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 | May 2002 |  |
May 2002 Archived News
News May 31 2002
Bungie Fans RULE
Last time Bungie put up a set of 'eyeball benders', it took the community over two months to solve them all. This time, it took 16 hours. Well, that's actually how long it took candyman to CONFIRM the guesses - but the final correct guess came less than 5 hours after Frogblast posted his observation that the puzzle was up. Not too shabby! (Dave C. also points out that the Seventh Column story mentioned earlier now has a couple of cool new photos... and a fun little feature - every single blue dot on the maps of the chapters now LEADS to the chapter it represents!) (Louis Wu 19:12:43 UTC) (permalink)
The first mirrors for Warthog Revisited
Mirror sites have begun to come in for the Warthog Revisited movie - we've started a mirror list. Hopefully, the bandwidth will continue to hold up once the Oz.net servers drop off that list... but if you haven't seen this, grab it now. it's hilarious. (Louis Wu 19:02:14 UTC) (permalink)
New Badgers for ya
A couple of months ago, Stormsinger posted an interesting piece of concept art for a future Halo mod, if the opportunity to build one ever arises. Yesterday, he sent in a render of two of the final four versions of the vehicle. We've added the image to our Miscellaneous Art section, but there is enough material now to warrant the creation of a 'Halo Extensions' section - it won't be instant, but we'll be putting it together soon. Rules for admission will be included. :) In the meantime, visit our Miscellaneous Art section and check out Stormsinger's latest creation! (And if you missed it in our forum - my bad for forgetting to mention it here - check out Roger Wilco's vehicle suggestions, as well.) (Louis Wu 16:45:55 UTC) (permalink)
Seventh Column Details emerge
Curious about the reach of Bungie's Seventh Column? Take a gander at Matt Soell's State of the Seventh Column address, posted last night. (You'll also get a nice rundown of the E3 Fanfest, a tasty bonus.) (Louis Wu 15:38:12 UTC) (permalink)
Warthog Revisited - available!
Woohoo! The long-awaited 'Warthog Revisited', Randy Glass' followup to his 'Warthog Jump' film (first seen last week, in a slightly less finished form, and the Bungie Fanfest in LA), is now available! You can grab it for a VERY short time at Randy's site - but he's going to pull that down sometime today. Mirrors would be gratefully appreciated! (I've already tossed copies of both the large (320x240, 17.2 mb) and small (240x180, 8.9 mb) versions up at mythica.org - thanks, Brian! - but the more, the merrier!) Read Randy's forum post for more details. (Louis Wu 13:29:34 UTC) (permalink)
Physics is fun
For those who think Halo's tapped out, interest-wise... check this out. Razorback posts a note to our forum, explaining how he set up a situation where the standard auto-aim feature of Halo just stopped working - in his words, "it whould like, thorw away my vision from the hunter." (Razorback is Portuguese - give him a break on the spelling and grammar.) Stormsinger added some details... and Ferrex popped in with the behind-the-scenes explanation... and for Halo-geeks, it's pretty satisfying. (If you read it and say, 'so what?', rejoice in your non-Halo-geekiness.) It's not old yet, folks! (Louis Wu 02:38:25 UTC) (permalink)
What the heck IS that?
Whoa - thanks to Frogblast, who noticed a new set of screenshots over at Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation; another set of Eyeball Benders! This one's tougher than the last set... add your guesses to Froggy's thread! (Louis Wu 02:15:32 UTC) (permalink)
Ask Bungie to WHAT?
Halo: Game of the Year Edition box acronym: revealed! Mnemesis, our research droid, has sent in both the acronym... and a pretty decent guess:
ABTFIPAS05
Yes, that's the number '5', not the letter 'S'. Mnemesis' guess? "Ask Bungie To Finally Introduce Pimps At Sea On Sega." (Well, except for the 5...) Have an idea yourself? Post it to our forum! (Thanks to B5RobMan, who did his best to find this acronym - your time was appreciated!) (Louis Wu 02:10:25 UTC) (permalink)
Combat Unevolved...
It had to happen... Scott Porter writes to let us know that work has begun on a Marathon Infinity conversion - Halo: Combat Unevolved. They've JUST started, so there's not much there yet... but if you are interested in getting in on the ground floor of this project, send him mail! (Louis Wu 02:02:08 UTC) (permalink)
News May 30 2002
Keyes' Corner opens for business
It took much, much longer to put together than any of us expected... but I'm proud to announce the opening of a new section here at HBO - Keyes' Corner. This will be a place where complicated aspects of Halo are examined in-depth; we won't just look at a single piece, we'll tear the puppy apart, see what makes it tick. We'll show you how you can use it during gameplay, and look at some of the ramifications, when relevant. Installment One covers the Unlimited Ammo/Unlimited Camo glitch - what it is, where to find it, how to activate it, what you can do with it. The article is replete with maps and movies of the areas you need to visit and the tasks you need to accomplish in order to activate the glitch. Many thanks to Stormsinger, xbill, and Frogblast for their invaluable help in putting this together! (Louis Wu 13:49:35 UTC) (permalink)
E3 Photos from the Canucks
Heh - Daniel (Finn), of Team 7hr33, has put up a page of images commemorating his (and Rich's (Shovelface's)) visit to E3 - dinner with Bungie, Fanfest shenanigans, and a very freaky accident involving a man in a palm tree. Check it out! (Visit the Team 7hr33 website, and then hit the 'Bungie Trip 2002' link about halfway down the Index.) A nicer pair of guys you won't find. (Though put guns in their hands, and it's a whole different story...) (Louis Wu 08:08:02 UTC) (permalink)
News May 29 2002
New Halo music vid available for dl
Goodness... passed right over this. :( Robo42786, a frequent contributor to our Fan Fiction section, has created a music video for Halo - it's called 'When Worlds Collide', and is set to the song of the same name by Powerman 5000. It's in .wmv format, and weighs in at 4.9 mb, zipped. We've put it up on mythica.org's server - but anyone who wants to mirror it would be gratefully acknowledged. (Louis Wu 15:46:44 UTC) (permalink)
The chase is on... again!
In the old days, Box Acronyms were a staple of Bungie's offerings, and provided quite a bit of discussion fodder for fans. The practice fell by the wayside, unfortunately, with Oni... and the original Halo release has none, either. However, starting with the Game of the Year Edition, and continuing with the Halo Soundtrack, the practice is back! I don't have a copy of the GotY box, so I don't know what the acronym is... but Friday night, lucky Fanfest-goers got their hands on the Halo Soundtrack, a couple of weeks early... and the acronym there is
SABABWL
Our own mnemesis, of the Halo Story page, threw out a guess of 'Songs About Buildings And Babes Wearing Leather'... but this is probably not exactly right. Anyone else have any guesses? (We'd also love to get hold of the GotY acronym, if anyone's got a copy...) (Louis Wu 14:55:44 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction, just for you
Wednesday's Fan Fiction input...
- Effusion, part 10, by Tursas
- Last Hope, part 8, by SSJBRK
This is the final chapter of Effusion (though an Epilogue should be coming)... (Louis Wu 14:33:06 UTC) (permalink)
News May 28 2002
Sometimes, all you need is common sense.
Read this. Thanks. (Louis Wu 22:22:17 UTC) (permalink)
New links for PC mod ideas
For those who had trouble yesterday seeing the mod designs created by Roger Wilco... he's put up a local mirror here. Hopefully, this will work a bit better than Tripod did... (Louis Wu 20:31:30 UTC) (permalink)
The last survivors...
Thanks to Miguel Chavez, who sent in a nice pic of the close of the Fanfest last week. It was taken just before we broke everything down, and you can see the die-hard late-stayers, along with two of the 6 Xboxes we used (plus their screens). Only about half the people are labeled - this is my fault, as I didn't know everyone there. :( (If you know any of the unnamed people, feel free to tell us - we'll add labels.) And for those who don't believe Miguel is REALLY Bungie's Number One Fan... check this out. (Louis Wu 18:01:17 UTC) (permalink)
Movie cleanup
The movies released after the fanfest on Friday have been added to the Movies page - they should be easier to access from there. More coming soon! (Louis Wu 13:57:01 UTC) (permalink)
Weekend reading, a little late
Built-up fanfic over the weekend:
- Pillar of Autumn, by Nick
- Upon this Stage, prologue 2, by Gordi
- Taker of Life, Giver of Death, part 1, by Ian Barnes
Go to it! (Louis Wu 12:09:26 UTC) (permalink)
Images, images...
A pair of desktops came in over the weekend - you'll find them in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 09:22:21 UTC) (permalink)
What happens when all 56 fire at once?
Wanna see some cool vehicle designs for a potential mod for Halo for PC? Looky here. (Louis Wu 01:03:22 UTC) (permalink)
News May 27 2002
Doin' the hunters, flyin' a 'shee...
When you feel like frowning... sometimes you need to just laugh. (Louis Wu 18:31:41 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Fan Fiction Project, remade
Quick post (more in the morning) - Ryan wrote to point out that The Halo Fan Fiction Project has gotten a makeover - check it out! (And join 'em if you want to help bring the story of Halo to life in words...) (Louis Wu 01:28:21 UTC) (permalink)
News May 26 2002
Memorial Weekend News Blackout
Back at home... but not really here yet. Off to a Memorial Weekend Parade; there's no guarantee I'll be back any time soon, so no promises of news backup clearouts. (The Count has done a pretty good job keeping up with stuff, anyway - there's not THAT much to catch up on, except maybe a rundown of the Fanfest Friday night.) Enjoy the weekend! (Louis Wu 15:53:58 UTC) (permalink)
News May 25 2002
Here comes the flood...
David Allan drops us a note that the next issue of the UK's Official Xbox Magazine will have information on "Halo 2". He adds that the magazine will also include some making-of-Halo content on the DVD. This issue hits the stands June 19. (Count Zero 21:24:13 UTC) (permalink)
New movies from the fanfest
Whew - the fanfest is over, and what a lot of fun it was! There will certainly be descriptions forthcoming (if there haven't been already - I haven't had time to read the forum) - but in the meantime, we'd like to release a bunch of videos that made their debut tonight. There are a bunch of mirrors for each film, but we're always happy to hear of more! Mirror pages will be set up as soon as I get back to HBO HQ - for now, though, the links are here.
- HaloST3K - Patroclus' homage to Mystery Science Theater 3000, with appropriate Bungie footage. In the spirit of A**hole...
Small (240x180, 2 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
Medium - Low (320x240, 6 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
Medium - High (320x240, 10 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
Large (640x480, 16 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
- Fragfest: Unleashed - a music video full of fantastic lanfest footage, very well set to music; some really incredible flag kills here.
320x218, 17.2 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
- Maw 700 - Patroclus: Director's Cut - A reformatted version of an entry to the Maw 700 contest - with more cool stuff.
320x240, 20.1 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
- Hurricane Halo - a re-release of a fun movie, with cleaned-up audio, and two extra sound clips.
320x240, 24.0 mb) - bungie.org, That Weasel Television
Apologies for the unorthodox format; I don't have my standard tools. (Plus, I haven't slept in days...) (Louis Wu 08:34:12 UTC) (permalink)
Your daily dose of fan fiction again
Not snow or rain or E3 will stop the fan fiction:
- The Hell of War Through The Eyes Of A Marine, Part 12: The Last Battle by Jaywhit10 (The final chapter)
- Banserki's Journal, Part 6 by Sarge
This should help pass the time while we wait for news from the fanfest... (Count Zero 00:35:52 UTC) (permalink)
News May 24 2002
Maybe... Just maybe...
A LOT of people have informed us that this story at Computer and Video Games claims that "Halo Online" will be a full sequel to Halo. Before you think too much about what this statement means, notice that this article was taken from what Microsoft PR said and NOT from what Bungie said. (Count Zero 20:24:16 UTC) (permalink)
Matt speaks
MacGamer has scored an E3-related interview with Bungie's Matt Soell. Thanks to Harry Al-Shakarchi for pointing this out. (Count Zero 19:13:49 UTC) (permalink)
Once again...
We'll keep getting email until this is posted, so here it is: Shacknews has an interview with Chris DiCesar, the group PR manager for Microsoft Games. Note that this interview says exactly what Bungie has been saying all along: They want Halo for computers to happen, they just don't have any details yet. Thanks to Johnny Rotten for the heads-up. (Count Zero 15:45:49 UTC) (permalink)
Off to E3...
Time has run out - my bad. :( I'm leaving for the airport to make the final day of E3 (and the Bungie Fanfest) in about 15 minutes - there are a couple of Fan Fictions waiting in the queue that will have to continue to wait until I get back. Likewise, any art submissions in the next couple of days will be posted as soon as possible... but not before Sunday. Please be patient (and don't send 'em again, just because they haven't gone up :) ). Hopefully, I'll have some news to post this evening, after the Fanfest... (Louis Wu 07:33:17 UTC) (permalink)
Desktop options
mrmin123 submits a new desktop made a bit ago... you'll find it in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 07:30:42 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction For Fans
Nightly Fan Fiction offerings:
- Into the Unknown, part 3, by Jean-Paul Allee
- ODST Saga, part 7, by Robo42786
- Saturn's the Best!, by Lynnada
- Warning: escaping convicts, part 4 and part 5, by Cap'n Keyes
Enjoy! (Louis Wu 02:56:43 UTC) (permalink)
News May 23 2002
Bad news from the E3 floor?
Whoa - weird news from SonicStorm, of Battleground: Halo...
I spent about an hour looking for ANYONE from Bungie yesterday, but didn't see a soul. I was at E3 all day, and...nothing. Anyways, I asked the Microsoft people and they said Bungie isn't presenting anything at all, and don't have any setups, but they could be found at Developer Row in booth 5113 on the Concourse (long hallway between South and West halls). So I find the booth (finally) and lo and behold, the people there tell me that the Bungie guys were never there, and that all they're here for is to wander the show floor aimlessly.
No announcements? No Phoenix, no Halo (PC/2/Online)? I'm gonna cry... (Louis Wu 22:56:44 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie pics
More Bungie trivia - deanero got a bunch of pics of Bungie employees at E3 - if you ever wondered what some of these folks look like, here's your chance. (Louis Wu 22:53:17 UTC) (permalink)
Images for your eyes
Two new desktops - one based on our friend the Hunter, the other not strictly a Halo desktop at all (it's a Seventh Column desktop), but cool nonetheless. Both can be found in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 19:32:59 UTC) (permalink)
Disturbing lack of news
Hmm... here it is, 10:30 in the morning (Pacific Time) on the second day of E3... and not a peep from ANY Bungie fan or employee about what's coming from Bungie! What's up with that? (We even have some b.org personnel at the expo... but not the smallest report from them!) Could it be that Bungie has nothing to announce this week? If that were true, why is a huge chunk of the Bungie staff in LA at all? (Well, yes, there's a Fanfest coming up on Friday... but that doesn't explain the folks that deanero saw yesterday...) I'll be in LA tomorrow, and may find out for myself what's going on, but in the meantime, I'm a little confused. (Louis Wu 17:39:00 UTC) (permalink)
E3, day 1, through a fan's eyes
deanero posted a brief but mouthwatering rundown of his first day at E3 - lots of Bungie personnel sightings, followed by some very fun-sounding Halo lanfesting, also involving Bungie employees. Who says gaming companies don't enjoy mixing with their fans? (Louis Wu 13:08:21 UTC) (permalink)
Forum adjustments...
Forum changes - our forum has recently been changed over to run on style sheets - this drastically reduces the amount of text needed to render the page. (On the main index, the savings can be in the hundreds of kb per load...) The downside is that those with large monitors might have trouble reading the new default font size. Luckily, you're not stuck with the default - head to the Preferences section of the forum, and you'll find you can change the size to something that might work better for you. Comments are always welcome, though time is rather tight at the moment; changes might not be instant, if you suggest something. (Louis Wu 13:05:49 UTC) (permalink)
News May 22 2002
New Fanfic series started
Today's Fan Fiction update consists of a pair of chapters from Jean-Paul Allee, the first and second of his 'Into the Unknown' series. Check 'em out! (We also got two copies of a story from Gordi... but both were corrupt upon arrival, and Gordi's email is blocked by his ISP - mailbox is full. Maybe he'll see this...) Update: Gordi DID see this... and sent in another copy of 'Upon This Stage (Prologue 1)'. (Louis Wu 16:31:33 UTC) (permalink)
News May 21 2002
Mountains of reading material
Apologies for the Fan Fiction buildup - there are now 8 new stories:
- Warning: escaping convicts, part 3, by Cap'n Keyes
- Sam's Halo Story, part 1 and part 2, by Mr. Bobo
- Warrior Eternal, by Gi'Tbad'Eovad'Dvan
- Project-Halo, part 1, by SpikeDaDragon
- Operation: Risen from the Ashes, prologue, by Anthony Coronado
- Last Hope, part 7, by SSJBRK
- Halo: Reclaimer, part 1, by T. K. Niemann
Get going - there's a lot here! (Louis Wu 12:54:57 UTC) (permalink)
GameCube now $150
For anyone keeping tabs on the Console War, Nintendo finally announced its price drop (effective today) for the GameCube - it's down to $150. Hehe - $550 will now buy you one of each of the three major consoles! (What does this have to do with Halo? Nothing. Why is it being posted here? Because experience tells me that if I DON'T post it, we'll get a dozen emails from people telling us to post it. Dollars to donuts, we'll STILL get that mail...) (Louis Wu 09:09:18 UTC) (permalink)
Morsels from E3
E3 tidbits: Gamespot has an article which looks at a comment Jason Jones made yesterday with respect to Xbox Online (he said that with the service, it would be possible to "build the part of Halo that Bungie wanted to do"), and speculates on what it might mean for the future. And Team Xbox posted a Microsoft press release which contained an intriguing quote from Ed Fries, vice president of Xbox games content:
"As for "Halo™" and the work the Bungie Studios team is doing, gamers can rest assured: The fate of humanity is in good hands ... and online."
The future looks bright for World Domination... (Thanks to the rather large number of people who mailed this news in.) (Louis Wu 08:33:30 UTC) (permalink)
Van der Rohe was right...
Heh - what do you do when you're playing Counter-Strike and you need a quick virtual break? Well, you sit down and play Halo, of course! BOLL has made it possible - details can be found in our Miscellaneous Art section. Very, very fun (even if you don't play C-S!). (Louis Wu 01:07:36 UTC) (permalink)
More Online Halo tidbits
News.com interviewed John O'Rourke, marketing director for Microsoft's games division about Xbox Online. O'Rourke, as well, mentioned an online version of Halo:
Microsoft is also preparing online versions of its popular Xbox titles "Halo" and "Project Gotham Racing."
They're not expecting to have a full beta program for their online service before Autumn, however, so don't be looking for this product in the next 3 months... (Thanks to Patroclus for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 00:50:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2... sort of
Thanks to bikeman704, Team Overkill and gotenks20001@hotmail.com (name unprintable on the web) who all pointed out that IGN Xbox had a report of the first day of E3, including a 'frustratingly casual mention of Halo 2':
As we said the next version of Halo (MS won't even refer to it as Halo 2) will be online but the company was not forthcoming with any details beyond this.
Info... but no info. So it goes... (Louis Wu 00:00:01 UTC) (permalink)
News May 20 2002
Halo 2 'trailer' a hoax
Bungie doesn't normally get in the middle of rumor mongering... but this one was pretty big. Raelgun pointed out a forum thread over at Team Xbox which purported to describe a trailer for 'Halo 2' to be shown at E3 this week. Dave Candland jumped onto our forum to succinctly confirm that this is an 'OBVIOUS TOTAL LIE'. If there is any Halo-related info at E3, we'll be sure to bring it to you... but this ain't it. (Louis Wu 16:49:00 UTC) (permalink)
Someone else to shoot Marty...
The newest Bungie employee showed his face last night... Congrats to Joe Staten and his wife - they have a new baby boy! (Thanks to Marty O'Donnell for passing on the good news.) (Louis Wu 14:04:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo National under construction
Klawria, of the Seventh Column Chapter Halo National, has begun work on a site called 'Halo National'. The banner states that the site is 'Coming June 2002', but there's a considerable amount of content right now. Stop by and take a look! Thanks to Vector40 for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:58:01 UTC) (permalink)
News May 19 2002
Mousing around in Halo?
Hmm... many people have said that Halo would be oh-so-much-better with a mouse and keyboard, instead of the standard Xbox controller... well, it looks like they might get a chance to test that assertion soon. Xbox 2k has a story on the Claw, a device that works in conjunction with a standard Microsoft USB mouse to control all the actions available via the controller.
"Many PC gamers have expressed a desire to play Halo with a mouse plus keyboard style set-up", said Jason Ferraro, Director Ferraro Design. "Our Claw and mouse solution provides an intuitive controller set-up for those less familiar with the standard dual analogue console game pad."
Disclaimer - this could simply be a very late April Fool's joke on the part of Xbox 2K... or it could be something we see next week at E3. Time will tell... (Louis Wu 00:45:24 UTC) (permalink)
News May 18 2002
Saturday's reading material
Saturday's Fan Fiction:
- Effusion, part 9, by Tursas
- Fight for Her, by Omniscient
- The Aftermath part 1 and part 2, by Gasmask
- Last Hope part 6, by SSJBRK
Rainy weekend here - good for reading. (News will probably slow down - lots of family stuff to attend to. Not to mention the service outages that have started up again, thanks to the weather...)
The most awkward ruler in the galaxy
xbill has developed a new measuring technique - initiated here, a couple of days ago, he has now used the NavPoint™ Warthog to measure the height of the cliff outside one of the blue beam structures - it's about 438 meters, for those of you dying to know. Anyone with some serious patience can measure distances on several levels with this tool. (This technique was first seen (by me, at least) in Frogblast's 'Mapping Silent Cartographer', posted a couple of weeks ago.) (Louis Wu 11:33:43 UTC) (permalink)
Two new 7th Column Themes out
Bungie's Seventh Column site has news of two new themes for use by chapters - a Master Chief theme created by Stosh, and a Tru7h theme created by Jonah Friedman. I picked a random pair of chapters sporting these themes - you can see the MC theme on The Elite Enforcers' site (they're a central Florida team offering $200 if anyone can beat them on both Blood Gulch and Sidewinder), and the Tru7h theme is in use for the Central Florida Halo chapter, another CF team headed up by forum regular PCDestroyer. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 11:19:57 UTC) (permalink)
Rockers love Halo
cman writes to point out that the newest issue of Rolling Stone (the one with Kurt Cobain on the cover) contains an article about musicians and their favorite video games. Halo features prominently - Jack Black, of Tenacious D, says
"Tonight we're gonna rock a sold-out show, and then we're going to play some Halo. I'll see if i can find some Halo groupies - everybody loves Halo. I'm a full-time Halohead."
There are several other good bits - once this issue is off the stands, we'll be posting the article in our Press Scans section. In the meantime, go buy the Dead Tree edition! (Louis Wu 10:32:25 UTC) (permalink)
Closeup screens finally finished
Whoa - FINALLY! Way back on March 6, Bungie posted a series of closeup screenshots, and challenged fans to decipher them. Most were figured out within the first couple of days... but scrn_081 has baffled the community... until now. xbill gets the kewpie doll, according to Dave Candland, the devious creator of the challenge. W00t! (Louis Wu 00:10:01 UTC) (permalink)
News May 17 2002
Pictures for your screen
A pair of new desktop images have been submitted - you'll find 'em in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 20:05:18 UTC) (permalink)
redin is gud
Thursday's Fan Fiction offering:
- The Outer Limits, part 2, by agsbladerboy55
- Taker of Life, Giver of Death - prologue, by Ian Barnes
- Love, by Halo-Wannabe
The old, the new, and the short... (Louis Wu 19:55:09 UTC) (permalink)
Project MJOLNIR changes hosts
Alan Wu writes to point out that Project Mjolnir has changed servers - and there's now a nice list of mirrored movies. We'll be updating mirror lists HERE soon (for both this stuff, and the Repertory's new links), but in the meantime you can grab what you need off the Project MJOLNIR mirror page. (Louis Wu 19:38:12 UTC) (permalink)
News May 16 2002
YDA wants you
Your Death Awaits - a Halo clan - points out that its website contains some interesting stunt pictures on multiplayer maps. (You can also find information on the clan itself, and contact them if you're interested in joining.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:27:33 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fic For Fourthday
Thursday's Fan Fiction offerings:
- Last Hope, part 5, by SSJBRK
- The Hell Of War, part 11, by Jaywhit10
In addition, Nick has turned in a 'proofread' version of his recently submitted 'Halo Aftermath Prologue', which has now been updated. A request to Fan Fiction writers - please, proofread your stories BEFORE you submit them, or live with the errors. The workload here is high enough without making small adjustments to already-submitted stories. (This is the fourth request of this type this week alone... a disturbing trend. Once a story is in the system, editing it requires editing multiple files; it's far easier to submit new stories than it is to edit existing ones. Thanks for your consideration.) (Louis Wu 13:22:04 UTC) (permalink)
News May 15 2002
Searching gets better
Quick note about the search function here - it's better now. Individual terms are separated (if you type in 'pelican model', it now searches for 'pelican OR model' instead of the phrase 'pelican model', as it did before), and if you go to the search page itself, you have the option to narrow searches by requiring ALL search terms be hit. Feedback, as always, is welcome. (Louis Wu 21:00:31 UTC) (permalink)
Mountains of Movie Mouthfuls
Movie news: Dan Chosich wrote recently to say that there were new mirrors of both his movies (Halo Montage and 2070) (and one copy of a version not yet seen) on his site - all movies can be reached from his main movie page. (Links have also been added to his movie mirror pages.) Also, Brian Josselyn, of Blackstar Productions, writes to say that he's re-encoded ALL of his movies; 'Halo: The Movie' is now 6 mb smaller in its best quality, the second teaser has much better sound, and the third teaser is finally set to the proper aspect ratio. Mirror sites are encouraged to replace their existing versions with the newer version - there are currently copies at the Blackstar Productions page, and at mythica.org. (See the mirror pages for specific links.) (Louis Wu 20:43:46 UTC) (permalink)
New day, new Wallpaper
|RaptoR| submitted a nice desktop image (in 4 sizes), showing off both Halo and Oni - and was followed up by a much more lighthearted entry from Dolbex. You'll find both in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 16:34:36 UTC) (permalink)
PoA... for C-S
A month and a half ago, bikeman704 submitted a rendering of the Halo pelican in a Counter-Strike format... today, he brings you two screens of a level based on the Pillar of Autumn. You'll find 'em in our Miscellaneous Art section. Nice! (Louis Wu 15:38:07 UTC) (permalink)
The Rep is back!
After a long hiatus, the Repertory is back in business. Thanks to Vector40, for this 'all media, all the time' site - his goal is to mirror everything worth mirroring in the Halo movie arena. The bandwidth is certainly appreciated! (Louis Wu 13:18:32 UTC) (permalink)
Xbox now $199
The big news of the day? Yep, the Xbox is officially $199. Thanks to all the folks who dropped us notes to let us know. Buying Halo just got cheaper. (Yes, you're still welcome to wait until the PC version comes out... but $100 of your excuse just flew out the window.) (Louis Wu 12:42:15 UTC) (permalink)
More to read, more to read...
Early-in-the-day Fan Fiction:
- The First Step Into A Long Fall Part 3, by JediKnight114
- Warning: escaping convicts... (Part 2), by Cap'n Keyes
Up sooner than expected... (Louis Wu 01:21:00 UTC) (permalink)
News May 14 2002
Halo Soundtrack announced on Xbox.com
Xbox.com has put up an announcement page for the Halo Soundtrack. There are three tracks listed... but they're the same tracks released a couple of months ago by Team Xbox (and later Xbox.com, on the Easter Egg page for the WinAmp skin). Still, it's nice to see the press coverage for what will undoubtedly be a killer release! (Louis Wu 20:05:41 UTC) (permalink)
Beware the JabberShade!
Jason Horwath managed to catch some bizarre Shade action on film recently... you can find the results in our Gameplay Tricks section. Removed at the author's request. (Louis Wu 19:42:12 UTC) (permalink)
Psyjnir Complex back online
The Psyjnir Complex is FINALLY back online - the crew has grown a bit, so poke around, you might find stuff worth hunting for. (Like an early draft of the Halo theme, in MIDI format... or something.) (Louis Wu 19:19:04 UTC) (permalink)
Marty O interview at Xbox.zone
Thomas Bottrill sends word that he's put up a new interview of Marty O'Donnell at Xbox.zone (the site is framed, so hit the 'Say Halo!' link, then the 'Marty O'Donnell Interview'). Some interesting stuff in there... though Marty's a bit more reticent than usual (check out the answers to the Halo 2 questions). A sample:
xbox.zone: What's with the Irish folk music? And why did it work so bloody well? Also what styles/types of music didn't make it into the game, and why?
Marty: Well I'm Irish so maybe that's where that feel came from. Actually, I never intended it to have an Irish folk music feel but I guess it is a little on the "River Dance" side of things. I just liked the groove when it came to me and started developing it. I have no idea why it works. As far as styles that didn't make it in, I'm sure you'll not be able to find any Hawaiian music in the game.
Me, I'm sorta missing the Hawaiian stuff now... This has been added to our Interviews database. (Louis Wu 18:44:55 UTC) (permalink)
Dust and Echoes... and echoes...
Tuesday Fan Fiction offerings - two eerily similar stories, at least at first:
- Warning: escaping convicts can be allies in disguise (Part 1), by Cap'n Keyes
- Halo: Aftermath - Prologue, by Nick
The second story is the beginning of a complete rewrite - Nick (formerly known as GarlicJr11) was unhappy with the quality of the story, and chose to start anew. The original version has been removed, at his request. (Louis Wu 16:31:26 UTC) (permalink)
Official details of Japanese Halo Championship
To everyone who wrote in, suggesting the use of Babel Fish as a translator for the Japanese Halo Championship news from yesterday... thanks. I was really looking for something more accurate than "the hay low/row"... but you're all right, it's better than nothing. :) More to the point, there's now official information on the Xbox Japan site - take a look. Turns out those dogtags are more than just a tchotchke - they're your entrance pass to the contest. May 19, 25, and 26... coming up soon! (Louis Wu 14:39:44 UTC) (permalink)
Three fer the price of two!
Hot times for console buyers - as of yesterday, Sony has dropped the price of its PlayStation 2 console to $199 in the US, and the PS One to $49. Though they suggest that it's always been their plan to bring the PS2 to the sub-$200 pricepoint, the rumors of an Xbox price drop at E3 in a couple of weeks probably didn't hurt the timing any... Thanks to Gamers.com for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:23:18 UTC) (permalink)
Building the ring
Eep - a new image was submitted on Sunday - we nearly missed it. Germain Couët dropped off a pretty cool view of the Halo under construction. We've added it to our Miscellaneous Art section - it's a very different beast from the LAST visualization of this event... (Louis Wu 09:26:18 UTC) (permalink)
News May 13 2002
Halo Soundtrack on sale in a month
Good (and bad) news for those waiting for the Halo Soundtrack - The Good: Microsoft Game Studios announced today that Sumthing Distribution has been contracted to market the disc. The Bad: release date is scheduled for June 11 "at music retailers nationwide". For more details, check out Music4Games.net. (Louis Wu 20:18:24 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Championship details... in Japanese
Firfin, of Halo-Game, sends word of a page on the Halo Championship in Japan. We can't tell you what it says (no Japanese speakers here), but some of the pictures are intriguing... (Louis Wu 17:39:50 UTC) (permalink)
News May 12 2002
Images for your desktop
New wallpaper uploaded to our Wallpaper section. Clearin' out the inbox... (Louis Wu 19:39:41 UTC) (permalink)
Font + pic = cover
A new pattern is emerging - the Halo font released a few days ago has inspired several fan fiction authors to create cover art for their stories using it. The latest is Spook - you can find his work in the Miscellaneous Art section. Font + pic = cover (Louis Wu 19:35:14 UTC) (permalink)
bit o' fanfic
Weekend Fanfic:
- Last Hope part 4, by SSJBRK
- Bloodlust, by Jehkoh
Rainy Sunday... (Louis Wu 19:28:03 UTC) (permalink)
Not just for kids anymore
Thanks to Miguel Chavez, who scanned in an article from the New York Times today - it looks at today's violent video games, and comments that 'Men will be boys'. (It's actually a decent read - it looks at older gamers, and why they're being drawn back to video games.) You can find it in our Press Scans section - or you can read it online at the NYT website (link is on the press scan page). (Louis Wu 16:30:05 UTC) (permalink)
Gameplay Tips now searchable
Thanks to Cybrfrk, who has added a welcome Search feature to the Gameplay Tips section. If you were having trouble finding that tip you needed, this just might make it easier! (Don't forget to submit the tips you have for playing! (Louis Wu 14:55:33 UTC) (permalink)
Everything Counts, in Large Amounts
Heh - we missed this in February, but we can't COMPLETELY cover it up... (Louis Wu 14:52:34 UTC) (permalink)
News May 11 2002
Photoshop Phunnies
A few people noticed that Something Awful's Photoshop Phriday feature was 'Fake Games' this week - and Halo fit in nicely. (Interestingly enough... Marathon got noticed, as well.) And then... there's THIS one. Some people have too much time on their hands... (Louis Wu 18:24:59 UTC) (permalink)
Tricks update - at long last.
Four new entries in the Gameplay Tricks section - some really fun stuff. My favorite is Clipping... the possibilities are enormous. Comments, as always, are welcome on our forum. (The queue currently contains only tricks by Frogblast - and all of them can be seen at Utfoo. We'll get to 'em, we promise... but they're up now, if you can't wait.) (Louis Wu 15:22:30 UTC) (permalink)
Everybody's Reading on the Weekend
Saturday's Fan Fiction offering:
- Roughneck Two-Zero, part 7, by Anthony Coronado
- Effusion, part 8, by Tursas
- Finishing what you started, Part 3, by LeAtHeRnEcK
Get an early start... (Louis Wu 09:46:24 UTC) (permalink)
News May 10 2002
Warthog Skeet Shooting
DrunkGamers.com has put up part 9 of its Halo Tips movie series (whatever happened to part 8? I think they were drinking too much) - this one looks at Warthog Skeet Shooting. (It's actually more like trap shooting... but who am I to quibble?) They've issued a challenge - send in a three-hit shot, and they'll bow to you. (It's gonna be pretty tough, because of the reload time...) (Louis Wu 20:03:12 UTC) (permalink)
Marty gets Rolling Stone award
And the awards continue to pile up for Marty O'Donnell... Rolling Stone has given him 'Best Original Soundtrack in a Game' in their upcoming E3 issue. Gotta love it! (Thanks to Jay Weinland for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 18:30:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Tourney/Fanfest details go up
Bungie has put up some details about the upcoming Fanfest and the Halo Tournament to be held during E3 - you can find them on the Seventh Column site. Thanks to Vector40 for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:40:52 UTC) (permalink)
Artwork for stories
MaxThndr has created some cover art for his Fan Fiction series The Ardan Landings, using the Halo font created by Will Turnbow. You can find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 17:32:55 UTC) (permalink)
New desktop images
A pair of desktops came in last night - you'll find both of them in our Wallpaper collection. (Louis Wu 17:21:08 UTC) (permalink)
Japanese promo flyer scanned
Thanks to 3Suns, who scanned in a flyer distributed in Japan, advertising an upcoming Halo Championship and some schwag given away with the first copies of Halo. We've added it to our Press Scans section. (Louis Wu 17:03:53 UTC) (permalink)
News May 9 2002
Halo font - created at last!
Now this is just plain cool. Will Turnbow went looking for a Halo font, as many others before him have done - but when he didn't find one, he created it. Currently, it's just the letters, but he's said that if there's demand, and people approve of the work so far, he'd be willing to add other characters. There are two flavors - plain, and outline - so that they can be filled (as with the standard Halo logo). All letters are the same height, because it made more sense than arbitrarily making some shorter. You can find download links in our Miscellaneous Art section, along with a quick preview of the font. W00t! (Louis Wu 19:29:37 UTC) (permalink)
Three stories, one ending
Thursday's Fan Fic:
- The Hell Of War, part 10, by Jaywhit10
- Last Hope, part 3, by SSJBRK
- Operation: False Prophets- Afterward, by Ian Barnes
Don't forget to leave feedback on the stories you read! (Louis Wu 19:02:21 UTC) (permalink)
New Logo uploaded
Whoa - the first Logo upload since December! Check it out... (Louis Wu 18:35:29 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper updated
Sometimes, the art's pretty strange. What can I say? (Louis Wu 18:23:59 UTC) (permalink)
MagGamer is skeptical
Heh - funny poll at MacGamer.com: "Which signs of the Apocalypse would happen before Halo comes to Macintosh?" I sorta like the last option... seems that nearly 60% of the other voters do, too. (Weird polling stuff going on.) (Louis Wu 12:25:31 UTC) (permalink)
News May 8 2002
Light reading
Wednesday's Fan Fic:
- Last Hope, part 2, by SSJBRK
- The Long Ride Home, part 7, by Joshua Barreto
- Operation False Prophets, part 14, by Ian Barnes
Go get 'em... (Louis Wu 19:29:32 UTC) (permalink)
New Halo bookmark
Micro295 has turned in a Halo bookmark, for your reading pleasure - you'll find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 17:41:48 UTC) (permalink)
Movie section improves a bit
The Halo Movies section is still not as navigable as I'd like... but it's a little better. You can now sort searches by Name, or date, or (maximum) filesize - and that includes restricted searches. (That is, if you're looking for music videos, you can resort the results in more productive ways.) Hope this helps! (Suggestions are always welcome, though not always acted upon immediately. :) ) (Louis Wu 16:52:59 UTC) (permalink)
Someone call Child Services!
Rolling... on the floor... laughing. (Louis Wu 02:44:26 UTC) (permalink)
A new Easter Egg!
Today, almost 7 months after the release of Halo, we received mail from SquirrelJam, asking about the numbers on the front of the Scorpion tank. (He had his suspicions. They were right.) We've added a new entry to the Halo Easter Egg page... and for good measure, have finally written up an old egg that just never made it onto the page. Keep hunting, folks! (It should go without saying that these contain spoilers...) (Louis Wu 02:41:12 UTC) (permalink)
Seventh Column gets a new theme choice
We missed this earlier today, but Bungie has made a new theme available to Seventh Column chapters - Hunters. If you want to see what it looks like, visit The HBO Junkies! Thanks to Stosh, for creating it. (Louis Wu 01:51:16 UTC) (permalink)
Spidey vs MC?
Heh - Gamespy has put up a new Grudge Match on their front page; Spider-Man vs. Master Chief - who wins? Currently, Spidey's whuppin' the TAR out of MC... go see if you can change that. (Thanks to Darth Paul for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 01:44:12 UTC) (permalink)
News May 7 2002
Junkyard outage is only temporary
Dang - this came last night, missed it. :( Ryan 'Mhaddy' Matthews, of The Junkyard, wrote to let us know that the Junkyard has been experiencing some downtime (since the weekend, actually - they're not dead, just offline for a bit. They'll be back up and running soon. (Louis Wu 17:07:34 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction Potpourri
Today's Fan Fiction:
- Present Horizon, part 2, by Spook
- The awakening, part 3, by agsbladerboy55
- Whispers, by Ryan
- The Outer Limits, part 1, by agsbladerboy55
- The covenant, by agsbladerboy55
- Operation False Prophets, part 13, by Ian Barnes
Mixed bag... (Louis Wu 13:33:32 UTC) (permalink)
Forerunner symbols, revisited
stro the Space Duck has created the first Halo Story Page 'maintainer column'. Hopefully, over time, the collection of these will grow. For now, you can read his treatise on Forerunner Symbols. (Yes, the subject has been looked at before - but never coupled with an attempt to interpret them.) He's done a fantastic job isolating and iconizing the symbols found throughout the game - give it a read! Comments should go either on our forum, or to the Halo Story Page. (Louis Wu 09:41:42 UTC) (permalink)
Homes for Cellulose
Lots of mirrors... too many to list. New homes for most of the movies released recently (including the elusive QT5 version of 2070). You can find links to all mirror lists on our Movies page. Thanks to all the bandwidth volunteers! We couldn't do it without you! (Louis Wu 01:09:42 UTC) (permalink)
Halo FFP gearing up
Ryan sends word that the Halo Fan Fiction Project now has an informational page to go along with the forum set up a couple of days ago - stop by and get all the details. (Louis Wu 00:32:41 UTC) (permalink)
News May 6 2002
Xbox price drop imminent?
Reuters is reporting that a market analyst is predicting a $100 price cut on the Xbox to be announced as early as E3 (in less than 3 weeks). That should jump-start new sales... thanks to Dave Calotta for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 20:20:58 UTC) (permalink)
The Bungie Store opens for business
The Bungie Store is live. Start your buying. (Thanks, M.A.G...) (Louis Wu 20:07:39 UTC) (permalink)
Gameplay Tricks FAQ goes live
Even though there's a small disclaimer at the top of the Gameplay Tricks section, we still get base stuffing pics, and vehicle balancing pics, and demands for faster action on submissions... to attempt to answer some of this mail, we've put together the first attempt at a Gameplay Tricks FAQ - please take a minute or two and read it over before submitting tricks (or mailing us). Thanks! (Louis Wu 20:04:12 UTC) (permalink)
First movie mirrors come in
Mirror, mirror, on the net... We've gotten our first mirrors for this morning's movies - Dave Calotta has provided Hotline access to all four films (links can be found on all the mirror pages), and Masterchief (the creator of Hell Above Water) has provided another mirror for that film. We appreciate the help! (Louis Wu 19:45:15 UTC) (permalink)
Music4Games.net reviews Halo audio
DOH! I hate busy weekends... I miss stuff. :( Music4Games.net has published a special Audio Review of Halo - they gave it a 10/10. Go read it, and see why Halo is head-and-shoulders above the competition, aurally speaking. (Louis Wu 16:41:41 UTC) (permalink)
XBConnect v1.1 released
HUNTR-KILLR writes to let us know that XBConnect (one of the three options you have for playing Halo online right now, and by some accounts the least laggy) has a new release out, as of this weekend. Version 1.1 adds these features:
- Host can see players pings
- Players can see all players in game
- Language filter
- Full games show up in red
- Fixed bug in adapter list. Should help some people finding xbox
- Customizable sound events
Check it out at the XBConnect site, and download the latest version! (Louis Wu 15:56:59 UTC) (permalink)
Movies out the yin-yang
It's not even movie mania - it's movie insanity! Not 1... not 2... not 3... 4 non-trick movies have been released this weekend! We decided, rather than try to space them out, to simply dump them, whole hog, on the community. Here's the thing, though - only two of them have download locations that AREN'T mythica.org. We need mirror offers... and we need 'em fast! We're not expecting folks to mirror EVERYTHING - but if you can host one of these, please, send us mail. Without further ado... the offerings:
- Hell Above Water - this came in late last week; it's a pretty simple movie, with clips all taken from the E3 2000 video (but cut differently), set to Curve's Hell Above Water. It's 6.7 mb, in zipped .wmv format. (There's no mirror list.)
- 'A**hole' - this might just be the funniest Halo video ever made. A hilarious Denis Leary song has been brought to life with Halo footage - with a serious eye for detail. Available in .wmv format (two resolutions, 23 mb and 7 mb), and QT5 format (23 mb).
- The Halo Boys Soundtrack - the next offering from Blackstar Productions, this takes Bungie's Demo Promo footage and puts it to great use - making fun of boy bands. 11 mb, in QT5 format. Two mirrors so far... with more coming, we hope.
- 2070 - the third offering from Dan Chosich, this 5-minute long piece puts Halo gameplay to music... and does it very well. Nicely edited. 24.4 mb, .wmv format. There's apparently also a QuickTime 5 version, but we haven't found it yet.
Until more mirrors come in, we're gonna be pushing our luck with Brian Towne's mythica.org mirror site... so be gentle. If you're getting 5k/sec... kill the download, come back tomorrow. (Hopefully, by then we'll have more places for you to grab it from.) Wow - sometimes when it rains, it pours. (Louis Wu 02:30:41 UTC) (permalink)
News May 5 2002
Weekend Wallpaper
An interesting pair of wallpapers came in this weekend - another dual-monitor modification, and an interesting piece that came out of a school project - it uses real life locations coupled with Halo artwork. Check 'em both out in our Wallpaper section! (Louis Wu 18:34:25 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Orbit redesigned
Xerxes writes to point out that Halo Orbit has been redesigned. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 18:15:11 UTC) (permalink)
Weekend FF
Geez, take a Saturday night off, and things go crazy! Here's the first batch of uploads - some Fan Fiction for you:
- Operation False Prophets, Chapter Twelve, by Ian Barnes
- Effusion, chapter 7, by Tursas
- The awakening (life of a Spartan), chapter 2, by agsbladerboy55
- Halo: Aftermath (gj), chapter 2, by GarlicJr11
Halo: Aftermath comes with cover art, as well (link is inside the story). (Louis Wu 18:07:31 UTC) (permalink)
News May 4 2002
Halo as art
InToRcEpToR has submitted a pair of desktops, created by applying Photoshop filters to some Bungie-created images. If you like painting on your desktop, check out our Wallpaper section! (Louis Wu 11:14:35 UTC) (permalink)
Links, links...
A couple of links for you... StarWarsFanMan sent in a link to his Halo Pictures site a bit ago, but the message got buried in my inbox. :( The site contains collections of Halo pictures - including a glitch scene showing TWO Guilty Sparks. We also received word of a clan site, the 67th Raptors. They're looking to be the best that they can be... and they want you. (Louis Wu 11:07:03 UTC) (permalink)
Mirrors for new Halo 'ad'
That Weasel writes to say that he's mirrored the large and the small versions of yesterday's new Halo 'ad'. You can find the links on our Mirror page - and thanks again to That Weasel Television! (Louis Wu 10:43:06 UTC) (permalink)
Find the Guardians, win $100
Ever been playing multiplayer and received the message 'killed by the Guardians'? Ever wondered what it meant? Well, the Seventh Column Chapter HALO National is offering $100 (in a gift certificate to EBWorld) to the best explanation for their existence. Details of this bounty hunt can be found on Bungie's Tru7h and Reconciliation site. (Thanks to Vector40 for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 10:20:38 UTC) (permalink)
News May 3 2002
New Halo fan ad released
A new Halo 'commercial' has hit the scene - created by Micro295, it blends footage from the E3 2000 vid, the first Halo commercial, and some other sources, and puts them all to 'Hero', by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback and Josey Scott of Saliva (off the Spider-Man movie soundtrack). There are 3 sizes - a 320x240 version, weighing in at 16.7 mb; a 240x180 version, weighing in at 12.2 mb; and a 160x120 version, weighing in at 7.4 mb. All three have been uploaded to Mythica.org and to the Psyjnir.com Hotline server... but we can always use other mirrors. (Current download locations will always be listed on the Mirror page.) (Louis Wu 20:35:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo sales take off in the UK
Yesterday, it was Japan... today, the UK. ELSPA has released their latest figures... and for the week ending April 27th (thanks to the Xbox price drop), Halo has shot up from 18th best-selling game (any platform) to 5th. Amazing what a little discount can do for you... (Louis Wu 15:07:50 UTC) (permalink)
Halo action figures... redux
Whoa! Thanks to Team Overkill, who sent in a scan from the latest issue of ToyFare Magazine. It's a Wish List article... about Halo action figures! And they've done a custom mockup! Very cool. (Louis Wu 14:03:28 UTC) (permalink)
Collaborative fanfic project gets a forum
Update on the Collaborative Halo Fan Fiction project mentioned yesterday - Bonk has kindly set up a forum for discussion of this topic. If you'd like to join, be sure to send your name to Ryan, first... (Louis Wu 13:44:53 UTC) (permalink)
News May 2 2002
Gameplay Tips goes live (finally)
At long last, HBO is proud to announce... the opening of the Gameplay Tips section! Great thanks go out to CYBRFRK, who coded the whole mess... there's not a lot of content there yet, but we're counting on you to change that. Have a gameplay tip? Submit it! We'll clean it up a bit, and toss it into the database... in no time, this collection should be a repository of the considerable wealth of knowledge evinced by the fine visitors of this site. (Louis Wu 19:06:01 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Fiction undertaking needs volunteers
Ryan dropped us a note with a rather ambitious proposal - he hopes to get as many fan fiction writers together as possible, and as a group, tell the story of the game.
- Skill level of the writer is not important - everyone is welcome.
- All writers will have a chance to help with the actual editing of the project. (There is no minimum amount of work needed to be part of this - you contribute what you feel comfortable contributing.)
- The editing process will (in Ryan's words) "help to blend all of our writing styles effectively to create a story far more polished, enjoyable, and colorful than any one writer could do alone. Since it has an elaborate and fair set up, inter-writer disagreements will be dealt with proactively in the benefit of the story as a whole."
- There aren't any fixed dates for the project at this point - work will start when there are enough writers, and will end when everyone involved is satisfied.
If you're interested in participating in this project, drop Ryan a note - he'll be doing the coordination at this stage. (Louis Wu 18:51:24 UTC) (permalink)
Halo is Big in Japan
Japanese economics... Dengeki Online has published sales rankings for last week; Halo placed 9th in Japan - the only Xbox game in the top 10 (indeed, the only one in the top 50). The On24 network is reporting that Xbox sales surged 70% in Japan for the week ending the 28th... the week Halo was introduced. Looks like Halo is gonna be an Xbox-saver in the Land of the Rising Sun! (Thanks to Nijhazer and Ken Kasperson for the links.) (Louis Wu 18:43:04 UTC) (permalink)
More multiplayer tips from drunkgamers
Eep - Drunkgamers.com stopped notifying us when new installments of their multiplayer tips series come out (we might have pissed them off by forgetting to post about a Drunkathon they held a little while back), and we forgot to go back and look. In the past month, they've posted parts five (how NOT to win at KOTH), six (pick your CTF partners well) and seven (using the flat spin technique to keep yourself from flipping in a jeep). Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 13:55:12 UTC) (permalink)
Daily reading
Lot's of 6's:
- Well Enough Alone, part 6, by Ryan
- Capture of the Bounty, part 4, by SkyRyan1
- Last Hope, part 1, by SSJBRK
- ODST Saga, part 6, by Robo42786
- Aftermath, part 6, by Alex Cross
Go check 'em out in the Fan Fiction section! (Louis Wu 09:51:15 UTC) (permalink)
Psyjnir Complex... back soon!
The Psyjnir Complex, which has been down for a long time now, is slated to come back on May 14. Visit the site for an explanation of how that date was picked... and mark your calendars; they're having a Hotline party to celebrate! (Louis Wu 08:48:24 UTC) (permalink)
New Demo Promo mirrors
Thanks to That Weasel and Alan Wu, who have provided two new homes for the Demo Promo movie - links can be found on our mirror list. (Louis Wu 08:40:34 UTC) (permalink)
News May 1 2002
Fan Fiction... with a touch of art
Getchyer red-hot fan fiction here...
- Well Enough Alone, part 5, by Ryan
- Present Horizon, part 1, by Spook
- Halo: Aftermath (gj), chapter 1, by GarlicJr11
- Operation False Prophets, part 11, by Ian Barnes
- The First Step Into A Long Fall, part 2, by JediKnight114
In addition, GarlicJr11 has created a logo to go with his writing - you can find it in our Miscellaneous Art section. (Louis Wu 15:45:30 UTC) (permalink)
Dual-monitor desktops - now for a single screen
A couple of weeks ago, Bungie released some cool dual-monitor desktops. Did you decide they were nice to look at, but that you didn't have the screen real estate to show 'em off? Never fear - Allenthar has combined them into nice single-monitor desktops - you can find them, in a whole slew of resolutions, in our Wallpaper section. (Louis Wu 14:48:23 UTC) (permalink)
Promo mirrors popping up
Thanks to Reaper7 (of Battleground: Halo) and Allenthar, who have both provided mirrors for the Demo Promo movie - you'll find the links on our Demo Promo Mirrors page. Update: Oops, forgot Cybrfrk! He's put it up, as well (with a .wmv on the way). Update 2: Brian Josselyn writes to say that it's mirrored at Blackstar Productions, as well. (Link is on the Mirror page...) (Louis Wu 12:15:19 UTC) (permalink)
Heck, buy two!
A couple of days ago, Team Overkill was kind enough to upload a copy of the 'special ending' that follows the single-level demo you can find on the June 2002 Official Xbox Magazine cover disc - we were going to release it, but Bungie came through with a direct version. (We're THRILLED to get submissions like Team Overkill's - the work of people like them is what makes it possible to bring the rest of our visitors cool stuff - but in this case, we couldn't turn down the second offer. :) ) Once again, we've set you up with a pair of mirrors: Mythica.org and the Psyjnir.com Hotline server. We would REALLY like to add more mirrors to the mirror list, though - so anyone who can handle this... please, let us know. It's only 5 mb. (Louis Wu 02:27:03 UTC) (permalink)
| May 2002 | |
