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Newsweek says MS better watch its back
According to GameDaily BIZ, there’s an analysis article in Newsweek that discusses why the 360 will ultimately not be the top Next-Gen Console dog. The author of the article, N’Gai Croal, suggests that the 360-onlyness (Strunk and White, smite me now!) of the upcoming Halo 2 map pack demonstrates Microsoft’s desperation – they need to “force recalcitrant Halo-lovers to buy their new machine.” (Never mind that Bungie has said, very recently even, that they’re doing all they can to make the maps available to all, and that if the map pack DOES remain 360-only, the player pools for the Matchmaking playlists are going to be split, maybe fatally, by platform…) It’s an interesting read, but don’t take it as gospel until you’ve seen the results with your own eyes.(Louis Wu 20:20:25 UTC)
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The Carrier, Flyable
Mid7night continues his Assault Carrier importation work; he’s now managed to texture it properly. Check the forum post for cool pics!(Louis Wu 20:10:59 UTC)
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Action figures, not dolls.
Paul Maestri has posted the latest Halo Heads comic – if you’ve ever been in this situation, don’t feel bad, it’s natural. We all do it. (Well, okay, not ALL of us. But don’t feel bad anyway.)(Louis Wu 19:58:52 UTC)
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Logging in to Bungie.net
Okay, so this isn’t really Halo news, but it’s an issue that’s taking over our forum, so it’s worth giving a bit of space to. If you hit up the new Bungie.net, and you get a message that “The page is unavailable or no longer exists,” you’re being bitten by a Windows Live ID problem. (Well, it’s unclear whose fault it is, actually.) To solve it (this works for MOST people, but not all), visit login.live.com, make sure you’ve checked the ‘Save my e-mail address’ or ‘Always ask for my e-mail address and password’ options (do NOT check the top one, ‘Save my e-mail address and password’), and log in. Then, log out. THEN, go to Bungie.net; you should be able to see the page and log in now. They’re working on it.(Louis Wu 18:47:21 UTC)
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VE doesn’t like H2V
Ouch – I’ve seen a lot of reviews of Halo 2 Vista, and most have been pretty positive (even the ones that say ‘well, the graphics are 3 years old now’) – but there’s one over at Voodoo Extreme that… well, doesn’t sound so good. That dual-wielding issue sounds pretty strange!(Louis Wu 18:39:22 UTC)
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Humpday Challenge: ILM
Lone Ranger was the first to notice a writeup of last week’s Halo Humpday Challenge – Bungie employees (and friends) took on the guys from Industrial Light and Magic, and (with the exception of Frankie), acquitted themselves nicely. The game links are wrong (except for the first one) – they all point to the first match played, on Ascension – but thanks to the new hawtness at B.net, you can follow the ‘newer games’ link in the top right corner of that screen to see the next two games. Check it out!(Louis Wu 18:36:49 UTC)
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Pixellated Halo
Wow, nice. Leviathan is building a version of Halo for RPG Maker 2000 – he’s posted a LOT of pictures in this forum post. Check out how far he’s gotten!(Louis Wu 18:29:11 UTC)
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No hackage at B.net
Stories circulated yesterday that Bungie.net might have been hacked, and Xbox Live accounts compromised because of it. (Hanchen Lu was the first to mention it to us.) Major Nelson was quick to shoot the rumors down (thanks, JeBr0nie) – and Frankie put it up at Bungie.net, too. Bottom line – if someone asks you for sensitive info (like passwords), DON’T GIVE IT AWAY.(Louis Wu 17:54:17 UTC)
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Humpday Challenge: ILM
This week, artists and animators from Industrial Light & Magic took on Bungie for a fight to the finish in the Bungie Humpday Challenge.
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Hacking Rumor is False
Recent rumors that Bungie.net has been hacked, and that your personal data has been compromised or stolen, are utterly false. Bungie.net has not been hacked, and frankly, there’s nothing to hack. Bungie.net’s database does not contain any of your personal information other than your Gamertag and Halo 2 stats.
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Avatar Heaven
Awesome. agdtinman (who used to work for Bungie) has put up a page that contains all the Top Story icons he had a hand in creating – since they won’t be seen any more on Bungie.net. Gawjuss!(Louis Wu 18:19:44 UTC)
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He Should Retire.
Stuntmutt gets back to straight punnage in today’s One One Se7en.(Louis Wu 17:57:25 UTC)
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Numbers
Pro-G noticed that Halo 2 has seen a total of 4.75 million unique gamertags, according to Bungie’s latest stats. Now, Narcogen wrote a lot of words recently about Xbox Live, and its 6 million user milestone (and why the raw numbers aren’t that useful) – but this Halo 2 number is pretty darned impressive… almost 80% of people who’ve logged onto Live have also logged onto Halo 2. As Neo would say… whoa.(Louis Wu 17:53:08 UTC)
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LeaD H3F Halo PC Community Video
Z pointed out a Halo PC community montage from 17 different players, over at Halo3Forum.com. 15 minutes long, 183 (!!) mb, WMP9 format. This should satisfy your Halo PC jones!(Louis Wu 17:18:53 UTC)
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And FDA Approved, Too
Sane Intolerant updated Halo Toy Box – The Master Chief goes channel-surfing.(Louis Wu 17:16:29 UTC)
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Halo 2 Lego Weapons Test
Apologies for the lack of news; things here have not been… good. Yesterday, we received a cool little vid from Benjamin Tuck, a Lego enthusiast from the UK. He’s expecting to create longer animations over the spring and summer, so think of this as an appetite-whetter. It’s quite small (about 3 mb), in either WMP9 format or QuickTime format – grab it and smile. (Louis Wu 16:51:24 UTC)
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Bungie.net goes Web2.0
Bungie.net has finally gotten a much needed makeover. No longer does the site tax your browser with javascripts and slow loading animations and graphics. The new site looks hot! Give it a look at bungie.net or check the attachment below.
Attachment Size bnet-small.jpg 62.87 KB bnet-large.jpg 204.37 KB
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Upgraded XBOX 360 Elite coming
The next XBOX 360 is due out in April will be called “Elite”. It will be all black (including accessories) have a 120GB hard drive, and an HDMI video output. It won’t have an HD-DVD drive. It should cost about $480. The black version will be a limited edition. The Elite will be found in the white color scheme after the limited edition is sold out.
XBOX360fanboy.com has details.
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Send in stuff for episode 106: The Halo 3 show!
It’s about time to talk about everybody’s future favorite game again. This time we’re covering a wide gamut of stuff. Here are some suggestions for things to send in for the show:
- What do you think of the price hike for the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 to $130? Which edition do you plan to buy?
- Which are you more excited about: The fiction and art book from the limited edition, or the storyboard art and master chief helmet in the Legendary edition?
- What do you think of the new Bungie.net? What do you like or dislike about it? Have you found any new secret corners Halo fans would be interested in?
- How do you think Halo 3 will end? Any ideas on the storyline?
- If you were a designer for Halo 3, what else would you put in the game? Think of things like maps, weapons, game types, vehicles, or other features. Get creative!
- What is your favorite color?
Got an opinion on one of these or something else Halo 3 related? Let us know! Just click submit news and tips on the right side of the screen and send it on in with your gamertag so we can forever immortalize it in podcast history. It takes like two seconds. Deadline is Thursday night at about 5:30pm and the earlier you send it, the more likely we’ll read it on the show. Now’s your chance, so get typin’!
The latest news about the Halo series of games from Microsoft
