One more update for the Brute Vidoc story at Bungie.net – you can now find official Microsoft downloads listed in the piece, both QuickTime and WMP9 versions. ‘Small’ means 320×180, ‘Large’ means 640×360 (no matter what the article itself says). These are not the biggest versions out there – but they’re watermark-free, and nice quality. Thanks to Darth Ragnarok for the heads-up.(Louis Wu 15:48:17 UTC)
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Better Naming through Turmoil
3Suns noticed an interview with Max Hoberman, of Certain Affinity, over at FiringSquad – Max talks about his work on Halo 3, the upcoming Halo 2 maps, and where CA will fit in the future. Good stuff!(Louis Wu 15:40:01 UTC)
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More bad Julius Caesar riffs
Also at Rampancy.net, you’ll find an interesting analysis of what the current focus on Brutes might mean for your gaming pleasure once Halo 3 comes out, in a new Narc’s Retorts.(Louis Wu 15:31:14 UTC)
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Halo 2 Main Theme For Piano
There’s another piece of Halo sheet music for piano up at Rampancy.net – spartan182 transcribed the Halo 2 main theme. Currently available only in Finale Notepad format (though PDF is coming soon, apparently), and remember, you won’t see a download link unless you’re logged in.(Louis Wu 15:28:56 UTC)
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Top 10 Worst Ways to Die in Video Games
Mintz noticed a video called ‘Top 10 Worst Ways to Die in Video Games‘ over at TechEBlog – and Halo makes an appearance. (In fact, the Halo entry is unique, in a way. Go watch.) This isn’t new; it was created by ScrewAttack, and originally went live a couple of months ago… I remember seeing it then, but for some reason, never posted it to the front page. Well, here it is.(Louis Wu 15:25:42 UTC)
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Friday’s Fanfic
There are 8 new pieces for you in the Fan Fiction section today (though a little while ago, that number was considerably higher, and prompted me to write this note on the Fan Fiction forum – please read it if you’re an author). Go see what you can find!(Louis Wu 15:16:50 UTC)
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Because Two Blades Are Better Than One
Spartan182 discusses in his blog the possibility of plasma energy swords being dual-wieldable in Halo 3, based on suggestions in the Brute video documentary.
One might think this would make such characters a bit too powerful, although I’m not really sure how carrying two instant-kill weapons really makes a difference unless you can lunge in two directions, but perhaps I just lack imagination. He points out that being able to hold a sword and another weapon simultaneously– that might be very useful indeed.
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Because Two Blades Are Better Than One
Spartan182 discusses in his blog the possibility of plasma energy swords being dual-wieldable in Halo 3, based on suggestions in the Brute video documentary.
One might think this would make such characters a bit too powerful, although I’m not really sure how carrying two instant-kill weapons really makes a difference unless you can lunge in two directions, but perhaps I just lack imagination. He points out that being able to hold a sword and another weapon simultaneously– that might be very useful indeed.
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Firing Squad Interviews Certain Affinity
Max “Yeroen” Hoberman, Bungie alum and founder of Texas-based Certain Affinity, now working on new Halo 2 multiplayer maps for release next year, gave an interview to Firing Squad.
However, that’s not all they’re working on, apparently:
FiringSquad: You are also working on a new game. What can you tell us about this game at this stage?
Max Hoberman: Sorry, I can’t really say much. We’ve been in development since November 1st, and we’re excited about where it’s going, but it’s way too early to discuss!
Thanks to 3Suns for the heads-up in the HBO forum.
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Firing Squad Interviews Certain Affinity
Max “Yeroen” Hoberman, Bungie alum and founder of Texas-based Certain Affinity, now working on new Halo 2 multiplayer maps for release next year, gave an interview to Firing Squad.
However, that’s not all they’re working on, apparently:
FiringSquad: You are also working on a new game. What can you tell us about this game at this stage?
Max Hoberman: Sorry, I can’t really say much. We’ve been in development since November 1st, and we’re excited about where it’s going, but it’s way too early to discuss!
Thanks to 3Suns for the heads-up in the HBO forum.
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Halo 2 Weekly Update
Ross Mills found a VERY old ActionTrip comic (September 2004 – two months before Halo 2 was even released)… looking back at the situation at the time (this was published right around the time that Halo 2 went gold – following an insanely busy 6 months in the Bungie offices), it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but hey – it’s a comic, and it’s sort of Halo-related.(Louis Wu 23:53:22 UTC)
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Cortana action figure proof number 2
If you missed getting your hands on the last Cortana action figure proof (and I’m pretty darned sure you did), you’ve got another shot at it – another one has gone up on eBay. Current bid is just over $100 – auction ends in 2 days. Good luck! (Thanks to Dolbex for the heads-up… I hope I don’t screw up his chances too much with this.)(Louis Wu 23:38:33 UTC)
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Prophecy Episode 1 Graphic Novel
Interesting. Lordstemplar1 stopped by to point out a PDF-ed Prophecy Episode 1 Graphic Novel – it’s Halo machinima, filtered and comic-booked. Pretty fun!(Louis Wu 22:36:51 UTC)
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LifePod 4
MereCatfish writes to point out LifePod 4, now available for download. Discussion revolves around news before the release of the brute vidoc, including a community panel and a ‘map of the month’. 30 minutes, 28 mb.(Louis Wu 22:34:51 UTC)
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Frankie talks to Xboxyde
Xboxyde has interviewed Frankie, with questions that range from Halo’s origins to what’s in store. No hard answers (of course), but an interesting read nonetheless! Looks like Urk was first with the heads-up.(Louis Wu 22:13:34 UTC)
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Give the Gift of Bungie
Give the gift of Bungie this Holiday Season. Desperate for a last minute gift? Can’t get hold of a Cabbage Patch Kid or whatever the young people are into these days? Why not give an electronic gift certificate to the Bungie store, and stop worrying about UPS 3 Day shipping, and Target parking lots right now.
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Stop bein’ such a wuss.
As a Christmas present to you all, Captain Spark recorded one last batch of Halo 2 dialogue (he’d said a while ago that he was done) – you can find 13 new snippets, including the Cortana ‘Leave me!’ quote from the end of High Charity, in the Dialogue Databank. Enjoy!(Louis Wu 18:54:24 UTC)
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QuickTime Brute Goodies
I do this with some trepidation… but what’s bandwidth for, if not to spend it profligately? Yesterday, we pointed out a couple of sites that had 720p versions of the Brute video documentary for download – but only one of those (GameVideos.com) offered a QuickTime version. And that QuickTime version had a few drawbacks: it was encoded using the h.264 codec (which is really cool, but beyond the power of many processors to handle properly), and it weighed in at 577 mb, leading a number of folks with full hard drives to despair. It also came in at a rather odd size: 1248×702 pixels. We’re putting up a copy of that vid (with GameVideo’s blessing) that has had all of these shortcomings rectified; our version is encoded with the Sorenson 3 Pro codec (viewable by anybody with a relatively current version of QuickTime), it displays at a full 1280×720 pixels, and it weighs in at 269 mb – big, but still 300 mb shy of the original. (Visually, it’s identical.) For good measure, we’re tossing in a half-size version (640×360, 88 mb) which has the added bonus of being watermark-free. (Our large version, having originated from the GameVideos file, contains the GV watermark.) Be gentle…(Louis Wu 18:19:22 UTC)
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Next Gen looks at 2006’s screwups
Next Generation posted an article last week entitled ‘Gaffes and Blunders in 2006‘ – amidst snickers about the Phantom console, and flying Wii controllers, you’ll find, at Number 6, “When Hollywood Schemers Attack”, a shot at the Halo movie situation. Thanks, 3Suns.(Louis Wu 16:42:36 UTC)
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Vidoc Transcriptions
Two separate transcriptions of the Brute Vidoc appeared on our forum yesterday – RC Master posted a transcript of all the spoken content, and Darkninja90 posted a transcript of all the action (with comments). If you want to see if you missed anything, or if you want to see if the vidoc is worth downloading, these might help!(Louis Wu 16:17:18 UTC)