Old news but still good news!

OSX, too.
Yesterday, we mentioned a Windows screensaver created by a Halo fan that played QuickTime movies. PCDestroyer points out that something similar exists for MacOSX - the reviews are mixed, but it's there if you want it. (24k, so it's not even a painful download.) (Louis Wu 01:07:12 UTC)

Windows QT screensaver
Ciarán has created a Windows screensaver that uses the Halo 2 trailer (in QuickTime format) - or any other QuickTime movie - as its source. It's been tested on Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Windows XP Home. It weighs in at 1.5 mb - you can find it here. (Louis Wu 15:36:42 UTC)

I hate it when that happens...
Adam Russin and Brian Rosenberg have created a film called 'Oh Shit!' I'm too tired to figure out if it meets our Movie Posting Guidelines - but I enjoyed it, so I'm posting it. So there. It's only available in .wmv format, unfortunately - it's 3:18 long, and 12.5 mb big. You can get it at Project Mjolnir, where it was posted first, or you can grab a copy from Mythica.org. Tomorrow, I promise, I'll get cracking on the movies that need to be added to our Movie Database. (We have news of several other movies that have been made recently; it's all been backburnered due to the obscenely high demand for the Halo 2 trailer, but we're going to start letting you know about some of it in the near future.) In the meantime, go watch this film... it's fun. :) (Louis Wu 02:21:45 UTC)

It says Kilroy Was Here, okay?
Okay, I'm doing this for my own sanity. Ever since the release of the Halo 2 screenshots a few weeks ago, there's been quite a bit of discussion about the writing on the side of the assault rifle carried by the MC in this picture. (Here's a very nice closeup, handily enhanced by Storm Singer.) I'm sick to death of seeing it misinterpreted as 'RAT' or 'KAT' in our forum, and in email - the english text reads 'Kal 9.6 mm x 40' - 'Kal' being short for the german 'Kaliber'. This has been confirmed by Bungie, so please - no more rats. (We've even added it to our FAQ, to make life easier for those looking for the tru7h.) The chinese characters translate roughly to 'Monkey King', according to several different people on our forum... but nobody's actually pinned down the significance of this yet. Hopefully, this information will allow me to get back to the very important work of cleaning my toenails without having to hear about RATs. Thanks. (Louis Wu 00:37:01 UTC)

Neo says 'whoa.'
Thought it was all scripted, eh? No in-game play, eh? Check out this multiplayer screen - a covenant warrior stalks the MC. Thanks to our spy in the field, Warbow.(j/k) Okay, okay... Apparently, not enough of you noticed the little (j/k) after that post - sure, it was in white text, and too small to be readable, but why let that stop you? This is just a doctored shot by Warbow - there isn't really a multiplayer build out there (yet). There, happy, Dave? :) (Louis Wu 17:27:06 UTC)

MPEG version, more QT mirrors
Assassin, from Computer Games in Romania, has sent word that they've re-encoded the high-quality QT version as an MPEG. Screensize is the same, filesize is 25.5 mb... quality is quite good. If you're having trouble with QuickTime, but can't get WMP9 to run on your system, this might be the way to go! (Server speed was quite impressive for me, too.) Also, Fileplanet added the two QuickTime versions this morning. All of these links are listed on the Mirrors page. (Louis Wu 16:37:52 UTC)

Chiron for UT
Mad Cow points out that he's working on a version of the Halo multiplayer map Chiron for Marathon: Resurrection, an Unreal Tournament mod. Check out some screens! (Louis Wu 01:52:31 UTC)

Start-of-weekend reading
Life's been busy - this is Fan Fiction from the last couple of days:

Halo National Championship pre-pictures
Pictures - not of the HNC itself, but of the reception on Thursday night. Check out the setup! (The actual finals were played with 2 players per console on 36" plasma screens.) We bring you what we can... (Louis Wu 01:19:53 UTC)

HNC Finals Commence!
Our spies are everywhere. Here's a snapshot of the postgame carnage report from a 16-player CTF game at the reception for the Halo National Championships, held last night at the DoubleTree in Westwood, CA. From our trenchcoat-wearing guy in the field:

It's the postgame carnage screen shot from a 16 player CTF on Blood Gulch. The game approx 30-40 min. with the players mostly running around playing slayer. Not alot of team play was evident, which figures since none of the 16 guys playing knew or played with each other before the NC. All the players are good, but not as good as those two Canadians from the E3 fan fest.

'Those two Canadians' would be Finn and Shovelface, of Team 7hr33. (Louis Wu 17:30:22 UTC)

The Warthog, HBO Edition
Whoa - does this mean we have to start selling clothing? (Louis Wu 13:23:58 UTC)

Gamitopia says 'Eh.'
Gamitopia reviewed Halo last week - and were unimpressed. While I'm loathe to sneer at Halo criticism for fear of being seen as an overbiased fanboi, the reviewer picked some of the silliest things to complain about:

When you move onto each successive chapter of Halo, you'll restart with Marine guns, regardless of what you ended the previous chapter with. Once, after battling my way out of an end of chapter fortress with a needler and a rocket launcher, I nearly had a heart attack when the next chapter, which started right where the last left off, started me off with the crappy pistol and machine gun from the beginning of the game. I didn't play for days after that one, and it happened all too often.

Other complaints included too-low ammo-carrying limits, too-few-gun carrying limits, bad driving controls, and a tired storyline. Overall, they rated it 81%. We've added it to our Reviews database. Thanks to Blue's News for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 13:33:46 UTC)

Halo on the Big Screen
Vector40 went to the MaxGames competition at the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation - read his insanely long (but quite entertaining) account of the goings-on on our forum. (Louis Wu 10:07:53 UTC)

A 'Cingular' discovery
When Bungie released the Halo 2 screenshots last week, one of them sparked some debate - people wondered about a symbol visible on one of them. Some thought it was the men's room... others thought maybe it signified who won the cellphone wars in the future. Jaime Griesemer, Halo 2's lead designer, suggested that it was present in the first Halo. Aginor finally found it - it's a symbol for 'airlock'. (He made a homemade image showing where he thought it turned up - but i snagged a screenshot, showing it in place. This is this first airlock you come to in the first level.) Nice eyes! (Louis Wu 01:54:07 UTC)

More pics for your desktop
A pair of new desktop images for you - Ken Schreiber compares Halo and Halo 2, and Allenthar colors in a cool Bungie wallpaper (in a multitude of sizes). Check 'em out in our Wallpaper section! Update: We've added a third image for the morning - this one from Deimos™, over at Subnova.com... it utilizes an exclusive screenshot and a classic quote; check it out! (Louis Wu 14:52:51 UTC)

Phoenix? No, Rampancy...
Once upon a time, a big star in the Halo fan firmament was The Core, which morphed into Rampancy.net. Time went by, and R.net slipped off the radar screen - dns woes, loss of maintainers to the Bungie developer stable, and maintainer change of focus all contributed. Narcogen has resurrected the site, however, and it now sports a Halo 2 forum, an emerging Halo 2 FAQ, and more. Stop by and say hello! (Louis Wu 20:09:04 UTC)

Mahdrigalo
And the Fan Music collection grows... SilverBrin has submitted a new piece for your listening pleasure. He writes:

I just uploaded a file called "Mahdrigalo.mp3". It's a piece I wrote the day I heard Halo 2 was announced.Ê It is also in honor of Marty O'Donnell's timeless music.Ê It is exciting to think he is now working on new stuff for the new game!

Anyway, I twist around the Halo and The Siege of Madrigal themes into my own interpretation and then combine them at the end.Ê It is entirely Midi and does not use any audio from Marty's music.Ê Everything was rendered using cheap midi software (hence the poor quality). I still think the dramatic interpretation may entertain...but you guys can be the judges.Ê

Just as Halo wallpaper starts with Bungie-created artwork and presents the submitter's vision, this piece starts with Marty's Halo theme and 'Siege of Madrigal' piece, and presents SilverBrin's vision. We've upped it to Mythica.org - it's 5.3 mb. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 17:24:18 UTC)

The Competitive Systems Arena
Skavenger_s7 found a pretty interesting little device which will take the four panels of a split screen and send 'em out in different directions - no more cheating by looking at your buddy's screen in multiplayer! Mirrors and cardboard can bring fair competition back to your lan gatherings... (Louis Wu 02:04:06 UTC)

New Press material from Xbox.com
Strato99| noticed some new Halo 2 material over at the Xbox.com press site - a couple of isolated shots of MC (that is, separated from any background), a nice version of the Halo 2 logo, and the four main screens with no watermarks on them. These aren't really hi-res or anything... but if you're building Halo 2 stuff for the web, they just might come in handy. (Louis Wu 01:59:38 UTC)

More desk coverings
Take a day off, come back to a flood of submissions. We'll start with desktops - there are 5 new ones:

h2_wait.jpg, by Justin

halo2wal102.jpg, by Chome (3 flavors)

hippopaper.jpg, by Justin

MC.is.back.jpg, by Chromejr45

One.More.Time.jpg, by Dusty Patt

Mr Bill Jr V pushes the limits of what can legitimately be called Halo misc. art

Team Overkill pushes some other limits

You can find their work in the Miscellaneous Art section. (We may have to start cracking down.) (Louis Wu 15:25:17 UTC)

News of the Month
You knew it was coming, right? Halo 2 has been announced. Swing by Bungie.net, and read all about it... new screens, new desktops... and a new movie, coming soon. This is gonna Rock Your World. (Louis Wu 13:16:47 UTC)

Another Halo Mini-Game
A little while ago, we posted a small Halo game created by a fan - now we've got another one for you. This one was created by Drew and Taylor (Lion on our forums), and the object is to simply shoot (click on) the grunts and elites floating around the screen. Grunts are 2 points, Elites are 5. Hit a Master Chief, though, you lose 5. PC-only, and 733k zipped. Enjoy! (Louis Wu 15:44:13 UTC)

There oughtta be a law...
Bungie's Number One Fan Miguel 'Freewill' Chavez competed in the first round of the Halo National Tournament... and has written up his experiences, complete with pics. Check it out at Bungie Sightings! Correction: Miguel competed in a warm-up event, not the actual tournament. Silly me - the tournament doesn't even start until next week! (Louis Wu 04:37:26 UTC)

Search results for start screen

Another Search