RVideo did a couple of really nice panoramas – you can see one, and grab both (plus some extra files) in this forum post. Check ’em out!(Louis Wu 16:54:28 UTC)
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…and Gruntleberry dressing!
XBWFeenix found a really nice Christmas card from the Ensemble Halo Wars team… check it out!(Louis Wu 16:46:26 UTC)
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Battle of the Big Sellers
So today Microsoft announced that Gears of War has sold 2 million copies – according to this article (thanks, JeBr0nie), that makes it “the fastest- selling next-generation game of 2006 and the fastest-selling exclusive Xbox(R) game ever”, and according to this one, it’s beaten Halo 2 in the race to 2 million. (That second article is obviously confused – a search of articles around November 10 and 11, 2004 – here’s a representative one – will show that Microsoft announced sales of 2.4 million copies of Halo 2 in the first 24 hours it was on sale.) The first article… hmm. Halo 2 isn’t a ‘next-generation game of 2006’, so that claim is safe… but until the Vista version of Halo 2 is released, Halo 2 is, indeed, an exclusive Xbox title. Bah – it’s all just bragging rights, anyway. Lots of people have bought Gears of War – that should make Epic and Microsoft pretty happy.(Louis Wu 16:38:20 UTC)
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THIS is why I stick around.
Does Mig rock, or what? (Yes, the thread is locked. All 5 songs are gone. I didn’t want to put this on the front page until they were… but the act needed recognition.)(Louis Wu 15:37:37 UTC)
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Ve are NOT losink that ship, darlink!
Bizarre – Sep7imus ran across an interview with Julie Benz (the voice actress who plays Miranda Keyes in Halo 2) – the end of the interview contained questions about Halo 2, and some perplexing information:TVGuide.com: Are you all done with your voice work for the Halo 3 video game?
Benz: You know what? I am actually not a part of Halo 3. I was informed a couple of weeks ago that they are actually changing the voice of Captain Miranda Keyes, and giving her an accent.
TVGuide.com: Are you serious?! What kind of an accent?
Benz: I have no idea. [Laughs] They didn’t even entertain the idea of having me do it, so… I was very sad. I was very sad. I had such a great time doing Halo 2.An accent? I wonder why? There are more Halo-related questions in the interview – go read!(Louis Wu 13:46:22 UTC)
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Go Blue! Woo-hoo!
Gah. I forgot to post this a couple of days ago – but Luke McKay sketched up the newest character in the RvB series, Lil’ Sis. Kind of Pippi Longstocking-ish, you ask me…(Louis Wu 13:41:21 UTC)
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New DA find
rayzer730 was browsing DeviantART, and ran across this image by luxun. Great work! Seems like he does a lot of coloring, as well – check out this pic. (Louis Wu 13:17:20 UTC)
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Friday’s Fanfic
Twelve new pieces for you this week in the Fan Fiction section – new authors, old favorites – go look!(Louis Wu 13:11:35 UTC)
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Sound Arguments
MLG’s released another podcast, this one discussing the National Championships and what helped (or hindered) the top teams in their quest for top honors. 10 minutes, 4.6 mb – go listen. Thanks, 3Suns.(Louis Wu 12:38:15 UTC)
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Happy Birthday… and Godspeed.
Happy Birthday today (and a sad farewell) to vshields ash, who has turned 55 – and has announced his retirement from the Halo community. (It’s real, and it’s time, and though we’re going to miss him, mostly because I won’t be able to say there’s a community member who’s almost 15 years older than I am (well, except Marty, but he’s so old he’s passed go and started over – I think he’s younger than KP now), it’s the right thing to do.) Do a search for him here, or more usefully, at High Impact Halo, if you want to relive some of his contributions. vern… it’s been a good run. Take care of yourself.(Louis Wu 12:30:11 UTC)
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Halo 3 Track Available on iTunes
Marty O’Donnell has released the track from the Halo 3 Announcement trailer as a single, available for exclusive download from the iTunes Music Store. A thread sprang up on our forum last night, with a number of posters expressing everything from disappointment to disgust that this piece is for sale (at a whopping 99 cents), rather than being released for free… but remember, nobody’s forcing you to buy this. The music is available, albeit mixed with ambient sounds, in the trailer itself, if you don’t want to pay for it. (Jordan117 had a great suggestion – play this piece simultaneously with the Announcement trailer… you get an entirely different feel (though it matches up nicely).(Louis Wu 12:12:20 UTC)
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Sprucing up the old 360
Hawaiian Pig won our Design a Faceplate Contest back in August, and he was contacted by a fan named Randy Goth who wanted to use the design to make his own faceplate. HP had to modify the design a bit to fit the template Randy was using – and last night posted the pics Randy sent him of the finished products. Man… that’s a nice-looking 360!(Louis Wu 11:57:13 UTC)
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Stubbs The Zombie: Dear But Not Departed
A couple of newsworthy items noted at WideloadGames.org that skipped my notice until just now: Alex “The Man” Seropian and Matt Soell, as well as others from Wideload, attended a meeting of the new Madison, Wisconship chapter of the International Game Developers Association last month. No missing brains have yet been reported.
Furthermore, the ring of Stubbs fansites has grown with the addition of Voices of the Dead, a site dedicated to recordings of in-game dialogue in Stubbs the Zombie.
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Stubbs The Zombie: Dear But Not Departed
A couple of newsworthy items noted at WideloadGames.org that skipped my notice until just now: Alex “The Man” Seropian and Matt Soell, as well as others from Wideload, attended a meeting of the new Madison, Wisconship chapter of the International Game Developers Association last month. No missing brains have yet been reported.
Furthermore, the ring of Stubbs fansites has grown with the addition of Voices of the Dead, a site dedicated to recordings of in-game dialogue in Stubbs the Zombie.
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New Documentary Vid Coming, Brutes Not Playable Characters
Ahh, the Halo rumor mill. When the tabloids fail to satisfy or even titillate, Halo rumors always ride to the rescue.
A Microsoft blogger in Belgium apparently reposted verbatim an electronic mail message sent from a “bigwig” at Microsoft about a video due to hit Xbox Marketplace on December 20th. The email alleged the 7 plus minute video would focus on the Brute race– which would be playable in Halo 3– and feature two and a half minutes of gameplay footage.
HBO followed the breadcrumbs on this one, with forumgoers pointing out that a new documentary video was consistent with statements Bungie made last month, but Frankie was quick to quash the “playable Brutes” part in several community forums.
Of course, that didn’t stop the discussion there, as many fans debated back and forth about whether Brutes, as a playable race in campaign, would have been a good idea or not, which only brought out all the Arbiter fans and detractors again over whether or not his inclusion in Halo 2 was a good idea.
We already know Bungie isn’t doing it… but if they had, would it have made sense? And would fans (at least some of them) have liked it?
Click “read more” from the front page to see the entire article.
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New Documentary Vid Coming, Brutes Not Playable Characters
Ahh, the Halo rumor mill. When the tabloids fail to satisfy or even titillate, Halo rumors always ride to the rescue.
A Microsoft blogger in Belgium apparently reposted verbatim an electronic mail message sent from a “bigwig” at Microsoft about a video due to hit Xbox Marketplace on December 20th. The email alleged the 7 plus minute video would focus on the Brute race– which would be playable in Halo 3– and feature two and a half minutes of gameplay footage.
HBO followed the breadcrumbs on this one, with forumgoers pointing out that a new documentary video was consistent with statements Bungie made last month, but Frankie was quick to quash the “playable Brutes” part in several community forums.
Of course, that didn’t stop the discussion there, as many fans debated back and forth about whether Brutes, as a playable race in campaign, would have been a good idea or not, which only brought out all the Arbiter fans and detractors again over whether or not his inclusion in Halo 2 was a good idea.
We already know Bungie isn’t doing it… but if they had, would it have made sense? And would fans (at least some of them) have liked it?
Click “read more” from the front page to see the entire article.
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Finish the Fight
Marty O’Donnell has released the track from the Halo 3 Announcement trailer as a single and it’s available for download. It’s called Finish the Fight and you can only get it through the iTunes Music Store.
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Animated Flip Books
Interesting – over at the Halo 3 Forum at Bungie.net, I noticed a thread about animated flip books made by DFlyDen – they look really cool! (You can see the Halo-related ones, along with several other kinds, in videos at GameTrailers.com. They’re not for sale anywhere.)(Louis Wu 23:56:22 UTC)
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XBL-related upgrades at halowiki.net
PEZ wrote to say that the Halo 2 Recent Games Listing and the Halo 2 Live Game Saver have been integrated at halowiki.net – you can now easily see (and save) any games you’re really proud of with just a couple of clicks. Check it out!(Louis Wu 22:39:50 UTC)
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Creative Contests Winding Down
We got word from bryboy remix, reminding us about the Halopeño So Hot Editing Contest, ending in just a few days. (Deadline for submissions is midnight, December 18, and winners will be announced on Christmas day.) As a refresher, all you need are moviemaking tools; the content is provided by HBO’s cutscene library (video) and Halopen (audio). Winners will receive EB Games/Gamestop goodies from a $70 budget. Check the page for more details! (And while we’re reminding you about contests at Halo sites, don’t forget about Halo Everywhere, the ‘put Halo into the world’ contest being run by PraetoriaGuard. You’ve got until February for submissions, at that one. )(Louis Wu 21:40:17 UTC)