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

November 2011

November 2011 Archived News

News November 30 2011

Carnage in a test tube
Hey - it's not Halo news, but we're still the most active bungie.org subsite, so this is a fine place to mention that Bungie is once again reminding people to sign up for their Beta testers list... you never know what sort of goodies you'll earn! (Louis Wu 17:25:56 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's LASO Challenge Walkthrough - Pillar of Autumn
Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris finished off his final video for his LASO Challenge Walkthrough - Pillar of Autumn has now been posted online! Just over half an hour, lots of new tricks. Go watch! (Louis Wu 17:14:46 UTC) (permalink)

Forerunner Beauty
BlueNinja got back into the Panorama business with a pair of shots from Halo Anniversary. Gorgeous! (Louis Wu 17:12:37 UTC) (permalink)

News November 29 2011

I want a hammer I can throw.
Heh - this made me laugh. Thanks, bs angel. (Louis Wu 20:46:49 UTC) (permalink)

Confused Dropships
Rockslider has STILL not finished with Jun's Falcon - stop by our forum for the latest details. I'd hate to be a mouse living in his house; I'm betting there's NOTHING left on the plates when he's finished. (Louis Wu 20:41:55 UTC) (permalink)

Buy fast internet, get free Halo
Interesting - if you're eligible for Verizon FIOS internet, check out a new deal that gives you Halo Anniversary and 12 months of LIVE for signing up. Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 20:39:00 UTC) (permalink)

The cutscenes we always needed them to be
In October, 2007, our Halo 3 Cutscene Library went live, and a year later, we upgraded it with HD versions of the scenes. Due to limitations in recording equipment, however, audiophiles have always been shortchanged... until now. Cody Miller has graciously re-recorded all of these cutscenes in full 5.1 surround sound - gorgeous! (If you don't have the hardware to appreciate this, it should degrade nicely to standard stereo.) Anniversary upgrades... coming before too long! (Louis Wu 15:58:42 UTC) (permalink)

In The Wake
Leviathan was playing with the concepts of space and time - and found inspiration in the final cutscene of Halo 3. The art itself isn't necessarily Halo-related - but it IS Halo-inspired... and it's gorgeous. Check it out. (Louis Wu 14:28:34 UTC) (permalink)

Violin Anthem for Saving the World
Lara is a cosplayer, and a video game music afficionado. She's also really good on violin and piano. Hawaiian Pig pointed out her rendition of the Halo theme on the former. Superb! (Louis Wu 14:27:09 UTC) (permalink)

Dream of an Unyielding Spartan
MASSAIKUR put together an interesting video based on what John 117 might dream about; the soundtrack is a song by the inimitable Mothergoat. Go watch! (Louis Wu 14:26:27 UTC) (permalink)

The Greatest Video Game Music Guvaway
Gaming Union is giving away video game music, but you have to guess the origins of tracks to win. Last week's challenge had a Halo track in it - this week's doesn't, but it's still a pretty fun contest! Go play. (Louis Wu 14:24:11 UTC) (permalink)

John is the Controller
Over at NeoGAF, FyreWulff pointed out a reddit post from a Project Director at Harmonix who mentions trying to get the Master Chief into Dance Central 2. Heh. (Louis Wu 14:22:22 UTC) (permalink)

News November 28 2011

Achievement Guide (Tying Up Loose Ends)
RC Master has put up another Achievement Guide - this one will help you find all the Elites that need killing on Keyes to get the 'Tying Up Loose Ends' Achievement on Halo Anniversary. Nice work! (Louis Wu 21:16:58 UTC) (permalink)

In Defense of Halo's Library
GamePro took a stab at convincing you that The Library is a worthwhile level to play. If you're one of the crowd that never believed that - give it a read. Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 19:21:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Opening Shot Comparison Vid
Greg2point0 decided to compare the three different versions of the Pillar of Autumn arriving at the first Halo ring (from Halo, Halo: Reach, and Halo Anniversary) in one single comparison vid. (Well, three, actually - one for each version of the audio.) Nice! (Louis Wu 19:20:47 UTC) (permalink)

Psst! Want a free copy of Anniversary?
Domino Theory has another giveaway for you - this time, he's handing out a copy of Halo Anniversary. It's US-only (for shipping reasons)... but if you live in the US, getting your name in the hat is as simple as filling out a 4-line form. What are you waiting for? (Louis Wu 17:51:51 UTC) (permalink)

Artwork for a steal
The Lionheart stopped in with word of a sale being run by a buddy who does commissioned art - most stuff is $20 (today only), and he's good at Halo artwork. Swing by and read about it! (Louis Wu 17:33:24 UTC) (permalink)

News November 27 2011

Rockslide Megabattle Movies
Rockslider has a new pair of Megabattle videos for you - check his forum post for details! (Louis Wu 23:26:44 UTC) (permalink)

Lumoria's looking for Voice Actors
We got a request from Lucas G., Team Lead for the Lumoria mod for Halo: Custom Edition - they're looking for voice actors. They need a Forerunner Robot and a Frigate Commander. If you'd like to try out, send them some email. (Louis Wu 20:45:54 UTC) (permalink)

Outpost: Isil S2E02
Both shiruken and Paul Shelley let us know about Outpost Isil Season 2 Episode 2 - some alien drama ensues! (Louis Wu 20:43:00 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' the Chief Round-Up
We're way behind on Arby 'n' the Chief news; last mention we made was about 'Cradle to Grave', back on November 6. Since then, Jon's released Cradle to Grave Director's Commentary, a new episode of Hypermail (this one is the Anniversary Edition), and an Arby 'n' the Chief Short to make up for the fact that the next episode of the main series has been pushed back a week (due to voice acting delays). Go catch up! (Louis Wu 18:31:54 UTC) (permalink)

Pro Circuit Maps Tips and Tricks
More Pro Circuit tips and tricks from FearItSelf, over at Halo Waypoint - this time, the focus is on Android and Redemption. (You'll find these maps in the MLG playlist.) (Louis Wu 18:24:32 UTC) (permalink)

PCGR Fan Fiction Contest Update
SK1LL4XED let us know that Post Game Carnage Report is down to its final two entries - and will announce a winner for its Fan Fiction contest on this week's episode. Will it be you? (Louis Wu 18:21:21 UTC) (permalink)

Lots of Halo Mega Bloks for less
mr.sci-fi pointed out a Mega Bloks deal at Toys R Us that could get you some cool Halo packages at a nice discount. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:19:01 UTC) (permalink)

News November 26 2011

Video Saturday at Halo Waypoint
Couple of fun vids available today on Halo Waypoint - Grifball Highlights Frenzy 9 shows off the top 8 amazing Grifball moments for November, and RvB MIA Episode 3 gives us the return of Doc. Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:11:04 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Customz: Episodes 8 and 9
Timgie stopped in with word of two new episodes of Reach Customz - Episode 8 shows you Zombie World, while Episode 9 highlights a new Race map, Thunder Barrel. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 18:10:47 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak, Volume 62
Mirel was the first to notice Fails of the Weak Volume #62 - Jack and Geoff are in high spirits, presumably filled with pumpkin pie. You can watch it on AchievementHunter.com or YouTube. (Louis Wu 18:10:14 UTC) (permalink)

GamePro's 15 Best Shooter Games
Toby Dillman pointed out a new Top 15 list from GamePro - it contains not one, but TWO Halo games on it. Our forum is not impressed. (Louis Wu 18:09:48 UTC) (permalink)

Turkeyrim
Ty Coker stopped in with word of Turkeyrim, also known as Elmer Scrolls V. It's a Thanksgiving parody special, brought to you by the BloodChainProduction crew. Take a look! (Louis Wu 18:09:25 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Fanon Contest
Grizzlei (formerly known as CaptainTony) stopped in with word of a contest being run by Halo Fanon - check out his post for details on prizes and rules! Top prize is a code for the Halo Anniversary Reach maps. (Louis Wu 18:08:45 UTC) (permalink)

News November 25 2011

HTR Community Montage 6
Edge sent word that the latest Halotracker Community Montage is online - just 3 minutes of clips! Go watch. (Louis Wu 18:04:59 UTC) (permalink)

Feminist Analysis of I Love Bees - Part 4
Dragonclaws let us know that she's continued her feminist analysis of I Love Bees - Part 4 focuses on olonel Herzog and Rani Sobeck. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:03:12 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo CE Chronicles - Fearless Pt 2 Chap 12
Dennis Powers has released Chapter Twelve of his Fearless Part Two comic series - things aren't looking good for our protagonists! (Louis Wu 17:59:02 UTC) (permalink)

New Halo Bulletin is a Love Letter to the Community
343's latest Halo Bulletin is one big giant "THANK YOU" to the Halo Community for all the amazing content created by fans just like you! Inside they highlight everything from their favorite screenshots and videos to awesome Halo tattoos and cosplay. You might even find a few familiar faces scattered about! As I always mention, it's available locally as well. <3 Check it out! (GrimBrother One 14:32:23 UTC) (permalink)

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls? Psshh!
Man, just when you think they can't think of anything else... Carnage A51 stopped by today to show off a recent glitch/trick vid put together by him and his teammates at Physics Remastered (looks like our own Chris101b did the filming). They take you along for the ride and show you how to get to the bottom of the waterfall on Halo 3's "The Ark". Absolutely fantastic! The ingenuity of these people... Go watch! (GrimBrother One 14:25:51 UTC) (permalink)

News November 24 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!
From us and ours, to you and yours, we wish you a very happy holiday! We'll be back updating tomorrow.

News November 23 2011

Saving the Cute Ones
RC Master has put up another Achievement guide - this one will help you get the 'Look out for the Little Guys' achievement on Halo Anniversary (Two Betrayals on Heroic or better, killing no Grunts). Looks pretty tough - the help is welcome! (Louis Wu 22:21:15 UTC) (permalink)

I'm gonna call it Bungie Friday
Ooh, nice - The Bungie Store is going to be selling some brand new stuff, on sale this Friday only. I'm tingling! (Louis Wu 22:13:55 UTC) (permalink)

Making of a Halo Figure
Sl'askia pointed out McFarlane's Making of a Halo Figure, a 3-part documentary showing how the company got into making Halo action figures - and how they actually make them. She linked Part 3 of 3 (Plastic Molds to Perfect Replica) - but you could start with Parts 1 of 3 (Intro & 3D Models) and 2 of 3 (3D Models to Plastic Molds). Great behind-the-scenes look! (Louis Wu 19:58:21 UTC) (permalink)

Anniversary Cutscene Library Complete
The remaining cutscenes in the Halo Anniversary Cutscene Library are now active. As always, you can stream 360p versions simply by clicking on thumbnails, or download 360p or 720p versions in either QT or WMP9 formats - grab what you need! (Louis Wu 14:43:24 UTC) (permalink)

Achievement HORSE #50
The 50th round of Achievement HORSE (which is also the first semifinal of the office tournament) went live yesterday (thanks, Ibeechu) - you can watch it on YouTube or at AchievementHunter.com. Kerry and Jack face off! (Louis Wu 13:52:51 UTC) (permalink)

GT's Top 10 Halo Weapons
GameTrailers decides to lay out their top 10 Halo weapons (and we're not even talking game-specific weapons; when they say 'Sniper Rifle', they mean in ALL Halo games). Not sure I agree with their ordering system... but hey, it's pretty. (Louis Wu 13:49:25 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo Stunting Video Archive
Mator came by to let us know that he's set up a Halo Stunting Video Archive at YouTube - nearly 300 videos, in 17 different playlists, covering all the noteworthy Halo 1 stunts. He's still working! Go check out what's there - it's pretty impressive! (Louis Wu 13:46:02 UTC) (permalink)

News November 22 2011

Anniversary Cutscene Library, Batch 2
The next batch of cutscenes have gone live in our Anniversary Cutscene Library - scenes from Truth and Reconciliation, Silent Cartographer, Assault on the Control Room, and 343 Guilty Spark are up. Again, thanks to Dust Storm for the rendering - go grab some! (Louis Wu 21:10:35 UTC) (permalink)

In comes new artwork
Stephen Loftus sent along another couple of dozen vector drawings from the various Halo games for his Signs of Halo collection - some are in-game signs (including two brand new ones from Breakneck), some are multiplayer logos. The new Civilian ones start here, the new Miscellaneous ones start here, and there's one new UNSC image here. Go explore! (Louis Wu 19:32:30 UTC) (permalink)

Women of Xbox: Episode 2
Tyrant let us know about the second episode of Women of Xbox - Goosechecka compares Skyrim and Halo Anniversary to help you decide where to spend your time. (Louis Wu 19:31:31 UTC) (permalink)

The best from each
The Lionheart pointed out some pretty nice fanart from his buddy Zack Finfrock - go check out the melded Spartan! (Louis Wu 19:17:02 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: The Fallen (Costume Design)
mr.sci-fi pointed out a Behind-the-Scenes vid from the crew of Halo: The Fallen - the costume designers explain why they're on board. Go watch! (Louis Wu 18:47:30 UTC) (permalink)

Left to Right, Top to Bottom
The ever-speedy RC Master stopped in with a nice guide to make nabbing the pesky "Speed Reader" Achievement in Halo: Anniversary a bit easier. Some great tips, go and give it a look! (GrimBrother One 17:27:11 UTC) (permalink)

Better Off MIA, You Mean...
AssaultGodzilla dropped in to let us know about another Halo music video he has created, this one using a Sum 41 song titled Over My Head (Better Off Dead). Great edit work as always, check it out! (GrimBrother One 17:23:32 UTC) (permalink)

Who Are YOU Building Pfhor?
GodlyPerfection is back with another Forge Lesson for you fledgling cartographers out there! Episode 51 discusses the topic of "audience". Some great points in there as always, go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 17:19:21 UTC) (permalink)

News November 21 2011

Halo Babies - back on the web
So yesterday, Mig stopped by our forum with a link to a pretty cool on-stage proposal from mrsmiley, who has played a number of important roles in the Halo community over the years. (Congrats, Matt!) The discussion led to the realization that mrsmiley's old site, Halo Babies, has been offline for some time - which meant that the cool comics he and Joel Casebeer did over a 5-year stretch were gone. Sadness! But then Mig reminded me that smiley had put the entire archive online for a little while, back in 2008, and I'd grabbed it at that time... so this morning, I put up a local archive of the strips. If you've never read these - check 'em out! (If you have no idea what Halo Babies are, here's our archive of Bungie's original announcement in 2002 - and an Episode Guide that came out about a year later.) (Louis Wu 22:02:51 UTC) (permalink)

Re-Creation
nillapuddin stopped in to mention Re-Creation, a revisiting of a bunch of Halo tricks. Nice! (Louis Wu 21:54:50 UTC) (permalink)

The Lives of the Elite
Ogan Panavo sent us a link to The Lives of the Elite, a mockumentary that follows up the recent Life of the Grunts. More than you ever wanted to know... (Louis Wu 21:53:56 UTC) (permalink)

Breaking Quarantine Run
MASSAIKUR put together a video showing you how to slam through the Breaking Quarantine achievement in about 5 minutes (you'll need the Bandanna skull to follow along) - little bit of extra entertainment at the start, too. Check it. (Louis Wu 21:53:12 UTC) (permalink)

Co-op Night - Two Days Early
Kermit wanted us to let you know that this week's Co-op Night is TONIGHT, rather than the normal Wednesday night - if you're planning on attending, take note! Update: Bones153 has stepped up and added a recap of last week's romp through NMPD HQ. Read it and get psyched for tonight! (Louis Wu 21:23:58 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Anniversary Cutscene Library - Online
Thanks to Dustin 'Dust Storm' Pettigrew, the man behind Podtacular's marathon podcasts, we're able to offer you high-res versions of the Halo Anniversary cutscenes in downloadable (and streaming) formats, less than a week after the release of the game! We're going to stagger the release a little bit, in order to keep our servers from melting... but it shouldn't take TOO long to flesh the entire page out. Up now: the game intro videos, the Pillar of Autumn cutscenes, and the Halo cutscenes. If you simply cannot wait, we heard from Cox that he's put all cutscenes up at YouTube - it's up to you how you access them. (The advantage of the bungie.org versions: they're at least twice as big, bitrate-wise... and there are no overlaid subtitles. The advantage of HaloCreation's versions: they're all up now, and there ARE subtitles.) (Louis Wu 21:12:53 UTC) (permalink)

Celebrating in style
Revenant1988 put together some Spartan V armor in time for Halo Anniversary's launch - nice work! (Louis Wu 17:39:31 UTC) (permalink)

I'm hungry for some Lehto's Cheetos
Want a free year of Xbox LIVE? Hedge has you covered - all you need to do is come up with the best commercial for Samurai Fronk (and do it before Thursday). Not too shabby! (Louis Wu 17:24:04 UTC) (permalink)

MN 419: Halo Anniversary Edition
We forgot to post this - but Major Nelson's podcast from November 13 has a half-hour interview with Frank O'Connor and Dan Ayoub - go listen! (Thanks, StalkerUKCG.) (Louis Wu 17:18:07 UTC) (permalink)

How to Spawn a Halo Toy, Parts 1 and 2
McFarlane Toys just released Part 2 of their very cool "Making of a Halo Figure" 3-part video series. This particular video focuses on going from 3D models to plastic molds. Really neat stuff! If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. Go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 17:07:58 UTC) (permalink)

Tip of the Speedrun
Waypoint has another Featured Speedrun from the folks at High Speed Halo. This time, they are showing off RC Master's 9:41 SLASO run on Tip of the Spear. Awesome stuff, check it out! (GrimBrother One 15:46:04 UTC) (permalink)

So He Can Finally Rent His Own Car Now, Right?
A very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the incomparable Louis Wu. Today, we raise a glass to you, oh mighty Father of Community. May your day be filled with pleasant and amicable forum discussion, low-maintenance clients, nice weather, a tall glass of whatever suits you, and good times with the family that lives with you. Buon compleanno, mi amico. We love you! (GrimBrother One 15:00:39 UTC) (permalink)

News November 20 2011

TacPad 2
Yeah, so... let's hope Apple doesn't get into military provisioning any time in the next 500 years. Thanks, robofin117. (Louis Wu 19:43:26 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Weekend Goodies
If you haven't been to Waypoint in a couple of days, check out the newest content: there's another episode of RvB MIA, the mini-series Rooster Teeth made to celebrate Anniversary's launch... an announcement of an Official Strategy Guide for Halo Anniversary from BradyGames (with pretty pictures)... and a video from MLGPro to help you with some CTF Sanctuary tips. Go check it all out! (Louis Wu 19:17:47 UTC) (permalink)

Custom BOB
Sl'askia let us know about a very nicely-painted action figure she finished... it's a BOB that will never disappear on you! (Louis Wu 19:11:42 UTC) (permalink)

Get that Elephant cheap
mr.sci-fi wants to save you some cash, if you're into Mega Bloks - check out his forum post for links. (Louis Wu 19:11:20 UTC) (permalink)

Speechless
Hedgemony was lured back in by the Anniversary maps for Reach - check out his forum post for some spectacular panoramas. WOW. (Louis Wu 19:03:47 UTC) (permalink)

Blind Covies, and hiding from killzones
Rockslider has not finished wringing fun out of Jun's Falcon on Winter Contingency - he's got two new articles with ways to exploit the situation. Go check out his post - and jump over to his site for full details! (Louis Wu 19:02:08 UTC) (permalink)

Decline, Part 1
Prime999r stopped in to announce Decline, Part 1 - a French machinima from Fun House Studios. (There are English subtitles - but the best parts of this project are language-independent.) Fantastic cinematography, great set design - really well-done! Part 2 will be out next week. (Louis Wu 18:59:21 UTC) (permalink)

Pillar of Autumn, realized in Minecraft
DominoEffect sent word of a new Minecraft project - Gyro2117 built a really impressive Pillar of Autumn. The first link will show you the final product - the second contains more screens and a download link. Awesome! (Louis Wu 18:52:03 UTC) (permalink)

Another Day on the Job Redux
robofin117 pointed out a remake of 'Another Day on the Job', originally submitted to the Halo Fest machinima contest. (I can't find a copy of the original to compare it to, unfortunately.) (Louis Wu 18:48:31 UTC) (permalink)

News November 19 2011

Domino's Grab Bag Giveaway 19 - Winner
Congratulations to FinalPOSTMORTEM, who was picked at random by Domino to win the most recent Grab Bag Giveaway - he'll be holding his new Halo Legends soundtrack by midweek! I'm always surprised by the relatively low turnout in these giveaways - it's free stuff! And you don't have to do anything to get it! (Louis Wu 22:33:42 UTC) (permalink)

3D Deal
Wow, nice deal - if you buy a big 3D TV from LG right now, you get a free Xbox 360 and a copy of Halo Anniversary! Thanks to mr.sci-fi for the heads-up! (Louis Wu 21:49:06 UTC) (permalink)

Pro(vidence) Halo
Just a reminder - MLG Providence is happening this weekend - swing by for live Reach action! (Louis Wu 21:48:06 UTC) (permalink)

Picking up cool toys for cheap
mr.sci-fi went to a special Mega sale, and took pics (and video). Looks like he did okay! (Louis Wu 21:42:35 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Zone Game Night
xExOp91x sent word that Halo Zone will be hosting a game night tonight - swing by the singup page to get in on the action! (Louis Wu 21:41:12 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak Volume 61
The latest Fails of the Weak is live - you can watch it at AchievementHunter.com or YouTube, and see people dying in silly ways. Thanks, Ibeechu. (Louis Wu 21:40:09 UTC) (permalink)

Custom Spartans on Sale
Apologies for the lack of news today - it's cleanup-before-Thanksgiving day here at HBO Central! Kaidon let us know last night that he's having a sale on his custom Spartans - swing by his site to see what's available! (Louis Wu 21:38:48 UTC) (permalink)

News November 18 2011

Grifgoose Tournament - SATURDAY
DPS Sundown sent word to remind everyone that the International Grifball League's Grifgoose tournament (Grifball on Mongooses!) takes place tomorrow - are you signed up? There's a new video showing you what gameplay can look like, more tourney info is here, and signups (if you haven't done so yet) are here. (Louis Wu 23:47:18 UTC) (permalink)

War (or War) Issue #21
Firestorm12 let us know that War (or War) is at the end - and the final piece is a video, not a comic. Go watch! (Louis Wu 20:57:37 UTC) (permalink)

Deej-enerates, alla ya's...
DeeJ wants to give you free stuff. You like free stuff, right? Go read his new post at Bungie.net, then jump over to Bungie's Facebook page and enter the competition to win Crimson: Steam Pirates for iPhone. How piratey can you make our favorite Gunslinger? Halcylon's example pic is just plain delicious. (Louis Wu 20:05:32 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Bulletin: November 17, 2011
The newest Halo Bulletin went live yesterday - a little late, but hey, 343 were pretty busy this week! This one has lots of pics - pics from the launch events, concept art of the Anniversary maps, and more. Go read! It's also in our local Halo Bulletin Archive, if you need it. (Louis Wu 13:04:27 UTC) (permalink)

Now with 2.5% real strawberries.
Samurai Fronk continues - Episode 2 of the latest season finally went live today. (JDQuackers apologizes for the delay - my guess is, he's been playing Anniversary till his eyes bleed.) (Louis Wu 13:03:21 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Reach Tricks: Surviving Lone Wolf
Chris Neir let us know that there's a new Halo Reach Tricks vid up - this one will show you how to survive indefinitely in Lone Wolf by basically escaping the level. KOBAYASHI MARU! (Louis Wu 13:01:43 UTC) (permalink)

The Legacy of Halo
Dan Ayoub talked to PC World NZ about the launch of Halo Anniversary, and how it's been shepherding the product to completion. Interesting read! (I think there are some Halo tricksters out there who would take issue with his "we didn't fix any bugs" discussion... but for the most part, I think he's got a pretty solid view of what they wanted, and what they got.) (Louis Wu 13:00:19 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
There's a single story for you this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read it! (There WERE two - but one submitter decided to reach the minimum word count by padding the piece with garbage - that's a no-no!) (Louis Wu 12:59:56 UTC) (permalink)

News November 17 2011

The end of a great thing
Firestream, the man behind Halocharts (and a number of other projects), has decided to shut down his site - timing is uncertain, but it will be offline in "no more than a few days to a week". You can read the full story in the top news post on the front page - and if your enjoyment of Halo has benefitted from his programming over the past four years (as mine has), maybe drop a comment into the thread! (Louis Wu 21:46:22 UTC) (permalink)

It's a piece of art
Gamereactor UK has an interview with Frank O'Connor - he talks about why he thinks Halo got so big, and where the franchise is going. Good stuff. Thanks, TheOddOne. (Louis Wu 18:54:04 UTC) (permalink)

Master Grief
Here's a blog post from a man who drowned the sorrows generated from his breakup in a suit of Spartan armor. Interesting read! Thanks, Hydranockz. (Louis Wu 18:49:54 UTC) (permalink)

That's a low blow.
If you still read newspapers, you might have seen a mention of Halo in today's Dustin - I found a copy on the website of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I know I've had this discussion with my wife, more than once... (Louis Wu 18:20:53 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's LASO Challenge Walkthrough - Exodus
Tyrant has released the next installment of his LASO Challenge Walkthrough - this one will bring you safely through the level Exodus. If you think "well, I've watched his Mythic guide already, I don't need this" - think again. This contains a bunch of refinements that make this level much less painful - it's not just the same runthrough with Blind turned off. 35 minutes - worth your time! (Louis Wu 18:13:02 UTC) (permalink)

IGN's Top 10 Reach Kills (11.16.11)
ChrisTheeCrappy pointed out the latest IGN Reach Top 10 Kills - some fun ones in there! (Armor-lock-haters will love #1.) (Louis Wu 18:09:52 UTC) (permalink)

CruelLEGACEY's Halo Anniversary Review Pt 1
CruelLEGACEY let us know that he's posted the first part of his Halo Anniversary review, covering the Campaign. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 18:09:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Lore in a Minute
Nak3d Eli teamed up with The Lore Channel to bring you Halo Lore in a Minute. It covers prehistory up through Reach. (Louis Wu 18:05:47 UTC) (permalink)

News November 16 2011

Halo CE: Then and Now
Stewie2552 put together a video that constantly jumps back and forth between classic and remastered modes in Halo Anniversary; if you haven't gotten a good enough look at the graphical changes, this might be for you! (Louis Wu 20:28:07 UTC) (permalink)

Star wipes are so 70s, Frank.
Gamasutra's got an interview with Frank O'Connor covering Halo Anniversary - worth a read. Not a TON of new info, but a nice summary, and some funny moments. Thanks, mPlacki. (Louis Wu 17:39:20 UTC) (permalink)

Putting Secrets on Hold
Anniversary's been out officially for a day now - but there are already guides online for finding all the Campaign terminals, all the GRD dolls in multiplayer, many of the easter eggs hidden throughout both sets of maps, and more. We're going to hold off a bit from highlighting this stuff (because we think you should have a chance to find it for yourself, and for some of us, links are easy temptation), but if you need this info, just browse our forum (or any other Halo forum on the internet). The truth is out there. (Louis Wu 15:34:04 UTC) (permalink)

Buy Armor Piecemeal
McFarlane will sell you new armor for your action figures - but the packs run $30-40 when all is said and done... and you might only want a single pair of shoulder pieces. tadboz bought a couple of packs, and is selling off the bits he can't use - they're starting at about a buck each. Might be a nice way to grab that single chest piece you were eyeing! (Louis Wu 15:32:51 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Anniversary Map Pack Trailer/Montage
NeoGAF's Tashi had a blast playing some early custom games with the Halo Anniversary maps - nice 2-minute montage! (Louis Wu 15:32:00 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo CE Chronicles - Fearless Pt 2 Ch. 11
Dennis Powers let us know about Fearless Part 2 chapter eleven - unexpected visitors! (Louis Wu 15:31:10 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: 10 Years of Building Communities
Operation Chastity, one of the first live-action fan film projects (and still the only one with a driveable Warthog), is spotlighted in a fan documentary on Halo as a community-building force, along with the crew from Haloathon - awesome! (OC's Pete Cooper is wearing the Leviathan-designed HBO shirt we sold recently, cranking the level up to 11.) Thanks to ChrisTheeCrappy for letting us know. (Louis Wu 15:18:02 UTC) (permalink)

F is for Frank, G is for Grim, W is for Claude
Thanks to Hyokin for letting our forum know about a very cool "Halo: A to Z" interview from Gamespot with Frank O'Connor. Don't dismiss this as a casual overview... there are some juicy little nods and hints toward the future of the franchise in there! (GrimBrother One 13:59:35 UTC) (permalink)

News November 15 2011

Game Paused vs The World
Game Paused, a company that makes videogame-themed shirts (we've worked with them before), is relaunching their website next week, and decided that it might be fun to give away some shirts in celebration of Halo Anniversary. Swing by this page for information on how you and four friends can get in on the action - beat them (they say they're not that great) and you could go home better-dressed! (Louis Wu 18:41:34 UTC) (permalink)

In Vino Veritash.
Yesterday, Halo Heads made a return, to celebrate the release of Halo Anniversary. Today, Stuntmutt gives us a new One One Se7en for the same reason. I think maybe Cortana is wishing she had her OWN Back button... (Louis Wu 14:07:05 UTC) (permalink)

Hate to Say Goodbye
Red vs Blue Season 9 Episode 20 aired last night, ending the season (but not the storyline). Great episode! MoltenSlowa was first. (Louis Wu 13:43:48 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Anniversary Digital Experience
Dani was the first I saw to point out the new Halo Anniversary Digital Experience subsite at Halo Waypoint - pretty nice collection of information all in one place! Go see if you missed anything in the ramp-up to today's release. (Louis Wu 13:34:27 UTC) (permalink)

News November 14 2011

The Ol' Switcheroo
Throughout 2006 and 2007, Paul Maestri made Halo fans laugh with his beautifully-drawn Halo Heads strip. In December 2007, he posted strip 62... and has been silent since then. Until today. The release of Halo Anniversary has awakened memories that he could only express in pictoral form - go check out The Ol' Switcheroo! (Louis Wu 23:06:22 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Redesign Live
AladelAngel noticed that Halo Waypoint has been redesigned, with some sections (Stats is one!) getting lots o' love. Go explore! (Louis Wu 23:05:06 UTC) (permalink)

Domino's HBO Grab Bag Giveaways, Round 19
Domino Theory, flush with the joy of anticipation as Halo Anniversary prepares to drop, is back with another giveaway - toss your name into the hat, and if he picks you on Friday, you've got yourself some cool Halo schwag - fer nothin'. You can't beat that deal with a Gravity Hammer! (Louis Wu 23:03:13 UTC) (permalink)

HSH: Speed Run of the Week 1
High Speed Halo is celebrating the release of Halo Anniversary with some releases of their own (on Halo Waypoint) - the first is a classic solo Legendary run by Insidi0us on Silent Cartographer in less than 4 minutes. Can you beat it (with new graphics)? Film it! (Louis Wu 22:21:15 UTC) (permalink)

Bungie hires a new Community Manager
It's heartwarming when a longtime Halo fan realizes a dream. Today, Bungie announced that the position of Community Manager (okay, Assistant Community Manager) has been filled... by a name that should be familiar to anyone who reads this page. Congratulations to TTL XerxdeeJ, who founded the Tied the Leader clan and gave players looking for a Good Game a place to call home. His flock has just grown exponentially! (Also, it looks like he's just DeeJ now. Work for Bungie, lose your letters.) (Louis Wu 21:55:37 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Tales, part 4: A Fistful of Arrows
The last installment of 4D Fiction's Halo Tales, a series of interviews with productive Halo fans, went live today - thebruce0 talked to Leviathan about A Fistful of Arrows. Definitely worth the read! (Louis Wu 21:39:01 UTC) (permalink)

BOB Video Guide Part 4: Nightfall
Lord Friendship has the next chapter of his BOB Video Guide online - Part 4 covers the level Nightfall, which has only 3 BOBs in total. This is the last one for a little bit (LF's going to take time with Halo Anniversary) - so enjoy it! (Louis Wu 19:20:38 UTC) (permalink)

HCEA Review Mania
A ridiculous number of reviews of Halo Anniversary hit this morning - thanks to ElzarTheBam, Moorpheusl9, kapowaz, Beckx, and jake108 for the links.

While I'm POSITIVE there'll be more, we likely won't post them; there's really only so much review material you can process, anyway. (Louis Wu 15:51:16 UTC) (permalink)

Super Space Gordon and the Deadly Dimensions
Pierre Tartaix let us know about Super Space Gordon and the Deadly Dimensions - it's a continuation of the characters and universe from an older movie TGO GMBH released several months ago. Great work - go watch it! (Louis Wu 15:30:35 UTC) (permalink)

Almost a chance at a signed Reach Xbox
Sean P. won the 4v4 Slayer tournament at HaloFest this year, and picked up a Halo: Reach Xbox 360 for his troubles. He got it signed by all the 343 employees - but then traded it for a Recon helmet that the winners of the 4v4 CTF tournament received (Pic 1 | Pic 2 | Pic 3). The person he traded with decided he'd rather have cash than the signed Xbox, so Sean sent us the auction link on Saturday, in case there were any HBO readers who might want to get in on the action. Unfortunately, the auction ended yesterday, before we got a chance to post this. (The console sold for $510 - a pretty hefty sum for someone who won a CTF tourney!) Apologies - next time we'll try and get this online before it's too late. (Louis Wu 15:03:11 UTC) (permalink)

Co-Op Networking Discussion
CruelLEGACEY decided to write up the difference between the network models used by Co-op/Firefight and standard Multiplayer, in an attempt to explain why co-op modes can lag so badly. If you're really confused, this might help. (Louis Wu 14:56:59 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Tricks IRL
Chris Neir put together a video documenting his experience at PAX this year - fun watch! (Louis Wu 14:52:01 UTC) (permalink)

gameXcess Podcast 1 - Halo Memories
Maniac released his first podcast to celebrate the release of Halo Anniversary - it's full of favorite Halo memories. Go listen! (Louis Wu 14:50:06 UTC) (permalink)

War (or War) Issues #19 and #20
Firestorm12 let us know last week that War (or War) has been wrapped up - Issues 19 and 20 nearly finish out the storyline. (There's another release this week - but it's a video, rather than a comic.) (Louis Wu 14:49:17 UTC) (permalink)

9 Halo Franchise Innovations
Paste Magazine put together a list of 9 innovations the Halo franchise can take at least a LITTLE credit for - interesting list! (Louis Wu 14:43:49 UTC) (permalink)

Lots of Music Dropping Tomorrow
The Halo Anniversary Soundtrack is on sale tomorrow - did you realize it was going to be a 2-disc set? Nice! (Louis Wu 14:40:59 UTC) (permalink)

The Gang's All here
TTL Demag0gue stopped in with a new Reclaimer - the major players have gathered! (Louis Wu 14:09:34 UTC) (permalink)

Heroes Never Die
The video trailer promoting the Halo Living Monument, an interactive website supporting Halo Anniversary, is now online. Raymond Barry does a fine job of celebrating the few positives that come from war. Thanks, davidfuchs. (Louis Wu 13:55:50 UTC) (permalink)

HCEA Review from The Guardian
The Guardian took a look at Halo Anniversary - and liked it. Thanks, The More Deluded. (I didn't use his link, because in order to view the review on Facebook, you have to allow The Guardian access to your personal info. Luckily, the same review is on their standard website.) (Louis Wu 13:52:17 UTC) (permalink)

High-Class Wall Art
Dust Storm noticed a nod to Halo in the TV show 'Sanctuary' - nice catch! (Louis Wu 13:44:54 UTC) (permalink)

Complex's 10 Most Delayed Games
Some games take a little longer than expected to reach the market. Complex has put together a list of 10 they consider 'most delayed'. Halo is on it. Thanks, Morpheus. (Louis Wu 13:41:17 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... onions?
If you're sitting around listening to the Halo soundtrack and thinking to yourself "self, wouldn't it be great if you had the perfect alcoholic beverage to complement this music?"... swing by Drinkify. They have a suggestion. Jillybean is responsible for this heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:39:13 UTC) (permalink)

Grunts on my Falcon/Covies out of bounds
Rockslider is STILL not done with Jun's Falcon on Winter Contingency - now he's bringing Covies along for the ride. (Louis Wu 13:34:32 UTC) (permalink)

New Vids from DaFrontlineTrooper
robofin117 let us know about two new videos from DaFrontlineTrooper - the first shows off his M6D prop, the second highlights Halo: The Fallen (a fan-driven live-action film currently in production) and reaches out for donations. Go watch! (Louis Wu 13:30:07 UTC) (permalink)

From the ground up
FyreWulff took some time to list all the Forge palettes of the Anniversary maps - this should be pretty handy to folks looking to recreate worlds! (Louis Wu 13:24:35 UTC) (permalink)

Slidin' in to home
Just caught myself up on the last few days of forum posts (I'd done SOME reading on Friday, but mostly I've been offline since Wednesday night), and found a couple of tidbits that didn't make our front page. If you missed 'em too, enjoy 'em now! First up: Xbox.com put up some screenshots of Halo Anniversary with a supercool slider you can wipe back and forth to compare graphics - go play! (Scroll down to 'Original vs Remastered'.) Thanks, nillapuddin. (Louis Wu 13:21:53 UTC) (permalink)

News November 13 2011

Spartans Never Die? If Only That Were True...
Our friends over at the Drunken Halo Podcast have a new episode out, but the tone is certainly a bit different this time around. Join hosts Justin and Travis as they spend an episode reflecting on and honoring their father, the late Dr Ken Bryce MD (1955-2011). It's another reminder of the bond this community shares that certainly goes beyond the game, and serves as encouragement for us to stand strong together through all of life's plot twists. The HBO Family certainly sends our absolute best wishes to the DHP crew. If you have the chance, check this out... it's good. (GrimBrother One 23:06:54 UTC) (permalink)

Neocartography Flythrough
FireDragon04 wanted to make sure we checked out this new flythrough of all of the upcoming Anniversary maps for Halo: Reach. It's a great way to pass the slowly-ticking time till release a bit faster. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 23:03:31 UTC) (permalink)

Outpost: Isil Season 2 Opener now in the Wild
shiruken from Treeskunk Productions let us know that the first episode of "Outpost: Isil" Season 2 is now available for your viewing pleasure both on their website as well as on YouTube. Definitely worth a look, go and check this series out! (GrimBrother One 23:00:29 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak, Number 60 Edition
Jack and Geoff are back with Episode 60 of the awesome Achievement Hunter series "Fails of the Weak". As always, you'll find a great selecti - OH THERE'S KAT! (GrimBrother One 22:24:52 UTC) (permalink)

ETA for MIA is NOW
Halo Waypoint and Rooster Teeth teamed up in another great way today, with the release of Part 1 of its new Waypoint-exclusive miniseries, MIA. If the dialogue starts to sound a bit familiar, this is why. Always awesome, check it out! (GrimBrother One 21:39:24 UTC) (permalink)

News November 12 2011

Get In The Zone
Chris from the fansite HaloZone, wanted to let fans know that they are going to be holding a community game night for Halo: Reach on Friday, November 19, 2011. If you are looking for more ways to get your Anniversary multiplayer game on, check out their site for more details! (GrimBrother One 21:55:02 UTC) (permalink)

It'll Take Arum & Coke For Me To Solve That
Okay, I thought this was VERY cool. Sl'askia wanted to show our forum a piece of awesome 3D modeling. For all you Elite fans out there, Sl'askia went through the trouble of envisioning and modeling this personal interpretation of a Sangheili "arum" puzzle, as described in the recent novel, Halo: Glasslands. I'd say the result came out brilliant, see if you agree! (GrimBrother One 21:40:06 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Customz Episode 7
Timgie brought word to our forum that their "Reach Customz" series has just launched Episode "Lucky Number" 7, featuring commentary on a new race map called Water Cyclone by Blade Monkey 751. Good footage of good times in there. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 21:36:01 UTC) (permalink)

How To Do Challenges Without Clothes On. Or Something Like That...
Nak3d Eli stopped by the forum to tell us that he has 3 new Halo Challenge tutorials up for your viewing pleasure. If you are looking for a few tips, stop by his post for more info! (GrimBrother One 21:32:13 UTC) (permalink)

Opening Cutscenes Evolved
wheeler dropped by our forum to show off a side-by-side comparison of the opening cutscene from both Combat Evolved and Anniversary. Great job, and very interesting to watch and take notes on! (GrimBrother One 21:28:51 UTC) (permalink)

Isn't Phil Kaggy That Awesome Guitarist? No Wait, That's Keaggy
robofin117 dropped by to show us a pretty cool digital drawing of an Elite by KaggyFilms, which also features some neat 8-bit Halo tunes. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 21:23:39 UTC) (permalink)

Armor Block
If you get the chance, you should definitely check out Kooberz' very cool new Lego Halo movie, titled "Battle of the Brick: Built for Combat". It weighs in at a hefty 27 minutes, but it full of creativity and some great Lego special effects. Both Kooberz himself and ElzarTheBam mentioned it in our forums as well. Great work! (GrimBrother One 21:11:50 UTC) (permalink)

Feet First Into Awesome
Something that has gotten regrettably lost in the news shuffle these past few days is the recent release of the new trailer for the upcoming fan film, "Helljumper". The trailer features both awesome effects and some very cool music, and is more than worth your time to check out. We certainly hope to have more news to bring you in the near future on this very cool project! Thanks to multiple sources for keeping us informed :-) (GrimBrother One 19:58:27 UTC) (permalink)

GT Retrospective, Index 4
nillapuddin gently prodded our rear ends into remembering to mention that Index 4 of GameTrailers excellent Halo Retrospective series recently dropped. Don't miss this; it's an awesome watch. (GrimBrother One 15:30:54 UTC) (permalink)

Now Playing Anniversary
robofin117 let us know about a nice video from Gamespot's "Now Playing" feature. What else would the be playing but Halo: Anniversary?! A very cool watch, and Classic Mode menu screen? Heck yes, Frankie! In other news, Wu has been disappointed to discover that pressing the Back button doesn't age him back 10 years. You know, to like, 23. (GrimBrother One 15:24:41 UTC) (permalink)

Draw!
The Achievement Hunter crew teams up with Halo Waypoint yet again to bring us another gorgeous flythrough of an upcoming map set to drop with Halo: Anniversary. This time, the treatment is applied to the still-stunning High Noon. Go and check it out for some good banter, and eye-popping visuals! (GrimBrother One 15:04:46 UTC) (permalink)

News November 11 2011

If Ka Wills
Whoa, what? TTL Demag0gue stopped in to let us know that Reclaimer's been updated - the beginning of the run to a Finale has begun! (Louis Wu 17:06:49 UTC) (permalink)

AH: Breakneck Flythrough
Achievement Hunter's flythrough of Breakneck (the vanilla Reach variant of Headlong) is now up at Halo Waypoint - go check it out for weapon spawn locations, hideyholes, and entertaining commentary from Joel and Jack! Thanks, Lord Friendship. (Louis Wu 17:03:28 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Faith Interview (and Trailer)
thebruce0 continues his series of interviews with Halo fan artists - Part 3 focuses on Jared Pelletier, the man behind the fan-created live-action movie, Halo Faith. It's a great read - and it also contains a brand-new trailer for the movie. Go read, go watch! (Louis Wu 16:57:15 UTC) (permalink)

Major Nelson hosts a Halo LAN
Major Nelson released a new "Major's Minute" on Inside Xbox (also visible on the web here - just click the 'Major's Minute – Halo Anniversary' link) - it's a look at a very cool LAN party he hosted recently. Thanks again, Morpheus. (Louis Wu 16:56:47 UTC) (permalink)

Queen: The Musical
ZZoMBiE13 pointed out an out-of-the-ordinary machinima project he ran across - XxQmanxXP2B put together Queen: The Musical in two acts (Act 1 | Act 2 | Alternate Ending). It's been out for several months now - but this is the first I'm seeing it. Starts a little slow, but give it a chance! (Louis Wu 16:56:07 UTC) (permalink)

Winter is coming... to the Tetris wall
Morpheus let us know about a pretty funny video from G4's X-Play - Master Chief has just a few cameo bits, but overall, it's really nicely done. (Makes far more sense if you've seen HBO's Game of Thrones...) (Louis Wu 16:51:02 UTC) (permalink)

A Fistful of Arrows gets Prettier
Leviathan.bungie.org, the home of A Fistful of Arrows, just got a major facelift, thanks to onebitrocket. Go check it out! All the AFoA stuff in one easy-on-the-eyes location, and some bonuses to boot! Go explore. (Louis Wu 16:43:01 UTC) (permalink)

HaloChallenges - Kicking your butt since 2010
HC Redemption let us know that there are a bunch of new challenges posted recently at HaloChallenges.com - Turnabout and Absolute are Halo 3 ODST Firefight challenges, Tip of the Spear (in 3 difficulties) has been added to the list of Reach Campaign Challenges, and RippinHeads has worked with HC to create a Halo 3 Lone Wolves challenge that might just be out of your league. Are you up for it? (Louis Wu 16:36:36 UTC) (permalink)

Playtime Season 2 Remastered
CruelLEGACEY let us know that he's re-released Season 2 of Playtime as a single video (no episode breaks), remastered in HD. If you skipped this one, now's a good time to go back. (Louis Wu 16:30:08 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Three new pieces from two authors in the Fan Fiction section this week - go read! (Louis Wu 16:27:30 UTC) (permalink)

Hannaford Blog Update - Promotional Roughs
More cool artwork from Isaac Hannaford - some 'roughs' created for promotional work. Lovely! Thanks, Black Six. (Louis Wu 16:25:53 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach BOB Video Guide Part 3: ONI
Lord Friendship let us know that Part 3 of his BOB Video Guide is now live - this one shows you all the BOBs on ONI Sword Base. (There are a LOT.) Awesome stuff! (Louis Wu 16:23:47 UTC) (permalink)

News November 10 2011

Mythic Tyranny on ONI's Turf
The Mythic Tyrant wanted to let everyone know that his Halo: Reach LASO Challenge Walkthrough for ONI Sword Base is now live. Check it out for some awesome strategies to conquer the toughest Covenant problems you might be facing! Also, don't forget that if you are having trouble with today's Halo: Reach Daily Challenge on Tip of the Spear, you can check out Tyrant's walkthrough on that level as well. Get to it, soldiers! (GrimBrother One 19:11:27 UTC) (permalink)

RC Masterful Display
If you have some time on your hands, make sure you check out RC Master's incredible Legendary run of just over 2 hours and 20 minutes on Halo: Reach with NO DEATHS. Absolutely brilliant stuff here. Way to go RC! Can anyone out there match him? (GrimBrother One 19:03:36 UTC) (permalink)

Beauty Behind Bars
Halo Waypoint has dropped the latest in their awesome callaboration videos with the Achievement Hunter crew. Next up on the list is Solitary, the stunningly beautiful remake to the classic "Prisoner". Some incredible shots... makes me long to get back to the battlefield! Go and check it out! (GrimBrother One 18:54:18 UTC) (permalink)

Cheap Anniversary
The fine folks over at XBLAFans.com were kind enough to let everyone know about a great deal going on at NewEgg where you can still preorder Halo: Anniversary and get it for just $30 USD. Nice! If you need it, go take advantage of it! (GrimBrother One 03:43:40 UTC) (permalink)

One More Bulletin The Chamber
The newest Halo Bulletin has found its way from bs angel's ivory-ticklers to your monitor monitors. Check it out for an awesome array of newsbits as 343 Industries makes their final push toward the launch of Halo: Anniversary! Anniversary Playlist details and some awesome map-overheads to be found within. Check it out! (Insert Wu grumble about me not loving him because I "didn't include the local version that actually wasn't up just yet when I made this newspost" here ________ <3 - Grim) (GrimBrother One 02:29:42 UTC) (permalink)

Can you feel the lag tonight?
Wow - NeoGAF is full of win tonight. ncsuDuncan wrote a paean to Reach lag, and Tomasooie realized the dream. The mic ain't that great... but the effort is A+. Go listen. (Louis Wu 01:53:45 UTC) (permalink)

Achievement HORSE 49
The Achievement Hunter RT Office HORSE tournament has narrowed down the field to the four semifinalists, as Gus and Michael duke it out (YouTube | AH.com) for the fourth spot. Go see how it went! Thanks, Ibeechu. (Louis Wu 01:35:07 UTC) (permalink)

PGCR 96
robowski let us know that Post Game Carnage Report Episode 96 is now live - check out the controversial audio quiz! (Louis Wu 01:32:12 UTC) (permalink)

Pushing the Limits
thebruce0 posted the second of his series of fan interviews - sounds like the third will be posted soon! This one probes the mind of Dagoonite, the man behind the Bzzt! arg earlier this year. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 01:29:52 UTC) (permalink)

deviantART Update for Thursday
Gonna clear out the news queue to make life a little easier for Grim, who's gonna be on his own for the next few days. First up - we got deviantART from both CaptainTony (who posted a large collection, then threw in an addendum) and SESpider (whose find is solitary, but sweet). Go explore! (Louis Wu 01:27:28 UTC) (permalink)

News November 9 2011

Now THAT'S A Noble Steed...
The lovely and talented misplacedyank showed off her new ride in Halo: Reach via her Twitter Feed. I'm on the virgil of getting one myself! (GrimBrother One 21:31:00 UTC) (permalink)

Take It Off Nice And Slow... The Sleeve I Mean
If you are curious to see the new Halo: Anniversary "in the flesh", check out this unboxing video done by M4d Ski11z. Game-case aficionados like myself will find the neat special outer sleeve pretty cool! Thanks to Gabotron ES for cathing it over at the GAF. (GrimBrother One 21:27:10 UTC) (permalink)

Chicken? Really?
This amused me - it shows how silly marketing can get. Thanks, GarthVaderUK. (Louis Wu 19:59:23 UTC) (permalink)

More achievements for Defiant
blamite noticed that if you visit Waypoint (on Xbox LIVE, not on the web), you'll see some new achievements listed for the Defiant Map Pack - worth another 50GS. Intriguing! (They don't seem to be in-game yet, so I'm guessing they don't go live before Anniversary drops.) (Louis Wu 19:32:17 UTC) (permalink)

Combative fun with Jun's Falcon
Rockslider continues his investigations into Jun's Falcon on Winter Contingency... the man is nothing if not thorough. (Louis Wu 19:30:53 UTC) (permalink)

In the End
neo56695 sent us a link to 'In the End', his music video using Reach cutscene footage. I didn't have a lot of expectations (it's Linkin Park, after all, and the cutscene footage is displayed at the wrong aspect ratio) - but I was pleasantly surprised by the connections between the visuals and the lyrics. Give it a shot! Update: the aspect ratio is fixed now. (Louis Wu 17:14:50 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo CE Chronicles: Fearless Chapter Ten
Dennis Powers sent word that Fearless Chapter Ten is now online. The assault begins! (Louis Wu 17:13:46 UTC) (permalink)

GT Halo Retrospective Index 3 - Tip of the Spear
ZZoMBiE13 was the first to let us know that Part 3 of Gametrailers' Halo Retrospective went online yesterday - it covers the Multiplayer aspect of the Halo games. Some fun facts are tucked away in this one! Go watch. (Louis Wu 16:41:44 UTC) (permalink)

Happy Birthday, Halo 2!
FyreWulff is celebrating Halo 2's 7th birthday today with a fundraising event, and some Halo 2 Vista customs. Check out his post for more details! (Louis Wu 16:35:43 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Reach Challenges: Firefight Assist Tutorial
Nak3d Eli has posted another Challenge Tutorial vid - this one is aimed at making the Firefight Assist challenges (like yesterday's) a little bit easier. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:33:56 UTC) (permalink)

I Need an ID.
Morpheus noticed a couple of days ago that Robot Chicken had a pretty funny Master Chief sketch on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim - you can watch it now on their website. Update: apparently, that link only works if you're inside the US. Try this one if you're not - thanks, The Loot. (Louis Wu 16:23:03 UTC) (permalink)

Co-op Night: ONI Alpha Site
Kermit posted a great recap of last week's Co-op night on ONI Alpha Site - if the pictures and text make you want to get in on the action, tonight's romp will take place in NMPD HQ. Join 'em! (Louis Wu 16:17:04 UTC) (permalink)

The Awesomeness is Impossible to Regulate
Also up on Waypoint today is the latest Anniversary flythrough from Gus and Geoff at Achievement Hunters. This time they take a look at the new Installation 04 Firefight map. As always, some beautiful looks at what is sure to become a fan favorite! (GrimBrother One 16:05:47 UTC) (permalink)

Can I Have An Avatar Papasan Chair to Pile Them In?
The Halo Avatar Collection will grow a little bit larger come tomorrow, with the addition of new items in the November Collection. New Halo: Anniversary T-shirts and a Grunt Birthday pet are the latest additions. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 16:02:19 UTC) (permalink)

Get the Scooper on the Cooper Trooper
We mentioned yesterday a new series by thebruce0 looking at grassroots storytelling in the Halo Community. He stopped by later to let us know that the first article is live! The initial piece features a great interview with Pete Cooper of Operation: Chastity fame. Really nice stuff, looking forward to more! (GrimBrother One 15:47:41 UTC) (permalink)

News November 8 2011

BOB Video Guide Part 2: Winter Contingency
Lord Friendship has released Part 2 of his BOB Video Guide - this one covers the 7 BOBs you can find on Winter Contingency. Very cool info - nicely done! (Louis Wu 19:16:57 UTC) (permalink)

Halo: Galaxy of Combat
ElzarTheBam pointed out a fan-made Halo game coming out next year (they have a website up here). Looks to be a free-to-play Massively Multiplayer Online FPS. Curious - it'll be interesting to see how (or if) 343 reacts. (Louis Wu 19:14:55 UTC) (permalink)

HALO: Eye of the Storm
We got a note from Philip Kang about a Halo 3-based machinima he's just released. It's nearly 23 minutes long, and it uses the campaign level 'The Storm' to tell a poignant story. Imagine the level, presented as a meticulously-filmed cinematic experience - you'd end up with this. Kang did all the work himself (except the voicework and titles), and put in hundreds of hours over the past two years - the end result is spectacular. (When you watch this, think about how much filming needs to be done to get AI-controlled behavior that matches the shot you need.) If you want to see what you're getting into, there's a short (2:16) trailer to give you a taste. Sometimes the dedication of Halo fans blows me away. (Louis Wu 16:30:49 UTC) (permalink)

Fan service that makes art meaningful
MffnMn noticed a review of The Art of Building Worlds at Ars Technica - good stuff. (Louis Wu 16:26:54 UTC) (permalink)

Inside Xbox OXM Report: Halo Anniversary
OXM's Ryan McCaffrey interviewed 343's Kevin Grace to provide a nice intro for Halo Anniversary (if, say, you haven't seen enough media about it yet) - the best way to see this is on your 360, in the Inside Xbox section of your Dashboard... but if you don't have time to fire that up, we've put a version online. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 16:17:34 UTC) (permalink)

Gearbox Honors A Lost Soldier
Not long ago, Gearbox Software lost a very big fan, Michael John Mamaril, to a battle with cancer. In response to a request from one of the fan's friends, they put together an incredibly touching eulogy utilizing their well-known Borderlands character "Claptrap". The Joystiq article just linked also mentions that Gearbox plans on immortalizing the fan as an NPC in the next game. You can go directly to the eulogy itself here on Soundcloud. While this may not be specifically Halo-related, Gearbox is certainly apart of the Halo extended-development-family. Not to mention that some things are just more important. Godspeed to Michael and all of the HBO family's best wishes to everyone involved and affected. Thanks to Ibeechu for noticing. (GrimBrother One 14:43:53 UTC) (permalink)

Art Battle 11: Space Viking
MASSAIKUR noticed a contest at idrawgirls.com - submit a Space Viking that can fit into the Halo universe, and you could win a music gift certificate from Amazon. You've got a couple of weeks - go! (Louis Wu 14:38:50 UTC) (permalink)

Ridgeline Flythrough
Halo Waypoint has another Anniversary flythrough for you, with entertaining commentary from Achievement Hunter's Geoff and Gus. Go take a look at the beauty of Ridgeline! Thanks, cardo 8 atl. (Louis Wu 14:37:22 UTC) (permalink)

Forge Lesson 50: Navigation
GodlyPerfection stopped by with word of Forge Lesson 50 - this one focuses on navigation, and how you can help players get around your map. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:36:34 UTC) (permalink)

A Healthy Addiction
Turns out, Wayne Brady loves Reach. Who knew? (Thanks, MacGyver10.) (Louis Wu 14:35:55 UTC) (permalink)

When Nerds Play Halo
Stephen Loftus and Laird were discussing in-atmosphere MAC rounds, and one thing led to another... check out Stephen's post for some interesting math showing just how far that Corvette at the end of ONI Sword Base got before going kablooie. Fun! (Louis Wu 14:35:00 UTC) (permalink)

I swear this never happens to me.
Rooster Teeth's Red vs Blue Season 9 Episode 19 is online at this point - it really does seem like it's going to be difficult to wrap this all up in one more episode! Don't worry about that yet, though - just go watch this one and enjoy. Thanks, Ibeechu. (Louis Wu 14:34:34 UTC) (permalink)

Storytelling & The Halo Effect
thebruce0 dropped in to tell us about a new project he is putting together to honor Halo's 10th anniversary. It's a very cool article & interview series focusing largely on the grassroots storytelling so prevalent in the Halo community. Articles will be going up all through the week, and you can read the Introduction Piece here. Definitely worth checking out! (GrimBrother One 14:30:28 UTC) (permalink)

News November 7 2011

Get a Fridge, a 360, and HCEA - Free
Wow. So Monster is giving away a bunch of stuff to celebrate the release of Halo Anniversary - the grand prize includes a custom HCEA-themed fridge stocked with Monster, a 360, a few copies of the game, and a few years of LIVE. To enter, you have to Like their Facebook page. (You can't even really see the contest page very well until you do that.) For folks who aren't interested in Liking Monster, full rules (and prizes) are listed on their website. (You can only enter if you're a US citizen. Sorry.) Thanks to Hypertrooper (who seems pretty bitter about the US-only part) for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 19:52:11 UTC) (permalink)

Halo and phones - like chocolate and peanut butter
Simpsons Rule found a really bizarre appearance of Halo-related material - it's a website for a new phone company. Oh, Halo - you're in our collective psyche. (Louis Wu 19:51:24 UTC) (permalink)

There Is No Forgiveness To Be Found Here
The Achievement Hunters team strikes again as they team up with Halo Waypoint to bring us another awesome flythrough of a new upcoming map. This time they've set their sights on Penance. Again, they provide us with an incredible mix of beautiful pan shots and witty banter. Check it out! (GrimBrother One 15:59:48 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Community Modcast Episode 3
The Waypoint modsquad is back with Episode 3 of the Halo Waypoint Community Modcast. The Waypoint Community Leader/Mod team takes to the mics again, this time beginning a 2-part retrospective on Halo: Combat Evolved. Yours truly is among the hosts, so come and join us for an hour or so of old school Halo talk and borderline humor! (GrimBrother One 15:33:58 UTC) (permalink)

Samurai Fronk: Return to Glory
JDQuackers is back with the first episode of the All-New Samurai Fronk... the energy is palpable! (As is Fronk's blowhole.) (Louis Wu 14:46:22 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Speed Art
Dust Storm also let us know about a couple of speed art videos recently uploaded to YouTube - Sean McCoy has put together a scene from the Halo 4 trailer, and an iconic image from Halo 3: ODST. Both are pretty entertaining to watch as they come into being. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 14:43:48 UTC) (permalink)

Final Podtacular Decade Show
The final podcast in Podacular's Decade series is happening this Saturday night, November 12, at 7 eastern. Swing by the site for more details - and tune in for the live broadcast! (Louis Wu 14:41:58 UTC) (permalink)

Women of Xbox: Epsiode 1
Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris is trying something new - a series entitled 'Women of Xbox'. Female gamers from the community will offer general tips, tricks, and reviews. First up: GrifballHub's GooseChecka. Her skillset is impressive! (Louis Wu 14:40:22 UTC) (permalink)

Zombie Cartographers Map Pack #1
FyreWulff put together the Zombie Cartographers Map Pack #1 - a collection of submitted maps for folks who love Infection. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:33:57 UTC) (permalink)

News November 6 2011

A glimpse into the mind of a Halo artist
Over at NeoGAF, TheOddOne stumbled across a Picasa gallery belonging to Paul Russel, formerly an environment artist at Bungie, now working at Certain Affinity. It's got some amazing stuff in it; what caught TheOddOne's eye was Halo 3: The Lost City (which is really, really cool), but you should look at ALL of the work there. From early ideas about Cairo Station to ODST building blocks to throwaway comments on Reach images that make you rethink what you've seen... it's a treasure trove. (Did you know that the Silent Cartographer was remade in Halo 3? I totally missed that.) Explore. (Louis Wu 16:14:17 UTC) (permalink)

Winter Contingency: Wandering dropship escape
Rockslider continues to explore the options available with the first Falcon on Winter Contingency... go read about it! (Louis Wu 16:06:31 UTC) (permalink)

Waypoint Video Roundup
There was a boatload of new material released on Halo Waypoint this week - we touched on only a small portion of it. Here's a summary of some of the videos we missed - there's plenty more content that we're simply skipping! (That means you should explore the site for yourself.)

• jmanX36 put together 'Only Getting Started', a jumping video from Reach's multiplayer - I was really impressed by some of the grenade throws, and the scenery jumps.
• SidewardFuture remade the Jenkins cutscene in the Reach engine - a pretty amazing piece of work, given the limitations set by available resources.
• Stewie2552 released Halo: Reach Fails 13, his latest collection of bad luck and bad decisions.
• The latest collection of games from MLG Raleigh (Finals, games 6-10) are up - it's the end of the 10-game series that Waypoint started last week. Go watch Instinct and Infamous battle it out!
• Jack and Gus from Achievement Hunter did a flythrough of Battle Canyon, the Beaver Creek remake that's included with Halo Anniversary. These guys are good at panning shots, and this flythrough gives you a great look at this map.

Again, there's more - screenshots, Halo in real life, community interaction... go play! (Louis Wu 16:04:01 UTC) (permalink)

Arby 'n' the Chief: Cradle to Grave
Ogan Panavo pointed out that Cradle to Grave, the latest episode in the Arby 'n' the Chief series, went live yesterday. The most obnoxious of the hackers is dealt with first. (Louis Wu 15:39:50 UTC) (permalink)

Halo art, rounded up
CaptainTony stopped in with another deviantART roundup. He says that after Thanksgiving, he's going to drop these to one per week. (Louis Wu 15:39:06 UTC) (permalink)

News November 5 2011

They got the band back together
Wow. Looks like Mike Salvatori got hired by Bungie! I wonder what they're working on...? (Louis Wu 23:00:05 UTC) (permalink)

AFoA Adjunct - Final
Leviathan has now officially completed A Fistful of Arrows - he's posted the final Adjunct segment, a followup to the Quezon Superindentent's piece released last week. A fitting conclusion to the project - go read it (either on our forum or on the project's website). (Louis Wu 16:37:43 UTC) (permalink)

A Machinima Reality Show - depends on YOU
I'm not sure I ever envisioned seeing a project like this one - but I'm wholeheartedly behind this iteration, primarily because of the guy who's putting it forward. pete_the_duck wants to create a Machinima reality show... but he doesn't have the equipment to make it happen. He's decided to ask the community to help; he's fired up a Kickstarter project to fund this. The beauty of Kickstarter is that if his goal ($400) isn't reached in the time allotted (two weeks), nobody owes a penny; the project isn't funded. And pete gets a pretty solid message that this sort of project simply isn't of interest to the community as a whole. If you DO want to see this, though, you can pledge a few bucks; again, you won't be billed until (and unless) the targets are met. I can't see myself endorsing a lot of projects like this; far too many Halo-based projects have great ideas behind them, but enthusiasm fizzles out when the people involved realize how much work is really needed. pete_the_duck has proven himself over and over again as someone who follows through on what he starts - and as someone who comes up with really entertaining Halo projects. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes - if you, the fans, decide to risk your dollars on pete's vision! Update: Whoa. Within an hour of this newspost, pete_the_duck hit his goal, and then some. you guys rock. (Louis Wu 16:29:23 UTC) (permalink)

GT Halo Retrospective Index 2
Gametrailers has released the second installment of their Halo Retrospective - Index 2 is called 'Once More Unto the Breach', and it brings us up through the present in terms of releases. (Don't worry, there's still more to come - the next episode focuses on multiplayer and DLC releases.) Thanks, ZZoMBiE13. (Louis Wu 16:15:04 UTC) (permalink)

It's hard to be humble
Nak3d Eli got featured by The Game Station - and he picked a controversial video for the honor. Watchers are split between those who like the carnage, and those who feel the choice of weapon was better at showing problems with Reach's multiplayer than at showing Eli's skill. Go watch for yourself! (Louis Wu 16:12:52 UTC) (permalink)

Look Over the Night
smiichy is back with another photomanip - this time, it's a moody piece called 'Look Over the Night'. Nice work! (Louis Wu 16:10:04 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Heroic in 87 minutes
RC Master has uploaded a monster (1 hour, 38 minute) video showing his world-record sub-87-minute run-through of Halo Reach (9 individual level runs, combined into a single video) at Heroic difficulty. Pretty amazing! (Louis Wu 16:07:20 UTC) (permalink)

Reach Customz Ep 6 - Hot Pursuit
Timgie is back with a new episode of Reach Customz - this one spotlights Hot Pursuit, another Infection gametype that reimagines Cops and Robbers. Watch the video, download the gametype, go play! (Louis Wu 16:03:09 UTC) (permalink)

Anniversary Delayed in Brazil
Marcelo Vega, a Brazilian fan from Too Gamers, sent word that there's bad news regarding Halo Anniversary in his country - it's being delayed a couple of days. Release is now set for November 17. (Reasoning is unclear.) On the bright side (well, for Brazilians), the cost there is R$99 (about $56 US) - which might sound really expensive to folks IN the US, but is quite cheap by Brazilian standards. (Louis Wu 15:17:19 UTC) (permalink)

Confessions of a Halo Noob
GoozerNation has an article from a non-Halo fan who's looking forward to Halo Anniversary - go read why! (Louis Wu 15:12:20 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Waypoint Sparkast 008
Yesterday 343 released Sparkast 008 - 50 minutes of Halo goodness and silly shenanigans. Frank O'Connor, David Ellis, Dan Ayoub and Dennis Ries discuss the fun of promoting Halo, worldwide. Go listen! Thanks, JDQuackers. (Louis Wu 15:08:36 UTC) (permalink)

News November 4 2011

A Fistful of Arrows gets a soundtrack
Sean Mortensen has been in our news before - he composes lots of music. Recently, he created an entire soundtrack... for A Fistful of Arrows, the graphic novel put together by Leviathan. Levi sent us the tracks, along with Sean's commentary on each, and a bonus piece of cover art for the album itself (he figured if Sean could put up a soundtrack, the least he could do is cover it). You'll find all of this content on a page we put together to showcase this very nice collection of work. Go listen! (Louis Wu 19:42:53 UTC) (permalink)

Tyrant's LASO Challenge Walkthrough - The Package
Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris has another installment of his LASO Challenge Guide - this one will show you all sorts of tricky techniques to make The Package go more smoothly with almost all Skulls on. Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:37:54 UTC) (permalink)

SYNAW S2 Ep3 - Vengeance
Ty Coker stopped in with word of a new installment from SYNAW Season 2 - Episode 3 lets you know who the good guys are! (Louis Wu 19:35:20 UTC) (permalink)

Fails of the Weak 59
It's Friday, so it's time for another Fails of the Weak - Episoode 59 has some pretty funny moments! Go watch! hezekiah has both YouTube and AchievementHunter.com links for you in his forum post. (Louis Wu 19:31:35 UTC) (permalink)

Glasslands Wallpaper
Tor is offering some cool Glasslands wallpaper (you can find it on Waypoint, as well) - thanks, Beckx. (Louis Wu 19:23:44 UTC) (permalink)

Anniversary Content from the UK
There are a couple of videos from TeamVVVGames - an interview with Dennis Ries and David Ellis, and a gameplay video showing the entire first level played through (offscreen footage). Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 19:19:55 UTC) (permalink)

Halo's Past, Present and Future
GameInformer has a 45-minute interview with 343's Frank O'Connor and Bonnie Ross - pretty nice background on the studio, and the direction they're headed! Go watch. Thanks, excowboy83. (Louis Wu 19:16:18 UTC) (permalink)

Seekers, Episode 1
Chromium stopped in with word of Seekers, Episode 1 - a new machinima series that isn't sure whether it's drama or comedy. Or maybe it IS sure. Go watch. (Louis Wu 18:38:51 UTC) (permalink)

Wait... Trixie?
Samurai Fronk rears his sharklike head again in our forum - and with him comes an interview with his creator. My head is spinning. (Louis Wu 18:37:17 UTC) (permalink)

Anniversary Collector's Pack, Down Under
According to In Entertainment (a UK website), the Australian EB Games will be offering a 'Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Collector's Pack' - for $88 (Australian - about $91 US), you get Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and an NKOK RC Warthog. I thought this was a pretty expensive package - until I realized that the game, by itself, is $68 in Australia. Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 18:35:04 UTC) (permalink)

Hey... I recognize those helmets!
pete_the_duck was watching X-Factor recently, and noticed that the Stereo Hogzz had some interesting backup dancers... (check his post for links.) (Louis Wu 18:23:58 UTC) (permalink)

BOBoriffic
Lord Friendship put together screenshots of ALL the BOBs you can find on ONI Sword Base - that's a lot of BOBs! (Louis Wu 18:20:01 UTC) (permalink)

Dennis Ries talks to Halo Destiny
Futur Life stopped by to let us know about an interview that the Halo Destiny crew did with Dennis Ries a couple of weeks ago - lots of good info. Go listen! (Louis Wu 17:44:12 UTC) (permalink)

Stickaholics
AYellowSnowball and SillyGoose teamed up to create Stickaholics, a Halo Reach Dual Sticktage. 8 minutes of blue goo. I LOVED the ideas for moving grenades around. Go watch. Thanks, RVideo. (Louis Wu 16:50:37 UTC) (permalink)

Feminist Analysis of Halo 2
Dragonclaws has taken on the Halo franchise in a series of analyses designed to evaluate the role of women in the games and books. (We've already highlighted her work a few times in the past few months.) She's back with a closeup look at Halo 2 - text version went online today (though the video version has been up since August). Go take a look - and see if you agree! Thanks, ElzarTheBam. (Louis Wu 16:45:08 UTC) (permalink)

Behold an Unknown Horse
Yuri Walkiw stopped in to let us know he's written up an article looking at the musical possibilities for Halo 4. He gives you a look at the man behind the music, Sotaro Tojima - and speculates on where he might be taking the Halo franchise, audio-wise. Nice read! (Louis Wu 15:52:03 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3 - In Memoriam
zukan informed us of a metal cover, done by Brandon Strader, of some Halo 3 songs at DwellingofDuels - I'm not even a metal fan, and I liked it! the URL it's sitting at suggests that it might be pretty transient, so we've put up a local copy (7.4 mb). (Louis Wu 15:49:48 UTC) (permalink)

MLG TS on Countdown (with Commentary)
Nak3d Eli posted a gameplay vid (with commentary) filmed in the MLG playlist - if you don't stick your foot into that list, this video can help you see how things are different from vanilla Reach. (Louis Wu 15:45:25 UTC) (permalink)

PGCR 95
We're late on this one too - but robowski let us know that Post Game Carnage Report 95 is up and ready for listening. Talk includes Halo Anniversary, Glasslands, and A Fistful of Arrows - aand don't forget about their Doubles Tournament! You've got until the 22nd to register. (Louis Wu 15:42:00 UTC) (permalink)

Needs Citation
Today is the 7th anniversary of one of the meatiest Halo resources on the web - Halopedia. Swing by and wish 'em a happy birthday! (Thanks to Nicmavr for the heads-up.) (Louis Wu 15:40:43 UTC) (permalink)

Late Deviancy
We didn't get to this yesterday (I'd promised Thursday and Sunday updates) - apologies... but CaptainTony stopped in with a new deviantART roundup - lots o' links. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 15:39:51 UTC) (permalink)

Friday's Fan Fiction
Only one new piece is available this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read it! (Louis Wu 15:39:04 UTC) (permalink)

News November 3 2011

LEGO Weapons
Lurono posted a bunch of pics of Halo weapon replicas, built by Nick Jensen with LEGOs. We mentioned the sniper rifle recently - but the others were new to me (and really impressive). Take a look! (Louis Wu 17:22:27 UTC) (permalink)

War (or War) Issue 18
Firestorm12 sent word that War (or War) Issue 18 is online now - it's rough to be paranoid and alone... (Louis Wu 17:21:50 UTC) (permalink)

The Fails of Reach - Greatest Hits
CruelLEGACEY just posted The Fails of Reach - Greatest Hits; it contains his favorite moments across the series. (Louis Wu 17:21:16 UTC) (permalink)

New-school Nostalgia
Billy Spurgeon was happy to see Halo Anniversary getting some coverage from MSNBC - it's not really anything new, but it IS nice to see mainstream love for this game. (Louis Wu 17:20:36 UTC) (permalink)

French BOB-Hunting
Cox sent word that Halo Creation (a French site) has posted a nearly complete list of BOBs - the pages are all in French, but Google does a tolerable job of translating, and the pictures are universal. Check it out! (Louis Wu 17:19:55 UTC) (permalink)

Anniversary LAN Event - Maryland
While we're on the topic of Black Six - he let us know that he's hosting a LAN in Maryland the weekend after Halo Anniversary is released. He posted this on our forum a few weeks ago - but they're still looking for more participants. If you're in the area - read his post, send him a note! (Louis Wu 17:19:29 UTC) (permalink)

Concept art: Falcon Details
Black Six noticed some new concept art from Isaac Hannaford - Falcony goodness! Go look. (Louis Wu 17:18:55 UTC) (permalink)

Nak3d Eli has News
Nak3d Eli posted some highlights of his recent Community Night, as backdrop to a series of announcements. Go watch the video for all the details. (Louis Wu 17:18:19 UTC) (permalink)

News November 2 2011

Not A Hollow Bulletin
This week's Halo Bulletin is packed with some appropriate spooky goods, including some awesome Halo-ween pumpkins and some skulls with names. Go and check it out! [Local, too. sigh. -lwu] (GrimBrother One 23:45:24 UTC) (permalink)

Achievement Horse #48 (Chris vs. Jack)
The latest Achievement HORSE pits Chris against Jack - hezekiah has links to both AchievementHunter.com and YouTube. (Louis Wu 21:21:22 UTC) (permalink)

MM Firefight: One Fan's Analysis
Over at NeoGAF, GhaleonEB wrote a pretty intense critique of Firefight, as it's currently implemented in Reach. It's a solid read, and contains not only criticism, but suggestions for future directions. If you play Firefight, it's worth checking out. (It received a nearly instant response from 343's David Ellis - it's wonderful to know that people are listening, even if circumstances don't immediately allow the sorts of changes Ghaleon is looking for.) (Louis Wu 16:10:45 UTC) (permalink)

There are some things you don't need classes for
Cracked.com has a feature showing off 26 ads for products that must exist in video games. One of these hits close to home. Thanks, Revenant1988. (Louis Wu 16:10:24 UTC) (permalink)

The Halo CE Chronicles - Fearless Chapter 9
Dennis Powers sent word that Chapter Nine of Fearless is now online. Regrouping, replanning - it's all about alternate approaches. (Louis Wu 16:10:09 UTC) (permalink)

Halo Anniversary Launch Parties at MS Stores
Looks like Microsoft is planning to host launch parties for Halo Anniversary at its brick-and-mortar stores. There aren't very many of them (14, actually, spread out across 8 states) - but if there's one near you, you might want to check it out - multiplayer, snacks, grab bags for the first 100 guests in each store, grunt plushies. Thanks, Sqorck. (Louis Wu 10:56:04 UTC) (permalink)

A... what?
GrimBrother One found what might just be the oddest promotional tie-in I've seen with the Halo franchise - a Halo pizza. Only in the UK, unfortunately. Check GamePro for details. (Louis Wu 10:47:47 UTC) (permalink)

Knocking your enemy down
Tor has posted a Q&A with Karen Traviss - she talks Halo, and character development, and dialogue from mute characters. Good stuff! Thanks, Hypertrooper. (Louis Wu 10:44:43 UTC) (permalink)

Desperation v3
smiichy came by yesterday with a picture he'd finished - situation looks dire! (Louis Wu 10:42:46 UTC) (permalink)

Ah deeclayah!
Leo S. sent us a pic of his friend in a Master Chief costume... with a rather odd accessory. (Louis Wu 10:40:55 UTC) (permalink)

War (or War) Issue 17
Firestorm12 let us know about the next issue of War (or War) - "On The Topic Of Killing People". Need advice on this subject? Maybe the Officer can help. (Louis Wu 10:36:59 UTC) (permalink)

FF Survival
RC Master's gonna miss Firefight Limited - to make up for it, he created his own gametype. Check his post for a download link - and a movie showing gameplay. (Louis Wu 10:35:22 UTC) (permalink)

News November 1 2011

Gotta love downtime...
...it makes for such a quiet office. HBO HQ went offline again for a few hours this afternoon - the main site (and, in fact, most web-based assets) remained up, but email and the forum were inaccessible. It's not clear that the problem is actually fixed yet - but we're live again for now, and that's good. Fingers are crossed... (Louis Wu 22:13:17 UTC) (permalink)

BOB Video Guide Part 1
Lord Friendship it putting together a BOB Video Guide - Part 1 answers the questions "What is a BOB?" The information is well-presented, and pretty extensive - go watch and be educated! (Louis Wu 16:56:05 UTC) (permalink)

Making Halo Armor
nairB noticed a Maker Faire video about Shawn Thorsson, a propmaker who builds a lot of Halo armor. We've mentioned him before (actually, we accidentally mentioned a single blog post twice - once in July, once last November) - but this is footage from the Bay Area Maker Faire gathering last May, in which Thorsson discusses how he makes his outfits. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:36:32 UTC) (permalink)

Forge Lesson 49: Exposure
GodlyPerfection is back from a break (instigated by the birth of his son last summer) with a new Forge Lesson - this one is designed to help you advertise your creations. (Louis Wu 13:35:24 UTC) (permalink)

Endure Tutorial
Nak3d Eli put together a video to show you how to get the current Weekly Challenge in as little as 13 minutes of gameplay. Now THAT'S a pretty easy 30,000 cR! (Louis Wu 13:33:31 UTC) (permalink)

Labor Pains
Rooster Teeth released Episode 18 of RvB Season 9 last night (thanks, Ibeechu) - some serious plot movement on this one! Things are beginning to come together... and some old friends are back. (Louis Wu 13:32:33 UTC) (permalink)

Return to CANADA!!!
Ty_Coker stopped in with word of 'Return to CANADA!!!' - a BCP Halloween special. Spooky! (Louis Wu 13:32:03 UTC) (permalink)

HaloChallenges - Living Dead
HC Redemption had this up at HaloChallenges in time for Halloween yesterday - but our connectivity troubles kept us from seeing it before today. Nevertheless, it's a fun-looking challenge - so swing by and see if you're up for their Living Dead Challenge! (Louis Wu 13:30:57 UTC) (permalink)

Halo 3: Trick of Legend
CMNeir asked us to highlight an old movie he made in the Halo 3 engine - I'd never seen it before, but it's a pretty fun story! Go watch 'Trick of Legend'. (Louis Wu 13:29:52 UTC) (permalink)

Slightly Live Concept Art
Dani's been busy finding previously unseen Halo concept art and adding it to the Forward Unto Dawn Concept Art Gallery - new work from Ryan Demita, Halo Wars stuff from Marco Nelor, a whole new Halo Wars section, and, in this NeoGAF post, a couple of Noble Map Pack concept pieces that look seriously cool. Go explore! (Louis Wu 13:28:18 UTC) (permalink)

The Guild Gets Haloed
SonGoharotto pointed out that Halo (specifically, conventiongoers in Master Chief armor, and a Gunnery Sergeant you might know) plays a significant role in Season Five of The Guild, the long-running webseries that made Felicia Day a (geek) household name. If you haven't been watching recently... pick it up again! Update: man, I'm doing this a lot lately. We mentioned this stuff back in August. Sorry. (Louis Wu 13:26:32 UTC) (permalink)

Outta my gourd...
TheOddOne pointed out a pumpkin-centric Tweet from @WideEyedFox - dat Halo font... (Louis Wu 13:25:19 UTC) (permalink)

Artwork from afar
More deviantART from CaptainTony - I think we're going to start combining these a couple of times per week. Look for future roundups on Thursdays and Sundays! (Louis Wu 13:23:22 UTC) (permalink)

GT's Anniversary Fever Begins
Gametrailers has kicked off their Halo Anniversary coverage - uberfoop was the first to let us know about the Anniversary Trailer, released yesterday (already on YouTube), and ZZoMBiE13 forwarded links for their 'Ultimate Fan' contest and the first video in their Retrospective series (which actually starts much earlier than Halo). Keep your eyes peeled - there'll be more! Update: we've posted the official press release. (Louis Wu 13:13:39 UTC) (permalink)

November 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