Some gametypes just don’t allow for fudging. Stuntmutt looks at one in today’s One One Se7en. (If you like this strip, thank Ducain… though he didn’t inspire its actual content. And that’s all I have to say about that.)(Louis Wu 14:55:32 UTC)
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A Sales Juggernaut
Well, I think it’s a dumb title for a list (the 21st century just started, it’s silly to start ranking the top 100 ANYTHINGS in it yet), but it’s still saying a lot about the games mentioned; Next Generation has published their ‘Top 100 Games of the 21st Century‘, based on unit sales so far this decade… and Halo (the franchise) ranks at number 2, behind only Grand Theft Auto. Thanks, UberHax0r.(Louis Wu 14:23:28 UTC)
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When Spam Filtering Gets Stupid
Okay, this is getting stupid. Last week, I sent out a request for mailing addresses to all the winners of the last 7 on the 7th contest (the grass-cutting one), so that Bungie could mail them prizes. I know that sometimes it takes a few days for people to answer these things, so I didn’t worry about it – and when I got another response this morning, I totalled up the responses we had. There were 5. The last two went to people whose ISPs use VERY agressive spam-filtering… so I’m pretty sure I’ll NEVER get a response from either one, from that note. I’m making ANOTHER public appeal for response from individuals – twice in one day, for something I’d rather NEVER do. This prompts me to add a new rule to any future bungie.org contest – you are REQUIRED to whitelist the email address lwu at bungie dot org if you enter a contest; from now on, contest winners will get one week to respond to correspondence, and after that they forfeit their prize. I can’t continue like this. (The two winners who need to send me mailing addresses if they ever want to see their Halo Graphic Novel prizes are RAWPOWER95 and Omega.)(Louis Wu 13:44:01 UTC)
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Cunbelin Building Bungie Better Crates
The latest Bungie Spotlight is on former community member, current Bungie staffer Cunbelin, and his contributions to Halo 3:
Well My most recent item was to remake the classic human crate, better, faster, stronger! Well better at least. I’ve got a long list of those kinds of items both to be brought up to the Halo 3 standards and new ones to be created. I’d go into specifics but things shift almost daily in priority so it’s hard to say what else I’ll be working on.
Cunbelin also gets kudos for copping to being a “rampancy snob” in the early days of his Bungie fanhood. The check’s in the mail.
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A Showcased Artifact Gathers No Moss
Dojorkan found a cool little tidbit hidden in plain sight – I say that because I’ve walked by it dozens of times and never noticed it. (I’m sure I will now receive hundreds of emails from people who DID see it – let’s save us both some hassle, and just SAY you sent it… pat yourself on the back for the find.) Is this a sacred rock, with significance in the Halo storyline? Or just some nice looking scenery? You decide.(Louis Wu 05:30:14 UTC)
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Floaty Silence
Hellhawk turned in a comedy that uses stock (well, almost stock) cutscene footage, and some REALLY well-done voice acting, to create a pretty funny comedy vid he calls ‘Floaty Silence’. The MPRRS gave it a thumbs-up, and it had me laughing – grab it in WMP9 (39.4 mb) or QuickTime (42.4 mb) formats, and check it out for yourself!(Louis Wu 05:19:34 UTC)
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Talent’s Final Montage Trailer – now in QT
On Monday, we posted a link for Talent’s Final Montage trailer, being hosted at Halo3Forum.com. Although there’s plenty of bandwidth for it there, Halzred submitted it to the MPRRS for feedback anyway – and they liked it, quite a lot. if you want the WMP9 version, you’re still welcome to grab it from H3F – but because it passed here, we’re offering a QuickTime version, for those who’d rather watch that. Weighs in at 23.5 mb, and is nice and short (just about a minute and a half) – give it a go!(Louis Wu 05:15:47 UTC)
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Microsoft And Modchips, Part I: Piracy
At first glance, this story probably will inspire a lot of “duh, so what” responses. After all, modchips are used to do lots of things to your Xbox console, nearly all of which Microsoft doesn’t want you to do.
They can let you play illegally copied games. They can let you modify your Xbox in ways that permit cheating on Xbox Live (although for the most part it can’t stop them from detecting you). It can also let you run unrelated software on your Xbox, such as the Linux operating system, turning it into a codec-agnostic media player or even a budget PC. Neither of those things generate additional post-sale revenue to Microsoft, and some even make the company look bad (hee, hee! Linux on an Xbox!) or could draw the ire of organizations like the RIAA towards Microsoft if they are seen as contributing to infringement by, say, supporting codecs like DivX which are alleged to be used primarily for pirating video.
So what’s not surprising is Ozymandias‘ latest blog entry where he details the reasons why Xbox owners might mod their box and the reasons why he can’t “condone” it. He completely bypasses the cheating issue and never once mentions Xbox Live, so I’ll also leave that mostly out of this. He does propose three reasons why he can imagine someone might mod an Xbox:
- the ability to copy and play pirated games
- the ability to play import games
- the ability to add new functionality (such as running homebrew software)
Nobody reasonable is going to argue that easy access to pirated games is bad for Microsoft, bad for the platform, and bad for deveopers. No one is going to expect Microsoft to condone using a modchip for this purpose.
Where this goes wrong is when Ozymandias decides he needs to pile on the piracy issue and make a lot of the same bogus generalizations that have been thrown around for the better part of two and a half decades now.
Click “read more” below for the entire article.
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Administrivia – lost moviemakers
Lot of movie stuff today; I went through the MPRRS database, looking for strays. I found a few, too. Most are either taken care of or in the PROCESS of being taken care of – but two are in limbo; I’ve sent the creators multiple emails each, with no response. All I can think of is that the messages are being routed to their spam folders – so while I hate to do this, I don’t see any other way to reach them. If you ARE these people, or you KNOW them, please get in contact (or have them get in contact) with us. (And check the junk folder!) The first is Metroid05, whose ‘Project Crimson Trailer’ passed a month ago… and the second is xbryboyremix, whose ‘Corrupt’ passed last week. I needed clarification about hosting and/or higher-res versions from both individuals, but never got a response. Please – if you’re out there, find me! And with that, the next news posts will be about movies we actually have for downloading.(Louis Wu 05:09:07 UTC)
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HaloMaps Opens Ratings
I missed this on Monday – but halomaps.org has instituted a rating system for maps; you can now vote for your favorite HaloCE creations, to help other people decide which maps are worth downloading. Take a look!(Louis Wu 04:24:09 UTC)
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Beat me, big daddy – 8 to the bar
c0ld vengeance is back, with a new 3D screenshot (available, as usual, in both standard QuickTime format and QTVR format) – this time it’s the Master Chief, laying the smack down on the Prophet of Regret. Awesome pic! Go grab a copy.(Louis Wu 03:36:08 UTC)
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Out of Mind – Front Burner Again
Out of Mind is a Red vs Blue miniseries that launched on Xbox Live Marketplace in mid-June; it was suposed to be weekly (or nearly weekly), but it’s not until tonight that Episode 2 was released (thanks, HaloMarine117). If you don’t HAVE Xbox Live Marketplace – never fear. Rooster Teeth finally got permission (you might need a RvB account to see that) from Microsoft to release the series on their website, and Episode 1 will be posted for sponsors later tonight, with the rest of the series following over the next four weeks. (I’m assuming – though it’s not stated explicitly – that low-res versions will be available for the masses a few days after the sponsors get them, as usual.) Update: (11:40 pm ET, 3:40 am UTC) It’s up now for sponsors.(Louis Wu 03:32:32 UTC)
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Episode 73: Mother Goat Interview Part 2
Download
This is a very short episode (~11 minutes) which finishes the interview with Mother Goat since we didn’t get to do that last time. Pod Art this week comes from Chevelle65. Thanks to Ciclonic for editing audio. Enjoy!.
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Submit Stuff for Episode 75: The Halo 3 Show
Episode 74: The anniversary episode is a different type of show and is getting some special attention with the different segments. So while the recording is done, that one still needs a little work. In the mean time it’s time for my favorite show…
What does your Halo 3 crystal ball show you?
That there is happiness and prosperity in your future? That you’ll win the lottery next week and get married and have 10 kids? Tell it to stay on topic. What do you want to see in Halo 3, or what do you predict it will have? Let us know! Just click the Submit News and Tips link at the top left and send it in with your gamertag so we can give you credit. And please, for the love of God, use spellcheck!
Halo 3 is great and all, but i really love Irritating Stick
Do you love Halo 3, but also love another? What other games do you think us tunnel visioned Halo players would like? If you don’t really play any other games, why don’t you tell us about your favorite retro game we could check out? Either way, just send us a one paragraph mini review telling us what you like about the game and why. Of course, be sure you include your gamertag with this too.
These are due by Thursday night, but the earlier you get yours in, the more likely it will get on the show and you’ll be famous and have hot chicks begging to date you. So hurry up!
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Submit Stuff for Episode 75: The Halo 3 Show
Episode 74: The anniversary episode is a different type of show and is getting some special attention with the different segments. So while the recording is done, that one still needs a little work. In the mean time it’s time for my favorite show…
What does your Halo 3 crystal ball show you?
That there is happiness and prosperity in your future? That you’ll win the lottery next week and get married and have 10 kids? Tell it to stay on topic. What do you want to see in Halo 3, or what do you predict it will have? Let us know! Just click the Submit News and Tips link at the top left and send it in with your gamertag so we can give you credit. And please, for the love of God, use spellcheck!
Halo 3 is great and all, but i really love Irritating Stick
Do you love Halo 3, but also love another? What other games do you think us tunnel visioned Halo players would like? If you don’t really play any other games, why don’t you tell us about your favorite retro game we could check out? Either way, just send us a one paragraph mini review telling us what you like about the game and why. Of course, be sure you include your gamertag with this too.
These are due by Thursday night, but the earlier you get yours in, the more likely it will get on the show and you’ll be famous and have hot chicks begging to date you. So hurry up!
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SA’s Comedy Goldmine
Something Awful has a Comedy Goldmine article up – forum regulars over there created posters for movies that starred videogame characters. The Master Chief turns up in two – Monster House and Reservoir Dogs. Thanks to DemanusFlint, who pointed these out – and I agree with him that the first one doesn’t make a lot of sense.(Louis Wu 22:51:23 UTC)
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Submit Stuff for Episode 75: The Halo 3 Show
Episode 74: The anniversary episode is a different type of show and is getting some special attention with the different segments. So while the recording is done, that one still needs a little work. In the mean time it’s time for my favorite show…
What does your Halo 3 crystal ball show you?
That there is happiness and prosperity in your future? That you’ll win the lottery next week and get married and have 10 kids? Tell it to stay on topic. What do you want to see in Halo 3, or what do you predict it will have? Let us know! Just click the Submit News and Tips link at the top left and send it in with your gamertag so we can give you credit. And please, for the love of God, use spellcheck!
Halo 3 is great and all, but i really love Irritating Stick
Do you love Halo 3, but also love another? What other games do you think us tunnel visioned Halo players would like? If you don’t really play any other games, why don’t you tell us about your favorite retro game we could check out? Either way, just send us a one paragraph mini review telling us what you like about the game and why. Of course, be sure you include your gamertag with this too.
These are due by Thursday night, but the earlier you get yours in, the more likely it will get on the show and you’ll be famous and have hot chicks begging to date you. So hurry up!
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Mobile Halo Content
Mintz waited patiently for us to let you know about some updates on Halo: Portable – a new podcast, a bunch of PSP-ready Bungie articles… we forgot, so he reminded us. So we’re telling you. Go read/listen.(Louis Wu 22:06:32 UTC)
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Episode 73: Mother Goat Interview Part 2
Download
This is a very short episode (~11 minutes) which finishes the interview with Mother Goat since we didn’t get to do that last time. Pod Art this week comes from Chevelle65. Thanks to Ciclonic for editing audio. Enjoy!
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VGL – in Chicago with a vengeance
The Video Games Live performance in Chicago is coming up soon – and a press release went out today; you can read it here. This is a great chance to meet Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori – if you’re in Chicago this weekend, you should get yourself to the Rosemont Theatre on Saturday!(Louis Wu 21:56:14 UTC)