My Halo News.com

The latest news about the Halo series of games from Microsoft

  • Crying Out For Change.

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Stuntmutt STILL hasn’t recovered from Friday’s Legendary Edition price bump – go check today’s One One Se7en.(Louis Wu 13:03:05 UTC)

  • Karma Has Fun

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    halo@bungie.org
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    More Player Match Commentary at MLGPro.com – this time it’s Karma, discussing Carbon’s performance against Final Boss in New York last year. Thanks, 3Suns.(Louis Wu 12:18:04 UTC)

  • Halopen Needs YOU!

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    halo@bungie.org
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    xbryboyremix wrote to say that Halopen Films needs new machinimators – badly. If you’re interested in making good machinima with a clan with a solid pedigree, check these guys out! (They’ve made not one, not two, but FOUR advertising vids – watch ’em and become inspired: ADVideo | Halopen Ad | Halopen Cameraman Ad | Join Us)(Louis Wu 12:12:46 UTC)

  • NightWinder 2

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    halo@bungie.org
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    MasterChief2829 pointed out a new Halo 2 mod from MrMurder – I must say, it’s pretty! Description and link in the first post, more pics in this one.(Louis Wu 12:09:15 UTC)

  • Halo Toy Box, Doubled

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Sane Intolerant stopped by to point out two new Halo Toy Box strips – one makes fun of Stuntmutt and Mister Froggy, the other riffs on 300. (Louis Wu 12:07:31 UTC)

  • Reading Between The Xbox Livelines

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    narcogen


    UPDATE: Since I wrote this entry last week, it was announced that the new Halo 2 multiplayer maps will make some XBL playlists 360-only, since the maps are only being released for the 360. In defense, we’ve been told that most Halo 2 players are using 360s. However, Microsoft does not release breakdowns between the two consoles. Microsoft, I find it hard to believe that so many gamers have drifted away from XBL that there are more Halo 2 players using 360s on XBL than there are on the original console, given that there are three times as many original Xboxes. Players I know that have both prefer to use the original to play online because of the lag caused by emulation.

    Is it really necessary to use Halo 2 maps to try and pressure more gamers onto the new platform? Is Halo 3 really so far away that you can’t wait for that to draw gamers to the 360? Is two years really too long to support an online game?

    If you want us to believe that original console owners really don’t count, show us the numbers!

    GhaleonB, via Louis Wu at HBO, points out that Microsoft has put out a nice press release (even attributed and with a dateline, thanks guys) touting the six million user milestone reached by Xbox Live.

    Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Xbox Live. While not an ardent online gamer, the service as a whole is well put togther and thought out: the integrated friends list and messaging, content downloads, gamerscore achievements; the works. The idea of separate friends lists for each game (Sony) and cryptic friend codes (Nintendo) really make me wonder what anybody else is thinking as far as online console gaming goes.

    However, just because I’ve been a subscriber since Halo 2 launched doesn’t mean I’m ready to drink whatever kool aid Microsoft is going to serve up regarding the service; and this press release is at least as interesting for what it doesn’t say as for what it does say and the way it says it.

    For the complete text click “read more” from the front page.

    read more

  • Puntastic.

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Stuntmutt got burned by my mistake regarding Halo, Articulated this weekend; he ended up creating a similar gag for tomorrow’s strip – work he wouldn’t have had to do if I’d posted this on time. (Again, sorry.) His loss is your gain, though. (Well… sort of.) He’s put up that orphaned strip, along with some guest strips and various other One One Se7en sightings, in his personal blog. Check ’em out!(Louis Wu 19:03:21 UTC)

  • The Riot 40

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Sigafoos wrote to point out The Riot 40, a 28 minute, 11 mb package of Halo news, Halo community news, Brathnok job news, Shadowrun news, and Captain America news. And other stuff. Go listen!(Louis Wu 18:21:44 UTC)

  • It’ll Cost You

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Mister Froggy let us know Friday afternoon about Halo, Articulated 22 – I’d written up a news post then, making some sort of wry comment about the packaging announcement earlier that day. Somehow, it never actually got posted. Froggy rectified my mistake this morning – but I’d like to apologize for the delay. Go read!(Louis Wu 14:55:24 UTC)

  • UMV

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    halo@bungie.org
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    UEG Gen Flugins and UEG LT Smash put together a montage inspired by HMV Hell – lots of little music clips, setting popular songs to Halo action. Some of them are very funny. (There are many of them – the video is almost 9 minutes long.) I was pessimistic when I started to watch it – it’s been done before, and my experience with out-of-the-blue vids like this is that most could use work – but I enjoyed this quite a bit by the time it was over. Clever twists, interesting mix of songs, a sense of humor… worth watching. 91 mb in WMP9 format, 102 mb in QuickTime format.(Louis Wu 13:33:21 UTC)

  • Where there are weapons…

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    halo@bungie.org
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    A couple of months ago, Omega found a pretty cool piece of driftwood – it looked a lot like a Brute Shot. He was pessimistic about filling out his Brute armory, however… until yesterday. I’m not sure I’d want to swim in the streams where he lives…(Louis Wu 13:18:00 UTC)

  • The Pillar of Autumn – in X-Plane

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    Wow, cool. Mid7night took Infinityloop’s 3D model of the Pillar of Autumn, and put it into X-Plane! Pics and vids available in his forum post.(Louis Wu 18:38:25 UTC)

  • Podtacular 105

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Podtacular Episode 105 compares Graw 2 to Halo – thanks, Kiaffex.(Louis Wu 18:31:59 UTC)

  • The Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time

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    halo@bungie.org
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    IGN posted a list of ‘The Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time‘ (well, or the last 5.5 years, I guess) – Halo and Halo 2 took first and second, respectively. Nice! Thanks, Morpheus.(Louis Wu 18:30:34 UTC)

  • Matchmaking, New Halo 2 Maps, and You

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Wow, this is a little worrying… FyreWulff pointed out a thread on Bungie.net discussing the new Halo 2 maps coming out soon – Jeremiah mentioned that these maps would likely be incorporated in a significant number of playlists – and (at least at this point in the developments) those playlists would no longer be available to people playing on the original Xbox. Jeremiah makes it clear that 1) they (Bungie) are doing what they can to make the maps available to everyone, not just 360 owners, but that 2) statistics show that the majority of Halo 2 players on Xbox Live are using 360s, so limiting the new maps (which they’ll have to purchase) to just a playlist or two would be unfair. (Of course, effectively blocking Xbox owners from Halo 2 Matchmaking seems a little unfair as well – and I’m not just saying that as someone who plays XBL on an original Xbox.) In Jeremiah’s words, “Please don’t enter panic mode just yet, we’re trying to make this work for everyone as much as possible.” They’re doing what they can, and when we know more about this, we’ll post it.(Louis Wu 11:59:50 UTC)

  • Where Credit is Due

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Red vs Blue Episode 92 was released for sponsors last night (thanks, hezekiah) – Sheila gets a new home, Simmons gets a drug habit, and Griff gets overlooked – again. Donut has some of the funniest lines of the episode. If you’re not a sponsor, this will be available early next week from their front page. If you ARE a sponsor, go watch now.(Louis Wu 11:49:30 UTC)

  • Seattle Halo 2 Tourney

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    halo@bungie.org
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    The Art Institute of Seattle is hosting a Halo 2 tournament on March 24 – register at any Puget Sound Game Crazy store, with a suggested $3 donation at the door (proceeds to go to the Starlight/Starbright Children’s Foundation). QuickTactical is trying to find out if it’s team-based or FFA – we’ll update this post if/when he hears.(Louis Wu 11:47:13 UTC)

  • Drums in the Deep

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    halo@bungie.org
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    Bootstrap Boon (and some other HBO Helljumpers) created a new video – it’s actually a recreation of a scene from Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, and he’s done a wonderful job of mapping the original audio to Halo footage. 5:44 long, 52 and a half mb in either WMP9 format or QuickTime format. A lot of work went into this one! There’s even a movie poster to go with it…(Louis Wu 11:20:00 UTC)

  • Episode 105: GRAW 2 King of the Hill show

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    foomojive

    Download | Shownotes

    It’s the King of the Hill show where we compare a hot new game to Halo. Does GRAW 2 stack up to the best? We have some great guests to help answer that question: GLewis is back, and he started sweating so bad he had to towel off when he heard there was going to be a girl on the show: Oopy from TheAdultGamer.com. (We kid, we kid) Also we have DC Crash from DCcombat.com, a sweet matchmaking and tournament site. Thanks to StickyGerbils, artist of halo heads, for the amazing pod art. Show is 1:11 long, so make a wish!

  • Oh em gee – no debug stuff

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    halo@bungie.org
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    The Bungie Weekly Update is up – droolworthy gameplay description, VERY good news about the Legendary/Limited confusion (see an earlier post), AI and vehicle tidbits, a reminder to archive your Group data because the new website launches next week, and a Crate Gun… wonga. Go read. (Of course, it’s always available in the Weekly Update Archive, as well…) Frankie, as is almost always the case, was Frist. (Bill Frist.) Sketch was second, and third (and read this, too).(Louis Wu 00:24:59 UTC)