|
Spoilers are currently disabled. (All newsposts are visible.) |
||
View the Archives: |
||
 | May 2006 |  |
May 2006 Archived News
News May 31 2006
Marty Rocks. (And so does the rest of the team.)
The winners of our last 7 on the 7th contest have begun to receive their prizes - Geary posted a pic in our forum, and wigglepie13 emailed us a nice thank-you. All I have to say is thanks, Bungie! Update: And one more, from Sane Intolerant. Nice! (Louis Wu 12:38:59 UTC) (permalink)
There Are Other Alternatives.
Stuntmutt is no longer in Barbados, but it'll be a few days before the sunburn has healed enough for him to get back to cutting and pasting - so it's a good thing that there are still a few celebrity guest strips in the queue. Today's One One Se7en, for example, was created by Pinkuh, and features a joke so bad even Stuntmutt wouldn't take credit for it. Or would he...? (Louis Wu 12:12:26 UTC) (permalink)
Hunter Fireworks?
Rockslider plays with frozen hunters on Silent Cartographer - check the overview on our forum, and visit his Bad Cyborg site for full details. Whee! (Louis Wu 12:05:34 UTC) (permalink)
Gruntco Base Defense
Yesterday, another movie wound its way through the MPRRS - and once again, 9 reviewers said 'pass', one reviewer said 'not only will I not pass this, but I'll score it 35% below the average' - which pretty much guarantees a fail. (To be absolutely clear: reviewers don't see numerical grades from other reviewers, and every reviewer is fully entitled to his or her own opinion; the comments above were by way of explaining why I was releasing a film that hadn't passed the system we set up. It's ALWAYS within my discretion to override the reviewers... but unless there's a clear disparity, as in this case, I rarely do.) I watched it; the voice acting could use a little work, but the concept is solid, and the execution pretty funny. It's a submission by KingChuck and Team Conquest, and it's called 'Gruntco Base Defense' - and you can make up your OWN mind about whether it's funny or not. WMP9 version is 37.5 mb, QuickTime version is 36.5 mb. (Louis Wu 11:12:24 UTC) (permalink)
VGL Philly PR
The Video Games Live crew sent along a press release for the Philadelphia show - in addition to the show itself, there's a nice contest, and a meet-and-greet session with (among other game music luminaries) Marty O'Donnell and Mike Salvatori. Give it a read. (Louis Wu 10:31:28 UTC) (permalink)
BOLLing for soup-erman
Over at Bungie.net, there's a very cool interview with BOLL, a community member who tends to stand out if you pay any attention to community members. Go read about what makes him tick - I apologize that somehow, I can't find an original picture of his elite carving; I remember telling him to mail it to us as an entry for the Pillar of Art contest. (He decided it was too expensive to ship.) And what would a BOLL piece be without a cool Flash tidbit? Go read. Update: Heh - good to know at least ONE person kept that original stuff. Here's a screenshot of Battleground: Halo's front page (they're now HaloPlanet) when BOLL's carving was featured back in 2002, and here are the three cam shots (0902 | 0903 | 0904). Ah, memories... (Louis Wu 02:50:59 UTC) (permalink)
News May 30 2006
Anatomy of a Work in Progress
Pinkuh was one of the artists that graciously agreed to create cool artwork for HBO visitors for our E3 Poster Contest - and since she send along progress reports, I thought it might be fun to show people how she works. Visit this page for a series of images (with commentary), showing her progress along the way! (Louis Wu 21:27:31 UTC) (permalink)
The Maw Tournament
Bungie.net has word of a 64-player Halo PC Slayer tournament coming up next month - swing by and read the details! (Louis Wu 20:42:50 UTC) (permalink)
Major Nelson separates Xbox 360 titles
Major Nelson has changed the format of his Top Ten Xbox Live Games list - there are now two separate lists (one for Xbox360 titles, one for Xbox titles). Halo 2 is at the top of the Xbox list - but there's no word on overall numbers. (I'm guessing that's on purpose - at some point, it becomes an embarrassment that a year-and-a-half-old game is dominating EVERYTHING else.) Thanks to Gamasutra for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 17:01:19 UTC) (permalink)
Remembrance
Stolen directly from her Red vs Blue journal - Elnea created a really nice image in honor of yesterday's holiday here in the US, and we've added it (and the poem she included with it) to her gallery page here. (Louis Wu 14:12:00 UTC) (permalink)
DropShock Ep 17
DropShock wrote to point out that DropShock Episode 17 has been released. It's described in the email as 'a stripped format version' - but it's still almost an hour long. Go listen. (Louis Wu 12:29:35 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Movie Timeline - The Real, and The Imagined
One of the downsides of running a relatively popular Halo fansite is that we hear all the rumors, many, many times... and I worry about giving those rumors extra credibility simply by acknowledging them. Sometimes, though, a rumor is so widespread that NOT acknowledging it seems pointless - a recent one, 'The Halo Movie has been pushed back to 2008' appears to be one of those. This first showed up on IMDb a few days ago - the release date had been changed from 2007 to 2008, without any explanation. It was mentioned several times on our forum (usually to responses of 'IMDb lets anyone edit their content - that's not trustworthy'), but yesterday, started showing up on bigger gaming sites (TeamXbox, Kotaku). None of this has been confirmed with anyone who actually knows anything - but common sense suggests it's probably true; as far as anyone in the public knows, not even a director has been chosen at this point, and the end of 2007 is just 19 months away. That's a pretty tight schedule for a film - if it has no cast or crew, or filming schedule. Hopefully, we'll get word of what's going on in the not-too-distant future... but in the absence of that official word, the internet will continue to oblige by filling the vacuum with rumors. (Louis Wu 12:24:42 UTC) (permalink)
News May 29 2006
Aftermath
Quint sent word that Episode 5 of 'Reclaimer' - Aftermath - is available at Wandering Tiger. WMP9 format for now - go watch. (Louis Wu 23:57:16 UTC) (permalink)
The Last Invitation
I shouldn't have been here THIS long - I've got two different Memorial Day parades to attend - but I wanted to post the next in our series of celebrity One One Se7en strips - this one comes from Gruntsbane, and features the wonderful (and sorely missed) Halo Babies characters. Go read! Then (if you live in the US) get out and appreciate our men and women in uniform. (Louis Wu 14:59:26 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacularness
Mintz points out that Podtacular Episode 64 AND Episode 65 are available - he's front-page-whoring because he's a guest host on 64. Go listen! (Louis Wu 14:56:41 UTC) (permalink)
Video Games Live Update
We got email from Tommy Tallarico, (one of) the guys behind Video Games Live - they're currently touring again (the next show is next Saturday, June 3, in Philadelphia), and wanted to make sure folks remembered them. There's a new trailer available (Hi-res, WMP9 format, 45 mb | Low-res, QuickTime format, 15 mb), and tickets for several upcoming shows are now available. Swing by the site for more details! (Louis Wu 14:36:14 UTC) (permalink)
News May 28 2006
In Amber Clad - Up Close and Personal
Stephen Loftus has created a new analysis piece for you - this one takes an in-depth look at the frigate In Amber Clad. From its history to its accoutrements, Miranda Keyes' ship is examined with his usual style - take a look! (Louis Wu 20:09:33 UTC) (permalink)
Zombies 101
Cramesta submitted 'Zombies 101', a film which walks the viewer through some of the potential pitfalls of the popular Zombies gametype, to the MPRRS - they didn't pass it, but it pretty much came down to a single review that kept it from passing, so I'm posting it anyway. It's nicely filmed, has great music choices, and is quite funny in parts. You can grab it in WMP9 format (47.4 mb) or QuickTime format (46.2 mb). Don't play Zombies without it! (Louis Wu 18:19:58 UTC) (permalink)
IGN breaks down Halo 3 trailer
IGN posted 'IGN Weekly Episode 10', a look back at E3 for the most part. It's 30 minutes long; the relevance here is that the entire last half is devoted to the Halo 3 trailer. Much of the discussion has already been hashed out on our forum, and large chunks are seriously debatable... but it's nicely put together, and an interesting watch, if you've got the time. The 'small' free version is 3-400 mb, depending on the flavor you choose... and if you're an Insider, the large version is 7-800 mb. Thanks to kaisu and Spandexman for pointing it out. (Louis Wu 16:31:17 UTC) (permalink)
Who's Hot, Who's Not
The MLG Blog of the Week this week is Trunkers' - he looks at the changes in seed from Dallas to Anaheim (how team rankings are changing). Interesting stuff, if you follow the pro scene! Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 15:36:21 UTC) (permalink)
Playing for Time
According to sawnose (a Bungie.net superuser), yesterday afternoon saw a pretty impressive milestone passed on Xbox Live - 3,333,333,333 player-games recorded. (A player-game is one game played by one player - so a head-to-head match would count as 2 player-games, while a full 6v6 match would be 12 player-games.) 3.3 BILLION player-games... at let's say about 10 minutes each... that's more than 60,000 player-years of gametime on XBL, playing Halo 2. Wonga! Thanks to all who let us know - looks like Masta Chef was first. (Louis Wu 15:02:12 UTC) (permalink)
Nice Halo 2 Devmode Shots
synide took a bunch of pics using a screenshot trainer - Devmode in Halo 2 gives you some pretty incredible angles! They're all hosted at Flickr. (Louis Wu 14:52:55 UTC) (permalink)
News May 27 2006
Holiday Over?
Halo Babies has a new guest strip up - 'Holiday Over?' - from Turalim. Oh, the hassles of union labor! Thanks, PlasmaFire. (Louis Wu 19:46:52 UTC) (permalink)
Ship Concepts
Omega has taken a stab at illustrating ships which appear only in the novels. He's finished 5 of them so far - two are currently visible on our forum (here and here). Nice work - check it out! (Louis Wu 19:32:07 UTC) (permalink)
Operation: Anxious Armadillo
Heroes & Heretics Episode 6 - Operation: Anxious Armadillo - has been made available to the public over at the Slacker Entertainment website. (It's been up in high-res format for sponsors for a week.) The team does their best to make it to the power station before the Covenant take over; it doesn't help that their AI is a bit cranky, or that their sergeant is a psychopath... go watch! (Louis Wu 19:23:54 UTC) (permalink)
Narratology and Halo
Tom "Eastbeast314" Eastman let us know about a research paper he'd written about narratology (story and character analysis), and its role in explaining the success of Halo: Combat Evolved. It's a tad heavy on the jargon, but that's probably helpful in snowing the professor... wait, no, that's wrong. Give it a read; it looks at why Halo succeeded so well, and maybe why its story grabbed many people more strongly than the more in-depth Halo 2 story. If bandwidth becomes an issue, we'll host a copy. (Louis Wu 19:12:33 UTC) (permalink)
Adrian!
Captain Spark turned in another couple of dozen dialogue snippets - grab the batch from his website, or browse them in our Dialogue Databank. Some funny ones today! (Louis Wu 18:24:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Cover Art
Now that Halo 3 has been announced, people are beginning to submit cover art mockups. We've added them to our existing Cover Art section (on a separate Halo 3 page). Take a look! (Louis Wu 15:57:50 UTC) (permalink)
More Desktop Customization
Funkmon points out that JJ Ying, the guy who created the very nice dock icons we mentioned yesterday, has updated ALL of his desktop skins; swing by his blog for a look at the integrated set. Now THAT'S some Halo lovin'. (Louis Wu 11:01:58 UTC) (permalink)
The World of Halo 2 Cheating
This showed up yesterday, and I found it interesting enough to mail to someone who'd had lots of questions about cheating... but it didn't occur to me to post it on the front page - thanks to Phi Delta on our forum, and Fulcan via email, for convincing me I was wrong. GamesFirst has put up a primer on cheating - a description of the various types, and some discussion about why people bother in the first place. If you've ever wondered what 'standbying', 'bridging', or 'boosting' are, this article should help. (Louis Wu 10:59:42 UTC) (permalink)
News Flash - there are at least 10 islands on Earth.
The Weekly Update this week is available at Bungie.net (or in our Weekly Update Archive) - there are some bits about Halo 2 Vista, and some bits about changes to the XBL playlists... and then a bunch of random user-submitted questions (with answers that range from pretty cool to KP-quality). Go read. (Louis Wu 01:18:07 UTC) (permalink)
News May 26 2006
That Hand! That's... a Dead Man's Hand!
Dweezle86 dropped by our forum to let us know that there's a bunch of new content at Dead Man's Hand; aside from the article we mentioned a couple of days ago, there are interviews with Damian Lacedaemion of THis Spartan Life and Mintz of Halo: Portable, along with a number of Halo-related (or not related) articles. Go read! (Louis Wu 18:45:41 UTC) (permalink)
Customize your Desktop
Wow, very cool. Oftenk pointed out some Halo Dock icons at customize.org - really nice work. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 17:37:55 UTC) (permalink)
Tourneys in PA, OH
More tourney stuff: Paulie Danger wanted to let people know about a series of events in the Philadelphia area, starting in August - details are at the Console Wars website... and tish mentioned a 4v4 tourney in Cincinnati on June 10 - more details in that forum post. (Louis Wu 17:35:19 UTC) (permalink)
Cookout! Grenades! Cake!
rapture sent word that recently the Hushed Casket held a LANfest - 'Cookout! Grenades! 2' - to celebrate one member's house purchase and the anniversary of the first Cookout! Grenades! LAN (with a shout-out to Midnight, who couldn't be there because he's in Iraq)... and of course, they had a Halo-themed cake (pic 1 | pic 2). Nice! (Louis Wu 17:05:45 UTC) (permalink)
Dry-tacular!
The One One Se7en celebrity guests continue - today's strip comes from Warbow, of Calvin and Halo fame. There's even some color! (Louis Wu 15:25:00 UTC) (permalink)
Posters away
After an unfortunate delay that was all my fault, the winners of the halo.bungie.org poster raffle should be receiving their one-of-a-kind prizes in the next few days! From all of us here at HBO, our deepest thanks to the talented artists who donated their work and of course the fine folks at splodeswag for making the official HBO shirt a reality. Are we done with HBO shirts? Stay tuned! (Ding 14:26:25 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fiction Update
Fifteen new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today - go read! (Louis Wu 14:12:03 UTC) (permalink)
PLAY! with Marty and Mike
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, reminds us that Marty O'Donnell and Mike Salvatori will be at the PLAY! premiere tomorrow in Chicago - you can get more information at the PLAY! website. (Louis Wu 13:27:11 UTC) (permalink)
Of birthdays, and such
At times, my online life seems to mirror my real life. Last year's real-life birthday didn't get missed - because it was a big one, and because my wife made sure that I'd remember it - but in general, I forget they're coming until they're here. Seems like that pattern continues online... we missed bungie.org's 7th birthday back in January, and we missed the anniversary of the day blam.bungie.org (the precursor to HBO) went live - May 22, 1999. (To pin these dates down, the indispensable Marathon's Story Page makes life pretty easy.) Today, however, is the 7th anniversary of our forum - it went live on May 26, 1999 - the same day that Rampancy.net was born. It's been a heck of a run... and it ain't over yet! (Louis Wu 13:19:59 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 for a song - in GB
If you live in Great Britain, Halo 2 is now officially 'cheap'. Microsoft kicked off a new 'Best of Classics' label today, and Halo 2 is on it - for £9.99. Nice deal! (I saw this at both CVG and gamesindustry.biz.) For what it's worth - EB Games is selling Halo 2 for $29.99 in the US - that's 60% more than this new price. Update: Vironex pointed out that Wal-Mart is selling Halo 2 in the US for $19.82... very close to the GB price. (Louis Wu 12:45:59 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Shirts For Sale
Some very cool new shirts available at the Bungie Store - these were first seen at E3, but you can now buy them for yourself. Frankie was first (though the 'retard' comment was a bit out of line - I know for a fact that the guilty party is a pretty bright individual). (Louis Wu 01:52:07 UTC) (permalink)
News May 25 2006
NJ Halo Tourney, June 3
Fall0ut writes to point out a FFA/4v4 tourney in New Jersey on June 3 - FFA is $10 to enter, $100 for first place, 4v4 is $30 to enter, up to $1000 first prize. More details and info at the NJHalo website. (Louis Wu 19:56:12 UTC) (permalink)
Reclaimer
Luke Jeffery wrote to point out Wandering Tiger Machinima, a group working on a series called 'Reclaimer'; they're up to Episode 4. Swing by their site to check it out. (Louis Wu 19:50:06 UTC) (permalink)
Hand-eye coordination is hand-eye coordination
Heh - a new survey finds that surgeons who play video games make fewer mistakes when doing laparoscopic surgery than those who don't - and the lead researcher lists Halo 2 among his favorite games. In case you, you know, needed some ammunition against someone telling you to quit wasting your time... (Louis Wu 19:22:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 in demand - even in Japan
Spandexman noticed a Famitsu Readers Poll being reported at QJ.net - readers of the Japanese magazine were asked what game they were most interested in (all platforms)... and Halo 3 made the list. Not bad for a first-person shooter in Japan! (Louis Wu 19:10:52 UTC) (permalink)
When Art and Business Clash
Over at Rampancy.net, there's a fascinating piece that looks at a new book by Dean Takahashi, entitled "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind Microsoft's Next-Generation Video Game Console", and how that book relates to Bungie, and to the development of Halo 2 and Halo 3. Great excerpts, great analysis. If you've ever been interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff that went into these games, go read. (Remember - this is Takahashi's take on events.) (Louis Wu 17:29:47 UTC) (permalink)
Wallpaper, For One And All
I don't think I'll ever understand how it gets away from me so quickly... but the Wallpaper queue, which was filled to bursting with Halo 3 images (along with quite a number of cool non-Halo3 images), has been emptied. (If you uploaded a file to our upload directory in the last day or so, it's not in this batch - but I hope the next batch won't take quite so long.) There are 42 entries - but there are almost 60 images, if you count variations. Some really amazing stuff; if you haven't changed your desktop image for a while, check this group out! (Louis Wu 16:56:02 UTC) (permalink)
Sargeisms - now in QuickTime
It's much easier to watch Windows Media Player content on Macs than it used to be... but for those who'd still rather have QuickTime, we're making the RvB Sargeisms movie available in QT format (High | Low). This one KP doesn't get to steal away. (That boy might need his keys revoked, now that he's working at Bungie...) (Louis Wu 02:05:56 UTC) (permalink)
News May 24 2006
RvB Season 5 Preview
There's a new article on Bungie.net interviewing Red vs. Blue's Burnie Burns. The interview covers the new season, some info on their studios and an exclusive clip from the Season 4 DVD. Congratulations go to the mighty KP on the first post on the forums and the first news post. (KP 23:27:30 UTC) (permalink)
Virginia Halo Tourney
HaloMan sent in word of another tourney this weekend - this one in northern Virginia. Hosted by C3CyberClub, Sterling, VA, 4v4 double elimination, $100/team, prizes to be announced. More details on this page. (Louis Wu 21:42:02 UTC) (permalink)
When are you TOO successful?
AJ Ardovino pointed out an article entitled 'The End For All', over at Dead Man's Hand - it asks the question "does Halo's popularity impact the success rate of other games?" Are other XBL games failing because too many people are playing Halo instead of exploring what else is out there? You could also ask "is anyone going to create an online game that makes people want to play it?", I suppose... Go read. (Louis Wu 21:14:30 UTC) (permalink)
CMT Progress
darthbob pointed out a thread on the Gearbox Forums with some pretty intriguing pictures - a Halo CE mod with lots of tweaks to emulate eyecandy in the Halo 3 trailer. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:27:14 UTC) (permalink)
Helpful Hints.
Today's One One Se7en was guest-written by c0ld vengeance, and looks at one of the more entertaining side effects of Halo 2's helpful user interface. (Entertaining, that is, if you're not the person involved.) (Louis Wu 17:59:04 UTC) (permalink)
Popularity, it's a funny thing
Heh... bizarre. Thomas Gonzalez used Google's Trend Labs to compare search interest in Halo vs George Bush. I'm not sure what it says about us, but in every region of the world, in every city tracked, in every language... more people search for Halo info than for George Bush info. Update: Taugosz pointed out that Bush searching actually edged out Halo searching in one city - Washington, DC. I suppose that's a good thing. (Louis Wu 14:09:29 UTC) (permalink)
Southern Florida Halo Tourney
r2 writes to point out a Halo 2 tourney coming up this weekend - May 27, at SubZero Games LAN Center in West Palm Beach, FL. 2v2 Team Slayer MLG Rules, $40 to get in $400 for first place. Directions and contact info can be found here. (Louis Wu 14:05:42 UTC) (permalink)
MS Corporate Guy talks about the future
Shane Kim sat down with IGN to talk about E3 and what's coming down the road. Halo got mentioned a lot - there's nothing really hard there, but there's discussion of Halo 3 (and the platforms it might be available on), the Halo movie, a rumored Halo MMO, the possibility of a Halo-based Xbox Live Arcade game... thanks, HaloPlanet. (Louis Wu 14:03:22 UTC) (permalink)
Surfing in Barbados
Heh - I'm not one to talk, but I have to snicker a bit that Stuntmutt took time out from his Caribbean honeymoon to update his blog; some One One Se7en musings on marriage and traveling. (No, this doesn't count as today's One One Se7en; that's coming a bit later.) (Louis Wu 12:52:51 UTC) (permalink)
News May 23 2006
Mission: Leave No Man Behind
xbryboyremix sent along 'Mission: Leave No Man Behind', a standalone machinima telling the story of three survivors attempting to make it home from enemy territory - the MPRRS liked it. You can grab a copy in WMP9 format (40.6 mb) or QuickTime format (40.5 mb)... it'll move you! (Louis Wu 20:28:33 UTC) (permalink)
Another Week, another Number One
You know... I'm thinking it's gonna be news when Halo 2 ISN'T the top game on Xbox Live. That's not this week, though... (Louis Wu 18:35:48 UTC) (permalink)
TGOSeraph goes HUDless
prometheus points out that there's a new gallery, devoted to the HUDless shots of TGOSeraph, over at The Halouvre; some killer stuff in there! Check it out. (Louis Wu 18:02:45 UTC) (permalink)
Grab Bag Goodies
Was sorting through the HBO Uploads directory (it's been a while - sorry), and amongst the spec scripts (yeah, someone thinks we're that HBO) and the dozens of movies (is that huge banner at the top of the upload page that says 'don't upload movies here' REALLY that hard to read?) and the rather large collection of Halo 3 Wallpaper (coming soon, I hope), there were a couple of tidbits that don't fit into standard sections, but are pretty cool nonetheless. Master NOODLE sent along Mr. and Ms. Chief (102k), a nice tweak on the original, and Dameion the *BUSH* Davis sent us a photo of his car (167k), tricked out with props to his new favorite game. More stuff soon! (Louis Wu 16:07:42 UTC) (permalink)
He's at it again...
BOLL tossed up a simple (but rather disturbing) Flash comparison of... well, go look. (Louis Wu 13:01:43 UTC) (permalink)
Wearable Female Armor
Jared Morrison has begun work on a wearable MJOLNIR armor outfit - designed for his sister. He sent us a picture of the underbody of the chestplate, which he plans on fiberglassing down the road. He credits Chris Bryan with inspiration; if there's interest, he'll send along progress reports. Great start! (Louis Wu 12:41:41 UTC) (permalink)
Ive never cheated more then 8 times that I can remember.
There's a very funny article over at Bungie.net - a collection of emails from cheaters who feel they've been unjustly banned. (They haven't.) Give it a read - but make sure you're not drinking anything that would be hard to clean out of your keyboard. Looks like darthbob was first. (Louis Wu 03:03:55 UTC) (permalink)
News May 22 2006
VSDA Nominates Halo 2 for GOTY - Again
The Video Software Dealers Association announced the nominees for their Game of the Year Awards today - Halo 2 is on the Xbox list, even though it won last year. (The full list of nominees is here.) Thanks, Gamasutra. (Louis Wu 19:06:46 UTC) (permalink)
U R L4M3
As we mentioned recently, while Stuntmutt is in Barbados, enjoying his honeymoon, we've got a whole series of 'celebrity' fill-ins for One One Se7en... the very first strip comes from Frankie. As might be expected, Mister Chief makes an appearance. (Louis Wu 13:40:36 UTC) (permalink)
Crosstown Traffic
MaritalBlaze54 recreated a video originally done by Snow Globe Productions - a music video set to Jimi Hendrix's 'Crosstown Traffic'. (I never saw the original, and Snow Globe's website is currently offline.) This version is quite nicely done - great syncing, great clip choices. Great song. Go watch, and listen - the MPRRS said to. WMP9 version is 33.7 mb, QuickTime version is 32.8 mb. Update: Turtle Mann, of Snow Globe, sent along a link to the original video, if you want to compare. (Louis Wu 13:31:39 UTC) (permalink)
Heretic, Hero Remixed
Paul Davies has caught the front-page bug. After five straight days of new artwork from him last week, we missed a 'Paul Davies' post yesterday... so today, he sent along a really nice remix of 'Heretic, Hero', from the Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 1. Multitalented, that guy is! Go listen (mp3, 2.9 mb). (Louis Wu 13:19:20 UTC) (permalink)
Pwn My Heart
Elnea's done some bizarre parodies in her day... but 'Pwn My Heart' has got to be up there. I ran across this in a recent journal of hers over at Red vs Blue; it was written for a machinima piece we helped host a few months ago, but I never really noticed it there. It's a full-on Country and Western flavored Halo tune - the lyrics will make you groan. (Like Stuntmutt does.) You can listen to it while you read its history and lyrics on her .Mac space, or you can just grab the mp3 from us (2.7 mb). As usual, if we do any damage to her bandwidth, we'll be happy to host the full page. (Louis Wu 12:33:54 UTC) (permalink)
Inspiration is a beautiful thing.
Jillybean found a few tidbits that whet her fancy in the Story Page mailbag/forum pool - go see what she's brought you! (Louis Wu 12:05:15 UTC) (permalink)
Grunts... cute? Hmm.
The man will never stop looking for Megabattle goodness. Rockslider has written up yet another possibility for 35+ enemy action on Truth and Reconciliation; it's during the setup for his last find, the Dustbowl Megabattle, and it sounds like fun. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 11:36:07 UTC) (permalink)
IAC Model - Progress
Stephen Loftus has snapped a couple of photos of the latest progress on his In Amber Clad model - it's looking pretty nice! His forum post points to his personal website, or you can check it out in the local version here. (Louis Wu 11:07:22 UTC) (permalink)
Jester's Fourth Montage
Jester submitted his fourth montage to our MPRRS - and they liked it. Heavy on the effects, but some great gameplay. Grab a copy in either WMP9 format (60.1 mb) or QuickTime format (64.2 mb), and enjoy! (Louis Wu 10:49:48 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Dallas - almost $40k in Halo cash
MLG Dallas is all over but the crying... the overall winners aren't any real surprise (Final Boss took the 4v4, and the top 4 1v1 placers are all highly-known names), but as 3Suns points out, it's nice to see the money spread out amongst the top 8 this time around. Full brackets are here. (Louis Wu 10:45:49 UTC) (permalink)
DropShock Ep 16
DropShock Episode 16 is out, focusing almost entirely on Halo 3. It's a biggie... (Louis Wu 10:41:53 UTC) (permalink)
Legendary
Press Start to Play seems to be revisiting Halo quite a bit, now that the Halo 3 trailer is out - Friday's strip was Halo-related again. Thanks, Spec ops Grunt. (Louis Wu 10:39:51 UTC) (permalink)
Giving Bungie a little love
The awards continue to roll in; Voodoo Extreme has posted its Best of E3 Awards, and Halo 3 stole 'Best Movie' away from Metal Gear Solid 4. Nice! Thanks, Apache. (Louis Wu 10:33:41 UTC) (permalink)
News May 21 2006
We're HBO - no, the OTHER one.
Heh - Funkmon got his new HBO shirt onto a TV broadcast of yesterday's Detroit Tigers game... anyone got a tape? (Louis Wu 21:31:38 UTC) (permalink)
Duck and Cover
We've posted a larger version of Theo Prins' 'Duck and Cover', the image he created for our t-shirt raffle. I just LOVE that style. He has a bright future ahead of him... (Louis Wu 03:37:06 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic - on Sunday
Gah - Friday was so crazy I forgot Fan Fiction again, and Saturday... wasn't much better. Here is the collection for the week - 31 pieces (though an awful lot of them are short poems by a single submitter...). (Louis Wu 02:54:04 UTC) (permalink)
News May 20 2006
Arbiter
Yesterday, we added a larger-than-the-contest-thumb version of Bryn Casey's beautiful 'The Guardians' to his Gallery page - we need to do the same with the other artists who submitted new work for our t-shirt raffle. I'm going to start with Paul Davies' 'Arbiter', because, well, we've had a new image of his every day for the past three days - seems like a silly time to kill the streak. Plus, it's an astounding image that everyone should get a better look at. (Louis Wu 21:16:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Portable Update
Gah - nearly forgot. Mintz pointed out that Halo Portable is back up and running after a short hiatus - check out what's coming (as well as some new wallpaper). (Louis Wu 21:14:35 UTC) (permalink)
More Mehve Marvelousness
Two years ago, Lorraine McLees spent a good chunk of her time at the Bungie E3 Fanfest drawing on-the-spot graphics for raffle winners (and, accidentally, for me) - we posted a note about one of the images she did, for Eric Good, last year... and this weekend, Cunbelin dug out and sent along his own image, another very cool sketch whipped out in minutes by a master. Check it out! (One of these days, we'll have to put together a gallery for these; I'm sure there are more out there.) (Louis Wu 20:38:52 UTC) (permalink)
IGN says Halo 3 among the best of E3
Grey Wolf noticed that IGN gave Halo their 'Best Non-Playable Presentation' award in their Xbox 360 Best of E3 article. Guess maybe they should talk to the Gamepro folks... (Louis Wu 20:14:50 UTC) (permalink)
See You In A Fortnight.
The man is gone - in more ways than one. Stuntmutt gets married today, and in honor of this auspicious occasion, he's created a very special One One Se7en - check it out. (As yesterday's strip mentioned, the next two weeks will be covered by guest artists - we've got some pretty good stuff for you in the wings, so stay tuned!) (Louis Wu 11:18:20 UTC) (permalink)
In Soviet Russia
KeyboardKiller submitted 'Totally Random Act 5 - In Soviet Russia' to the MPRRS, and the reviewers thought it was pretty funny. Great use of mods. Apologies to Yakov Smirnoff... you can grab this in the original DivX format (15.7 mb), or in WMP9 format (15.6 mb) or QuickTime format (15.2 mb) if they're more convenient for you. (Louis Wu 09:43:30 UTC) (permalink)
He's in a better place now.
Wow. JakeDaGreat told a story, in pictures, of what happened to Mister Chief after he was assembled from Frankie's origami stuff in the latest BWU. Read the whole thread - there are updates, and side stories, and... (other pictures, too, thanks to Bluegrunt and Greenskull.) Update: There's more of 'em, here - this batch from Bluegrunt. (At some point, we're gonna have to let you find 'em on your own; these have the potential of taking over the front page. Consider this the last official update.) (Louis Wu 08:27:48 UTC) (permalink)
KP 4 th3 w1n!
The Weekly Update is now up! Lots of juicy bits: new screenshot/desktop picture taken from the Halo 3 E3 trailer, a short interview with KP, his first official Bungie write-up: an eyewitness acount of KP's hazing, though the results show him doing the hazing, and a (temporary?) farewell to AdgTinMan, who leaves us a cool gift: a do-it-yourself 3D Mister Chief! (I'm not the Wu, he'll take care of loading the WWU to our own b.org database ASAP!) Update: You can now read it in our Weekly Update Archive, as well - it's even better there, because we've got the large versions of the game screens linked (the original doesn't). Much easier to read that way... (Ding 01:28:41 UTC) (permalink)
News May 19 2006
Captain Tobias Wilcock.
Today's One One Se7en speaks for itself... tomorrow's the big day, and if you've got your speakers on, you'll even get an explanation for the title. CONGRATULATIONS, STUNTMUTT! (Louis Wu 19:32:56 UTC) (permalink)
Eat THIS!
Must be art day - Paul Davies has another image for you, too. This one is pretty spectacular, though its primary character isn't anything you've ever seen in-game... feel sorry for those ODSTs! (Louis Wu 19:23:57 UTC) (permalink)
A Whole Bunch of Nothing
Gamepro was pretty unhappy with the Halo 3 trailer... go read why. Thanks, Insectoidone. (Louis Wu 19:21:19 UTC) (permalink)
Bigger and Better
Shane Kim talked to CVG - Halo 3 came up a lot. Go read. (Louis Wu 19:19:21 UTC) (permalink)
Action Figures For Sale
X1Zero has a pretty large collection of action figures he's trying to get rid of as a lot; he's coming to the Halo community first, before heading to eBay. Check out the post - there's an amazing array in there! (Louis Wu 19:14:38 UTC) (permalink)
Incoming!
Don't look at this politically; just be amused by the photoshopping. Thanks, Jon Keegan. Update: Eep, sorry - we've been asked to pull this. (Louis Wu 19:12:48 UTC) (permalink)
Bryn Casy Cornucopia
Bryn Casey's been busy - three new images in his Gallery here, including a nice version of the image he created for our poster giveaway last week. Check out Earthshot, The Guardians, and Elites! Gorgeous stuff. (Louis Wu 19:07:38 UTC) (permalink)
Halogen update at ModDB
I'm not sure I understand this, but you'll find a small Halogen update at Mod DB (a screenshot and some story flavor) - that is, for some reason, exclusive to Mod DB; that is, you won't find this info on Halogen's website. ...okay. Thanks, crazedweasels. (Louis Wu 14:29:43 UTC) (permalink)
Soldiers of War, Ep 7 - and More
QuickTactical and crew has been creating the machinima series Soldiers of War for some time - Season 2 just kicked off, and Episode 7 (the first of the new season) passed the MPRRS. Things are looking grim for the Americans... It seems silly to me that we host 2, 5, and 7, but not the rest - so I've put all 7 episodes up for download, in both QuickTime and WMP9 formats. You can get descriptions of the videos, as always, at the Epic Films website; we're just providing a one-stop download shop. (A couple of the QT versions are not quite done yet - but you can check back in the next couple of hours for them.) Enjoy! (Louis Wu 13:45:02 UTC) (permalink)
News May 18 2006
Alta knows WHAT?
Sometimes, Bungie posts weird interviews. Their latest, with Intern Jon Cable... it's one of those. (Louis Wu 23:02:06 UTC) (permalink)
Scorpion
Paul Davies continues to pour in the artwork; today we've got a gorgeous Scorpion tank for you. I'd be a little nervous about that barrel crack... (Louis Wu 18:32:12 UTC) (permalink)
First Contact Wallpapers Available
There are a couple of very cool wallpapers (one in a multitude of variations) for the First Contact Half-Life 2 mod over at the First Contact Forum - they were done by Major.Dump, whose Halo creations are justly reknowned. Swing by and take a look! Thanks, AngelicLionheart. (Louis Wu 16:35:05 UTC) (permalink)
He'll give you the Mister Chief off his back.
Heh. Back on April 21, the Weekly Update contained this tidbit:
It looks like the Mister Chief T-Shirts are actually happening.
As you can see on the webcam page (or here, if it changes), these look to be ready to go. Thanks, serpx. (Louis Wu 13:56:39 UTC) (permalink)
Off The Record 1: Malone Strikes Back
TheWereSloth points out that Heroes & Heretics 'Off the Record 1: Malone Strikes Back' is now available to the public on their website. It's rather odd... it's a 'what if?' episode, where you can see what might happen if Malone got stupid. Well... stupider. He also wanted to make sure everyone realized they could download Episode 5 - Operation: Clenched Bowels... their numbers were down significantly from older episodes. This saddens me a little, because Ep 5 was actually very good. You can get BOTH episodes, in either WMP9 or QuickTime formats, at this location. What are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 12:18:18 UTC) (permalink)
MLG Content Overload
Lots and lots of new content at MLGPro.com - more Video on Demand from New York, changes to the 2006 Pro Circuit Schedule, a new Player of the Week (Defy), a look at the future of competitive gaming (and where Halo stands), and a Halo-relevant Blog of the Week from shiruken. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:57:18 UTC) (permalink)
Where the Stories Come From
IGN has an article discussing The Influence of Literature and Myth on Videogames, and Halo gets a chunk of coverage. (Not all of it makes a lot of sense; Starhammer is cited as an influence, but not for its Elite-like Laowon, or its Halo-like superweapon, but for the fact that its protagonist is named Jon, referred to early on as 6725416. It's as though nobody bothered to read it...) Give it a look for its general concepts. (Louis Wu 10:21:43 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Graphic Novel Interview
SketchFactor has posted a long interview with Lee Hammock and Simon Bisley, two of the talented content creators for the Halo Graphic Novel; it's a great read. (There's also a ton of artwork embedded throughout, some of which hasn't been seen before - at least at this resolution.) Go look! (Louis Wu 02:08:55 UTC) (permalink)
News May 17 2006
There will always be more prey.
Captain Spark pinned down another bunch of dialogue snippets - this time exclusively Brutes. Grab them from his website, or browse them in our Dialogue Databank. (There's one I can't really decipher... it actually sounds like 'sentient chariot', but that makes almost no sense, unless the brute was riding Spark around the level...) Update: LeFishy suggests 'Vegetarian!', which sounds very right to me. (Louis Wu 16:21:12 UTC) (permalink)
Slogging Through The Mud
Paul Davies turned in a new image yesterday - and he's back today with ANOTHER piece. This one doesn't have the usual polished feel his creations generally exude... but as he says in his comments, the roughness conveys nicely the difficulty of the Chief's situation. Go look! (Louis Wu 15:07:17 UTC) (permalink)
A Barrel Of Laughs.
What do you get when you mix a much-missed weapon with Stuntmutt's prodigious punmaking capabilities? Check today's One One Se7en to find out. (Louis Wu 14:55:47 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Positioning
Jillybean snagged a nice analysis post off our forum yesterday, for the Halo Story Page - a polished look at the effects of knocking out Installation 04 on the Halo network. I've HTML-ized Bronzite's PDF for easier online reading. Check it out. (Louis Wu 14:35:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 Xbox/PC interplay - probably not
GamePro talked to Kevin Unangst, Microsoft's director of global marketing for Games for Windows, and Chris Donahue, director of business development for Games for Windows, about Halo 2 for Vista (thanks, 3Suns) - and Engadget talked to Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios. Beyond the known tidbits (Halo 2 will be released a little beyond Vista's launch, a map editor/modding system will be bundled, etc), there was a bit of information about Xbox 360/PC cross-platform interoperability... and the word is rather bleak. Unangst said that making the game cross-compatible would require "somebody to re-code the Xbox version", which was unlikely. Donahue said something similar, but was a bit more optimistic... but Kim told Engadget flat-out no:
Will Halo 2 have any interoperability when it's released for Vista... ?
No, we're just bringing over the Halo 2 experience over to Vista. It will support the online services though, that we're bringing over to Windows Vista.
I suppose it was a lot to hope for... but it's probably better to be aware that it won't happen than to be horribly disappointed when they don't succeed in making it happen. (Louis Wu 10:35:21 UTC) (permalink)
News May 16 2006
Reminiscences of D3/E3
There were a LOT of people at DeanFest 2006 this year - but aside from a single forum writeup (that was a... bit less than 100% truthful) and a few pictures at the end of an E3 photo montage, there hasn't been much info posted about it. Morningstar rectifies that with an E3 writeup over at Subnova that includes a nice chunk of D3. Thanks, Deimos. (Louis Wu 20:30:30 UTC) (permalink)
Dual
Another spectacular piece of art - Paul Davies submitted 'Dual', with an Elite awaiting the incoming Master Chief. (That looks like an awfully painful backbend, actually!) Enjoy. (Louis Wu 19:37:39 UTC) (permalink)
Wait... is it fake?
There's been a screenshot purporting to be the UI of Halo 3 floating around for the past couple of days; Frankie posted a note on our forum yesterday that it was fake, but has since put up a note on Bungie.net to reach the much larger general Halo audience. To reiterate: It's Fake. (Louis Wu 19:21:20 UTC) (permalink)
Luke McKay Update
Another neglected artist - Luke McKay. In the past couple of weeks, he's whipped up a pair of comics (one depicting a scene from Episode 67, another from Episode 62), and a pretty cool Master Chief sketch. Swing by and see what's new! (Louis Wu 18:22:11 UTC) (permalink)
Please remember to turn off all cell phones.
Dennis Powers writes to point out that an 'Extras' film from Valley of the Forerunners is now up at the Halo CE Chronicles website. Outtakes, bloopers, a couple of behind the scenes shots. Take a look! (Louis Wu 18:04:03 UTC) (permalink)
Glitching To Stay On Top
Over at MLGPro.com, Overswarm's written a treatise on why knowing the latest glitches is not just helpful, but NECESSARY in a competitive environment; learn, or lose. It's a good read (though a bit depressing to those of us in the lower tiers). Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 15:39:47 UTC) (permalink)
PMS girl interviewed on MLG PwnCast
MLG PwnCast Episode 15 has been released - it contains an interview with Smileygirl (Smiley PMS). Go listen. Thanks, Bluestrike2. (Louis Wu 15:31:46 UTC) (permalink)
Top 100 Games?
The Virgin Megastore is running a top 100 games poll, and Halo is in the running. Thanks, runnersdialzero. (Louis Wu 15:29:56 UTC) (permalink)
News May 15 2006
Unforgotten Siege Redux
Yesterday, we mentioned that Red Leader had found some similarities between Siege of Madrigal and Unforgotten - wheeler took a crack at this, too. (Louis Wu 21:10:29 UTC) (permalink)
Another Halo 3 Trailer Analysis
Stonesand let us know that he did his own in-depth analysis of the Halo 3 trailer, focusing on the engine Bungie is using now, and contrasting it with what we saw in Halo 2. Pretty solid read... a lot of thought was put into this. Give it a look! (Louis Wu 20:55:34 UTC) (permalink)
I wanted 'My other plane is a banshee'...
New goodies at the Bungie Store - you can snag a license plate frame that reads 'My other car is a Warthog', and a pretty snazzy Relic notebook. Thanks, Jonathan Rivas. (Louis Wu 20:14:44 UTC) (permalink)
Who built what, and when?
If you want to see how Stephen Loftus' brain works with respect to Bungie consistency, check out this forum post. He makes a case for similar (but not identical) construction techniques on the H3 artifact and features of the Halo rings... (Louis Wu 19:44:07 UTC) (permalink)
And then, at Band Camp...
In what must be the most detailed view of the Halo 3 trailer to date, Narcogen has gone over it moment by moment, noting interesting tidbits (covered elsewhere, but not all in one place) and adding commentary. Save this one. (Louis Wu 18:57:58 UTC) (permalink)
Seven (Three) is Darker.
Narcogen, over at Rampancy.net, noticed an interview with a couple of Bungie employees in the London (Ontario) Free Press - some great quotes in there. Give it a read. (Louis Wu 18:54:57 UTC) (permalink)
I hope he wiped his feet.
BOLL, known around these parts for his Flash skillz, came through the US last fall - he just found one of the photos of his visit to my house this week. Check it out. (Louis Wu 18:43:33 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular goes multimedia
Podtacular has been busy - Episode 62 went up on Saturday (focus is on Relic), and PodTV Episode 1, a video blog, is up now. Thanks, Fr3d-105 and David Smith. (Louis Wu 18:29:50 UTC) (permalink)
They Said We Might Recognize It...
Stuntmutt found a wealth of material in the Halo 3 Trailer - check out today's One One Se7en for some of his musings. (Louis Wu 18:25:08 UTC) (permalink)
It's just me, man.
Heh - DHalo points out a short vid over at G4TV.com, illustrating the brawl they expected to take place last week at E3. (Looks like they were pretty spot-on, actually.) (Louis Wu 18:18:10 UTC) (permalink)
Art of Elnea - Updated
Wow - I hate neglecting stuff, though it happens all the time. Elnea has drawn a few new images (including along-the-way sketches)... and I simply let 'em go. No more, though - they've been corralled up and posted on her Gallery page here. You can find a powerful vision of the Chief (and an in-progress version), along with a poster made for a breast cancer run (and one, no two, progress sketches). Finally, there's a fun sketch of her fellow RvB'er Oboecrazy, starring in her very own movie! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 17:14:00 UTC) (permalink)
An Interesting Similarity
A Jolly Old Soul sent along an interesting tidbit for your perusal - a comparison between the Halo 3 trailer and an older cinematic work. He clearly says he's not accusing Bungie of stealing - but the visual similarity is definitely intriguing. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:17:20 UTC) (permalink)
Video game mascots on the run
Duo stopped by our forum to point out a new Halo-related w00tness - great art, and a nice WoW crossover! Go read. (Louis Wu 16:02:57 UTC) (permalink)
Consider Him Hailed.
DropShock Episode 15 is now avilable for download - an hour and a half of stuff like discussion of the Halo 3 announcement, Gravemind's Poem, and the 2007 Halo marketing machine. Go listen. (Louis Wu 15:37:55 UTC) (permalink)
Miniature Halo Returns!
After a really, REALLY long hiatus (Page 25 was released in November, 2004), SESpider restarted Miniature Halo - you can find Page 26 and Page 27 in our archives. (To be fair, 26 was actually posted on our forum 2 weeks ago - it's just been a really, really busy 2 weeks.) (Louis Wu 15:24:59 UTC) (permalink)
Tourney in NJ
There's a note on our forum about a tournament in Rahway, NJ coming up on June 10 - details (including directions, prizes, and the like) can be found in the post. It's a Rumble Pit FFA with plenty of goodies to go around - check it out! (Louis Wu 14:41:07 UTC) (permalink)
Da guy iz creative, ya know?
A relatively old face has reappeared and stepped into the shoes of previous forum posters with not only the inquisitiveness but the creative drive to help the community visualize the clues that Bungie has dropped. In this case, Geoff Chang (of POA infamy) has used Google Earth as well as his own creative skills to try to figure out just where the heck the Forerunner Artifact, the centerpiece of the Halo 3 announcement trailer, is located. We've been told by Bungie to not expect any Marathon imagery in the artifact's structure, but regardless of that, nice work Geoff!
UPDATE: And another example of how the old regulars are truly worthy of being called 'regulars', Ape Man has come out of hiding to offer some corrections to Geoff's musings. Regardless of how this all ends, THIS is what the forum is all about. Intelligent discussion that neither stretches credibility nor resorts to name-calling when folks are called on the veracity of their claims. We're doing Hamish proud, I tellsya. (Ding 01:44:57 UTC) (permalink)
Thanks to those who deserve it!
Back from E3, you would think we would be thanking the fine folks at Bungie for some awesome hookups, or the local guys in L.A. who helped us save on hotel and travel fare.
Well, you would think wrong. Who we should really thank is our partners who put up with our shenanigans during this crazy time of the year. So in no particular order, from all of us b.org folks that attended E3, we'd like to thank Dana, Frieda, Becky, Michelle (esp. her!), and an abused copy of National Geographic (think about it people). (Ding 01:27:01 UTC) (permalink)
News May 14 2006
Punchy Writing.
Stuntmutt put together a special Sunday strip to celebrate a fun piece of news - check the One One Se7en page. (Louis Wu 17:41:19 UTC) (permalink)
Halo News back... tomorrow
There are 8 billion other tidbits in our inboxes (and more on the forum)... but it's Mother's Day here in the US, and it's time to spend some serious quality time with two important mothers in my life - the mother of my children, and the mother of ME - so Halo news is gonna have to wait. Don't forget to tell your mother you love her. Meantime - one last tidbit today (check the next news post). (Louis Wu 17:39:01 UTC) (permalink)
HGN advertising
Laird noticed a new card for the Halo Graphic Novel at a local comic shop... according to the shop owner, interest is huge. I'm intrigued by the 99 cent preview comic, due out in a couple of weeks - I hadn't heard about that! (Louis Wu 17:19:51 UTC) (permalink)
Unforgotten Siege
Interesting... Red Leader decided he could hear definite similarities between Siege of Madrigal (a song Marty composed for Myth, and then included in Halo as an easter egg) and Unforgotten (a track on the new Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2). He overlaid them, roughly, tweaking the tempo a bit on Siege... but I definitely hear where he's coming from. See if you agree! (Louis Wu 17:16:37 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly Fanfic - and an out-of-character rant
Weekly Fanfic update is a couple of days later than usual, due to E3 and some really unpleasant experiences on airplanes - but it's up now. 23 new pieces. Go read. (To the two idiots (you know who you are) who wrote to bitch that it wasn't posted before now - keep a sharp eye on the content you DO submit; there might be some subtle editing in the future. No, not really - I'd never do that - but you guys really are jerks for not even bothering to read the front page to see if there might be a reason the update was delayed. And because of you, i'm instituting a new policy: Fiction updates will continue to be on Friday, unless something comes up that keeps me from being able to post. If the update is NOT on Friday, and someone writes to complain that their piece hasn't been posted, not only will I delete the piece they're asking about, but I'll ban that username from posting to the section again. (This won't keep you from changing your username, but it WILL stop you from continuing any ongoing series.) Seriously - you guys, as a group, are the biggest PITAs I've ever dealt with, anywhere. And that's my rant for today.) (Louis Wu 16:57:58 UTC) (permalink)
More Hi-res Halo 3 Goodness
Home. Exhausted. Crashing. Before I go, though: if you go back and grab the Halo 3 Press Kit from Xbox.com, you'll find that it's grown in size from 70 mb to just over 100 - the added space is filled with Master Chief cutouts (the MC with no background image), Halo 3 and Bungie logos, and high-res versions of the storyboards up at Bungie.net. Awesome stuff. Thanks, Deimos. Now, bed... (Louis Wu 01:24:02 UTC) (permalink)
News May 13 2006
Poster Winners Picked
We picked the winners of the second T-Shirt Raffle tonight at DeanFest 2006; I won't be able to do anything useful (like send the winners email about their winnings) until late tomorrow or Sunday - at the moment, I'm sitting at LAX, waiting out an incredibly stupid mistake that resulted in my missing my flight home last night, and because of this will be spending an enormous amount of time (and money) traveling in the next day or so - but I thought we could at least post the names of the winners:
|
Congratulations, to all ten of you; we'll be letting you know what we need in order to send you your poster soon! (Louis Wu 10:46:47 UTC) (permalink)
Our Little Boy Has Grown Up
We're taking a break from DeanFest 2006 to post a pretty cool news tidbit... our very own KP, master of the HBO Forum Banhammer as Badmin and occasional front-page newshound, has found himself a new job. We were fortunate enough to snag a photo of his new workplace
(72K) - and if you want more information, check out KP's forum post
about it all. Congrats, KP! (Louis Wu 09:42:51 UTC) (permalink)
News May 12 2006
The Trailer, Dissected
One quick last post, before heading off to DeanFest 2006 - the Weekly Update is posted over at Bungie.net, and it's a doozy. It might just contain the most real information about a Bungie product, ever. Amazing collection of solid answers. Go read. (And then stop harping on the silly stuff in our forum, and start speculating about the REAL meat!) As always, it's available in our Bungie Weekly Update Archive, as well. (Louis Wu 23:44:39 UTC) (permalink)
Announce This!
vivien molia pointed out a new Press Start to Play with a Halo theme - take a look! (Louis Wu 23:25:51 UTC) (permalink)
IGN gives us a peek at HGN
Thanks to the sharp of eye of Tempus Fugit, here's a new set of pics from the Halo Graphic Novel. That art is looking might fine! (Ding 20:37:25 UTC) (permalink)
Quickie pics
Here's a quick set of pics. More later. We tagged Major Nelson! But I don't have photo proof yet. He was a great sport about it though, I give the man props! (Ding 18:52:16 UTC) (permalink)
Repeating Himself.
Stuntmutt explains why the daily dose of corn might be a little understated in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 17:07:33 UTC) (permalink)
Tourney Story
There's a story on Macon.com (a Georgia newspaper site) about a couple of local kids gearing up for MLG Dallas. Nice general interest piece. (Louis Wu 17:02:49 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2 mention in Vista Gaming Roadmap
Rich Wickham, Microsoft's director of Games for Windows Business, talked to Gamespot about gaming on Windows Vista - there was a little bit of discussion about Halo 2. At this point, it's undetermined whether Halo 2 players on Xbox 360s will be able to play against Halo 2 players on Windows Vista - the number one priority is making sure the online part of Halo 2 on Vista is fun. (Louis Wu 16:52:56 UTC) (permalink)
Stories to tell
The Curmudgeon Gamer has good things to say about the Halo 3 trailer - even though he doesn't like Halo. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 15:57:41 UTC) (permalink)
You got questions? Frankie's got answers.
Frankie is currently taking questions about the Halo 3 trailer over at Bungie.net; some of these will be answered in tonight's Weekly Update. Swing by and toss your musings into the mix! Thanks, darthbob. (Louis Wu 15:30:56 UTC) (permalink)
They're back...and we're late!
Sorry for the delay, with people out at E3, I forgot to mind the store. Check out the lead story on Bungie.net related to their return from Los Angeles and some discussion of what happened behind the scenes. (Cybrfrk 04:54:59 UTC) (permalink)
News May 11 2006
Marty Waxes Poetic (or maybe just his back)
Most of us seem to have missed a short little interview that Major Nelson conducted with Marty O'Donnell outside Grauman's Chinese Theater on Tuesday; Marty discussed the musical choices they made, and why the trailer felt as it did. An interesting little piece - and visual evidence that the shirt that Kotaku mentioned a couple of days ago was, indeed, a Halo 3 shirt. You can watch it in both high- and low-res streaming versions from this page on Xbox.com (scroll down to 'Halo Audio Director') - and for those of you who simply can't deal with .asx files, you can grab a 4 mb QuickTime version from us. Thanks to jman571 for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 04:50:30 UTC) (permalink)
Organized Halo 3 Content at R.net
Over at Rampancy.net, Narcogen has lost no time organizing the Halo 3 content out at this point; you'll find a new Halo 3 Movies page, containing local mirrors of the announcement trailer, a Halo 3 Articles page, containing local mirrors for Bungie's Halo 3 comments, and a Halo 3 Image Gallery, which contains both official screenshots and some interesting screengrabs that have been intriguing forumgoers everywhere for the last couple of days. Go look! (Louis Wu 04:42:59 UTC) (permalink)
PvP Stats Fixer
A few quick news posts before I sign off (what the HECK am I doing up less than three hours before I need to leave for the airport?)... PEZ has put together a small script that works in Firefox (with the help of Greasemonkey, a Firefox extension) that fixes the bug that keeps most people from viewing the Player vs Player stats on Bungie.net these days. Just tested it - works pretty nicely! (Louis Wu 04:39:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Now Read The Book
Today's USA Today (May 10) has a 2-page spread on the Halo Graphic Novel; some of the text (but none of the pictures) can be found online on the USA Today website. Anyone who wanted to scan this... we'd be happy to host. :) (Louis Wu 00:01:20 UTC) (permalink)
News May 10 2006
It's a Floor Wax. It's a Dessert Topping!
Normally, we let speculation run its course on our forum - trying to decipher what Bungie meant with some obscure tidbit is more than half the fun, after all. Sometimes, though, the little stuff really gets in the way; our forum has been swamped today, for example, with debates about one of Cortana's dialogue snippets in the trailer - half the debaters believe she's saying 'I am your sword', and the other half hear 'I am your source'. Well, according to Marty O'Donnell, who really should know... it's 'sword'. Carry on. (Hey - did you notice how I slipped in a small Dialogue Databank update there, courtesy of KMS Ahrnaieanin? Slick, eh? Sorry it's in the Halo 2 bank; I don't have time to make up a Halo 3 bank right now. Soon.) (Louis Wu 20:51:25 UTC) (permalink)
Making Mountains out of... Plains
That Finn guy... looks like he dove right in, and pulled out some of the choicest morsels in the forum for the Story Page. Good stuff in there! (Louis Wu 18:46:23 UTC) (permalink)
Nice Master Chief Outfit
BARBARIC RAGE ran across a Flickr photo, shot last October (a Halloween costume?) of a really nice-looking Master Chief costume. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:55:52 UTC) (permalink)
Standard Response.
Stuntmutt's secrets, revealed, in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 14:03:08 UTC) (permalink)
Conquest, Part 1
More news that has nothing to do with Halo 3: Broken Console, the team behind 'The Squadron', has released Conquest, Part 1. It's a pretty massive piece of work; 21 minutes long, more than 120 mb in hi-res format - it tells the story of an attack on a pair of UESC ships, the Conquest and the Endeavor, and the subsequent aftermath; voice acting is great, cinematography is great, mods are used in pretty clever ways. Overall, a fantastic first half of a pretty cool miniseries. We're offering BC mirroring, because this puppy is big - you can grab the full-size versions (640x480) if you've got a larger pipe, or a half-size version (320x240) if 125 mb is too much for you.
WMP9: High Res (127 MB) | Low Res (67.1 mb)
QuickTime: High Res (124 MB) | Low Res (69.5 mb)
Most of these versions are available on the Broken Console site as well (links there are probably faster for EU residents). (Louis Wu 13:49:13 UTC) (permalink)
Screenshots for the BIG screen.
So... if you like the screenshots over at Bungie.net, but feel like they're not hi-res enough (they're only 1280x720, after all), or you're unhappy with the Bungie watermark... swing by the Xbox.com Press site, and grab the official press screenshots (70 mb, zipped). What do you get for those 70 megs? You get the 5 images in uncompressed TIFF format - 10-16 mb each - at the absurd resolution of 6400x3600. Wonga. (Louis Wu 13:28:35 UTC) (permalink)
Exclusive Elite for Comic-Con visitors
There's a bit of totally non-Halo-3-related news, as well, today - for example, Toynews International reports on an upcoming exclusive action figure - a Halo 2 White Multiplayer Elite; only 3000 will be made. You can only buy this, though, if you show up at the San Diego Comic-Con in July (though if there are any left after the show, Toyrocket.com will be selling them on their website.) Thanks, Littlebigman. (Louis Wu 13:18:34 UTC) (permalink)
Lots of Trailers Versions Online
There are a whole bunch of sites offering mirroring or re-encoding of the Halo 3 trailer; I really don't see a need to list them all, because the official sites (Bungie.net and Xbox.com) are doing an admirable job of keeping up with demand. (Bungie.net has actually re-released the WMP9 versions, because the original ones had some odd aspect stuff going on.) The one link that's probably worth passing on, though - at least if you're on a Windows box with a pretty fast processor - is the official press release of the 720p WMP version - 5.1 audio and all. It weighs in at 132 mb, and is USELESS for Mac users (it's encoded with Windows-only codecs), but it's as high-res as you're gonna get on the web. Thanks, MC Smoke. (And I'll mention the Halo: Portable versions, too, because there aren't a lot of places out there to grab versions for your PocketPC/iPod/PSP.) (Louis Wu 13:12:19 UTC) (permalink)
Forum High Gear
Predictably, the forum has exploded with speculation about yesterday's released trailer. Much of the discussion could be considered spoiler-laden, for folks either avoiding the trailer or still in the dark about the first two games... but I'm of the opinion that there's nothing here that Bungie doesn't want you to see. A few intriguing threads (by no means ALL the stuff worth reading):
- Dogchow was the first, but Big Lou's version is nice, too - it's Cortana's voice, but who's really speaking?
- Many, many threads are discussing the re-emergence of content from the Cortana letters, released 7 years ago, but left behind after some overzealous use by a now-ex-Bungie employee. Search for 'Cortana Letter', all, to find a few.
- There are lots of people happy to see the Assault Rifle back, there's plenty of speculation about the Chief's visor reflection, people noticed stuff like missing Banshee pilots, and there are folks looking at some of the images flashing through the trailer, attempting to decipher hidden meanings. Pixel by pixel analysis continues apace.
- Rachda and GLuebben took a look at the forerunner glyphs once again, in light of this trailer (check this post for a clearer version of GLeubben's PDF).
Again - this is by no means a comprehensive list. Over 1200 new posts have appeared on our forum in the last 24 hours (before this announcement, we were averaging 2-300/day). It's just a random selection of fun stuff. See what else you can find. (Louis Wu 12:53:01 UTC) (permalink)
Dean's LAN Fest winners... where r ya?
Of the three lucky winners of the Dean LAN fest raffle, only ONE has replied! So please, Brian Kirchhoff and Ben Thompson, check your email and get in touch with me! If I don't hear from you soon, you will forfeit your prize! (Ding 05:34:56 UTC) (permalink)
News May 9 2006
Halo 3 Content Now Up
For what it's worth: The Halo 3 content at Bungie.net is available. (Up until now, clicking any of the links in the Top Story or on B.net's home page simply redirected to the home page... but the section is now live.) The screenshots are all from the trailer (though they're considerably clearer than screengrabs), and the only wallpaper available is a 'Finish the Fight' one. The FAQ is worth reading - especially the bit about how the trailer is a real-time piece of work. That is: this trailer is NOT like the X02 trailer, which was rendered in-engine, but not in real time; this was recorded in real time, off stock Xbox 360 hardware. Yes, it looks that good. (Louis Wu 22:55:02 UTC) (permalink)
Content for EVERYONE
Swing by Bungie.net - now back up, and with a pretty amazing top story. The announcement trailer is available for all - in QT and WMP9 formats (with more options coming soon, looks like) - plus Screenshots, Storyboards, Wallpapers, a new FAQ, an About page, and a new forum. WONGA. Go take it all in. Update: hmm... looks like the non-trailer content isn't actually accessible yet (I just get redirected back to the main page). Patience. :) (The movie links work fine, though.) (Louis Wu 19:57:36 UTC) (permalink)
More Marketplace Content
For the 360 owners out there, there are even MORE goodies for you - a new Halo 3 theme and gamerpics to match. Go look. (Louis Wu 19:39:39 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 - Announced
If you've got a 360, jump on to Marketplace right now. You can download a 104 mb trailer for Halo3 there. (To the best of my knowledge, this is not available outside of Xbox Live's Marketplace.) Thanks to many - looks like Dan Chosich was first. (Louis Wu 19:12:52 UTC) (permalink)
It's A Shirt, Jim.
Lo, the Hype Machine Cometh. Kotaku's got a story about a Halo 3 shirt sighting - no guarantee that the person WEARING the shirt is not a fan who made it himself, but hey - it is what it is. Only a couple more hours until the MS press conference; it's likely we'll know SOMETHING more by the end of it all. Thanks, Dylan Crawford. (Louis Wu 18:30:28 UTC) (permalink)
The WPI Map
GT Juggler has just finished up his first year at WPI, and he and some friends have released a playable map of the campus, so that EVERYONE can enjoy fragging each other at his school. The download is 24.5 mb for HaloCE, or 25.7 mb for Xbox (you'll need a modded Xbox to play this one). There's a movie on the site, as well, showing a runthrough of the map - it looks amazing! (WPI is like any other college in America, it seems, except that all the faculty drive red warthogs.) Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:21:03 UTC) (permalink)
The Valley of the Forerunners Part 11
The Valley of the Forerunners Part 11, the Conclusion of season 3, has been posted over at the Halo CE Chronicles website. A heroic sacrifice and some philosophical musings bring closure to this epic tale. Dennis Powers has posted a list of links to all parts, for folks who were waiting for the series to be complete before watching. Pick your flavor, check out how gorgeous Halo scenery can be merged with a thoughtful story. (Louis Wu 16:45:27 UTC) (permalink)
He'll Make You An Offer That You Can Refuse If You Want
Halo 3 Boards has an interview with our own distinguished Louis Wu, the "Godfather of HBO" (also known as the "Legal Guardian, Babysitter, and Annoyingly Wiser Cousin of HBO"). Anyway, check it out, and take a look around there while you're at it! (mnemesis 16:18:55 UTC) (permalink)
Beautiful Needler - the Video
A year ago, Archie Gates started creating Needler songs over at Gamespot. (Unfortunately, his profile is now private, so I can't link you there.) He's since created 4 (search our news) - and just recently, imSuck, of HollywoodHalo, submitted 'Beautiful Needler', a music video based on the first Needler song, to the MPRRS. The reviewers loved it. Go grab a copy. WMP9 version is 43.2 mb, QuickTime version is 41.9 mb. Awesome, classic song, perfectly synched to Halo action. Christina would be proud. (Well, okay, maybe not - maybe she'd be like 'OMGWTF', but she SHOULD be proud.) (Louis Wu 12:43:04 UTC) (permalink)
Marvel's HGN Ad
A couple of days ago, Ross Mills pointed out that there was an advertisement for the Halo Graphic Novel in a Marvel product he was looking at. It's a pretty nice ad, with some heretofore unseen pics in it - so we're putting up a copy (189K). I have trouble believing Marvel would have a problem with the free publicity. (Louis Wu 12:25:03 UTC) (permalink)
Shirt/Raffle Info
Thanks to all who preordered the first official HBO shirt, and entered our E3 raffles - I wanted to let you all know that the shirt is still available, but it's no longer at pre-order pricing. (It's now $14.89, instead of $11.29, and at the moment, only mediums and larges are available.) That doesn't mean you shouldn't buy one, though! The 3 DeanFest slots will be announced later this morning, by Mig - we'll be picking the poster winners from the fest itself. (The raffles are now closed, if that wasn't clear before.) (Louis Wu 12:21:06 UTC) (permalink)
News May 8 2006
Halo, Halo, Everywhere
A number of minor Halo mentions popped up in the news today (probably because it's E3 week); I didn't think any of them were worth news posts on their own, but there are enough of them to warrant a compilation. Dean Takahashi talks about Xbox 360 development at 1Up, with a few choice Halo 2 tidbits - thanks, Tempus Fugit. Wired looks at Boss Battles, and [a potentially spoiling character class, for the 2 of you who haven't played Halo] is used as an example - thanks, UberHax0r. And the New York Times discusses the difficulty of coming up with new content, using Halo as a great example of milking a valuable franchise - thanks, Annu MD. (As usual, bugmenot.com will get you into the Times website easily.) I'm probably missing one or two - apologies, it's a crazy day. (Louis Wu 22:03:20 UTC) (permalink)
Was It Something He Said?
Today's One One Se7en is much funnier if you've ever played online with MereCatfish. Or maybe it's not. (Louis Wu 18:09:59 UTC) (permalink)
More MySpace Contact Box Options
Ajay let us know about another MySpace contact box he'd created (we mentioned one a couple of weeks ago) - you can see it, and grab code for it, on his forum. (Louis Wu 18:08:27 UTC) (permalink)
Alonewinder
EchoZuluFilms has released Alonewinder, a HaloCE map designed primarily for the machinimas ALONE and Major Tom Diaries. It's a 13 mb download. (Sounds like it's sidewinder with new vehicles and weapons.) One of the new weapons is the Boomstick; it started life as a simple shotgun mod, but now is a totally separate weapon. Thanks, PsiMatrix. (Louis Wu 16:08:54 UTC) (permalink)
Last T Update
Just a reminder: your last chance to buy an HBO T (and register for the poster art raffle and/or the DeanFest raffle) is midnight tonight, central time; that's a bit over 14 hours from now. It's 1 am on Tuesday EST, 10 pm PST, and 6am Tuesday UTC. After that time, the raffles will be closed (and the three spots for the DeanFest will be chosen), and the next time you see that shirt, it'll cost a bit more. Supplies on certain sizes are running low (Large and XXL are both nearing the end of their supply) - so order now! (Louis Wu 14:44:46 UTC) (permalink)
News May 7 2006
LEGO Halo Summary
Cool. Saber-Scorpion, a long-time LEGO Halo fanatic (check our news for some older posts) has put up a nice summary page of LEGO-based Halo creations around the web. Thanks, Jono. (Louis Wu 19:25:28 UTC) (permalink)
As Twilight Falls
This is one of the stranger bits I've seen... but Elnea has created a Halo-themed Waltz - As Twilight Falls can be found on her .Mac space (with an explanation and lyrics), or via direct download from us (3.1 mb, MP3 format) If we bring down the .Mac page, we'll host a mirror of it, so that the info is available. This one's beautiful... in a really weird sort of way. (Louis Wu 19:13:15 UTC) (permalink)
Dustbowl Megabattle
Wow. rockslider has discovered a new, untapped location for a megabattle in Halo - the dustbowl in Truth and Reconciliation (just before the gravity lift area). Go read up on it at the Bad Cyborg site! (Louis Wu 11:57:40 UTC) (permalink)
Net Neutrality, and Plasma Grenades
This Spartan Life has a new video blog up - it looks at the subject of tiered internet service, and why it might be bad for you, me, and everyone except the large corporations with the cash to pay for premium service. Funny stuff about a serious topic! (10.8 mb, QuickTime format.) (Louis Wu 11:36:59 UTC) (permalink)
Would cannons really make it better?
Over at PALGN (an Australian gaming site), there's a column called 'The Wrap' which takes a quick look at gaming stories from around the web. The one up now looks at, among other things, the news that MLG Pro has inked a deal to put video gaming on cable television. The author thinks it's a pretty dumb idea. (I wasn't thrilled with his opinion in a few of the other tidbits in this issue, either, though the graphic was pretty funny.) (Louis Wu 11:25:36 UTC) (permalink)
News May 6 2006
New work from an old friend
Interesting. An artist known as GT Gundam over at DeviantART has been turning out great Halo artwork for years - we recently added a bunch of missing images to our Miscellaneous Art section, with his permission. Today, Juan Anselm points out that he's gone and created a new DA account, and has begun to populate it with new art - visit Marathon GTi for the first of these new pieces, 'Save the MD, revised' (Master Chief laying down supressing fire for a can of Mountain Dew - the original is here). Good stuff - we'll keep an eye on this account! (Louis Wu 11:34:20 UTC) (permalink)
Individual Recognition
Over at MLG, there's an interview with Gh057ayame - he's been nominated for the Scion Player of the Year award. Go read about what that means. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 11:13:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo References in Pop Culture
Heh. Over at Fark.com, one of the tidbits picked up yesterday was a story about a new pirate-fighting center opening in Mombasa. Fark's footnote: "Prophet of Regret unavailable for comment" - cute. Thanks, Paul Marsh. (Louis Wu 10:46:49 UTC) (permalink)
Near-Cinematic Brilliance
IGN's got a nice review of the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack Volume 2 - with minor exceptions, they gushed over it. Go read! (Louis Wu 03:44:16 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Girls
Heh - whoda thunk it? Lost the Lead has a Silent Hill/Halo crossover. Yes, Pinkuh's a little... odd. Great artwork, though! (Louis Wu 02:52:48 UTC) (permalink)
The snarkiness of critics
Wow, what a nasty shot. Some guy writes a daily blog on MS stuff - and in a paragraph making fun of MSN as a portal (and some of the silly things they tried in an attempt to gain market share), he made this snide comment:
Those days are largely laughed about today, in the same way that we might make fun of such other ill-advised products as Microsoft Bob or the Halo 2 Soundtrack (the latter of which, inexplicably, includes little actual music from the game).
He must have been talking about Volume 1, since Volume 2 is ALL game music (and since its Amazon Sales Rank was #154 in Music - out of three quarters of a million titles)... but still. Geez. (Louis Wu 00:39:24 UTC) (permalink)
We Don't Need No Steenkin' Patches
Blayne's got another batch of UNSC/UESC patches for sale - the first batch of 50 sold pretty quickly. If you missed it, but want one of these puppies... swing by MaraMERCH! (Louis Wu 00:17:59 UTC) (permalink)
Vomitous Lumps
Weekly Update is up - pretty short, because Frankie has no time, but hey. OMG - no Mister Chief. Louis am cry. Update: DOH! Forgot to mention that this was available in our Weekly Update Archive, as well. Update 2: Frankie rocks - he added an Angsty Mister Chief, just for me. I'm printing that and framing it. Really. (Louis Wu 00:13:16 UTC) (permalink)
News May 5 2006
Hey, amigo, how you been?
Captain Spark submitted another couple of dozen dialogue snippets - swing by his site, or browse them in our Dialogue Databank. (Louis Wu 17:51:16 UTC) (permalink)
Careful What You Wish For.
Stuntmutt takes a look at the darker side of wish fulfillment in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 12:58:31 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Fanfic
Thirteen new pieces available now in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 12:14:54 UTC) (permalink)
RvB Season 4 - Now on DVD
The Red vs Blue Season 4 DVD is now available for purchase - swing by the RvB site for details. Even if you watched them all online, there's a ton of stuff on the DVD that makes the purchase worth it... looks like Saeka was the first on our forum to notice. (Louis Wu 10:37:54 UTC) (permalink)
News May 4 2006
Advanced Combat Techniques II
Overswarm has added a new video to his Not So Common Sense Strategy Guide - Advanced Combat Techniques II has been posted in the Movies and Commentary section. Tricks exploited by the pros - BXR is only the most well-known - are illustrated in a video, with descriptive commentary to go along; learn the three-shot-kill, the two-shot-kill, and more! Grab this puppy while it's hot. (Louis Wu 22:18:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo for a Handheld?
Interesting. Over at GameSetWatch, there's an article that suggests that before they went bankrupt last year, the Gizmondo Manchester development studio was working on a 3D FPS Halo title for the Gizmondo. Frankie specifically denied that Bungie had anything to do with this in January 2005 - but the article suggests that these folks were working on it on their own. This goes firmly in the 'rumor' category... but it's intriguing. Thanks, Finn. (Louis Wu 21:21:17 UTC) (permalink)
Mod Help
First Contact, a Halo mod in development for Half Life 2, is calling for dev team members and voice actors - swing by their site if you're interested. Thanks, blackhawk. (Louis Wu 16:20:48 UTC) (permalink)
Rip Digital Cable 4
A month ago, RipHamilton32 submitted 'Rip Digital Cable 3' to the MPRRS, and we hosted it. More recently, he submitted 'Rip Digital Cable 4' - and the MPRRS reviewers liked this one, too. Again, it's a series of TV show spoofs, presented as though someone was channel surfing. Some clever sketches! Grab this in WMP9 format (22 mb) or QuickTime format (23 mb), and watch some (Halo) TV! (Louis Wu 16:14:47 UTC) (permalink)
HBO Shirt/Raffle Update
Whoa. Mig posted a note on our forum, showing a large photo (120k) of the posters, back from the printer - those look AMAZING! Here's the deal: as of right now, there are 58 people entered in the raffle. (I'm unclear as to why someone would buy a shirt and NOT enter the raffle... but hey, everybody's got their own cross to bear, right? Certainly way more than 58 shirts have been bought.) There are 10 posters available, and they're going to all go to raffle entrants. There are 4 more days to buy a shirt (and register for the raffle). You do the math - for less than $15, you get a one-of-a-kind high-quality HBO shirt AND a 1-in-6 chance of walking away with one of these posters! (Okay, okay, I did the math. And yeah, the math will change, if a bunch of people jump in and buy a shirt now.) How can you NOT enter? (Louis Wu 15:23:22 UTC) (permalink)
Run Away!
Chromidget has been working on a life-sized grunt - he posted a few pictures on our forum yesterday. Awesome! (Louis Wu 15:08:16 UTC) (permalink)
Freelancer: Combat Evolved Announcement Film
Freelancer: Combat Evolved, a total modification for Freelancer, released an announcement film showing off some of its content last week; you can find official mirrors in this thread on their forum. We've put up a copy of our own (WMP9 format, 16.2 mb, or a new QuickTime format, 14.9 mb) because... well, we're nice like that sometimes. Give it a look; these guys have done a pretty good job! (Swing by their website for more info about the mod.) (Louis Wu 15:05:10 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular 1500 - reminder
You might remember we mentioned the Podtacular 1500 campaign a couple of weeks ago; Podtacular is trying to hit 1500 listeners by E3. E3 is next week, and they're still 350 short, according to the FeedBurner stats in their sidebar... you wanna go help 'em out? (Louis Wu 14:42:24 UTC) (permalink)
2006 PGL 4v4 Halo 2 Tourney Results
The PGL posted results of its 4v4 Halo 2 tourney yesterday - check their website for details and pics. (Louis Wu 14:37:48 UTC) (permalink)
Average Ranks - where do you stand?
GH spent a lot of time sifting through the Query Spree leaderboards, collecting stats, and attempting to learn what the real 'average' ranks are for each gametype. The results might surprise you. (Louis Wu 14:14:24 UTC) (permalink)
News May 3 2006
Interview with Jen Taylor
Jen Taylor, the voice of Cortana, is also the voice of Jessica Cannon, the player's sidekick in the upcoming SiN Episodes title. Ritualistic (the online community hub of Ritual Entertainment, the folks behind SiN Episodes) has posted a short interview with her, in which she discusses the characters she's voiced (including, of course, Cortana), and how the projects are different. Good stuff! Thanks, Stylsy. (Louis Wu 20:50:53 UTC) (permalink)
What's in a name? (And lots of other stuff.)
Over at the Halo Story Page, you'll find a massive update put together by Finn; tons of tasty info. What are you waiting for? GO READ! (Louis Wu 20:44:48 UTC) (permalink)
Sketch THIS.
Bryant Gosch points out that there are already a number of Halo-related models available in Google's 3Dwarehouse - a collection of models created with the free (but Windows-only) SketchUp, a 3D modeling program bought by Google recently. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 20:34:26 UTC) (permalink)
Act of Contrition.
Four in a row from the PunMeister - I'd tell him to slow down, but this one is just so... appropriate. Go read today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 16:47:57 UTC) (permalink)
Ceramic Master Chief - now complete
Remember Boltofaire's ceramic Master Chief? He finished it. He's not happy with how it turned out... but I think he's being overly critical; it's pretty darned cool. (Louis Wu 15:29:15 UTC) (permalink)
A home for machinima creators
Edgeworks Entertainment (the folks behind the Codex Series and the upcoming 'The Heretic', among others) are now offering hosting and support for a select group of machinima creators; swing by their FAQ page for details on what's being offered, and what you need to do to qualify. (Louis Wu 13:50:59 UTC) (permalink)
Impressive Screenshot Tools
c0ld vengeance pointed out a pretty cool thread over at HaloMods - a month ago, xbox7887 posted a collection of information which (if you have a modded Xbox) will allow you to grab full-resolution screenshots of Halo or Halo 2. The pics are GORGEOUS. Make sure you actually READ the material provided before you bug anyone about this stuff, though. And no, you can't use this stuff WITHOUT a modded box. (Louis Wu 13:40:23 UTC) (permalink)
This just in - you get wet when it rains.
Woo - Big news. Gamespot reports that the Gartner Group says that since Microsoft's next operating system, Vista, might not make its Q1 2007 release target, that Halo 2 PC might not be out until Q2 either. (This is for all of you who couldn't figure out that the game might not hit the shelves if the operating system wasn't available.) (Louis Wu 13:19:35 UTC) (permalink)
WSVG Announces Titles - including Halo 2
Another big tourney - the World Series of Video Games has announced the official Xbox titles they'll be using for their 2006 events, and Halo 2 is on the list. Check out the press release at GotFrag. Halo 2 qualifiers will be held in Louisville and Dallas, and registration is open now. (Louis Wu 13:13:34 UTC) (permalink)
News May 2 2006
Finish Him.
JLchief noticed a fun little flash animation at DeviantART - go play! (Louis Wu 19:06:27 UTC) (permalink)
Prog Rock Fetishist
Music 4 Games sat down with Marty O'Donnell to discuss the Halo 2 Soundtrack Volume 2, and Marty's music in general. Go read the interview! (Louis Wu 15:48:11 UTC) (permalink)
The Valley of the Forerunners: Part 10
Part 10 of The Valley of the Forerunners has been released over at the Halo CE Chronicles website. The battle rages on... and Sergeant Roberts makes a tough call. Availalbe in WMP9, QuickTime, and streaming Flash, as usual. (Louis Wu 15:24:44 UTC) (permalink)
Trigger's Broom
He couldn't help himself - Stuntmutt saw yesterday's Penny Arcade, and HAD to comment; check One One Se7en for a special Tuesday Edition. (Louis Wu 13:06:58 UTC) (permalink)
He was not hit in the face with a shovel.
Over at MLGPro.com, you can find a Player of the Week feature on AYB Fonzi - go learn about this top player. Thanks, 3Suns. (Louis Wu 12:59:55 UTC) (permalink)
Gorgeous Halo Compositions
Prometheus notes that Major.Dump continues to update his gallery page at The Halouvre - check the bottom few images. Every time I visit that gallery, I'm impressed by the amount of work that must go into composing those shots - and he really has a knack for it. Killer stuff. Go look. (Louis Wu 11:30:34 UTC) (permalink)
The Best Game Evar? Or Just No Competition?
How long will this keep up? Today marks 77 weeks since Halo 2's release. And the number one game on Xbox Live, according to Major Nelson? Yep. Halo 2. Wow. (Louis Wu 11:18:01 UTC) (permalink)
No Online Halo Today
As noted on Bungie.net, Xbox Live will be down for most of today - in theory, they started maintenance a couple of hours ago (2 am PDT, 9 am UTC), and it will continue for the next 12-14 hours. This means no Halo 2 today. Don't bother Bungie about this - it's not their maintenance. Thanks to Skywalker DSP for the reminder. (Louis Wu 11:02:04 UTC) (permalink)
News May 1 2006
Homestar Chief
PsychoDikdik (a community member over at Red vs Blue) put together some hilarious pictures of Halo/Homestar Runner hybrids. I LOVE these! (Louis Wu 20:12:04 UTC) (permalink)
Warriors for God... or Deluded Souls?
An Op-Ed piece in the Windsor (Colorado) Tribune takes churches to task for using Halo 2 as a tool for bringing kids into church. Someone who isn't happy with the 'whatever works' philosophy... (Louis Wu 20:09:25 UTC) (permalink)
8-year Deathmarch
Heh - Today's Penny Arcade puts Halo 3 in perspective. Thanks, Stuntmutt. (Louis Wu 18:34:21 UTC) (permalink)
Girls Got Game
Another article about girl gamers and how the stereotypes are changing, focusing on one of the founders of the PMS clan - give it a read. They like to play Halo. (Louis Wu 18:30:17 UTC) (permalink)
When It's Not Quite Ready.
So there was a fuss a little bit ago, after Joe Staten revealed, at a talk at NWU, that three levels had been cut from the end of Halo 2 (we knew material had been cut, just not how much) - Stuntmutt puts it all in perspective in today's One One Se7en. (Louis Wu 16:39:59 UTC) (permalink)
Blood Gulch 120
Elnea has whipped up an alternative Halo track called 'Blood Gulch 120' - it's a melding of the Red vs Blue theme 'Blood Gulch Blues' and the Halo theme, all cranked up to 120 beats per minute (she needed a workout tune). OboeCrazy's Oboe adds a great touch! You can grab it from Elnea's .Mac space, but we're hosting a copy as well, because it's not really polite to bring down someone else's webspace. Go listen! (MP3 format, 4.6 mb.) Thanks to HavokBlue for pointing it out before I read it in Elnea's RvB journal. (Louis Wu 16:30:02 UTC) (permalink)
MLG PwnCast Ep 14
MLG PwnCast has released Episode 14 - Flying with McGavin. Go listen. (Louis Wu 15:23:32 UTC) (permalink)
WCG - Terrestrial Halo?
I'm not really sure what it means... but Halo 2 IS on the list of games offered for the WCG 2006 season - but it's listed under 'Terrestrial Games', which maybe means US-only? I can't tell. Anyway, they've got Blizzard down as the Developer, so who knows. (Louis Wu 15:22:32 UTC) (permalink)
Halo tourney in MO
If you're near St. Louis, MO, check out this Gamecrazy Halo 2 tourney at the LANetarium, coming up on May 27. Thanks, GotFrag. (Louis Wu 14:57:09 UTC) (permalink)
| May 2006 | |
