Probably not. Bu those three things have all recently been found as new (or renewed) Bungie trademarks. First off the Marathon logo has been re-trademarked (unless it never was which seems unlikely). This has prompted speculation on the Bungie forums and HBO that the new secret project is in fact not a new IP but a new Marathon game. As much as I love this thought, I swear Bungie personnel have said “new IP” multiple times. In fact, to Kotaku Brian Jarrard said

“Could it come back? Yeah sure, anything is possible, Bungie owns the IP,” Jarrard said. “Would the team want to go back to Marathon as opposed to trying something brand new, coming off of a decade of one franchise, many years with Myth before that, many years with Marathon before that? I don’t want to speak for the elders, but I have to imagine there is a strong desire to try something new.“

Next up is Grognok. DeathBringer669 on the Bungie forums found that

The trademark for Grognok is filed under the classification “1B”. 1B means that the logo is a “bona fide intention to use”. What does this mean you ask? Well in this instance it means that the logo is going to have the text “Grognok”, but the bland logo you see is not necessarily the final product. The next step, 1A, means it is “based on actual use”. This means that a 1A logo is how it will actually appear as the final product. A trademark such as the Bungie logo is a 1A logo, since it’s the final product.

There’s nothing in the trademark that really suggests what Grognok might be and as he said, the logo is plain text, likely in Times New Roman. Speculation is that it might be an internal tool in use at Bungie that it is preparing to license to others, particularly 343 Industries.

Finally, the cool new logo – Bungie Aerospace! Besides being approximately an A with an orbiting shape, this one is notable because it actually has Bungie’s name in it. That seems to make it even more likely that this is a piece of technology. This news got even more interesting when people realized Joe Staten had worn a vest with the Bungie Aerospace logo at GDC. It is reminiscent of when he and a few other Bungie staffers began appearing in various places wearing the Superintendent logo. Remember wondering what that was?

Very little is known right now but the likelyhood of Grognok and Bungie Aerospace being technologies they are preparing to license seems likely. Or maybe Grognok is the new IP, a Marathon sequel is coming too, and Aerospace is the Halo engine. Whatever the case, Bungie is very close to step 7 in their plan, so these three new trademarks may have more to do with slingshots and the Sun than video games.

By:AngelicLionheart

In Response To: Re: say it aint so joe (Gilver)

: That’s definitely it. LOL
: The plot thickens.

So, anyone seen any giant rubber bands go missing lately?

This next episode goes out to the old timers of Podtacular. We’re doing three special shows before service for Halo 2 and other original XBOX titles get cut from the LIVE service. On this Wednesday, we will be doing tales for the infamous Halo 2 campaign, where you played as Master Chief and the Arbiter. Get in your submissions before Wednesday, where I’ve been told we have a special guest? Use the Big Green Button on the right or send your submissions to submissions@podtacular.com.

Welcome to the Podtacular T-Shirt Design Contest
Your task is to design a t-shirt for Podtacular.

There will be two winners for this competition. After submissions close the staff will pick the shirt they like the most, and that will win the Staff Pick. Then the polls will open and you can vote on the remaining designs for Community Choice.

The winners will get their shirts as prizes. Oh, and some XBLA games codes are in there too.

Rules
1. The shirt must have the podtacular logo on it somewhere
2. The shirt must have “Podtacular” written on it somewhere
3. The shirt can have the site URL on it. (Preferred to have)
4. Don’t put anything silly on it (you know what I mean)
5. NO MATERIAL THAT CAN HAVE A COPYRIGHT CLAIM MADE ON IT

However we will allow material licensed under a proper Creative Commons license (that is the point of it after all).
You are free to use any colours or designs you feel like.

The shirts have 4 parts: Front, Back, and each sleeve. You don’t have to use all of them.

If anyone wants to have a character of the anyone in their shirt contact them first to get approval (that includes staff). Keep in mind even if you don’t win your design can still be chosen for use in the store. Use this thread for suggestions, showing your progress, etc.

When you finish send the finished product to my email address: lancelot@podtacular.com
Preferably I’d like submissions to be hosted on a free image hosting site like Photobucket.

The thread for discussions is HERE.

Lets put the deadline for designs at April 3rd. Good luck everyone!

Okay, here’s the deal everyone. We’re short on new stuff in the store, which means new stuff needs to be designed.

Since we’re all about the community, and because we’re all to busy being grown-ups we’re thinking of letting you guys do it.

If we were to hold a T-Shirt design contest with potential prizes and whatnot, who here would be interested in participating?

If you are interested in participating head on down to the FORUM TOPIC

Download (coming soon)
Pod TV takes a look at the Multiplayer Trailer released last week from Bungie on the Halo Reach Beta. We got a nice look at some of the new features we will see in the Beta, including new gametypes, loadouts, maps, melee animations, etc. Check out the new Pod TV youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/PodtacTV

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On Tuesday, Bungie released a Multiplayer Trailer for the Halo Reach beta, and we’re all over it. Brent and Dust Storm dive into the depths of the video discussing loadouts, new gametypes, weapons, etc. We did one with GLewis, but it didn’t record. A PodTV episode will follow shortly. Enjoy.

For those who follow MLG, or participate for it in that matter, Major League Gaming has announced the first detail about the 2010 Pro Circuit. First location is Orlando, FL in the middle of April; A little late of a start if you ask me. For more details, check out the original announcement here.

Download | Shownotes
We have returned to the Customs and Creations show for probably it’s last run, at least if Halo Reach doesn’t have a nice customization system. It’s been nearly 3 months since the last one of these so there are a few to read through. This episode brought to you by the Phat PS3 Phail and Dick Cheney. Enjoy

With two months to go until the release of the beta for us to play, a hot new trailer appeared on Bungie.net this morning. Watch nao! Then discuss all the shocking details in this Forum thread!

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It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these so called roundtables, so we thought we would pit the two top shooters in the ongoing Halo vs Call of Duty debate. Both have their highs and lows, but with the constant development of these two series, it is good to re-evaluate the situation. Joining us for this episode is the former host of Podtacular: foo mo jive, forum mod Painkilla05, My Halo Life’s JakFireDragon, and TTL Gunslinger Xerxdeej. Enjoy

We are still having problems getting live streams to work and play nice, so it may be a little while until we get that working. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to keep on doing shows though. This week we’re doing Customs and Creations and possibly one of the last. The Customs and Creations show gets the least amount of submissions, most likely due the age of the game. We will still have Customs and Creations, but it will probably get merged in with Callins and Tales. But enough of my blabber; get your submissions in now using the Big Green Button.

Download | Shownotes
The Halo Reach ViDoc: Once More Unto The Breach released some pretty interesting info about the new Halo Reach Game engine, and we’re here to cover it. New game engine, rugged textures and more AI should have us all at the edge of our seats waiting for the Beta coming out in May. In the mean time, we will indulge in awe and speculation. Enjoy

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In the past decade, the gaming scene has changed dramatically. We saw the introduction of the Xbox and Halo, and the main competitors were Nintendo and Sony Entertainment. Graphics has had a dramatic improvement, 3D gaming has become the norm, and game music has evolved from 8-bit to orchestra and all-out rock. For this episode, we venture into our pasts of gaming over the past decade and visit some memorable moments. Former host JVB joins us along with guests ChuckieJ and AceofSpadesCard. We have some nice commentary from ChuckieJ as he goes through his list of big games and Brent has his Top 5 pick of the decade which will accompany this post shortly. Thanks to everyone who submitted their favorites and enjoy.

We’re going to be doing a special episode discussing the things revealed in the recent ViDoc released by Bungie. We will probably be doing this Wednesday or Thursday so get in your opinions, reviews, qualms about the info in as quickly as possible using the Big Green Button.

The entire engine has been rebuilt, there’s more facial details, more AI on screen, new assassination animations, and a whole new cast of heroes. Check out the latest on Halo: Reach from Bungie themselves below.

Before I start, I’d like to say that I won’t record this show till I get a decent number of submissions. That way we have lots to talk about. It won’t interfere with the Left 4 Dead shows. Anyhow:

Guess what! It’s a new show topic! No topic at all! Sort of.

I’ve decided to have a little fun with the show. I’ll only record this one when I have enough submissions, so tell everyone you know. Send in anything you think will be funny. Some suggestions for topics are:

1. Things you’ve overheard people saying
2. Funny things you’ve seen
3. Funny stories from your childhood
4. Funny gaming stories
5. Jokes

But anything goes, so long as it’s interesting. If there’s something funny you’d like us to talk about feel free to suggest it too.

Rules
1. All stories must be true, don’t make anything up.
2. Don’t send in anything that’s inappropriate. You know what that means
3. Have fun with it!

The new address for submissions is atr@podtacular.com
You can also use the spiffy new form! I’m working on a big button for that, but for now just select Around The Ring from the contact tab.

I await the hilariousness!

The season 2 finale of 1 vs. 100 is Halo themed. Come test your Halo knowledge and see how much of a Halo junkie you truly are. Special guests in the studio include audio director Marty O’Donnell and 343 Industries’ Frank “Frankie” O’Connor. So get pumped and represent Podtacular.

Microsoft has decided to put the original XBOX DLC back up on the marketplace. This means the Halo 2 DLC is back up and awaiting your download. We’re planning on doing a big event of some kind near the end of the original service cut off, so while you’re at it, pick up a copy of Halo 2 if you don’t have it.

The show is going to take a while for me to edit, so here’s the information ahead.

Around The Ring now has it’s own email address. The new address for submissions/questions etc. is atr@podtacular.com

If you want to reach me specifically with any questions it’s lancelot@podtacular.com

Download | Shownotes
Releasing this episode on schedule for once. GLewis is absent this week. Apparently, he didn’t know we were recording, but alas. Brent and I held down the fort as we read your submissions and rambled on about the Halo 2 and XBOX Live announcement. It was a pretty fluid show without GLewis, which may say something. Enjoy.