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 | March 2006 |  |
March 2006 Archived News
News March 31 2006
What Number Strip Is This?
In honor of the 458th One One Se7en, Stuntmutt takes another look at Nicole... though not the look he'd like to take. (Louis Wu 14:30:22 UTC) (permalink)
Light Reading Week
Well, after deleting the first 6 instances of The Meep's first chapter (why do people have to go all postal on the submit button?), the solid blocks of unformatted text, and the speculation that belongs on the Story page or our forum, we're left with 9 Fan Fiction entries this week. Go read. (Louis Wu 11:17:17 UTC) (permalink)
You coulda built Rome a few times.
Over at Subnova, Funkmon found an article with some stats about Xbox Live - and while it focuses mostly on how the 360 is more tightly integrated with XBL than the original box was, it contains a Halo stat that's pretty amazing: one third of all hours logged on Xbox Live since the service went live in November 2002 - 500 million hours out of 1.5 billion - have been logged playing Halo 2. 500 million hours... that's a pretty mind-numbing number. That's more than 57,000 man-years. (Louis Wu 10:57:25 UTC) (permalink)
IGN: The Rumor Guys
Gah. When sites as big as IGN post rumors about Halo 3 release dates, our mailboxes fill up with speculation. According to them, Halo 3 will be released in March 2007, with more info coming at E3. This might be true, it might be garbage... we can't say. Bungie is still keeping mum about whether or not they're even DEVELOPING the title, much less when they're releasing it. Nevertheless, IGN has put this up, which means unless we acknowledge that it's out there, our mailboxes will CONTINUE to fill. When Bungie actually announces something, we'll be sure to crow it from the rooftops... looks like Coolpengwn was the first to let us know. (Louis Wu 10:40:13 UTC) (permalink)
News March 30 2006
Lego Zanzibar
Kooberz has been building a model of Zanzibar out of Lego bricks for quite some time - but he's run out of money. He sent along a bunch of pics of the project as it stands... pretty cool stuff! Take a look. (Louis Wu 18:47:16 UTC) (permalink)
Zany troupe, indeed.
Heh - the Rooster Teeth crew will be doing a film and Q&A session at the upcoming San Francisco Film Festival, in April and May. The title of the film? 'Cock Byte: Masters of Machinima' - you should definitely get tickets if you're in the area. (They go on sale to the general public next week, April 4.) Thanks, Cornballer. (Louis Wu 18:12:10 UTC) (permalink)
News March 29 2006
Living In Oblivion.
Halo's always been at the top of the XBL game list - but multiplayer isn't all you can do with your 360. Stuntmutt looks at what happens when good stuff comes out that isn't really for Live in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 18:02:52 UTC) (permalink)
Intellectualizing Halo at UF
Justin Laufer pointed out an academic conference on video games coming up next weekend at the University of Florida in Gainesville - he's giving a talk entitled 'New Cyborg Philosophy: Techno-Religious Hybridization in Marathon and Halo'. Feel the Bungie Love! (Louis Wu 17:06:33 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo-Related Art of Paul Davies
One piece of artwork that was submitted in January but didn't get posted in the Misc Art update yesterday was a new work by Paul Davies - and the reason I didn't post it is because we were in the process of setting up a new Gallery Page for Paul. His work has shown up in the Misc Art section for a couple of years now - but it deserves a more brightly-lit location, because it stands out so strongly. Go visit to see if there's anything you've missed - and be sure to check out The Drop, which should be new to everyone. I've also added some visual navigation to the top of the HBO Galleries page, because we're up to eight featured artists at this point, and it seems like it might be easy to miss one or two. (Louis Wu 15:26:10 UTC) (permalink)
News March 28 2006
Utfoo lives - again
Amaroq and Ducain put their heads together, and after rubbing the resultant lumps, they managed to create a 100% complete mirror of Frogblast's website; the seminal trickster had documented most of his work, but the site was up and down, and finally down permanently. Rather than let this work be lost to the bitbucket, HIH has revived it, and made a permanent copy - and for that, we say Thankya big big! (Louis Wu 22:28:33 UTC) (permalink)
UESC/UNSC Fabric Patch
Blayne Scott, a hardcore Marathon fan who maintains a couple of pieces of the bungie.org family of sites and who's created a number of traditional-media items inspired by Marathon in the past, has whipped up a pretty cool Marathon Fabric Patch. (It's simlar to the one seen on Captain Keyes' uniform in the first game, and it matches the box sticker on the original Marathon release.) They're currently for sale on eBay; he needed to make 50 of them to get a reasonable price from the patch company, so he's selling the extras. The auction is up for another 4 days. Go look! (And check out the Hall of Fame, showing pics of older products he created, along with community members wearing them... there's great old shot of our very own Finn in there!) (Louis Wu 20:31:58 UTC) (permalink)
Sheet music - now for schools
Wow, very very cool. We get email regularly from high school students or teachers looking for sheet music for Halo pieces; we generally send them to Rampancy.net, which has (I think) the largest collection of Halo sheet music on the net. However, most of this is fan-transcribed, and ranges in quality from very, very good to... um, not so good. Konrad noticed an article over at Siliconera which says Video Games Live has teamed up with Alfred Publishing to bring a number of video game pieces to schools. The arrangements seem to be done by teachers... but I'm guessing there's SOME sort of quality control, right? (I can't point you directly to the VGL announcement at Alfred, because it's in a frameset - but it's about halfway down their front page at the moment. Currently, it lists The Halo Theme (for both Orchestra and Marching Band) and Halo (for Concert Band), all ranging from $50-$60, with more pieces coming.) (Louis Wu 19:49:20 UTC) (permalink)
Misc Art Update, Part 2
I'm STILL not done... but there's another large batch of stuff in the Miscellaneous Art section today; I'm getting CLOSER to cleaning out the queue. There's some amazing stuff in this round; I hate to draw attention to specific pics (because I worry that folks will look ONLY at those), but don't miss Khan's Forerunner, or Sabarika's furry Chief. There's also a pretty cool background you can turn into a custom Halo clock, from Bry-guy12. And there are a couple of dozen OTHER pics - all of them are worth your time. Go look! (Louis Wu 19:38:00 UTC) (permalink)
Captain Planet 2.0
imSuck and the HollywoodHalo crew submitted another vid to the MPRRS yesterday; it's a spoof of the early 90's Captain Planet cartoon. It's a pretty funny piece, and (as is true of all of imSuck's work) beautifully filmed. (To the whole HH crew - you guys need to move your mouths away from the mics when you talk - or record dialogue after the movie. Otherwise - great work!) Grab a copy in WMP9 format (45.2 mb) or QuickTime format (45.8 mb). (Louis Wu 18:56:56 UTC) (permalink)
The Valley of the Forerunners, Part 5
Valley of the Forerunners, Part 5 has been posted on the Halo CE Chronicles website. The marine contingent doesn't understand what they've gotten themselves into - Sargeant Roberts learns the hard way what happens if he stops trusting Harrington. Great integration of stock Halo footage, combined with lots of new stuff. 8:40 long, available in WMP9, QuickTime, and streaming Flash. (Louis Wu 16:23:46 UTC) (permalink)
Hitman: Redone
Incogneto submitted 'Hitman: Redone' to the MPRRS recently, and they liked it. So we're serving it to you. It's a movie about a guy who works for the mob, and one of his deals goes sour. Some nice effects here! Grab it in WMP9 format (41.5 mb) or QuickTime format (41.2 mb). (Louis Wu 15:34:11 UTC) (permalink)
Prometheus: Still Going
The Prometheus Team (the folks working on an all-inclusive Halo editor) has posted Update #6 on their website; it's really long, and basically says 'we're doing a lot of stuff, but we still can't show you most of it.' (Well, it says a LITTLE more than that.) If you're wondering what had happened to these guys, go read. (Louis Wu 15:28:58 UTC) (permalink)
South Florida Halo Tourney April 1
r2 writes to point out a Halo 2 tourney coming up in West Palm Beach this weekend; $40 per team registration, 2v2 TS 2006 MLG rules, up to $300 cash for first prize. More details (including contact info and directions) are available at their website. (Louis Wu 15:16:00 UTC) (permalink)
Eddie Smith Prints - Now For Sale!
Looks like jman571 was first with the news that Frankie had posted a snippet about those new, limited edition (500 total) mylar prints mentioned in last week's update. Swing by the Bungie Store, and for $30 (plus shipping), you can snag one of these signed-by-the-artist masterpieces! (Louis Wu 15:13:01 UTC) (permalink)
News March 27 2006
In The Pink.
Stuntmutt plays with the title of the upcoming Halo novel in today's One One Se7en. Hmm... 'plays with' might not be a fair assessment. 'Attacks with a hand-axe' might be closer... Update: if you're a REAL masochist, there are several followups in this thread. I blame trigger119 for starting it. (Louis Wu 19:24:27 UTC) (permalink)
Codex: Halo
Over the years, number of people have put in serious hours converting Warhammer 40K characters to look like Halo characters. JoeIce stopped by several months ago with some cool pics - well, he came back this weekend with a whole batch of new ones. some of the shots are a bit fuzzy - but go through 'em all, there are some great ones in there! And check out his website, as well; pretty nice home for the actual gaming rules and tons of info. (Louis Wu 18:15:52 UTC) (permalink)
Two great shooters, back to back
Narcogen spent his whole weekend, it seems, writing up a comparison of Halo and Half-Life 2 (Xbox versions only). It's a great read. It's also really long. Pull up a mug of your favorite beverage and settle in! (Louis Wu 17:45:24 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular Ep 55
Podtacular Episode 55 has been posted - it's a Customs and Call-ins show. We heard about this from Mintz, who was a guest-host this week (and did their pod art, to boot). Go listen! (Louis Wu 17:33:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Tourney Writeup - Eastern WA
There's an article at TMCnet.com about a Halo tournament that took place in Spokane, WA a couple of days ago. It's interesting because it was clearly written for non-gamers; it's nice to see this sort of stuff get coverage in more mainstream press. (It says they got this from the Spokesman-Review, but I couldn't find it online on their site.) (Louis Wu 17:25:46 UTC) (permalink)
It's. Because. She's. Evil!
Yesterday, Jillybean updated the Halo Story page with a choice collection of emails - evolutionary theory, sex drive, mad AIs, and... um, mad AIs. Apologies for not notifying you sooner; yesterday was pretty far from fun here. (Louis Wu 16:18:23 UTC) (permalink)
News March 26 2006
When Elites Go Red
Oh, before I go... Rockslider has added another piece to his second-level fun suggestions at Bad Cyborg; Mad Banshees. Ever feel like the enemy AI is letting their emotions override their logic? (Louis Wu 14:17:18 UTC) (permalink)
The State of the Game
It must be that time of year - there are posts all over the place from folks looking back on Halo 2, and trying to decide where the community stands. On the HaloGrid forum, trigger119 looks at what keeps him coming back to a game he thought he was done with. And on our own forum, Ducain tries to pin down why he had so much more fun in Halo Campaign than he does in Halo 2 Campaign. They're both good reads - lots of meat to chew. Bring your fork. Me? I'm headed out to the boondocks for the day. (Louis Wu 14:14:55 UTC) (permalink)
Big content for little platforms
Mintz sent a note about what's new over at Halo: Portable - a pair of psp-compatible vids (they were pretty popular in their original formats, so good choices), and the Weekly Update; go grab new content for your PSP! (Louis Wu 14:10:24 UTC) (permalink)
News March 25 2006
What comes after 4?
In keeping with their Heretics & Heroes episode/flashback alternation, Slacker Entertainment has released Flashback 3: Fun with Numbers. Wellington runs up against a challenge he simply can't overcome... counting to five. Yeah. (Louis Wu 19:16:04 UTC) (permalink)
Criminal
Another movie made it through the MPRRS this morning - this one's from KingChuck and Team Conquest, and it tells the story of a man getting revenge for the death of a friend. The entire story (all 12 minutes of it) is told with music and visuals only; there is no dialogue. Powerfully done, though some of the reviewers felt it started slowly. Check it out - 72 mb, in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats. (Louis Wu 19:12:36 UTC) (permalink)
I bet they have real trouble with the buttons.
Heh - Hminn noticed a writeup on some funky computer games in which humans are pitted against protozoa... and the writer starts out by suggesting that he hopes he could beat the protozoa in a Halo match. I hope so, too. (Louis Wu 19:09:02 UTC) (permalink)
Soldiers of War Ep Five
QuickTactical submitted another segment of Soldiers of War to the MPRRS, and got approved - you can grab Episode Five in either WMP9 format (46.5 mb) or QuickTime format (44.9 mb). The Russian attackers are ambushed by a small contingent of Americans. (Louis Wu 14:05:12 UTC) (permalink)
The Red Carpet Treatment
There's an article about the perks afforded to pro gamers in the upcoming season over at MLGPro.com - travel stipends, free registrations, and other perks are available to the top players. Go read about the 2006 season! Thanks, 3Suns (who suggested a summary of 'The Rich Get Richer' for this piece - ouch!). (Louis Wu 12:19:53 UTC) (permalink)
Eddie Smith is AMAZING.
Short (but pretty sweet) update this week, over at Bungie.net - soon-to-be-updated playlists, detailed info about the Soundtrack Volume 2, some KILLER artwork, and some nice case mods. And a Mister Chief that makes me wonder what Frankie does on his off hours. Go read - either at Bungie.net, or right here, in the Weekly Update Archive. I haven't even had time to visit the forum, but I'd BET there's a 'First!' from Frankie there... of course there is. (Silly me for even talking about it.) (Louis Wu 01:01:54 UTC) (permalink)
News March 24 2006
Hold on to something, brothers.
Captain Spark continues his dialogue snippet collection - 22 more tidbits either on his site, or browsable, in our Dialogue Databank. (Louis Wu 18:42:11 UTC) (permalink)
The Hushed Cradle.
Many of us miss the weekly updates of the Halo Babies comic; Stuntmutt's view is that maybe if he taints your memory with bad puns, you'll miss them less. Go read today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 16:54:20 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fiction
There are 18 pieces for you today in the Fan Fiction section - go read. I had to delete a surprising number of stories from the queue - either there is a large influx of new writers, or there are community members who simply don't want to read the rules. If you don't want your story deleted - read the rules. If you can't be bothered to format your story for readability, we can't be bothered to post it. And if you think that filling out the end of a story with meaningless text to get around the 750 word limit will work... you're sadly mistaken. Please... read the rules. Thanks. (Louis Wu 14:42:43 UTC) (permalink)
News March 23 2006
Class. All the way around.
I doubt they do this for EVERY applicant - but the fact that they do it at all is pretty darned nice. weephun (a forum regular, and a major contributor during the I Love Bees ARG) applied for a job as a Test Engineer a bit ago. He didn't have the game programming experience to get the job... but Bungie let him know they appreciated his time in any case. How cool is that? (Louis Wu 19:03:40 UTC) (permalink)
This Spartan Life - O'Donnell Interview, Pt 2
This Spartan Life has released module 3 of Episode 3 - it's the second part of the interview with Marty O'Donnell. It's a great discussion of the power of sound design, set amidst the battle for bodyguard position... with a nice homage to Newman and Redford at the end. (I have to say - while Marty's skills as a musician are undeniable... his acting leaves a bit to be desired.) This one's quite large; 7 minutes, and weighing in at more than 10 mb/minute... go grab a copy. QuickTime is up now, WMP9 should be coming soon. (Louis Wu 16:49:05 UTC) (permalink)
77 Minutes. OMG.
Wonga. So there's a project over at High Speed Halo to complete Halo (the first one) in 77 minutes - and they're currently 6 seconds from that goal. I have no doubt that once it's completed, they'll work to bring every difficulty level up to Legendary - but for now, the whole concept of finishing the entire game in an hour and 17 minutes at ANY difficulty level blows me away. Thanks, HIH. (Louis Wu 15:37:18 UTC) (permalink)
Ceramic MC updated pics
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned a project to put together a ceramic Master Chief - last night, boltofaire stopped by our forum again with new pics. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 15:16:18 UTC) (permalink)
MC Statue - Cheap, so far
If you're interested in one of those 3-foot-high Master Chief statues, there's one on eBay right now, with a starting bid of $9.99, and no reserve. (Still almost a week left, though.) Thanks, Cassius. (Louis Wu 15:06:24 UTC) (permalink)
Pinkuh Art Dump
Pinkuh dropped by our forum last night to display a bunch of commissioned, Halo-related work; neat stuff! (We've added them to her Gallery page here, as well.) (Louis Wu 14:02:28 UTC) (permalink)
News March 22 2006
OSTv2 Track Listing
Over at the Sumthing Distribution site, you can find a track listing for the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack Volume 2. As far as I know, nobody else has published this yet. I'm drooling already! Update: Mintz pointed out that Bungie themselves published the track listing more than three months ago. (Louis Wu 20:11:01 UTC) (permalink)
ODSTees.
Last week, Gryphonosiris asked for slogan ideas for T-shirts with ODST themes. Today, Stuntmutt puts up a few in the current One One Se7en. Um... (Louis Wu 15:54:46 UTC) (permalink)
PwnCast Problems Fixed
We got word from Bluestrike2, at MLG PwnCast, that there was a problem with the enhanced version of Episode 6, released yesterday, that affected a small number of people, that has now been fixed. If you tried to get the iTunes version and failed yesterday, you should try again. (Louis Wu 14:31:20 UTC) (permalink)
Procrastination can be good.
Luke McKay wanted to be working on some art projects last night - but he couldn't concentrate, so what came out instead was another RvB vignette. Ah, memories! (Louis Wu 14:21:58 UTC) (permalink)
Cynics Take Two
The Halo Movie Cynics Database has been quite popular since its inception back in December. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to visit. However, not all the submissions have been exactly in line with what we envisioned. So with the help of uber-cool Cybrfrk, the database's home page has been revamped, calling out three great examples of what we're looking for - and three examples that don't really make the grade. So if you were thinking of submitting something, check them out! (Ding 13:07:58 UTC) (permalink)
Monster Forum Roundup
There were a large number of intriguing forum posts last night - here's a quick roundup.
- Jason Jones and Alex Seropian both made it onto Next Generation's list of 'The Hot 100 Game Developers'. Interestingly, Randy Pitchford is on the list as well, but Halo PC is not mentioned in the paragraph explaining his contributions. Thanks, GhaleonEB.
- Joyride has posted pics of the Halo 2 Series 7 action figures - Zattack89 thoughtfully provides links.
- 3Suns found an article which isn't really Halo-related - except in its depiction of a product nicely described by Eric Nylund in the Halo novels. Scientists in Hong Kong have developed a solution that acts like Nylund's biofoam - healing wounds with astounding speed (and in many cases in ways that were once impossible).
- Chris Butcher, speaking at the Game Developers Conference this week, discussed C# as a development environment, and how it's helped Bungie with its latest projects - thanks, 3Suns. (Other Bungie speakers include Marty O'Donnell and Jay Weinland, helping with Audio Boot Camp. There might be more; a quick review of the speakers didn't turn 'em up.)
- gijake mentions that Chris Burke, of This Spartan Life, is interviewed in the April edition of Wired magazine. (It's part of a large article on 'The New World of Games', a collection of pieces looking at how games are transforming our culture.) This isn't online yet - but it will be on March 27.
- Gamasutra has an article about how to put more emotion into gameplay - and Halo is held up as a powerful example - thanks again, 3Suns.
Whew! Are you burned out yet? (Louis Wu 11:49:14 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Vista Info
There's an article on Bungie.net in which Frankie sits down with a couple of the people working on Halo 2 Vista, and gets some details on the project - what's coming, how they're planning to bring Halo 2 to PCs, why they went Vista-only. There's a little bit of info about a map editor, being handled by an outside team, with a promise of more information in the not-too-distant future. (Good news for content creators!) Worth a read, if you're anticipating this upcoming product. First heads-up goes to Spartan Jag, on our forum. In related news, Joystiq has a bit about a delay for Windows Vista (until after the Christmas season) - will this also mean a delay in Halo 2 Vista? (Louis Wu 11:17:02 UTC) (permalink)
News March 21 2006
Gameplay May Change During Online Play
Obienator, of Wld n Crzy Guyz, put together a film called 'Gameplay May Change During Online Play' - it's the story of a normal bunch of guys, meeting a bunch of Xbox Live scum on the field of battle. It's pretty funny, and the MPRRS reviewers ranked it in the top 6 movies to come through the system. It's quite large (15 minutes, 100 mb), so be ready for a long download... but it's worth it! (I can say I've personally 'met' each and every one of the red team members in my time on Live.) Snag a copy in WMP9 format, or QuickTime format - your call! Obie also wrote up a blog post about the making of this video; swing by and read it, it's pretty funny. (Louis Wu 21:51:06 UTC) (permalink)
Stealing Sucks. Really.
I wish this sort of thing never needed to be written - but I HATE theft of intellectual property. A week and a half ago, Tony Muzzatti dropped by our forum to announce a casting call for a new TV pilot he was going to film. It included links to a promo video. A few days later, he stopped by again, with more details. A week after that, a movie was submitted to the MPRRS, by Zach Larson, of Team ZCZ, otherwise known as ClanFSR. (You might remember ClanFSR; they were in our news a month ago for stealing other people's videos and claiming them for their own.) The video submitted by Zach used the same music, the same dialogue, the same action as Tony's promo vid; the biggest difference was that it had been refilmed on Headlong, where Tony's was filmed on Coagulation. It's one thing to hear someone's idea, say "hey, I can do that better", and beat them to market... it's another thing entirely to rip them off outright and claim their work as your own. Once again, ClanFSR/ClanZCZ/ClanWhatever has shown that they have zero morals, and about that much creativity. Here's a warning to steer clear. (And if you DO happen to run into one of 'em, keep your hand on your wallet.) (Louis Wu 21:45:24 UTC) (permalink)
New Art from Luke McKay and Elnea
It's RvB Art Update Day! Luke McKay's collection grows by two; there's a comic book cover he created for a friend, and a reenactment of a pretty funny scene in the most recent episode of RvB. Then, over on Elnea's page, she's put up a new avatar, this time for PixieSquared. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 18:43:42 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular Ep 54
Podtacular Episode 54 has been released - Tips, with a focus on Midship. Thanks, Fr3d-105. (Louis Wu 18:38:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 tourney in Ohio
Rogue Gaming posted a note on our forum about a Halo 2 tourney this weekend, in Pickerington, OH (just outside of Columbus). If you're in the area, check it out! (Online registration will save you a couple of bucks; link is in the forum post.) (Louis Wu 16:36:24 UTC) (permalink)
The MLG PwnCast Episode 6
QuaDxDaMag3 points out that MLG PwnCast Episode 6 has been posted; you can grab it in regular mp3 format, or 'iTunes Enhanced' m4a video format. (Comes with links to web content, and so on.) Grab the one that works for you. (Louis Wu 14:42:56 UTC) (permalink)
You Do Not Talk About Tied The Leader.
Tied the Leader has been quiet for a while - busy with clanbuilding. Swing by today, though - there are a couple of new articles up. The first points out teams of cheaters, the second looks at the dangers of getting too involved in gaming. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:20:03 UTC) (permalink)
The Valley of the Forerunners: Part 4
Dennis Powers writes to let us know that The Valley of the Forerunners, Part 4 is up for grabs at the Halo CE Chronicles website. 10:23 long, available in WMP9, QuickTime, and streaming Flash formats, as always. Commander Harrington and the marine contingent explore the valley a little bit... and aren't thrilled with what they find. Go watch! (Louis Wu 14:14:53 UTC) (permalink)
Default Owns Boxer
While you're at MLG, swing by the Player of the Week section, and check out an interview with Itwasluck. A member of Xit Woundz, Itwasluck can be seen in action in a number of gameplay vids hosted by Halo2Forum.com (search our news for links). Go read the interview, to see how this 18-year-old got to where he is. Thanks again, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 13:51:40 UTC) (permalink)
Keeping Your Cool
Overswarm seems to have taken a break from his Not So Common Sense guide to put some time into articles at MLGPro.com - there's a great one up right now. It's called 'Keeping Your Cool - Anger Management in Gaming', and it describes why anger is absolutely NOT an emotion that should be part of your gaming experience. Great advice, and nicely written. Go read. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 13:46:18 UTC) (permalink)
Ripped.
Heh. John Mayer loves Halo - if you're a long-time visitor, you already know that. emotaku found a short clip on Youtube in which John explains his feelings about the game, and how he wishes it would help him. (Louis Wu 13:32:46 UTC) (permalink)
News March 20 2006
Halo Case Mod
Nice. Someone modded their computer case - with a cool Halo 2 theme. There's an LED bar that simulates the loading progress bar from the game. You can see a couple of photos in the Bungie.net article. Thanks to Spartan Jag for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 23:23:28 UTC) (permalink)
Stay warm, Halo-style.
New Halo sweatshirts at the Bungie Store... and you're waiting for what? Thanks, Schedonnardus. (Louis Wu 22:52:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2 - FINALLY!
Music4Games.net has some solid news on the Halo 2 Volume Two Original Soundtrack - it'll be available for purchase on April 25th! Fantastic news for everyone waiting for this almost mythical collection... go read the article for more info, including Marty's philosophy behind this volume. w00t! Update: A little late, but Bungie's finally posted the press release themselves. Thanks, KP. (Louis Wu 21:11:10 UTC) (permalink)
True Believer.
Friday, Bungie announced the Halo Graphic Novel, and how it would be published by Marvel. Today, One One Se7en points out a potential downside to that teamup. (Louis Wu 17:53:33 UTC) (permalink)
VGL Meet and Greet in San Jose
I've said a few times that I wasn't going to promote Video Games Live any more... but I'm gonna go back on my word, because this seems pretty cool. We just got a press release announcing a meet-and-greet in San Jose, California this weekend - if you go, you'll have a chance to meet (among other composers) Marty O'Donnell. If you're in the area... think about it! (Louis Wu 17:45:10 UTC) (permalink)
Misc Art Queue Reduction: Step One
I've begun the rather daunting task of thinning out the Miscellaneous Art queue; today, I'm putting up 30 images, which were submitted between December 29 and January 16. The queue is still large; please don't freak out if you submitted work to us, and it's not in this batch. I hope to continue clearing tomorrow or the next day. In the meantime... go enjoy this batch. (Louis Wu 16:55:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo CE on Live Arcade?
OXM UK is reporting that the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (is it, by any chance, the APRIL issue?) discusses a plan by Bungie to have Halo (the first one) available online on Live Arcade before summer. I'm viewing this one with a MASSIVE salt shaker at my side until (unless) some corroborating evidence surfaces. Thanks, JeBr0nie. (Louis Wu 13:13:36 UTC) (permalink)
BeerBox
Heh - Rick sent us a pic of his Xbox, doing double duty as a drink smuggling device. (He says it's still workable; he just took the parts out.) The lengths people won't go to... (Louis Wu 12:12:30 UTC) (permalink)
DropShock Ep 13
DropShock, the officially NSFW Halo Podcast, released Episode 13 last night. Discussion of comics, name rumors, and Live content. 33 mb, 70 minutes. Go listen! (Louis Wu 12:08:31 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Mathness Demo
spartanerik found a bizarre little Flash animation over at Newgrounds - Halo Mathness Demo. It wouldn't run for me; I had to step through the dialogue at the beginning, one frame at a time... but maybe it works better on a PC. Answer math questions, kill Covenant. Oddness to the nth power. (Louis Wu 11:58:34 UTC) (permalink)
News March 19 2006
Next Halo Novel Details Surface
Wow, awesome find. And1balla2829 noticed that there's a new Halo novel listed at both ISBNdb.com, and Amazon.com. (Amazon also lists an 18-copy lot, for bulk orders, I guess.) The book is being published by TOR Books - whose website is woefully out of date, so there's no info to be had there... so at this point, the sum total of the info we have about this book comes from these sparse entries:
- Author is Eric Nylund
- Title is "Ghosts of Coral"
- Publication date is October 31,2006
- Length is 384 pages
Clone Tutorial for Halo Machinima Makers
Jamie98s used a pretty cool technique in his recent 'Mombasa Massacre' film; he had battle scenes with many more than 16 fighters onscreen. He's not the first to do this (ipushmycar did it in Biohazard, about a year ago, and I'm sure someone will remind me of other examples), but he's the first to write up a tutorial to help others use the technique in their own films. Swing by our Miscellaneous section to read about it in detail! (Louis Wu 19:14:55 UTC) (permalink)
Playing With History
The MPRRS passed two movies in quick succession this morning; the first we just posted, the second is called 'Totally Random Act 4 - Playing With History'. It was submitted by KeyboardKiller, of Pothole Studios, and tells the story of a couple of friends who invent a time machine, and then try and figure out decent uses for it. Pretty funny, nicely filmed! Go watch. WMP9 version is 15 mb, QuickTime version is 17 mb. (It was originally submitted in DivX 6.1.1 format, but some of the reviewers had trouble with that, so switching to our standards seemed to make more sense. If you really want to see the original, you can grab it here - 20 mb.) (Louis Wu 19:08:03 UTC) (permalink)
A Hole in my Soul
Se7en One has been experimenting with fully-rendered movies in 3ds max; his most recent offering is called 'A Hole in my Soul', and it's a music video, with a Grunt band playing Aerosmith's "A Hole in my Soul". I love the concept, and I think it has great potential; personally, I wish the MPRRS had sent him back to do another iteration, because there are a number of small faults that take away from the power of this one. (Timing is a bit off, the drummer's got no sticks, there are some graphical glitches, and he stuck with the band onstage for the entire vid, rather than intercutting other footage.) They didn't, however, so we're presenting it to you; you can grab it in WMP9 format (18 mb) or QuickTime format (20 mb). Here's hoping the technique is explored in greater detail, and continues to be honed! (Louis Wu 18:49:46 UTC) (permalink)
eBay Halo Stuff
X1Zero found a few eBay auctions - there are a couple of the small Muckle Master Chief statues (here and here, same seller - Buy It Now prices are really high; remember that the last dozen or so of these to pass through eBay have sold for less than $200), and a new magnum. This is listed as the M6C, not the M6D, and is NOT the same as the pistols we've mentioned a bit in the past few months (the most recent one of those can be seen here, for comparison). Halo is still big business on eBay! (Louis Wu 17:37:21 UTC) (permalink)
Miniature Halo Update, and Halo Art
SEspider posted an update about his Miniature Halo series - along with some links to recent artwork he's done. Go read! (Louis Wu 17:26:17 UTC) (permalink)
Wow, I never thought of it as a verb...
SteelGaribaldi found a pretty subtle Halo reference in an old Unshelved comic; given the discussions on video game violence we've had on our forum, this is pretty funny. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:23:37 UTC) (permalink)
To Heaven
Jamie98s has created another gorgeous piece; I'm starting to wonder if there shouldn't be a fast lane for certain moviemakers, with respect to the MPRRS. This one is called 'To Heaven', and tells the story of one Spartan's journey to heaven. Superb camera work, wonderful composition, and a perfect music choice. Absolutely worth watching. WMP9 version is 22 mb, QuickTime version is 20 mb. Go grab. (Louis Wu 01:39:58 UTC) (permalink)
News March 18 2006
A Graphic Novel... Fanmade
Demonelite wanted to put together a Halo graphic novel using in-game shots, modified in Photoshop - last night's announcement of an official one prompted him to post his efforts so far. (There are higher-res versions in this post.) Fantastic stuff! (Louis Wu 20:25:58 UTC) (permalink)
Dreaming...
SteelGaribaldi noticed that Halo showed up in today's Foxtrot. Heh. (Louis Wu 18:54:39 UTC) (permalink)
Animation - Halo Dream
Gah - and even one MORE! (Last one of the night - I promise. I have some green beer to drink!) enigMa sent a link to this YouTube vid - it's a Halo dream animation he made for class. Pretty nice work! (Louis Wu 02:59:42 UTC) (permalink)
Fragging Rights
And in case you're not movied-out, you can swing by Halo2Forum, and grab a copy of shook on3's montage. Really, REALLY heavy on the effects... but the sniping's quite good, and there are a couple of very cool clips which use great machinima techniques in a pretty unique way, as far as montages go. 103 mb, WMP9 format. (5:33 long.) First heads-up came from shoeler, but I don't generally post H2F links unless they come from Z (which this one did, eventually). Update: There's a QuickTime version here (61.3 mb) for anyone who needs it. (Louis Wu 02:47:44 UTC) (permalink)
Major Tom Diaries - St. Patty's Day
I was totally wrong when I said the movie night was ending; there are more. Dennis Powers pointed out a St. Pattys Day tribute from EchoZuluFilms that I didn't get to in time... go grab a copy now. 16.6 mb in WMP9 format, 18.3 mb in QuickTime format. (Louis Wu 02:30:17 UTC) (permalink)
Take Tucker instead... he can't explode.
The Red vs Blue crew has been busy - Episode 76, 'Two for One', went up for sponsors a few hours ago. (That means freeloaders can grab a copy on Sunday, probably.) Sarge proves he's not the pointiest chevron on the sleeve, Tucker is... well, I can't tell you, and Caboose is sad. Very, very sad. Eight and a half minutes of RvB goodness round out this Friday movie night here at HBO! Thanks to Psychophan7 for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 02:04:51 UTC) (permalink)
Frantic's Montage Trailer, by Halzred
Halzred submitted a montage trailer he'd created for Frantic to the MPRRS - and the reviewers liked it. You can grab a copy in WMP9 format (21.5 mb) or QuickTime format (23.8 mb)... the final montage should be pretty cool! (Side note: hisTALLness, check your email, wouldja? I've now sent three emails to you about YOUR montage, with no response... and you clearly want it posted.) (Louis Wu 01:59:55 UTC) (permalink)
For those who love Halo art...
Wow. Bungie's Weekly Update is certainly worth reading this week... they've announced what looks to be a pretty darned spectacular product, coming this summer... a Halo Graphic Novel, put together by some amazing names. Go read it; I can't do it justice with a news post. (It's at B.net, of course, but it's also local, in the BWU Archive.) If you're wondering about that link name... check this forum post from earlier this afternoon. Moral of the story - Frankie can be petty, don't cross him. (Louis Wu 01:36:38 UTC) (permalink)
River Styx
Elnea (who's known around here for her artwork, and around Red vs Blue for her funny journals) and OboeCrazy (who's not known around here at all, but is pretty visible at RvB) put together a trailer for an upcoming machinima that does what hasn't been done yet, that I know of - it incorporates footage from Halo, the Sims, and World of Warcraft (and in fact integrates them, so a Sims character is talking to a Pelican pilot who's flying over a WoW landscape, for example); this is pretty cool stuff. You can grab a copy in a whole bunch of different flavors:
- MedRes - 540x360: QT (28.7 mb) | DivX (20.6 mb) | WMP9 (30.9 mb)
- LowRes - 360x240: QT (11.6 mb) | DivX (11.2 mb) | WMP9 (11.6 mb)
Actually, the large WMP9 is 720x480... but I was too lazy to cut it down. (The 540 versions actually look better, in my opinion.) Go grab one... and then let them know what you think of the idea! (Louis Wu 00:49:31 UTC) (permalink)
News March 17 2006
Halo PC Campaign Levels - now for HaloCE
Dennis Powers points out that you can now play all the Halo PC campaign levels in HaloCE; all you need to do is download one of the custom UI files that supports the 'Campaign' menu function (like this one, or this one, or this one), and then grab the Single Player levels off this page, and you're good to go! (He warns that the campaign level conversions have not undergone strict quality
control, so while each one has been played through successfully, you should use at your own risk.) (Louis Wu 20:45:54 UTC) (permalink)
More dialogue - but not all
Okay - I've STARTED to get through some of the backlogged dialogue snippets. Real work calls, so I need to stop here... but be aware that there are still almost 350 snippets in the queue from Hellhawk. In the meantime, check out batches from Bloodpuppy (29 snippets) and RibsMaster (18 snippets). There are some funny ones in there! (Louis Wu 20:10:55 UTC) (permalink)
Below The Belt.
Stuntmutt gets frisky in today's One One Se7en. Luckily, Cortana's there to cool him off. (Louis Wu 17:22:11 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fanfic
Nineteen new pieces in the Fan Fiction section today - check 'em out! (Louis Wu 17:19:50 UTC) (permalink)
Track it down!
A bunch of new dialogue snippets from Captain Spark got posted today - you can grab them off his site, or browse them in the Dialogue Databank. And yes, there are still a bunch of submitted clips in the queue; I'm really sorry about that. Today, if all goes well... (Louis Wu 16:36:49 UTC) (permalink)
News March 16 2006
Dan Miller, Awesomeness Worker
Bungie recently hired a new mission designer - and Frankie took some time out to interview him. What it's like to be a mission designer, where he came from, what you need to be wearing in order not to get your ideas rejected. That sort of thing. I'd love to tell you someone else was first... but I can't. (Louis Wu 22:21:49 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo-Related Art of Luke McKay
Well, I haven't gotten EXPLICIT approval, but he's linked to it from his Red vs Blue profile... so I guess he's okay with it. If you visit Red vs Blue for anything other than the videos themselves (that is - if you avail yourself of the community tools provided by the website), you've almost certainly run across Luke McKay, a regular there who creates a lot of very cool avatars and images for people. I asked him about the possiblity of consolidating his Halo-related work in one place... and he said sure... so swing by his gallery page here at HBO, and check out some of his work! There are caricatures of RvB characters, comics, and random Halo-related stuff. Nice! (Louis Wu 19:41:47 UTC) (permalink)
This Spartan Life: Travelogue
Swing by This Spartan Life for Episode 3, Module 2: Travelogue. It's a really quick overview of some glitches accessible in Halo 2 levels. If you're a regular at High Impact Halo, you won't see anything new - but the composition is quite nice. There's another new ep coming soon, as well! (Louis Wu 19:08:42 UTC) (permalink)
Banshee battle engineering
Rockslider continues his Halo Level 2 expansions with Banshee Battle Engineering, allowing you to pick the spots for your battles. Check out his forum post, and follow it to his website! (Louis Wu 19:03:55 UTC) (permalink)
MPRRS movie ranking exposed
This has been asked several times and always dismissed since we have seen that publicly viewed ranking systems can be bad things. However, as a movie "watcher" and "submitter" you may find it interesting in what your fellow community members find to be the top ranked movies. This shows the percentage that each passed movie achieved with a link to the associated news post. (Cybrfrk 15:02:20 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie's next game: Forerunner
This showed up in our forum a couple of days ago, and was quickly debunked by Frankie... but we're getting plenty of mail right now, so it's probably time for a front page post. The April issue (April? That month should send up flags) of Game Informer contains a story about Bungie's next game - or so it seems. Over at Xbox.com, someone went to the trouble of transcribing the entire article, and the website Xboxic reposted it. Sounds really cool... except that it ain't real. April Fools! (Louis Wu 14:57:30 UTC) (permalink)
Tons of Halo goodies for cheap
Speaking of eBay... this is pretty nice. Sulaco is selling his Xbox goodies - a Halo Special Edition Xbox, copies of Halo, Halo 2 (the Limited Edition version), Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Splinter Cell, hi-def cables, the Xbox DVD remote, a communicator headset for Live, and more - current bid is $51, and there's no reserve. You've got 4 and a half days to decide. (Louis Wu 14:14:02 UTC) (permalink)
Plasma Pistol for Sale
Gryponosiris found a Covenant Plasma Pistol replica (heh - as though there's a REAL one I need to differentiate from) on eBay; two days left, starting bid of $99. I guess this is becoming big business! Bungie has said, more than once, that the day might come when they crack down on this stuff... so if you're interested in this sort of thing, buy it while you can! (Louis Wu 13:56:40 UTC) (permalink)
Stern comments on Halo 2
Someone sent me this link, I think it's pretty hilarious. It's a 2 minute snippet from Howard Stern's Sirius radio broadcast of 3-15-06 where one of the staff explains his adventures in XBL playing Halo 2. It's interesting to see how others who are not clued in about XBL, Halo 2, and console games in general get a laugh at the hijinks that occur. Since we're talking Howard Stern and Sirius radio, this is definitely NSFW! Profanity and crude language spread throughout. (Ding 07:26:33 UTC) (permalink)
News March 15 2006
Halo TS tourney in PA
If you're in or near Philadelphia, check out Cyberzone - they're having a Halo 2 2v2 Team Slayer tourney this weekend. More details can be found on their website. (Louis Wu 23:24:40 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Sites - your way
PEZ writes to point out that halowiki.net has revamped their Halo 2 Sites article - it gives you an overview of many of the sites in the Halo community, and if there's a site you like that isn't on the list, you can simply add it. Swing by and take a look! (Louis Wu 18:24:42 UTC) (permalink)
It's A Zinger.
Remember all that talk about Delta Halo's QuadWings last week? Stuntmutt does - and looks at the logical conclusion; check today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 18:07:07 UTC) (permalink)
MC Figurine, Revisited
Yesterday, we mentioned a figurine that agdTinMan found on the web - he was unsure whether it was real or not. Mortalis pointed out that not only was it real, but he owned it - and he sent us some pics for you. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:34:28 UTC) (permalink)
Pistol replica fersale
Gryphonosiris found yet another one of those cool fullsize M6D replicas on eBay; folks who've bought them so far seem to have been pretty satisfied. This one's got 2 days left, with a bid price of $100, and a buy-it-now price of $140. (Louis Wu 16:49:58 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Cribs
Running behind today - first up, a new top story at Bungie.net. It looks at the AV setups used by some of the Bungie guys in their own houses... and man, some of 'em must go hungry to afford this stuff. Pretty cool pics - and of course, Frankie was first. Check that thread for some forumite setups - they're not nearly as impressive as the Bungie rigs, but hell, not everyone can be as rich as game developers. (Awesome top story graphic, too - localized in case it disappears, or they rearrange the site for the 8403rd time.) (Louis Wu 16:38:10 UTC) (permalink)
News March 14 2006
HCEC: Valley of the Forerunners, Part 3
The Valley of the Forerunners, Part 3 has been released over at the Halo CE Chronicles website. Harrington encounters stiff resistance from the marine contingent... and the first real sign of trouble appears. 7:29 long, available (as always) in WMP9, QuickTime, and streaming Flash formats. Go watch! (Louis Wu 15:35:00 UTC) (permalink)
Meet The Chief
Thomas Reynolds submitted a film called 'Meet The Chief' to the MPRRS - and they liked it, quite a lot. It's rather unique; I'm not sure how to describe it without stealing any of its thunder, so I'll simply post the description Thomas gave it when he submitted it:
A Halo 2 obsessed fan gets drawn into a strange world when his internet connection goes down...
I found it hilarious. Snag it in WMP9 format (52.1 mb) or QuickTime format (55.6 mb). When you're done watching it, you can go read a blog entry Thomas wrote up about it; I'd suggest holding off until you've seen it, to avoid being spoiled. (Louis Wu 12:26:26 UTC) (permalink)
No, I mean shut up Grif!
Red vs Blue Episode 75 - 'Things Are Looking Down' - has been posted for sponsors. The Red Team is reunited with Lopez, and the Blue Team introduces Andy to Doc (well, sort of). If I ever join an armed force, I hope nobody like Sarge is anywhere above me... thanks, DirePhoenix. (Louis Wu 12:20:04 UTC) (permalink)
More German Elite Articles
About a month ago, we pointed out an analysis of Elites, written in German and hosted at Halo Orbit (Part 1 (pages 1-3) | Part 2 (page 4)). Recently, we received word about two more parts; I'm not exactly sure when they came in, because the date stamp on the emails says 1997... but they're in the last week or two. You can visit them here: Part 5 | Part 6. Again - these are in German, and there is no translation available. If you speak German, though, or are willing to struggle through a Google translation, give these a read! (Louis Wu 12:16:12 UTC) (permalink)
Sex, Drugs, and Halo Pros, Part 2
A million years ago (okay, last April), Team GAG released a movie called 'Sex, Drugs, and Halo Pros, Part 1' - the first half of a chronicle of the team's road trip from Chicago to Houston in order to participate at MLG Houston, last March. They've finally released Part 2. If you ever wondered how this all ended up - wonder no more. Thanks, Adam. (Louis Wu 12:01:23 UTC) (permalink)
Adam Roe's Painted Chief
agdTinMan found a pretty cool 3D Master Chief figurine (3 inches tall), and posted word of it on our forum. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 11:54:18 UTC) (permalink)
News March 13 2006
Conquest Trailer
The Broken Console team is starting a new series - this one is called 'Conquest', and they've got a trailer for it up on their site (WMP9 and QuickTime). Go watch! Nice mix of Halo and Halo 2 footage, and movie dialogue. (Louis Wu 23:20:28 UTC) (permalink)
Age(s) of Conversion
Se7en One continues his Hall of Mural 3D conversions - Mural 5 is now available from the Hall of Murals page (QT or WMP9). Go grab a copy! (Louis Wu 23:17:41 UTC) (permalink)
Bucket Heid.
Today's One One Se7en takes a poke at Bungie's newest hire... but I'm guessing Frankie might have something to say about (aboot?) it as well. (Louis Wu 17:15:22 UTC) (permalink)
The Big Pink Elephant
Over the past few months, Narcogen has been getting more and more vocal about his distaste for the Bungie policy of silence with respect to upcoming projects. (He's not complaining that they're not discussing upcoming projects in detail - he's unhappy that they're not even saying WHAT they're working on - that today, almost a year and a half after the release of Halo 2, they haven't announced whether or not they're even planning on a Halo 3.) Last night, he posted a pretty solidly-reasoned argument on our forum - and then decided it was worth saving for posterity in his blog at Rampancy.net. It's unlikely that Bungie is going to change its publicity policies based on fan demand... but you DO have to wonder what's holding up the announcement about whether or not they ever plan to release a third installment. (To be clear: I understand completely why a gaming company would want to remain close-mouthed about the DETAILS of the game(s) they're working on - but as Narc points out, a huge percentage of the Halo 2 purchasers out there are expecting a Halo 3, simply because of how the second game ended; the longer Bungie goes without making an announcement, the harder it's going to be to weather the storm if the announcement is 'we're bagging it'.) Go read. (Louis Wu 16:42:56 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular Ep 53
Foo Mo Jive points out that Podtacular Episode 53 has been posted - it looks at what gamers want to see in Halo 3, as well as what other games Halo players are into right now. Go grab a copy. (Louis Wu 15:33:46 UTC) (permalink)
New Work from Bryn Casey
Bryn Casey went on an art tear this weekend - go check out Cabin, Bay, and Outskirts. I love the feel of this guy's work! (Louis Wu 15:02:25 UTC) (permalink)
The Dangers of Online Gaming
There've been a couple of articles recently looking at the dangers inherent in online gaming - mostly for children, and mostly related to the interactions they might have with other gamers. I bypassed the first one, yesterday, from the Lansing State Journal, because it was somewhat tangential to Halo (it mentioned the game only once, and then used a picture of a kid playing it)... but this morning, there's a second one, from the Battle Creek Enquirer, which focuses a bit more on Halo 2. (Is there new legislation pending in Michigan, or something?) In fact, if you visit the front page of the Enquirer's website, you'll find that these two stories make up 2/3 of the top of the screen - whether you believe this is a real issue or not, readers of this newspaper are going to get the impression that it's a pretty big problem. Have an opinion about this stuff? Sound off on our forum. (Louis Wu 14:48:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Armor on eBay
There are a couple of sets of Halo armor available on eBay; I forgot to post about this full Nightmare Armor set (mentioned on our forum by devildeggs on Friday) - you still have more than 4 days left to decide about this; starting bid is $2000. And this morning, we got mail from Jake Delpine, who pointed out an auction ending much sooner; starting bid is $1000, but the auction ends in less than an hour. (This is not Nightmare Armor.) (Louis Wu 14:31:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Nerds Ep 3 Part 1
spartanerik pointed out a new Flash vid - 'Halo Nerds Ep 3 Part 1', over at Newgrounds. Nice artwork - but I found it pretty dull, overall. Maybe it's just me. Go watch. (Louis Wu 14:08:30 UTC) (permalink)
In Amber Clad Model Update
Stephen Loftus has restarted his scale model of In Amber Clad, and has taken a couple of new pictures showing the current progress. (He's a bit beyond where he was before, but with a much more flexible model design.) You can see the work on his own site (linked from the forum post), or in our local mirror. (Louis Wu 14:04:57 UTC) (permalink)
News March 12 2006
Mural 4: Age(s) of Discovery
Se7en One continues his 3D-ifying of the Murals that showed up on the LE DVD; you can find QuickTime and WMP9 versions of Mural 4 on the Hall of Murals page. (Louis Wu 23:12:57 UTC) (permalink)
Just PSP It.
Mintz points out that there a few new items at Halo: Portable this week - the weekly update, of course, and a PSP version of Mothergoat's MPD vid. Go get 'em! (Louis Wu 23:05:36 UTC) (permalink)
Airsoft Battle Rifle
LazerBlader found a homemade Halo 2 Battle Rifle Airsoft gun on eBay today (six days left on the auction) - and I noticed an older shot of the same gun that was uploaded to us a bit earlier (apologies to Ken, the seller; I've been really, really behind on the uploads directory). Pretty nice work! (Louis Wu 23:04:13 UTC) (permalink)
Prettiness for your desktop
Man. I can't believe it's been two and a half months since the Wallpaper section was updated. There's some really cool stuff in there this time around - go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 22:59:07 UTC) (permalink)
Soldiers of War, Episode Two
QuickTactical submitted Episode Two of his Soldiers of War series to the MPRRS, and it passed. (I guess Ep 1 didn't pass; you can find a link on their website.) Because we're hosting, you can grab it in WMP9 format (45.5 mb) or QuickTime format (43.7 mb). (Episodes on their site are WMP9 only.) This tells the story of an American platoon protecting the west coast from a foreign invasion. (Louis Wu 22:00:47 UTC) (permalink)
New Fun on SC
Rockslider has written up a new section on his Bad Cyborg site which covers getting to the top of Silent Cartographer, including creating a good save to work from. Once up there, you can make use of his plasma pistol sniping suggestions. (Louis Wu 16:20:13 UTC) (permalink)
Query Spree 1.1.4
Query Spree has been updated; lots and lots of changes, it seems. Swing by the site to grab a copy. (Still no OSX version, unfortunately.) Thanks, Vironex. (Louis Wu 16:17:06 UTC) (permalink)
Fixing your XBL Headset
Ever broken your Xbox Live headset, and then felt sad because you didn't have money to buy a new one? This isn't totally Halo-related... but there are a lot of Halo players in this boat, so... check out Thomas Reynolds' tutorial (with pics) on how to fix a broken headset. (Louis Wu 16:14:42 UTC) (permalink)
LaFonda, turn it off, I'm not kiddin'!
Heroes & Heretics Episode 3, 'Operation: Bloated Rodent', is now available for download. Almost 7 minutes long, it indroduces you to the Mark VIa Combat Exoskeleton, and what happens when insane people try to work together. Hilarious stuff! Go grab a copy at Slacker Entertainment's website. (Louis Wu 01:29:56 UTC) (permalink)
News March 11 2006
Master Chief Oekaki
Pinkuh posted another piece of work on the forum - it was created using a Java-based painter called 'Oekaki'. Check it out! (It's been added to her gallery here at HBO, as well.) (Louis Wu 16:30:24 UTC) (permalink)
HSH is back!
Thanks to Amaroq and Ducain, High Speed Halo is back online! (The URL has changed slightly, but that's only because the .org was snatched by a squatter.) Go check out this classic Halo site. (Louis Wu 16:29:53 UTC) (permalink)
Old Glory
Skav's back. Sort of. (Louis Wu 15:47:55 UTC) (permalink)
The Glide Dragon
Se7en One put together a documentary on the Glide Dragon (otherwise known as QuadWings, seen primarily on the Delta Halo level of Halo 2) - it's built entirely in 3ds max. It was submitted to the MPRRS - and didn't pass... but KP agreed to offer hosting space on Boomerica, so you can visit SO's forum post for a download link. 41 mb, WMP9 format. Before we get a bunch of email about this... almost all the info in this documentary was made up by Se7en One; it's an excercise in rendering more than a canonical look at a Bungieverse creature. Don't let that stop you, though! (Louis Wu 15:30:23 UTC) (permalink)
Division
Way behind on stuff - life's getting a bit out of control right now. A couple of days ago, DocOctavius posted word of a new HaloCE map on our forum - you can grab a flythrough of the beta version, or download the map (there are pics included in the forum post). Looks like a lot of fun! (It's available for play on his dedicated server this weekend.) (Louis Wu 15:21:38 UTC) (permalink)
Stupid pony.
Bungie's Weekly Update today covers some music stuff (no, not the Soundtrack release, sorry), the 77,777,777th clan-player game session, more taunting about the 'next game', staff changes, the making of ponies (or, more accurately, ponys), and a note about 'Bungie Cribs', coming soon. Go read! (Or read it in our Weekly Update Archive.) 'First' credit goes to Marty, even though it hadn't actually been posted at that point. (He IS pretty old, I guess; sometimes, it doesn't pay to wait too long.) (Louis Wu 03:22:42 UTC) (permalink)
News March 10 2006
Podcasting.
Today's One One Se7en is gross. Trust me. (Louis Wu 18:05:59 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fiction
Thirteen new stories in the Fan Fiction section today. Let's hope that's not bad luck. (Louis Wu 14:16:43 UTC) (permalink)
It wanted a raise, mb
Apologies for the downtime last night; the webserver decided to simply keel over. (The server never went down - just the application.) Things SEEM to be back up and running - I think. (Louis Wu 13:45:37 UTC) (permalink)
News March 9 2006
Clan Training
LegendaryMark wrote up a nice article on Clan Training over at halowiki - go read it for some great pointers. Thanks, PEZ. (Louis Wu 21:39:20 UTC) (permalink)
Ceramic Master Chief
boltofaire and a friend decided to make a Master Chief statue in ceramics class - check out some of the in-progress photos in this forum post. Pretty cool stuff! (Louis Wu 21:35:55 UTC) (permalink)
Head Monstrosity
Frontline with Suzie continues - Broadcast 16 has Suzie talking to (and being hit upon) by an oversized Captain Keyes. Puts a whole new angle on the getting-taken-over schtick. Go read. Thanks, Rockslider. (Louis Wu 17:56:16 UTC) (permalink)
Your will - my action.
Captain Spark released another batch of dialogue snippets - you can grab 'em on his site, or in the Dialogue Databank. (Yes, I know there are others still waiting in the queue - but CS submits so many, I automated the addition of his files; adding ones that are not formatted the same way takes more work (and therefore gets backburnered) - unfair, yes, but there it is.) Go listen. (Louis Wu 17:48:02 UTC) (permalink)
Team 3D Postmortem - Part II
F13ND has written up Part II of Team 3D's MLG Nationals Wrap article - this one is an interview with OGRE 2. As always, it's great to see what the pros think about how they played - lots to learn. Go read! (Louis Wu 15:47:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Haiku
Oscar Gordon put together a few Halo-related Haikus a bit ago, and last night posted a link on our forum. Memories... (Louis Wu 13:01:18 UTC) (permalink)
Learning Lessons from the Timmys of our Time
Last week, Mothergoat released the MPD public service announcement - and fans loved it. Today, you can grab just the MP3 - hi-res, 3 mb worth of teh funni. Go listen! (Louis Wu 11:50:50 UTC) (permalink)
Honored by a real Talent
Wow. Elnea's latest avatar... is for me. Awesome piece of work, in fact. I'd tell you to go read about its creation in her RvB journal - but RvB seems to be down right at the moment... so maybe try again later. But in the meantime... thanks, Elnea! (Louis Wu 11:36:43 UTC) (permalink)
Malibu's Most Wanted
Over at the Internet Zillionaire, The Centaur has put together a list of Xbox Live Personality Profiles - and for the post part, it's people you'll meet playing Halo. (There are also some pretty funny additions in the comments.) Go read! (Louis Wu 11:25:53 UTC) (permalink)
Bite... Chu... there's a pun there.
There's a press release flooding the gaming world right now, announcing the existence of Giant Bite Games, a new studio founded by Hamilton Chu, Michael Evans, Andy Glaister, and Steve Theodore, who between them have worked on Halo, Half-Life 2, Counterstrike, and Microsoft's DirectX technology. The earliest two that showed up in my inbox were at Gamasutra and GameDaily BIZ. There's also a thread in our forum. (Louis Wu 11:20:37 UTC) (permalink)
Special move: Ice Cream Persuasion
Sketchfactor's posted a new interview on Bungie.net. The subject is Max Dyckhoff, better known in this community as mad.max, Bungie's new AI Engineer. The interview goes over a bit of his past, his acclimation to Bungie Studios and what his new job entails. (KP 06:08:33 UTC) (permalink)
News March 8 2006
Paper View.
One One Se7en goes multimedia today. (OMG, I'm infected.) (Louis Wu 19:08:18 UTC) (permalink)
Crowds that love, crowds that hate
KrazyGamers wrote an article looking at why so many people hate Halo. If you wonder why, look no further than their closing line: "after all it's true, any publicity is good publicity." (Louis Wu 19:06:12 UTC) (permalink)
Number One... for how much longer?
So, every week, there's a new 'top 10 games played on Xbox Live' list, and every week Halo 2 is at the top. Some folks are starting to wonder how long it'll be before something else is number one. Most recent speculator - XboxAddict. Go read. (Louis Wu 19:03:03 UTC) (permalink)
News March 7 2006
The Valley of the Forerunners: Part Two
The Valley of the Forerunners: Part Two, the next installment of the Halo CE Chronicles, has been posted over at the HCEC website. A philosophic look at Blues music, some gorgeous scenery, and some new characters are all included - go give it a watch. Available (as usual) in WMP9, QuickTime, or streaming Flash. (Louis Wu 18:40:47 UTC) (permalink)
Hallway
Bryn Casey whipped up another slick image this weekend - he hasn't come up with a title yet, but the action rocks. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:09:53 UTC) (permalink)
Covenant Boarding Craft, Up Close
Stephen Loftus sent along another analytical article, this time with the help of Dojorkan (who took some awesome pictures). This one looks closely at the Covenant Boarding Craft - that remora-like vehicle which attaches itself to any enemy structure and allows the troops inside to burn through a hull or outer wall to gain access to the space within. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:50:11 UTC) (permalink)
MLGPro - Content Overload
3Suns pointed out quite a bit of cool content over at MLGPro.com; you can find a bunch of new photo galleries (new in that they weren't there before - but the pics are from old events), a focus on Saiyan as Player of the Week, some cool pics from Synide's journal showing the equipment they use for video capture during tournaments (one of the comments was "when the VoD stuff is hooked up, half the lights in the hotel go off" - I'd believe it), and lots and lots of new VoD content (the NYC championships are currently being rebroadcast). Swing by and indulge! (Louis Wu 15:11:33 UTC) (permalink)
Passing the Joystick
demus found a nice article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about parents who game with their kids. Halo gets a tiny mention. Good read! (Louis Wu 15:04:24 UTC) (permalink)
Needler for Auction
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned an auction on eBay in which someone was selling crystals for a fan-made needler. Bungie mentioned it, as well, and pointed out that had he been trying to sell the needler, he might have run into trouble. The needles sold for $60 (well below what they cost the seller)... and now, he's actually selling a needler. Starting bid is $185 (none made yet), with 5 days left on the auction. Thanks, GryphonOsiris. (Louis Wu 14:41:55 UTC) (permalink)
News March 6 2006
Pictures that will blow your mind.
Holy... wow. Check out this forum post by prometheus, and follow the links to download some of the most amazing HUDless Halo 2 shots I've ever seen. Congrats to Major.Dump for getting these. (Louis Wu 18:45:55 UTC) (permalink)
Does Rage Fade With Age?
It's not totally Halo-related, but he DOES have the messiest desk at Bungie, and it's entirely possible that large chunks of the Halo bible are buried there, lost forever... so we're gonna wish Mat Noguchi a happy birthday today! (Thanks to our resident Bungie stalker, mnemesis, who found it on Mat's brother's website. (Louis Wu 18:42:06 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Lego stuff for auction
Funky. Someone is selling a custom Halo Lego set on eBay - MC, a Jackal (sort of), two marines, a warthog, and a ghost. Currently at $30 - 2 days left. Thanks, Jono. (Louis Wu 18:36:58 UTC) (permalink)
In Floods.
What do you do when all the good jokes are taken? Tell them again. As Stuntmutt does in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 15:46:35 UTC) (permalink)
Sound Spoof
Brad decided that it might be fun to play with some of the people who like to swear at you in pre-and post-game chat; he modded his headset to allow input from his computer. It's amazing how much anger Mr. Rogers can inspire. He's got 91 recordings online right now, with a couple of hundred waiting in the queue. Go listen to some. (It should go without saying that these are PG-13+ rated.) Brad sent us the same batch of 4 suggested samples (1 | 2 | 3 | 4) as he sent to Joystiq - and they are pretty good... (Louis Wu 12:09:49 UTC) (permalink)
Halo (1) tourney in Tennessee
your dog sends us word of a Halo CE tournament in Murfreesboro, TN, coming up this summer. Details are on this web page. (Louis Wu 11:58:32 UTC) (permalink)
DropShock Episode Twelve
More podcasting - DropShock Episode Twelve was just released, as well. A look at why Halo 2 is still one of the better games to play on your 360, speculation about why Bungie won't accept their Humpday Challenge, and more. Go grab a copy. (The main site is redirecting me to MySpace - maybe that's just when the main server is down - but you can always grab the feed itself at Feedburner.) (Louis Wu 11:53:12 UTC) (permalink)
MLG PwnCast Updates
Two new items over at MLG PwnCast - Episode 5 has been posted (a discussion of the NYC Championships and the 2006 season), and the first PwnCast on Demand - Beaver Creek CTF - is online. Go listen! Thanks, Bluestrike2. (Louis Wu 11:50:48 UTC) (permalink)
News March 5 2006
I'm not a freakin' alarm clock.
Awesome. Heroes & Heretics Flashback 2: Time & Temperature has been posted over at Slacker Entertainment (thanks, Construct-III). LaFonda has got to be the best AI in the Halo universe. Available in QuickTime and DivX on their site; apparently, there was a codec problem so we're offering WMP9 versions locally (high | low). Nobody should be shut out of these - they're very, very funny. (Louis Wu 21:04:19 UTC) (permalink)
Motives and Techniques
Over at Rampancy.net, Narcogen continues his Halo 2 Impressions series - today he's looking at The Great Journey, and he's looking pretty closely. He's got a number of complaints, and a bunch of suggestions - all in all, a good read. Check it out. (Louis Wu 16:22:05 UTC) (permalink)
Dalteth's Halo Miniatures
There've been a number of people who've converted Warhammer 40k figures to Halo-themed ones; we're hosting a website mirror for Frankie 'Deadpool' G., and both turel and JoeIce have posted cool images on our forum. Now there's a new artist on the block - Dalteth sent us a bunch of images showing off the conversion work he's done. Pretty cool stuff - and it sounds like there's more on the way! (Louis Wu 16:04:38 UTC) (permalink)
Just PSP It.
Mintz wrote to let us know that Halo: Portable has quite a bit of new content this week - PSP versions of a couple of recent popular videos, plus PSP-formatted versions of all of Bungie's top stories this week. Swing by and check it out! (Louis Wu 15:09:10 UTC) (permalink)
MPD - You CAN be cured.
Wow. Mothergoat took some time out of his busy schedule to put together a Public Service Announcement yesterday; he looks carefully at MPD, a treatable disorder affecting a large percentage of the over-24 gamer population. I think even Green Day would approve. Swing by his forum post for download links (we've provided local mirrors, both of his original WMP9 and a QT version for those who need it). Then laugh a lot. (Louis Wu 15:02:23 UTC) (permalink)
News March 4 2006
Str8 Rippin vs T3D
Over at Halo2Forum.com, you'll find a large (156 mb, WMP9) vid showing a CTF match on Midship between Str8 Rippin and Team3D. Awesome gameplay, fascinating conversation. Go grab it! (Louis Wu 20:58:56 UTC) (permalink)
Video-game Characters in the real world
Burnie, from Red vs Blue, found a fun Fark photoshop contest - several of the entries (though none that are really doing well) are Halo-related. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:47:48 UTC) (permalink)
Municipality and Endurance, Released
Wave of Lag has released a couple of new Urban Combat maps for Halo CE - along with tags for his version of the Kestrel (a vehicle shown as concept art on the Limited Edition DVD, but never released by Bungie in any form). Check this forum post for details and a Gearbox forum link. (Louis Wu 20:31:36 UTC) (permalink)
In Europe, it's called the Space Program.
Very cool - a new Public Service Announcement has been posted over at Red vs Blue... "The Olympics Suck." It's pretty funny; I was just discussing why nobody watched the Olympics this year, over dinner... and now this! It's got something for everybody - even Stephen Colbert. If you're a sponsor, go grab a copy. If you're not... wait a few days. Maybe watch some Olympic highlights or something while you wait. Thanks, CougRon. (Louis Wu 03:48:05 UTC) (permalink)
Warthog Moon Patrol
Bungie Weekly Update was posted (as usual, while I was out for dinner) - swing by and read about what they're NOT doing, as well as a little about what is coming up. You can also read it in our Weekly Update Archive, if you like white better than blue. Was Frankie first? Do bears sh- um, never mind. No, as a matter of fact, he wasn't - because he's skiing in Tahoe. Shishka was first. (Louis Wu 01:20:56 UTC) (permalink)
News March 3 2006
Joking Around
Took a little longer to judge than we'd originally counted on (hey - almost three hundred entries had to be read through, groaned at, and ranked!), but the 7 on the 7th Joke Contest has finally been judged, and results have been posted. Congrats to the winners (you'll be contacted soon for mailing info)! Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to Bungie for the action figures! (Louis Wu 20:20:08 UTC) (permalink)
Trash Talk.
Recently, Uwe Boll has spoken out about his opinion of the chances that the Halo movie will succeed. Stuntmutt tosses his two cents on that subject into the pot with today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:06:04 UTC) (permalink)
Closing out a powerful season
More NYC Halo Nationals stuff - at MLGPro.com, there's an overview of the Finals (thanks, 3Suns), and at Team3D.net, there's Part 1 of a wrapup - an interview with Hotshy (thanks, F13ND). Go read! (Louis Wu 16:53:33 UTC) (permalink)
Can't all just get along?
Captain Spark released another batch of dialogue snippets (and celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary, and is gearing up for his birthday - w00t!) - you can grab 'em from his website, or browse 'em in the Dialogue Databank. And there are more snippets coming from Hellhawk and Bloodpuppy, soon - I just haven't gotten 'em processed yet! (Louis Wu 16:47:53 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fiction Update
Twenty new pieces up in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read! (Louis Wu 16:26:50 UTC) (permalink)
Game with Fame: Hollyoaks
The Game with Fame series continues, with the cast from Hollyoaks (a British soap) looking to take on some of their fans on March 4. We seem to have fallen off the notification list for these things - but you can read the press release elsewhere around the net (XGP Gaming has a copy, and so does TeamXbox). (Louis Wu 16:13:41 UTC) (permalink)
Arrr!
Remember that pirate comment Frankie made in last week's Weekly Update, when referring to an upcoming Halo Humpday Challenge? Turns out it was because Bungie played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. Frankie did a good job staying with the football theme all the way through the writeup. There's a scary pic at the end, with (as several people pointed out to us) two pictures of Marty in it. And of course, the obligatory First (down) post by Frankie. (And oh, yeah, in case I forget... congrats, Bungie, for pulling out the win in the last few seconds!) (Louis Wu 11:27:27 UTC) (permalink)
News March 2 2006
MLG NYC Pics
Nice. MLGPro.com has put up a gallery of photos from last weekend's National Championships; 434 pics of people playing Halo. Go look. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 23:27:16 UTC) (permalink)
Grunts and Jackals... oh, my.
Rockslider continues the Frontline with Suzie series - today she's interviewing some swampdwellers. Well... not really dwelling. More being lost, actually. Go read. (Louis Wu 19:15:46 UTC) (permalink)
This Spartan Life - Episode 3 (Module 1)
This Spartan LIfe has posted Episode 3, Module 1 - visit the site for download options. Damian has some... staff issues. Here's hoping he works 'em out soon! The QuickTime is 16.6 mb, the WMP9 should be available soon. (There's also an alternate version of the Solid Gold Elite Dancers module released a few weeks ago; it's mostly the same episode, except slightly less integrated into the storyline than the original.) (Louis Wu 17:34:41 UTC) (permalink)
News March 1 2006
Play!
Wow, bizarre. Remember Video Games Live? They're claiming to be happening again (there are two dates on their Tour page)... but they're no longer the only game in town. Play! bills itself as 'A Video Game Symphony', and features music from 'a catalogue of blockbuster video game titles'... including Halo. They kick off in Chicago, on May 27... with dates in Stockholm and Philadelphia already scheduled. Tommy Tallarico... watch your back! Thanks, Hanchen Lu. (Louis Wu 23:46:40 UTC) (permalink)
Love Song
More movies. Well, movie. This one ALMOST passed the MPRRS. (Missed by 0.4%.) It's a music video from Belligerent, set to 311's 'Love Song', and it's pretty nicely done. Not too huge, and the suggestions made by the reviewers aren't dealbreakers, in my opinion. Grab it in WMP9 format (28.3 mb) or QuickTime format (26.3 mb). (Louis Wu 21:46:39 UTC) (permalink)
Halo for the PSP
Funkiness. Looks like someone's trying to create a version of Halo that runs on the PSP. Should be fun to keep an eye on... thanks, Hexudus. (Louis Wu 21:38:58 UTC) (permalink)
Lament for Pvt. Jenkins
BootStrap Boon put together a vid called 'Lament for Pvt. Jenkins' recently, and the MPRRS said 'yeah!' It's an alternate look at what might have happened to the poor dead Private from Halo, and aside from some odd aspect issues, and the occasional interlacing, it's quite well done. He does a really nice job of integrating Dialogue Databank snippets into his footage, so all dialogue is done by the original Halo marines. It's rather large; both long (11:40) and big (856x480), so it weighs in at 115 mb, in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats. Give it a whirl! (Louis Wu 21:09:57 UTC) (permalink)
Action Replay FAQ
Spartan Jag wrote up a FAQ for Action Replay, the device that lets you trade saved games with other Halo players (well, lots of games, but this is a Halo site, right?). Check it out on our forum. (Louis Wu 17:00:01 UTC) (permalink)
Managing XPectations.
So, not too long ago, Bungie announced that Halo 2 would be coming out on Windows Vista - and a lot of people griped that they didn't want to upgrade their operating system just to play Halo 2. Stuntmutt takes the 'if you can't beat 'em, laugh at 'em' tack in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 14:18:38 UTC) (permalink)
HCEC Season 3, Ep 1
Season 3 of the Halo CE Chronicles kicked off yesterday, with 'The Valley of the Forerunners, Part 1' - swing by the HCEC website to grab your copy. This one picks up where season 2 left off, and is the first in 11 parts. Nice scenery, and a great kickoff into the new season's plotline. Hmm... no download links in that news post, so after reading about the release, be sure to stop by the Videos page. Thanks to Dennis Powers and PsycoJoe for letting us know. (Louis Wu 11:44:55 UTC) (permalink)
Undefeated at Mario Tennis
Player of the week this week, over at MLGPro.com, is Gandhi - a member of the number two team out of last weekend's Nationals. Go check out what makes him tick. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:29:04 UTC) (permalink)
Why does the cake smell like baby oil?
RedvsBlue Episode 74, 'Right To Remain Silenced', has been released for sponsors, a bit later than expected... but man, it was worth it. My favorite character is back... and as fun as ever. If you're a sponsor, go grab it now. If you're not... it should be out by Thursday or so. Thanks to spartaneric for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 03:24:20 UTC) (permalink)
| March 2006 | |
