About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
Concept Art
Halo Bulletins
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum

Clan HBO Forum
ARG Forum
Links
Admin
Submissions
Uploads
Contact

May 2011

May 2011 Archived News

News May 31 2011

Comm Chatter Video Offering
Tuesday offerings on Bungie's Comm Chatter: video 8 from the Forge Café Recap series - another night of community maps - and a commented video of gameplay on Synapse, a new community map you'll run across in several playlists (the Arena, Double Team, and Team Slayer). Go watch! (Louis Wu 21:41:05 UTC) (permalink)

Crate Googly Moogly
Morpheus wanted to share one of his greater moments in Reach gaming. I laughed. Go check it out! (GrimBrother One 21:12:53 UTC) (permalink)

'Halo: Reach' Slow-Motion Animations
Those crafty, creative modders: HaloMods made a slow-motion video of two "Reach" animations. Here's the kicker: Instead of slowing down the clip, the modders slowed down the actual animations. Of course, anything in slow motion has to be set to "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis. Go ahead. Look at that man. Smoking cancer sticks has never looked so sensual or seductive. (Hitmonchan 20:53:57 UTC) (permalink)

Playtime Looks Like a Trailer Full of Fun
CruelLEGACEY Productions sends word along that they have released the second trailer for their recently announced "Playtime" machinima. Looks awesome, go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 20:47:27 UTC) (permalink)

Cute Noble Team Cake
Akahoney made this adorable Noble Team cake for her nephew's 13th birthday. It's a chocolate cake with a vanilla cream cheese filling. It might not be the most impressive creation, but it made me ravenously hungry for cake. And if I hadn't just downed a week-old chicken pasta meal, I might be up for it, too. (Hitmonchan 20:24:45 UTC) (permalink)

'Bullet Holes,' original song from 'Halo: Faith' soundtrack
Last Thursday, composer Daniel Ciurlizza posted "Bullet Holes," a new song from the "Halo: Faith" fan film, on his YouTube account. If you haven't already, go check it out! (Hitmonchan 20:15:31 UTC) (permalink)

Interview with 'Halo: Faith' actor Anthony Ingruber
GuysGirl.com sat down with Anthony Ingruber, one of the actors from the "Halo: Faith" fan film, to discuss his current and future work. Intentionally vague about his role in "Faith," he told the site he plays an "[a]dmiral who informs the elite marine Spartans that the planet of Reach has been overwhelmed by the [C]ovenant." And in case you missed it, here's The Entertainment Corner's video interview with Ingruber from last week. Also, in the print article, he revealed that "Halo: Faith" director Jared Pelletier is working on a "Red Dead Redemption" short. Called it! (Hitmonchan 20:00:02 UTC) (permalink)

Romeo: One Shot
Hedgemony's long-awaited Romeo: One Shot comic is now online (five pages per post, just follow from the first). Makes me want to boot up ODST, I'll tell you that. (There's even a Fan Tribute section - a Romeo tribute vid, plus screenshots and artwork, all submitted by HBO artisans.) Worth your time! (Louis Wu 18:26:52 UTC) (permalink)

Some GDC Vault Vids go free
The Game Developer Conference Vault has made some popular video talks free - you can now watch David Aldridge's "I Shot You First: Networking the Gameplay of Halo: Reach" online without having a subscription. The notes from this talk have been available since March - but now you can actually WATCH it. Nice! (Louis Wu 16:40:38 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's Mythic Tips and Tricks Vol III
Tyrant's back with a new collection of Mythic Tips and Tricks - this one focuses on Pillar of Autumn, just in time to make this week's big challenge just a bit easier. It contains a plethora of tricks and exploits that will allow you to speed through areas normally filled with nasty Covenant characters. In some cases, there are multiple techniques for a particular area - so you can pick the one that works best for your normal playstyle! (Louis Wu 16:11:28 UTC) (permalink)

Conceptualizing
DukeLehto7 from the Waypoint forums noticed the blog of concept artist Kevin Prangley. Some nice work in there, some of which might look pretty familiar. Go and give it a look! (GrimBrother One 15:31:13 UTC) (permalink)

TSW Map Code Competition Update
MaxRealflugel tried to give away a Defiant Map Pack last week - but nobody wanted it. :( So he's adjusted the contest parameters; he's looking for a cool screenshot from Halo: Reach. His favorite one will win the submitter a Defiant code, and have their work featured in Volume 2 of Halo: Revolutions. What do you have to lose? (Louis Wu 13:17:06 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Cornerstone
There's a new challenge up at Fire Team Zulu - Cornerstone runs you through Tip of the Spear on Normal... but without a HUD (or ammo, really). It's part of Normalcy Week - a collection of challenges coming this week that are played on Normal difficulty... but are not quite normal. Go see! (Louis Wu 13:13:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - The Maw
SonGhoharotto has finished up his rewrite of the first Halo story, incorporating canon material from later works. The Maw went online last night, and has met with forum praise - go give it a read! (Louis Wu 13:09:24 UTC) (permalink)

So that's what Thor was about!
padraig08 stumbled across a pretty funny mashup that explains a few things... (Louis Wu 13:08:54 UTC) (permalink)

News May 30 2011

Knocking Down the Pillar
If you need some help with the Weekly Challenge this week (Pillar of Autumn, Legendary, All Skulls On), you've got a couple of choices already. Tyrant's Mythic Guide should always be a first stop - but if that doesn't do it for you, swing by High Speed Halo, where RC Master's sub-30-minute run is now on display. You might not be able to match his time - but you can certainly pick up a few pointers. (Louis Wu 19:05:47 UTC) (permalink)

I'd live there.
Gorgeous pano from BlueNinja. Nice way to spruce up a rainy Monday morning. (Louis Wu 15:52:54 UTC) (permalink)

New info obtainable from Reach Stats API
FyreWulff noticed a post on B.net from Achronos - looks like the Halo Stats API has been updated with some extra information about per-user cR and Challenge info. If you're developing apps, check this out! (Louis Wu 15:52:21 UTC) (permalink)

RTX Writeup
Lurono was one of the fewer than 500 people at the first offficial Rooster Teeth fan convention in Austin this weekend - swing by his post for a summary of what went down! (Louis Wu 15:51:36 UTC) (permalink)

Floodgate revisited
Rockslider stopped in yesterday to let our forum know that he's posted a commentated run-through of Halo 3's Floodgate - interesting read! (Louis Wu 15:51:02 UTC) (permalink)

Halo HD Rumors Resurface
So the rumors about a HD remake of the first Halo are ramping up again - The BS Police found a mention that the latest issue of Xbox 360 World is hoping to see it at E3, and OXM UK is happy to join in the speculation, too (thanks, kornman00). We'll need to wait and see - E3 is just over a week away. (Louis Wu 15:49:49 UTC) (permalink)

Long, Tall, Tower
Hedge put together a very nice pano on Tempest... and then had to go and make it dirty. Oh, Hedge. (The thread's pretty funny, though.) (Louis Wu 15:48:59 UTC) (permalink)

Not so much OUCH, as AWESOME
GreyThor posted a summary of his experience at the All's Well LAN that happened last weekend - but the absolute best part of his writeup concerned the drive back, not the LAN itself. Go give it a read. I'm still smiling. (Louis Wu 15:48:26 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - Keyes
Saturday evening, SonGoharotto posted the latest chapter in his canon-friendly Halo rewrite - Keyes takes us through the recovery of the Captain's neural implants. Great read! (Louis Wu 15:47:58 UTC) (permalink)

News May 29 2011

Halo There, Gorgeous
If you get a chance, check out Waypoint today for a look back at the Halo Array, another story-based piece giving an overview of the deadly ringworlds built by the Forerunners. As always, it can be viewed from your console or WP7 phone as well. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 17:55:34 UTC) (permalink)

News May 28 2011

Halo Community Tournament: The ties that bind, the night starts here

A light crackle fills the air, raising the hair on their necks. Fire and fury pumps in their blood. Twenty-eight communities will charge into battle. Only one will reign supreme.

On the other side of the river, a large commotion rings in the air. Smoke, pops and laughter rise from the jubilant crowd, cheering on their favorite teams and enjoying the company of others.

Tonight, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST, the Halo Community Tournament will bring together groups from all corners of the Internet for one night of cavorting and celebration. For almost 10 years, these stat-trackers, news-rakers and mapmakers have built this community into what it is. We're expecting more than 430 people to participate in all.

If for some reason you can't join in the fun, Tashi0106 will be livestreaming NeoGAF's run in the tournament. The stream can be found here.

I'd like to give a special thanks to Daniel Duncan (ncsuDuncan), without whom none of this would be possible, and a very special thanks to David Ellis and Jessica Shea (bsangel). I think the Halo franchise is in good hands.

Good luck everyone, but more importantly, have fun! (Hitmonchan 21:50:08 UTC) (permalink)

Munky funks the brass, brings the gold
Back from Wu's epic LAN party, munky-058 made a behind-the-scenes documentary on what might be the last ever Halo LAN from the big man. It's a 200 MB download, clocking in at nearly 15 minutes, but it's certainly worth the watch! Update: Quicktime version here. (Hitmonchan 21:46:10 UTC) (permalink)

The Joy of LAN
The writeups from the All's Well LAN last weekend have begun to roll in - I guess it took folks the week to recover. I already mentioned nof's paean in the post mentioning the photo galleries - but you absolutely MUST watch Mig's dramatic reading of it. It's amazing. Also, hellmitre dropped in with a heartfelt reminiscence - definitely worth a read (Update: or a watch). If you're moved to respond with eloquence, please don't forget The Age of Gratitude, GrimBrother One's collection of Halo memories! (Louis Wu 01:42:13 UTC) (permalink)

Super Jackpot Weekend - 15k in Team Classic
FyreWulff continues to document the Super Jackpot Weekends - this week, it's Team Classic. If you hang out in the playlist on Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday, you've got a chance at a 15k jackpot each day. Not too shabby! If you missed any so far, He's got the entire set archived at his site. (Louis Wu 01:39:26 UTC) (permalink)

BAKSMAK and Dater's SWAT dualtage
RVideo sent us a link to BAKSMAK and Dater's SWAT dualtage - five and a half minutes of headshot madness. It's not surprising that the targeting control is seriously precise - after all, getting Killtastrophes is unusual, even in SWAT - but what struck me was how quickly these players could home in on the biggest threat after spinning around. It is this skill, I think, that allows these multikills to flow with such ease, more than anything else. After all, if you can eliminate the menace attacking you, you stay alive longer. A pretty fun watch. (Louis Wu 01:36:06 UTC) (permalink)

McFarlane Reach Series 4/5, plus Anniversary
Spawn.com has information about upcoming series of Halo Action Figures - this fall will bring three new groups. Go read about 'em! (Louis Wu 01:35:05 UTC) (permalink)

I hope they saved the gloves for auction.
urk's back in town, which means the Bungie Weekly Update is back in business. Ridiculing of Firefight idlers, displays of vehicle awesomeness, and complaints about man musk abound. Go read. (It's in our Weekly Update Archive, as well.) (Louis Wu 00:14:48 UTC) (permalink)

News May 27 2011

Grunt fireworks
Rockslider likes to blow things up. Big things, little things, doesn't matter. They just need to go boom. Latest article on Bad Cyborg is a how-to on lighting Grunts up spectacularly. Go read! (Louis Wu 19:51:44 UTC) (permalink)

A Young Man and his Halo
Co-Optimus' DjinniMan writes about Halo as a kid-friendly game, for the latest Co-Op Casual Friday column. Interesting piece! (For the record, my sons began playing Halo at ages 5 and 6, back in 2001.) (Louis Wu 19:22:19 UTC) (permalink)

After technical problems, MLG prepares for Columbus
Major League Gaming is hoping to give you uninterrupted streaming of MLG Columbus. Forbes blogger Paul Tassi sat down with Sundance DiGiovanni, co-founder of the professional gaming league, to talk about the increased popularity of MLG and the technical problems from Dallas. To prepare for the increased traffic, the league has teamed up with Streamworks, the company responsible for the royal wedding stream, to deliver a 720p stream directly from the website. MLG Columbus takes place June 3 through 5. (Hitmonchan 19:09:38 UTC) (permalink)

Living in a world where gravity doesn't matter
Fails of the Weak Volume 36 is live now (thanks, ZZoMBiE13) - I laughed. More than once. (Louis Wu 18:48:49 UTC) (permalink)

Video Games Live Meet-and-Greet with Marty O'Donnell
Like a mythical creature, the sighting of Marty O'Donnell is a rare treat to behold. With the help of the ESA and E3, Video Games Live has managed to capture the wild beast for your meeting and greeting pleasure. If you're going to L.A. for E3, or if you live in the area, the action takes place June 8. Tickets to the show start at $25 apiece. (Hitmonchan 18:12:45 UTC) (permalink)

All's Well that Ends - OUCH! (Pics Galore)
Last weekend, a rather large LAN event was held at HBO HQ - 33 people participated. Some of them were Bungie employees. There haven't been any text writeups yet (I'm still planning on doing one), but a huge number of photographs were taken over the weekend, and we've put up a gallery page for some of these. Swing by and check out the festivities! Update: nof steps up to the plate and serves up the first actual writeup. Nice one, nof. (The Subaru story is a lie. I would never drive and watch a video above, say, 60mph.) (Louis Wu 17:52:47 UTC) (permalink)

Make it look real... by using real sources
It's not in Stephen Loftus' Signs of Halo collection, but this message, painted on the interior wall of a C130 Hercules and photographed by MasterPIE (closeup here), may look familiar to some players... (Louis Wu 17:44:42 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just a couple of new pieces this week in the Fan Fiction section - go see! (Louis Wu 15:08:40 UTC) (permalink)

Failtacular
Halo Reach Fails, Wins, and WTF Moments Episode 20 has been posted (thanks to NeoGAF's Pnut for pointing it out) - it's the season finale, so all of these clips have appeared elsewhere... but I've only caught a couple of episodes, so most were new to me. Definitely some funny stuff in there! (Louis Wu 14:42:48 UTC) (permalink)

Challenges, Deconstructed
GhaleonEB delved deep into the Challenges system - go read the article at Forward Unto Dawn for information on how this system works! (Louis Wu 14:03:48 UTC) (permalink)

News May 26 2011

Playtime Trailer
CruelLEGACEY let us know that he's decided to put together a 4-part machinima mini-series - he's even launched a new domain for it. There's a trailer up at PlaytimeShow.com. Go see! (Louis Wu 21:32:18 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Afternoon At the Movies
A couple of movies today on Bungie.net's Comm Chatter:

• IGN's Top 10 Halo Reach Kills for 5.25.2011 is live - sort of a messy group this time around, but the number one clip is pretty impressive.
• Forge Café Recap Vid 7 is up - more community creations for your viewing pleasure.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 21:21:52 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's ODST Legendary Walkthrough - NMPD HQ
Tyrant sent word that the NMPD HQ chapter of his Halo 3: ODST Legendary Walkthrough is now online at YouTube. In less than half an hour, he can get you through Sniper Central! (There's also, as usual, some help with the Mombasa Streets segment between ONI Alpha Site and NMPD HQ.) Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:15:31 UTC) (permalink)

Crowdsourcing the important stuff
This made me laugh. Thanks, Narc. (Louis Wu 16:38:44 UTC) (permalink)

Of Hardpoints, and Such
Running a bit late this morning - sorry. Black Six noticed yet another update to Isaac Hannaford's blog - check out the Sabre concept art! This one started in 2D, but was mocked up in 3D because he wanted to be sure the model held up from all angles. (Louis Wu 16:36:39 UTC) (permalink)

News May 25 2011

Achievement PIG #25
The Achievement Hunter team has posted Achievement HORSE #25 - it's just PIG this week, because they're really really busy right now, but in general they're happier even when they die. Go watch! Thanks, ZZoMBiE13. (Louis Wu 21:36:05 UTC) (permalink)

tranQ and Friends 3 - A Community Montage
I go and I say I won't get behind on Bungie Comm Chatter offerings, and then I almost miss today's. Goodness. Swing by for a Halo 3/Reach community montage from tranQ and Friends - seven minutes of mellow music and quick-cut editing. (Louis Wu 20:52:13 UTC) (permalink)

Anoj's Reach Top 10 Kills, Ep 22 - Unusual Kills
GHOSTKILL let us know about Anoj's latest Halo: Reach Top 10 vid - this one is all about Unusual Kills. And some are very, very unusual indeed! (There's also an Honorable Mentions vid, if you simply can't get enough.) (Louis Wu 20:21:31 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Two Birds One Stone
FyreWulff sent us a note about a new Fire Team Zulu challenge - we missed it. Take it out on the Covenant! Two Birds, One Stone gives you the opportunity to snag a brand-new achievement on the FTZ site - "Mirror, Mirror" is unlocked when you complete the FTZ challenge on the same day that a matching challenge is up on Bungie.net. LD Winter is live until 3am PST tomorrow morning - so get to work! (Louis Wu 19:57:45 UTC) (permalink)

Professor Plum Avoids the Timmies
DHalo dug up a pretty interesting interview with Mrs Doublefire, over at 2old2play - this was published last September, but it's the first I'm hearing about it. Mrs Doublefire is a name that might be familiar to some - he was a major player in the Halo PC building community, and later worked for Bungie as an environment artist on Halo 3 and Reach. It's a fascinating discussion explaining how he got hired (through a contract agency), how Halo 3 would have been different without him, and more. (Did you know that Corvette was the geometry they used to make the 'Deliver Hope' trailer? I can see it now, but I certainly didn't know it before.) Go read! (Louis Wu 18:56:50 UTC) (permalink)

Fixing Continuity, Retroactively
Cody Miller has decided to put together a list of changes that would need to be made to correct the continuity breaks that Reach introduced into the Halo universe. It's a pretty small list. Go see if you agree with it! Update: Oops, I read the post carelessly. Cody didn't write this - he simply brought it to us. The author is William Swartzendruber. (Louis Wu 18:24:45 UTC) (permalink)

20 Questions: GodlyPerfection
Willy let us know that he's put up a new 20 Questions interview on CE United - this one is with GodlyPerfection, probably best known for his Forge Lessons. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 18:20:31 UTC) (permalink)

Tuesday's Comm Chatter Goodies
We missed yesterday's posts at Bungie's Comm Chatter - urk's back in town and updating again! Here's what you'll find if you mosey on over:

• A Minecraft user (and his friends) built a huge recreation of a UNSC Frigate - then made an exhaustive video showing you the details.
• Gamers Outreach Foundation has teamed up with The Game Fanatics to raise money to buy a portable gaming kiosk that will be donated to the Dallas VAMC. Swing by their site for more details!

We'll try not to get behind again. (Louis Wu 15:27:28 UTC) (permalink)

Before They Were Famous: Bungie
INSANEdrive noticed a little retrospective on Bungie's early days over at Kotaku - if you weren't around in the early 90s, you might have missed this stuff! Go see where they came from. (Louis Wu 15:06:33 UTC) (permalink)

Frostbite Chapter 5 (and 4)
AlphaGamma stopped by to let us know that Frostbite Chapter 5 is now live. (The last one we mentioned was Chapter 3, back on April 2 - you can find a link for Chapter 4 in his post, as well.) Nice work! (Louis Wu 15:03:45 UTC) (permalink)

FB Ninja FB Montage
NeoGAF's Booshka pointed out a montage from Ninja, a current player on Final Boss - the man is frighteningly accurate with a sniper rifle. (That's not to say he's a slouch with ANY other weapon.) Gameplay, in general, is over the top. (That's a good thing.) Go watch. (Louis Wu 15:00:21 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - Two Betrayals
SonGoharotto stepped up the pace a bit on his rewrite of the Halo storyline - Two Betrayals is live a scant three days after The Library. Reactions continue to be positive - go check it out! (Louis Wu 14:51:39 UTC) (permalink)

News May 24 2011

TSW Defiant Map Pack Competition
MaxRealflugel let us know that The Secrets Within is giving away a Defiant Map Pack code - just submit a picture of an EOD helmet (either drawn or screenshotted), and you've got a chance! (You'll also get your artwork included in the upcoming Revolutions volume 2.) More details on their site. (Louis Wu 20:20:41 UTC) (permalink)

Does That Count As A BeTrayAl?
So, remember that "Buy A Laptop, Get an Xbox 360" deal that Microsoft just started? Well, their accompanying marketing campaign just got a whole lot better. So... where do I get the free Spartan Laser? (GrimBrother One 18:41:05 UTC) (permalink)

Maybe it's just pretty pictures
Over at GAF, Zeouterlimits pointed out an article at Destructoid about the E3 MS Press Conference tickets... and what they might reveal. Interesting speculation! Update: Frankie stopped in to crush a few dreams - turns out, the agency who created the tickets just wanted attendees to put stickers on their their badges to identify with a favorite Xbox motif. Ah, well. (Louis Wu 16:34:19 UTC) (permalink)

More on Destiny - Maybe
Haven't been keeping up on news-scraping from NeoGAF - time to fix that. Willeth wrote up a little tidbit about Bungie's upcoming project, now known as 'Destiny' - his source is unnamed, and uncorroborated, but the information fits the data we have, so take it as you will. (Louis Wu 16:31:32 UTC) (permalink)

Cause I'm Skeeeee, Skee-ballin'!
Don't forget to check out Waypoint today, where you'll find an awesome new episode of This Spartan Life, featuring masters of the Forge. Our very own pete the duck is highlighted, who also brought it to our attention. Awesome stuff, go look! (GrimBrother One 14:56:28 UTC) (permalink)

Wal-Mart Reduces Its Reach
Looking for Reach on the cheap? Wal-Mart now has it for 25 Bucks (USD) Thanks to Schedonnardus for noticing! Update: KP pointed out that the price is lower on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, as well - it's $40 there, rather than $25, but there's no driving involved at all. (GrimBrother One 14:52:17 UTC) (permalink)

The Age of Gratitude
Do you love the Halo Franchise? If you do, you should visit The Age of Gratitude, a project designed to bring the memories and thoughts of both Halo fans and developers together to celebrate the things we love and remember from the past decade. Once you look around, feel free to send in your own to have it added in. There have been some awesome submissions so far, and we can't wait to see how it grows! (GrimBrother One 14:47:16 UTC) (permalink)

A Demo Has Finally Reached The Marketplace
ElzarTheBam brought to our attention the fact that there is now a Reach Demo on the Marketplace. Pretty cool! Fyrewulff also give a few more details on what to expect. Thanks also to Wario64 on the GAF. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 02:06:25 UTC) (permalink)

News May 23 2011

One owner, low miles
urk is back in town, and offering stars again! The Bungie All Stars Contest rolls on, with Week 18 asking for your best attempt at selling a Reach vehicle. Go read the full details at Bungie.net! (Louis Wu 19:15:12 UTC) (permalink)

But ducks are extinct...
Elnea released a new Halo Action Figure Theater episode - and she's managed to include a tie-in to a recent Rooster Teeth short (a pretty funny one, even!). Go check it out! (Louis Wu 15:56:37 UTC) (permalink)

It's because he has 3 fingers, right?
Arithmomaniac has kicked off a new Twitter feed - @ProphtOfTruth brings you short, timely messages from your favorite evil overlord! (Louis Wu 15:39:55 UTC) (permalink)

Video Wars
padraig08 pointed out a pretty cool piece of artwork on DeviantART - it was created for the cover for an issue of LEVEL Magazine last year. I thought maybe I'd seen this before - but I can't find any mention of it in our news, so maybe I hadn't. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:37:21 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - The Library
SonGoharotto continues his rewrite of the Halo storyline - again, if you're coming in late, he's adjusting the script to allow for canon material introduced after the first game. Latest chapter: The Library. (Louis Wu 15:29:20 UTC) (permalink)

The Delicate Heart of a Spartan - Ep 3
Avcracy stopped in this weekend with word of Episode 3 of 'The Delicate Heart of a Spartan', a machinima series from Firelight Studios. Language is definitely NSFW. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:28:44 UTC) (permalink)

News May 22 2011

Hannaford UNSC Troop Concepts
Black Six was kind enough to let us know that there is a new update to the Isaac Hannaford blog. This one looks at the UNSC Trooper tech. Give it a look! (GrimBrother One 20:25:06 UTC) (permalink)

Is There Also A Hyperfemale?
While TECJ0001 was up late waiting for many humans to potentially take the Great Journey, he decided to amuse himself with the opening episode of the new Arby 'N The Chief: Hypermail. I would try to explain it, but... yeah... Anyway, go watch! (GrimBrother One 19:00:47 UTC) (permalink)

A Brief History of The Covenant
Check out Waypoint today for a video piece on the Covenant. Always great to see more story stuff! (GrimBrother One 17:55:05 UTC) (permalink)

News May 21 2011

LANtascular Hijinks begin!
So, it begins. Click here to see folks comment and tweet about our last HALO lanparty, All's Well That Ends - OUCH!. Currently underway and with over 20 ppl attending, this is a shindig like no other (with both pros and cons!) No pics yet, but we're gonna work on sending some webcam pics as the day progresses. The hashtag we're using on twitter is #awolan. (Ding 14:58:42 UTC) (permalink)

Caution: Slow Grunts at Play
SEspider let us know that he updated a neat little piece of Halo art he made. pretty cool! (GrimBrother One 13:51:51 UTC) (permalink)

The Mona Lisa, Part 5
For those of you following the awesome The Mona Lisa motion comic from 343i, Episode 5 is up on Waypoint. As always, you can also catch it on your console for full big-screen glory. Go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 13:06:45 UTC) (permalink)

Invincible? I. Think. Not.
NsU Soldier shows us what it takes to slay a methane demon. Awesome stuff! (GrimBrother One 12:53:14 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak 35
Is there a better way to start off your weekend than a video full of fails? Have you ever seen a monkey knife fight in international waters? There's no comparison. But I guess this will do. Thanks, Sparkypinball, for letting us know! (Hitmonchan 00:06:31 UTC) (permalink)

Bungled Weekly Update: 5/20/11
Dani steps down on a high note in his final Bungled Weekly Update. There's some fantastic stuff in here, including the tentative June Matchmaking updates, two Blame Ghaleons, a shoutout to the Halo Community Tournament and a recap of "Destiny." I hear the guy who broke that story is amazingly cute – AND humble. I hope these continue if the Weekly Update goes kaput. Give it a read! (Hitmonchan 00:03:27 UTC) (permalink)

News May 20 2011

The epic conclusion to Bungie's ping-pong rematch
CaptainTony let us know the second part of Bungie's glorious ping-pong rematch against Penny Arcade is online. Everybody look for clues! Haha. Go watch! (Hitmonchan 17:23:15 UTC) (permalink)

Visual Love Redux
Yesterday, we mentioned a Hedgemony tribute to Halo environment art - he's expanded it, and given it a home now. Swing by for all the details! (Louis Wu 14:55:29 UTC) (permalink)

Myyke's HBO 'All Halos' Competition: Week Three
Myyke's back with another week's worth of Halo PC Nameplates - erm, Halo PC serial codes (which you can use to GET a Halo PC Nameplate on Bungie.net). As a bonus, he's also got a Defiant Map Pack code to give away. Read his post for full details, including what you need to do to be in the running for any of the prizes. You've got until next Thursday - don't leave it 'til the last minute! (Louis Wu 14:53:19 UTC) (permalink)

My Leg Feels Funny
A couple of days ago, we mentioned a video project showing off a Covenant glassing event; feedback from the thread on our forum was incorporated by the creator, and a final version was created. Thanks to INSANEdrive for bringing it to us. (Louis Wu 14:50:11 UTC) (permalink)

Bounty for Reach Done Quick
Cody Miller wants to see you beat Reach quickly... and he's willing to pay you for it. He's put up $150 US for the first person to beat Reach on Legendary in one sitting, without dying, in under 3 hours. (Read his post, and followups in the thread, for full details; it would be terrible to miss some of the requirements and lose out on the prize!) (Louis Wu 14:49:30 UTC) (permalink)

Romeo artwork
Hedgemony posted a few single panels showing off artwork for the upcoming Romeo comic. Gorgeous! Update: These images are from his recent Romeo Prelude comic, not the upcoming One Shot. (Louis Wu 14:45:54 UTC) (permalink)

Project Lumoria Updated
Subtank stopped by yesterday with word that Project Lumoria (a Halo: Custom Edition mod) had updated their single-player map... and MatthewDratt, a member of the TM Mapping Team (the group behind this project), followed up with a download link from Lumoria's own website (along with a new trailer for the project showing off the improvements). Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:45:27 UTC) (permalink)

The Failings of Halo Wars
MaxRealflugel let us know about a new article at The Secrets Within - he looks at Halo Wars, and discusses the weaknesses he believes damaged that game. (Louis Wu 14:43:50 UTC) (permalink)

Reach for Success
Sgt Hartsock let us know about a news piece from back in March on a Sacramento TV channel - it focuses on a boy with muscular dystrophy, and how Halo: Reach is helping him improve his life. While the story is still up on their website, the video seems to be offline. Never fear, though - Sgt Hartsock recorded it off the screen. (Louis Wu 14:42:42 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Just two new pieces available for your reading pleasure in the Fan Fiction section this week - go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 14:41:47 UTC) (permalink)

News May 19 2011

IGN's Top 10 Reach Kills: 05.19.11
ChrisTheeCrappy let us know about the latest iteration of IGN's Top 10 Reach Kills - this one's well above average. Some really fun clips in there! (Louis Wu 23:23:12 UTC) (permalink)

Fire Team Zulu: Natural Formations
FyreWulff sent word that there's a new Fire Team Zulu challenge online - Natural Formations has you playing on Halo (the second level of the first game), but you're not allowed to use a sniper (or give one to your Marine passenger). See how many Marines you can save! (Louis Wu 20:39:55 UTC) (permalink)

Forgin' Away
We missed a couple of new vids highlighted on Bungie.net's Comm Chatter yesterday - apologies. There's a new Forge Café recap video (showing off some nice custom content), and more custom content from the Ready Up Live crew on a couple of maps. Go watch; maybe you'll find maps for your friends on your own Customs night! (Louis Wu 20:38:49 UTC) (permalink)

New discovery supports old rumor

I feel bad for Jeff Stanler.
Starting May 22, if you are a student and you buy a Windows 7 PC over $699, you will receive a free Xbox 360. To promote this deal, Microsoft has posted an ad called 'Guess who's coming to college?', featuring some pretty nice Spartan armor. Heh. Thanks to Gundamguy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:33:59 UTC) (permalink)

When the Sky Ends
Edge sent word of 'When the Sky Ends', a short Halo 3/Reach montage showing gameplay from the Halotracker community. Go spend a couple of minutes! (Louis Wu 13:18:50 UTC) (permalink)

Romeo Prelude Comic (and more)
Hedgemony released a prelude to his upcoming Romeo-based comic - go check it out! (While you're viewing great Hedgemony-tweaked artwork, take a look at his Visual Love thread - it's a tribute to Bungie's environment artists.) (Louis Wu 13:15:46 UTC) (permalink)

Modern War Gear Solid - part 5
BlueNinja noticed that the last episode of Modern War Gear Solid has been released - Master Chief plays an important role (and even RvB gets a nod!). Go watch! (Louis Wu 13:14:54 UTC) (permalink)

Sozo
Sl'askia decided to combine the Halo and Tron universes, in a small way - check out Sozo! (Louis Wu 13:14:23 UTC) (permalink)

News May 18 2011

Achievement HORSE Episode 24
Check out Achievement HORSE Episode 24! Unless of course, you don't like fun. Or awesomeness. Or kittens. Anyway, thanks to 7he grunt w/a plasma pistol for letting us know. (GrimBrother One 22:22:48 UTC) (permalink)

Alternate Reach Intro
Over on NeoGAF, Tunavi spliced together campaign and promotional footage to create an alternate introduction to Reach. In his version, the game skips the opening Covenant invasion and drops you right onto the shores of war. Very well done! (Hitmonchan 22:02:08 UTC) (permalink)

BeepBeep
Hedgemony pointed out that the Bungie Webcams have changed - are they gearing up for a blastoff? (Louis Wu 11:47:11 UTC) (permalink)

A collection of Halo love
It's not all about tattoos (in fact, some of the pics are just scantily clad girls playing Halo), but theBRIGADE has a collection of Halo wearings (tattoos, armor, shirts, whatever). NSFW. Thanks, Metalingus627. (Louis Wu 11:46:03 UTC) (permalink)

Grargghhh!
masugn was the first to let us know about a new entry in Isaac Hannaford's blog - go check out some Brute redesign concepts for Reach! Gotta love the belly... (Louis Wu 11:44:33 UTC) (permalink)

Forward
NeoGAF's Booshka pointed out a video entitled 'Forward', a new Halo Reach jump videoo from jagged Shrapnel and jumprs.org. Some very, very cool footage. Go watch! (Louis Wu 11:43:38 UTC) (permalink)

News May 17 2011

Halo: Faith Wants You
In what looks to be a clever way of increasing their post-production staff, the Halo: Faith crew is hosting a contest - produce a commercial advertising the movie and you could win a chance to work on it in post. Read the details in munky-058's forum post! (Louis Wu 22:30:36 UTC) (permalink)

Doubles Attack: Unearthed Edition
Jeremiah announced today that Doubles Attack: Unearthed Edition is live for a limited time in the DLC playlist - it's 2-person firefight on Unearthed, exclusively. Thanks to FyreWulff for noticing. (Louis Wu 22:27:24 UTC) (permalink)

Here a BOB, there a BOB...
Lord Friendship has been playing with BOBs - if you, also, play with BOBs, he needs your help. Go brainstorm with him! (Louis Wu 19:28:32 UTC) (permalink)

Double Troubles Highlight Reel
Back in March, we mentioned a Team Schooly D event labeled "Sunday Night Fights Vol 1: Double Troubles" - a best-of-5 doubles tournament between Foregunners (Retsamolah and Hellmitre) and Team NartFOpc (NartFOpc and Avateur). It was broadcast live, and is still available as a stream replay on Justin.tv... but your view in the stream is Schooly's, from WAY above the action. Cody Miller put together a pretty slick highlights vid - it won't tell you anything about who won, or how the flow of the games went, but it's a high-energy, nicely-composited demonstration of Halo pwnage. He's provided a bunch of different options (and we've made all of them available as locally-hosted files - use ours first and be nice to Cody) - grab or stream your copy of choice, and enjoy the action! (Louis Wu 16:15:12 UTC) (permalink)

Covenant Orbital Strike, Reproduced
=sw=warlord has been working on a video version of a glassing event - and with the help of INSANEdrive, you can see a screenshot and a video on our forum. Pretty cool! (Louis Wu 15:52:11 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Map Repository Updated
FyreWulff stopped by with information about his Reach Map Repository - he's nearly finished collecting base maps (the maps that come on your Reach disc or in your DLC downloads have been edited for play in Matchmaking; you can now easily download the edited versions from the Map Repository) and gametypes. Plus, it's got a spiffy new interface! Check it out. Handy tool! (Louis Wu 15:50:13 UTC) (permalink)

Beating the Package, LASO
As you've probably noticed, the Weekly Challenge involves completing The Package on Legendary, with All Skulls On - if you're looking for some help with this, you should know there are several options. As always, your first stop should be Tyrant's Mythic Guide - there are tips and tricks, both in text and video format. You should ALSO know that you'll likely run into situations that are not covered, or maybe you're just someone who needs a different approach to certain challenges. High Speed Halo posted a new run from Dark Devastation which whips through the level in 25 minutes (Thanks, RC Master and NOKYARD). This run shows some gutsy moves - though I haven't tried it yet, I can easily see that opening sequence taking me a dozen attempts - but if you're successful, this has some pretty amazing shortcuts. Finally, if you're the type of player that likes to approach these challenges as part of a group, Tyrant and his buddies beat this puppy on Quad Mythic - four-player Mythic, pretty much the toughest Reach has to offer. The 49 minute video is rendered at Bungie.net for your convenience. Prepare yourself with some or all of these tools... and then tackle one of the most valuable weekly challenges to date! (Louis Wu 15:26:51 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Avatar Collection for May
Waypoint has announced a few cool additions to the Halo Avatar Collection on the XBL Marketplace. A remember Reach T-shirt and a pet Grunt on a Mongoose might be just the thing your digital self was looking for. Go check it out! (GrimBrother One 10:49:48 UTC) (permalink)

News May 16 2011

Marissa's Bunny Raffle - win cool stuff
Marissasbunny.com is holding a raffle - main prize is an iPad, but secondary prizes include a Joyride Studios 2002 First Edition Cortana figure, sealed in the packaging, and a Halo: Reach Legendary Edition. Tickets are only $2 - go buy some! (Louis Wu 22:18:00 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's ODST Legendary Walkthrough - ONI: Alpha Site
Tyrant's Legendary Walkthrough of Halo 3: ODST continues with ONI: Alpha Site - 25 minutes of carnage and Covenant-bashing. Go watch, and learn some tricks! (Louis Wu 20:46:01 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Community Tournament
Calling all Halo fan sites: On May 28, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST, you're invited to a night of fighting, fun and free swag. Put your community's pride on the line in a 6v6 tournament! Play custom games with 343 Industries! Each community should designate a community leader, who will organize the site's members. In order for your site to join, the leader needs to email Hitmonchan by Friday. The full details, including prizes and tournament layout, can be found at the official Waypoint thread. Special thanks to both ncsuDuncan and 343 Industries - without these guys, this wouldn't have been possible. Good luck! (Louis Wu 20:37:14 UTC) (permalink)

Taking Halo too seriously
Don't listen to this at work, unless you're wearing headphones... but it's pretty amusing. Thanks, padraig08. (Louis Wu 16:27:57 UTC) (permalink)

Dont go without a goodbye
SEspider stopped in yesterday, with a pretty nice piece of Halo art created by DeviantARTist Texly-D41 - it's based on some roleplaying. (Louis Wu 16:27:16 UTC) (permalink)

It ain't Braille, I'll tell you that.
Stephen Loftus sent along another small batch of new Halo signs (mostly Civilian, showing up on this page, but also a pair of UNSC signs at the end of this page) - I'm most intrigued by the Jotun signs. Will anyone ever decipher those dots? (Louis Wu 16:26:15 UTC) (permalink)

Warthog TrickTage 3
Kalec released Warthog TrickTage 3, in which Warthogs are treated more like skate/snowboards than utility vehicles. The video is chock-full of grinds, 720s, flips, and more. Camera angles are quite fun. Take a look! Thanks to RVideo for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 16:25:32 UTC) (permalink)

News May 15 2011

FoA is the Waypoint Weekend Webcomic
It's not new content per say to us here at HBO, but it's worth mentioning that our own ridiculously talented Leviathan finds his Fistful of Arrows comic picked as the Waypoint Weekend Webcomic. Yet more recognition for outstanding work. As always, you can find the entire story right here. Great work, Levi! (GrimBrother One 22:03:26 UTC) (permalink)

What Is The UNSC?
A new universe piece up on Waypoint sheds some light on the UNSC and its role in human history Always good to see this kind of stuff. Go check it out! (GrimBrother One 15:34:28 UTC) (permalink)

HaloCraft
CrazedOne1988 took the audio from the StarCraft II Launch Trailer and coupled it with both cutscene and in-game visuals from Halo: Reach - and the end result is just plain awesome. Go watch HaloCraft! (Louis Wu 05:05:13 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint's Weekly Wrap-Up
Hey, while you're over at Halo Waypoint, watching The Mona Lisa 4, check out their Weekly Wrapup - there's plenty of good stuff to chew on. New toys from McFarlane, a couple of montages (Halo 2 and Reach), a cool 3D pic (the Wraith explosion is amazing), a truly adorable Master Chief, and plenty more. If you missed anything this week - it's all there! (Louis Wu 05:03:02 UTC) (permalink)

OWaW update
TriBlox's Voho stopped in with news about Halo: Out With a Whimper, the fan-made sidescroller - the engine's been rewritten, and everything is "better than ever". You read all the nitty-gritty details at Mod DB! (Louis Wu 05:00:36 UTC) (permalink)

The Mona Lisa 4
Looks like The Mona Lisa Part 4 is up now, both on Halo Waypoint's website and on Waypoint on Xbox Live... things are getting pretty tense! Thanks, General Vagueness. (Louis Wu 04:54:26 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - 343 Guilty Spark
SonGoharotto continues his rewrite of the Halo storyline; if you'll remember, he's integrating later canon material into the first game's tale. He's up to 343 Guilty Spark. This is a pretty interesting project, and it looks like he's well on his way to finishing it! (Louis Wu 04:53:02 UTC) (permalink)

News May 14 2011

High Speed Halo Hijinx
RC Master provided a nice wrapup of recent goings-on over at High Speed Halo:

• Dark Devastation whipped through Reach's New Alexandria in Mythic mode in 12:12 at the end of last week.
• RC Master took down ODST's Kikowani Station with nearly 550,000 points on Legendary.
• zusaij set the new speed record for ODST's Tayari Plaza on Normal - 2:03.
• Then he did the same for ODST's Uplift Reserve, on Easy - 2:24.
• KroKus beat Reach's Winter Contingency on Heroic in 8:48.
• Finally, GevarM96 and GewehrM48 flew through Reach's Tip of the Spear on Easy in just 7:02.

This last run debuts a new format for videos - just one screen at a time, flipping back and forth between players based on who's doing the most interesting stuff. They're looking for feedback on the change - swing by their forum and talk to them! (Louis Wu 14:22:33 UTC) (permalink)

Community Map Database
Homeboyd903 and friends are maintaining a thread at Bungie.net that contains all the community maps that are now, or have ever been, in Reach Matchmaking. If you want a chance to look over these maps without being shot at, swing by and grab copies! Great resource. (Louis Wu 12:36:47 UTC) (permalink)

Concept Art Roundup
Jimmy Jangles has put together a nice collection of Reach Concept art from a variety of sources - it's a great roundup! Go look. (Louis Wu 12:33:37 UTC) (permalink)

Super Jackpot Weekend in Action Sack!
FyreWulff reminds you that this weekend there's a Super Jackpot potential in the Action Sack playlist; if you play, you have the chance to win a bonus 11,000 cR jackpot added to your Slot Machine total at the end of the game. It's supposed to be limited to once per day per person... but we've got multiple reports of multiple wins from yesterday. Go give it a shot! (FyreWulff is also keeping track of Super Jackpot weekends on his website, so you can watch how the offers change.) (Louis Wu 12:30:10 UTC) (permalink)

News May 13 2011

Filling in the Void
Has urk left a man-sized hole in your heart? Dani from Forward Unto Dawn stepped up to the BWU plate with his "Bungled Weekly Update," a fantastic read with plenty of info and a hilariously boring Blame Ghaleon. Please, sir, I want some more. (Hitmonchan 23:59:50 UTC) (permalink)

HBO Friends Montage Episode 1
ElzarTheBam put together his first montage - pretty nice clips and composition! It's up on YouTube, but there's been some wonkiness with the soundtrack (first it was on, then it was turned off, then it came back on again), so we put up local copies of the video. You can watch it online, or download QuickTime/WMP9 versions. (Louis Wu 21:02:01 UTC) (permalink)

Ze physics... she don't make sense
Wow. That's one heck of a stool. (Louis Wu 19:24:28 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak #34
GHOSTKILL sent word that Fails of the Weak #34 is now live - that last clip is really, really weird. Check it out! (Louis Wu 19:11:00 UTC) (permalink)

Friends of the Road
SicktistiK let us know about 'Friends of the Road', a video put together with Emptyproductions. (It's also available as an AVI download from Gamefront.) Great cinematography (love the reverse climb on Caged), lots of fun clips - bloopers and great plays alike. A good watch! (Louis Wu 18:17:49 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Eep - almost forgot... there are a couple of new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section - go look! (Louis Wu 16:41:58 UTC) (permalink)

How Halo Reach Should Have Ended
Ray Reece pointed out a recent episode of the webcomic The Underfold - looks like the artist would have been happy with a slightly more upbeat ending to Halo: Reach... (Louis Wu 16:28:05 UTC) (permalink)

Sort of a Philly Flyers vibe...
Pretty intriguing find by Willeth over at NeoGAF - Bungie invited Penny Arcade back for a ping pong rematch... and Jonty Barnes wore a shirt with a pretty intriguing logo on it. Does this tell you anything about Bungie's newest project? (Louis Wu 15:42:34 UTC) (permalink)

...and the 'goose you rode in on.
Sl'askia pointed out that Achievement HORSE #23 is now live. I think both Jack and Geoff are getting a bit tired of these... I'm not sure how long the series will continue. Some of these maps, however, look pretty cool! (Louis Wu 15:16:58 UTC) (permalink)

Millions dead; posters ruined.
Jordan117 noticed a pretty interesting page over at the website of graphic designer Sean Haas - it's a look at the signs found in Reach, with commentary on their design. (He looks at many, many fewer signs than Stephen Loftus has - but he includes discussion and connections, which is intriguing.) (Louis Wu 15:14:29 UTC) (permalink)

Grifball League Signups - Open
Goose Checka let us know that signups for GrifballHub's Good Games League are now open - swing by their site for full details. There's even a highlight reel! (Louis Wu 15:10:39 UTC) (permalink)

News May 12 2011

A Spartan Sculpt - you can have one too
Last month, I mentioned that Jason Evans had completed some Master Chief sculpts in cold-cast bronze, and sometime earlier, I mentioned that he was interested in selling them to help him pay for the mold. They really seemed pretty cool to me - so I bought a pair. One is for me - it goes on one of my Halo shelves. The other will be given away in an upcoming HBO contest/giveaway. (I have no idea when; I'd first have to come up with a plan for the contest itself.) I took a few shots of this bad boy out in front of our newly-sprouted flowers - because what's more warriorlike than a flowered background? If you can't wait until we actually give the second one away, swing by Jason's gallery here at HBO - there's an email link that will let you get ahold of him directly, and you can buy one right now.

330k

293k

339k

Lipstick on a Pig
Arithmomaniac continues to make our forum more useful - his latest script for your viewing pleasure adds a local timezone to forum posts. No more need to do the math yourself! (He's also upgraded the more general HBO Forum Enhancer script - it now sports a fancy options box.) (Louis Wu 17:46:12 UTC) (permalink)

IGN's Top Kills: 05.11.11
There's a new Top 10 Halo Reach Kills vid over at IGN - fun tosee that sometimes the weekly Blame Stosh comes from Top 10 vids, and other times clips for the Top 10 vids come from Blame Stosh. Totally loved the Pro-Pipe bomb carrier kill, and the unlucky Rocket ricochet. Go watch! Thanks, ChrisTheeCrappy. (Louis Wu 17:41:21 UTC) (permalink)

Free Tix for Halo: Faith Movie Premiere
Bart Wagner pointed out that the Halo: Faith Facebook page is giving away 200 tickets to the theatrical premiere of the movie ("Locations to be determined") - if you want in on this, swing by and check out the post! (Louis Wu 16:32:14 UTC) (permalink)

Did You Know?
CaneCutter dropped of a pair of videos on our forum that might inspire some creative thinking - check out his New Year's Eve Ball Drop and a pretty interesting Reach glitch that might be pretty useful! (Louis Wu 14:03:06 UTC) (permalink)

Silly user name, fun artwork
SEspider found some nice Halo artwork from DeviantART's Spank-Me-Elmo - an additional look through her gallery shows off an Arbiter pic, a Spec-Ops Elite, and an Avatar-inspired aviation concept she calls the 'HawkMoth'. Go look! (Louis Wu 14:01:26 UTC) (permalink)

No Other Marine Remains
Norm Scott from 1UP wanted to share the latest addition to his growing series of "point & click" conversions of popular games. If it's on this site, you can probably guess what game he's given the treatment to this time. Very funny, go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 13:01:54 UTC) (permalink)

News May 11 2011

Maptacular
Machinima has a pair of Forge-highlight videos today:

• Episode two of "Halo: Reach Top Ten Maps of the Week" spotlights an impressive airplane forge, an air hockey rink and a bridge that reminds me of the Assault on the Control Room.
• The new "Halo Reach Forges" focuses on The Destructaur, an Infection map made by Buddah Crane & Mander A1.

Go watch! (Hitmonchan 19:18:32 UTC) (permalink)

More info about Bungie Aerospace begins to bleed out
Little by little, infomation surrounding Bungie Aerospace is bubbling to the surface. GameSpot reports that newly incorporated Bungie Aerospace has trademarked "Crimson." The trademark filing lists it as "computer game software downloadable from a global computer network." Sounds like Joseph Staten's comment about "a world that was always there for you" is becoming clearer. Thanks to NeoGAF's HiredN00bs for the tip. (Hitmonchan 18:55:10 UTC) (permalink)

Jackals of Faith
munky-058 let us know about a new piece of concept art from the Halo: Faith crew, this time a Jackal. Check it out and see what you think! (GrimBrother One 12:38:47 UTC) (permalink)

Separating the Goose from her Eggs
CNN has a meaty piece on Halo after Bungie - and Bungie after Halo. Even comes with a short video interview with Frank O'Connor. Go read! (Louis Wu 11:39:03 UTC) (permalink)

On Sale, Weta You Like It Or Not
For the next three days, Weta's Master Chief and Flood sculpture is only $99 (in US dollars) - this is significantly off the normal price of $297. (We last mentioned this sculpture in September 2008, when it was still in the preorder phase.) The silver-plated version brought over $1,800 at auction... this might be your last chance at one of these! (Headline shamelessly stolen from Grim's now nonexistent double post, because it's pretty tasty.) (Louis Wu 11:17:12 UTC) (permalink)

TFS plays Reach
Ritchie Martin let us know that Team Four Star, the guys behind the Dragon Ball Z Abridged videos, has started playing Halo: Reach with their 'Let's Play' series. You can see a trailer here - or jump right in with the existing videos on their Let's Play page. Oddness... (Louis Wu 11:16:37 UTC) (permalink)

News May 10 2011

'The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess' Mod for Halo: CE
Sweet mother of pearl: M2KLink posted a YouTube video showcasing a "Twilight Princess" map and mod for Halo: CE. The Banshee is a little out of place, but other than that, this is incredible. Zelda customs, anyone? (Hitmonchan 19:30:22 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Reach: Top 10 Armor Ability Kills
Episode 21 of Anoj's "Halo Reach: Top 10" series has some ridiculous armor ability moments. Go watch! (Hitmonchan 19:22:19 UTC) (permalink)

Building Worlds - A Look Inside
If you want some samples of the artwork inside 'The Art of Building Worlds' (the upcoming Halo art collection), swing by Kotaku - they got a few shots. Nice! Thanks, Steven Carson. (Louis Wu 19:15:25 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's Mythic Tips and Tricks - Volume II (plus)
Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris sent word of Tyrant's Mythic Tips & Tricks - Volume II - five tricks that can make speedruns or LASO runs far more feasible for mere mortals like you and me. Winter Contingency, Exodus, ONI Sword Base, and the Package just got a bit easier! And while we're on the subject of Mythic news, check out Quad Nightfall, a run Tyrant did with Michael Archer, Leumas Loch, and X Factor 51. It's not the first Quad Mythic run of this level (MATCLAN and friends completed it last week), but all players stay together - great teamwork! Worth a watch - it's only 5 minutes long. (Louis Wu 14:30:52 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Faith Updates
Hitmonchan collected a bunch of new links about the Halo: Faith project - but he didn't get around to posting them to our front page. I guess I'm gonna scoop him with his own work. Check out some concept art of Hunters in action (we pointed out the model a few days ago), an interview with one of the Faith actors, and a call for Visual Effects Artists - they're churning along! Go explore. (Louis Wu 14:01:00 UTC) (permalink)

The Grif Cannon
CruelLEGACEY sent word of The Grif Cannon, a weapon envisioned by RvB's Sarge that could use Spartans as... well, bullets. Still needs work. (Louis Wu 14:00:30 UTC) (permalink)

Hannaford's Concept Art Collection Grows
Quirel was the first to tell us about new updates at Isaac Hannaford's blog - check out some early Spartan concepts, and a tie-in with a current DARPA starship challenge! (Louis Wu 13:59:35 UTC) (permalink)

News May 9 2011

Loving Tribute
Today, I received a pretty cool sculpture in the mail - fansites can leave such a strong imprint on their creators that they want to honor the memory with a gorgeous piece of custom art. High Impact Halo will not be forgotten, for at least as long as my Halo shelf is visible... (Louis Wu 21:19:11 UTC) (permalink)

10th Anniversary Halo Art Book
Last month, we mentioned 'The Art of Building Worlds', a new Halo art book. Today, Halo Waypoint has more information about the book - looking forward to this! Thanks, CaptainTony. (Louis Wu 21:12:45 UTC) (permalink)

20 Sides of Nerd: Futon Computing
Marissa's Dad, of Marissa's Bunny fame (have you visited recently?), recently had Halcylon (once of the Hawty McBloggy forums, now working for Bungie) on the 20 Sides of Nerd podcast - interesting discussion! Go listen. (If you want to hear the rest of the podcasts in the series, you can find the full list on iTunes.) (Louis Wu 20:55:21 UTC) (permalink)

I Dream Of Mickey
cellxz wanted to show off a very cool project that he worked on: an ODST-themed Dreamscene/screensaver. Check it out and then let him know what you think! (GrimBrother One 17:25:53 UTC) (permalink)

Comm Chatter Goodies
It's kind of a slow news day, so I leave it to Bungie to pick up the slack:

• Halo biggest fan painted a portrait of B.net's omnipotent overlord, the Bungie Webmaster.
• Forge Spotlight is back with a bonus round episode. This one features the maps briefly seen in the opening title sequence.
• x 7revorBlack x travels further down the rabbit hole with his third Reach Portal video.

If you guys have anything you'd like to share with me (montages, photos, personal secrets), drop me a line on my Twitter. It's cold, lonely and needs attention. (Hitmonchan 17:02:32 UTC) (permalink)

zizi custom minifigs
AceForge stopped in with a few DeviantART images he ran across; apparently, DeviantARTist pentecil has been creating some very cool minifigures. These are really cool! (There's a Master Chief, an Emile, and a battle between Emile and an Elite. (Louis Wu 16:25:25 UTC) (permalink)

Your Friendly Neighborhood Naked AI
Halo Waypoint has posted a nice little summary of Cortana, and how she fits into the Halo storyline. Go watch! (Louis Wu 16:21:19 UTC) (permalink)

UK LAN Tourney
Ajax 013 stopped in with word of an upcoming LAN tournament in the UK - swing by his post for full details! (Louis Wu 16:10:01 UTC) (permalink)

News May 8 2011

Halotracks Screenshot Contest: May Matchmaking
Halotracks' Spencermx14 let us know about a screenshot contest they're holding - submit a multiplayer screenshot, win a Blue Avatar helmet! More details on their site. (Louis Wu 20:08:50 UTC) (permalink)

I bet that chafes.
Black Six let us know about a live-size Master Chief costume... made of LEGOs. Read a post-mortem written by the creator at The Brothers Brick! (Louis Wu 20:07:03 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - Assault on the Control Room
SonGoharotto is back with another chapter in his Halo [R]Evolved rewrite - Assault on the Control Room has now gotten the "what if the original Halo had been written with future canon in mind?" treatment. Go see! (Louis Wu 14:41:50 UTC) (permalink)

The Big Bang Theory - Halo 3 Montage
Imrane-117 stopped by with word of a Halo 3 montage from The Big Bang Theory, a French group - it's a monster piece (over 15 minutes), with some very nice editing by BBT's Red Link. This montage does what all good montages should make you do - it makes me want to go play some Halo. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:22:28 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie incorporates 'Bungie Aerospace'

Looks like Team Bungie is blasting off again.

As I was digging through the Washington State Licensing website, I found an entry for "Bungie Aerospace Corporation." According to the Washington Secretary of State website, it was filed on April 27. It has a newer business ID number than Bungie, Inc. and the Bungie Foundation. Company President Harold Ryan and Ondraus Jenkins, head of strategy and corporate development, are listed as governing people. (Actually, Harold's name is spelled Harlod Ryan.)

Hopefully we'll find out what this means on Bungie Day, July 7. (Hitmonchan 04:03:00 UTC) (permalink)

News May 7 2011

Apparently, bs angel Finds Race Fast and Easy
CruelLEGACEY sent along a wrap-up of the Waypoint Community Race Night that took place last night. Look like fun was had by all! Go give it a read, and make plans to join up next time! (GrimBrother One 18:45:23 UTC) (permalink)

Friday Fails
padraig08 put together a few funny fails for your viewing pleasure - "Boarding Action" made me laugh out loud. Add your own to the thread! (Louis Wu 15:04:16 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Faith Hunter Concept
munky-058 noticed a new Hunter concept on the Halo: Faith Facebook page - the feet are a little funky, but the creature itself looks scary! (Louis Wu 15:01:46 UTC) (permalink)

Portal: Reach - Chamber B
Overdoziz pointed to a second integration of Reach and Portal 2, again by x 7revorBlack x (we mentioned the first one on Thursday) - very cool work! (Louis Wu 15:00:07 UTC) (permalink)

War and Peace
Black Six sent word that there's another Reach concept art update on Isaac Hannaford's blog - this time, it's civilians and Marines. Those New Alexandria women are FASHIONABLE! (Louis Wu 14:56:58 UTC) (permalink)

The Mona Threesa
Don't forget, Episode 3 of The Mona Lisa motion comic from 343 is live in Waypoint. Catch it on the web portal (linked above), your console, or your WP7 phone. Go check it out! (GrimBrother One 14:35:08 UTC) (permalink)

Wait - I'm still wearing my pants?
Last night the Bungie Weekly Update went up (as it does most Fridays) - it's full of sad news. This is the last Weekly Update in May, for example. And Bungie will NOT officially have a presence at E3. (That one threw ME for a loop.) But it does have lots of cool Jetpacking pictures, and comforting news that Bungie.net stats aren't going anywhere anytime soon, and some very cool Stephen Colbert-based artwork. And news about a 9,000 Super Jackpot available in Big Team Battle this weekend. And a Blame Stosh that will make you bang your head against the desk. Go read it all! (As usual, it's in our Weekly Update Archive, as well.) (Louis Wu 13:05:32 UTC) (permalink)

News May 6 2011

Grifball Signups starting next week
Goosechecka sent word that signups for Grifball's Good Games League begin on May 13 - check this post for details on everything that goes with this! (Hint: it's more than you might think.) (Louis Wu 17:51:43 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak Volume 33
It's Friday, so it's Fails of the Weak time - Episode 33 is up on YouTube now. (Thanks, munky-058) I laughed. You will too. (Louis Wu 17:47:11 UTC) (permalink)

It's not a bazooka. :(
Reach made an appearance in 30 Rock last night... it makes me reconsider whether my gameplaying is healthy or not. You can watch the whole episode on NBC's website - or a clip showing just the Reach segment here. (Louis Wu 17:31:07 UTC) (permalink)

Battle of the Brick - Coming (Really) Soon!
Kooberz stopped by to announce that Battle of the Brick, his long-developed LEGO-based stop-motion movie, is finally (almost) finished - he just needs some advice about the credits! Check out his post and give him advice if you actually know the answers to his questions... the rest of us really want to see the vid! (Louis Wu 17:24:30 UTC) (permalink)

Reminder: CJ Cowan to speak at SCAD
Bungie's Comm Chatter also reminded us that CJ Cowan would be giving the keynote at this year's Game Developer eXchange at the Savannah College of Art and Design next week - we mentioned this a couple of months ago, but it's close now, and worth the reminder! (Louis Wu 17:19:29 UTC) (permalink)

Reflection
Archonize released 'Reflection', a two and a half minute montage with some scary-good gameplay. Thanks to urk for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 17:19:02 UTC) (permalink)

Achievement DUCK
DOH! Almost forgot! pete_the_duck whipped up Achievement DUCK, a challenge map you can play yourself. Did you know you could shoot Killballs? Apparently, you can. pete_the_duck is an evil man, I think. (Louis Wu 14:06:54 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Two new pieces are available today in the Fan Fiction section - go read 'em! (Louis Wu 14:06:24 UTC) (permalink)

Tenderize before eating
This made me laugh. And then this made me laugh some more. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the forces arrayed against you... they'll probably make you laugh, too. (Louis Wu 14:03:28 UTC) (permalink)

Domino's HBO Giveaway Round 17 - Winner
Congratulations to leganos, who won Domino Theory's latest giveaway - he's now the proud owner of a totally free Defiant Map Pack! Thanks once again to Domino for providing so much free stuff. (Louis Wu 14:03:03 UTC) (permalink)

Care For A Racy Evening?
Don't forget, the CruelLEGACEY Productions and Waypoint Community RACE Night is tonight! More details can be found here. Don't miss it! (GrimBrother One 13:47:43 UTC) (permalink)

Comic Headhunting
Hadn't seen this yet (I'm sure I will find it at the moment of posting though), but VERY cool news from Waypoint: In June, a new motion comic based on "Headhunters" from Halo Evolutions. VERY cool! (GrimBrother One 03:40:47 UTC) (permalink)

News May 5 2011

On the road to glory! Ain't no turning back.
ReadyUpLive is starting a Halo Hockey League. Four- to five-men teams are being accepted for the initial sign-ups. The league will use a modified version of MEN1CEtoSOC1ETY's Hockey variant. If you'd rather watch than play, spectator seating for up to eight people has been added above the arena. Go burn up the ice! (Hitmonchan 22:30:41 UTC) (permalink)

Stop...Hammer Time
RedBubble has another Halo T-shirt up for sale. Courtesy of JamesyBrown92, this one features a Brute wielding a Gravity Hammer and those three classic words from MC Hammer. You can touch this! (Hitmonchan 22:06:52 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Team Logo T-shirt
IGN's "T-shirt of the Day" is a Noble Team Logo top from GamerPrint.co.uk. The shirt goes from small to XX-large for men, and from small to large for women. Go check it out! (Hitmonchan 21:48:20 UTC) (permalink)

Webby Award Results
Funny or Die won a People's Voice Webby Award for "Snoop Dogg vs. LL Cool J: The Ultimate Halo Smackdown." You can check out the full list of Webby Award winners here. On a sad note, Halo Waypoint lost to The Escapist for the Games-Related Website award. Chin up, gang -- that bad boy will be yours next year. (Hitmonchan 21:29:34 UTC) (permalink)

Passing the Halo
Zeouterlimits was first with the news of an overview article at Wired - Chris Kohler took a look at the handling of the Defiant Map Pack, and what this might mean for the future of the Halo franchise. Worth a read (and not just because it has quotes from me)! (Louis Wu 19:39:00 UTC) (permalink)

Full Spectrum Firefight
GhaleonEB has written up a new piece for Forward Unto Dawn - Full Spectrum Firefight is a critical analysis of the current Firefight offerings in Reach's Matchmaking system. While it outlines some of the biggest problems the current playlists have, it also suggests some really solid solutions. Go give it a read! (Louis Wu 19:35:36 UTC) (permalink)

Thursday Comm Chatter Goodness
Some goodies for you in today's Comm Chatter offerings at Bungie.net:

• IGN's Top 10 Reach Kills for the week of May 4 is live - some very nice moments.
• Raaascal offers you a chance to have your Forge creation spotlighted - read the guidelines to get in the queue!
• Queso Man released his 9th montage... that's a lot.

Go see! (Louis Wu 19:32:32 UTC) (permalink)

Portal: Reach
Overdoziz stopped in with a video entitled 'Portal: Reach'. It is what it sounds like. (He's got links to how it was accomplished, as well - congrats to x 7revorBlack x for the very cool end product.) (Louis Wu 18:44:39 UTC) (permalink)

The Art of Video Games - Winners Announced
The Smithsonian Institution has announced the winners for its upcoming exhibition, The Art of Video Games - the website seems a little broken right now, but the full breakdown of the winners is available in PDF format from this page. Congratulations, Bungie! Halo 2 won the Era 5 Xbox section. Thanks to kornman00 for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 18:22:09 UTC) (permalink)

Massed Hunters on SC
Rockslider's been playing on Silent Cartographer. With big, nasty creatures. Go see. (Louis Wu 16:44:47 UTC) (permalink)

Updated Halo Vehicle Scales (vs real life)
If you want a good sense of how big Halo vehicles are, in relation to craft you might be more familiar with, check out Bry's latest post. Very, very cool stuff. (Louis Wu 16:44:25 UTC) (permalink)

An early player reemerges
kornman00 dropped by to announce that Halomods is reopening - and they're looking for folks who want to be a part! Check it out. (Louis Wu 16:42:39 UTC) (permalink)

Don't go Chasing Waterfalls
For your daily dose of gorgeous, Hedgemony brings you a BOB in a pond. Wow. (Louis Wu 14:57:29 UTC) (permalink)

Reach MM Maps/Gametypes Repository Project
Ever wish you could play some of the fun gametypes Bungie's put into Matchmaking, but that don't have easily reproducible features? FyreWulff has kicked off the MM Maps/Gametypes Repository Project - you can find links to stuff like Hot Potato, Alpha Zombies, and Speedflag, along with many others! The site is pretty bare-bones at the moment - but the content's there, which is what's important. Presentation will improve soon. (Speaking of Hot Potato... check out HOG Potato, a variant created by FyreWulff himself. Get points for riding in the 'Hog... but be aware that it will explode, randomly (as the bomb does in Hot Potato).) Awesome stuff! Update: FyreWulff points out that Hog Potato is in Action Sack - it's not his. It's still awesome, though, and you should grab a copy! (Louis Wu 14:56:42 UTC) (permalink)

Endure: The Return (a write-up)
DMFanella picked up where Bones153 left off - and wrote up his experience with his and Bones' Endure Challenge, set forth last week. Enormous numbers of pictures... it's an entertaining read. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:55:24 UTC) (permalink)

ASE 22: All Your Sword Base Are Belong To Us
Rampancy.net has posted Episode 22 of their Anger, Sadness, and Envy podcast - this one goes through ONI Sword Base, the second campaign level of Halo: Reach. Blackstar and Narcogen run through the level and discuss gameplay, similarities to older games, and more! Go watch. (Louis Wu 14:54:26 UTC) (permalink)

Hey, man, stop screenlooking!
Chris101b noticed a video showing off videogame play (including Reach) on a huge (56 foot) screen in a bowling alley. Sounds like fun! (Louis Wu 14:47:47 UTC) (permalink)

Sometimes loving, then killing the aliens
Heh - General Vagueness went looking for a clip of the Colbert Report we mentioned yesterday; he didn't find it... but he did find this. It's been a while since I saw a Tek Jansen episode... this brings back memories. (Louis Wu 14:45:39 UTC) (permalink)

GRUNT your way to victory
Goosechecka sent word that Grifball Hub's GRUNTS (Grifball in Reach Neighborhood Tournaments) are kicking off again, in preparation of league signups (which will start next week). Three tournaments, the first on Saturday May 7, will get you in tip-top shape for league play! Reach the full news report at Grifball Hub. (Louis Wu 12:56:30 UTC) (permalink)

Of Male Brains and Itchy Trigger Fingers
IGN has a piece called dealing with the human male brain, and the attraction to first-person shooters. Some interesting points raised. Go see if you agree! Thanks to Nosolee for catching it. (GrimBrother One 04:31:17 UTC) (permalink)

Achievement PIG
The Achievement HORSE boys are back at it again with Episode 22 of their hilarious series. Only this time, they were a bit short on time, so you'll have to settle for the other white meat. Still, the awesomeness abounds... go check it out! (GrimBrother One 04:01:36 UTC) (permalink)

News May 4 2011

'Tashi's Weekly Montage Series,' Week Five
After a short break, NeoGAF's Tashi0106 is back with his fifth weekly montage. Both gameplay and editing were done within the week. Check it out! Update: The YouTube version might not work for those outside of the U.S., so Tashi uploaded the montage to Vimeo. (Hitmonchan 22:58:04 UTC) (permalink)

Myyke's HBO All Halos Competition, Week 2
Myyke is giving away ANOTHER 7 Halo PC games (or, more accurately, serial codes) for folks looking to snag that Halo PC nameplate on Bungie.net - to enter, you just need to submit a screenshot (or artwork) that captures the beauty of the Halo landscape. Go read the full rules in his post! (Louis Wu 20:42:39 UTC) (permalink)

Forgive me for this.
"Navy Midget," a politically incorrect machinima short from SeventhSunFilms, is NSFW, insensitive to short people and incredibly funny. (Hitmonchan 19:37:11 UTC) (permalink)

Wish in one hand...
GameDynamo compiled a list of five video game franchises that should be made into a movie. Halo defied the odds, took on all comers and made the list. In truth, this was probably a given. But after the remarkably mediocre outing that was "Prince of Persia," my fanfare for a full-length Halo movie is dwindling. (Hitmonchan 18:41:22 UTC) (permalink)

MLG on Lessons Learned With Reach
Brick from MLG.com wrote about the top five things MLG has learned about Reach from its first tournament run. It's interesting to hear from a pro's perspective. Go read! (Hitmonchan 18:01:32 UTC) (permalink)

Stephen Colbert's Seal Team Six
You may have heard a little something about Seal Team Six over the past few days. The identities of its members are classified, so Stephen Colbert took a guess at who they might be. In his dashing Mark VI armor, Master Chief grabbed the third spot on the team. How did Kung Fu Panda make the list? Is he going to spin-kick his way into a terrorist stronghold? I guess every team needs a weak link to make the others look better. The segment starts at 1:45. While you're there, you could watch the whole episode. There's nothing wrong with that. Update: (The post below completely trumped this. Curses!) (Hitmonchan 17:49:47 UTC) (permalink)

Chiefiness.
This... is the awesomest thing I've seen today. (Louis Wu 17:34:33 UTC) (permalink)

OpenSauce for HaloCE - Demo Vid
kornman00 stopped by with a video showing off some of the coolness that is OpenSauce, a project he's been working on with Firescythe. Amazing what you can do with the original Halo engine! (Louis Wu 14:24:37 UTC) (permalink)

New Romeo Teaser
Hedgemony continues to tease about his Romeo comic - check out the latest image. I'm really looking forward to May 30! (And not JUST because it's a week before E3...) (Louis Wu 14:22:52 UTC) (permalink)

Slow and high.
I missed this when I was gone last weekend: "Halo: Faith" posted an early look at a Banshee on its Facebook page. Keep the hype train rolling! (Hitmonchan 09:42:40 UTC) (permalink)

We didn't invent the teabag.
Shumi.com wrote a humorous list of E3 2011 achievements. For 15 points, "do the teabag dance" after killing an enemy in co-op in Bungie's next game. That's a lot of conclusion jumping for one fake achievement. Who said you could crouch? I fully expect the next game to be a turn-based card battle flight simulator. (Hitmonchan 07:04:15 UTC) (permalink)

The Essential Racing Guide
If you're new to the Reach racing scene, CruelLEGACEY has you covered with this handy-dandy racing guide. Thanks to the included videos, I have "M4 Part II" stuck in my head again. That's never a bad thing. Go read! (Hitmonchan 06:41:16 UTC) (permalink)

News May 3 2011

'Halo: Legacy' Full Trailer
The full trailer for "Halo: Legacy" is now available. Projected as machinima's answer to "Halo Legends," the project will unfold through seven mini-series, each one created by a director from Daemon Productions. This held my attention. Go watch! (Hitmonchan 22:31:28 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Forum Tidbits
Here's a few goodies from the Halo Waypoint forums:

• MASSAIKUR made a movie revealing bs angel's darker side. It also includes popular machinima characters/plotlines and some NSFW language. I wonder how bs angel feels about this...
• xDarkomantis is holding a community Forge contest. Submit your best map or photo (one submission per person) by June 4 to enter!

Go look! (Hitmonchan 22:18:23 UTC) (permalink)

'Epinomics': A Halo-inspired Song
Inspired by the Halo soundtrack, Brandon Pryor arranged a piece of his own. Personally, it sounds like an amazing B-side to Halo Wars. I've listened to it four times already, and I'm diving in for a fifth. Check it out! (Hitmonchan 19:47:02 UTC) (permalink)

May Matchmaking Updates
The May Matchmaking changes are now live - swing by Bungie.net for a full breakdown on what's been added, changed, and removed. It's a big list! (Louis Wu 19:43:05 UTC) (permalink)

Testing Subject UNG-2574
CaptainTony noticed a pretty cool Halo/Portal 2 crossover piece on DeviantART - what a perfect test subject for Aperture Science! (Louis Wu 19:42:39 UTC) (permalink)

More LEGO UNSC Weapons
Nick Jenson added two more LEGO UNSC weapons: the MA37 Assault Rifle (1 | 2) and the M45 Shotgun (1 | 2). Go look! (Hitmonchan 18:38:13 UTC) (permalink)

Comm Chatter Treats
Videos you might enjoy on Bungie.net's Comm Chatter today:

• HaloCharts Top 10 Episode 1 (Multikills) is full of... well, multikills.
• Halotracker Top 5 for April has their top 5 sticks. (I think this one should be called 'top 5 luckiest sticks', but whatever.)
• Another recap vid from Forge Cafe (their fourth) has footage from a bunch of cool-looking custom maps.

While you're there, check out the note about HaloCharts BTB Tournament registration - it's open. (Louis Wu 17:11:47 UTC) (permalink)

Daft Punk + Bungie = ExplodingBrain
Thank goodness this is only 1:15 long. It means watching it 10 times wastes less than half an hour of your life. (Thanks, urk. Thanks a LOT.) (Louis Wu 16:29:49 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Fest: Celebrating Ten Years
Halo Waypoint lifted the veil on its PAX Prime 2011 Halo celebration. Billed as "the largest and most expansive live Halo experience ever," Halo Fest will take place all three days of the expo. You can look forward to exclusive panels, amazing prizes and tournaments, and it's all included with your PAX Prime badge. If you can make it out to Seattle, go "see why the last 10 years of Halo were just the beginning." Thanks, Dani, for the heads up! (Hitmonchan 08:40:13 UTC) (permalink)

Dude's a machine.
A few days ago I mentioned episode 16 of "Halo Reach Fails, Wins and WTF Moments." AlaskanWhalers has produced three more episodes since then. My God, man, when do you sleep? Episode 19 features a wicked spawn glitch on Powerhouse. Here's the last two episodes (17 | 18) for those who'd like to catch up. Keep 'em coming! (Hitmonchan 08:08:16 UTC) (permalink)

'Halo Reach Tricks': Episode 30
CMNeir and the crew are back in the newest episode of "Halo Reach Tricks." With the help of several community members, the gang explains how to get out of Condemned in Forge. It was pretty funny to boot. Check it out! (Hitmonchan 03:36:14 UTC) (permalink)

Highway to the danger zone!
Iceman designed an adorable LEGO minifig Spartan armed with a shotgun and a jetpack. He used a black Sharpie to color in the little details on the armor. It's simple but effective. Go look! (Hitmonchan 03:22:40 UTC) (permalink)

2old2play Charity Results
2old2play raised $1,600 for the Child's Play charity! Those guys and gals continue to amaze me. For more information about the charity, visit the group's website. (Hitmonchan 03:12:41 UTC) (permalink)

News May 2 2011

Rumor Mill: Halo Kinect Game
On Microsoft Vancouver's new website, it said it's working on a AAA core shooter for the Kinect. Destructoid has heard rumors of a Halo game coming from the studio. This does fit up with Microsoft registering the KinectHalo.com domain, but it could be the rumored Gears of War Kinect game. Whatever the case may be, we might be getting a hardcore shooter for the Kinect. Thanks, REMEMBER CITADEL, for the initial find! (Hitmonchan 21:31:57 UTC) (permalink)

Hey! I know that guy!
CaptainTony noticed a very recognizable face in Leviathan's Twitpic stream... I'm really curious to see the rest of the project! (Louis Wu 20:33:26 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie All Stars, Week 17 - JETPACK
urk's hoping to give out a lot of star nameplates this week - all you gotta to to qualify is come up with a cool jetpack picture. Full rules at Bungie.net! (Louis Wu 18:43:09 UTC) (permalink)

Video Afternoon Fun
Couple of new vids for you on Bungie.net's Comm Chatter today:

• KayEmX and FKIV are back - they've posted the followup to their Swag montage, and once again, it's Sniper Central.
• CruelLEGACEY posted Fails of Reach - FAN FAILS 3 - lots of common fails, but several very amusing ones.

Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:41:15 UTC) (permalink)

Forge Lesson 48: Veteran Testing
Godly Perfection posted another in his Forge Lesson series - this one is called 'Veteran Testing', and involves watching jaded folks who've seen it all play your map - and seeing what they use (or don't use). Go read! (Thanks, urk.) (Louis Wu 18:31:17 UTC) (permalink)

Yeah, I'm just gonna jump up there. brb
Grumpy sent us word of a new Halo 2 trick - Muzza, from jumpers.org, decided to snag the Scarab gun on Metropolis. Without a Banshee, or any other flying device. He just... meleed himself up there. These guys never cease to amaze! (Louis Wu 18:27:47 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 1 Done Segmented - now SDA-Approved
The Speed Demos Archive just posted Halo 1 Done Segmented - the parting gift scurty and slYnki created for High Impact Halo and released last month. There's some pretty interesting commentary from the duo posted beneath the video - go give it a read! Thanks, Cody. (Louis Wu 17:17:55 UTC) (permalink)

Oboe's Reach Bloopers
OboeCrazy has been collecting mini-bloopers in Reach; they're not combined, but they're small enough that visiting multiple links shouldn't tax you too much. Check out how to get a Showstopper on yourself, a campaign clip showing what happens when Falcon drivers drink on duty, and a Reach-based superbounce (no, she shouldn't be banned for this). Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 16:53:36 UTC) (permalink)

Domino's HBO Giveaways (Round 17)
Domino's back, and he has another Defiant Map Pack code he wants to give away! If you need it... stop by his giveaway page and add your name to the list. This one's short - he's picking a winner on Wednesday. (Louis Wu 14:58:05 UTC) (permalink)

That Familiar Feeling
DeepCee let us know that ODS Steve #86 is live - Steve continues to have tricks up his sleeve. (Louis Wu 14:48:03 UTC) (permalink)

Building a Transmedia Powerhouse
Frank O'Connor sat down with Gamasutra to talk about the future of the Halo franchise - it's an interesting read, and while Frank doesn't seem to be able to nail down WHY Halo managed to become the transmedia megalith it is (exactly), he does a good job of describing the pieces that made it all happen. Thanks, ChrisTheeCrappy. (Louis Wu 14:45:01 UTC) (permalink)

The Fails of Reach Episode 8
CruelLEGACEY let us know that The Fails of Reach Episode 8 is now online - several minutes of what NOT to do in mulltiplayer (and Campaign, too!). Fun stuff. (That racing guy at the end should really consider his timing...) (Louis Wu 14:22:54 UTC) (permalink)

Help for your Weekly Challenge Run
This week's big challenge is a LASO run through New Alexandria. (Amazing timing there, Tyrant.) If Quad Mythic is a bit too overblown for you to follow, RC Master has a sub-13-minute run that might help. (The absurd Banshee-through-the-hospital shortcut was highlighted on Tyrant's Mythic Tips and Tricks Vol 1 vid, last week.) I gotta say... these people are ridiculous. (But I'm really, really glad they do what they do.) (Louis Wu 12:03:48 UTC) (permalink)

SpecOps Paint Job
Eep - almost forgot a custom-painted McFarlane figure that Sl'askia put together - really pretty! Check it. (Louis Wu 12:03:21 UTC) (permalink)

Faith
Interesting - local artist TDSpiral created a pretty killer image called 'Faith'... but we needed onebitrocket to find it on DeviantART before we could enjoy it! (Yes, it's fan-art for the upcoming fan-movie. So that would make fans of the piece... whoa. A bit too meta for me.) (Louis Wu 12:01:35 UTC) (permalink)

CCN VI - Alphabet Soup!
If you have inordinate amounts of time to spend, and you'd like to try out some (really) classic gametypes... check out Classic Customs Night. Tex wrote up the sixth iteration of these happenings, complete with screenshots and videos that make her look good. Go read! (Louis Wu 12:01:11 UTC) (permalink)

Out and about
General Vagueness got some really bizarre screenshots from Tempest, Highlands, and Forgeworld - go look! (Louis Wu 12:00:46 UTC) (permalink)

Remember Reach
Raulboy stopped in to let us know about 'Remember Reach', a White Space comic starring the Chief, Johnson, and Cortana. Made me smile. (Louis Wu 11:58:08 UTC) (permalink)

Halo [R]Evolved - The Silent Cartographer
SonGoharotto continues his rewrite of the original Halo script - he released The Silent Cartographer last night. Seems like we're pulling away from the original... (Louis Wu 11:57:42 UTC) (permalink)

No, not the gametype. We have that already.
padraig stopped in yesterday to point out a tweet from thevowel, who was present at RvB Canwest. Looks like we know the next short story from Evolutions to be released in graphic animated form! Update: in case anyone was unsure whether this was official or not, Waypoint's Alison Stoll confirmed it. (Louis Wu 11:54:03 UTC) (permalink)

News May 1 2011

Quad Alexandria = smashed!
The Tyrant had a bit of trouble getting his normal Quad Mythic team together, but he did pull Matclan, Michael Archer, and Leumas Loch from the Mythic community to run New Alexandria in Legendary, with All Skulls On... and the resulting run gets The Tyrant one level closer to be the first person in the world to conquer a Halo game on Quad Mythic! They're planning to do a cleaner run later this week - but if you want to see their first (successful) attempt, it's available for download from Bungie.net. (Louis Wu 21:57:13 UTC) (permalink)

Noble Ink
Wow. I love my kids - but I don't share any ink with them. This is not true of Gnuet and MikeyDog62 - this father/son team has matching NOBLE tats. That's Halo (and family) love! (Louis Wu 21:53:27 UTC) (permalink)

Some thoughts about Boot Camp
Diego Rossello let us know that he's written up a review of the Halo: Fall of Reach Boot Camp hardcover - if you were on the fence about buying this, check out what he has to say! (Louis Wu 21:51:17 UTC) (permalink)

48 Hours
RVideo sent word of 48 Hours, a minitage from Toastyame that includes footage from a single 48 stretch. (That timeframe covers both the gameplay AND the editing.) It's just two and a half minutes long - but it contains some pretty impressive gameplay and nice editing - go watch! (Louis Wu 21:48:25 UTC) (permalink)

May 2011

We are NOT Bungie, Inc.! Bungie Inc. are bungie.net!
Halo © Bungie Inc., 1999-2012, Microsoft 2012-2024
Intellectual © halo.bungie.org, 1999-2024