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 | March 2007 |  |
March 2007 Archived News
News March 31 2007
Hi-Res CA Screens
Phan7om noticed that Certain Affinity's website is hosting very high resolution versions of the two new screenshots - 3480x2106 pixels apiece, to be exact. Nice! (Louis Wu 19:45:03 UTC) (permalink)
Biting the Hand
Red vs Episode 93 has now been posted for sponsors. (As always, it'll be up for the general public in a few days.) This won't make a lot of sense if you've never watched the Out of Mind series they posted on Marketplace last year; all 5 episodes are available in their video archive, if you haven't seen them yet. Also, the Reds find some stuff. And accidentally make fun of Bungie's storytelling techniques. (Louis Wu 12:07:45 UTC) (permalink)
Fan-made HEH
NeuroKoNeza had been working on a remake of Hang 'Em High for Halo2Vista - he was shooting for a Colossus-type environment. You can see a couple of shots of his work in progress over on the Gearbox forums - looks like he's not sure whether to continue work, or simply let the Bungie version step in. (Louis Wu 12:01:04 UTC) (permalink)
A cautionary tale...
A high school student in Michigan spent 9 months organizing a Halo tournament to be held on school grounds. He did everything right; he talked to school officials, he organized parents and teachers to act as chaperones, he advertised both in-school and out. All was copacetic - until 4 days before the event. His dad contacted the local police to inquire about the availability of a uniformed officer to provide security (they were expecting in excess of 300 people); with just a couple of days to go, and $650 out of pocket for the teenaged organizer, the tournament was shut down. Ouch! Read the details in the Ann Arbor News. (Louis Wu 11:34:38 UTC) (permalink)
Blast from the Past
Teen Ink has reviewed the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack, Volume 1. At least, it LOOKS like a new review... (Louis Wu 11:29:47 UTC) (permalink)
When Bloggers Get Bored
Last weekend, we posted a link to an article at Unconfirmed Sources - it was clearly parody, but at the time I thought it was a one-off. I was wrong. They've got a followup. (Louis Wu 11:25:58 UTC) (permalink)
DPAD looks at MLG 2007
GotFrag posted an article looking at the changes in the MLG rules and gametypes, and how those might affect the standings in the upcoming season. Go read! (Louis Wu 11:23:02 UTC) (permalink)
The Voices Trailer
QuickTactical pointed out a trailer for 'The Voices', a machinima series coming out in a few months. It's... odd. (Louis Wu 11:18:44 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Interviews XiT
XiT Woundz is one of the pro squads that did some major rearranging with their roster after the end of last season - they're back, and rarin' to go for Charlotte with two new players, and you can see what they're thinking in a new interview at MLGPro.com. Thanks, Tyger. (Louis Wu 11:14:44 UTC) (permalink)
Medals We Could Use
Mister Froggy has posted Halo, Articulated #26 - methinks he had some bad experiences in MatchMaking recently. (Louis Wu 11:10:50 UTC) (permalink)
News March 30 2007
Monkey Sounds and a Crane
The Bungie Weekly Update is up way early this week - it's mostly about the new Halo 2 maps announced today, but there's also a bit about a comic convention in Seattle this weekend, if you're nearby. Be very, very happy that Bungie found a way for all Halo 2 players - Xbox and 360 alike - to play these maps! A good read, overall - I'm looking forward to April 17! Readable, as always, on Bungie.net or in our Weekly Update Archive. And Frankie, predictably, was first. (Louis Wu 22:54:16 UTC) (permalink)
How To Make Halo Machinima
Alexander 'Nerrolken' Winn, the leader of the Edgeworks Entertainment crew, has put together a very nicely laid-out tutorial entitled 'How To Make Halo Machinima'. Give it a read; there's lots to learn! (Louis Wu 20:05:36 UTC) (permalink)
Trade in your Glock for an M19 SSM RL
Wow. This one's pretty interesting. Several sites (Engadget, Techdirt) are quoting a Reuters article about a new program from the Mexican government, an attempt to get guns off the streets; turn in a gun, get tech stuff. High-caliber weapons net you a computer, while handguns get you an Xbox. As Davidgojr (who sent in this story) says, this might generate a few new Halo players... (Louis Wu 17:40:08 UTC) (permalink)
Dew Process.
Last week, Kotaku mentioned a marketing program that involved Halo-branded Mountain Dew. Stuntmutt gets down to what it REALLY means in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 16:59:51 UTC) (permalink)
Mark April 17 on your Calendar
Over at Bungie.net, you'll find a new Top Story - it's a look at two new maps soon to be available for download ($4 for the pair). Tombstone and Desolation are remakes of Hang 'Em High and Derelict, respectively, and there are screenshots in the Halo 2 Gallery. It'll be really interesting to see if Certain Affinity has managed to solve some of the problems that kept HEH from being ported 3 years ago... but I must say, it sure LOOKS gorgeous. Check 'em out! Thanks to TheBadgerWithin, who noticed 'em pretty quickly. (Louis Wu 16:17:14 UTC) (permalink)
The Five O'Clock Guru Episode 1
trigger119, over at GamingTV, pointed out a new video from the Machine Enema crew - it's called 'The Five O'Clock Guru Episode 1', and it's... out there. REALLY out there. It's hilarious - but it's not what you expect. Pesto might turn out to be the best Halo machinima character since RvB's Tex. The episode is nearly 12 minutes long; our mirrors (WMP9 | QuickTime) weigh in at 56.1 mb and 53.2 mb, respectively. I wish there were versions with a larger screensize! The effects are those you've come to expect from Machine Enema productions, the voice acting is fantastic, the humor is bizarre and rip-roaring. Go download!
(Louis Wu 15:30:57 UTC) (permalink)
Custom Halo Theme in Guitar Hero II
In early April, Guitar Hero II will be released for the Xbox 360, and speculation has it that the Halo theme will be available for play (possibly as an unlockable). Someone didn't want to wait - over at GameTrailers, you can see a custom version of the song done on the PS2 version of the game. Pretty cool! Thanks, MasterChief2829. (Louis Wu 15:29:03 UTC) (permalink)
Rolling On
Over at Rampancy.net, Narcogen has finished up his comparison of Gears of War and Halo 2 (apparently, it's my fault he's stopping at three segments) - this one looks at story and music. While earlier versions had Narcogen pointing out things that Gears might have done better than Halo, this one is pretty negative about GoW. Interesting read - I guess I gotta go play the game now! (Louis Wu 15:09:06 UTC) (permalink)
Foulacy, Legendz, and FBI Icon - MLG Floweth Over
3Suns pointed out a raft of new content over at MLGPro.com - there's player match commentary from Foulacy, an interview with Legendz, and an interview with FBI Icon (a lesser-known team, but one with high hopes). Go read, go watch! (Louis Wu 14:42:29 UTC) (permalink)
Midship Strats at TPC
Over at ThePanicAttacks, NoFXRaven has written up an article on Midship strategies - give it a read if you have trouble figuring out how far Carbine is from Top Pink. Thanks, Jobyn. (Louis Wu 14:23:52 UTC) (permalink)
Checkpoint delaying
Rockslider has written up an article about checkpoint delaying - ways to manipulate WHEN Halo gives you a checkpoint, rather than allowing the game to dictate how this happens. (As with all of his work so far, this information is relevant to Halo, not Halo 2.) Take a look! (Louis Wu 14:19:21 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Worries
BitMaP stopped by with a new, Halo-related episode of Strouperman - here's hoping the prediction at the end is not true! (Louis Wu 13:33:22 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Is it becoming a trend? Seven new pieces in the Fan Fiction section again this week. Go read. (Louis Wu 13:28:22 UTC) (permalink)
In the hole
Sluty bk stopped by to point out a video he'd posted on YouTube; forum reaction was quite positive. (I'm not sure I 'got' it.) See for yourself! (Louis Wu 13:04:02 UTC) (permalink)
News March 29 2007
I LIKED Chiron.
Wow, cool. Bungie's posted a new Letters to the Webmaster! (Last batch went up in January 2006 - been a while.) I'd say the Webmaster's been drinking - but that would be uselessly obvious information. Thanks, Brodingo. (Louis Wu 22:35:39 UTC) (permalink)
The Halo Effect
Over at GameSetWatch, you'll find a short review of a new Halo book called 'The Halo Effect' - it was posted last week, but I've held off mentioning it because I wanted to post my OWN review. (The book includes significant amounts of work from two of the three Halo Story Page editors - Finn did quite a bit of editing, and provided the appendix, and Jillybean wrote an article about the mythos of Halo.) All in all, it's an impressive collection of essays - and as I said, I'll have a more complete review soon, but in the meantime, check out GameSetWatch! Thanks to Simon Carless for reminding me I hadn't mentioned this yet. (Louis Wu 17:00:50 UTC) (permalink)
MMaster Talks MMachinima with GGTV
Over at GamingTV, you'll find an interview with machinima creator MMaster, conducted by GTV moderator Soupa. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:55:23 UTC) (permalink)
What Not To Do In Halo 2
Black Aye pointed out a new film by a new machinima clan, Mystik Films. Go see what they're up to. (Louis Wu 15:26:32 UTC) (permalink)
MARVELous
Sane Intolerant let us know about a new Halo Toy Box episode - given that Marvel's going to be doing an episodic Halo comic soon, he thought it might be good for Halo denizens to meet their new neighbors. (Louis Wu 14:51:11 UTC) (permalink)
Custom Halo Themes on your 360
Hellhawk created a custom Halo-flavored Xbox 360 Theme - check it out in this post! (The most interesting part, for me, is the ease with which one of these can be created...) (Louis Wu 14:49:28 UTC) (permalink)
News March 28 2007
Shane Kim looks down the road
There's an interview with Shane Kim over at Gamasutra; they asked him about projects Bungie might be working on outside Halo 3, and he mentioned the upcoming episodic content announced at X06 last fall:
I know that we are working with Peter Jackson on the next installment in the Halo series and that we've had that planning going on, and when one production team is finished with Halo 3, they need to be ready to move on to the next thing. That's really how you manage the life cycle of a studio.
He's not really saying very much - but it's nice to know this work is still ongoing. (We haven't heard anything official since that first announcement.) (Louis Wu 16:30:15 UTC) (permalink)
The Forthcoming World of Halo
ActionTrip wrote up a piece looking at the upcoming roadmap for the Halo franchise in the near future (Halo 2 Vista, Halo 3, and Halo Wars). In general, it's a nice summary. Thanks, Ure Paul. (Louis Wu 14:58:00 UTC) (permalink)
Bring Me The Head Of Content Management.
Stuntmutt fills in the missing pieces of the Next Generation interview we mentioned - check today's One One Se7en for details. (Louis Wu 14:18:03 UTC) (permalink)
They are keeping their heads
Next Generation sat down with Frank O'Connor to talk about the Halo 3 development process. It's an interesting read - even if it doesn't answer some of the loudest questions people are asking ("when is the beta coming out?", for example). Bungie learned a lot from Halo 2 - looks like they're actually USING that information for Halo 3. Nice! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 13:08:57 UTC) (permalink)
FS2H Weekly Update 2.0
Devrous is back with another FS2H update - FS2H, you might remember, is his Halo mod for Freespace 2. This one lays out his vision for the project, and introduces a number of flight craft that will be available. Some are familiar... some are not. Check it out! (Louis Wu 12:27:53 UTC) (permalink)
The Ultimate Halo Showdown
Glasser stopped by to mention a vid he'd made - he set 'The Ultimate Showdown' (a song created for a popular Newgrounds Flash) to Halo action. Interesting cuts; all footage comes from cutscenes, but the sync with the song is quite good. The vid is available at YouTube. (Louis Wu 12:23:58 UTC) (permalink)
Good Guys and Guns
Narcogen has put up the second of his three-part series comparing Gears of War to Halo - this one focuses on friendly AI and weapons. It's more a summary of Gears of War than a comparison, actually - but read it so that you're ready for part 3. (Louis Wu 12:16:14 UTC) (permalink)
News March 27 2007
A Long Time Ago...
Paul Maestri let us know that Halo Heads 56 was up - the things that can go wrong when you're on the bleeding edge... (Louis Wu 20:42:34 UTC) (permalink)
TTL Talk
Tuesday - hey, it's Tied the Leader Update Day! XerxdeeJ came by to point out the new content put up since our last mention. There's a 22 Questions interview with JVB. There's a bizarre Halo-laced travelogue that will make you wonder for XerxdeeJ's sanity - or maybe glow with the warmth of reflected kinship. And there's a Community Profile of Games in Action, another Bungie-facilitated grouping. Get to reading - and be sure to let them know what you think! (Louis Wu 15:08:08 UTC) (permalink)
That extra code...
Okay, I figured that the little bits of text visible in the recent Warthog QuickTime VR were obvious enough that they didn't need a news post - after all, they were pointed out in the same forum post that announced the article in the first place (and quickly corrected with an accurate transcription). However, There are at least three separate threads now about this code - so in the interests of consolidation, here's what we've got: the code reads, in its entirety:
X.XX.713 > ghost.713/non-auth/activity ongoing
And Beorn did a nice job of putting together a composite image of all the individual frames of the movie. So that's what we know - if you'd like to speculate about what it means, feel free, but please, don't start a new thread asking if anyone knows what it says. (Louis Wu 14:57:10 UTC) (permalink)
Promiscuous Girl
Turtle Mann dropped into our forum to point out a music video he'd made, setting Nelly Furtado's 'Promiscuous Girl' to Halo action. Nice editing, heavy use of filters and effects - take a look! 66 mb in QuickTime format, 60 mb in WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 10:22:01 UTC) (permalink)
X-Plane - now with more Phantom
Mid7night stopped by again last night to drop off pictures of a Phantom, his latest Halo-into-X-Plane vehicle. A little dark - but pretty cool! (Louis Wu 10:05:11 UTC) (permalink)
One word: hand. brake.
There's a cool new Top Story over at Bungie.net - the Warthog is taken apart for your viewing pleasure. There's a cool QuickTime VR file - and a TON of stats. (Who knew that puppy could hit 78 mph, and run almost 500 miles without a fuel resupply?) Thanks to Pkmnrulz240, who noticed it first. (Louis Wu 00:51:11 UTC) (permalink)
News March 26 2007
Strongside discusses his new digs
Strongside has become the newest member of Final Boss, one of the top Halo pro teams - if you swing by MLGPro.com, you can listen to an audio interview with him. Check it out! Thanks, Tyger. (Louis Wu 23:52:07 UTC) (permalink)
Unintended Consequences
Mister Froggy has posted Halo, Articulated #25 - that Arbiter sure is a whiny one! (Louis Wu 23:48:05 UTC) (permalink)
The Condemned - Machinima Contest
Machinima.com is running a new contest, in honor of the upcoming flim 'The Condemned'. (The movie is about a reality game where 10 hardened criminals fight to the death for the right to be pardoned.) Submit a machinima video telling them why you should be one of ten Condemned, win cool prizes. (nVidia graphics cards and Lionsgate prize packs are up for grabs.) "Using any game of your choice, show us why are you so bad...show us your gameplay or show us what did you do to be convicted and ultimately chosen to be on the island...be creative, be tough, be the chosen one..." Halo seems like an obvious choice for this puppy. Swing by and read the official rules - and get your entry in by April 15! (Louis Wu 18:50:11 UTC) (permalink)
S'tat.
Bungie.net revised the stats you can see when it was revamped last week - Stuntmutt realized that there might be more going on behind the scenes than we knew. See today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 13:25:11 UTC) (permalink)
A Cog in the UNSC
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, has written up the first part of a comparison between Gears of War and Halo - observations about the two games, how they do things differently (or the same), and why one route might be better than the other. An interesting read, though full of Gears spoilers. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 11:09:26 UTC) (permalink)
HaloGrid Heads-Up Widget
finalcuthalo let us know that he's created a Mac OSX Widget (to be used in the Dashboard) which will show you the latest HaloGrid news - it can save you the trouble of opening a browser to view the HG front page. Grab a copy from this forum thread. (Louis Wu 10:32:21 UTC) (permalink)
Fantasy Halo Part Two
Wow. We just a few hours ago learned of Fantasy Halo - and Part Two has now been released. (Granted, Part One was released 3 days before anyone told us about it, but still...) Part Two (Original Chaos Films link | HaloGrid link) is for the most part a story-telling episode, so the RPG style doesn't work quite as well (there's a lot of standing around, a lot of reading) - but it's still well-done, and makes me want to see part 3. Again, we're mirroring the WMP9 version (12:17 long, 53.8 mb), and are providing a QuickTime version (53.4 mb) - and again, you're better off with the WMP9 if you can watch it. Thanks to FinalCutHalo for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 01:41:53 UTC) (permalink)
Maptacular
Dennis Powers pointed out a TON of new Halo CE maps available at Halomaps.org - you can browse them by visiting the HaloCE maps section (they're already sorted by date), but he wanted to point out Hydrolysis (we mentioned it yesterday, but there are a couple of great screenshots on the Halomaps page), along with 5 from FireDragon04: Cliffrun, Cliffedge, Escalade Mount, Pellude, and Enclosed. On top of those there's a lava level from Stuntman (Olympus Mons) and two from first-time mapmakers - Hellfire, from Flubear, and Vector, from Chris Johnston. And that's not even the full list of yesterday's released maps! Go check out the goodies. (Louis Wu 00:07:23 UTC) (permalink)
News March 25 2007
Need a 360? Are you rich?
KP noticed an article at Kotaku which discusses a gorgeous paint job on an Xbox 360 - it's for sale on eBay (already painted on a 360). It ain't cheap - Buy it Now price is $925, plus almost $30 in shipping - but wow, it's pretty. (Louis Wu 23:13:44 UTC) (permalink)
The Riot 41
JRod4549 was the first to let us know that Episode 41 of the Riot is now up - 31 minutes, 12.5 mb. Community news, personal opinions, info about a LAN. Go listen! (Louis Wu 23:07:29 UTC) (permalink)
New Mullins
Craig Mullins dropped off a new image today - not really NEW, I guess, but the inclusion of a piece of it in the new Bungie.net design has generated quite a bit of new interest in it. (It was originally published in the Halo Graphic Novel, last year.) It's an awe-inspiring image of carnage on a beach - check it out! (Louis Wu 20:12:05 UTC) (permalink)
Fantasy Halo, Part One
RVideo found a fantastic video posted on the HaloGrid forums (yep, they're back) - it was done by the the guys over at Chaos Films, and it emulates a standard turn-based RPG using the Halo engine. These guys did an amazing job compressing the vid - the original is in WMP9 format, but I couldn't get the same quality/filesize ratio in QuickTime, so if you can watch WMP9, that's the version you should see. (We're mirroring the WMP9 version - 28.4 mb, as well as hosting our own QuickTime version - 29.8 mb.) This movie is hilarious - really well done. If you've ever played RPGs, you'll immediately connect. If you haven't, it's STILL pretty darned funny - just be glad XBL isn't like this! Can't wait for parts 2 and 3 (I'm hoping we can get higher-quality versions of all of them, from here on in). Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:01:01 UTC) (permalink)
H2 into SL
This is... weird. (Louis Wu 19:53:09 UTC) (permalink)
Hunter Buddies
Nomi found some really cool paper recently, and to celebrate, she decided to make a Hunter (it doesn't use any of this new, rare paper). Right after she finished it, ManKitten showed her a new piece of artwork he'd created (it'll be in the next Misc Art update), so she decided she needed to make another Hunter, based on this artwork. They're Hunter Buddies! (If you haven't looked through Nomi's Paper Spartans page recently - do it. She's done some amazing work.) (Louis Wu 18:27:49 UTC) (permalink)
Early Mourn
Veegie and HawaiianPig have teamed up again - their latest piece of artwork is a scene that could be out of the level Halo. A poignant look at the human side of the Master Chief. It was announced by HP in a forum post, and you can also find it on Veegie's gallery page here. Great work! (Louis Wu 17:43:20 UTC) (permalink)
UNSC Rapier class fighter
Laird stopped by with some shots of a custom fighter for his upcoming Halo Unyielding Part 2 - a single seater that can operate in space or in an atmosphere. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:15:24 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Snake v2
Spartan Erik pointed out a Flash game at Newgrounds - Halo Snake v2. Nice update on a 30 year old game! (Louis Wu 17:01:57 UTC) (permalink)
Hydrolysis
DocOctavius announced a new map he's finished for Halo CE - Hydrolysis. Water-based (as you might guess from the name) - looks pretty! Check it out. (Louis Wu 16:10:09 UTC) (permalink)
Episode 106: Halo 3 Show
Kiaffex stopped by to point out that Podtacular 106 has been released; they focus on Halo 3 this time around. 1:19 long, 74 mb. Go listen! (Louis Wu 15:27:42 UTC) (permalink)
News March 24 2007
Asking for Trouble
Mister Froggy let us know that Halo, Articulated #24 is now available - you gotta wonder if morality can be governed by the same rules as friendly AI... (Louis Wu 14:00:53 UTC) (permalink)
RvB Episode 92 Director's Commentary
Rooster Teeth has posted Episode 92 with Director's Commentary for sponsors - swing by to see how they did some of the trickier shots in that episode! Good stuff. (Heh - how long until some of this pops up in a dozen Halo machinima pieces?) (Louis Wu 02:00:52 UTC) (permalink)
And I run, I run so far away...
Bungie Weekly Update is up (Trindacut, in IRC, beat Frankie, on the forum, by at least a minute) - lots and lots of fun stuff, including physics to make your eyes glaze. (I kid - I have an undergraduate degree in physics. But YOU probably don't - so maybe I don't kid.) Water Lovin', even after today's One One Se7en - that Frankie's a courageous guy. And cool AI stuff. Go read! (I'm a little sad that the thumbnail aspect has changed, with the new B.net layout - I had to crop the image for our Weekly Update Archive version. Such is the price of progress, I suppose.) (Louis Wu 00:55:29 UTC) (permalink)
News March 23 2007
Hired Gun chats about LIVE
Brand-new Hired Gun blog post over at IGN - interesting discussion about bringing Halo 2 to Windows Live. Give it a read! Thanks, PsychoRaven. (Louis Wu 23:51:50 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie.net - now with more accessibility
Bungie.net has fixed the Windows Live ID login problem - read about it here (and yes, you probably can - w00t!). Thanks, JeBr0nie. (Louis Wu 23:47:44 UTC) (permalink)
Spartan Dew? That sounds... rank.
Wow. The marketing blitz has begun. Kotaku has a story about Master Chief-branded Mountain Dew. (They're calling it 'Halo 3 Game Fuel'. I suppose that's better than 'Cyborg Sweat', which is the vibe I get from 'Spartan Dew'...) Thanks, Neo-genesis. (Louis Wu 23:45:22 UTC) (permalink)
MLGPro - talking Str8
New content up over at MLGPro.com - player commentary from Tsquared, and an interview with Str8 Rippin (and their new hot Tsquared/Foulacy/Legit/Naded lineup). Thanks, Tyger. (Louis Wu 23:42:37 UTC) (permalink)
Minimarshmallow
Jason Borne has created a couple of fantastic pieces of Halo artwork - you can see them in our Miscellaneous Art section. Yesterday, he sent along a piece (513x792, 92kb) he did for his brother-in-law's birthday - the title comes from his gamertag. Great stuff! (This will be in the next Misc Art update, whenever that happens - but I loved it and wanted to get it out now.) (Louis Wu 20:23:51 UTC) (permalink)
I bet people ask what it is.
LazarusCayde stopped by to show off a new Master Chief tattoo - check it out! (Louis Wu 17:13:46 UTC) (permalink)
Ur In For An Update.
In preparation for tonight's Weekly Update, Stuntmutt takes a shot at Frankie in today's One One Se7en. (Or maybe it's just at one of the environment artists... I can't tell.) Whatta title! (Louis Wu 13:20:20 UTC) (permalink)
Queen of Paper
Nomi has continued her Paper Spartan-making madness (This... is... PAPER!) - she's got new Spartans for mejp44, Blackstar, and TheDonWan... along with a paper Jackal, a dual-wielding Elite, and some cool mini-weapons. Check 'em all out! Update: She's done a Heretic Banshee, too! (Louis Wu 12:54:39 UTC) (permalink)
Rendezvous
Edgeworks Entertainment has released Episode 4 of The Heretic - we're back to the Spartan side of the story, and things are heating up. An orbital MAC platform is invaded, and the Spartans are needed to save the day. Available, as usual, in hi-res QuickTime and WMP9 from their site, this one will remind you why Edgeworks is one of the most respected names in Halo machinima. Fantastic angles, ingenious use of props and locations... this one's a must-see. Thanks, Funkmon. (Louis Wu 12:49:10 UTC) (permalink)
Ramping up to one every two seconds
Over at Bungie.net, there's a new Top Story - a look at the making of the Halo 3 Legendary Edition packaging. I know what you're thinking - 'wtf, a story about PACKAGING?' Go read it - it's pretty interesting. According to Jeff Sanborn, one of the Microsoft guys responsible for the production, they'll be making more than 450,000 helmets before Halo 3 rolls out. That's MUCH more 'limited' than the Halo 2 Limited Edition (which shipped 2.5 million copies, and sold the vast majority of them) - if you want one of these bad boys, you better pre-order it. Go check out the rest of the details at B.net! Thanks to Tyger, who was first getting us this news yesterday. (Louis Wu 12:22:04 UTC) (permalink)
A cheap way to get Halo 3 in Canada
Not bad - if you live in Canada, you might wanna check this out - trade in 4 games, get Halo 3 for free when it's released! (And for an extra $10, you get the Limited Edition.) Remember that in Canada, the ERP of the Standard and Limited Editions are $70 and $80, respectively - given the normal trade-in value for pre-owned games, this is an awesome deal. Check the Arbiter's Judgement blog for all the details - thanks, Juxtapose. (Louis Wu 12:08:05 UTC) (permalink)
SiR Tyner's First Montage
Z pointed out a new montage from SiR Tyner over at Halo3Forum.com - lots of great gameplay, but I gotta say, I hated the logo stamped over the top left corner, it really distracted me. If you can be more flexible than me, it's a fun watch - 7:47 long, 107 mb, WMP9 format. (Louis Wu 11:58:53 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Seven new pieces are up for you in the Fan Fiction section for you this week... go read! (Louis Wu 11:40:31 UTC) (permalink)
Triforce - Trailer
Yesterday, Dojorkan mentioned 'Triforce', a new video series coming from the Promethian Guard. They might have been a little loose with their attributions, but their enthusiasm can't be denied. Go grab the trailer - it weighs in at about 20 mb. (Louis Wu 11:07:01 UTC) (permalink)
News March 22 2007
Firearms Divisions... you slay me.
Link4044 sent along three new pics of his in-progress AR5 model - and man, does that thing look awesome! Scroll down to the bottom for the March 22 shots - they start here. Wowsers! (Louis Wu 21:41:21 UTC) (permalink)
FS2H
Devrous posted a note on our forum about a new project he's working on - a Halo mod of Freespace 2. Give it a read - and check out the screenshot! (Louis Wu 21:35:30 UTC) (permalink)
Newsweek says MS better watch its back
According to GameDaily BIZ, there's an analysis article in Newsweek that discusses why the 360 will ultimately not be the top Next-Gen Console dog. The author of the article, N'Gai Croal, suggests that the 360-onlyness (Strunk and White, smite me now!) of the upcoming Halo 2 map pack demonstrates Microsoft's desperation - they need to "force recalcitrant Halo-lovers to buy their new machine." (Never mind that Bungie has said, very recently even, that they're doing all they can to make the maps available to all, and that if the map pack DOES remain 360-only, the player pools for the Matchmaking playlists are going to be split, maybe fatally, by platform...) It's an interesting read, but don't take it as gospel until you've seen the results with your own eyes. (Louis Wu 20:20:25 UTC) (permalink)
The Carrier, Flyable
Mid7night continues his Assault Carrier importation work; he's now managed to texture it properly. Check the forum post for cool pics! (Louis Wu 20:10:59 UTC) (permalink)
Action figures, not dolls.
Paul Maestri has posted the latest Halo Heads comic - if you've ever been in this situation, don't feel bad, it's natural. We all do it. (Well, okay, not ALL of us. But don't feel bad anyway.) (Louis Wu 19:58:52 UTC) (permalink)
Logging in to Bungie.net
Okay, so this isn't really Halo news, but it's an issue that's taking over our forum, so it's worth giving a bit of space to. If you hit up the new Bungie.net, and you get a message that "The page is unavailable or no longer exists," you're being bitten by a Windows Live ID problem. (Well, it's unclear whose fault it is, actually.) To solve it (this works for MOST people, but not all), visit login.live.com, make sure you've checked the 'Save my e-mail address' or 'Always ask for my e-mail address and password' options (do NOT check the top one, 'Save my e-mail address and password'), and log in. Then, log out. THEN, go to Bungie.net; you should be able to see the page and log in now. They're working on it. (Louis Wu 18:47:21 UTC) (permalink)
VE doesn't like H2V
Ouch - I've seen a lot of reviews of Halo 2 Vista, and most have been pretty positive (even the ones that say 'well, the graphics are 3 years old now') - but there's one over at Voodoo Extreme that... well, doesn't sound so good. That dual-wielding issue sounds pretty strange! (Louis Wu 18:39:22 UTC) (permalink)
Humpday Challenge: ILM
Lone Ranger was the first to notice a writeup of last week's Halo Humpday Challenge - Bungie employees (and friends) took on the guys from Industrial Light and Magic, and (with the exception of Frankie), acquitted themselves nicely. The game links are wrong (except for the first one) - they all point to the first match played, on Ascension - but thanks to the new hawtness at B.net, you can follow the 'newer games' link in the top right corner of that screen to see the next two games. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:36:49 UTC) (permalink)
Pixellated Halo
Wow, nice. Leviathan is building a version of Halo for RPG Maker 2000 - he's posted a LOT of pictures in this forum post. Check out how far he's gotten! (Louis Wu 18:29:11 UTC) (permalink)
No hackage at B.net
Stories circulated yesterday that Bungie.net might have been hacked, and Xbox Live accounts compromised because of it. (Hanchen Lu was the first to mention it to us.) Major Nelson was quick to shoot the rumors down (thanks, JeBr0nie) - and Frankie put it up at Bungie.net, too. Bottom line - if someone asks you for sensitive info (like passwords), DON'T GIVE IT AWAY. (Louis Wu 17:54:17 UTC) (permalink)
News March 21 2007
Avatar Heaven
Awesome. agdtinman (who used to work for Bungie) has put up a page that contains all the Top Story icons he had a hand in creating - since they won't be seen any more on Bungie.net. Gawjuss! (Louis Wu 18:19:44 UTC) (permalink)
He Should Retire.
Stuntmutt gets back to straight punnage in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:57:25 UTC) (permalink)
Numbers
Pro-G noticed that Halo 2 has seen a total of 4.75 million unique gamertags, according to Bungie's latest stats. Now, Narcogen wrote a lot of words recently about Xbox Live, and its 6 million user milestone (and why the raw numbers aren't that useful) - but this Halo 2 number is pretty darned impressive... almost 80% of people who've logged onto Live have also logged onto Halo 2. As Neo would say... whoa. (Louis Wu 17:53:08 UTC) (permalink)
LeaD H3F Halo PC Community Video
Z pointed out a Halo PC community montage from 17 different players, over at Halo3Forum.com. 15 minutes long, 183 (!!) mb, WMP9 format. This should satisfy your Halo PC jones! (Louis Wu 17:18:53 UTC) (permalink)
And FDA Approved, Too
Sane Intolerant updated Halo Toy Box - The Master Chief goes channel-surfing. (Louis Wu 17:16:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Lego Weapons Test
Apologies for the lack of news; things here have not been... good. Yesterday, we received a cool little vid from Benjamin Tuck, a Lego enthusiast from the UK. He's expecting to create longer animations over the spring and summer, so think of this as an appetite-whetter. It's quite small (about 3 mb), in either WMP9 format or QuickTime format - grab it and smile.
(Louis Wu 16:51:24 UTC) (permalink)
News March 20 2007
And... it's up.
The new Bungie.net layout is now live. There's an interview with the guys responsible over there - worth a read. I gotta say... I like it. I'm having a little bit of trouble with the drop-down menus... but all in all, it rocks. Check it out! Looks like broony was first, on our forum. (Louis Wu 15:50:43 UTC) (permalink)
Tied the Leader - Corporate Edition
Dweezle took over this week with the announcing job on Tied the Leader updates; you'll find a 22 Questions interview with Wayn0ka (one of TTL's leaders), an explanation for the lack of new content from XerxdeeJ, and a Community Profile of Game-Spectrum, an Xbox Community site. What are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 13:37:18 UTC) (permalink)
HMA kicks off comedy competition
Deekor stopped by to announce a Comedy Competition being held by the Halo Machinima Association - from what I can tell, there aren't any prizes, but submit anyway, for the glory of it! (Louis Wu 13:31:46 UTC) (permalink)
That puppy's huge.
Mid7night continues his portage of Halo material to X-Plane - next up, a Covenant Assault Carrier. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:30:03 UTC) (permalink)
Incompetence
Mister Froggy has updated Halo, Articulated again - Episode 23 looks at Captain Keyes, and his foibles. (Louis Wu 13:26:17 UTC) (permalink)
News March 19 2007
legohaulic, indeed
Wow. Cool Lego Hog/Spectre (more Spectre shots if you follow the 'more' link in this set). Thanks, cowfrommars. (Louis Wu 19:55:04 UTC) (permalink)
Treasure Trove
Jobyn pointed out a new website for ThePanicAttacks; it's worth looking through, there's a TON of content in there. Tutorials, strategy guides, movies... go look. (Louis Wu 19:48:51 UTC) (permalink)
The Level That Just Keeps Giving
Rockslider is STILL coming up with new stuff to do on Silent Cartographer. Go read about it. (Louis Wu 19:42:29 UTC) (permalink)
Crying Out For Change.
Stuntmutt STILL hasn't recovered from Friday's Legendary Edition price bump - go check today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 13:03:05 UTC) (permalink)
Karma Has Fun
More Player Match Commentary at MLGPro.com - this time it's Karma, discussing Carbon's performance against Final Boss in New York last year. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 12:18:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halopen Needs YOU!
xbryboyremix wrote to say that Halopen Films needs new machinimators - badly. If you're interested in making good machinima with a clan with a solid pedigree, check these guys out! (They've made not one, not two, but FOUR advertising vids - watch 'em and become inspired: ADVideo | Halopen Ad | Halopen Cameraman Ad | Join Us) (Louis Wu 12:12:46 UTC) (permalink)
NightWinder 2
MasterChief2829 pointed out a new Halo 2 mod from MrMurder - I must say, it's pretty! Description and link in the first post, more pics in this one. (Louis Wu 12:09:15 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Toy Box, Doubled
Sane Intolerant stopped by to point out two new Halo Toy Box strips - one makes fun of Stuntmutt and Mister Froggy, the other riffs on 300. (Louis Wu 12:07:31 UTC) (permalink)
News March 18 2007
Puntastic.
Stuntmutt got burned by my mistake regarding Halo, Articulated this weekend; he ended up creating a similar gag for tomorrow's strip - work he wouldn't have had to do if I'd posted this on time. (Again, sorry.) His loss is your gain, though. (Well... sort of.) He's put up that orphaned strip, along with some guest strips and various other One One Se7en sightings, in his personal blog. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 19:03:21 UTC) (permalink)
The Riot 40
Sigafoos wrote to point out The Riot 40, a 28 minute, 11 mb package of Halo news, Halo community news, Brathnok job news, Shadowrun news, and Captain America news. And other stuff. Go listen! (Louis Wu 18:21:44 UTC) (permalink)
It'll Cost You
Mister Froggy let us know Friday afternoon about Halo, Articulated 22 - I'd written up a news post then, making some sort of wry comment about the packaging announcement earlier that day. Somehow, it never actually got posted. Froggy rectified my mistake this morning - but I'd like to apologize for the delay. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:55:24 UTC) (permalink)
UMV
UEG Gen Flugins and UEG LT Smash put together a montage inspired by HMV Hell - lots of little music clips, setting popular songs to Halo action. Some of them are very funny. (There are many of them - the video is almost 9 minutes long.) I was pessimistic when I started to watch it - it's been done before, and my experience with out-of-the-blue vids like this is that most could use work - but I enjoyed this quite a bit by the time it was over. Clever twists, interesting mix of songs, a sense of humor... worth watching. 91 mb in WMP9 format, 102 mb in QuickTime format. (Louis Wu 13:33:21 UTC) (permalink)
Where there are weapons...
A couple of months ago, Omega found a pretty cool piece of driftwood - it looked a lot like a Brute Shot. He was pessimistic about filling out his Brute armory, however... until yesterday. I'm not sure I'd want to swim in the streams where he lives... (Louis Wu 13:18:00 UTC) (permalink)
News March 17 2007
The Pillar of Autumn - in X-Plane
Wow, cool. Mid7night took Infinityloop's 3D model of the Pillar of Autumn, and put it into X-Plane! Pics and vids available in his forum post. (Louis Wu 18:38:25 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular 105
Podtacular Episode 105 compares Graw 2 to Halo - thanks, Kiaffex. (Louis Wu 18:31:59 UTC) (permalink)
The Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time
IGN posted a list of 'The Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time' (well, or the last 5.5 years, I guess) - Halo and Halo 2 took first and second, respectively. Nice! Thanks, Morpheus. (Louis Wu 18:30:34 UTC) (permalink)
Matchmaking, New Halo 2 Maps, and You
Wow, this is a little worrying... FyreWulff pointed out a thread on Bungie.net discussing the new Halo 2 maps coming out soon - Jeremiah mentioned that these maps would likely be incorporated in a significant number of playlists - and (at least at this point in the developments) those playlists would no longer be available to people playing on the original Xbox. Jeremiah makes it clear that 1) they (Bungie) are doing what they can to make the maps available to everyone, not just 360 owners, but that 2) statistics show that the majority of Halo 2 players on Xbox Live are using 360s, so limiting the new maps (which they'll have to purchase) to just a playlist or two would be unfair. (Of course, effectively blocking Xbox owners from Halo 2 Matchmaking seems a little unfair as well - and I'm not just saying that as someone who plays XBL on an original Xbox.) In Jeremiah's words, "Please don't enter panic mode just yet, we're trying to make this work for everyone as much as possible." They're doing what they can, and when we know more about this, we'll post it. (Louis Wu 11:59:50 UTC) (permalink)
Where Credit is Due
Red vs Blue Episode 92 was released for sponsors last night (thanks, hezekiah) - Sheila gets a new home, Simmons gets a drug habit, and Grif gets overlooked - again. Donut has some of the funniest lines of the episode. If you're not a sponsor, this will be available early next week from their front page. If you ARE a sponsor, go watch now. (Louis Wu 11:49:30 UTC) (permalink)
Seattle Halo 2 Tourney
The Art Institute of Seattle is hosting a Halo 2 tournament on March 24 - register at any Puget Sound Game Crazy store, with a suggested $3 donation at the door (proceeds to go to the Starlight/Starbright Children's Foundation). QuickTactical is trying to find out if it's team-based or FFA - we'll update this post if/when he hears. (Louis Wu 11:47:13 UTC) (permalink)
Drums in the Deep
Bootstrap Boon (and some other HBO Helljumpers) created a new video - it's actually a recreation of a scene from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, and he's done a wonderful job of mapping the original audio to Halo footage. 5:44 long, 52 and a half mb in either WMP9 format or QuickTime format. A lot of work went into this one! There's even a movie poster to go with it... (Louis Wu 11:20:00 UTC) (permalink)
Oh em gee - no debug stuff
The Bungie Weekly Update is up - droolworthy gameplay description, VERY good news about the Legendary/Limited confusion (see an earlier post), AI and vehicle tidbits, a reminder to archive your Group data because the new website launches next week, and a Crate Gun... wonga. Go read. (Of course, it's always available in the Weekly Update Archive, as well...) Frankie, as is almost always the case, was Frist. (Bill Frist.) Sketch was second, and third (and read this, too). (Louis Wu 00:24:59 UTC) (permalink)
News March 16 2007
Viva King
Paul Maestri let us know that Halo Heads 54 was live - my goodness, a new villain! And a dastardly one at that. I KNEW there was something squirrelly about that guy.. (Louis Wu 20:51:29 UTC) (permalink)
Dearth Of A Salesman.
Continuing in our commercial vein, today's One One Se7en looks at another Halo product, and its relationship to Microsoft's bottom line... (Louis Wu 17:20:45 UTC) (permalink)
Official Halo 3 Packaging Announcement
TeamXbox has the official Microsoft press release for Halo 3's commercial packaging - and some pretty big changes can be found in it. There are still three editions - Standard, Limited, Legendary - but price and contents for the Legendary and Limited Editions are quite different from the older information we got at the end of last year. (The Standard edition is the same - ERP of $59.99, box contains only the game.) The Limited Edition is still $69.99 ERP, comes in a metal box, and contains the game, along with the Making Of Halo 3 DVD that was promised earlier - but now it also contains a book:
[...] a special "Halo" fiction and art book. A must-have for "Halo" collectors and a source of invaluable and exclusive information, the piece is an elaborate and compelling guide to the species and factions that inhabit the worlds of the "Halo" universe, with never-before-seen art and story elements that expand and illustrate the depth and breadth of the "Halo" fiction.
The Legendary Edition is now listed with an Estimated Retail Price of $129.99 (up from the anticipated $99.99) - it still contains the helmet case, the game, and the Making-Of DVD, but instead of two discs containing cutscenes and fan creations, there is now ONE extra disc (containing both), along with 'an illuminating collection of original "Halo 3" storyboard art from artist Lee Wilson, depicting key moments and pivotal scenes from the epic cinematic production of "Halo." ' Interesting changes; I'm not thrilled with the Legendary price bump, and I'm REALLY not thrilled that the Legendary Edition is not a superset of the editions below it (for that rabid Halo fan who needs EVERYTHING Bungie releases, Halo 3 is going to cost $200 - because the Limited Edition contains a book not present in the Legendary pack)... but it's still early days, things might change again. Thanks again to xIIEnderIIx for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:09:46 UTC) (permalink)
Sound Arguments - Episode 8
MLGPro has put up a new podcast in their Sound Arguments series - Jason and Trunkers take a look at the top team rosters (most changed dramatically at the end of last season), and speculate about what it might all mean for the season. 12:09 long, 11.13 mb. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 16:45:38 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Packaging Finalized
Legend, from HaloBase.de, was the first to mention that the Halo 3 boxes have been finalized, and press shots are circulating today. You can see a summary of them in this article at HaloBase, and you can see all 6 shots, in high-res glory, on this page. Update: Looks like TeamXbox has 'em up, too (thanks, xIIEnderIIx).
(Louis Wu 14:18:22 UTC) (permalink)
Final Boss Give Amateurs a Taste
Final Boss, one of the best teams on the Halo pro circuit, participated in a tournament in Austin, and then gave local fans (who hadn't been playing in the tournament) a chance to see what it's like to play a top pro team. Results were predictable... but their opponents had a good time nonetheless. Nice! Go read about it in the Cleburne Times-Review. (Louis Wu 13:12:28 UTC) (permalink)
Joining the Parent Club
Geezer Gamers has an article entitled 'Joining the Parent Club: Gaming (or not) with a newborn' - do you have to give up your controller and put down that sniper rifle when your little one comes along? Maybe... maybe not. It definitely changes things, though... (Louis Wu 13:08:41 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fan Fiction
Only four new stories for you in the Fan Fiction section for you this week - should be easy readin'! (Louis Wu 13:04:02 UTC) (permalink)
Shadowrun to implement Halo's Party System
There's a story over at TeamXbox talking about how Shadowrun will feature a party system based on the one developed by Bungie for Xbox Live - according to the UI/Matchmaking designer for the game, Bill Fulton, "we've replicated Halo 2's party system because that's the best way for friends to play in public matches." To the best of my knowledge, this is the first non-Bungie game that's taken advantage of what is generally acknowledged as the best multiplayer organization system on Live. Good on ya, Shadowrun! (Louis Wu 13:01:30 UTC) (permalink)
News March 15 2007
Halo 3 prepped for a September release?
boesman pointed out an article at IGN that suggests that Microsoft is pushing for a September release for Halo 3. They claim "two independent sources" for this information - which puts a new spin on the comments by Shane Kim last week at GDC. At that point, I opined that Kim's comments suggested that Microsoft was really leaving things up to Bungie, in terms of when they were going to be ready to launch the game. If IGN is correct, however, then Microsoft is, indeed, pressuring Bungie for a specific date (and one that's being dictated not by the needs of Halo 3, but by what other games Microsoft is releasing over the course of the fall). Hmm... Update: Frankie says "chill" on the NeoGAF board - "this other stuff is pure speculation. Halo 3 will ship when it's ready." (Thanks, GhaleonEB.) (Louis Wu 22:37:49 UTC) (permalink)
Ten Questions For Bungie: The Halo 3 Beta
Spec_Ops_Assault noticed an interview with Brian Jarrard at Game Informer, focused on the Halo 3 beta. Some of the information is intriguing - this one's worth a read!
(Louis Wu 19:21:27 UTC) (permalink)
Dethroning the King
Does Gears of War have what it takes to overtake Halo 2 on the competitive gaming circuit? Andy Jones thinks so - I think. (The article contradicts itself a few times as you read, so I'm not 100% sure WHAT he thinks.) Go read it for yourself at Amped eSports. (Louis Wu 18:17:33 UTC) (permalink)
Get into the H3 beta in Germany - for 10 euros
Interesting. If you live in Germany, you can spend €10 to buy the 'Halo 3 Pre-order Pack' - the money will go towards Halo 3, once it's released, but in the meantime, it'll buy you access to the Halo 3 beta program. This is for sale at both Amazon.de and Gamestop.de. You have to be 18 to buy this. Marc, from Halo Universe, who pointed this deal out, notes also that the Amazon page specifies April 2007 as the start of the beta program. Seems like a feasible date... though we'd hasten to remind you that Amazon, and every other retailer out there who've reported dates in the past, is far from perfect at predicting releases. (Louis Wu 14:07:08 UTC) (permalink)
Dock of the Bay
Jamie98s put together a short little music vid set to Otis Redding's 'Dock of the Bay' - a soldier tires of killing. Interesting interpretation - and, as usual with Jamie's work, cinematography rocks. Only a bit over 16 mb, in either WMP9 format or QuickTime format. Update: Mirrored now at GamingTV.org. (Louis Wu 13:07:58 UTC) (permalink)
Energy Episode Three
Simply Greg stopped by to announce Energy Episode Three - audio in this episode is VASTLY improved from earlier episodes. A mining expedition brings back more than they expected... (Louis Wu 12:39:38 UTC) (permalink)
Fan-made footage
huetranduong sent along this link to a user-uploaded file on Gametrailers. We have no information beyond what's in the vid itself, but it looks like a lot of work in a 3D editor, to me! (Louis Wu 12:30:02 UTC) (permalink)
Red vs Green
Mintz noticed a Halo-related episide of the Tip of the Sword webcomic - I've played with people like that... (Louis Wu 12:27:14 UTC) (permalink)
News March 14 2007
Twitch Kill.
I'm a birdwatcher. Today's One One Se7en made me laugh. (Louis Wu 13:30:27 UTC) (permalink)
Ghosts of Reach, Transcribed
Over at Rampancy.net, Devin has transcribed 'Ghosts of Reach', from the Halo 2 Soundtrack - the download includes a midi file, a .mus, and a PDF. (Don't forget, you must be logged in to see the attachment link.) Go listen! (Louis Wu 12:25:57 UTC) (permalink)
Hal0
Sane Intolerant stopped by to point out his newest Halo Toy Box installment - today's lesson involves dividing by zero. (Louis Wu 12:10:27 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Vista - Coming May 8
Yesterday, Games for Windows Live was officially announced by Microsoft - and with it, a solid release date for Halo 2 Vista. Mark your calendars for May 8! I read this at GameSpot - so did Kaboris. (Louis Wu 12:08:44 UTC) (permalink)
Ogre 1 talks strategy
Over at MLGPro.com, the newest Player Match Commentary comes from Ogre 1- he talks about awareness, and how it (generally) separates the top tier from the almost-top tier. Good stuff! Thanks, as usual, to 3Suns. (Louis Wu 12:05:42 UTC) (permalink)
News March 13 2007
Play N Trade names national champ
Back on February 14, we mentioned a national Halo 2 tournament, run by Play N Trade. Looks like they've declared a national champion - Nathan Clark. Congrats to the 17-year-old Clark!
(Louis Wu 21:00:25 UTC) (permalink)
300 - Again
A couple of days ago, Vegechan stopped by to point out that he'd recorded a new Halo/300 vid. So far, we've announced 4 different trailers that tie Halo to the movie '300' (one | two | three | four). I didn't think I'd be linking any more - but Vegechan's version really hit home for me. Solidly done, entirely from stock footage. We're hosting his High-Quality WMP9 version (51.3 mb) as well as a high-quality QuickTime version (39.2 mb). His forum links contain other download options. Check this out! (Louis Wu 19:34:52 UTC) (permalink)
BooL FTW
Wow. scurty accomplished (with a little help from MadRoX) a feat I've never seen before; he put six Banshees into the Control Room on AotCR. Six. Wow. Go watch. Thanks, Ducain. (Louis Wu 17:41:42 UTC) (permalink)
How exclusive will exclusives be?
Gamasutra has put up an article that looks at the importance of exclusive games to a console - and to the developers that create the games. It gathers its opinions from three industry analysts, and it doesn't require a Gamasutra login to read. Halo 3, as you might expect, features heavily. Thanks, LegendaryMark. (Louis Wu 16:16:56 UTC) (permalink)
German GoO Preview at Halo Universe
Marc, from Halo Universe, let us know that they've got an exclusive preview of "Geister von Onyx" (the German version of Ghosts of Onyx) available now - you can read the first chapter. The book will be available in April or May. (Louis Wu 16:02:03 UTC) (permalink)
Machinima Aesthetics: Genre or Processes?
Over at the website for Digital Producer magazine, there's an article about machinima, and where it might be going. Part 1 (discussing machinima's origins) starts here, Part 2 (aesthetics) starts here. Both mention Halo (via Red vs Blue). (Louis Wu 15:58:22 UTC) (permalink)
The Sparrowhawk - Fleshed
As we mentioned last weekend, the mystery image first shown a couple of weeks ago on the Halo Wars forum was revealed on Saturday as a UNSC Sparrowhawk, a new unit that will be available in Halo Wars. Yesterday, Ensemble's Community Manager, Thunder, posted some new information - a short history of the vehicle, and some larger pictures of it. (The 1900x1200 wallpaper is pretty impressive!) Swing by the forum post to read more! Thanks, GhaleonEB. (And again, if you're interested in the progression of the mystery pictures, you can see them, along with the date each was posted and the listed 'decryption percentage' (as shown on the Halo Wars site), on this page.) (Louis Wu 14:34:06 UTC) (permalink)
Tied The Leader Tuesday
If it's Tuesday, it must be Venice. Erm... I mean Tied the Leader. XerxdeeJ stopped by with a summary of the goodies available this week at this grandaddy of Halo blogging sites - there's a 22 Questions Interview with Ellie Gibson, editor of GamesIndustry.biz, a recap of the most recent Tied the Leader Potluck (I was there, it was fun), a review of the movie 300 with a Halo slant (I haven't read this, because it told me not to until I've seen the movie), and a Community Profile of The Adult Gamer, a site aimed at (whoa, surprise) adult gamers. Get to reading! (Louis Wu 14:18:41 UTC) (permalink)
Confessions
Mister Froggy has released Halo, Articulated 21 - learn the deepest, darkest secrets of your favorite Halo characters! (Louis Wu 14:11:00 UTC) (permalink)
PodTV 8
Podtacular released Pod TV 8 - a video tutorial showing you how to get your hands on the Scarab Gun and the Soccer Ball on Metropolis. Tricksters have known how to do this since late 2004 - but most Halo players don't even know they exist. They're both pretty fun to play with, and the team of Cryptoflix (voiceover) and Kiaffex (gameplay) does a great job of walking you through the process. The video is about 58 mb in MP4 format (also available on YouTube). Thanks to Kiaffex for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:08:50 UTC) (permalink)
News March 12 2007
The Shard - Halo 3 Theme
Chris Orgeron let us know that he'd created a version of the Halo 3 theme - you can check it out on his band's MySpace page, or you can download it directly from us (mp3 format, 2.5 mb). Give it a listen! (Louis Wu 16:43:13 UTC) (permalink)
Golden.
Today's One One Se7en was a no-brainer; I've been waiting for it since Friday's Weekly Update. (I guess 'no-brainer' isn't a very good descriptor for a specific One One Se7en... too general.) (Louis Wu 14:48:17 UTC) (permalink)
Fan-Made AR Progress
link4044 got some more parts in for his amazing Assault Rifle - check out the progress pics (they start here). He says he should be done sometime next week! The detail is incredible... (Louis Wu 14:01:17 UTC) (permalink)
Pour courir rapidement
NOKYARD sent word of a new country represented in the world Halo speedrun community - High Speed Halo has two new French runners, who are blowing away Legendary Coop records on Halo 1. Go check out some of their runs! (Louis Wu 13:58:11 UTC) (permalink)
Froman Productions - Up and Running
AnTi PRO stopped by yesterday to announce the launching of Froman Productions, a new machinima website. As our submission guidelines suggest, we no longer announce website launches on our front page - unless there's something there we can point people to... and in this case, there is. They actually created a number of vids before announcing the launch, so that they'd have more than a shell and a 'Coming Soon!' to show you - swing by and grab what sounds good to you. (Louis Wu 13:17:18 UTC) (permalink)
And many more.
We don't do this very often (heh - more like 'never')... but he asked so nicely! ViralSyris asked us to wish his girlfriend a happy birthday today - what a guy! (Louis Wu 13:10:31 UTC) (permalink)
News March 11 2007
The Riot #39
Sigafoos writes to let us know that The Riot #39 has been released - the usual stuff, plus info about this summer's Riot LAN in Western New York. 30 minutes, 12 mb - go listen! (Louis Wu 21:16:26 UTC) (permalink)
Top o' the world, mate!
Mostly, we leave tricking to the folks at High Impact Halo - but occasionally, there's a trick vid that reminds everyone how beautiful it all can be. dantheman87 reproduced an old trick - launching to the top of the MAC gun - but did it with a new technique that shaves hours off the setup - and in fact does it in a way that's fun to watch. Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:52:37 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2: The Series Episode 3: Metropolis
Jamie98s continues his feature-length movie of Halo - today he releases Halo 2: The Series Episode 3. This one is set in Metropolis - a Covenant Scarab is wreaking havoc on New Mombasa, and it's up to the Chief to destroy it. The episode is nearly 21 minutes long, and weighs in at 152 mb for the WMP9 version, or 141 mb for the QuickTime version; check it out! Update: The WMP9 and a QuickTime encoded with H.264 are available at GamingTV.org, as well - thanks, trigger119. (Louis Wu 13:21:41 UTC) (permalink)
Prometheus Lead talks to HaloVicis
SourceGuy pointed out an interview with Nick, Project Lead for Prometheus, the upcoming Halo CE map editor, over at HaloVicis today. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 11:50:13 UTC) (permalink)
News March 10 2007
German Action Comics
Shady IIV stopped by with an episode of Barbie & M!KE (a German Halo comic). Pretty pictures, even if I can't read the balloons... (Louis Wu 22:20:35 UTC) (permalink)
X-Plane Longsword Redux
Mid7night continues to work on his Longsword model for X-Plane; check this post out for formation flying! (Nice cockpit, too! (Louis Wu 22:18:13 UTC) (permalink)
New H2Vista Screens
A few days ago, 3 new screenshots from Halo 2 Vista circulated the web; we mentioned several articles about the program (news from GDC, mostly), and most of the articles contained one or more of these three pics. I didn't really see the need to draw special attention to them. Today, though, WorthPlaying has posted 5 new ones - one each from Burial Mounds, Containment, Elongation, Warlock, and Zanzibar - and they're gorgeous. Go see! (Louis Wu 22:11:45 UTC) (permalink)
Meet the SparrowHawk
The Halo Wars forum post with the slowly emerging image now contains the fully decrypted image - it's a shot of the new UNSC SparrowHawk. Nice! Thanks to everyone who kept us informed on the forum - final image was first mentioned by j41m3z. (Louis Wu 21:51:03 UTC) (permalink)
You say Efficient, I say Effective
Sane Intolerant has updated Halo Toybox with not one, but two comics - check this forum post for details. (Louis Wu 12:50:53 UTC) (permalink)
Always looking to get better
Walshy looks at his strengths, and weaknesses, in an interesting player commentary at MLGPro.com. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 03:13:17 UTC) (permalink)
The good, the bad, and the powerless
Bungie HQ suffers from a blown transformer, so the Weekly Update is image-less (though Frankie promises to try and rectify that tomorrow). The update contains a bunch of tidbits of polish progress - sounds like we'll even get to see some of that in the upcoming beta. (No, no dates yet.) Go read! (As usual, if you have any trouble with reading it at Bungie.net, it's available in our Weekly Update Archive.) Update: the promised graphics have been added - thanks, GhaleonEB. (Louis Wu 03:01:39 UTC) (permalink)
Hairy Situation Pt. 4
Paul Maestri has updated Halo Heads - The kitties finally meet their attackers! Just when you thought you'd seen everything... (Louis Wu 01:27:48 UTC) (permalink)
Not so Serious Threat
Mister Froggy pointed out Halo, Articulated #20 - sometimes, you just can't give a threat the weight it asks for. (Louis Wu 01:21:17 UTC) (permalink)
News March 9 2007
Humpday?
If all goes well, today is the day that the image at the bottom of the Halo Wars update post will be revealed in its entirety - Stuntmutt gets a leg up with the current One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 15:57:05 UTC) (permalink)
Predator And Prey
Edgeworks Entertainment has released Episode 3 of their series, The Heretic. Not a lot of action, but some great plot development - and current political commentary. (Shh...) Nice camerawork, as always. Thanks to Da Nang for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 15:43:31 UTC) (permalink)
1Up Yours - Halo 3 Speculation from GDC
The 1Up Yours podcast is being recorded this week at the Game Developers Conference... and the most recent podcast (dated 3/8) has a small teaser related to Halo 3. Apparently, they were discussing how many titles are being released this fall, and how rough that's going to be on Joe Average Gamer (who's got $300 to spend on games in a 3-week period, anyway?), and Shane Kim, Corporate VP of MGS, talked a little about Halo 3's ship date (or lack thereof):
Shane pointed out that if Bungie was ready to go, they'll ship it when Bungie said - when it's done, when it's as good as Bungie wants to make it, they'll ship it. And he said, "If that's in September, then that's when we're going to ship it." Then he quickly backed off and said "well if it's next week, then we'll ship it next week."
There's quite a bit more discussion about Halo 3, and the anticipation that's built up for it - but this tidbit might be interesting to fans. (Please - do NOT take this as indication that a ship date of September has been set. It hasn't. What's interesting here is the flexibility Kim alludes to; unlike Halo, which HAD to be done by the time the Xbox was released, and Halo 2, with a ship date tattooed on Peter Moore's arm, Kim suggests that Bungie's got some leeway here, and (yes, they've said this before) it won't ship until it's finished.) (Louis Wu 15:23:04 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Eight new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read! (Louis Wu 15:15:49 UTC) (permalink)
News March 8 2007
Locked and Loaded: Halo 3's Audio
Over at Mix Online (devoted to the professional audio and music production community), there's an in-depth article on the sounds of Halo 3 - it's a fascinating (if sometimes out-of-my-league technical) look at the way the Bungie team creates audio content for Halo. If you're in the industry, this will be even MORE awesome, because you'll actually know what all the equipment references are about. For all of us, it's great stuff from Marty and Jay. (Louis Wu 23:01:50 UTC) (permalink)
Civil War
After a long quiet period, This Spartan Life is back with a new video blog - Damian deals with dissension in the ranks the way dissension SHOULD be dealt with - via bloodshed. Well, virtual bloodshed, anyway. Check out 'Civil War' on TSL's Blog page (QuickTime format, 44.3 mb, WMP9 coming soon). (Louis Wu 22:38:02 UTC) (permalink)
Into the Ocean
Jamie98s put together a new music video, setting Blue October's 'Into the Ocean' to Halo action - nicely done. 'Twas originally released at GamingTV.org, but we're hosting copies, as well (including the original WMP9 version, 29.9 mb, and a locally-encoded QuickTime version, 30.1 mb). What are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 20:57:43 UTC) (permalink)
Hairy Situation Pt. 3
Paul Maestri has updated Halo Heads, with another chapter of the Kitty 117 series. The plot thickens! (Louis Wu 16:34:36 UTC) (permalink)
link4044's Assault Rifle
A few weeks ago, we mentioned a pretty amazing Assault Rifle being built by a fan. He's added more pictures to the collection, and we finally asked if we could put up a local mirror, organized by date. He said sure, so you should check it out; the work here is astounding. As work continues, we'll update the page. (Louis Wu 16:19:13 UTC) (permalink)
Cover Me
Narcogen has brought Rampancy.net back online after a day of downtime - and with a new article, to boot. He looks at the cover system in Gears of War, and speculates about the use of cover in Halo. It's an interesting, if long, read. (Louis Wu 13:02:50 UTC) (permalink)
News March 7 2007
GI has Map Editor Info
Game Informer has made a short video available (8.4 mb, WMP9 format), showing a tiny bit of the Map Editor that will be included with Halo 2 Vista (mostly, it's Jo Clowes discussing some of the features that will be available to mapmakers while the camera pans around a monitor). Thanks, Talin64. (Louis Wu 21:00:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 ARG teaches skills for future games
Wow, cool. Jane McGonigal, one of the organizers of the I Love Bees campaign leading up to Halo 2, discussed lessons learned for future projects in a talk at the Game Developers Conference. When they first began presenting information to gameplayers, lots of people proposed meanings for the info - and while most of these turned out to be incorrect, the crew incorporated many of them into the game, to be used later, under this very cool guiding principle: "Reward participation, not success." Thanks to JeBr0nie for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:11:17 UTC) (permalink)
Episodic Halo Series, from Peter Jackson
Over at Gamasutra, there's some intriguing information about the Peter Jackson/Bungie project first announced at X06 last fall. Details are sketchy (okay, that's almost an overstatement), but it looks like there will be at least two episodic gaming series, with at least the first being set in the Halo universe. If and when more info becomes available, we'll be sure to let you know. Thanks, Spenser. (Louis Wu 19:05:09 UTC) (permalink)
Brute Spiker, Modeled
Danny 'Ephrum' Medvec has been working on modeling a Brute Spiker, from scratch. He's sent along a bunch of pics, with more to come as the skinning progresses - check out his work on this page! (Louis Wu 18:47:15 UTC) (permalink)
And The Roar Of Cheetahs.
Last Friday, the Bungie Weekly Update contained information about the upcoming Halo 2 maps - and SketchFactor said "I don't know how I ever played Halo without monkeys." Stuntmutt comments in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:23:10 UTC) (permalink)
Hi-Res Legendary Edition Pics
TeamXbox has posted a few high-res (3000x2400) pictures of the Legendary Edition helmet you can buy when Halo 3 is released - looks pretty nice! Thanks, RevDotNed. (Louis Wu 17:11:31 UTC) (permalink)
Halo ActionClix Details
GameTrailers interviewed a representative of WizKids, the folks who will be making the upcoming Halo ActionClix figures, at NYC Comic-Con a couple of weeks ago. He discusses the Halo products, including a tease about an unannounced Halo 3 item. Thanks, Wolverine Monkey. (Louis Wu 17:06:59 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Player Commentary: Gandhi
Over at MLGPro.com, the front-page vid is a player match commentary from Gandhi, looking at some footage from MLG Las Vegas last year. I love these things! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 16:11:13 UTC) (permalink)
Jump Tactics: Transcendence
Jump Tactics have been around for a long, long time; in the early days of Halo 2, they were everywhere, showing off ways to bounce around the multiplayer maps. They've been quiet for a long time - but they've finally released Transcendence, a jumping montage with some truly incredible footage. There's some modding here - but no physics changes. (They've got infinite health, though, so they can stand on 3 exploding grenades and shoot a rocket at their feet - many of these jumps are NOT reproducible on a non-modded box, for that reason.) To be honest, I was more impressed with the video BEFORE I read their FAQ (it's on their main page) - there's an awful lot of rationalizing going on in that document. Get past it, though, because the jumps are cool. I heard about this from Z, who's hosting a copy on the Halo 3 Forum, but there's also a thread going on the High Impact Halo forum - and I'm sure other places around the web. Go look! (Louis Wu 15:35:57 UTC) (permalink)
Private Donut - Pwned
Scott Guthrie works for Microsoft - and recently, he got to be a guest star in a Red vs Blue segment. It's not a segment I ever saw mentioned over at Rooster Teeth... but if you're a fan of the show, it's got some funnies in it. You'll need to install WPF/E (mac | windows), a 'browser enhancement module' from Microsoft - but as far as I can tell, it's just a shell that the movie plays in. Thanks, Cybrfrk. (Louis Wu 13:41:13 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Vista info dump
Tons more Halo 2 Vista info coming out of the Game Developers Conference - a hands-on at Gamespot (thanks, LoneRanger 2.5), a preview at Shacknews, a hands-on at GamePro, and a summary of new features at Game Informer. Things you might not know yet (or that have changed in recent months):
- The game is expected out 'later this year' (originally, it was going to ship at the same time Vista did)
- A DX9 video card is all you need (there are no DX10-specific features)
- Your Xbox Live account that works with an Xbox works with Halo 2 Vista, too
- A Silver account is enough to play Halo 2 Vista (it's free)
- H2V will be the first PC game that allows players to set up dedicated Live servers
- H2V will ship with a map editor
- You can use mouse and keyboard, or game controller, or (and this is odd) mouse and game controller
- No online coop
- No splitscreen play
There's more info in all four articles - go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 12:38:36 UTC) (permalink)
News March 6 2007
Halo 2 Vista Achievements
Hired Gun (the team putting together Halo 2 Vista) has posted a blog entry detailing some of the thought processes (and a few of the specific procedures) involved with the Halo 2 Gamerscore Achievements you'll be able to unlock soon. Coolness abounds! Thanks, PsychoRaven. (Louis Wu 20:19:43 UTC) (permalink)
WWKD?
trigger119 has posted an interview with machinima maker Jamie98s over at GamingTV; go read about what got him into machinima, where he's going, and a little about Koko. (Louis Wu 17:09:13 UTC) (permalink)
Next-Gen's Hot 100 Game Developers
Next Generation is doing their annual 'Hot 100 Game Developers' list (last year, both Jason Jones and Alex Seropian made the list, which was ordered alphabetically) - this year, the list is ordered by influence. Seropian's not on the list this time around (Wideload Games has been pretty much under the radar until very recently), but Jones makes it again - at number 4! Nice. Thanks, madcowjim. (Louis Wu 16:44:27 UTC) (permalink)
The Mausoleum of the Arbiter
Youngblood (AKA Indiana_Pwns) has joined in the blogging craze - Ghosts of Onyx starts off with some suggestions on fan fiction writing. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:33:59 UTC) (permalink)
Invisible, Harmless Bunnies
Tied the Leader is back with another Tuesday Update - You can find a 22 Questions interview with UncleGamer Radio's Robby Edwards, a hilarious (but sad-because-it's-so-true) list of Halo 2 Rules of Thumb, an introspective look at the Halo online community (and what's changed in the past two years), and a Community Profile of Second Foundation, the creators of The Riot podcast. Go read! (Don't forget to say thankya to XerxdeeJ for not making us click more than we had to this time around...) (Louis Wu 16:30:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 - The Most-Played XBL Title
Microsoft recently announced that the Xbox Live service hit 6 million members (several months sooner than they expected), and they listed the top 10 Live titles (by number of unique users) - Halo 2 is at the top of the list. I guess that 2-year headstart on Gears of War made a difference! Thanks, GhaleonEB. (Louis Wu 16:11:54 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 VS Halo 1
Mister Froggy updated Halo, Articulated - #19 compares weapons from the first two Halo games. (Louis Wu 16:09:00 UTC) (permalink)
News March 5 2007
Halo CE adds Halo 3 goodies
Dennis Powers pointed out that the Halo CE community has been working on bubble shield-type tags - you can grab them here (a couple of maps that use them are Nhpgulch and Covenieye). There are also tags for Halo 3-style backpack weapons - they're in use in Backpack Gulch. Cool stuff! (Louis Wu 16:46:12 UTC) (permalink)
Bravo Kilo.
Last week, Bungie posted an analysis of the upcoming Brute Spiker; in it, one of the UNSC Marines referred to Brutes as 'Bravo Kilos'. If this reference was lost on you, today's One One Se7en might be, too... or maybe Stuntmutt will have cleared it up for you. (Louis Wu 15:58:24 UTC) (permalink)
2v2 Online Tourney
SpotlightPro.org is hosting a 2v2 tournament, top prize includes a 12-month XBL subscription. Go check out the details! Thanks, ClearviewPro. (Louis Wu 15:15:50 UTC) (permalink)
News March 4 2007
Bad Intel
Sane Intolerant has updated his Halo Toy Box series - today's episode compares Cortana to the Crackdown announcer. Even if you're Jillybean, you HAVE to admit our Cortana is better than this vision. (Louis Wu 20:49:35 UTC) (permalink)
The Riot 38
Sigafoos pointed out that The Riot 38 is now online - 9.5 mb, 23 minutes long. Highlights include site design discussion, clan challenges, halo news, and monkeys. (Bungie's monkeys, not Second Foundation's.) Enjoy! (Louis Wu 20:41:31 UTC) (permalink)
The Uneven Elephant
Coweh stopped by to point out The Uneven Elephant, a new Halo-related blog he's started up. The first real post is a speculation about the X-button functionality, but he promises more activity as the Halo 3 beta gets going. (Louis Wu 13:00:24 UTC) (permalink)
Bubble Shield Animation
DocOctavius and his buddies at the yayap.com forums were trying to work out the mechanics of the bubble shield shown off in last December's Halo 3 ad; he rendered a local version, and it look pretty cool. Check it out! (QuickTime format, 232K) (Louis Wu 12:56:39 UTC) (permalink)
News March 3 2007
RvB 91: Missed Direction
The latest episode of Red vs Blue is now up for sponsors (thanks, Angrist) - Sister gets oiled up and nekkid, Simmons gets jealous, and Caboose tries to get dead. Or not to get dead. Go watch! (Unless you're not a sponsor - in which case, come back in 48 hours, read this again, and then go watch!) (Louis Wu 12:49:40 UTC) (permalink)
New Podtacular Eps
ImmortalThree reminded us that Podtacular 102 (Customs and Call-ins) and Podtacular 103 (the Halo 3 Show, with George from aeropause.com) are now online - go listen! (Louis Wu 12:47:58 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Vicis goes live
We got word from SourceGuy, about a new website on the Halo modding scene - Halo Vicis. Right now, they've got a couple of exclusive tidbits you might want to check out - a new app known as H2Core, for working with Halo 2 maps, and a tutorial to help you convert a HaloCE map to a Halo PC map. Take a look! (Louis Wu 12:45:51 UTC) (permalink)
Monkeys and Cheaters
The Bungie Weekly Update this week has some cool H3 info (chetz and waters), a tiny bit of info about the upcoming Halo 2 maps, and some scary stuff about Marty. Really scary, in fact. And some stuff about Video Games Live. And some more scary stuff about Marty. Go read - either at Bungie.net, or in our own Weekly Update Archive. Looks like Trindacut beat Frankie by seconds with the heads-up. (Louis Wu 01:44:05 UTC) (permalink)
Half-Wit
Mister Froggy pointed out Halo, Articulated #18 - in which a dirty secret is revealed. (Louis Wu 01:42:48 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Tourneys in OH and WA
Couple of different Halo tournaments mentioned on our forum today - Relentless Azn mentioned a pair of Gamebreakerz tourneys in Kent, Washington on March 23 (2v2) and March 30-31 (4v4), and Scooter let us know about Game Junkie's "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" near Cincinnati, OH on March 17. Get to playin'! (Louis Wu 01:41:22 UTC) (permalink)
News March 2 2007
Going In Manually.
Some fans have expressed unhappiness with the spate of Halo-branded merchandise being announced in recent weeks... Stuntmutt, as usual, has his own take on the situation, spun off from a comment in last week's BWU. Check today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 18:09:29 UTC) (permalink)
It's Rumor Week, I Guess
This one's DEEP in the rumor category - and remember, the Mole is right, at best, about half the time. According to Planet Halo, OXM's Rumor Mole suggests that Certain Affinity, the team started by Halo Multiplayer Lead Max Hoberman that is currently working on some Halo 2 maps to be released soonish, is ALSO working on "a multiplayer-centric Halo Tournament type of game". Not sure what that means, exactly - and I CERTAINLY haven't heard it anywhere else, so don't forget that sandbag full of salt. (Louis Wu 17:55:36 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Later than usual, but there are now 13 new pieces available in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 17:49:52 UTC) (permalink)
It's getting clearer.
Yesterday afternoon, The J3ster noticed that the static-filled image at the bottom of the HaloWars update had changed; it still isn't discernable, but it's getting closer. Keep your eye on it! (Louis Wu 13:24:11 UTC) (permalink)
Massed Hunters on Silent Cartographer
Heh - Rockslider's still at it. New section at Bad Cyborg today - gather 6 Hunters together on Silent Cartographer, and have some fun! (Louis Wu 13:10:48 UTC) (permalink)
News March 1 2007
MLG VoD - Free
I was gonna wait on this, but the news is too good to sit on. MLGPro.com has made their Video on Demand service free. FREE! Thousands of matches, dating back 3 years (Halo 1 footage, even) - there for the watching. Mac and PC alike, since the DRM is gone. Go read the details (including coming goodies) at the MLG website. Thanks to Ryan Thompson for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 23:15:48 UTC) (permalink)
False Rumor - dual betas
Okay, rumor-busting time. There's a doozy, going around (see QJ.net and Computer and Video Games, for example) that there may be two different Halo 3 beta groups; the first will be for competition winners (including the first two phases of the Rule of Three), the second will be for Crackdown purchasers. According to these articles, their start dates will be a couple of months apart. Before you Crackdown purchasers go ballistic, here's the word, straight from Frankie at Bungie:
There is only one Halo 3 Public Beta. Folks who play it because they bought Crackdown are playing the same game as the ones who won the Rule of Three contest.
Both groups will start at the same time - this rumor is false. Thanks to runnersdialzero for the heads-up on the rumor, and Frankie, for the breath of sanity. (Louis Wu 23:00:30 UTC) (permalink)
I gotta get me one of those.
Bluestone figured out how to customize his Logitech G15 keyboard - nice! (Louis Wu 22:49:07 UTC) (permalink)
Okay, what?
Over at Xbox.com, you'll find links for a video created by The Scissor Sisters, apparently inspired by the Halo Wars trailer. (I'm having trouble finding a link between the music and the video footage that accompanies it, but maybe it's just me. If you're using a Mac, the Microsoft movie links will fail (as usual) - but the direct streaming links work fine (hi | lo). Thanks (I think) to Computer and Video Games, for the heads-up on this one. (Louis Wu 18:02:19 UTC) (permalink)
The End?
Paul Maestri takes a look at the whole Blogspot fiasco in the latest Halo Heads comic - we're glad to have him aboard, and hope there's never a related episode regarding us! (Louis Wu 17:38:59 UTC) (permalink)
MA5C, from Wood and PVC
Colonel James Falcon, CO of the Halo PC Squad 9, sent in a set of pictures of an assault rifle he's building, that will go along with a full suit of armor he's also building. Check out the pics! (Louis Wu 15:20:57 UTC) (permalink)
Mercenary
Luke Jeffery let us know that Mercenary is out now, as well - you can grab it from the Wandering Tiger website in WMP9 format (22.4 mb). I found the story to be a bit... disjointed, but the filming is pretty nice. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 14:06:24 UTC) (permalink)
Energy, Ep 1
Simply Greg stopped by to point out Energy Episode One: Routine Drop - the opening of a machinima series in which humans discover that they might not be alone out there... It's available from their website in WMP9 or QT format - 112 mb either way. It should be available on YouTube later today. While you're there, check out the trailer for Expone, an upcoming movie. (Louis Wu 14:03:00 UTC) (permalink)
Spike This.
Bungie.net has put up a new Weapon Profile - this time, it's the Brute Spiker. Check it out for details on this rugged but deadly piece of equipment - stats, quotes from Marines who've used it, even a QTVR file showing some details. Thanks, Frankie. (Louis Wu 13:50:41 UTC) (permalink)
| March 2007 | |
