Cody Miller is reporting over at High Speed Halo that they have finally whittled down the overall time of their Halo 2 speedruns to under two hours. Congrats to Jeff Cousin for getting the run that finally pushed them under the 2 hour mark.
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Community Member of the Month: Quality Jeverage
BrentGamer does his first interview for member of the month with Quality Jeverage: the artist behind Weekly Porridge and nerd role model. We get to learn how he got here, how he makes Weekly Porridge, and the most pressing question of all: whether he likes waffles or pancakes. Click “read more” for the full interview.
BrentGamer: I gotta do my Community Spotlight interview, and guess who the first community member to be interviewed is?
Quality Jeverage: Ooh, I’m getting all tingly inside.
BrentGamer: First of all, how did you come up with the name QualityJeverage? It sounds like a slogan for a catapult company.
QualityJeverage: A Catapult Company? That’s a new one. Anyway, to be honest, I don’t really remember how I came up with it. It was at least 4 years ago. The story I like to use nowadays is that I like the word “Beverage” (You can’t deny it’s a really cool word.), my name is Jeff, and of course, I’m a quality person. So you do some simple math and you end up with QualityJeverage! That’s really all there is to it.
BrentGamer: How did you learn about Podtacular’s existence?
QualityJeverage: It was way back, when Podtacular wore diapers and struggled to walk, around Episode 2. I was looking at Bungie.net, which, back then, was something I rarely did. As I scrolled down the page I noticed a tiny, out-of-the-way article that told of a Halo 2 Podcast called “Podtacular”. I thought to myself, “Why the hell not?”, so I followed the link and started listening. It’s really amazing that I found it, I almost NEVER went to Bungie.net back then, I was just very bored that particular day and decided to drop in. I guess I got lucky!
BrentGamer: Are you sure that Foo Mo Jive wasn’t sending you subliminal messages, telling you to join Podtacular?
QualityJeverage: Sometimes I wonder. That guy has always seemed a little off…
BrentGamer: How did you come up with the idea for Weekly Porridge?
QualityJeverage: Well, I first got the idea of doing a comic strip shortly after Spelchek left. He kept talking about his new podcast “The Electric Pony Show”, and I decided to drop by their website. While poking around, I found a comic strip that Spelchek had done called “Beret Day”. While reading it, I thought it would be a great idea for Podtacular to have something like that. It was just an idle thought though, I didn’t go anywhere with it. Then, about a month later, I was feeling bored and remembered that idea I had. So I decided I would give it a shot. First I had to tackle the name, I wanted something that started with P, because Podtacular started with P (That’s really how it happened. No complex planning process or anything.). The first word that came to my mind was, oddly enough, Porridge. I knew that wasn’t enough though, it needed something more. So I added a “Weekly” to the title, because I was planning on releasing a new strip each week. Of course nowadays, there are two strips each week, but I kept the original name because it had a great ring to it, somehow “Bi-Weekly Porridge” doesn’t sound very good.
To be honest, I had no idea the comic would be so well-accepted. I thought I’d be able to do 2, maybe 3 strips and then it would just sink. But people loved it, so I kept it going. At this point, I have no intention of stopping.
BrentGamer: So, 7 Day Oatmeal was never put into consideration when you were choosing a name for the comic?
QualityJeverage: Haha, no. Weekly Porridge was my first idea, and I stuck with it.
BrentGamer: How do you decide what to make a Podtacular member look like when you put them into Weekly Porridge?
QualityJeverage: Well, I go through a bit of a process in my head. First, I look at their personality, some of the people have very distinct and vivid personalities that can easily be translated into a visual. That’s rarely the case though, so I usually find ways to make things out of their names. Some are easier than others, for example, Cowbel is a giant Cow bell, that’s simple. But others require some imagination, one of my favourite characters is Dialpex. He’s a phone with massive, muscly arms. The phone part is obviously derived from “Dial”, but the “pex” wasn’t as easy. I eventually looked at it like “Pecks”, and while one’s “pecks” aren’t part of the arm, they do imply strength. So I gave Dialpex the persona of a very strong phone. If their names don’t give me ideas either, then I’ll just think of something funny.
My character is the exception to the rule though, I’m actually based on Spelchek’s character in Beret Day. If you can find that strip (I’m sure Spelchek would provide a link if asked.), you’ll notice that my character in Porridge is very similar in appearance to Spelchek’s.
BrentGamer: Final Question – Waffles or Pancakes?
QualityJeverage: Wow. That’s a tough one. You know, they’re both very strong contenders. Pancakes are nice and flat, so the your toppings will spread, but Waffles have nice little compartments for easy distribution. I’m going to have to pick Waffles, just because of all the possibilities. If you want a Waffle with syrup, and a waffle with butter, but not together, you can just do half-and-half! The toppings won’t spread because of those trusty compartments!
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Community Member of the Month: Quality Jeverage
BrentGamer does his first interview for member of the month with Quality Jeverage: the artist behind Weekly Porridge and nerd role model. We get to learn how he got here, how he makes Weekly Porridge, and the most pressing question of all: whether he likes waffles or pancakes. Click “read more” for the full interview.
BrentGamer: I gotta do my Community Spotlight interview, and guess who the first community member to be interviewed is?
Quality Jeverage: Ooh, I’m getting all tingly inside.
BrentGamer: First of all, how did you come up with the name QualityJeverage? It sounds like a slogan for a catapult company.
QualityJeverage: A Catapult Company? That’s a new one. Anyway, to be honest, I don’t really remember how I came up with it. It was at least 4 years ago. The story I like to use nowadays is that I like the word “Beverage” (You can’t deny it’s a really cool word.), my name is Jeff, and of course, I’m a quality person. So you do some simple math and you end up with QualityJeverage! That’s really all there is to it.
BrentGamer: How did you learn about Podtacular’s existence?
QualityJeverage: It was way back, when Podtacular wore diapers and struggled to walk, around Episode 2. I was looking at Bungie.net, which, back then, was something I rarely did. As I scrolled down the page I noticed a tiny, out-of-the-way article that told of a Halo 2 Podcast called “Podtacular”. I thought to myself, “Why the hell not?”, so I followed the link and started listening. It’s really amazing that I found it, I almost NEVER went to Bungie.net back then, I was just very bored that particular day and decided to drop in. I guess I got lucky!
BrentGamer: Are you sure that Foo Mo Jive wasn’t sending you subliminal messages, telling you to join Podtacular?
QualityJeverage: Sometimes I wonder. That guy has always seemed a little off…
BrentGamer: How did you come up with the idea for Weekly Porridge?
QualityJeverage: Well, I first got the idea of doing a comic strip shortly after Spelchek left. He kept talking about his new podcast “The Electric Pony Show”, and I decided to drop by their website. While poking around, I found a comic strip that Spelchek had done called “Beret Day”. While reading it, I thought it would be a great idea for Podtacular to have something like that. It was just an idle thought though, I didn’t go anywhere with it. Then, about a month later, I was feeling bored and remembered that idea I had. So I decided I would give it a shot. First I had to tackle the name, I wanted something that started with P, because Podtacular started with P (That’s really how it happened. No complex planning process or anything.). The first word that came to my mind was, oddly enough, Porridge. I knew that wasn’t enough though, it needed something more. So I added a “Weekly” to the title, because I was planning on releasing a new strip each week. Of course nowadays, there are two strips each week, but I kept the original name because it had a great ring to it, somehow “Bi-Weekly Porridge” doesn’t sound very good.
To be honest, I had no idea the comic would be so well-accepted. I thought I’d be able to do 2, maybe 3 strips and then it would just sink. But people loved it, so I kept it going. At this point, I have no intention of stopping.
BrentGamer: So, 7 Day Oatmeal was never put into consideration when you were choosing a name for the comic?
QualityJeverage: Haha, no. Weekly Porridge was my first idea, and I stuck with it.
BrentGamer: How do you decide what to make a Podtacular member look like when you put them into Weekly Porridge?
QualityJeverage: Well, I go through a bit of a process in my head. First, I look at their personality, some of the people have very distinct and vivid personalities that can easily be translated into a visual. That’s rarely the case though, so I usually find ways to make things out of their names. Some are easier than others, for example, Cowbel is a giant Cow bell, that’s simple. But others require some imagination, one of my favourite characters is Dialpex. He’s a phone with massive, muscly arms. The phone part is obviously derived from “Dial”, but the “pex” wasn’t as easy. I eventually looked at it like “Pecks”, and while one’s “pecks” aren’t part of the arm, they do imply strength. So I gave Dialpex the persona of a very strong phone. If their names don’t give me ideas either, then I’ll just think of something funny.
My character is the exception to the rule though, I’m actually based on Spelchek’s character in Beret Day. If you can find that strip (I’m sure Spelchek would provide a link if asked.), you’ll notice that my character in Porridge is very similar in appearance to Spelchek’s.
BrentGamer: Final Question – Waffles or Pancakes?
QualityJeverage: Wow. That’s a tough one. You know, they’re both very strong contenders. Pancakes are nice and flat, so the your toppings will spread, but Waffles have nice little compartments for easy distribution. I’m going to have to pick Waffles, just because of all the possibilities. If you want a Waffle with syrup, and a waffle with butter, but not together, you can just do half-and-half! The toppings won’t spread because of those trusty compartments!
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Tux Strikes Back.
I love it – Mile5123 stopped by to point out a great piece on his DeviantART site. We heart deadly penguins.(Louis Wu 21:41:25 UTC)
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Prophecy Ep 1: The Threshold of War
Lordstemplar1 submitted Prophecy Episode 1 – ‘The Threshold of War’ to the MPRRS recently, and they gave it a thumbs-up. (You might remember the trailer, which came through a couple of weeks ago.) This one sets up the story – action’s a bit light, but tension is building. It was originally submitted encoded with the H.264 codec – this causes too many of our viewers problems, so I’ve reencoded it with standard QuickTime and WMP9 codecs. Grab it in WMP9 format (53.2 mb) or QuickTime format (54.6 mb) – and get ramped up for the next episode!(Louis Wu 21:11:01 UTC)
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Community Member of the Month: Quality Jeverage
BrentGamer does his first interview for member of the month with Quality Jeverage: the artist behind Weekly Porridge and nerd role model. We get to learn how he got here, how he makes Weekly Porridge, and the most pressing question of all: whether he likes waffles or pancakes. Click “read more” for the full interview.
BrentGamer: I gotta do my Community Spotlight interview, and guess who the first community member to be interviewed is?
Quality Jeverage: Ooh, I’m getting all tingly inside.
BrentGamer: First of all, how did you come up with the name QualityJeverage? It sounds like a slogan for a catapult company.
QualityJeverage: A Catapult Company? That’s a new one. Anyway, to be honest, I don’t really remember how I came up with it. It was at least 4 years ago. The story I like to use nowadays is that I like the word “Beverage” (You can’t deny it’s a really cool word.), my name is Jeff, and of course, I’m a quality person. So you do some simple math and you end up with QualityJeverage! That’s really all there is to it.
BrentGamer: How did you learn about Podtacular’s existence?
QualityJeverage: It was way back, when Podtacular wore diapers and struggled to walk, around Episode 2. I was looking at Bungie.net, which, back then, was something I rarely did. As I scrolled down the page I noticed a tiny, out-of-the-way article that told of a Halo 2 Podcast called “Podtacular”. I thought to myself, “Why the hell not?”, so I followed the link and started listening. It’s really amazing that I found it, I almost NEVER went to Bungie.net back then, I was just very bored that particular day and decided to drop in. I guess I got lucky!
BrentGamer: Are you sure that Foo Mo Jive wasn’t sending you subliminal messages, telling you to join Podtacular?
QualityJeverage: Sometimes I wonder. That guy has always seemed a little off…
BrentGamer: How did you come up with the idea for Weekly Porridge?
QualityJeverage: Well, I first got the idea of doing a comic strip shortly after Spelchek left. He kept talking about his new podcast “The Electric Pony Show”, and I decided to drop by their website. While poking around, I found a comic strip that Spelchek had done called “Beret Day”. While reading it, I thought it would be a great idea for Podtacular to have something like that. It was just an idle thought though, I didn’t go anywhere with it. Then, about a month later, I was feeling bored and remembered that idea I had. So I decided I would give it a shot. First I had to tackle the name, I wanted something that started with P, because Podtacular started with P (That’s really how it happened. No complex planning process or anything.). The first word that came to my mind was, oddly enough, Porridge. I knew that wasn’t enough though, it needed something more. So I added a “Weekly” to the title, because I was planning on releasing a new strip each week. Of course nowadays, there are two strips each week, but I kept the original name because it had a great ring to it, somehow “Bi-Weekly Porridge” doesn’t sound very good.
To be honest, I had no idea the comic would be so well-accepted. I thought I’d be able to do 2, maybe 3 strips and then it would just sink. But people loved it, so I kept it going. At this point, I have no intention of stopping.
BrentGamer: So, 7 Day Oatmeal was never put into consideration when you were choosing a name for the comic?
QualityJeverage: Haha, no. Weekly Porridge was my first idea, and I stuck with it.
BrentGamer: How do you decide what to make a Podtacular member look like when you put them into Weekly Porridge?
QualityJeverage: Well, I go through a bit of a process in my head. First, I look at their personality, some of the people have very distinct and vivid personalities that can easily be translated into a visual. That’s rarely the case though, so I usually find ways to make things out of their names. Some are easier than others, for example, Cowbel is a giant Cow bell, that’s simple. But others require some imagination, one of my favourite characters is Dialpex. He’s a phone with massive, muscly arms. The phone part is obviously derived from “Dial”, but the “pex” wasn’t as easy. I eventually looked at it like “Pecks”, and while one’s “pecks” aren’t part of the arm, they do imply strength. So I gave Dialpex the persona of a very strong phone. If their names don’t give me ideas either, then I’ll just think of something funny.
My character is the exception to the rule though, I’m actually based on Spelchek’s character in Beret Day. If you can find that strip (I’m sure Spelchek would provide a link if asked.), you’ll notice that my character in Porridge is very similar in appearance to Spelchek’s.
BrentGamer: Final Question – Waffles or Pancakes?
QualityJeverage: Wow. That’s a tough one. You know, they’re both very strong contenders. Pancakes are nice and flat, so the your toppings will spread, but Waffles have nice little compartments for easy distribution. I’m going to have to pick Waffles, just because of all the possibilities. If you want a Waffle with syrup, and a waffle with butter, but not together, you can just do half-and-half! The toppings won’t spread because of those trusty compartments!
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Carved Plasma Rifle for Sale
Very nice. AngelicLionheart found a solid oak carved plasma rifle on eBay – starting bid is $150, buy it now price is $25 higher, there are just about 2 days left. Pretty nicely done! Check it out.(Louis Wu 19:33:53 UTC)
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Halo for Hunger IV
Over at Bungie.net, there’s an announcement about a Halo 2 tourney for charity in Wisconsin, coming up next weekend. $5 (or 5 cans of non-perishable food items) gets you in, prizes come from a lot of places. Visit B.net for more info!(Louis Wu 18:33:12 UTC)
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Corpseguy’s Halo armor – 95% complete
Whoa, very cool. You might remember corpseguy – he was working on a Halo helmet. He stopped by the HaloPlanet forums today – looks like he’s nearly done with the full suit! Looks fantastic. Thanks, hedfones.(Louis Wu 17:55:49 UTC)
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Halo on XBLA speculation
IGN interviewed Greg Canessa, the leader of the Xbox Live team, about the future of Xbox Live Arcade; there are a few questions pertaining to the Halo franchise. Nothing definite, nothing in the near future… but some interesting ideas. Thanks, beaurichardson.(Louis Wu 17:44:30 UTC)
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Halo 2 – Under 2.
The High Speed Halo crew has completed one of their bigger goals – Halo 2, Legendary, in under 2 hours. (The record right now stands at 1:58:55, actually.) Check this forum post by Cody Miller, then swing by HSH for downloadable runs. Congrats, guys!(Louis Wu 17:17:32 UTC)
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Halo Animation Extracting and Import
Wow, very cool. TheGhost stopped by with a few extracted Halo animations, in animated gif format. These look great!(Louis Wu 12:14:04 UTC)
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Ode to… I got nothin’.
Gryponosiris penned a poem about XBL cheaters – everyone liked it except Frankie. (I think his sense of humor must have been tied up in his hair.)(Louis Wu 12:03:39 UTC)
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Caption Contest
Dojorkan kicked off a ‘caption contest’, in the spirit of the old ones Bungie use to run, on our forum yesterday. Modded screenshot, you write the caption. (No, there’s no prize.) Personally, I think this makes more sense on a flat-style forum… but who am I, anyway?(Louis Wu 11:58:39 UTC)
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A superfast egg hunt
Yesterday, Galen Eymer stopped by our forum with the announcement of a new Halo 1 egg. Normally, I’d have expected such an announcement to be laughed out of the forum – after all, Halo 1 is approaching 5 years old; how is it possible that there are still eggs (especially in-plain-sight ones, as this one was) to be discovered? The thread remained civil, however, and I went looking for myself – and it did, indeed, look as though there were initials shot into a wall on 343 Guilty Spark. (A bad picture is here.) Dave ‘Evil Otto’ Candland went to the trouble of checking with the level designers about this one – and while it turns out that it’s purely coincidence that the bullet-holes appear to be initials, I find it wonderful that Bungie is willing to follow up on fan-instituted hunts within a few hours… they show us why we run a fansite for them!(Louis Wu 11:53:12 UTC)
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Microsoft And Modchips, Part II: Homebrew Software
Yesterday I mentioned Ozymandias‘ blog entry where he lists several reasons why an Xbox owner might want to modchip his console, as well as why he, in his own personal opinion, apart from being a Microsoft employee, could not approve of such actions.
The first was fairly clean-cut: because it enables piracy. Fair enough. Ozymandias then went a bit off the deep end on the piracy issue, which I commented on yesterday.
Another reason he says an owner might want to install a modchip would be to run other kinds of non-piracy related code on the Xbox. Some people just want to run Linux on an Xbox for the heck of it. Far more people are interested in the free Xbox Media Center software, which makes the media center features of even the newer Xbox 360, coupled with Windows Media Center edition, look like a black and white television with rabbit aerials.
Ozymandias’ objection to the homebrew crowd is that it breaks Microsoft’s business model. Poor Microsoft!
Click “read more” below from the front page for the entire article.
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Pimps at Sea Rap
We’ve got little to no information on what this is, or who made it, but it’s a YTMND with a Pimps at Sea theme. And it’s mad wiggedy-wack yo. The lyrics contain adult language. You have been warned.
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Southeastern Wisconsin Halo 2 Tournament for Charity!
Open call for Southeastern Wisconsin residents who would like to participate in a Halo 2 tournament for charity!
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Project Crimson Official Trailer
Back in early July, Metroid05, of the Atomik Films crew, submitted a trailer for Project Crimson, a machinima series they’re in the process of making. The MPRRS reviewers liked it, but the instructions we got about hosting were unclear – and Metroid05’s email wasn’t working. Today, the hosting questions were answered, so we’re making the trailer available – both in WMP9 format (43.3 mb) and QuickTime format (43.6 mb). Project Crimson tells the story of genetic experimentation gone bad, and is heavy on the visual effects. The full machinima is due this coming winter. Take a look!(Louis Wu 18:27:32 UTC)
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Video Games Live Hits Chicago
This Saturday in Chicago, not only will you have a chance to go to a fantastic concert, but you’ll also be able to meet the men responsible for the music you love. This will be your last chance to catch Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori at one of these concerts for a while, so make sure to seize the opportunity.