Louis Wu at HBO has put up an extensive roundup of analyses, commentaries and transcripts on yesterday’s Bungie VIDOC. To complement them, I’ve put together an annotated gallery of screenshots from the VIDOC, pointing out major features.
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Lost: Halostyle Ep 13
Haloplayer stopped by to point out the second half of the Lost: Halostyle Season Finale – it’s available in streaming format, plus 3 downloadable options, from their site, and (because we like this series so much, and because this episode is pretty darned funny) in several flavors from us, as well: we’ve mirrored the to larger WMP9 versions (720×480, 73 mb | 720×480, 169 mb) and added a pair of QuickTime versions (720×480, 72 mb | 720×480, 155 mb). There’s a lot more death in this one than in previous versions… and you’re certainly set up nicely for the return of the series, later this summer. Go watch! (If you’ve missed episodes, visit their website.) (Louis Wu 12:25:50 UTC)
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Makeup Your Own Joke.
Speaking of Tombstone, Stuntmutt takes a new shot at it in today’s One One Se7en.(Louis Wu 12:11:23 UTC)
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Affinity Machinima Challenge
We heard from imSuck (and others) about a new contest being held by HaloGrid – the Affinity Machinima Challenge. You’ve got between April 17, when Tombstone and Desolation are released for Halo 2, and May 1, when the contest ends, to create a cool new piece of machinima involving those two maps. There are cash prizes on the line for each of 4 categories (Action, Comedy, Montage, Music); check out imSuck’s post for details on rules, dollars and more. Start planning today!(Louis Wu 12:09:11 UTC)
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Energy Episode Five: The Race
Simply Greg announced that Energy Episode Five: The Race is now available for download, in multiple flavors. The conflict between the humans and the Aeros has come to a head…(Louis Wu 12:04:11 UTC)
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Freespace 2 Halo conversion – progressing
Devrous stopped in for his fourth weekly update of FS2H, his Freespace 2 Halo mod. Lots and lots and LOTS of pictures – go see how it’s going!(Louis Wu 11:57:01 UTC)
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PLAY! headed to San Jose
PLAY! is a video game symphony, a lot like Video Games Live; they’re back on tour, and will be in San Jose, CA on May 26. If you’re in the area, check ’em out! Thanks, Mrguy.(Louis Wu 11:54:23 UTC)
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Top 20 Weapons? Hmm…
TeamXbox put up a list of their Top 20 Weapons of All-Time – amazingly enough, the Grenade Shield (or Bubbleshield, as Bungie calls it) made the list. (Seems rather absurd to me, actually; not only don’t we know how well it works, it’s not really even a weapon.) Halo 2’s plasma grenade and energy sword also made the list. Looks like RevDotNed was first.(Louis Wu 11:47:20 UTC)
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Man Cannon
Trunks stopped by to point out a new Halo-themed Trunks and Soto comic – I’m not sure their term for the Mancannon is any less… snicker-worthy than Bungie’s, but you gotta love the t-shirt!(Louis Wu 11:40:27 UTC)
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Great Irresponsibility
Sane Intolerant sent word that a new Halo Toy Box is up – this series is becoming more and more incomprehensible to me, but maybe it’s clearer to you.(Louis Wu 11:35:57 UTC)
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Full-sized Master Chief statue for auction
Adam Chapman ran across an auction of one of the full-sized Master Chief statues (6 feet tall) on eBay; it’s pickup-only, in New York City, and there’s about 2 days left on the auction. Starting bid is $500 – the statue has quite a lot of chipped paint, so if you buy it, realize that you’re in for a restoring job. (These have gone for upwards of $1000 in good shape, so you’d be getting a bargain.)(Louis Wu 11:34:15 UTC)
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Guitar Hero Gameplay, Revisited
Heh – you might remember a post last weekend where KP and e tried hard to play Halo 2 with Guitar Hero II controllers; fugitivesoldier ran across a video of someone doing a whole lot better playing the ORIGINAL Halo with that controller. Check it out!(Louis Wu 11:23:44 UTC)
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Vidoc, Analyzed (within an inch of its life)
As could probably be expected, Bungie fans went a little crazy yesterday after the release of the Multiplayer Vidoc. Lots and lots and LOTS of tiny details were teased out of those seven minutes of footage. While many of these details were discovered one at a time, a few people have gone through the Vidoc and done a ‘frame-by-frame’ style analysis. Darkninja90 and Sk8erdmg both wrote up their views on our forum. Geary noticed a video version at GameTrailers. QuickTactical posted his at HaloGrid. IGN did one, too, but it falls a little short after looking at the depth the fans went to in the links above. Most of the screens/signs in the background have been deciphered, and lots of cool details like the new HUD have been discussed. (Beorn, for example, has taken looks at the HUD and “ A message from Bungie” – and there are plenty of other morsels to be found.) Bungie employees tossed in a bit of info themselves; Evil Otto, for example, explained why much of the footage shows a green HUD, instead of blue. If you’re late to the party, check out what others have noticed!(Louis Wu 11:02:54 UTC)
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Episode 108: Round Table Show
Download | Shownotes
This show is way different from our usual laugh fest. We kind of split it up between reading stuff people sent in and lots of discussion. Guests this week are *Robert Summa*, editor at “destructoid.com”:http://destructoid.com, and *Anjo Banjo* a.k.a *Liquilife’s* wife (Liquilife is a host at the “Uncle Gamer”:http://unclegamer.com podcast), who has a site up at “anjoart.com”:http://anjoart.com. We talk about the Halo 2 maps (briefly for now, but more on that to come), the Xbox 360 Elite, and the new Xbox support enhancements. Stay tuned for a meaty discussion about Halo 3 beta and the vidoc next show very soon!
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Episode 108: Round Table Show
Download | Shownotes
This show is way different from our usual laugh fest. We kind of split it up between reading stuff people sent in and lots of discussion. Guests this week are Robert Summa, editor at destructoid.com, and Anjo Banjo a.k.a Liquilife’s wife (Liquilife is a host at the Uncle Gamer podcast), who has a site up at anjoart.com. We talk about the Halo 2 maps (briefly for now, but more on that to come), the Xbox 360 Elite, and the new Xbox support enhancements. Stay tuned for a meaty discussion about Halo 3 beta and the vidoc next show very soon!
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Send in stuff for episode 109: Halo 3 Vidoc/beta Special!
What a badass day today has been. Not only do we find out the actual release date for the Halo 3 beta, but we get a new vidoc that actually shows us new stuff! We can’t wait to hear your ideas about the latest…
New vidoc!
In Bungie’s recent multiplayer madness update, they reveal a new vidoc that actually shows us some new stuff they haven’t talked about yet. NEW MAPS for one! They also reveal on video just how the shield grenade works, a trip mine, and Frankie apparently revealed on the forums that the X button is the “deploy equipment” button. What do you think that means exactly? What did you think of the brief glimpses you saw of the new maps (like the hangar)? Did you find any hidden secrets in the video? Do you think their extensive game testing is a positive thing? Does it look to you like the shield grenade is affected by fire or invincible for a specific amount of time? Do you think you have to find shield grenades and the trip mine like power ups? Do you think you can hold multiple of each like grenades? Frankie apparently also said a deployable equipment type was a “grav pad.” What exactly do you think that is? We also have some great examples and details about the machinima feature. Are you excited about this? How do you see this being used?
Halo 3 beta is on the way!
We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The beta will last from May 16th to June 6th, and we’ll be able to play Valhalla, High Ground, and Snowbound. We’ll get the a-hole button with the new multiplayer menu, matchmaking only (no customs) with the party system, and pretty much all the vehicles and weapons we’ve seen so far with the possibility of a few new ones. Frankie also tells us that there’s still a LOT of stuff they’re holding off telling us for the full release. What do you think so far of how the beta turned out? What gets you excited for the full release of Halo 3? Is 3 weeks too short for the beta? Are you going to fill the remaining time with the new Halo 2 maps?
We’re looking forward to hearing what you think! Send in your comments by clicking submit news and tips on the right side. Be sure to send us your gamertag so we can give you credit. Deadline is Thursday night, so be quick!
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720p version of the Vidoc at TXB
darthbob noticed that a 720p version of the new multiplayer vidoc (clearly capped off a 360) is now available at TeamXbox.com. If you’re hankering for the giant version, but don’t have access to Xbox Live Marketplace, this is the next best thing!(Louis Wu 19:50:32 UTC)
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Held Hostage By Simplicity Yet Depth.
Stuntmutt received some very nice mail (and a guest One One Se7en strip) recently; while we no longer host guest strips here, he occasionally puts them up in his own blog. Swing by and read the note (from a rocket scientist, no less!) – and check out the strip.(Louis Wu 15:21:00 UTC)
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Vanity
Mister Froggy let us know that Halo, Articulated 30 is now online. I gotta say… if the Master Chief really went into fights like that, I’d be rooting for the grunts.(Louis Wu 15:11:51 UTC)
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Wet and Wild
Over at MLGPro.com, there’s an interview with Make it Rain, the 8th seed team going into Charlotte. Sounds like they’re looking to have a good time this season! Check it out. Thanks, Klank.(Louis Wu 15:10:00 UTC)