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 | September 2008 |  |
September 2008 Archived News
News September 30 2008
Playing with Famous People
The next Game with Fame event involves playing Halo 3 with Esc
ape the Fate - check out this page on Xbox.com for full details. Update: cheapLEY has some information about a free song the band will be releasing, and its potential Halo 3 ties. (Louis Wu 19:09:16 UTC) (permalink)
EXP issues - being worked on
If you've been playing Halo 3 on Xbox LIVE today, and haven't seen your EXP going up - don't panic. There's a problem, but they're working on it. Check this post at Bungie.net for details. (Louis Wu 18:57:18 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Mythic Walkthrough
HBO has a long history of helping fans get through the toughest parts of Halo Campaign play - Asmodeus wrote up a Legendary Walkthrough of Halo, and Mike Miller put together a much-lauded guide that could get you through Halo 2 on Legendary. For Halo 3, Daniel Morris (AKA Tyrant) has upped the ante - not content with a guide for muddling through on plain old Legendary, he's built a Mythic Walkthrough - Solo, Legendary, All Skulls On. This is Halo 3 at its most difficult - Legendary difficulty, using 9 gold skulls, 4 silver ones (and don't think the silver ones are all sweetness and light - the Blind skull, for example, removes your HUD, meaning you have no easy access to health or weapon status, and you have no reticule for targeting). Just showing a runthrough, though, would be somewhat useless, from the standpoint of teaching you useful skills - if that's all you want, you should swing by High Speed Halo and check out the SLASO runs. No, what Tyrant gives you is much, much more useful - it's a guide you can follow that will get most of us actually THROUGH THE GAME on this difficulty. There are several pages of general tips, and then a guide for each specific level. We'll be releasing one level per week - there are a lot of video clips that go with each level, and we want to make sure we have the bandwidth to support everyone who wants to try this. First up - Sierra 117. Read the text, watch the video clips (download them, so you can refer to them during your run)... and you're well on your way to finishing Halo at its most challenging! (Louis Wu 15:25:40 UTC) (permalink)
RvB Reconstruction 16
Red vs Blue: Reconstruction Chapter 16 is now live - both the free public version and the extended cut for sponsors. Things are getting a little crazy; Washington does a lot of explaining, and while we won't post any spoilers, if you've watched it and are trying to figure out what the implications are, there's a lively discussion going on on our forum. (Do NOT read it before you watch - there are spoilers in almost every post.) (Louis Wu 13:18:46 UTC) (permalink)
The Positive Side of Gaming
XerxdeeJ stopped by early this morning to announce new content at Tied the Leader - it's a look at a recent study of gaming and American youth, putting the findings into perspective that the Halo community can appreciate. An interesting read!
(Louis Wu 13:18:29 UTC) (permalink)
RRTU Scorpion Group
Tony 'ubald' Marcotte sent word that he's finished another render. This one is entitled 'RRTU Scorpion Group' - that's not a team I'd mess with! Check it out - and look through his whole gallery if you haven't seen the rest of his stuff!
(Louis Wu 13:18:03 UTC) (permalink)
Hot and Fresh? Ew.
Hawty McBloggy ran across a Cafe Press shirt inspired by a Newgrounds Halo Flash vid - and it tickled her fancy. I'm pretty sure I'd never actually WEAR it... but it's funny. (Louis Wu 13:17:30 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Custom Edition Update
Dennis Powers sent us the September Update for the Halo Custom Edition game Archive - there are 60 new maps and assets, bringing the total up to 3,555 items. Highlights this month include Painball beta, a mountaintop level by halorider, Insomnia, a nighttime map from GAIGHER, and Peril, a mountainside level from Higuy. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 13:16:59 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Comics - It's What's for Dinner
Crispy stopped by to announce a new website that contains at least three comic series - with potentially more on the way. Go see what he's got to offer!
(Louis Wu 13:16:37 UTC) (permalink)
News September 29 2008
Master Chief Theater 3000: Episode 204
UnSiLeNtSlAyEr pointed out that Master Chief Theater 3000: Episode 204 is online, covering the Whisper in the Storm cutscene. (Louis Wu 20:42:51 UTC) (permalink)
De Comics, Boss, De Comics!
More new comics, listed on our forum - anthraxgoon let us know that X36 Issue 3 is online, and Raulboy posted the first two 'White Space' strips. (Louis Wu 20:40:30 UTC) (permalink)
She has strange dreams.
That woman... she's gonna be the death of me. A risqué title for a new article over at Hawty McBloggy's leads to a discussion about a fan-made grenade that started life as a Christmas ornament. This somehow got her to dreams of sticky blue balls - oh, man. Go read. (Louis Wu 20:31:17 UTC) (permalink)
Cooperation
It's Monday, so TTL Demag0gue let us know there's a new Reclaimer up - Episode 93 shows that the Reclaimer doesn't think a lot of the Cavalcade's ability to help him. (It's also a day for Chapter 1, Page 7 of The Biased, from OddGodHMK - lots of dead people.) (Louis Wu 17:49:24 UTC) (permalink)
Third Tower, Solo Attack
Rockslider has stopped into our forum with word of a redesign of Bad Cyborg (his website devoted to Halo campaign shenanigans), and a walkthrough of a solo attack on the third tower of The Covenant. Check 'em out!
(Louis Wu 17:43:26 UTC) (permalink)
LittleBigHalo
A Halo fan has created a Halo mod for LittleBigPlanet - check out the video at GameXtract. (Louis Wu 17:42:48 UTC) (permalink)
The Banhammer
The newest Bryan Simon tune is now up on YouTube - it's an ode to The Banhammer, and heeding its advice will keep you playing Halo 3 on Xbox LIVE. (There's even a kind word for my current situation.) If you'd rather have an MP3 version of the tune, grab it from us here (3mb). (Louis Wu 16:53:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Campaign - in Dramatic Fashion
SonofMacPhisto ran across a video entitled Halo 3 Campaign: Ep 1 - Tsavo Highway while exploring YouTube. Richardson Pictures, the creator, has used the Halo 3 saved films feature, voice acting, and some dramatic music to reproduce the Tsavo Highway level as a movie. Some nice camera angles! (The creator has followed up with Ep. 2 - Sierra 117 at this point.) (Louis Wu 14:56:05 UTC) (permalink)
Cool Lego creations - and a contest
Wow, it's a little late to be announcing this... but we just got word from job syne of a contest for the Lego Halo Group at Flickr. It ends tomorrow, unfortunately. We were sent this link specifically - a very cool recreation of Rat's Nest. (It's unclear whether job syne is Vidgamer838, the creator, or just a fan.) (Louis Wu 14:49:55 UTC) (permalink)
News September 28 2008
Pick up an action figure for a good cause
My7hos reminded us that there are only a few hours left in his TTL Foundation charity auctions on eBay - Round 2 contains both boxed and unboxed action figures, and all profits go to the Tied the Leader Foundation! (Louis Wu 16:30:37 UTC) (permalink)
Brute Spiker for sale on eBay
A few weeks ago, we mentioned smick6's Brute Spiker - if you really, really wanted one, now's your chance. He's selling one on eBay - starting bid is $250, and you've got almost a week to make up your mind. Go look! (There are lots more pictures of the project as it was being completed in our gallery.) (Louis Wu 14:28:43 UTC) (permalink)
PreGame Lobby LOL 5
There's a new PreGame Lobby episode up - LOL 5 answers a bunch of watcher questions. Thanks to The Handmade Hero for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:25:01 UTC) (permalink)
A View from the Ark
Nomis78 posted a bunch of new panoramas - they're all nice, but the last one is really pretty amazing. Go look! (Louis Wu 14:23:19 UTC) (permalink)
News September 27 2008
Halo 3 Timer
Got an iTouch or an iPhone? Play pro Halo (or just want to keep track of spawn times)? Taylor Helsper has made a $0.99 iPhone App for timing Halo 3 respawns. (Louis Wu 13:48:16 UTC) (permalink)
KEEP IT CLEAN Transcript Video
Mindless Distortion Productions (the guys working on the Gray Team Transmissions) have taken the KEEP IT CLEAN transcript (posted last week on B.net) and turned it into a pretty cool little video; you can watch a streaming version on YouTube, or you can download a higher-res version from us - WMP9 version, 50 mb, or QuickTime version, 24.6 mb. (They originally hosted a copy at MediaFire - that would have lasted for just a few of you.) Check it out! Thanks, Marc Swint.
(Louis Wu 12:01:04 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 2009: Heroic Collection, from McFarlane
Halo 2009: Heroic Collection, from McFarlane
Littlebigman noticed news of some new action figures coming from McFarlane next year, and InnerRayg found a better link with more pictures. I'm looking forward to that Hunter! (Louis Wu 11:59:07 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Field Manual Update
Simon H let us know that the Halo Wars website has been updated - the Field Manual now includes info on the Flamethrower (scroll down to the bottom if that link doesn't bring you right to it), and some new concept art of the Wolverine (also linked in the 'Screenshots' section). (Louis Wu 11:07:36 UTC) (permalink)
Teabag Prevention #21 - Gravity Hammer and Sword
Jake108 clued us in to Teabag Prevention #21 - the team is here to help you get the most out of your Gravity Hammer and Sword. Go read, and tone up your mincing and chopping skills! (Louis Wu 10:42:16 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly Update - Bungie Looks Back
The Bungie Weekly Update was released on schedule last night, and inside you'll find a summary of the upcoming changes to the fileshare functionality of Bungie.net (good stuff on the way!), some details about the Title Update that went live this week, and a great set of reminiscences from the Bungie team about high points in the Halo 3 development cycle for each of them. You can, as always, read it in our Weekly Update Archive. Congratulations, Halo 3 - you're a year old now! Is it time to start practicing for your driver's license? (Louis Wu 10:02:29 UTC) (permalink)
News September 26 2008
Take Our Stuff - Winners
Took us a while (well, okay, mostly me), but the winners of the Take Our Stuff contest have now been posted. Winners will be contacted privately for mailing addresses, so that they can get their goodies - and in some cases, they'll be required to prove that the content they posted is actually theirs. That part is just administration, though - for now, go browse the collections! (Huge thanks are due Bungie's SketchFactor, who really went out of his way to make this whole thing work.) (Louis Wu 19:37:53 UTC) (permalink)
MLG's Top Ten
MLGPro.com has posted the 10th MLG/ESPN Top Ten, with some pretty fun clips - thanks, BladedExpert. (The floater on Narrows was freaky.) (Louis Wu 15:21:22 UTC) (permalink)
Project Pangea - Part Two of Five
The Handmade Hero stopped by with a link for his second player portrait showcase - 25 more images that capture the essence of their subjects' Halo 3 personas. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:17:40 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Art - it's in your local record shop
Ross "I'm going to beat c0ld vengeance at the news game" Mills pointed out a couple of nice Halo art pieces - Kotaku ran a shot of a store display from a record shop near one of the editors - it's a hand-inked piece by a local artist who also did this. Nice work! (Louis Wu 14:01:38 UTC) (permalink)
Game developers need to eat, too
Ross "new Bungie teasers always make me hot" Mills has been scouring the web for Halo news; he found an interesting piece at gamesindustry.biz in which Bungie's Marty O'Donnell discusses the negative effect that the pre-owned games market has on games development. He acknowledges that it's hard to gripe when your game (say, Halo 3) sells millions of copies - but for smaller studios, the loss of revenue to the pre-owned market can mean the difference between success and failure. He hopes that alternative delivery methods can be developed that benefit everyone (well, he's not too worried about the middle man). (Louis Wu 13:57:21 UTC) (permalink)
I think they're looking for Recon
It's Friday, so it's time for fun over at Hawty McBloggy's - this week it's Caption Fun, Round 19. The last one was a month ago - you can see responses from that one, plus a new picture that needs your captioning help. Go play! (Louis Wu 13:15:36 UTC) (permalink)
Inside Halo 22
Inside Halo 22 has been posted - there's a tribute to lost playlists, some mostly interesting top plays, and general oddness. Thanks, Aang Avatar. (Louis Wu 13:11:55 UTC) (permalink)
Hours of analysis of 63 seconds
If you're looking for pixel-by-pixel analysis of the Keep It Clean trailer, the Halo community has you covered. Grunts R Us did a full analysis (though at this particular moment it seems to be offline for maintenance - try a bit later), Xbox 360 Fanboy put together a 2-minute video analysis pointing out some key items (thanks, RVideo), Rampancy.net stepped through the teaser frame by frame, applying Narcogen's usual thoroughness and observational skills to the task, and Ascendant Justice has posted 'Into the Ashen Wake (Part One)' with ITS typical thoroughness and observational skills (thanks, Cocopjojo). And of course, there's plenty of speculation on our forum (and elsewhere). I'm pretty sure if, after reading/watching these, you haven't seen commentary on a feature of the video... it's not there. (Louis Wu 12:21:36 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Assembly Map Preview, from G4
Joe Paulding let us know about an interview with Brian Jarrard that was produced by G4TV from footage collected at PAX - there's lots of Assembly footage, and discussion about the map and its (lack of a) release date. Go watch!
(Louis Wu 12:18:00 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Comic Madness
anthraxgoon visited yesterday to point out a new webcomic, X36. Still a little rough around the edges, but it shows promise! Nick Ambrose let us know about The Biased, Chapter 1, Page 6 - the reds start getting answers. And it's Friday, so TTL Demag0gue is around to tell us that Reclaimer 92 is online - 'Bloodhound' shows off the Reclaimer's latest effort to learn about his foes. (Louis Wu 11:57:26 UTC) (permalink)
Wish you were here...
7theSuper stopped by again with a fun poem - always nice to see fans building on Bungie's work! (Louis Wu 11:52:58 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fan Fiction
The Fan Fiction writers didn't stop because Bungie was announcing a new teaser - there are six new pieces for your reading pleasure in the Fan Fiction section. And while you're at it, you might want to check out this forum post by Australian Chaos - he mentions a fanfic he's been posting elsewhere. Reading is good for you! Update: apparently, Australian Chaos pulled his story from GRU due to lack of feedback. Guess that's the last time I mention fan fiction not hosted here... (Louis Wu 11:49:43 UTC) (permalink)
News September 25 2008
Take Our Stuff - Status Update
Just a quick note; we haven't forgotten about the announcement of the Take Our Stuff contest winners. We've sorted through the nearly 8000 entries, we've tallied judges' votes... we're just working out the details before we announce anything. I'd hoped we would finish before the end of the 25th, in order to be able to announce on Halo 3's birthday... but, well, you might have noticed, there were a few other things occupying Bungie's attention today. We'll have results posted for you tomorrow - I promise! (Louis Wu 23:49:27 UTC) (permalink)
Fans tackle new trailer with passion
There's no way at all I'm going to be able to keep up with all the interesting speculation and analysis around the net today. I'll point out a few useful bits, and then you're on your own.
- Gabe Hammond uploaded a copy of the trailer to YouTube, if you can't download a version from Microsoft.
- Jordan117 did a frame-by-frame walkthrough on our forum.
- Painkilla05 put up some interesting notes (including the observation that the final drop pod seen in the teaser is actually not the final drop pod at all, and a wonderful map showing the locations of all mentioned city neighborhoods on a New Mombasa grid) over at Podtacular.
- thebruce (of Unfiction fame) has posted a Flickr stream containing all of the significant frames in the trailer - this might be the easiest way to find specific content. (In the time it's taken me to get this post online, he's started a thread on our forum.)
- Everyone and their brother (I'm talking about gaming websites, not individual fans) is interpreting the multiple references to '01/06/09' as evidence that Bungie will release this new project on January 6, 2009. This is, of course, possible - but you also need to remember that the text being interpreted is ostensibly coming from an AI in Kenya, which uses the dd/mm/yy syntax for dates; we could be talking about June 1, 2009. And it might not be a release date at all. More when we know it.
- Minor detail, but worth noting - SketchFactor apologizes for any confusion over the 'Maddie, where are you?' line in the trailer; it's an unfortunate coincidence, but has nothing whatsoever to do with Madeleine McCann, the four-year-old British child who disappeared in Portugal in May, 2007.
There has been quite a bit more than this - but again, keeping up with specific collections is past my capabilities today. Poke around... and enjoy yourself! This isn't supposed to be a chore, or a frustrating exercise - this is supposed to be fun! (Louis Wu 17:46:40 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Decals - Would you buy them?
John Peel, of Sticker Universe, is considering licensing the Halo IP to create Halo decals - and his first project, if he goes ahead with this, will be all of the medals and achievement icons (you can get an idea of what he's proposing at Halo Decals.com). He's looking for feedback on the idea; the licensing fee isn't cheap, so if there's no interest, why pay it? Swing by Halo Decals, and vote in the one-question micropoll at the top! (Louis Wu 17:38:02 UTC) (permalink)
Overdriftacular 2.0
Back in April, we mentioned a Mongoose racetrack being developed for Avalanche. Apparently, it's been finished. Thanks, Jared.
(Louis Wu 17:37:44 UTC) (permalink)
Prepare to Drop
The countdown has ended, and the reveal is... staggering. A new teaser trailer, filled with win. I won't spoil it for you, but I WILL tell you that there is a TON of information in this one. This will be picked over, frame by frame, but the Halo faithful - but even a first watching should get your blood pumping. It's available on Bungie.net, of course (WMP9 and QuickTime, served up from speedy Microsoft hosts), and shortly on Xbox Live Marketplace, in glorious HD. If, for whatever reason, you can't get to Bungie.net, the download links are here:
QuickTime: 180p (13.5 mb) | 360p (33.2 mb) | 720p (66.7 mb)
WMP9: 180p (5.2 mb)| 360p (12.0 mb) | 720p (47.9 mb)
Watch it... and start discussing! (Louis Wu 14:10:03 UTC) (permalink)
European Tourney Kicks off October 4
Team Dignitas and XyXEL are hosting a Halo 3 tournament in Europe, starting next week - read the details here. (There's a full press release at MCV.) (Louis Wu 13:23:55 UTC) (permalink)
Online Halo RPG offers double xp
HaloCrusades is hosting a 'double exp weekend' in honor of Halo 3's birthday - it's Team Fiesta. In other online Halo RPG news, H3PRG has posted a podcast.
(Louis Wu 13:23:37 UTC) (permalink)
Looking Back - and winning Recon
In preparation for announcing the winner of her Recon Helmet Challenge, Hawty McBloggy has picked a number of submissions for the contest (which asked entrants to recreate a memorable scene from Halo or Halo 2, using Halo 3 screenshots) to illustrate the Halo storyline, in chronological order. Amazing work! (When you're finished with that, jump along to the actual contest wrapup article, and check out the winner!) (Louis Wu 13:10:42 UTC) (permalink)
Halo MMO art continues to surface
Still MORE concept art for the Halo MMO project scrapped by Ensemble is popping up - Kotaku's got another 6 images for you. These definitely have more of a Halo 'feel' to them. Thanks, Ross. (Louis Wu 13:03:32 UTC) (permalink)
6' MC Statue on eBay
PlasmaFire ran across an auction on eBay for one of the 6' Halo 2 statues that pop up occasionally. It's in decent (but not perfect) shape. Starting bid is $700, and the auction closes in 2 days. Go look! (Louis Wu 12:57:36 UTC) (permalink)
Getting an early start
Speaking of home-made costumes, Nola pointed out this one, at a site called 'Coolest Homemade Costumes'. Bulky... but definitely cool! (Louis Wu 12:54:58 UTC) (permalink)
Building your own helmet
Instructables has an article up on how to build a cardboard Master Chief helmet. Just in time for Halloween! Go read it. (Louis Wu 12:52:30 UTC) (permalink)
Stay Calm
By now, many people have noticed that Bungie.net is offline, replaced with the aborted countdown we last saw during E3. This time, the countdown ends at 7:07 am PT tomorrow - what will we get when it reaches zero? Stay tuned to find out! Update: Pkmnrulz240 pointed out that the site is NOT offline, as it seems; it's simply... hidden. Update 2: Okay, I'm dumb. It's not offline, the main site isn't hidden; I missed the giant "Continue to Bungie.net" link in the upper right corner. Nothing to see here... move along. (Louis Wu 02:18:25 UTC) (permalink)
News September 24 2008
TU2 FAQ
A lot of questions have popped up about the Title Update 2, released yesterday - over at Bungie.net, SketchFactor has posted the TU2 FAQ. Check it out for from-the-source answers to things that might be puzzling you! (Louis Wu 23:31:35 UTC) (permalink)
7 on 7 - clarified
There's been quite a bit of confusion about the new '7 on 7' achievement, and what you need to do to earn it. SketchFactor stopped by our forum today with a clarification:
The real scoop now is that you just need to hit the #7 in EXP in ANY playlist on the 7th of the month.
So... you can earn 6 EXP in Team Slayer and then earn 1 more on the 7th and earn it. You can also just go into the special playlist that is released on 10/7 and earn all 7 there.
So... you NEED to hit number 7 in a given playlist to get it - but if you've already PASSED number 7 in all playlists, you can still do it in the special playlist that appears on that day. Not bad! (Louis Wu 18:27:45 UTC) (permalink)
Wait, you were serious?
GU Comics takes a shot at the recently-unearthed Halo MMO today - thanks, Ross. (Louis Wu 15:33:43 UTC) (permalink)
Hacker
TTL Demag0gue pointed out that Reclaimer 91 is online - the Reclaimer gets to work on his plan to learn about Ferial and Viper. (Louis Wu 15:30:34 UTC) (permalink)
Halo/Army campaign wins award
Halo has won yet ANOTHER advertising award - this time, though, it's not the Believe campaign. IAB's MIXX Awards were given out last night - and the Bronze award in the 'Brand Awareness and Positioning' category went to Universal McCann for the U.S. Army Halo 3 Experience campaign. Thanks, MarketWatch.
(Louis Wu 14:57:16 UTC) (permalink)
Security/Katana achievement update
Yesterday, we mentioned that folks who didn't have the Security helmet or the Katana were finding that these armor permutations unlocked with gamerscore increases from NEW achievements. Upon closer examination, there are actually two requirements, not just one: you need to have 1000 gamerscore from Halo 3 achievements (as we said yesterday), but you ALSO need a total of at least 49 Halo 3 achievements. They don't have to be the ORIGINAL 49 - but a gamerscore of, say, 1030, and a total of 46 achievements (where I stand at the moment) will not do it. All examples of people succeeding in unlocking the extras that I've looked into have shown both features - 1000 GS, and 49 achievements. If you're upset that you're over 1000, but don't have the goodies yet - earn a few more. (Caveat - even BEFORE the achievement increase, there were people who had trouble unlocking these features, even though they'd met all the requirements. This is probably still true.) (Louis Wu 14:45:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo MMO Concept Art
Kotaku posted a huge collection of concept art, ostensibly from the scrapped Halo MMO we mentioned yesterday. These range from interesting to downright silly. gunluva was the first to notice, but the thread I started (I hadn't seen his post) got a lot of heated responses. Join in and add your own comments! (Louis Wu 14:39:42 UTC) (permalink)
News September 23 2008
Security Helmet/Katana more accessible
Fyrewulff confirmed that the added achievements available as of today have a side benefit - if you are below 1000 gamerscore, you can use the new options to get hold of that Security helmet. (There's no guarantee it'll work for everyone - but it worked for him; he got two achievements that pushed him over 1000 points, without completing the first 49 achievements, and both the Katana and the Security helmet unlocked for him.) (Louis Wu 19:36:09 UTC) (permalink)
Gamasutra uncovers cancelled Halo MMO
Gamasutra has posted a short piece that investigates a cancelled Ensemble Studios project... and concludes that it was a Halo MMO. Go check out the details! (Louis Wu 13:44:16 UTC) (permalink)
TTL Tuesday - it's back!
Tied the Leader, quiet on the blogging front for a bit, is back with a sizeable update. There's a reminder about the Tied The Leader Foundation, and the latest fan-driven efforts to aid its mission. There's a huge, picture-filled recap of ChicagoLANd 3.0, a TTL lanfest that took place over Labor Day weekend in (um... duh?) Chicago. And there's a video highlight reel of some of the fun Gunslinger moments captured over the course of August matchmaking. Go read, go watch - these folks embody the spirit of the Halo community! (Louis Wu 13:16:53 UTC) (permalink)
I'm outta bullets.
Red vs Blue: Reconstruction Episode 15 has been posted - and in between stupid Caboose games and deep Grif philosophy, some intriguing discoveries are made by Church and Wash. The scene at the first checkpoint was classic. Go watch! (Louis Wu 12:58:52 UTC) (permalink)
PARDON OUR DUST
Bungie isn't just focusing on the title update, or the upcoming Mythic maps - they've been revealing tidbits of the Superintendent story for a while now. And yesterday, the latest piece came along - check out PARDON OUR DUST, a transcript posted last night that suggests that command might be disintegrating... geekinabox was first on the scene with this one. (This was posted earlier in the evening - but it's fan-driven, not from Bungie. The poster was active during E3, as well... it's fun, but I'd like to ensure that there's no confusion; it's not an official part of the Superintendent campaign.) (Louis Wu 12:27:54 UTC) (permalink)
Title Update 2
The big news today, of course, is TU2 - the second Title Update for Halo 3. It went live this morning at 2 am PST (about 3 hours ago), and there's already quite a bit of info around the net about it.
- Bungie.net has a story about it, explaining the 10 new achievements that go live today (one will not be accessible before Thursday, and a second will actually not be accessible before October 7), along with playlist changes, ratings, and other stuff. (Conversation on our forum starts here.)
- Gamerscoreblog talked to Brian Jarrard about the new achievements (thanks, MangoTru7h).
- IGN talked to Brian Jarrard about the Title Update, the upcoming Mythic release (see below), and beard-growing - thanks, Lord Osiris.
- Xbox.com has listed the 29 new achievements that are either available now, or WILL be available when the Mythic maps are released - you can see them by logging into your profile there, or by check out this image (764x2446, 108k). There is some (confused) discussion here.
The Mythic maps are now formally listed (see the Xbox.com achievement stuff - we're waiting for Assembly, Citadel, Heretic, Longshore, Orbital, and Sandbox), but no date has been set for their release. 500 of the newly-unveiled points are locked to those maps - the other 250 are available now (or soon), with TU2. I'm sure there'll be more news as the day goes on. (Louis Wu 12:20:22 UTC) (permalink)
News September 22 2008
Buddy System Writing
BSG Surgeon stopped by to point out a couple of blog posts at Buddy System Gaming - there's a writeup of a clan night with The Panic Attacks, and a discussion of how tomorrow's changes will affect us. Check it out! (Louis Wu 21:10:35 UTC) (permalink)
Spriggs Episode 12C
Aang Avatar sent word that Spriggs Episode 12 Part C went live yesterday on YouTube. After watching, I'm wondering if there were hallucinogens in my coffee. (Louis Wu 21:10:14 UTC) (permalink)
The Biased, C1P5
OddGodHMK let us know that The Biased Chapter 1 Page 5 is now online. Blue's nervous...
(Louis Wu 16:48:09 UTC) (permalink)
eatHalo - a new film recording service
Necromas noticed a new service offering film clip recording (a la GameVee) - films are uploaded to YouTube, and $0.99 gets you an HD file of the clip. Interesting... (Louis Wu 15:57:55 UTC) (permalink)
Hindsight: The Covenant
Cocopjojo has posted the next installment of 'Hindsight' at Ascendant Justice - this one looks at The Covenant. As always, the coverage is ridiculously complete; unless you're EXTREMELY observant, you will find tidbits you never noticed before in this writeup. A fantastic look back at one of the most varied Halo 3 levels... go give it a read! Thanks, Jironimo. (Louis Wu 13:02:31 UTC) (permalink)
Todash
TTL Demag0gue stopped in to let us know that Reclaimer 90 is online... it sneaks in a Dark Tower reference. (If you check the news post attached to the comic, you'll find links to fan art created for Reclaimer, as well.) (Louis Wu 12:05:49 UTC) (permalink)
Signed 360 - last chance!
quinion reminded us that the Make-A-Wish auction (we mentioned it when it went live) for the Bungie-signed console is ending today (in about 7 hours, in fact). Current bid is $11,465.99 - that's a lotta dough for charity! (Louis Wu 12:00:11 UTC) (permalink)
Here's your chance to make it into Guinness
Cody Miller pointed out that the next Gamer's Edition from the Guinness Book of World Records folks will include high-score listings for Halo 3 levels - and they're going to grab the data from High Speed Halo. Deadline hasn't been reached yet - so if you want to submit a run, read the post for details! (Louis Wu 11:37:13 UTC) (permalink)
More action figures for charity
My7hos has posted Round 2 of his charity auction for the Tied the Leader Foundation - swing by eBay for the listings, which include out-of-box figures, and a couple of new-in-box figures, all for Halo 2. You've got until Sunday to make your decisions. (Louis Wu 11:32:45 UTC) (permalink)
News September 21 2008
Veracity 3, 4, 5
Josh Braybrooke let us know that the next three episodes of Veracity are now available on YouTube (we mentioned the first two here). Again, the easiest way to find them is via the playlist; each episode is more than one video. (Louis Wu 21:43:42 UTC) (permalink)
Knocking on Heaven's Door
Jamie98s just let us know about 'Knocking on Heaven's Door', a music video set to an Eric Clapton version of the song. It tells a sad story. You can stream it from Jamie's website, or you can download it from us (WMP9 format, 54.3 mb, or QuickTime format, 52.3 mb). Nice cinematography! (Louis Wu 14:41:07 UTC) (permalink)
MCT3K Ep 203
smiley let us know that Master Chief Theater 3000: Episode 203 is up now - it covers Halo 2's Outskirts and Metropolis. If you're a member of the site, the extras for the episode are up, as well. (Louis Wu 14:02:22 UTC) (permalink)
Flood Insurance
Mingadolin ran across a Halo-themed t-shirt at J!NX - some of our forum members are unimpressed. I'd have to agree that the weapons are rather stylized. Update: Digipatd pointed out that this shirt made our news back in December. Oops! (Louis Wu 13:54:37 UTC) (permalink)
One Final Effort, Piano
dreamwhispering stopped by with a video of himself playing One Final Effort on piano. Good stuff! (Louis Wu 13:51:56 UTC) (permalink)
Take Our Stuff - Submission Deadline Moved
Important news about the 'Take Our Stuff' contest... please read! Apologies for any inconvenience - but due to the overwhelming flood of submissions, we need an extra day to process entries; we're moving the ending deadline back 24 hours. Entries must be received by 9 pm PST TONIGHT, SUNDAY, or they will not be accepted. We do not make this change lightly. (Louis Wu 13:16:03 UTC) (permalink)
News September 20 2008
Hard Justice Series Promo
Lord Osiris noticed that DigitalPh33r has a new series coming next week - a promo is up now on YouTube. A tad over-the-top for me, but check it out for yourself!
(Louis Wu 13:58:28 UTC) (permalink)
McFarlane Pink EVA - a week away
D&R Lineups is offering a Pink EVA exclusive McFarlane figure - you can see what it looks like here. Shipment arrives next week - get your preorder in now! (Louis Wu 13:58:05 UTC) (permalink)
How did that happen?
Grunts R Us has posted Halo 3 WTF & Funny Moments 4, a collection of unexpected outcomes. Some clips are simply too fast to really appreciate, but overall it's a pretty funny watch! Thanks, oriol. (Louis Wu 13:57:47 UTC) (permalink)
KEEP IT CLEAN
So the big news last night was the return of the Superintendent. (I suppose he's never really left; he pops up on Bungie.net's logo to this day. But we haven't HEARD a lot from him since the aborted attempt to reveal a new project at E3 this year.) There's a lot of speculation on our forum (thanks to Big Goalie Dan for starting the thread) - but right now hard info is scarce. Is Bungie gearing up for that huge reveal in the near future? Wait and see! (Louis Wu 11:49:22 UTC) (permalink)
News September 19 2008
Yarrrr
Elnea's posted a new Halo Action Figure Theater - and in honor of it being International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it's all in Pirate-ese. I mostly don't like this holiday... but I have to say, the third panel made me laugh. The fourth one, too. (Louis Wu 19:38:15 UTC) (permalink)
Punching Nuns
FreeeK ShoW noticed that TechRadar included Halo in its list of '48 things we hate about tech'. (Number 21 is technically 'Online Gaming' - but the picture on the first page of the article references Halo directly.) Overall, a pretty funny article! (Louis Wu 16:32:55 UTC) (permalink)
The Rumors Just Keep Flying
Gamasutra is speculating that the Internal Halo team at Microsoft Game Studios might be called 'Spawnpoint Studios' - go read their rationale!
(Louis Wu 15:30:57 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic
Seven new pieces for you this week in the Fan Fiction section - go read! (Louis Wu 13:53:14 UTC) (permalink)
Hawty Offers you a Quickie
Hawty McBloggy has posted the results of last week's gamer survey (are you left-brained or right-brained, and how does that affect your Halo playing?), and has put up a NEW one - how fast is your reaction time? Go test yourself. You'll finally know why those other guys keep getting the drop on you.
(Louis Wu 13:19:32 UTC) (permalink)
Arm The Flag Wants It Done Wrong
AnTi PRO let us know that Arm The Flag is running a new contest - build a specialized de-motivational poster with the theme "You're Doing It Wrong" (wow, twice in one day!), top 3 submissions will get 1600 MS Points. (You can only submit two posters to the contest, so choose carefully!) Read the contest page for hints and full rules, and a submission link. (Louis Wu 13:14:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo vehicles and characters in Spore
When the Spore Character Editor was first released, we pointed out some early community efforts to introduce Halo content into the Spore universe (here, and here) - yesterday, over at the NeoGAF forum, Botolf noticed that there's actually a pretty extensive collection of Halo creatures now catalogued (including some awesome vehicles). Go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 13:02:28 UTC) (permalink)
My wife wants a 'You're Doing It Wrong' button, too
Edge has a fascinating discussion with Damian Isla about Halo's AI, and where its weaknesses are. Go read! Thanks to Narcogen, at Rampancy.net, for the (pirate-flavored) heads-up.
(Louis Wu 12:59:45 UTC) (permalink)
Checking Up On Fate
TTL Demag0gue came by to announce that Reclaimer 89 is now up - I think the Reclaimer is getting tired of being controlled. (He also added some goodies to the prize pack that will go to the winner of the Reclaimer Contest...) (Louis Wu 12:59:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Field Manual Updates
The Halo Wars website has added new info to their UNSC Field Manual - clicking on 'Barracks' will get you info on Marines (and their domiciles), and clicking on 'AirPad' will get you info on the Hornet Launching Structure, and the Hornets themselves. (That gun seems to work a LOT better than the one in Avalanche...) Looks like BlueNinja was first with the news. (Louis Wu 12:48:12 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Trading Card Giveaway
Dave Kramer let us know that BusyGamerNews.com is giving away a Bonus Box of 42 Halo trading cards; all you need to do to be eligible to win is swing by and leave a (clean) comment on the page. (There are a few rules - a link to them is provided.) Post only once, and post by the 23rd! (Louis Wu 12:44:06 UTC) (permalink)
Stalking META
We pointed out a rendition of The Meta, a character from RvB: Reconstruction, posted by ZZoMBiE13 yesterday - he's followed up with another one. I like this one even better! (As before, you can add your comments here if you've got an RvB account.) (Louis Wu 12:39:13 UTC) (permalink)
Inside Halo 21
After a long period of dormancy, it seems that Inside Halo is making up for lost time - Hydrosis noticed that Episode 21 is already up. Community News, Top Plays, and some entertaining funny stuff - go watch! (Louis Wu 12:38:04 UTC) (permalink)
News September 18 2008
The Meta, interpreted
ZZoMBiE13 created a gorgeous rendition of RvB: Reconstruction's 'Meta' character - feel the power! (If you have an RvB account, you can let him know what you think.) (Louis Wu 20:01:45 UTC) (permalink)
BWU - WAAAY Early
Bungie has posted the Weekly Update quite a bit early this week - a whole day early, in fact. Why? Because... there's a lot of stuff they want to tell you about. A LOT. Title Update 2 is going live on Tuesday, and Bungie.net is upgrading to be ready. Go read how! (You can, of course, read it in our Weekly Update Archive.) (Louis Wu 18:48:09 UTC) (permalink)
My Poor Dead Spartan
Self Induced, a regular over at NeoGAF, has set up a new blog to chronicle the bad things that happen to his poor Spartan during XBL Halo 3 play. Lots and lots of fun pics! (Louis Wu 18:32:06 UTC) (permalink)
The Biased C 1 P 4
OddGodHMK let us know that The Biased, Chapter 1, Page 4 has been posted. Blue's still in trouble. (Louis Wu 18:17:15 UTC) (permalink)
Jumping for Joy
Hawty McBloggy noticed a new Jumping video from Anoj Tactics - "The Squesters" Episode 2 looks at more hiding places on Halo maps. Check it out! (Louis Wu 18:12:46 UTC) (permalink)
Protip: don't be a jerk
A quick clarification about the 'Take Our Stuff' contest; we made it really easy to enter, and a LOT of you have taken advantage of that. That's cool. We've received over 3000 entries so far (and the contest has only been live for 12 hours). That huge volume of entries, though, means the tolerance level for stupidity is pretty close to nonexistent. You send us a joke entry, EVERYTHING YOU SEND US WILL BE THROWN AWAY. That means if you send us 5 masterpieces, and then decide to waste our time with something foolish (like, say, a picture of a donkey pulling a car), we'll toss the masterpieces, along with the donkey. You may think the donkey's funny - but we don't. Thanks. (This has been added to the contest page.) (Louis Wu 09:37:41 UTC) (permalink)
News September 17 2008
Take Our Stuff - A Bungie.org Contest
It's taken longer than expected to get this running... but we'd like to give away a bunch of stuff. Some of it we collected at PAX, some we're helping Bungie clear out of their stockpile. All of it is stuff Halo fans can use. Swing by the contest page for full details, rules, and more. (Louis Wu 21:15:08 UTC) (permalink)
It could have been 'Puff The Magic Hadron'
The Royal Society for Chemistry in London was unhappy with the name 'Large Hadron Collider' for the newly-operational construct in France and Switzerland, so they launched a competition for a new name... and the most popular choice (and winner of the competition) was 'Halo'.
"Halo conjures visions of radiant beauty, power and wisdom. The circle of light reflects the collider's form; it is a crowning achievement of science and engineering. It also gives more than a nod to the experiment's importance to religious debate."
No mention at all of the popular video game franchise that almost certainly played a role in many of the submissions of that name... thanks to Kris Callow for the heads-up on this one. (Louis Wu 20:42:55 UTC) (permalink)
Atari Modern Classics
Heh - gunluva noticed (via Kotaku) a feature on The -Minus World that's funny, and has Halo content to boot; what more could you want? (Me, I wanna play that version of Bioshock.) (Louis Wu 20:35:27 UTC) (permalink)
TRR Favs - Classic Halo 3 Moments
The Running Riot let us know that they've sorted through a large number of submitted screenshots and video clips to pick their TRR Favs - swing by to see the top three screens and top 3 clips. I loved 'Lucky Mine'! (Louis Wu 16:41:43 UTC) (permalink)
Dave Finds Out
OddGodHMK has combined his Boring Comics series with his 'The Biased' comic series to create Boring Comics #23 - where's that fourth wall when you need it? (Louis Wu 16:41:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Art Assets (Cut)
Pynion was a contributor to our forum long before he was hired by Bungie to work on Halo 3. Yesterday, he sent along some artwork he'd created for the game that hadn't made it into the final build - go take a look at these tidbits! (Louis Wu 15:08:32 UTC) (permalink)
The Last One
Speaking of Artist Galleries here at HBO, we got word last night from Bryn Casey that he'd whipped up another Halo scene - This one is called 'The Last One', and it's a powerful view of a damaged Earth! (Louis Wu 14:50:58 UTC) (permalink)
RvB: Reconstruction - Luke McKay Art
Luke McKay has been posting sketches of characters and scenes from Red vs Blue: Reconstruction since early June, but we've been really lax about adding them to his gallery here. Swing by for visualizations of Washington, South, the Meta, and a great scene from Episode 6. (Louis Wu 14:43:39 UTC) (permalink)
Designing for Hard Modes in Games
Gamasutra has an article, reprinted from Game Developer magazine, about how to introduce difficulty intelligently into video games. Halo is held up more than once as a good example. Give it a read!
(Louis Wu 14:19:24 UTC) (permalink)
Extra Life - a charity event for kids, from gamers
O L sent us a note about a charity called 'Extra Life', a 24 hour gaming marathon, where people can pledge money for each our a gamer participates. It's being supported by two gaming communities that have Halo ties - Sarcastic Gamer and Achievement Hunter. This isn't really Halo-related... but proceeds go to the Texas Children's Hospital. Swing by and check it out! Update: Wow. RvB community members Peenutty and Greatmumphry have committed to matching the first $1000 collected by this team through their wonderful mexican food company, XLNT Foods. They're already at $680 - another $320 and the total will jump $1000 more. Don't you love this community? (Louis Wu 14:17:19 UTC) (permalink)
Things Not to Say
Hawty McBloggy ran another batch of Halo pick-up lines through some online translators... and came up with... well, stuff you probably shouldn't try on someone you're trying to pick up. (You know, she seemed like such a sweet person, in person...)
(Louis Wu 14:10:09 UTC) (permalink)
Halo: Overdrilling Imminent
GamesIndustry.biz talked to MGS Head Phil Spencer recently - and he mentioned that "there are more than two or three teams building Halo things right now." We know about Halo Chronicles, built by an internal Microsoft team, we know about Halo Wars, being built by Ensemble. We know about one or two Halo-related projects being built by Bungie - but "more than [...] three teams" suggests that there might even be other ones. Is the Halo franchise being overmilked? Our forum thinks so, apparently - Avateur found this story at Kotaku, and the reaction has been pretty negative.
(Louis Wu 14:02:13 UTC) (permalink)
Power Tap
TTL Demag0gue let us know that Reclaimer 88 has been posted - the Reclaimer is beginning to understand what is required of him. (Louis Wu 13:54:03 UTC) (permalink)
E.O.A. Episode 0.5
SnowJP 360 let us know that DWT Productions has posted E.O.A. Episode 0.5; it's old footage, showing off some Halo 2 random tricks... but it's a nice burst of nostalgia.
(Louis Wu 13:53:43 UTC) (permalink)
Hold RB To Morph
Morpheus is kicking off a new service - he's willing to capture Halo 3 clips for you, at no cost. It's not automatic, so I'm thinking he'll probably get overwhelmed relatively quickly... but if you've got stuff you want captured, and you're not happy with the limitations of GameVee, this might be a decent option!
(Louis Wu 13:53:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Sig Gen
oriol003 let us know that Grunts R Us has revived their Halo Signature Generator; swing by if you need one!
(Louis Wu 13:52:32 UTC) (permalink)
Lost Halo Excerpts with SilverBrin
SilverBrin discovered an old collection of 'Lost Halo Excerpts' he wrote some time ago - some are silly, some are pretty funny, all are nice and short.
(Louis Wu 13:52:16 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Marines
schnear25 discovered a 'Halo comic' (it's more of a short story, or something, with a small piece of artwork to go along) at College Humor - pretty spot-on. Take a look! (Louis Wu 13:51:33 UTC) (permalink)
Avoid Spikes - now with Halo Goodness
Our old friend dogsounds has gotten in touch - he has a comic strip called 'Avoid Spikes' which hasn't been about Halo... until recently. His graphic tablet died, so he's resorted to Halo 3 screenshots to tell his story - so until a new tablet can be afforded, you're likely to see a lot of Halo content in the strip! The Halo strips start with #24: Happy Birthday Mart! (Louis Wu 13:38:53 UTC) (permalink)
Custom Hayabusa Armor on eBay
Hawty McBloggy found a fan-made Hayabusa Armor suit for sale on eBay - auction ends tomorrow. Starting bid is $1100 - go check it out! (Louis Wu 13:38:34 UTC) (permalink)
Spriggs, Episode 12
Bradley Mileski let us know that we've been lax about keeping you informed about new releases from the Spriggs crew - they released Episode 12 Part A in late August, and Episode 12 Part B a couple of days ago. I'm starting to wonder if they haven't lost track of what they were aiming for when they began... but the videos are up, if you'd like to watch. (Louis Wu 13:37:46 UTC) (permalink)
All The World's Problems
I wasn't going to get to Halo news for a little while today; it's a busy morning. However, Bryan Simon just sent along his newest ode to Bungie - this one is called "All The World's Problems" and it shows how Halo can solve everything. (Well, maybe not global warming.) As usual, if you're interested in the MP3, you can grab it from us (3.7 mb). Always good to start your day with a smile! (Louis Wu 11:54:15 UTC) (permalink)
News September 16 2008
RHC4: Robot Halo Chicken 4
toadking07 let us know that he's got a series of videos on YouTube parodying Adult Swim's Robot Chicken; he's up to Episode 4 right now. Watch the latest one, if you like it, check out his earlier stuff! (Louis Wu 19:54:08 UTC) (permalink)
Inside Halo 20
UnSilentSlayer noticed that Inside Halo 20 has been posted on YouTube. The Dead Pixel provides Ensemble news commentary, MLG stuff, and Top Plays of the Week. Go watch! (Louis Wu 19:50:40 UTC) (permalink)
The Usual Suspects, Halo Style
chromeratt stopped by to point out a poster he'd created, using Halo figures to reproduce a promo piece for The Usual Suspects. It was inspired by the Halo Movie Scene project (which is going amazingly well, by the way - go look), but doesn't really qualify since it's a compilation shot. That's not to take anything away from the poster - it's a great job! (Louis Wu 18:55:56 UTC) (permalink)
Mrs Doublefire and his amazing technicolor crates
Eastbeast314 dug up some blog posts written by Mrs Doublefire, who started out in the Halo:CE community and was eventually hired by Bungie, discussing the work he'd done on Halo 3. These posts are a year old now - but I'd never seen them before, and they're a fascinating glimpse into the world of environment building. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 18:39:16 UTC) (permalink)
Rumors and stuff
The rumors are flying... yesterday, one showed up suggesting that Bungie would be showing off its next game at an event (which one wasn't specified) in Europe next week - thanks to CrazedArabMan at NeoGAF for the first heads-up on this one. Today, Kotaku is suggesting that Ryan Payton, who was assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, has been hired by Microsoft to be Creative Director for the upcoming Peter Jackson Halo game. (Thanks to gunluva for the heads-up on this one.) Tomorrow: Bungie will be rumored to be creating the next Viva Piñata title. Or something. (Louis Wu 17:27:33 UTC) (permalink)
Out With the Old, In With the New
Tyler let us know that Forecast the Series Episode 6 is online - it's the first new ep since mid-July, but hey, they've been busy. Literally. Go watch. (The bonus vid mentioned at the end should be watched, too.) (Louis Wu 14:41:45 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 RPG Double XP Midweek Weekend with no XP
The Social let us know that Halo 3 RPG is having a midweek Double XP Weekend (huh?) - Server Wars is a 100-man FFA. There's no actual XP for this event (um... not sure why it's called a 'Double XP Weekend' then), but you WILL get 500 Credits for every match you win. Build up enough, you can buy an upgrade for your podracer! Wait, wrong game. (Louis Wu 14:20:05 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3: a surrogate for real life interaction
According to AceShowbiz, the Jonas Brothers (love 'em or hate 'em) are huge Halo fans, and spend much of their 'free' time playing online. Maybe you've even fragged 'em and didn't know it! (Louis Wu 14:11:28 UTC) (permalink)
The Stuff Gadget Awards 2008 - Help Halo Win
Halo 3 is one of six games up for Game of the Year in Stuff.tv's Gadget Awards 2008 - go cast your vote now! (Louis Wu 14:08:00 UTC) (permalink)
Frag a Friend (and an upcoming tourney)
kilaMOMjaro reminded us that it's time for another episode of Frag a Friend, the PraetoriaGuard monthly event for community leaders. If you run a Halo community website, swing by and sign up, so you can play on September 19! (Also coming soon from PG and Gaming4Others: a Zombies HALOween tourney - with very appropriate prizes. Stay tuned for details!) (Louis Wu 14:01:14 UTC) (permalink)
Not that simple!
Late, late last night, Red vs Blue: Reconstruction Episode 14 went live; the Freelancer program is beginning to be unveiled. As always, top-notch video editing, fantastic storyline, voice acting quality most machinima makers should be aspiring to. I'm not sure it's come through in my last few newsposts about Reconstruction, but I really like this series. I'm not alone. Give it a shot, if you haven't already. (Louis Wu 13:39:53 UTC) (permalink)
Who wants Recon?
Hawty McBloggy has kicked off a new contest - create a cool scene using Halo 3 screenshots, win Recon Armor. You really want to read all the rules in the news post for full details, but the bottom line is, someone's going home with Recon. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:30:02 UTC) (permalink)
Weta Collectible Statues - Preorders Continue
Weta is continuing its preorder unveiling; the Master Chief and Flood statue is now available to be ordered. As before, all preorders get you entered into a drawing to visit New Zealand, and this statue will ship '2nd Quarter 2009'. Price is a little higher than the last two (nearly $300, vs $225 for each of the first pair), but it seems more intricate, as well. (Louis Wu 13:26:00 UTC) (permalink)
News September 15 2008
The Biased, Digital Unrest
Halo comics from around the web - OddGodHMK let us know that The Biased, Chapter l, Page 3 is now online - things aren't going so well for the Blues. And vlad3163 noticed that the current episode of Digital Unrest is Halo-related. Go laugh! (Louis Wu 18:56:34 UTC) (permalink)
Leaked Halo Wars Brutes (and more)
Metalingus627 was the first to let us know of an article at Addict Gaming with leaked images of Halo Wars brutes. Interesting discussions in that thread... and 2900d4u started another thread with more pics. Go see what you think! (Louis Wu 17:25:51 UTC) (permalink)
Community Montage Project - Clip Submissions Sought
kanbo had Reclaimer news, as well - his community montage project now has a musical track - Reclaimer had the most votes. Submit 5 seconds of footage of your own to be included in this work! (Louis Wu 17:22:50 UTC) (permalink)
Pawns in a Game of Universal Chess
TTL Demag0gue let us know that Reclaimer 87 is now online - things are starting to make more sense as he jumps back to Ferial. While you're there, you might want to read up about the First Official Reclaimer Contest (scroll down below the comic) - create a cool comic, win cool schwag. Noice! (Louis Wu 17:21:00 UTC) (permalink)
The Unwritten Rules of
Hawty McBloggy nails down why many of us wake up bleary-eyed after a night of Halo-playing with your friends. I think the solution is to say "I'm playing all night!" and then turning off your Xbox. (Louis Wu 17:15:58 UTC) (permalink)
Master Replicas Energy Sword - Video and Preorder
Darth Ragnarok noticed, over on Facebook, a video of the Master Replicas Energy Sword in action - if you like what you see, you can preorder it from the MR website. (Louis Wu 17:13:22 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Mythbusters: Episode 3
The Mythbusters crew have put together Episode 3 of their series looking at little-known tidbits about Halo 3 multiplayer; this one focuses (though not exclusively) on vehicles. Go see what changes vehicle speeds, what sort of damage you do when you beat up on a wraith, and more! Bob Dwyer was first with the news. (Louis Wu 17:10:39 UTC) (permalink)
News September 14 2008
Banadu
John_117 put together a glimpse into Banadu - that place you're sent to when Bungie decides you're not fit for Matchmaking. It made me smile. (Louis Wu 15:50:31 UTC) (permalink)
Freebies around the net
Anetheon stopped by to point out that XiL Gaming is hosting a Forge contest to help get new members. The winner receives 1600 Microsoft points. And Figures.com is giving away a set of McFarlane Halo action figures - sign up by October 10. (Louis Wu 15:03:56 UTC) (permalink)
The Weekend With Hawty
Hawty McBloggy posted a couple of new things this weekend - yesterday, she tore into a new episode of 'Confirmed Kills' - her comments are funnier than the clips. And this morning, she posted a cross-stitch pattern created by a somewhat sadistic fan who wanted to see how often HB could stick a needle in her hand. (Read the post for the story.)
(Louis Wu 15:03:24 UTC) (permalink)
Abusing your children
ScrewAttack posted a series of pictures of kids dressed up (presumably by their parents) in video game costumes; one, of course, is wearing Halo garb. Thanks to gunluva, who found this at Kotaku. (Louis Wu 15:03:07 UTC) (permalink)
MC Cutoffs - Ep 202
mrsmiley let us know that the outtakes for Master Chief Theater 3000 ep 202 have been posted. (You need to be registered on their site to see 'em.)
(Louis Wu 15:02:45 UTC) (permalink)
News September 13 2008
Teabag Prevention Ep 20 - Construct
Jake108 let us know that Geekscape has posted Episode 20 of its Teabag Prevention series - this one gives you tips for winning on Construct. Give it a read! (Louis Wu 15:17:17 UTC) (permalink)
Lots of Halo schwag - for charity
My7hos has been putting together a whole bunch of his Halo schwag for auctions - and he's now decided that all proceeds (past the costs of running the auctions) will be donated to the TTL Foundation. Great cause, great idea! Go see what he's offering; the auctions aren't up yet, but he's fleshed out the lots. Update: The first set of auctions is now online. There is no mention of their proceeds going to charity, because eBay doesn't allow that if the charity isn't registered as a 501c-3 entity, but that's what will happen. Go bid! (Louis Wu 13:57:09 UTC) (permalink)
Guide to Making Halo 3 Machinima, Part 5
DigitalPh33r has uploaded Part 5 of his Guide to Making Halo 3 Machinima to YouTube (other versions coming soon). This one has lots of tips to make your machinima look polished - camera placement, character motion, you name it. Twelve and a half minutes long. Thanks, Exanubisleader.
(Louis Wu 13:56:44 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Interview at TXB
Graeme Devine talked to TeamXbox about how Halo Wars got started, and about the HW story - swing by and give it a read! Thanks, Grady Durden. (Louis Wu 13:56:28 UTC) (permalink)
Marissa's Bunny - Time to Say Goodbye
I think Fairfax's visit to HBO Headquarters is nearing its end. (It started here, and was followed up here.) He tried to tour the Yale campus (since it's pretty much right next door)... but it just wouldn't stop raining! While he waited, he explored a local brew pub... and I gotta say, once he was finished in there, the rain was irrelevant. When Fairfax wakes up, I'm gonna have to send him to someone else. If you smiled at all following him around the office, you should visit the Marissa's Bunny website, and see what you can do to help out! We're gonna miss the little guy... but really, I think I saw enough of the dark side of plush toys tonight. (Louis Wu 01:59:22 UTC) (permalink)
Grinchian Grins and Color Blindness
The Bungie Weekly Update is up... but it's light. If you're not interested in golf (and Bungie's playing of it), and if you've already listened to the podcast... there's not a huge amount of material that's new. There are (vague) details about the release date of the September update, there's some cackling about new Banhammer upgrades, there's a cool reference to the latest work of Jamie98s... but still, go read. You'll make Luke happy; except for the weekly updates, all he's got to do all day is play Halo and eat pizza. As always, if you're unable for whatever reason to read it at Bungie.net, you can peruse it in our Weekly Update Archive. (Louis Wu 01:39:46 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Podcast - Noguchi's Calm
Wow, no front-page link yet, but a new Bungie Podcast, dated September 4, has been released this evening - It's available both on iTunes, and in .mp3 format downloadable from the RSS feed. (Check the Podcast page for your download of choice.) Early conversation is about the upcoming September update, and special guest is Mat Noguchi - go listen! Thanks to Lord Osiris for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 00:56:05 UTC) (permalink)
News September 12 2008
Master Chief Theater 3000 - Ep 202
mrsmiley let us know that Master Chief Theater 3000 Season 2 Episode 2 is now live. The Pickle cutscene takes a beating! (Louis Wu 20:07:15 UTC) (permalink)
Ultimate Swag Bag Winner and A Teaser
Over at Hawty McBloggy's, the winner of her Ultimate Swag Bag has been announced - go see who's taking that monster stash home! She's also added a teaser for a NEW giveaway that starts Monday... she doesn't say right out what the prize is, but I think you can guess, from her wording. Get ready! (Louis Wu 19:04:07 UTC) (permalink)
Special LE Xbox 360 on sale soon for charity
The Make-A-Wish Foundation will be hosting an auction for a very special customized Xbox 360 - it's got custom artwork, and signatures from lots of the Bungie devs. Proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Alaska, Montana, Northern Idaho and Washington. Bidding starts today - check the page for a link soon! Thanks, KP. Update: Auction is now live. Starting bid: $5000. End date is 10 days from now... you've got time! (Louis Wu 17:22:19 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fan Fiction
Eep - almost forgot! Seven new stories for you today in the Fan Fiction section. Go read! (Louis Wu 14:24:06 UTC) (permalink)
One Shot on my X
Bryan Simon is quickly becoming a voice to be heard in the musical Halo community - his newest track is called 'One Shot on my X', and you can watch it on YouTube, read Bryan's thread on Bungie.net, or download the MP3 from us (3.2 mb). I'm a little suspicious, though... I think he wrote this one from my perspective.
(Louis Wu 12:11:27 UTC) (permalink)
Old Plans and New
TTL Demag0gue has posted the latest Reclaimer - Ep 86 introduces yet MORE trouble for Viper. (Louis Wu 11:44:28 UTC) (permalink)
McFarlane 2009 Halo Product Releases
InnerRayg noticed that Spawn.com has posted their 2009 Product Release list for Halo items - some pretty cool-sounding stuff there! Check it out. (Louis Wu 10:54:56 UTC) (permalink)
Why we kill
Harabek found a rather massive Halo 3 machinima entitled 'Why we kill' over on YouTube - it's not his, nor does he know the creators, but he was impressed enough to bring it to our forum's attention. The message - that losing your humanity can be worse than losing your life - is one not often explored in Halo machinima, and though it's might be a little long, 'Why we kill' is an interesting piece. (Louis Wu 10:53:22 UTC) (permalink)
The Architecture of War: The Enemy
The latest article is up at Ascendant Justice - vociferous has continued the 'Architecture of War' series, and Part III looks at The Enemy. He makes the argument that the opponents you face are, in many ways, the most critical part of any encounter - more important than The Environment and The Sandbox - and he makes it well. Go read it. Thanks, rhubarb. (Louis Wu 10:47:08 UTC) (permalink)
Picking Your Brain
Hawty McBloggy wants to know what your Halo playing style is. To help, she's linked to a left brain/right brain survey; take it and then join in the discussion! (Louis Wu 10:40:10 UTC) (permalink)
Run to the Hills
Boilerman Bill let us know about a music video he'd created - it's set to Iron Maiden's 'Run to the Hills', and recreates the story told by the song. Nice piece of work! (Louis Wu 10:38:17 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 4: IGN Style
IGN editors sat around discussing what the next Halo game should contain - then wrote it up. Like a standard forum discussion, except as an IGN article. Thanks, Metalingus627. (Louis Wu 10:37:42 UTC) (permalink)
Shades of Grey
BlueNinja posted another batch of panoramic shots - this one is dark and grey. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 10:37:09 UTC) (permalink)
News September 11 2008
No Double XP weekends for a bit
Your Halo playing has to take place this weekend without a double experience playlist (unless you want to count Ranked Big Team Battle) - and this is true for next weekend, too. Why? It has to do with the release of the September Matchmaking update, which is coming in late September, in time for Title Update 2, instead of at the START of the month, as usually happens. Sounds like it'll be worth the wait, though... (Louis Wu 19:36:35 UTC) (permalink)
The Biased - Chap 1, P 2
OddGodHMK let us know that Chapter 1, Page 2 of The Biased is now online. Someone's calling... and it doesn't sound good. (Louis Wu 19:33:41 UTC) (permalink)
Fairfax gets some gaming in
He hasn't left the house yet, but Fairfax (Marissa's Bunny) has been getting his Halo 3 game on. First he tried on some helmets (he skipped the one that was OBVIOUSLY too big), then decided he'd just play some Halo 3. (Check out those slick A40s!) Follow his latest exploits in the gallery we set up for him! (Louis Wu 14:45:51 UTC) (permalink)
No text = funni
pete_the_duck posted a series of comics he made a while ago that never got released because he didn't think they were funny. I think he was wrong. (Louis Wu 14:42:44 UTC) (permalink)
Choose the Path (and sausage pizza)
R3y's GameDay interviewed Matt Soell and Doug Zartman yesterday about Stubbs the Zombie, and its release on Xbox Live Arcade. There's some interesting discussion of open-ended gameplay in Stubbs, and how some of this was inspired by the game's Halo roots. Thanks to Matt himself for letting us know! (Louis Wu 14:36:55 UTC) (permalink)
HBOFFPotW
Mark25 has written up the Fan Fic Pick of the Week this week over at the HBO Fan Fiction forum - thanks to The 14th Wonder for pointing it out. (The fact that he won might have something to do with his excitement...) (Louis Wu 14:23:06 UTC) (permalink)
Ensemble breakup - the fallout
Lots of Halo Wars discussion this morning - Avateur noticed a Kotaku article talking about the new structure of Ensemble (and how it's reminiscent of Bungie's situation), Narcogen did his own analysis of the situation over at Rampancy.net, and SteelersX07 pointed out that the Halo Wars site has some reassurances from Dave Pottinger, Halo Wars Lead Designer. Interesting times... (Louis Wu 14:20:18 UTC) (permalink)
Fan Art: Cortana 2
Hawty McBloggy continues her Cortana fan art exploration with a new piece today - I like it! (Louis Wu 14:02:26 UTC) (permalink)
Community Montage - Your Help is Needed
on our forum, kanbo is currently taking votes for the music to be used in an upcoming project he's trying to put together - a montage made up of clips from HBO visitors. Go read about it, then toss in your two cents for the music! (Louis Wu 13:54:29 UTC) (permalink)
Yes, Virginia, there ARE winners.
Wow, very cool. So back in July, GamePro put up a huge Halo Wars spread, and offered a Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox as the grand prize in a promotional sweepstakes. Looks like an HBO reader, Michael Callicutt, won that contest! If you've ever seen those offers and thought "wow, I wonder if anybody ever wins those?" - now you know. Thanks, Michael. (Louis Wu 13:50:57 UTC) (permalink)
News September 10 2008
Marissa's Bunny: Fairfax Visits HBO
If you were at PAX this year, or followed PAX coverage, you might know about Marissa's Bunny; he RickRolled the crowd at the Jonathan Coulton concert, for example (5:41 in). Marissa is a baby girl who was diagnosed with infantile spasms last winter. Her father decided to raise awareness for the disease by sending Fairfax (a shared name for a small set of fluffy bunnies) around the world, as an ambassador of hope. Fairfax arrived at HBO Headquarters this afternoon, and wasted no time preparing for a game of Grifball - over the next few days, we should have some other pictures of Fairfax to share, but for now, you might consider visiting Marissa's page, and seeing if there's anything you feel like contributing (time, money, hugs... whatever you've got). The current treatment for the disease is horrendously expensive, mostly because so few people are diagnosed with the disease... but it's unclear whether that's because incidence is low, or because pediatricians are missing it. (Louis Wu 20:02:56 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Custom Edition Update
Dennis Powers sent word that the Halo Custom Edition Game Archive saw an increase of 136 new maps and assets in August - two you might want to take a closer look at are Midship by CLS_GRUNT and Seclusion by il Duce Primo, Massacre, Dano, and DSalimander. Lots and lots of cool stuff! (Louis Wu 19:45:28 UTC) (permalink)
Halo fan hosts draw-a-thon
The artist behind the webcomic 'Pixellated Pupils' is currently hosting a 24 hour draw-a-thon to raise money for a move to LA. Swing by AngelicLionheart's forum post for details - if there's some Halo artwork you always wanted but didn't know who to ask to get it... here's your chance! (Louis Wu 19:38:57 UTC) (permalink)
Where's the Chief yields prizes
My7hos offered a wallpaper to pete_the_duck for winning the first Where's The Chief contest - there should be another one soon. (Louis Wu 19:35:49 UTC) (permalink)
Author Meets Subjects at DragonCon
Tobias Buckell, hard at work on the next Halo novel, took time out to post a shot of himself at last weekend's DragonCon, bracketed by the Master Chief and an ODST. Very cool! (That's Blue Realm and Adam Grumbo, from the 405th forum, in the UNSC duds.) Thanks to TTL Demag0gue for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 12:59:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Treasure Hunt - Unsolved?
ManKitten posted a week of clues for his Treasure Hunt (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7), and nobody solved it. So he's posted a bonus round, to help you out. He's going to cry if nobody gets this... and trust me, you don't want to see him cry.
(Louis Wu 12:58:03 UTC) (permalink)
Dupes in the Works
TTL Demag0gue posted the newest Reclaimer (85) last night just after midnight (eastern) - so you could get an early fix on the newest oddness. (He's also put together a tutorial on how he makes the comic, for those who want to follow suit.) (Louis Wu 12:53:11 UTC) (permalink)
In honor of the end of the world
dudes113 pointed out a list over at Maxim.com - They're calling it '8 Fictional Doomsday Devices More Dangerous Than the Large Hadron Collider', and mixed in among the Death Star from Star Wars and the Continuum Transfunctioner from Dude, Where's My Car? is Halo's ring. Here's hoping this isn't the last thing you read today!
(Louis Wu 12:43:56 UTC) (permalink)
Halo = Video Game
SnowJP 360 noticed a minifeature on CNN that looked at what life might be like in 2020... and the slide that discusses virtual gaming uses a Halo graphic for display purposes. Heh - CNN has a lot of faith in the Halo franchise!
(Louis Wu 12:43:31 UTC) (permalink)
Inside Halo 19
Inside Halo is back - Episode 19 was posted a few days ago (thanks, zombyjr). The Dead Pixel covers PAX-related Halo news in the style of Zero Punctuation, and adds a Top 10 clips feature to round out the episode. (Louis Wu 12:42:09 UTC) (permalink)
GGN Overlord Challenge: September
TruthPastor SBG let us know that the September Overlord Challenge, fought between the Good Gaming Network overlords and the SBG Clan, has been written up on their forum. (At least one stowaway made it on to the Overlords team.) It was a hard-fought night - but the Overlords pulled it out, 2 games to 1. Next up: Outcast Reborn. Can the Overlords maintain their perfect record? Tune in next month to see!
(Louis Wu 12:40:52 UTC) (permalink)
News September 9 2008
Halo Wars - the Last Ensemble Product
Whoa. Looks like Ensemble is closing its doors... Halo Wars will be finished (apparently), but everyone else working for the company has been laid off today. More details (sort of) at ShackNews. (Louis Wu 21:31:17 UTC) (permalink)
You trying to stiff me, Chief?
It's been a little while, but Captain Spark is back at it with dialogue recording; we've got 43 new clips available for you in the Halo 3 Dialogue Databank. Funny stuff in there! (Louis Wu 16:14:57 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Action Figures - Coming Soon
It ain't a Halo product until there are action figures! Apparently, according to this press release, McFarlane will be releasing small (2.5 inch) Halo Wars figures, in 3-packs, starting in the spring. They'll retail for $10 per pack. (Louis Wu 14:00:09 UTC) (permalink)
Top 10 Weirdest Halo 3 Screenshots
Hawty McBloggy put up a compilation of the Top 10 Weirdest Halo 3 Screenshots - some whacky stuff in there! (I love the first one.) (Louis Wu 13:41:39 UTC) (permalink)
7,777,777,777
Avateur pointed out that sometime last night, the Halo community passed the 7,777,777,777 point in Campaign Kills. (We came very close to 7 billion by 7/7/08 - it took two more months to nail the next 10%.) Nice job! (Louis Wu 13:39:53 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Reveal becomes clearer
When we mentioned the most recent Monthly Update from the Halo Wars team, we pointed out that the scrambled pics they included would probably clear up over time, as they did the last time this style was used. A few days ago, a thread opened on the Halo Wars forum to discuss the changes (which have indeed started). Yesterday, SteelersX07 brought the news to our forum. (Apparently, there's an older thread on a Bungie.net group forum, but it's closed to non-members.) So far, it looks like the beginnings of an air field... (Louis Wu 13:30:50 UTC) (permalink)
Floodgate - from outside
BlueNinja stopped by yesterday with news of new panoramas - great shots from outside Floodgate! (Louis Wu 13:13:56 UTC) (permalink)
RvB Reconstruction Chap 13 now up
Red vs Blue: Reconstruction Chapter 13 was posted late last night - the crew does their best (which, um, isn't very good) to obtain a vehicle, or two, to use in a base assault. It goes about as well as can be expected. Production values are as high as ever (there's one effect I'm still having difficulty figuring out how it works). Go watch! (Louis Wu 11:26:21 UTC) (permalink)
News September 8 2008
I Bought My 50
Bryan Simon has been putting out original Halo songs (1|2) for the past couple of weeks - and now he's got a new one. Lichtonatus says it's "Made entirely of awesome" - and I'd have to agree. Go listen to 'I Bought My 50'... and laugh. (Unless you did.) Funniest tidbit, for me... the top choice in the 'Featured Videos' listing provided by YouTube. Do they know something I don't? Update: Penguinish got permission from Bryan to upload an MP3 version; it had to be ripped from the high-quality version of the video (Bryan didn't have one), but it sounds pretty good. If you want to add this to your playlist, grab it from us! (Louis Wu 18:06:29 UTC) (permalink)
Where's The Chief? Revisited
My7hos has kicked off a new feature on our forum - "Where's the Chief?" (He actually ran a feature like this some time ago, under a different name.) An image with a hidden Master Chief was posted on his blog, and folks set out to look for him. I'm not sure if I can front-page these; I was away from my computer for a 2-hour stretch today, and the image was posted and solved before I returned; seems like if you're interested, you should just watch for My7hos' posts. Next one coming soon! (Louis Wu 17:39:38 UTC) (permalink)
The Biased - now live
OddGodHMK let us know that The Biased has been officially released; the cover and Page 1 are now online in their final forms. New pages will be released on Mondays and Thursdays. (Louis Wu 17:15:29 UTC) (permalink)
Details about the Peter Jackson Halo title?
GameGuru, a gaming site in India, has a rumor that I haven't seen elsewhere, at least not yet - and it contains a number of details that are totally new to me. I'm inclined to extreme suspicion at the moment... but will withhold final judgement for the time being. The gist of the rumor is that the Peter Jackson Halo title, announced two years ago at X06, will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show next month, and that it will revolve around a female Spartan. Real? Fake? Something in between? It might be a full month before we can answer this. Thanks to Merguson, over at NeoGAF, for noticing. (Louis Wu 14:29:55 UTC) (permalink)
Divide and Conquer
TTL Demag0gue let us know that Reclaimer 84 is now up; things are getting a little scary!
(Louis Wu 14:18:54 UTC) (permalink)
Needs Moar Boost
Ross Mills noticed a writeup of a very cool entry into this year's Red Bull Derby, over at Kotaku - even though it doesn't move very well, I'd still LOVE to have that Ghost! (Louis Wu 14:17:21 UTC) (permalink)
Another fan created helmet is finished
Finnish Spartan has finished up his molded helmet, and started on an AR model; we've added a bunch of new images to the gallery page we set up for him. Swing by and look! (Louis Wu 14:15:26 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Authors Sound Off
More news from the Geekscape crew - Jake108 snagged interviews with Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell and Joseph Staten at the San Diego ComicCon in July - swing by YouTube to watch!
(Louis Wu 13:56:47 UTC) (permalink)
Teabag Prevention Team takes on Snowbound
Jake108 let us know that the folks at Geekscape have put together another installment of Teabag Prevention - this one focuses on Snowbound. There are descriptions of where to find the key elements on the map, and strategies for building up your kill count. If you find it useful, remember that this is #19 in the series, scroll back through their features list for other maps. (Louis Wu 13:54:34 UTC) (permalink)
Get your very own SRS 990 AM
We got word from Briar, of Briar's Armor, that the one-off sniper rifle he built is now for sale on eBay. Starting bid is $115, and you've got until September 14 to make up your mind. Worth a look! (Louis Wu 13:50:27 UTC) (permalink)
News September 7 2008
Cortana Faceplate on eBay
Hawty McBloggy found a pretty nice-looking Cortana Faceplate for your 360 while she was trawling the eBay waters. It ain't cheap, though. And I think it would look better in the vertical
configuration than the horizontal one. Go look. (Louis Wu 20:15:55 UTC) (permalink)
Tilt Shift Effect on Halo 3 Screenshots
A tutorial at You Noobs Got Owned will show you how you can make a Halo 3 screenshot look like it's a miniature model. Pretty slick! (Louis Wu 20:02:40 UTC) (permalink)
HBO Needs Your Help!
So one of the things I did at PAX last weekend was to collect a few signed prints, for folks who weren't able to make it to the show. I snagged a total of 25 prints - 23 of them are signed (some by multiple people). I just need some help in coming up with ideas about how to give them away! We could do the random thing, but that's dull. And there are enough that a single 'skill' contest (art, or music, or whatever) would be silly - but multiple contests would be WAY too much work for me. So... any suggestions for fun ways to give these away? Post your ideas here! (Louis Wu 16:25:25 UTC) (permalink)
Assault Rifle Look-Alike
Brandon found a TRUE HEROES Plasma Blaster (1600x1200, 312k) at Toys R Us, for $14.99 - I'd have to agree with him that it looks an AWFUL lot like a Halo-style assault rifle. (For $15 and a little paint, you've got a great cheap prop.) I couldn't find it in TRU's online store - but maybe you can find it in your local brick and mortar establishment! (Louis Wu 16:14:51 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 MythBusters: Episode 2
RandomSauce let us know that his second 'MythBusters' video, a project he does with TURRET BUDDY, is now up on YouTube. As was true last time, there are some pretty interesting tidbits, and watching it might teach you something cool! (It should be noted that not all of the research is accurate; for example, they claim that you cannot stick a plasma and frag grenade together in midair... but there are plenty of vids like this one out there suggesting that's not true.) Go watch - I found the clip showing someone killing a Spartan by FIRING A NEEDLER THROUGH AN ELITE'S NECK to be worth the price of admission. Update: RandomSauce let us know that at least in the video I used as a counterexample, the two grenades merged while one was still in the thrower's hand - changing the rules. If anybody's got an example of a plasma and a frag connecting in mid-air (after both grenades have left their throwers' hands), let us know. Until then, we have no legitimate counterexample for this particular 'bust'! (Louis Wu 16:13:03 UTC) (permalink)
All Maps... ranked.
evildoctorwill put together his list of least favorite to most favorite Halo multiplayer maps - from all three games. You don't have to agree, but give his reasoning a look-over, and add your own comments! (Louis Wu 16:05:37 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Asset-O-Matic BETA
gothi wrote to us about an application he's been working on that scans your game history for games with assets (video clips and pictures), and then lets you browse them easily. What an amazingly useful tool! Unfortunately, it's PC-only, but it works fine under Parallels on OSX. There's a short FAQ to help you get past some of the biggest problems folks are running into. it's still processing my games (it's 354 in, after aabout 5 minutes), but I loaded up the example DB to see what it looks like, and I must say, for folks looking for screenshots or clips from games they were in, this is MUCH easier than scrolling through the list on B.net!
(Louis Wu 15:58:36 UTC) (permalink)
Helvecks Halo 3 Montage
John_117 put together another montage; the nice thing about this is that a lot of the action is just plain fun. Not your typical montage! Let him know what you think. (Louis Wu 15:58:09 UTC) (permalink)
Grunts R Us R Back
oriol, from Grunts R Us, let us know that they're back online, with new goodies for you. There's a "mega Halo 3 Easter egg list" (it's a pretty impressive list, but - in my opinion, at least - some of the tidbits aren't really 'eggs', in the true sense of the word... which shouldn't stop you for a second from looking through), and Version 2 of their Halo TV Channel, with 24/7 Halo coverage. Check 'em out!
(Louis Wu 15:57:47 UTC) (permalink)
News September 6 2008
PAX - for those who weren't there.
I've been feeling really lousy about my seriously late PAX writeup - this week has been very, very hard from that standpoint. Turns out I'm not alone, though; a bunch of new stuff went up recently. CrypticGuardian, over at Bungie.net, posted a MONSTER 3 hour video of his experience (740 mb!), along with lots and LOTS AND LOTS of pictures. Go see. (The video includes recordings of several full panel discussions - I watched a couple of these in person, and I could hear what was going on better in CG's vid than I could at the panels!) (Louis Wu 20:38:13 UTC) (permalink)
New Wallpaper (sub)Site
Hawty McBloggy let us know that I <3 Halo 3 Screenshots has a new feature - Wallpapers. The section is being managed by Halcylon, and images are being included at a variety of resolutions, and will be added to every week. Check it out! (Louis Wu 20:36:44 UTC) (permalink)
No news is... no news.
Have you been feeling a little frustrated about the lack of information about upcoming Bungie projects? You're not alone. MTV's Patrick Klepek pointed out that Bungie isn't talking (Luke Smith said that news has to come from Microsoft), and Microsoft isn't talking (Aaron Greenberg said that they "hope to have information to share sooner than later" - implying that it's not entirely up to them). So... who knows this stuff? Geez. (Louis Wu 20:17:48 UTC) (permalink)
MCT3K Ep 201 (and bloopers)
Pyrosmile Productions has posted the first episode of Season 2 (the opening of Halo 2, Cairo Station), along with a blooper reel for members. Go check 'em out! (Louis Wu 20:03:16 UTC) (permalink)
Final Moments
The newest piece of Halo 3 machinima from DigitalPh33r is a piece called 'Final Moments' - it's viewable on YouTube, and it's based on the story of the UNSC Marines' first encounter with a dangerous life form in the first Halo game. Done in the style of the Halo 1 Helmet-cam sequence, it shows a couple of hours of Eric Dennison's life. Nice use of Halo 3 locales! Thanks, Spartan Jag. (Louis Wu 18:50:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 Musical Battle
lostguru has created a 'weapon/vehicle sounds song' - a percussion piece based on sounds collected from Halo - and is wondering about turning it into a video. Go listen, and give him some feedback! (Louis Wu 18:45:29 UTC) (permalink)
Halo named in accidental shooting
gunluva found a Kotaku mention of a GamePolitics news piece on an 11 year old boy who accidentally killed himself while trying to recreate some events in Halo. There's an interesting discussion about responsibility in the resulting thread. (Louis Wu 14:41:21 UTC) (permalink)
Project Pangea - Part One of Five
The Handmade Hero is back with a video that shows off the first 25 of the in-game portraits he's created for Halo players; there's some extra information about how the project is going. Check it out! (Louis Wu 14:38:34 UTC) (permalink)
Weekly Update - More Answers than Questions!
The Bungie Weekly Update is live (though you can, as usual, read it in our Weekly Update Archive) - there are random questions asked by Bungie.net denizens and answered by Luke, there's smacktalk about last week's Recon Challenge at PAX (most of the smack is reserved for Bungie employees who didn't do what they needed to do), there's some information about the upcoming September Update... but the stuff that will grab the most eyeballs is the information about new Halo 3 Achievements, coming with the September Update (known as Title Update 2). These achievements were noticed by snooping fans at PAX, but haven't been confirmed as real or fake until tonight; the information included in the Weekly Update should lay to rest some speculation (and confirm still more). Go read! (Louis Wu 00:51:42 UTC) (permalink)
News September 5 2008
Brute Spiker - Details
Hawty McBloggy posted a piece a couple of days ago about a fan-made Brute Spiker; if you liked what you saw, but were hungry for shots of the piece under construction, and comments from the creator, swing by the gallery page for smick6's Brute Spiker. Awesome work! (Louis Wu 14:57:24 UTC) (permalink)
Replicant
TTL Demag0gue is back with a new Reclaimer - #83 shows Viper that they might have more of a problem on their hands than they understood...
(Louis Wu 14:56:48 UTC) (permalink)
Videogames are good for you (mostly)
Two years ago, we mentioned a study being done in New York that found that laparoscopic surgeons who played video games were faster than those who didn't. Last month, at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, a number of studies were discussed that showed similar findings - cognitive and perceptual skills are increased, reactions are faster and accuracy is improved. (There were some negative findings, as well, especially related to attitudes towards violence.) The APA press release doesn't mention Halo - but the Boston Globe editorial that refers to its findings does. (Louis Wu 14:49:21 UTC) (permalink)
What If, Halo Style: Round 5
Hawty McBloggy is back with another What If, Halo Style - Round 5 asks you what you'd set up if you had the ability to create a Double XP Weekend Playlist. Good question! (There is also a summary of the last question she asked, concerning dream vehicles - go see what people want to add!) (Louis Wu 14:38:36 UTC) (permalink)
The Cavalry
After a break, Larry the Marine is back - #33 introduces a new hero to save Larry's butt. Thanks, 2phast. (Louis Wu 14:38:05 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fan Fiction
Ten new pieces went up this week in the Fan Fiction section - largest batch in a while! Go read. (Louis Wu 14:36:13 UTC) (permalink)
News September 4 2008
Oh So Beautiful - Halo 3 Edition
You might remember the video series from Jamie98s entitled 'Oh So Beautiful', in which he took a close look at the natural wonders in Halo 2... he's back with a version updated to Halo 3, and you can watch it streaming on his website, or download it from ours (WMP9 format is 135 mb, QuickTime format is 121 mb). It's all campaign footage, and it runs about eight and a half minutes. He even created a series of wallpapers from some of the shots seen in the video - go prettify your desktop, after you've watched the flick! (Louis Wu 21:16:33 UTC) (permalink)
Kampy's Halo 3 Montage 4
Captain Spark posted a YouTubed montage he found - there's some very nice coordination between the music and the gameplay. The embedded version is standard-res (YouTube's standard), because that's their policy; if you click on the vid and go to the YouTube page, you can watch the High-res version. If even THAT'S not enough for you, you can download the 324 mb version from Halo3Forum. It's sparked an interesting discussion on montages in general - read Spark's thread for details. (Louis Wu 20:51:02 UTC) (permalink)
Three Ball is Back!
Bungie has activated this weekend's Double XP Playlist - and it's the return of Three Ball! Three balls, four teams. Can you hear the music playing? Thanks, RevDotNed. (Louis Wu 20:36:55 UTC) (permalink)
HB's Ultimate Swag Bag
Sad that you didn't make it to PAX? Wishing you had a shot at some of the cool booty being given away there? Never fear - there are always more chances for that stuff. We'll be giving away some of what we collected over the weekend... but not yet. And not in anywhere NEAR the density of goodness you can take a shot at, right now, over at Hawty McBloggy's. She collected a TON of stuff, mostly Halo (though a lot of Dead Space stuff too), got it signed... and is giving it all away in one fell swoop. How can you get your hands on the loot? It's pretty straightforward, actually; leave a comment on the blog post in the next seven days - the winner will be chosen at random after that. Go read the page for details about what's in the goodie bag... and make sure to comment! (Louis Wu 20:01:13 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Monthly Update
The latest Halo Wars Monthly Update has been posted; there's information about basic progress, upcoming changes to the website, and Halo Wars' showing in Leipzig. There's also a scramble picture with some mysterious alert messages; the last time they did this, we got to meet the Sparrowhawk. Thanks to Planet Halo for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 14:40:18 UTC) (permalink)
Escape
tombodemon created a Halo-related project for an art assignment - he wanted to show off the use of video games as an escape from real life. There are a few screenshots, and a fun video. Check it out! (Louis Wu 13:30:08 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Sig Contest at Wasabi
Wasabi Entertainment is running a Sig of the Week contest - and the theme is Halo. Top entry gets a Halo-related prize (unnamed so far). Thanks, Jamie Hutchinson. (Louis Wu 13:29:49 UTC) (permalink)
Step by Step Assembly Instructions
Over at Ascendant Justice, vociferous created another of his thorough and well-written analysis pieces - this time, the subject is Assembly, the new map shown at PAX. Using information gleaned from hours playing and watching others play, along with discussions with the map's designer, Dan Miller, vociferous has managed to create a look into this map that should make it familiar to readers when they see it again - whether they were at PAX or not. There's even a hand-drawn (but pretty accurate, and REALLY nicely done) overhead map of the level! Thanks to Cocopjojo for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 11:57:19 UTC) (permalink)
You're Doing It Wrong
There's an intriguing editorial at The Escapist, discussing the copying of game features without understanding why they were there in the first place, and what that does to games. Halo's health system plays a large role in the examples, but it's really more general than that. Thanks, Nokterne. (Louis Wu 11:26:26 UTC) (permalink)
News September 3 2008
Shinato M1H3
Halo.fr's Johnny be good let us know about the first Halo 3 montage from Shinato, a top Dutch player. It's REALLY heavy on the effects and cuts; so much so that it's hard to see the action a lot of the time. That said, the gameplay is pretty sick. 9 minutes long, in MLG's Gameroom. Update: we received mail from Lamine, of Halorigine.com, who wanted to point out that this site hosted the montage originally, and Oeomtion and Hemdall did the editing on the film. They've got interviews with Shinato (English and French) and Hemdall (French) on this page. (To be clear: we credited Johnny be good because he contacted us with the news, not because he created the film. This is standard practice here.) (Louis Wu 20:55:35 UTC) (permalink)
405th Represents at DragonCon
Sean Bradley sent word that a rather large contingent of the 405th Infantry Division (the armor guys) showed up at DragonCon in Atlanta last weekend; there's a thread on their forum with pictures and discussion, but Sean also passed along some specific photo collections from members:
- SKG's DragonCon Album
- ScaryMonkey75's DragonCon Parade Collection
- ScaryMonkey75's DragonCon Saturday Collection
- ScaryMonkey75's Arbiter Collection
Amazing stuff - with more to come! (It's all great - but check out the Arbiter shots for some truly stunning material.) (Louis Wu 19:26:39 UTC) (permalink)
When the cows go home
Dennis Powers let us know that Shipwrecked Episode 40 is up - bovines and reptiles, oh my!
(Louis Wu 19:25:20 UTC) (permalink)
GameQuest - Audition Details
You might remember a post about a reality show that will focus on finding the 'ultimate gamer' - tryouts are coming up this weekend in four cities (NYC, LA, Austin, and Chicago), and they're hoping that you come prepared. We got email from Sha-hid Ealy, the Casting Producer, who sent along a flyer for the LA audition (jpeg, 80k), and a copy of the actual application (PDF, 64k). They request that if you're coming down to try out, that you bring this application, filled out, with you. Download it, get to filling!
(Louis Wu 19:15:31 UTC) (permalink)
HawtBloggin'
Hawty McBloggy continues to add fun content from PAX - today she told us about PAX 08: Red vs. Blue Edition, a look at the goings-on in the RvB booth over the course of the weekend, but there's also this little tidbit that might be of interest to some of you. That's Ken Taya's handiwork... and I can't tell you anything else. (Louis Wu 16:25:44 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular to Return
KBC let us know that Podtacular has reopened its doors - the first podcast will be coming later this month, so if there's something you want to tell them or ask them, now's your chance. (Louis Wu 16:19:24 UTC) (permalink)
Play N Trade Halo Tourney
Looks like Play N Trade is having a national Halo 3 tournament (well, international, actually); local rounds are this weekend (September 6), with winners from local stores going on to play in the regional tourneys on the 13th, and the finals (in Chandler, AZ) on the 14th. (Hi, Cybrfrk!) Grand prize is $2000, local tourneys are 4-player FFA single-elimination. Check their store finder to see if there's one near you - and if they're holding a local tourney! (Louis Wu 16:16:44 UTC) (permalink)
The Biased - Coming Soon
OddGodHMK has kicked off a new comic series, called The Biased - swing by his forum post for links and an explanation. It goes live on Monday, but he's giving you a preview glimpse! (Louis Wu 16:01:59 UTC) (permalink)
ManKitten's 4th Annual Halo Treasure Hunt
For the last few years, ManKitten has run an annual treasure hunt - he's back, with new clues. Go see what he's offering! If you're confused about how it all works (and how he sort of expects his clues to be interpreted), check out previous hunts: 2005 | 2006 | 2007. (Louis Wu 15:59:20 UTC) (permalink)
Life Switch
TTL Demag0gue stopped by to mention Reclaimer 82 - what is Viper up to, anyway? (Louis Wu 15:50:27 UTC) (permalink)
Rock the Vote PSAs
Rooster Teeth put their latest series, Reconstruction, on hold this week, in order to release a pair of Public Service Announcements. These were finished and ready to go before they left for PAX last week, but they needed to wait until the HD versions were up and available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace before releasing them on their website - so they went live last night. Both of them address the 'Rock the Vote' initiative on LIVE - 'Rock the VETO' explains why voting is important (in a way that every person who's ever played in Matchmaking can relate to), and 'Election Night' shows you how every vote counts. Humor plus Halo Machinima can equal education! Go, RT! (Louis Wu 15:37:23 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Panoramics
nomis78 let us know that he's posted another batch of Halo panoramas - some of these have been color-tweaked a bit. Check 'em out! (He's also offering to redo a couple of older ones - if there's something he's done that you'd like to see adjusted, color-wise, let him know!) Update: looks like BlueNinja's working again, too. 15 new images in HIS blog. (Louis Wu 15:30:37 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Wars Devs are Blogging
There's a bunch of new content over at the Halo Wars website; SOLUS blogged about days 2 and 3 of the Leipzig Games Conference, the three recent screenshots have been added to the official gallery, and Dave Pottinger, HW's Lead Designer, discusses the effect and role of Spartans on and in the game. Go read! (Louis Wu 15:26:49 UTC) (permalink)
Master Chief and Arbiter Statue up for Preorder
The second Weta statue preorder went live yesterday - you can plunk down $225 US on the Master Chief and Arbiter statue, and get yourself entered into that sweepstakes we mentioned last week; statue will be out next year. I wish I had more money! (Louis Wu 15:21:14 UTC) (permalink)
News September 2 2008
Fall of Reach Movie Project - End of the Concept Art
El Mayimbe let us know about the fifth (and final) piece of Kasra Farahani's concept art from the
project being put together by Stuart Beattie - this one shows off the destruction of the Pillar of Autumn, which blends in to the beginning of the first Halo game. Go take a look! (Louis Wu 22:49:38 UTC) (permalink)
The Littlest Spartan
Elnea's back - Halo Action Figure Theater #151 is now online. I'm not sure the Canadians are going to be happy. I laughed, though. (Louis Wu 20:04:16 UTC) (permalink)
I blew my chance at a Monty Python joke.
Hawty McBloggy has been busy - she's got three new Halo-related things for you to check out. The biggest is her writeup of the Bungie experience at PAX (great pics - and you should page back through her blog for lots more in the last few days), but there are also some gorgeous pictures of a fan-created replica of a Brute Spiker (we were contacted as well, and I hope to have a full gallery soon), and a rather scantily-clad female custom Spartan she found on eBay. She was as busy as I was at PAX, and yet still found time to blog every night about it; I'm thinking of turning HBO over to her. I doubt it's pretty enough, though... (Louis Wu 16:51:33 UTC) (permalink)
Teabag Me
Last week, we mentioned an ode to Bungie from Bryan Simon - he's back, with another piece. This time, he's offering Bungie the chance to burn out their frustrations with fan anger on him... go listen. Thanks, Stacey.
(Louis Wu 14:37:00 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Goodies for PAX-goers
At 5:30 on Sunday afternoon, Bungie got rid of a huge number of boxes of schwag that had been taking up room in storage somewhere; they did it by tossing stuff out to a large crowd in front of their booth. It's sort of amazing nobody got hurt - some of those boxes have really sharp edges! If you want a sense of the zaniness, swing by Kotaku - they filmed it. (Louis Wu 14:18:06 UTC) (permalink)
Assembly - it's not Midship
NeoGAF's Kibbles was amused by ScrewAttack's "Hard News" segment in which Assembly was described this way: "It looks like a remake of Midship, the popular Halo 2 map that a lot of people love" (2:05 in). Before you go insane, it looks nothing like Midship, except for the color scheme. (Louis Wu 13:57:00 UTC) (permalink)
Power suits, and who's wearing them
Maxim posted a list of the "13 Most Badass Video Game Power Suits" - they're not all armored, some are literally power suits (pinstripes and all), but Master Chief's Mjolnir armor made it to number 12. Thanks, NickLee808. (Louis Wu 13:56:41 UTC) (permalink)
Master Chief Goes to Hollywood
Cody Miller noticed a Master Chief costume in Hollywood yesterday. His speculation is clearly a joke, but it's a nice shot!
(Louis Wu 13:56:11 UTC) (permalink)
Assembly Gameplay - High Quality
TDG, over at NeoGAF, noticed a pretty high-quality film of Assembly on GameVideos - the gameplay's nothing special, but the view of the map is the best I've seen on the web. (You can download a 720p version of it from that page.)
(Louis Wu 13:55:24 UTC) (permalink)
Infection form plushie tutorial and pattern
Al7eredBeasT posted a pattern for creating your own infection form plushie, along with a tutorial for building it. Swing by if you want one of these cuties! (Louis Wu 13:54:24 UTC) (permalink)
Indestructible Halo 3 TriTage
This weekend, Z sent along a link to a tritage featuring MoNsTeR, vFoFo, and Tags II (Tags II did the editing); it's more than 10 minutes long, but it's got a lot of fun plays, and plenty of slick editing. Just under 200 mb - an enjoyable watch. Check it out!
(Louis Wu 13:53:43 UTC) (permalink)
News September 1 2008
Home... but not functional.
Okay, I thought i could come home and clear out the mail queue - but I didn't count on the plane trip from hell. I'm pretty lucky I made the drive from the airport in one piece - there's no way I can get coherent news on the front page. More tomorrow, I guess... (Louis Wu 19:55:47 UTC) (permalink)
Assembly Hands-On at Joystiq/X3F
Xbox 360 Fanboy's Dustin Burg posted a hands-on impression article of Assembly over at Joystiq - swing by and read the details. There's a short video clip, as well. (More news coming later today; I'm posting this from the DFW airport as I wait for my connecting flight.) (Louis Wu 12:16:24 UTC) (permalink)
HBOFF Pick of the Week
kr-1426 stopped by the main forum to announce that the HBO Fan Fic Pick of the Week has been posted over on the Fan Fiction forum - go see what's what this week! (Louis Wu 12:13:26 UTC) (permalink)
| September 2008 | |
