|
Search the News Archive |
Spoilers are currently disabled. (All newsposts are visible.) |
 |
Thursday, June 5, 2008 |  |
Take a Rocket Ride to Heaven
It's Thursday, and it's after 11 am PDT... which means Double XP Weekend is ON. This week, it's Rockets FFA. Go blow someone up. Thanks, Captain Spark. Only the best for our boys (and girls)... (Louis Wu 18:55:33 UTC) (permalink)
Maptrocity
Z let us know about Maptrocity, a video that was modeled after insidi0us' amazing Maptacular video (released two and a half years ago). Maptrocity is a Halo 3-based version, and a lot of work went in to making sure medals/kill types/etc lined up by the end. The transitions aren't as spectacular as they were in the Halo version by insidi0us - but for the most part they're pretty good, and overall it's a great romp through the Halo 3 multiplayer maps. 9:23 long, 131 mb, WMP9 format. Go grab a copy from Halo3Forum.com! Update: At some point, the H3F link stopped working - so here's a local download link (WMV, 131 mb) and a YouTube link. (Louis Wu 18:50:59 UTC) (permalink)
Podtacular's Summer Tourney
PodTacular's running a Summer Tournament - 4v4 MLG-style play. Are you part of a known Halo community? Sign up! You might want to read the discussion on Podtacular.com and the writeup on Bungie.net before you do... (Louis Wu 17:50:45 UTC) (permalink)
Pananorama
nomis78 announced that he's posted 6 new panoramas over at NHP, his panorama blog. The Last Resort work is HUGE. (Louis Wu 17:39:55 UTC) (permalink)
Real-Life Cortanas (a Round-Up)
Hawty McBloggy has put together a piece on real-life Cortanas - we've covered most of them before, but there's at least one new one, and her take, even on the ones we've seen before, it a good read. Check it out! (Louis Wu 16:49:37 UTC) (permalink)
The Gunslingers
There's a new episode of Halo Action Figure Theater available today - our heroes get some help from an unlikely quarter. Carrying unlikely weapons. And suchlike. (Louis Wu 15:51:41 UTC) (permalink)
RvB 1, Armor Testing Recreated with CGI
Major.Dump stopped by with a couple of eye-popping links - these are movies he created as CG adaptations of existing material. The first is a reproduction of Red vs Blue Episode 1, and the second is a trailer for his interpretation of the 'Armor Testing' story seen in the Halo Graphic Novel. Both are astounding - I hope we can get high-res versions of these that we can share. In the meantime, though, go watch the YouTube versions. They're great. Update: Thanks a million to Laird, who was able to get us HD (1280x720) copies of both movies. I'm putting up double mirrors of these, just in case demand is high. The Armor Testing Trailer is 88 mb in WMP9 format, 95 mb in QuickTime format: WMP9 Mirror 1 | WMP9 Mirror 2 | QT Mirror 1 | QT Mirror 2. The CGI version of RvB's Episode 1 is 98 mb in WMP9 format, 102 mb in QuickTime format: WMP9 Mirror 1 | WMP9 Mirror 2 | QT Mirror 1 | QT Mirror 2. Grab the one(s) you need! (Louis Wu 15:31:29 UTC) (permalink)
Vehicle Panoramas, Part One
Bry decided to create some very specific panoramas - these are devoted to Halo 3 vehicles. Specifically, he's completed the Pelican and the CCS Battlecruiser. Swing by his post for links - there are some gorgeous pics in there! (Louis Wu 15:26:06 UTC) (permalink)
Lord Mongoose Goostage
SonofMacPhisto pointed out a Mongoose Montage, posted at MLGPro.com and highlighted by Bungie's new blog - you'll see some pretty amazing driving, shooting, and pwnage in general. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:22:50 UTC) (permalink)
Listening to Gamers Play, not Talk
The Screen Play blog in the Sydney (AU) Morning Herald has an article about Framework, a game development conference that took place in Melbourne yesterday. A significant chunk of it is devoted to some information from Keith Steury, who was involved in usability testing for Halo when he worked for Microsoft Game Studios. There's some fascinating info about how decisions were made, and what sort of changes came about because of the testing. Go read! Update: DOH! Didn't notice Ding beat me to this by a few minutes. Worth the read twice, I guess. (Pretty funny that we focused on the same point for our headlines...) (Louis Wu 15:17:58 UTC) (permalink)
The Halocaust
NartFOpc pointed out a school project on YouTube - someone used Halo 3 to create an overview of the Holocaust. Many of our forumgoers found this in bad taste - but I'd have to say that it's a well-done treatment. The subject material was handled with respect. Decide for yourself! (Louis Wu 15:11:10 UTC) (permalink)
Games and Violence - analyzing the data
RevDotNed suggested some light summer reading - Grand Theft Childhood looks at the relationship between violent video games and behavior. Halo is mentioned a few times, which helps justify its presence here on HBO's front page - but really, this is a subject that comes up a lot, and this book seems to do a reasonable job of addressing it. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:04:35 UTC) (permalink)
Pro-Tips from a Pro
Back on May 22, we mentioned a weekly film clip feature from G4TV's X-Play, whereby TSquared, from Str8 Rippin, provided tips on Bungie's maps. Since then, there've been two new ones - Standoff aired May 27, and Rat's Nest went live June 3. Step up your game! (Louis Wu 15:00:59 UTC) (permalink)
Look as I do, not as I say
Keith Steury, formerly of MGS, spoke at an event in Melbourne and touched on how Bungie changed the rules when it comes to testing. Though back in the day it almost turned into a meme ("Bungie cares more about mothers that play Halo!") this article highlights that clever selection of datapoints gives you richer results. The result being a smoothly polished game experience we've come to love in the Halo series. Will it continue to bleed into other games? Looks like our friends down under are listening! Hat tip to Google Alerts. (Ding 14:59:32 UTC) (permalink)
Wednesday's news in brief:
Tuesday's news in brief:
