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I think they missed Stuntmutt’s category.
Blogcritics has posted a guide to Halo 3 multiplayer – see if you can figure out which category of player you fit into! I think I’m either the Team Player or the Noob. Or maybe the Noob Team Player.(Louis Wu 18:26:11 UTC)
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Super Halo Brothers
Heh – this is fun. Xbox 360 Fanboy found a video of Sandtrap, modified for platforming, with sound effects from Super Mario Brothers. If you want to see a larger version of it, they grabbed it from GameVideos – and you can actually download the modified level from the FileShare of finjitzu, the guy who built it. (Louis Wu 15:22:09 UTC)
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Awesome Guitar – For You?
Back in July, we mentioned the first 3 for 3 sweepstakes on Xbox.com – and we noted that you could win a cool Ibanez guitar. Seems Ibanez is giving away 3 more, over the next three months – along with the game and a couple of shirts, each month. Go enter! Thanks, Electric Guitar Review.(Louis Wu 15:14:35 UTC)
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What folks won’t do for schwag
Weird. Some guy is trying to play Halo 3 for three days without sleep. He’s already a little over 2 days in – you can follow that link to see his progress. If he does it, he wins a 360 and a copy of Halo 3. Thanks, Mintz. (Louis Wu 15:13:47 UTC)
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Workin’ through the levels, step 5
Jake Seaton’s Mission-A-Day, Episode 5, is now up – this is the last one until Monday. He gave this one a 4/5 – the action was too easy. (Louis Wu 15:09:57 UTC)
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Saturday Handful of Reviews
Just three reviews for you today:- Bentley College’s The Vanguard gave Halo 3 8/10, and said that the multiplayer rocked, but that the Campaign didn’t have enough to keep people interested.
- The University of Hartford Informer says “don’t say, ‘it’s just a game’.”
- Inland Valley’s Daily Bulletin says it’s no religious epiphany, but it’s solid. Score is 1/2 (huh? A 2-point rating system?).
Looks like the hype is dying down – or is this that backlash Tom’s Games was talking about?(Louis Wu 15:08:55 UTC)
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Marty to talk to Major Nelson?
Shinesevens caught a glitch in Major Nelson‘s RSS feed – it’s cleared up now, but from what he could see, Sunday’s podcast is going to be an interview with Marty O’Donnell. Look forward to it! (Louis Wu 15:07:07 UTC)
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Jealousy is an ugly emotion
zugy pointed out a video at Tom’s Games that looks at the backlash against Halo 3 in the PC gamer community. Heh – I guess if you’re not IN that community, you might not even have KNOWN about the backlash.(Louis Wu 15:05:11 UTC)
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Sword GIMPing
thePheonix9 played with a bunch of sword shots in multiplayer, adding comic-like filters to them. The end result was pretty nice!(Louis Wu 15:03:08 UTC)
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Sketch looks forward
Great interview with SketchFactor, over at Kotaku – it clarifies a few things about the new Bungie/Microsoft relationship, talks about what might be coming, and confirms that the Halo DS stuff that resurfaced last week was, indeed, real; it was a proof-of-concept project that never got off the ground. (Lots of folks noticed that it was clearly built on the Goldeneye: Rogue Agent engine… but that doesn’t make it fake.) Thanks, Red_Breast.(Louis Wu 14:55:45 UTC)
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Drink Up.
ViralSyris noticed some new party cups in the Bungie Store – perfect for lanfests.(Louis Wu 14:50:08 UTC)
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Microsoft Owns Halo, No Outside Investors In Bungie
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The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an updated story on the to-all-visible-appearances amicable Microsoft-Bungie split, including comments from Bungie studio head Harold Ryan and Microsoft’s Shane Kim.
It’s well worth poring over. Both Kim and Ryan are extremely evasive regarding any of the financial details, but they do say that the Halo intellectual property belongs to Microsoft, and that Bungie is “not bringing in any outside investors”. Not sure if that means that going forward they aren’t bringing in any, or whether there are no investors other than Microsoft and Bungie itself.
That probably indicates either some kind of management buyout, where members of Bungie, perhaps including Ryan, sought bank financing rather than an angel investor in order to buy a controlling stake back from Microsoft, or perhaps a special deal involving future publishing revenue that allowed Microsoft to spin off Bungie as a separate unit with majority control going to some or all Bungie employees without any payment; on that point Kim is silent, saying (several times) that details will not be disclosed.
So, to summarize:
- MS owns Halo
- Bungie will still make Halo games
- Bungie will still make Xbox games
- MS will publish Bungie games, Halo or not
The funniest bit? When Kim tries to dodge a question about a vague statement about Bungie becoming, at some undetermined point in the future, “fully independent” and replies:
Kim: It doesn’t matter about equity stakes. Fully independent, completely in control of their future and doing what they want to do, regardless of who owns what.
Right. It doesn’t matter who owns what. That’s why Microsoft bothered buying them in the first place, and is now spinning them off. Because ownership and control are unimportant. If it didn’t matter, why bother doing it?
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Community Reacts To Bungie’s Regained Independence
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Here are more links to articles on Bungie’s bombshell announcement:
Nobody asked Bungie about the rumored separation in the thread for this week’s update, but Frankie dished on it anyway. Effective October 1, Bungie is an independent company with a long-term publishing agreement with Microsoft Game Studios for Halo games.
GameDailyBiz interviewed Frankie about Bungie’s new status.
Kotaku conducted a short email interview with Brian “SketchFactor” Jarrard to find out what’s next for Bungie.
7th Columnist reposts the press release and invites community comments.
The Hushed Casket also reposts the press release, with reader comments.
For other stories, see:
- XboxSolution
- PlanetXbox360
- Xbox360Fanboy
- Major Nelson
- Slashdot
- Kikizo
- MTV Multiplayer Blog
- The Escapist
Mainstream media have also picked up the story:
The Macintosh press is having a field day with the news, given Bungie’s track record as an independent game developer with its roots on the Mac platform:
There’s not much commentary yet, but John Dvorak weighed in, apparently just before the announcement went public.
Louis Wu at HBO responds with wonga as he is wont to do. There are also threads (one, two) in the HBO Forum.
On behalf of Rampancy’s founder, Ferrex, I’ll say zang as I’m sure he would have, or perhaps even has at some time in the recent past, deep within Bungie’s headquarters for world domination. Perhaps even kudos are in order.
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Bungie Declares Independence
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SketchFactor has posted a press release on Bungie.net that declares that Bungie Studios will become a privately held company. Bungie LLC will have Microsoft as a partner and a minority shareholder and will continue to make games for the Xbox.
“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on. And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees,” said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner.
Certainly the only thing more shocking than Bungie selling itself to Microsoft in the first place is somehow managing to escape its embrace to assert independence again. One is given to wonder, after all but completely dismissing the possibility of this happening, why and how it has happened.
Part of the press release, as well as the mounting pressure on Bungie to keep the Halo juggernaut rolling and rumors swirling around the possibility of Bungie leaving Microsoft suggests the reason why:
“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”
The “Halo and beyond” bit certainly hints what many Bungie watchers thought and desired for since Halo 2 and 3 were announced: a new Bungie intellectual property not based in the Halo universe. Then Phoenix was cancelled, and no non-Halo announcements were forthcoming.
Perhaps Microsoft did expect Bungie to continue with and endless series of Haloverse shooters, as well as getting Halo games from Wingnut and Ensemble.
If that’s the reason why this happened, that Bungie wants to make non-Halo games even if they do continue to work on Halo related games, then the question becomes, why Microsoft was opposed to that. The answer to that probably explains the how as well.
In the end I can only guess that either the people at Microsoft who initiated the Bungie purchase, or the people who came into decision-making positions more recently began to look at that acquisition less in terms of personnel and creative vision and more in terms of a single intellectual property: Halo. Microsoft didn’t buy a creative and inventive force for developing games, this train of thought runs, it bought the Master Chief and Cortana.
In that mode of thinking, what is Bungie worth if they’re not developing a Halo game? What are they worth if only half of them are developing a Halo game? Is it worth the risk to find out if they can have a hit that doesn’t have “Halo” in the title?
One may be forgiven for momentarily expressing some sympathy for this viewpoint. After all, Bungie’s Halo games were their biggest sellers. The Halo games themselves are highly derivative of their earlier game, Marathon. Oni was not a terribly large success. Everything before Marathon was small-time even in the small Macintosh market, and while the Myth and Myth 2 RTS games sold well, there are other studios already working on games like that for the Xbox, including Ensemble Studio’s Halo Wars project. Where was the incentive to let Bungie roll the dice on a new property, staked by Microsoft’s fat wallet?
Somebody sure felt that was a good bet, though. The new deal says Microsoft will retain a minority stake. It also thanks one Don Leeds at B-Hive Global, LLC for structuring the deal and negotiating for Bungie. Interestingly enough, check the Team page at B-Hive and you’ll find the name Nile Rodgers, about whom it says:
In 2005, he contributed to, executive produced, manufactured and distributed an original soundtrack to the Microsoft X-Box video game title “Halo 2: Original Soundtrack Vol. 1.” This title has become the number one selling video game soundtrack of all time.
Having worked with Marty O’Donnell on the soundtracks, Rodgers would certainly be in a position to judge Bungie’s possible worth as an independent entity able to continue to be creative and successful without being shackled to the Master Chief’s heavy armor forever.
If Microsoft is a minority shareholder, who are the other shareholders now? Microsoft isn’t altruistic, it’s not going to let Bungie walk right out the door without compensation. Continuing to develop games for Microsoft platforms is fine well and good, but if Microsoft is going to go from owning an asset to owning only a non-controlling interest in an asset, I’m betting they get paid for that. Who paid them and how much?
Somebody out there thought it was worth shelling out some cash– perhaps a large amount of cash, almost certainly more than Microsoft paid for Bungie in the first place– to see what Bungie can do developing non-Halo games.
Somebody knows a good bet when they see one.
Oh, and give Bungie partial credit for Step Six in their plan for World Domination. They may not own Microsoft now, but certainly there is something to be said for getting them to buy you and reaping the rewards of that, having three megahit games promoted all over the world, and then regaining your independence. Start checking Google Earth for a giant slingshot in Bungie’s backyard.
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Stick Different.
trigger119 pointed out a vid in the MLG Gameroom called ‘Halo PlasmaTrotters‘, made by TTO AceHawk89 as an entry into MLG’s Halo 3 Film Festival, Most Creative category. I LOVE this kind of thing. Man… I could watch these all day.(Louis Wu 23:27:28 UTC)
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Request for content
Over the years, we’ve become known as a repository for certain static types of Halo information. Today, there are more sites out there that are collecting data… but we feel that having local copies of the more important stuff simply… makes sense. Fansites come and go, after all.
With the release of Halo 3, we’re looking to build these sections up. Some of them we’ve already gotten started on; we have a volunteer working on filming the cutscenes, to add to our Cutscene Library, I’ve contacted Mike Miller about a Halo 3 Legendary Guide (though that might be a while in coming; he’s got some commitments that are more important than Halo at the moment), and there are some people working on a full multimedia library of the Halo 3 Terminals. There is still need for more volunteer help, however; we’d love to have transcripts of all the campaign levels, for example. If you’re interested in this, here’s what you should know: we’re interested in the dialogue for all difficulties, we’re interested in accuracy, and we’re interested in mainly scripted material. (It’s not very important – or practical – to try and catalogue the combat dialogue you hear – after all, there are 20,000 lines of it. But Cutscene dialogue, and in-game scripted material, including difficulty variants, are definitely wanted.) Send us some email (at halostory@bungie.org) telling us which level(s) and at which difficulties you’d like to work on, so that there’s not too much overlap. And thanks! (Louis Wu 20:12:09 UTC)
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Gallinago Gallinago.
Stuntmutt notices some new monster design might be more than just eye candy in today’s One One Se7en.(Louis Wu 19:14:40 UTC)
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Another Friday, Another Top 10
InsideVandy has posted a list of the Top 10 First-person Shooters – Halo 3 comes in second, after Half-Life 2.(Louis Wu 19:07:57 UTC)
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It’s official: Bungie splits from Microsoft. Press Release.
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Press Release:
For Release 8 a.m. PDT
Oct. 5, 2007
Bungie Studios Becomes Privately Held Independent Company
Bungie and Microsoft forge new long-term relationship.
KIRKLAND, Wash.  Oct. 5, 2007  Bungie and Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of Microsoft’s “Halo†franchise, to become a privately held independent company, Bungie, LLC, in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest. As part of this transaction, Bungie and Microsoft have forged a deep and long-term development and publishing relationship focused on the continued success of the “Halo†franchise. It is also the intent of both parties to expand their partnership to include new IP created and owned by Bungie.
Bungie’s critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive “Halo 3†achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “Halo 3†is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.
“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,†said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.â€Â
“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on. And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees,†said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner.
Bungie’s management retained the services of Don Leeds, senior managing director of B-Hive Global, LLC, to assist in the structuring of the deal and negotiating on their behalf. Bungie will remain in Kirkland, Washington, and is always looking to hire excellent talent.
About Bungie
Bungie was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and to sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon†trilogy and the first two “Myth†games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo†franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 18 million units worldwide, logging billions of hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE®, and spawning action figures, books, graphic novels, soundtracks, apparel and more. The critically acclaimed “Halo 3â€Â, released on Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, is the fastest-selling video game ever, achieving $300 million in global sales its first week, making it one of the most successful entertainment properties in history. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.
#########
For more information, business only:
Bungie Global Media: Brian Jarrard, (425) 739-4900 ext.1, media@bungie.com
Bungie European Media: Cathy Campos, Panache PR, +44 1483 401099 / Cell: +44 7768 535451 ccampos@bungie.com
Bungie Online: www.bungie.net
B-Hive Global: Don Leeds, donleeds@optonline.net, www.b-hiveglobal.com
source: http://www.bungie.net/news/content.aspx?type=news&cid=12835
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It’s official: Bungie splits from Microsoft. Press Release.
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by
Press Release:
For Release 8 a.m. PDT
Oct. 5, 2007
Bungie Studios Becomes Privately Held Independent Company
Bungie and Microsoft forge new long-term relationship.
KIRKLAND, Wash.  Oct. 5, 2007  Bungie and Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of Microsoft’s “Halo†franchise, to become a privately held independent company, Bungie, LLC, in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest. As part of this transaction, Bungie and Microsoft have forged a deep and long-term development and publishing relationship focused on the continued success of the “Halo†franchise. It is also the intent of both parties to expand their partnership to include new IP created and owned by Bungie.
Bungie’s critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive “Halo 3†achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “Halo 3†is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.
“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,†said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.â€Â
“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on. And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees,†said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner.
Bungie’s management retained the services of Don Leeds, senior managing director of B-Hive Global, LLC, to assist in the structuring of the deal and negotiating on their behalf. Bungie will remain in Kirkland, Washington, and is always looking to hire excellent talent.
About Bungie
Bungie was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and to sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon†trilogy and the first two “Myth†games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo†franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 18 million units worldwide, logging billions of hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE®, and spawning action figures, books, graphic novels, soundtracks, apparel and more. The critically acclaimed “Halo 3â€Â, released on Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, is the fastest-selling video game ever, achieving $300 million in global sales its first week, making it one of the most successful entertainment properties in history. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.
#########
For more information, business only:
Bungie Global Media: Brian Jarrard, (425) 739-4900 ext.1, media@bungie.com
Bungie European Media: Cathy Campos, Panache PR, +44 1483 401099 / Cell: +44 7768 535451 ccampos@bungie.com
Bungie Online: www.bungie.net
B-Hive Global: Don Leeds, donleeds@optonline.net, www.b-hiveglobal.com
source: http://www.bungie.net/news/content.aspx?type=news&cid=12835
The latest news about the Halo series of games from Microsoft