Year: 2004

For folks who want direct downloads of the large QuickTime version of the featurette we posted last night, community members have come to your rescue. Nick has posted a copy on HaloDev (though you’ll ONLY be able to access it through that link – pasting that anywhere else will lead to a redirect), and Coylter…

Small update on the Halo for Charity drive… I think some care needs to be taken here. We got mail from KilaOne (the person who started the idea on the Bungie.net forums) saying that talks were underway with ESA, but that a little time would be needed to straighten things out – and then we…

A little off-topic, but… Spideroptics sent us another example of journalists cutting a few corners to make a point. His local paper, the UK Guardian, put up a couple of articles recently about GTA: San Andreas (here and here), mirroring content in the print edition. What amused him was the picture (150K) that was published…

There’s plenty more news, but it’s gonna have to wait until morning – I’ve got stuff to do. In the meantime – I have a Hi-res version of the Multiplayer Featurette for you, in QuickTime format. It’s a bit washed out when compared to the original – but I was in a hurry. 😉 We’re…

Man… take the kids to a couple of Halloween events, the mailbox just FILLS. Many, many people wrote about the two newest pieces over at nilerogers.com – Ghosts of Reach and The Last Spartan. Again, the Listening Station is wonderful… if you’re on a fast connection – otherwise, the snippets are here and here.

Today’s Weekly Bungie Update is over at Red vs Blue, in honor of the RvB team visiting Bungie this weekend. Unfortunately, that means that a significant chunk of Halo fans can’t actually see it – because viewing posts on the forum requires that you be registered on their site… and being registered requires an email…

New video, straight from Bungie – the new trailer (both long and short versions), in English, French, German, and Italian… last summer’s movie teaser… and the bonus of bonuses, a multiplayer featurette yanked off the Making of Halo DVD (high and low res, 88 or 44 mb, WMP9 format). Go watch the fantastic fllmmaking of…

According to the Digital Bulletin, Microsoft has paid FHM.com a quarter of a million dollars for a partnership, with promotion on the site the payoff. Loading times are pretty horrible right now, so I can’t actually see the Halo 2 minisite… but much of FHM’s content seems to be not safe for work. Interesting choice…

The BBC looks at Killzone… and decides it’s not really a Halo-killer. Surprise, surprise. (Remember, they’re available on completely different consoles.) Thanks again, demonelite.

Eep – I keep forgetting this one. In Great Britain, there’s a Big Screen Battle tourney coming up on the 4th of December, in 5 Vue Cinemas around GB. Check the page for details. demonelite gets the first heads-up for this one, yesterday sometime.

If you live in Canada, the Xbox Limited Edition Crystal Pack is (or soon will be) available. Crystal Xbox, matching Controller S, a couple of games, and a two-month trial subscription to Live comes with it, for $250CDN (about $200 US). Play Halo 2 clearly! Thanks, Brian.

New Countdown article at IGN – ‘Five Things to Expect from IGN’s Review’. Get prepared… or something.

New strip over at Halo Babies – philosophic, sort of. There’s also a gorgeous new wallpaper by Gruntsbane.

TeamXbox has posted a new Halo 2 wallpaper, based on Zoe’s fantastic parting gift, coupled with a screenshot. Lighting comes off as being a bit funny… but it’s nice. Thanks, Dirty Dozen.

International gaming press continues to rate Halo 2 quite highly – Official Australian Xbox Mag gave it a 10 (thanks Gossip and Pooston), Holland’s Power Unlimited gave it a 93% (they said it ‘wasn’t revolutionary’), and Belgium’s Gunk Magazine gave it a 95%. (Thanks, Herman Karper.)

Over the past few days, many, many people have sent us links to this forum post at Bungie.net. KilaOne suggests a Halo 2 movement – each person buying Halo 2 donates one dollar to the Make a Wish Foundation (he actually leaves the door open for a different charity). He contacted the Electronic Software Association…

Recoil points out a new set of Halo 2 figures previewed over at figures.com. They’ll be available at Musicland and Gamestop this December. Gorgeous!

Another launch party – this one in Helsinki, Finland. Details (for folks who can read Finnish) on this page. There’s gonna be an armored personnel carrier there? Wow. Thanks, Scanner Darkly.

Looks like Microsoft wasn’t thrilled with the negative press they got over the alleged price-fixing in the Netherlands yesterday; GCShop has gotten word that they’ll be getting at least SOME LE copies now. Thanks again to Elite TAR for the heads-up.