My Halo News.com

The latest news about the Halo series of games from Microsoft

  • Bungie Weekly Update

    —

    by

    Bungie.net’s Recent News
    in
    Hey it’s that special time of the week again. Weekly Update time. It’s like Christmas, only infinitely lamer. This week, Crackdown antics and slightly more beta explanations. More news coming, so stay tuned.

  • Expression

    —

    by

    Hushed Casket News
    in

    This invidious suspiration for amaranthine delectation
    Is lucidly aloof due to my paucity in the sentience department.
    Now mind you, my incapability to facilitate a sanguine disposition is learned.
    Despondency has become a modus vivendi
    The only chance for indemnification is to overcome ignorance
    An imaginary bulwark often found to be impenetrable

  • Kissing Up.

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Stuntmutt has his own take on the Friends and Family program mentioned last week by Frankie – check today’s One One Se7en for details.(Louis Wu 16:43:38 UTC)

  • Friday’s Fanfic

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Twelve new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today – go read!(Louis Wu 16:13:35 UTC)

  • More Ways to Get In

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Must be the day for Halo comics – ActionTrip has a new strip up today with a Halo theme, looking at ways to get into the Halo 3 beta. Heh.(Louis Wu 15:38:53 UTC)

  • Happy Red vs Blue Year

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    TheShadyGnome points out that a recent Dueling Analogs strip pays homage to both Halo and the new year.(Louis Wu 15:37:32 UTC)

  • New XBOX 360 with HDMI and 120GB hard drive in the wild

    —

    by

    Hushed Casket News
    in

    Engadget is reporting that an insider has provided them with information on and a picture of the XBOX 360 v2 which is to be available “soon”. According to them, the new XBOX 360, code named Zephyr, will support 1080p output via HDMI and have a 120GB hard drive. Also, the console is set to come with that new, faster and cooler 65nm chip that hit the news sites last week.

    Update: Looks like there is more “proof” here at XBOX-Scene.com.

    In my opinion, the most important upgrade that the XBOX 360 can get right now is a larger hard drive. HDMI isn’t as important right now because very few people have 1080p monitors.

    Luckily, XBOX Live Arcade games are required to be less than 50GB, however, that’s not true for demos of major title games. Some demos are well over 1GB in filesize. In addition, Microsoft just launched their movie download and TV show download service. 720p high definition versions of full length movies can be over 6GB in filesize. A puny little 20GB hard drive will fill up fast. Mine already has and I haven’t downloaded any full length movies yet. I only have downloaded a lot of demos, patches and addons for games (like HALO 2 maps), and some game and movie trailers. If I had 100 GB of free, unused hard drive space, I would have an urge to use it. I probably would have already bought two or three HD movies from the Microsoft Video Marketplace. (I was wanting to own V for Vendetta anyway). 1080p downloads of movies and TV shows would be considerably larger in file size. Will we see 1080p movie downloads in the Marketplace?

    Recall, the 20GB hard drive actually only came with 12GB of free space new. Delete those videos and movies that come pre-installed if you are hurting for more space.

    Additionally, some games like the Final Fantasy beta installed directly onto the hard drive. FF installed, what was it, 2GB of data onto the hard drive. That’s a gamer tax!

    Will we see new XBOX 360 titles installing to the hard drive? I think in time we will, especially if there isn’t a clear winner in the HD-DVD vs. BluRay optical media battle. Games could ship on multiple DVD’s with one or more DVD’s getting installed to the 120GB hard drive. Pre-rendered HD cutscenes take up a lot of space. Some game developers could switch from using scenes rendered by the game engine to pre-rendered cutscenes. Visually, this would be better for some games. I bet there are a lot of content producers out there that don’t want to worry about compression and the storage space of DVD media.

    Will HALO 3 ship on multiple DVD’s? Will there eventually be a HD-DVD version of H3? For marketing purposes, their might be an HD-DVD version of HALO3. However, I haven’t seen any indication that the HALO 3 game will ship on more than one DVD. I don’t expect this game to install GB’s of content onto the console hard drive. However, there’s always addon and bonus content. Who knows what Bungie has in store our empty hard drive space? HALO 3 would be a great way to get gamers out to the stores to buy more accessories and add-ons (like the bigger HD) for their XBOX 360.

    The HDMI port is a welcome addition. However, it will only pay off for owners of monitors that display in 1080p. Even still, if your game or media isn’t delivering a 1080p signal (say it’s only delivering a 720p signal), then you aren’t getting the added benefit of 1080p anyway. Eventually, fiber and cable providers, and satellite TV outlets will push 1080p video over their networks. Once that happens, more people will begin adopting 1080p sets.

    I think now is a great time to put an HDMI port on the XBOX 360. Microsoft could now tout that their console can out put a digital 1080p signal, rivaling the puny PS3. (As if SONY needed the wind taken out of their “sales” again). Also, the early adopters would use the HDMI port and provide feedback to Microsoft and the game developers. There’s not been a 1080p game released for a Microsoft console. Surely there’s a lot to learn about producing game content in 1080p both on the hardware and software side. I don’t think HALO 3 will render out to 1080p. I think if anything we’ll see 640p to 720p out of HALO 3.

    What do you think about this revelation? Is it what you wanted in the next version of the 360? If it were available today, would you upgrade? Are there any other features that you’d like to see on the XBOX 360?

    ‹ Xbox 360 on a Dell 2407 Monitor THX Victorious in it’s 1st MLG GoW Tournament Match ›

  • Halo on a Nintendo DS?

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    FyreWulff was the first (but not, by far, the only) to notice that Matt Cassamina (Editor in Chief of IGNcube) posted a story in his blog about playing Halo on a Nintendo DS. Is it true? Hard to say, I guess – we’ll wait for official word from Bungie, I think, but many of the commenters believe it’s a prank. (It was posted on January 4, which, when reversed, looks like April 1.)(Louis Wu 15:31:30 UTC)

  • The Mii Army

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    More Mii stuff – check Gamingbits for yet another Master Chief Mii (among a lot of others). Thanks, wheeler.(Louis Wu 15:27:27 UTC)

  • Halo goodies on eBay

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Spartan Jag found a pair of interesting Halo auctions on eBay – first is a replica Pistol, and second is a Spartan helmet (not to be used for paintballing, apparently). The pistol auction ends tonight, but you’ve got a few days left on the helmet.(Louis Wu 15:03:31 UTC)

  • We Become Silhouettes

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Jamie98s posted a note on our forum about a new music video he’d created, ‘We Become Silhouettes’, about a survivor of a nuclear blast coming to grips with the death around him. Fantastic effects and filming; this is the sort of thing music videos should aspire to. He posted a mythica link to a WMP9 version in his forum post, but we’re offering both a mirror for that (30.4 mb) and a QuickTime version (29.6 mb); this rocks.(Louis Wu 14:58:52 UTC)

  • Halo 3 FAQ Updated

    —

    by

    Rampancy – Se7en Years Of Halo
    in

    With the onslaught of new Halo 3 information in the past few weeks, I’ve begun updated our Halo 3 FAQ. At the same time, I’m changing the way FAQ pages are stored and displayed. Currently, only the Halo 3 FAQ is in this system, but eventually it will be used for all FAQs.

    Instead of individual pages with all questions listed sequentially, questions and answers in the new FAQ system will be independent items. This will allow for easier changes and updates, and also allows for users to search and sort FAQ entries according to game and the date of the last update to the item. It also allows comments, files and images to be attached to individual questions if desired.

  • Getting Into The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta

    —

    by

    Rampancy – Se7en Years Of Halo
    in

    If you couldn’t register on Halo3.com the first time out, and the idea of buying Crackdown miffs you, then relax: there are still other ways to get into the Halo 3 beta to be held next spring.

    The Gamerscore Blog lists two new ways that US residents can get in: by buying Crackdown, by playing at least three hours of Halo 2 online on Xbox Live and then registering at Halo3.com (first come, first served, 13,333 spots available).

    Bungie.net also has an updated item on how to get into the beta test, which mentions an additional Bungie “friends and family” program that will precede the public beta.

  • Furhman can sleep anywhere.

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    The LANfest that took place here last week has now been written up on Bungie.net – KP got a little hyperbolic, but there are some great pics. I’d said the last time I’d posted about this LAN that I’d summarize the rest of the writeups at a later date – this seems like a fine later date. Blackstar posted a video slideshow of his photos (you can see the individual pics at Rampancy.net), Jillybean summarized her experiences in the Home of the Free, and rets posted a huge video of a 1v1 match against Schooly D. (If you all download this, you will likely crush his server; only grab it if you really want to watch it.) Finally, Mintz posted a writeup over at Hushed Casket. There will likely be one more post down the road – I’ve got a whole lot of photos to go into a bunch of galleries – but don’t hold your breath for that. Once again, thanks to all who came, and apologies to all who should have, but didn’t.(Louis Wu 23:27:45 UTC)

  • Deadly Night

    —

    by

    Bungie.net’s Recent News
    in
    Last week, about 25 Bungie fans and even a few Bungie employees showed up for a LAN at Louis Wu’s house in the remote suburbs of Connecticut. The LAN that followed was of the epic nature associated with HBO LANs. Read on for details and many pictures.

  • VGL – Behind The Scenes (the beginning)

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Over at GameTrailers, you’ll find a trailer, along with the first of three full episodes, of a Behind the Scenes documentary about Video Games Live. This is only peripherally Halo-related, in that Halo is one of the pieces played during the concert, but it’s pretty interesting if you were ever curious about how these guys got started, and why they’re doing what they’re doing. Thanks, DHalo.(Louis Wu 22:40:18 UTC)

  • PGL Elites Championship

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Jay “Ling Ling” Marrero writes to point out a pair of Halo 2 tourneys sponsored by the PGL at Otronicon v2.0 in Orlando, FL, coming up the weekend of January 13/14. Registration is $15 (with a paid Otronicon entrance), and the first place prize for each event is $1000 (with a bunch of other stuff on the line, as well). Check it out – and if you’re going to Otronicon, jump in!(Louis Wu 14:39:04 UTC)

  • Dashboard Themes – try before you buy

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    JeBr0nie noticed a new website called dashboardthemes.com; it’s the first place I’ve seen that contains screenshots of all the Halo-related 360 Dashboard themes out there. (It contains a lot more than that, of course – but this is a Halo site, after all.) You can see all three Halo 3 themes there, as well as the Red vs Blue theme. It shows you what the themes look like with all the normal text that will appear over the images – really helpful. A nice resource!(Louis Wu 14:24:22 UTC)

  • Halo 2 – eclipsed in 8 short weeks?

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    Several days ago, Major Nelson posted the Top Live Games of 2006 – broken out into 360 games, Arcade games, and Original Xbox games. There’s no combined list, but the way it’s written, quite a number of the people commenting on the post are assuming that MN is saying that Gears of War (the top 360 game) is the top overall game for the year – and most of them are wondering if that’s a mistake. I’ve waited several days for a specific clarification, but although at least one Xbox staffer has chimed into the conversation, there is no refutation of the assumption, and in fact, if one reads the entire set of comments, one is left with the impression that Gears of War did, indeed, pass Halo 2 as the top Live game of 2006. I have trouble believing this, but in the absence of hard data, I can do no more than speculate. If true, it would be a stunning statement about the popularity of Epic’s title; it hit the market just a few weeks before the end of the year. If false… one wonders why Major Nelson, or an Xbox Live staffer, doesn’t simply say so in that thread. (Well, I wonder, anyway.)(Louis Wu 13:31:17 UTC)

  • Bungie’s Blue Harvest

    —

    by

    HBO
    in
    IGN has posted a 2-page article discussing why Bungie is so secretive about Halo 3 info. There’s not a lot here that isn’t common sense – but it seems that common sense is a bit less common than one would hope, so if you’re an Insider, go read. (If you’re not an Insider, you can’t see it anyway; summary is “secrecy keeps the game from being ruined for you”.) Thanks to COwOnTheNews for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 12:59:29 UTC)