latest Double EXP Weekend Playlist went live then - and you can go play Living Dead right now (through Monday morning). Social 13-player FFA... with lots of brains. (Louis Wu 14:02:58 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Rules at E3
Inside Gaming awarded Halo Reach 'Best Online Multiplayer' in their E3 Wrap-Up. Also, Ten FTW looked at the Top 10 Xbox 360 games at E3 2010 - Halo Reach came in at the number one slot. Thanks, The Alpha Elite. (Louis Wu 13:57:58 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction News
The Fan Fiction section has been augmented with six new pieces - go read 'em! Also on the fanfic front, we got word from MaxRealflugel that a consortium of Bungie.net groups (FanFicFactor, The Mirratord and The Writing Guild) have gotten together to put together a fan-created fan fiction/fanart collection called Revolutions. (Yes, it's modeled after Halo: Evolutions.) It should be available this fall in PDF format. When it's been released, we'll let you know! (Louis Wu 13:55:56 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Reach: The Final Stretch
The Reach Development team hit 'ZBR' (Zero Bug Release) last night at midnight - there's a note at the Reach Developer Blog discussing the milestone, and a Twitpic showing off Marcus smashing the countdown clock in the back behind the studio. Thanks to Hedge for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 13:40:58 UTC) (permalink)

News June 24 2010

Master Chief Stamp
Hawty McBloggy found a pretty cool Master Chief stamp - what a way to add a Halo touch to your correspondence! (Louis Wu 18:35:39 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Continues in the News
More Reach coverage - CNet has a 37-minute video podcast in which Reach is played (the Campaign footage is the same as we've seen a dozen times during E3, but the Firefight footage is worth watching - Halo footage starts around 17 minutes in), and Joystiq has a preview with... well, no new info. Thanks to Domino Theory and Dani, respectively, for the links. Update: Another article at Kotaku, discussing difficulty - thanks, GrimBrother One. (Louis Wu 17:57:08 UTC) (permalink)

Trio Thursday
Video goodies for you today in Bungie's Comm Chatter:

• Rapture is a Halo 3 montage from DevilDawg - some nice attempts to sync music to the gameplay
• Stewie2552 is back with Funny Halo Fails and Laughs 13 - definitely some funny ones in there.
• Vilsen and Friends put together a Halo Reach Beta Montage - edit-frenzy!

Go watch. (Louis Wu 17:41:04 UTC) (permalink)

One Life Remaining: S2: Episode 3
I could have sworn we just mentioned a recent episode of One Life Remaining Season 2... but there's a NEW one (Episode 3), posted just a few days ago. (Maybe we'll catch up soon?) Anthony and Kathryn head out on a date, while Chad talks to a solicitor about an inheritance. Check it out. (Louis Wu 15:02:50 UTC) (permalink)

New Halo Toys - coming soon
Stephen Loftus noticed some new Halo items coming soon - Toychest News has info about upcoming Halo Reach action figures (they'll be here in September), and Alter Ego Comics is shwoing off a pre-order for a Cortana vinyl 8-inch statue (you can own this in December). Also coming in September is a radio-controlled Scorpion, to go along with your Warthog, Mongoose, and Hornet). Nice! Update: AvatarofChaosvX passed along a sell sheet for Reach Series 1, found on The Collectorate's forum (login needed to see original thread). (Louis Wu 14:38:40 UTC) (permalink)

Massive Halo CE News Roundup
Our Halo CE watcher has sent along a pretty amazing update of what's going on around the Custom Edition community - explore these links!

• Ifafudafi released a video showing off the new particle effects he's added to the Plasma Pistol (along with tons of interesting commentary)
• ShadowSpartan has been working on a real-time Tag Editor; check out the video to watch the interface in action. No more text editing, saving changes, firing up Halo, looking at the change, quitting, re-editing, etc - now you can see your changes as you play. Pretty cool!
• Siliconmaster's Precipice is getting awfully pretty!
• CtrlAltDestr0y2 has been playing with the flamethrower effects - nice work! - and has added a feature that not even Halo 3 had: destructible projectiles.
• Project Lumoria continues to evolve - check out the latest pics, they're gorgeous.
• There's a cool Firefight-type map that gives you credits for finishing waves, which you can use to purchase weapons - interesting!
• An open letter to the developers of Halo 2 Vista has been written - some thought-provoking views in there.
• And finally, some fans are putting together a virtual convention to celebrate the community - nice!

There's an awful lot of life in this community; go see what folks are doing! (Louis Wu 14:08:59 UTC) (permalink)

Fall of Beta, p3-4
pete_the_duck continues his 'Fall of Beta' comic - pages 3 and 4 are now online. He's growing as he creates, and it's pretty cool to watch! (Louis Wu 13:56:31 UTC) (permalink)

Focusing on the Characters
Hedgemony noticed a Halo Waypoint tweet announcing an interview with Brian Reed and Felix Ruiz, the writer and artist, respectively, behind the upcoming Fall of Reach comic. Interesting read! (Louis Wu 13:55:03 UTC) (permalink)

I think the Covenant might have won...
Stephen L. ran across a really odd grunt while playing through Kizingo Boulevard last night - hopefully, you'll never meet this guy! (Louis Wu 13:54:03 UTC) (permalink)

News June 23 2010

An Army of Clay
About a year ago, we got our first taste of Antithesis' mad skillz with clay - and since then, he's popped up a few times, always when Hawty McBloggy notices new material. His adorable Halo creations deserve more than an occasional mention, though - so we've set up a gallery for his Halo work. Swing by to see the full scope of his craft so far - and we'll keep this updated as he makes new figures! (Louis Wu 20:54:37 UTC) (permalink)

Bunker 27 is Back
I guess it's a day for nostalgic returns... Someone let us know that a trailer for Bunker 27 Episode V was just released (we mentioned Episode 3 back on September 6, 2005, and missed Episode 4 altogether) - go see how it's held up! (Louis Wu 20:30:35 UTC) (permalink)

Berday Cake!
Bleh - I wrote this up three hours ago, forgot to post it. PharoahsRaiment continues to brighten days - is it your birthday? Well, it's gotta be soon, right? Sometime in the next 50 weeks or so, at least... (Louis Wu 20:18:52 UTC) (permalink)

Autographed Halo 3 case
trigger119 (we haven't heard from him in a WHILE!) is back with a Bungie-autographed Halo 3 case (it was signed at MLG Las Vegas in 2007). It's up on eBay right now, starting bid of $50 - 10% of the proceeds go to Global Green. (There's no game inside - it's just the case.) Go look - you've got 9 days to decide! (Louis Wu 20:14:00 UTC) (permalink)

Wednesday Afternoon Videos
Videos on display at Bungie's Comm Chatter today:

• The Talking Forklift is a machinima about stupid people.
• Anoj has released Episode 9 of his Top 10 Halo Reach Kills series - Invasion Kills. Looks like there might be some spawn issues on Boneyard...
• Axilo and friends released Magic 2, the second in a series of Reach Beta montages. Editing is heavy.
• Help Me is a Halo 3 montage from Audacity - lots of multikills.
• The Spartan I Project dudes ran through the Deja Vu Achievement in 22 and a half minutes... there's a film up on B.net. (Unrendered, so you'll need to watch it in ODST.) If you thought you didn't have the time to complete the Vidmasters... you might have thought wrong.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:45:08 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief's Pets (#2)
The latest Master Chief Pets (a 5-part comic series at Hawty McBloggy's) is now live - sometimes, it's good to know who your friends are. (Louis Wu 15:53:57 UTC) (permalink)

Projet Alpha -Glitchtage, Funtage
Ivan Mathieu sent word of Project Alpha's latest - a collection of tricks and glitches found in the Reach Beta (some aren't really tricks or glitches, just odd or funny situations or locations), and a Funtage showing off some of the fails. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 15:51:03 UTC) (permalink)

Fall of Reach, in Comic Form
Jon Goff pointed out an article on HaloWaypoint.com - apparently, Marvel Comics will be releasing an adaptation of 'The Fall of Reach' this September. Go read about it - and check out some example artwork! There are a couple of threads on our forum discussing this right now - thanks, munky-058 and Avateur. (Louis Wu 15:35:28 UTC) (permalink)

More Hawk
Mid7night has another video of his Sparrowhawk in X-Plane - up-close view, plus landing gear. Pretty cool! (Louis Wu 15:34:28 UTC) (permalink)

CAA Factbook - New Pages
CaptainTony noticed some interesting backstory content on Bungie.net; it might have been there for a while, but nobody seems to have noticed it. Check out the pages from the Colonial Administration Authority Factbook - and then jump into the conversation on our forum! (Louis Wu 15:34:03 UTC) (permalink)

H3 4 Fun
Hazmat's last Halo 3 montage was mentioned on Bungie's Comm Chatter yesterday, but Halomontage.com was down when I tried to watch. Seems to be up now - go take a look! (Louis Wu 15:33:37 UTC) (permalink)

News June 22 2010

Oh So Beautiful - Halo 1 Edition
In 2005, Jamie98s created a series of videos he called 'Oh So Beautiful', looking at the scenery of Halo 2 (I | II | III | IV) - and then in 2008, he created one for Halo 3. Well, according to urk, he's back - with a Halo 1 edition. You can watch it on YouTube (at the Bungie.net link), or you can download it from us - 104 mb, in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats. (Louis Wu 19:14:33 UTC) (permalink)

DTH Reach Beta Community Funtage
Minime637 let us know he's released a Reach Beta Community Funtage - clips taken from users of DefendTheHouse.com, editing light. Credits are definitely worth watching! (Louis Wu 19:13:15 UTC) (permalink)

Falcon Fan Art
There's a new piece of artwork highlighted on Bungie's Comm Chatter today - AirForceHero whipped up a painting of a Falcon. Nice job! (Louis Wu 18:07:26 UTC) (permalink)

He feels defeated... and inexplicably rejuvenated
Red vs Blue Revelation Chapter 10: This One Goes To Eleven is now online... and MAN have they raised the bar. This one integrates Monty's skill with CGI and fight scenes, and has a real Portal vibe to it. Grif does some serious codpiece integrity testing. Go watch! Looking forward to next week, that's for sure! (Louis Wu 14:10:47 UTC) (permalink)

Weta sells some appropriate weapons for that...
Hawty McBloggy ran across a guy who whipped up a Steampunk Spartan Helmet... very cool. Check out the pics! (Louis Wu 14:10:27 UTC) (permalink)

The Fall of Beta - page 2
pete_the_duck continues his story, The Fall of Beta. Confused? Me too. Don't worry, it'll get clearer. (Louis Wu 14:10:02 UTC) (permalink)

Feelin' Down?
Let PharoahsRaiment bring you up. (Louis Wu 14:09:42 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight is Back!
gutterXshark (the guy behind the 'Spawn on your Bro Coop Style', 'Crazy Sausage Baby', and 'Super Awesome' remixes) is back with a new one - Firefight is back! Pretty funny. Thanks, Casimir. (Louis Wu 14:09:11 UTC) (permalink)

ASE Ep 17: E3's Reach
Rampancy.net has posted Episode 17 of Anger Sadness and Envy - this podcast looks at the E3 Reach reveals. This one is heavy on the video, and nicely put together - go watch! (I had a little trouble with the HD version, just as a warning.) Update: The HD upload had had a problem, but is fixed now! Thanks, Blackstar. (Louis Wu 14:08:19 UTC) (permalink)

Rat's Nest, Chapter 26
Bloogyo is back with another episode of Rat's Nest - and an apology for the delay. (Louis Wu 14:07:30 UTC) (permalink)

Tag and Release: Carnage
Bungie posted a new Tag and Release feature yesterday - Carnage is the word, and the collection of pics they found is impressive. Go look! (Louis Wu 14:01:22 UTC) (permalink)

Cleaning Out the Art Folder
TDSpiral dropped off a bunch of random and unfinished Halo pieces that's been building up in his art folder - some great stuff in there! (The followup post has a bunch more.) (Louis Wu 14:00:03 UTC) (permalink)

News June 21 2010

Monday Afternoon Vids
A couple of new vids for you today on Bungie's Comm Chatter: Anoj has The Top 10 Halo Reach Beta Sticks (Ep 8), and RandomSauce and the DefendTheHouse crew put together an untitled betatage. Lots of cool sticks in the first, lots of artsy editing in the second. Go watch both! (Louis Wu 18:03:57 UTC) (permalink)

Vidding It... with S7yle.
Last week, we got a couple of requests for help with the Vidmaster Achievements - and while we're not really set up for that kind of thing, there is a group that's there for you. Check out the Spartan I Project - urk has just posted some new stats on their accomplishments over at Bungie.net. If you want help completing these achievements for Recon Armor in Halo 3... these are the guys to talk to! (Louis Wu 17:40:59 UTC) (permalink)

TTL invades Chicago
Tied the Leader knows how to put on a LAN party. Swing by ChicagoL4Nd, a writeup of their most recent get-together that took place over Memorial Day Weekend in Chicago. LOTS of pictures, lots of memories... if you weren't there, you should have been. When you're done reading about the fun they all had, read about the money they raised during that event for the Tied the Leader Foundation - $1400 is making its way to help wounded combat vets, with donaters going home with some super-cool keepsakes. Home-brewed beer in a custom case, TTL-branded clothing, and more - great stuff! And a great cause. Good Game, TTL. Good Game. (Louis Wu 15:12:25 UTC) (permalink)

Cortana... she glows
A very cool series of pics are up at Hawty McBloggy's this morning - a body-painted Cortana, who glows in the dark! A full description of the process, along with pics of the in-progress paint job, are included. (Mostly safe for work; she's wearing pasties and a thong.) (Louis Wu 14:50:11 UTC) (permalink)

Molded Nobles
Antithesis is back with more spectacular Halo clay figures - this time, it's Noble Team - and a few other Reach characters. I'm drooling... go look. (Louis Wu 14:49:36 UTC) (permalink)

Prepared for Drop
Yesterday's Grin + Bear It was another guest strip from ZzoMBiE13 - Arby and the Chief discover the pitfalls of stepping into other shoes. (Louis Wu 14:48:33 UTC) (permalink)

Custom Halo Ammo
Sqorck has been playing with a lathe - check out his Sniper and BR bullets! Pretty cool stuff! (Louis Wu 14:48:10 UTC) (permalink)

Forum Art
Some artwork on our forum this morning - PharaohsRaiment posted Papa Chief (free hugz!), and padraig08 whipped up a wallpaper based on the Hammer medal. Go see! (Louis Wu 14:37:57 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' The Chief, and more
We took yesterday off, to spend the day with family... but there wasn't a huge amount of Halo news anyway. One thing I ran across was a trailer for Arby 'n' The Chief, Season 4 - the first episode isn't actually out yet, but the trailer gives you the idea that it will be using Reach. While you're watching Jon cjg's work, check out One Life Remaining: S2: Episode 2 - went up a couple of weeks ago. Drama ensues. (Louis Wu 14:35:40 UTC) (permalink)

News June 20 2010

Happy Father's Day
Just a quick note, to apologize for the lack of Halo news... and wishes for a Happy Fathers Day for all those who are fathers, or who have fathers in their lives. News tomorrow! (Louis Wu 21:18:59 UTC) (permalink)

News June 19 2010

Top Ten Halo Screenshots: Pretty as a Painting
The theme this week for the Top Ten Halo Screenshots at Halo3Screenshots.com is 'Pretty as a Painting' - some of these are definitely frameable. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 19:31:57 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Fails: Episode 30
Chris10023 let us know that Halo 3 Fails Episode 30 is now available - lots of head-slapping moments! Go watch. (Louis Wu 19:31:37 UTC) (permalink)

Watch the Hunters!
ElzarTheBam noticed a Firefight 2.0 video from GrabGeekPoints - quality's iffy, but gameplay is solid! (Louis Wu 19:31:18 UTC) (permalink)

Making Use of New Art Assets
newguy2445 has added some new artwork to his Halo Reach collection - swing by DeviantART to browse it! (Louis Wu 19:30:40 UTC) (permalink)

Storyboards for Headhunter
TDSpiral whipped up some very cool storyboards for a film class project - check 'em out! (Louis Wu 19:30:01 UTC) (permalink)

Owning a piece of it
One more interview from the Waypoint crew - Nathan Fillion talks about how Halo saved him a while back. Fun stuff! (Louis Wu 19:29:34 UTC) (permalink)

Flying the 'Hawk
Mid7night has been working on bringing the Halo Wars Sparrowhawk to X-Plane - go see how he's doing! (Louis Wu 19:28:43 UTC) (permalink)

Wax on, indeed.
urk's back in Seattle - and the Bungie Weekly Update is live - a summary of some of the highlights of E3... and a ridiculous list of all the options available for Firefight customization. (It's long. Very, very long.) There's some other fun, stuff, too - worth a read! You can, of course, view it in our Weekly Update Archive, if you so choose. (Louis Wu 01:48:05 UTC) (permalink)

News June 18 2010

The People's Gaming Awards - Go Vote
Voting for the Golden Joystick 2010 Awards is now open - Halo 3: ODST is up for Shooter of the Year and Soundtrack of the year, while Reach is in the running for One To Watch. Go vote! (Louis Wu 11:14:37 UTC) (permalink)

Reach completes... Bungie.
VideoGamer.com interviewed Joe Tung and Eric Osborne at E3 this week - space talk, Kinect and why it's not in Reach, a distinct lack of discussion about Master Chief, and more! A key tidbit (one focused on by VG.com, actually) is that nothing was cut this time around - all proposed features made the product's shipping featureset. This is potentially HUGE. Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 11:08:55 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Ninth Circle / Battle Square
FyreWulff has challenged you with a new Fire Team Zulu - this one has both Campaign (on Data Hive) and Firefight (on Rally Point) components, with multiple difficulty options. Go play! (Louis Wu 10:49:40 UTC) (permalink)

Fan-Built Red vs Blue Timeline
TheRecreator whipped up a pretty cool Red vs Blue Timeline - It's an interactive Flash app that makes sense of some of the ins and outs of the evolving RvB storyline. It includes all five seasons of the original series, plus Reconstruction, Relocated, and Revelation. Go play with it! (Louis Wu 10:48:58 UTC) (permalink)

Free Elite/ODST for Aussies
Gizmodo Australia is giving away an Xbox 360 Elite bundle, complete with Halo 3: ODST and Forza 3 - if you're a resident of Australia, swing by to see how you can win it! (Louis Wu 10:46:36 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 97
Would it really be Friday if there were no Friday Caption Fun? Hawty brings you the best captions for last week's pic, plus a new Halo 3 vehicle that really needs your help to be properly named. Go play! (Louis Wu 10:46:01 UTC) (permalink)

HMB Legendary Helmet Contest - Voting
Ten days ago, we mentioned a contest at Hawty McBloggy's - she was looking for you to come up with novel uses for your Legendary Spartan Helmet. Today, voting for the top 7 entries went live - go vote! (Be sure to follow all of the links in the opening paragraph, to see some of the non-finalists...) (Louis Wu 10:44:20 UTC) (permalink)

More Firefight
IGN posted their own Firefight demo, with Lars doing the narrating - thanks, Lifejumper. And Talk Xbox has summarized the high points of Reach's Firefight mode - worth a read if you're feeling overwhelmed. (Louis Wu 10:43:30 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Six new pieces are up for your viewing pleasure in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read! (Louis Wu 10:42:31 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Records the Reach Love
Last night, Dani found a bunch of videos done by the Waypoint crew - Lars Bakken talks Firefight (and general Reach goodness), Hip Hop Gamer raps about Master Chief at the Reach Party, and CS Lee from Dexter is excited about Reach. Cameras for the win! (Louis Wu 10:42:02 UTC) (permalink)

News June 17 2010

Kinectimalfight
Some of our forumgoers are... a little off. (Don't worry, though, he doesn't bite.) (Louis Wu 22:42:50 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Footage
If you're interested in watching shakeycam footage of the new Firefight, swing by YouTube - GatheringofGamers posted an 8-minute vid filmed from a theater showing. Fun stuff! Thanks, Lifejumper. (Louis Wu 20:31:36 UTC) (permalink)

Campaign Walkthrough from GT
More from GameTrailers - Lars runs through the campaign gameplay once again. Why should you watch it for the 80th time? Because there are always little tidbits that might be different from the last one you saw. (Nice hint about some space boarding action that might come later...) Good discussion in this one. Thanks, Sean P. (Louis Wu 19:17:40 UTC) (permalink)

Gamespot's on the floor
Gamespot's posted a couple of 'Floor Check In' videos - interviews with Lars Bakken (about Firefight) and Joe Tung (mentions Forge). Thanks, ElusiveEagle519! (Louis Wu 19:08:22 UTC) (permalink)

She's looking forward to shooting herself. In the face.
Another Halo Waypoint interview - Aisha Tyler holds forth on Reach's story and the parts of the game she loves. Thanks again, Zeouterlimits. (Louis Wu 18:41:15 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Walkthrough at GT
Lars talks to Gametrailers about Firefight: Part 1 | Part 2. Part 1 is the (now-familiar) customization stuff... Part 2 is a look at some of the newest goodies in Firefight, like the Drop Shield and Target Designator. Thanks, Sean P. (Louis Wu 18:34:42 UTC) (permalink)

Gamespot's Reach Stage Demo
Over at NeoGAF, Demoncarnotaur noticed a Gamespot Stage Demo of Halo Reach - Mike Zak and Lars Bakken take over the gameplay/discussion pairing. The Gamespot host was content to watch the play for much of the time, so you get a cleaner view of the demo than in previous releases, and a very nice view of the space combat. One new fact - Zak makes it clear that Sabre gameplay is a campaign-only experience (though this includes coop) - no multiplayer. There's also a very easy-to-read runthrough of the Firefight customization screens... awesome! Go watch. (Louis Wu 18:13:56 UTC) (permalink)

TPT: Double EXP Playlists - Prepare to Drop, Part 2
Brian Gilmore let us know that the Teabag Prevention Team is continuing their Double EXP 'Prepare to Drop' list hints - Part 2 is now live on their site. This one focuses on the Asset Escort gametype, and ways that you can tip the odds in your favor when playing it. Take a look! (Louis Wu 17:16:07 UTC) (permalink)

pete_the_duck comics, page 1
pete_the_duck isn't sure if he wants to get started on something he can't finish... but he's posted the first page of a comic-based story on our forum. Go give him feedback! (Louis Wu 17:15:15 UTC) (permalink)

Best of E3 Nominees
Reach has been nominated for Best Shooter and Best Xbox 360 Game at E3 by the IGN crew - The Alpha Elite linked to the full list on our forum. (Louis Wu 17:14:57 UTC) (permalink)

5 Biggest changes in Reach's Firefight
IGN posted a summary of the five biggest changes in Reach's Firefight mode - if you missed the videos, this is a nice way to catch up. Thanks, Minime637. (Louis Wu 17:14:36 UTC) (permalink)

Bitter Garbage
Chuck's Zach Levi and Joshua Gomez were interviewed on the E3 floor by the Waypoint team - go see what they think about Reach! Thanks, Zeouterlimits. (Louis Wu 17:14:08 UTC) (permalink)

News June 16 2010

The Battle of LA
They're late... but don't worry, there's still dip left. Tied the Leader was at the Reach event last night, as well, represented nicely by stabmasterarson. Check out his writeup - lots of cool pics, lots of atmosphere. Thanks, as usual, to XerxdeeJ for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 23:29:30 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Firefight Customization Options
Inside Gaming did their own interview with Brian - plus grabbed footage from Lars' presentation during the Reach event last night. A good view of the customization screens in Firefight! Thanks, MattDratt. Update: FyreWulff went through and transcribed all the readable customization options - check 'em out in this post. Wow... just wow. (Louis Wu 21:57:26 UTC) (permalink)

Jeremy Parish discusses Reach with Brian Jarrard
There's a stage demo of Reach's E3 campaign level (the run up to the Sabre, and then space combat) over at 1UP - the gameplay is the same as we've seen before, but the discussion is great; lots and lots of tidbits. 11 minutes long - worth a watch! Thanks to Zeouterlimits for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 21:50:30 UTC) (permalink)

Pretties for your Desktop
Minime637 whipped up a pair of wallpapers - one showcasing our allies, the other our enemies. Swing by his post for DeviantART links. (Louis Wu 21:03:00 UTC) (permalink)

Upgrades to Forge?
There's a paragraph in a recent Popular Mechanics article that tantalizes... but could very will be due to a misunderstanding.

There are other surprises in Reach, including multiplayer modes that weren't playable in the recent public Beta, more new vehicles and a fully-featured level-editor that's so powerful, Bungie developers used it to create a few of the maps that will come with the game.

Emphasis is mine... because if it's true, it's the answer to a bunch of fan prayers. If it's a misunderstanding... well, there'll be some sad pandas around the net. When we hear more, we'll let you know! Thanks to RC Master for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:10:41 UTC) (permalink)

Medics and Fuel Rods and Brutes, oh my!
Voltron64 has written up his thoughts from last night (he attended the Reach event, as we mentioned earlier) - tidbits about weapons, enemies, loadouts. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 18:56:36 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Assets Updated: Renders
-Yeti was the first to notice a bunch of new renders at Bungie.net... goodness. Go look. (That Heavy Grunt is actually cute! Well... until he blows you up.) (Louis Wu 15:58:22 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... Elderflower?
BungieTweets has posted a shot of the beverage menu from last night's event (mnemesis mentioned it, but didn't get a pic) - I think I'll wait for the Brute Beer. Thanks, GrimBrother IV. (Louis Wu 15:33:13 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight 2.0
Man... you answer the phone, and the time just slips away. We knew the Firefight trailer was coming at 6 am PDT... but unfortunately, I wasn't around to point it out when it went live. 'Sokay, though, we're only 20 minutes late. Go grab a copy. It's available in 360p/720p in WMP9, QT, and iPhone formats. And it's beautiful. So many details! (Louis Wu 13:29:53 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Smorgasbord
Ron Dagan has a bunch of Halo (and general gaming) stuff for sale - including a 360, a bunch of games, Halo 3 concept art, halo books, action figures, and more. Take a look! Auction ends in 2.5 days. (Louis Wu 13:00:32 UTC) (permalink)

Master Chief's Pets (#1)
Quick break from E3/Firefight overload - Hawty McBloggy has a guest comic up in place of this week's (and the next 4 weeks') ODS Steve - it's called Master Chief's Pets, it's drawn by waarrioronlydude, and it made me laugh. Check it out! (Louis Wu 12:50:21 UTC) (permalink)

Lars talks Firefight with Gamespot
Gamespot interviewed Lars Bakken last night - more details about Firefight (no, you haven't heard it all yet). Thanks, ElusiveEagle519! (Louis Wu 12:36:47 UTC) (permalink)

Lars and Brian Introduce Firefight
NeoGAF's Voltron64 was also at last night's Reach Event, and managed to grab some video footage of the presentation. The customization for Firefight looks ASTOUNDING. (Louis Wu 12:32:47 UTC) (permalink)

Yes, it's true. I'm jealous.
mnemesis was actually AT the Reach event last night - and while he didn't get any video footage or screenshots, there's a writeup on our forum. Firefight details, Halo-themed drinks, celebrity spottings, a new combat dialogue actor identified... it's worth a read! (Louis Wu 12:10:53 UTC) (permalink)

New Reach Screens
IGN has a new batch of screenshots online - they're not on B.net yet, so this is as good a place as any to see them. Thanks to GhaleonEB for the heads-up (and check out the Hunter shot he embedded... those guys have gotten SCARY). Update: Actually, EuroGamer has put up 1080p versions, rather than IGN's 720p ones (thanks, kapowaz), so maybe look there. (Louis Wu 12:05:00 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight Trailer
TDSpiral found a Firefight trailer at GameVideos - it's recorded off the screen... but it'll still get your blood pumping. I'm guessing we'll see a high-res version of this one in the not-too-distant future... like maybe today. Update: this will be released on B.net at 6 am PDT (that's about 15 minutes from this update!). (Louis Wu 12:00:46 UTC) (permalink)

Firefight, In-Depth
For folks who want their info more succinct, IGN has put up a text summary of the Firefight facts they learned last night (thanks, oddworld) - go see how this mode has evolved since its inception in ODST! All of the awesomeness, none of the disappointments... Firefight is gonna keep folks playing Reach a LONG time. There's a ton of additional video on the Reach Video page - not really high-quality, but you get a feel for Firefight gameplay... and more.) (Louis Wu 11:54:26 UTC) (permalink)

G4TV Floor Demo/Jarrard Interview
G4TV also had a session with a Bungie employee - Brian Jarrard laid down some sweet facts along with the demo footage. Definitely worth watching - and discussing. There's a big thread here (thanks, GrimBrother One), Minime637 found an archived streaming version online, and we put up a cropped Reach-only chunk if you'd rather skip all the OTHER game footage. Firefight's back, baby... (Louis Wu 11:47:45 UTC) (permalink)

IGN Floor Demo/Tung Interview
IGN posted a 10-minute video of their behind-closed-doors session with Joe Tung, including lots of discussion and some campaign play. New tidbits about what's coming, extended coverage of space combat, and a new weapon (the Concussion Rifle) is described. There's HD footage on YouTube - go watch! Thanks to ElusiveEagle519 for staying on top of this one. (Louis Wu 11:35:16 UTC) (permalink)

The E3 Flood - Day 1 Summary Begins
Tons and tons of content came out of E3 yesterday; I'm going to do my best to summarize. (Thanks in advance to our forumgoers, who did a bang-up job of keeping on top of stuff!) The earliest thing to hit was a text summary of Reach's space combat, courtesy of IGN. (Thanks, Minime637.) (Louis Wu 11:31:30 UTC) (permalink)

News June 15 2010

Bungie's New IP Platform Info
Although Bungie has said that they're focused on Reach for E3 this year, it sounds like Activision has no qualms about mentioning upcoming content from the studio - Computer and Video Games is reporting that Bungie's next project will be released for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Interesting tidbit! Thanks, The BS Police. (Louis Wu 17:20:05 UTC) (permalink)

RvB PSA #2: Game On
Eep, nearly forgot. A new PSA went live on Rooster Teeth last night - it's called 'Game On', and it will help you to understand the video game industry. So you can buy games! And stuff. Funny and helpful, all at the same time! (Louis Wu 15:12:49 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Screenshot Dump
Brand-new screenshots are up for your viewing pleasure - swing by Bungie.net's Reach Screenshot page for some high-res goodness. (The Sabre launch in 1920x1080 is about to become a desktop here.) (Louis Wu 14:59:55 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Snippet from Controller Montage
For Halo fans who don't want to download the entire 170mb Controller Montage off Xbox LIVE Marketplace, we've uploaded just the Reach bit at the end (it's just 10 seconds long): WMP9 format (6.8 mb) | QT format (7.2 mb). Contains equal parts of campaign and multiplay - but there are definitely some worthwhile moments to peruse on pause! Enjoy! (Louis Wu 14:46:02 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Footage in Controller Montage
If you live in Great Britain (or possibly all of Europe), you have access to a video called 'Controller Montage Trailer' on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. According to 2900d4u,

[It] shows a few seconds of reach footage at the end of the video. Grunts dropping out of a phantom, a brute chieftain and a new futuristic city level can be seen.

No access to this for those of us in the US, unfortunately. Updated: I'm wrong, there's a US version. Thanks, Dani! (Louis Wu 14:23:11 UTC) (permalink)

CNN's Top 10 Video Games of the Past Decade
CNN has posted their Top 10 video games of the past decade - the "best and most influential games". Halo makes the list. (Louis Wu 14:13:18 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Press Conference Presentation - in HD
DHalo managed to grab a gorgeous HD version of the Microsoft press conference version of the Halo: Reach presentation (including the MS intro and Marcus' part) - it's in MP4 format, and weighs in at 160 mb. If you'd like a copy, you can grab it here. (Louis Wu 13:22:46 UTC) (permalink)

Johnny Fisk Talks Noble Team
There's an interesting interview with the Project Manager of the crew that built the Noble Team statue on Halo Waypoint's YouTube channel - go see what kind of time and effort was put into this project! Thanks, lybertyboy. (Louis Wu 13:22:07 UTC) (permalink)

Spartans on the Ground
The Reach Developer Blog posted a couple of pictures of a statue showing at E3 - one showing all of Noble Team, one focusing on Jun. This comes from the SuperSpectacularKilimanjaroEverest version of the game - and no, you can't afford it. (Louis Wu 13:21:10 UTC) (permalink)

Internal Affairs
In the midst of the E3 madness yesterday, chromeratt announced a new Halo webcomic - it's called 'Internal Affairs', and it focuses on the Master Chief in a deserted UNSC colony. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 13:20:46 UTC) (permalink)

News June 14 2010

Sabre - Biggest Pants-Wetting Moment of Keynote
If you could get away from work or school, and were watching one of the E3 live feeds, you recently saw the Halo: Reach single-player demo... and it was pretty amazing stuff. If you missed it, though, don't worry; it should be live on Bungie.net in the next half-hour or so. (We hope.) We'll update this newspost when we see it! Update: News is posted now, download is available in WMP9 and QT format (both 360p and 720p), as well as iPhone format. Update 2: Looks like what's on B.net is NOT what was shown at E3; it's an edited (and much shorter) version. You can see a ripped-from-the-feed version on YouTube (thanks, Overdoziz). Update 3: Gilver pointed out a higher-quality version of the E3 vid at IGN. (Louis Wu 18:16:34 UTC) (permalink)

Don't press send.
This is very, very old (posted in November 2007), but it's new to me - someone plays the Halo theme on their cell phone. Amazing! Thanks, General Vagueness. (Louis Wu 15:58:59 UTC) (permalink)

TPT: Double EXP Playlists - Prepare to Drop
Brian Gilmore let us know that the Teabag Prevention Team has begun tackling the Double EXP Playlists - and their latest article focuses on this past weekend's list, Prepare To Drop. Go check out the details! (Louis Wu 15:54:05 UTC) (permalink)

Watching the MS Conference Live
If you're interested in watching the Microsoft press conference at E3 today (it starts at 10:30 PT - roughly 3.5 hours from the time of this writing), Urban Reflex listed a few options. To them, I'd add 1UP.com. (Louis Wu 13:58:21 UTC) (permalink)

News June 13 2010

Twin Bridges Megabattle Movies
Rockslider is back with another pair of Megabattle vids - this time, he's focusing on the Twin Bridges section of Assault on the Control Room. 52 Covenant, 16 marines... and a Spartan. What more do you need? Go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 21:47:53 UTC) (permalink)

MS E3 Keynote on AU TV
If you're in Australia, it looks like you'll be able to watch the Microsoft E3 Keynote on Fox8 (a pay channel) a couple of times on June 15 - check the Gizmodo article for full details! Reach will definitely be a part of this show. Thanks, Hedgemony! (Louis Wu 19:35:56 UTC) (permalink)

Lehto to be at E3
ChenK noticed a short post on the Reach Developer Blog - looks like Marcus is down in LA, gearing up for E3! Should make for some interesting interviews in the coming week... (Louis Wu 14:06:40 UTC) (permalink)

Armor Abilities in Halo 3 Contest - Voting
The Armor Abilities in Halo 3 Contest running over at Halo3Screenshots.com is now in the voting phase - swing by and pick your favorite! You've got about a week (voting closes Monday, June 14th at 11:59 PT), so look carefully. (Louis Wu 14:06:17 UTC) (permalink)

Another Halo Related Comic Strip
Over at Hawty McBloggy's, there's a new guest Grin + Bear It - ZzoMBiE13's take this strip plays with something most of us have wondered since G+BI started. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:06:00 UTC) (permalink)

News June 12 2010

Grifball: Zero Tolerance
Halo Waypoint has posted a trailer for Grifball: Zero Tolerance (a new series from Rooster Teeth) on their YouTube channel - Grifball and controlled substances don't mix, apparently. First of three episodes will debut on Waypoint next Saturday. Thanks, GrimBrother IV. (Louis Wu 15:30:14 UTC) (permalink)

343 to announce Future Halo titles?
Domino Theory noticed a rumor post at Attack of the Fanboy - word is that future Halo titles (coming from 343 Industries) will be announced at E3 next week. Here's hoping! (Louis Wu 15:29:38 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo Screenshots: Bloody Fantastic!
The Halo 3 Screenshots Top Ten theme this week is "Bloody Fantastic!" - and no, Hawty didn't just move to England. The shots are FULL of blood. Some very cool shots indeed... (Louis Wu 15:29:14 UTC) (permalink)

Farewell, Porky
The Bungie Weekly Update this week is full of bugs - or more accurately, the process of squashing them. Great read, and some very cool tidbits about Elite customization in Reach. Go give it a read! (As always, it's also available - and more browser-friendly - in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 01:32:25 UTC) (permalink)

News June 11 2010

Lazer? Really?
There's a really interesting interview with Rooster Teeth's Geoff Ramsey over at UGO - tons of information for both fans of the Red vs Blue series and machinima fans in general. I learned a bunch reading this - and I've been following them since Day One. Go check it out! (Louis Wu 19:06:34 UTC) (permalink)

Pull up a chair and watch a spell
A couple of new vids for you today, courtesy of Bungie's Comm Chatter: Anoj has another "Bungie Explains" episode (where he tells you what's in the Bungie Weekly Updates, if reading makes your head hurt), and ClearlyMe has posted 'The Offset', a Halo 3 trick jumping montage - some VERY cool jumps. Check 'em both out! (Louis Wu 19:05:30 UTC) (permalink)

Double EXP: Prepare to Drop
Missed this yesterday - but 'Prepare to Drop' is the Double EXP Weekend Playlist this week, and it went live almost a day ago. SMGs and Magnums... go play! (Louis Wu 15:54:31 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Focus/Eye Doctor
FyreWulff is back with a new Fire Team Zulu challenge - this one has both Firefight and Campaign options, and can be done on Easy. (Don't think it's gonna be a walk in the park, though... Blind Skull is on.) Check out the links in his forum post! Update: looks like you can earn some separate achievements, too... (Louis Wu 15:52:25 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 96
It's Friday, so it's time for another Friday Caption Fun episode at Hawty McBloggy's - captions from last week's ep, plus a new pic ('You Sank My Battleship' was taken within 20 minutes of the image going up) for your captioning pleasure. Go play! (Louis Wu 15:50:22 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Finals must be over, or something... there are 13 new pieces available in the Fan Fiction section this week. Go read 'em! (Louis Wu 15:50:05 UTC) (permalink)

News June 10 2010

Overcoming the Glass Helmet
Black Six noticed a link at Bitmob - a pair of doctoral students at Ohio University's School of Communication Studies looked at gender-based interaction in Halo 3. (Not surprisingly for anyone who's played in a game with women, they found that women receive a far greater number of negative comments than men do.) Interesting read, overall - see if it changes the way you think about the other players in your matches! (Louis Wu 22:50:19 UTC) (permalink)

urk's job: catalog movies for me
OMG OUT ALL DAY TIME TO CATCH UP ON COMM CHATTER VIDS:

• Top 10 Halo Reach Beta Glitches and Bugs: Episode 7 (from Anoj)
• Halo: Reach Beta Super Fun Time (montage from rowboat000)
• Halo: Reach Beta Montage (from Intactility)
• Tea n' Crumpets (Halo 3 trick jumping montage from Maccy)
• Final Bruteage (Halo 3 Brute Shot montage from M1STA WU1FY)

There's still time, watch them today! (Louis Wu 22:40:32 UTC) (permalink)

LEGO Ringworld
Hawty McBloggy found a Halo Ringworld... made of LEGO. It's amazing. After checking out her highlights, be sure you follow the link to the full Flickr set - amazing details. (Louis Wu 14:26:51 UTC) (permalink)

Sweet Helmet!
Last weekend, Cake Wrecks put up a gamer-themed series of cakes for their 'Sunday Sweets' series (non-wrecks, all) - there are some really spectacular cakes in there, including a very nice Spartan Helmet! Check 'em out. Thanks, GhaleonEB. (Louis Wu 14:26:25 UTC) (permalink)

FUD: your one-stop shop for E3 Reach Info
Dani has set up an E3 hub for Forward Unto Dawn - looks to be a decent place for keeping up on any Reach news that comes out of E3 next week. There's already a bit of content he's managed to glean from various sources (and an E3 Bingo card you can use to play along). Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:25:37 UTC) (permalink)

Looking back at the Beta
Gravemind continues his series of very in-depth looks at Bungie games, with an overview of the Reach Beta. Lots of details - grab a big mug o' coffee and take a look. (Louis Wu 14:24:55 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 - a big seller
Xbox Product Director Aaron Greenberg crowed on Twitter yesterday that Halo 3 outsold (in the US) Resistance 1 and 2, Uncharted 1 and 2, Killzone 2 and God of War III - combined. I'd seen it mentioned in passing on a random site, but passed on it because a quick count seemed to suggest it was wrong... but when ElusiveEagle519 pointed it out again, I did a little more digging - and it seems the claim DOES hold up - if you look at US sales. Nice! (Louis Wu 14:23:57 UTC) (permalink)

Guess it's pizza and Xbox LIVE for Marty
ElusiveEagle519 noticed a tweet from Marty O'Donnell yesterday afternoon: "Just about finished the music." Nice, Marty! (Louis Wu 14:23:20 UTC) (permalink)

News June 9 2010

Owners of the Katana: Week 2 Favorites
The second batch of favorite files from Owners of the Katana is now up in the Bungie Favorites section at Bungie.net; swing by and read about one of their maps, then download the whole batch! (Louis Wu 20:20:16 UTC) (permalink)

The Life honored at 2010 AICP Show
According to SHOOTonline, the Halo 3 ODST short "The Life" was honored for Production, Cinematography, Editorial and Visual Effects at the 19th Annual AICP Show "The Art & Technique of the American Commercial", which opened yesterday in New York. Nice! (Louis Wu 17:00:22 UTC) (permalink)

Video Extravaganza
Busy morning - no time to collect news. Let's see what's available at Bungie.net... looks like a boatload of videos. Here's a summary:

• d4psa1 has put together some 3D screenshots - you either need glasses or crossed eyes to see 'em. (Really, you need glasses, unless you like headaches.) They're in montage form.
• Lil Seb whipped up a 100% MLG Halo 3 montage whith the editing talents of Phobia - 7 minutes of heavy editing (lots of credit time).
• Cheap Ass Gamer put together a highlight reel for the Grifball Summer League 2010 - lots of hammers and swords. Some very nice techniques.
• Mace Windex wrote a Reach-inspired instrumental piece and used it as a screenshot soundtrack.
• PHYSCADELIX and FLASHGABE played a bunch in the Reach Beta, and compiled a 1v1ontage (that's the first time I ever saw that term, and I don't think i understand it.)
• Everything is a montage from B1z3rKeR and Alien showing off more Reach Beta goodness.

That should take care of lunch hour... or afternoon downtime. (Louis Wu 16:54:28 UTC) (permalink)

Stop her if you've heard this before.
Hawty McBloggy has taken over the updating of The Chronicles of ODS Steve this week, since DeepCee is on vacation. I'm not sure this was a really good idea... (Louis Wu 16:46:14 UTC) (permalink)

News June 8 2010

Tuesday Afternoon Videos
Bunch of new vids available in today's Comm Chatter at Bungie.net:

• 'Pure' is a Reach Beta montage from Sandman - Sandman likes him some Sniper and DMR action.
• Believe Me 2.0 is a Reach Beta Montage from BilzozANinja - he already released this montage, but he's updated the intro, and added a bit of gameplay.
• Halo 3 Funny Lines 5 is a collection of clips from the Halo 3/ODST campaigns involving some great dialogue from NPCs. This is apparently the final episode. ("You suck, Reclaimer!" made me laugh.)

Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:43:21 UTC) (permalink)

Shoulda Hadda Beta
Tied the Leader has a new piece up for your reading pleasure - XerxdeeJ explores the need for (and pitfalls of) a public beta for a top-tier game release - it's an interesting thought-provoker. Check it out! (Thanks, deeJ.) (Louis Wu 15:01:13 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... are these Museets?
Not long ago, OboeCrazy kicked off a site she called 'Musiter' - it was inspired by Twitter... but it uses music, not text. She posts musical tidbits of 140 notes or less. Her most recent addition? The Halo theme, played on an English Horn. Kickass! (Louis Wu 15:00:04 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... Pluto is a STATE?
Red vs Blue Revelation Chapter 9 (Backup Plans) is online now - Wash continues to be antisocial, Red Team gets inside, and Caboose is surprisingly insightful. And surprises! Check out the surprises. Funny! (Louis Wu 14:59:08 UTC) (permalink)

MCUfaH3LH Contest
So you bought the Halo 3 Legendary Edition, and somewhere on a shelf, you've got a helmet that might or might not fit your cat. Hawty McBloggy wants to get your creative juices flowing. (CREATIVE juices, you sicko. She wants you to make stuff. ART stuff. Gah.) Come up with a cool use for the helmet, you can win OTHER helmets! Read her post for full details. (Louis Wu 14:57:40 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Zero: Evolved, last tech demo released
We got word from HCDPAMF that there's a new Halo Zero Evolved Tech Demo - this link was supposed to be removed June 3, so although it's still up, there's another link here. Check it out! (If you haven't heard of this project, search our news.) (Louis Wu 14:56:41 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Columbus Results (a little late)
We neglected to get back to the MLG Columbus wrap-up on Sunday - but congratulations (once again) to Instinct, who took first place for the second tourney in a row. Final Boss definitely benefitted from the addition of iGotUrPisto1a - they placed second, their best showing since the first tournament in 2008. Full results are on the MLGPro.com website, along with highlight videos, game analysis, and more. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:55:37 UTC) (permalink)

News June 7 2010

Tag and Release: Death
Today's Tag and Release term at Bungie.net is 'Death' - it's not really clear to me why some of the entries are on the list, but they're cool pics nonetheless. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 21:57:55 UTC) (permalink)

Things You Wont Expect #3
Chris101b sent along a link to a new 'Things You Won't Expect' - he's right. (Louis Wu 20:23:21 UTC) (permalink)

Fan-Fictional? Nice.
EspenGenin's been posting interesting fan art on the Bungie forums recently - a note on Bungie's Comm Chatter today revealed the thread for the masses. Loving the Marathon/Halo crossover art! (Louis Wu 17:14:45 UTC) (permalink)

Comm Chatter Video Goodness
A couple of new vids available at Bungie.net this fine Monday: Mike n Cheese put together a montage of submissions for the Kontrol Freek Contest (we mentioned it back in early May) - you can vote for your favorite... and Anoj posted his Top 10 Halo: Reach Beta Lucky Kills - some pretty lucky plays in there! Go watch. (Louis Wu 17:14:09 UTC) (permalink)

Run for Child's Play
Over at Rooster Teeth, community member tsume is doing his own charity fundraising; he's hosting 'Run for Child's Play'. Over the next 18 weeks, he's going to be training for the Lewis and Clark Marathon, to be held in St. Charles, MO on October 3. He's going to be contributing $1 of his OWN money for every mile he runs during training and on race day - if you'd like to help, you can contribute towards his goal of $3000. Money will go to (if you couldn't guess from the drive title) Child's Play. (Louis Wu 14:41:23 UTC) (permalink)

Bungiedayathon 2010
FyreWulff wants to raise money for the Brian Morden Foundation - and he wants you to help. He's going to be playing the entire Marathon Trilogy, plus all the Halo games, during Bungie Day 2010 (July 7, 2010) - and is looking for sponsors. Check out his post! (Louis Wu 14:38:33 UTC) (permalink)

Showing the Love
Hedgemony has been plugging away at his apparent goal of beautifying every Halo: Reach screenshot ever taken - HEDGEMONYlovesHALO has gotten an upgrade, and a lot more pictures. They're easier to browse now, which is good, because there are more than 150 of them. Go see! (Click on the 'Contribute to the War Effort' if you want to submit a picture of your own. The link goes to a request page, not a donation page.) (Louis Wu 14:37:23 UTC) (permalink)

News June 6 2010

Lunging Slashes
ResumePlay has posted their list of Top 10 Videogame Swords - and Halo's Energy Sword comes in at #6. Not too shabby! Thanks, Penguin Ninjoid. Update: Apparently, the same site had a Top 10 Melee Weapons feature last month, and Halo made that one, too (thanks, Karl-591). (Louis Wu 23:02:47 UTC) (permalink)

Coming In Hot
New update this afternoon at the Reach Developer Log - Marcus discusses the bug-finding and bug-crushing workflow currently underway at Bungie Studios... and teases with hints of new gameplay that's going to come out of the process. ChenK found this while I was out. (Louis Wu 22:13:03 UTC) (permalink)

Halo is for Suckers
DarkReign2021 created a small side-project he calls 'Halo is for Suckers' - cute and funny, with nice timing. Take a look! (Louis Wu 14:18:53 UTC) (permalink)

With UNSC Issue Maple Syrup
Halo Action Figure Theater has been updated with #207 - and waffles! Go eat. (Louis Wu 14:18:27 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 Short: The Turret
2900d4u and his brother were messing around in Forge, and ended up with a pretty funny little video involving a turret. Take a look! (Louis Wu 14:17:57 UTC) (permalink)

Job Punathon
Grin + Bear It looks at jobs... and how they might go. Punionaire... (Louis Wu 14:17:33 UTC) (permalink)

News June 5 2010

Most Tasteless Videogame Quiz Ever.
Thanks, Metalingus627. (Louis Wu 20:50:03 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Collection for Sale
Ron Dagan let us know that he's auctioning off a collection of Halo memorabilia, including all games in unopened packages, plus a bunch of statues, action figures, books, and ancillary DVDs. There's also a piece of Halo 3 Limited Edition artwork by Isaac Hannaford (only 500 were made). 15% of the final sale price will go towards the Gulf Restoration Network - a great cause at this particular time! Swing by and give it a look; there are 9 and a half days left on the auction. Starting bid is just under $2k. (Louis Wu 19:54:25 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Grunt Plushie
We've mentioned randomflyingpigeons a couple of times - she's back with another supercool Halo creation. This time... it's a Grunt Plushie. That little guy is SO CUTE! (Thanks, Mendicant Bias.) (Louis Wu 15:26:04 UTC) (permalink)

This Spartan Life on Waypoint
If you visit Halo Waypoint on Xbox LIVE today, you can see a new episode of This Spartan Life - this one has Damian Lacedamian making me sound much better than I normally would. Cool community maps, too! Thanks to DEEP NNN for the reminder. (Louis Wu 15:25:15 UTC) (permalink)

Download HaloReachShots archives
HaLo2FrEeEk stopped in with word that his HaloReachScreenshots archive is now set up for batch downloads; enter a gamertag, and you get a zip file of all of the screenshots that tag uploaded during the Halo Reach Beta. Pretty cool! (Louis Wu 15:22:41 UTC) (permalink)

Armor Abilities in Halo 3 Contest
Wanna win cool schwag for creativity? Halo 3 Screenshots has a new contest running: Armor Abilities in Halo 3. Create a screenshot in Halo 3 that shows off one of the Reach Beta armor abilities... and you could go home with a remote control Hornet, or a Red vs Blue DVD. Check the full details on the contest page! (Louis Wu 15:19:19 UTC) (permalink)

Child's Play Auction - Items Live!
Laird sent along a link to the Child's Play auction site he's set up - if you're interested in Halo-related paraphernalia, check out the Bungie, Halo Community, and Robot links. More goodies coming soon! (Louis Wu 15:17:32 UTC) (permalink)

Top Ten Halo Screenshots: A Day at the Beach
The Top Ten Halo 3 Screenshots collection this week is called 'A Day at the Beach' - lots of fun shots involving fun in the sun. Check 'em! (Louis Wu 15:15:59 UTC) (permalink)

VGL on PBS - full details
It's been a couple of months since we mentioned the Video Games Live broadcast on PBS, coming in late July - if you swing by Xbox.com, you can read a full press release, including information about an upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray release and a trailer. If you live in the Bay Area or Northern California, you can see a sneak preview this coming Monday. Full details in the press release! Thanks, GrimBrother IV. (Louis Wu 15:14:35 UTC) (permalink)

The King of Bungie's Halo Games
UGO posted their list of 'The Best Sci-Fi Games of All Time' - our forum isn't terribly happy with their choices, but Halo 3 made #5, so... thanks, Toxic Mayhem. (Louis Wu 15:13:23 UTC) (permalink)

Blame Urk
The Bungie Weekly Update went live last night - later than usual, but SketchFactor did a great job of shifting most of the blame to urk. (Slacker spent the day with his mom. Pfft.) It's an interesting read - status report on Reach, some fun bugs, new artwork and stats screens... Go look! It is, of course, also available in our Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 12:54:26 UTC) (permalink)

News June 4 2010

FixPix pays homage to Halo
FixPix is a puzzle game for your iPhone - you get a fun pixel-art puzzle, and you use the iPhone's accelerometer to shift the pic into its 'fixed' format. the second-to-last level, according to Will Wild, contains a picture of a guy in a Master Chief helmet (54k). Interesting! (Louis Wu 12:51:32 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Craneworks
FyreWulff is back with another Fire Team Zulu challenge - this one is called 'Craneworks', and is campaign-only, in all four difficulties. It's set on NMPD HQ (can you think of another level with lots of cranes? Didn't think so). Go play! (Louis Wu 12:50:33 UTC) (permalink)

IGN's Top Halo 3 Kills of the Week
I looked for this yesterday morning, but IGN updates late. IGN's posted their Top 10 Halo 3 Kills of the Week - nothing spectacular, but lots of clutch plays for the rest of us. Thanks, BuzzJuice, for waiting longer than I did. (Louis Wu 12:49:57 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Caption Fun, Round 95
Closing in on that 100th round, the latest Caption Fun offering from Hawty McBloggy shows off last week's best captions, and offers a new image that has most people thinking about 'No Girls Allowed'. (How would you know if that Spartan on the ground is a girl?) While you're over there, check out Twitter T&A Thursday - where she asked followers which Reach-style armor abilities they'd like to have in real life. (Louis Wu 12:49:00 UTC) (permalink)

MLG Columbus - Starting Today!
Don't forget - MLG Columbus, the second event of the 2010 MLG Pro Circuit, kicks off today... put some time aside to watch on MLGPro.com! (Louis Wu 12:48:19 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan FictionFriday's Fan Fiction
100% of our submissions this week for the Fan Fiction section came from The Meep. Go read 'em! (Louis Wu 12:45:37 UTC) (permalink)

News June 3 2010

Post-Beta Musings from Bungie
They didn't make the May 31 deadline... but the latest Bungie Podcast is now live, just a couple of days late. No Luke, but Sketch and Urk have guests Chris Carney, Josh Hamrick, and Chris Gossett in their discussion about the Reach Beta wrapup. 1:17 long (heh), 75 mb. Go grab a copy! (Louis Wu 17:44:38 UTC) (permalink)

CMT Spv2 Map Dump
There's been a bit of discussion about campaign-oriented Halo Custom Edition creations recently - and ArteenEsben posted a bunch of links today to content he just uploaded that you can check out. Awesome! (Louis Wu 17:36:16 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Movie Madness
Videos available on Bungie's Comm Chatter today:

• Anoj has released Top 10 Halo Reach Beta Snipes: Episode 5 - 5 minutes long, lots of snipes.
• Fragtality, Robbie Steeze, and Zola put together 'Back to Basics', a Reach Beta montage - reasonably heavy on the editing.
• Solarity created his Halo Reach Beta Experience, another montage.
• Clownin Around II b is from Cirque d' Geezers, and is full of Halo 3 shenanigans. Fun stuff.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 17:31:21 UTC) (permalink)

Coolest thing I've seen this week
A few days ago, we mentioned bevbor's life-sized cardboard Banshee - he's finished it. It's amazing. You can see a video showing the final build, and a Flickr photoset with some great shots from every angle. (Louis Wu 12:57:25 UTC) (permalink)

Cortana and a friend
So someone went to a convention dressed as Cortana... and the part of the picture that Hawty McBloggy focuses on is the guy in the background ogling her. That woman is so predictable... (Great pic, though.) (Louis Wu 12:56:18 UTC) (permalink)

Some odd options in there...
Minime637 noticed a quiz at IGN - which Halo character are you? Turns out it's a little more extensive than it appeared to me... but I still wasn't happy with the choices. (Louis Wu 12:54:56 UTC) (permalink)

News June 2 2010

Fleshing Out Wire Frames
Wow, cool beans. Bungie's got a guy on staff doing mocap - and when he needs a prop weapon, he builds one. Well... the frame of one. Because it's mocap, and there's no need for the whole thing. (In fact, the whole thing gets in the way.) Very fun article at Bungie.net - go read it! (Louis Wu 21:49:45 UTC) (permalink)

June Double XP Playlists
Interested in seeing what's on tap during the month of June, in terms of Double XP Weekend playlists? FyreWulff's got your back. (Louis Wu 19:33:24 UTC) (permalink)

Things You Won't Expect
chris101b created a bunch of short video clips he calls 'Things You Won't Expect' during the Reach Beta - the first one went live on Monday. (It had been seen a number of times, in a number of montages, so I didn't bother to front-page it.) The second one is live now - it's received less exposure, so it may be new to you. He'll be releasing new ones every Monday and Wednesday, until he runs out. (Louis Wu 19:03:14 UTC) (permalink)

Community Spotlight: Owners of the Katana
The latest batch of Bungie Favorites has been submitted by Owners of the Katana, a bungie.net group for folks who've unlocked certain Halo 3 armor. Go read about their stuff, then download some of it! (Louis Wu 18:01:20 UTC) (permalink)

Wherefore Art Thou Video?
Just a pair of new videos in Bungie's Comm Chatter today: The Spartan 1 Project team has put together a full-blown trailer for their Annual Achievement services (funny stuff!), and Mini Waz created the Halo: Reach Beta Bash - it's another Reach montage. Go watch! (Louis Wu 17:59:44 UTC) (permalink)

Halo WP from HC's Smyf
If you're looking for a new Halo wallpaper, you might wanna swing by Smyf's gallery at DeviantART - lots and lots of cool choices. Thanks to urk for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 17:59:15 UTC) (permalink)

When Things Go Boom
The latest Chronicles of ODS Steve (#73) is now live at Hawty McBloggy's - I'm pretty sure you don't want to be standing next to a giant bomb when things go BOOM nearby. (Louis Wu 17:45:12 UTC) (permalink)

Operation Chastity BR
Pete Cooper stopped in with some very nice shots of the Battle Rifle they'll be using on the set of Operation Chastity. Love it! (Louis Wu 16:30:43 UTC) (permalink)

2o2p Community Pulse Ep 7 (with local guest)
Geez, nearly missed it... but DEEP NNN was a guest on the last 2old2play Community Pulse podcast, bringing honor to the OLD Halo crowd. Go listen! (Louis Wu 16:30:20 UTC) (permalink)

HMB's Mini Comm Chatter
Couple of fun vids at Hawty McBloggy's cozy digs today - Halo3Fails posted 'JK I Suck', a funny failtage showing footage that most of us have seen far too much of, firsthand... and Mini Waz created a 3D Halo: Reach trailer that has versions for most standard kinds of 3D glasses. (There's even a 2D version for folks without glasses, but it sort of misses the point...) Go watch! (Louis Wu 13:11:35 UTC) (permalink)

Nerf AR - now on eBay
Hey, remember that Nerf Assault Rifle we mentioned last week? It's up on eBay now. You've got 3 days to bid - current price is $81. Thanks, Civil Protection. (Louis Wu 13:10:54 UTC) (permalink)

We don't need no stupid monitor...
Urban Reflex laughs at your sissy Forge - when HE was building Halo walls, he did the MANLY way... with a sword. And a Gauss turret. There's an 8 minute video (it's been shaved down to less than 15% of its original length!) showing how. (Louis Wu 13:07:59 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo Evolutions Community Art Contest
Do you love Halo? Are you an artist? Would you like your art to appear in a Halo book? Halo Waypoint is taking submissions for the Halo Evolutions Community Art Contest, and will be until July 15. You have to be a resident of the US or Canada, and you should read the rest of the terms and conditions on the Waypoint page - but otherwise, you should get to drawing! (HBO will be hosting a gallery of entrants at some point in the near future, so you can see what folks are submitting.) Show 'em what you've got! (Louis Wu 00:00:05 UTC) (permalink)

News June 1 2010

Spherical Panorama: Swording Action
HaLo2FrEeEk released another spherical panorama from Reach - this one is Sword Base, again... but this time, it's an action version. Shooting, flying, blowing up. Take a look! (Louis Wu 17:59:22 UTC) (permalink)

If I had a superweapon...
bevbor is building something. Something I haven't ever seen before from a fan. Something really, really cool. Wanna see a human-sized Banshee made of cardboard? Go watch this video. Or swing by the 405th for pics and discussion. (Louis Wu 16:54:23 UTC) (permalink)

Foreign Treasures
Forge Hub wants you to remake a map from any non-Halo shooter in Forge - you could win a cool Sumo beanbag chair! Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 16:50:47 UTC) (permalink)

When in doubt... Endure
The Spartan I Project continues to help out fans looking to score the Vidmaster Achievements - check out this post to see some amazing stats on group members' attempts with the Endure Achievement. You guys are DEDICATED. (Louis Wu 16:47:17 UTC) (permalink)

Vidimanjaro
urk's back from a long weekend with a whole bunch of new video in today's Comm Chatter:

• Power of the Pummel is a montage of beatdowns (assassinations, lots of sword/hammer action) from Clantacular. They called it 'greatest hits'. Geddit?
• Anoj is back with another 'Bungie Explains' - recapping the Bungie Weekly Update for folks who have trouble with written words.
• 8-bit Halo Episode 7 is live - been a few months since the last one! Some mysteries solved. I'm not sure I like how ODSTs are treated. And I don't think I played enough Nintendo to really appreciate this one...
• Anoj released 'Top 10 Halo Reach Beta New Weapon Kills' (Episode 4) - lots of Pro Pipe/Microwave/Comedy Gun action. (Also some nice handling of the Deemer and the Nerfle.)

Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:41:44 UTC) (permalink)

RvB Nesting Dolls, Round 2
Back in August, in time for PAX, RvB's MissZahrah painted a set of Russian nesting dolls as characters from the Red vs Blue videos. She presented them to Burnie at the expo (here's a final picture of the full group) - what a fan! Well, last week, she unveiled a new collection - this one is the entire Red Team (including a dead Donut). The original picture is in her RvB image collection, but that's not visible to anyone who doesn't have an account on the site, so I asked if we could host a local copy. She said sure. So cute... (Louis Wu 15:15:33 UTC) (permalink)

ODST Helmet for Charity
We mentioned Laird's upcoming Child's Play charity auction in passing yesterday; we got mail last night from Sean Bradley, who submitted a tricked-out ODST helmet to the mix. He made a commercial for it, plus he's posted a collection of 'in-progress' shots and finished shots for the helmet itself. Finally, there's a thread detailing all of this at the 405th website. Looks fantastic! When Laird lets us know full details about the auction, we'll post them here! (Louis Wu 15:13:24 UTC) (permalink)

Gumball McJones - Best Spark Name Ever
RvB Revelation Chapter 8: Perusing The Archive went online last night, and things are getting tenser for everyone. Church and Caboose get into secret places, the Red team practices being deceptive, and Washington and the Meta find... something. Suspense ramps up! Go watch. (Louis Wu 15:12:16 UTC) (permalink)

It's black, and finely cut
Hawty McBloggy highlighted a really nice machined Reach-themed Xbox 360 case - go see! (Louis Wu 15:10:10 UTC) (permalink)

Empire's 50 Greatest Video Game Characters
ElzarTheBam noticed that Empire has posted a list of their 50 Greatest Video Game Characters... and Master Chief shows up at #8. Not bad! (Louis Wu 15:05:59 UTC) (permalink)

Custom Legends-inspired Spartan figure
rolandk73 noticed a custom Halo 3 EVA Spartan figure with a Booster Sled (sort of) available on eBay - there's still a day and a half left on the auction. Starting bid is $62.50. (Louis Wu 15:05:19 UTC) (permalink)

June 2010

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