My Halo News.com

The latest news about the Halo series of games from Microsoft

  • AH: Gamers Rapport – 003: Blurred Premonitions

    First off: The big stuff. This episode is the first to feature the absolutely AMAZING intro and outro music written AND performed by our very own 8BitBass. I love it, and think you will too. By “very own,” I mean that 8bit will continue to be a permanent host on Gamers Rapport. W00T. Secondly this episode also features the editing stylings of Fragger. So thanks for him stepping in and doing a superb job with that. Thirdly, we’ve got a Community guest with Tudor VII sticking around to say hi, as well as a new segment from Lopez_55/ Mike. In terms of game talk, Knuckles and 8Bit go on about Blur, 8bit shares his first impressions about FFXIII, and Fragger describes a special game close to his heart. What game? Listen and find out. There’s also some Borderlands and BFBC2 talk in there too. Third time’s the charm, right?

    Those voices in your head are none other than Knuckles Dawson, Fragger, & 8bitbass.

    Don’t forget to join the Gamers Rapport Group for all the latest news and discussion.

    Download the show:
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    [Listen now below]



  • Marathon: Grognok powered by the Bungie Aerospace engine?

    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.

    PhotobucketFinally, 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?


  • Commander Tony on TRR Tonight

    Hey – it’s time for another Running Riot Podcast – they’re recording live, tonight, starting at 9:30 eastern! Special Guest this episode: CommanderTony, from Halopedia. Go listen! Thanks to urk for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 22:23:44 UTC)

  • RT: Sarge's House Beat Ringtone now on iTunes on the iPhone

    So we just got the ability to make ringtones for the iPhone. Clearly, the only logical next step was releasing Sarge’s House Beat from the sponsor version of Reconstruction Episode 2 / Reconstruction DVD deleted scene. While complaining about Sister, Sarge lays down a beat that draws everyone else in. If you haven’t seen it, you can probably find a clip of it.

    We thought we would try this service out and see if it’s something you guys like. You can preview it before you buy but you can only find it when you are looking in iTunes on your IPhone.

  • AH: Splinter Cell: Conviction Demo released March 18th

    Ubisoft have recently confirmed that the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo will be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace come March the 18th. The demo will feature the bathroom interrogation scene that has been shown a number of times in videos and various gaming conventions, and will then leap forward to a later level in the game where the Mark and Execute abilities will be displayed.
    Excited? Yeah, I thought so.


  • RT: Seventh Inning Stretch

    This comic is a testament to job dedication. I’m on vacation right now, on a tropical beach somewhere (at least as far as my co-workers know), yet I still managed to post this. Yay for me.


  • Attention Whore Trophy: Complete

    TheGelo stopped in with links to pics of the Attention Whore trophy for Cody Brigan’s Halo 3 tourney – it’s now finished. Looks pretty cool! (If you’re not sure what these trophies are all about, you can check our news.)(Louis Wu 19:38:06 UTC)

  • GDC: How To Balance Halo

    Jaime Griesemer sounds off on the Sniper Rifle.

  • Halo Legends Review, Part 2

    In early February, we mentioned Alternative Magazine Online’s Halo Legends Review, Part 1. Part 2 just got posted (thanks, Marty Mulrooney) – go check it out.(Louis Wu 18:46:22 UTC)

  • It’s all about flow.

    Edge Online has an article covering Jaime Griesemer’s talk at the GDC about extending the rate of fire for the Sniper Rifle – and about balancing games in general. It’s a pretty interesting read, even if there are some obvious inconsistencies at the end. (it was time between shots that was extended, not shots per second, and it was 0.5 to 0.7, not 0.5 to 0.75. Which is more than the 10% that Griesemer recommended – but maybe that’s a number they learned FROM this, rather than one that drove this change.) Thanks to NeoGAF’s JaggedSac for the heads-up.


  • Top 10 Halo 3 Lucky Kills

    Anoj is back with Episode 50 of his Top 10 Halo 3 Kills – this one is Lucky Kills. Some of ’em are SERIOUSLY lucky. Go watch! Thanks, urk.(Louis Wu 17:24:23 UTC)





  • AH: Blur Beta Code Giveaway

    Let’s have some quick fun this Friday, I’m giving away my 3 Friends Blur Beta codes to you guys. To win, just find the missing digit in the codes below by entering them at blurgame.com/beta and post here if you manage to get one correct so people can stop guessing on that one, not only will successful winners get access to the Blur Beta, they’ll also receive 48 Hours of XBox Live for free!

    3JFV-A6N2-FX23-6?N9
    FTP7-LTAX-YY3Z-T?P9
    R3KN-D7?M-NEKZ-W2MD

    All gone now, congrats to the winners! If anyone has some XBL or even PSN codes for things we could give away, let me know and we’ll try and make this a regular thing.

    3D_Max just gave us some more
    7VMT-F97L-YZPC-JKWM
    K62W-DC4A-R3RM-R4L9
    VFZQ-4PUZ-Y9GE-RZQM

    And even more from LuciferMD
    3EKP-6ZFF-24M7-D7VX
    FNRT-WKEP-JZPM-2VWQ
    QXTX-V9XP-Z4MK-2G9A

    More from Archer
    CJHK-QL32-XYA7-UJ2R
    MRRR-EZNG-43PM-QKN9
    XZQY-RCXQ-6H3X-KHQA

    Even more from ToAsTsLaYeR
    7UUE-JELT-YPWR-2MDN
    K49P-D76D-C6KQ-V772
    VF4U-JMM6-AVGM-KNNX

    Can someone say more? From LOWlifeSpIdE
    43TC-MGWW-KVTD-4XJ4
    GEN9-KT9F-XPDT-7PNW
    RNL9-URXJ-F7EL-RLL4

    One last bunch from starcom30273
    3FAV-9EWW-CXCN-YZJJ
    FPKX-3HUD-V7GG-L4EM
    QYM9-J2Q2-YL4H-CU6Y
    K7JX-QWWE-LKTN-2KG6
    VHEK-HRTD-7XJZ-RLVD

    Cheers guys!

    Last update: 9:49 PM PST


  • Spring Elite Bundle – now at Gamestop, too

    Bryan4208 sent word that the ‘Spring Bundle’, containing an Xbox 360 Elite, Halo 3: ODST, and Forza 3, which went live a week ago at Amazon, is now also available at Gamestop. It’s available in-store (he has it in his store), or online (starting tomorrow). (Louis Wu 14:00:13 UTC)

  • Spring Elite Bundle – now at Gamestop, too

    Bryan4208 sent word that the ‘Spring Bundle’, containing an Xbox 360 Elite, Halo 3: ODST, and Forza 3, which went live a week ago at Amazon, is now also available at Gamestop. It’s available in-store (he has it in his store), or online (starting tomorrow). (Louis Wu 14:00:13 UTC)