WMP9: High Res (127 MB) | Low Res (67.1 mb)
QuickTime: High Res (124 MB) | Low Res (69.5 mb)
Most of these versions are available on the Broken Console site as well (links there are probably faster for EU residents).
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Conquest, Part 1
More news that has nothing to do with Halo 3: Broken Console, the team behind ‘The Squadron‘, has released Conquest, Part 1. It’s a pretty massive piece of work; 21 minutes long, more than 120 mb in hi-res format – it tells the story of an attack on a pair of UESC ships, the Conquest and the Endeavor, and the subsequent aftermath; voice acting is great, cinematography is great, mods are used in pretty clever ways. Overall, a fantastic first half of a pretty cool miniseries. We’re offering BC mirroring, because this puppy is big – you can grab the full-size versions (640×480) if you’ve got a larger pipe, or a half-size version (320×240) if 125 mb is too much for you.
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Screenshots for the BIG screen.
So… if you like the screenshots over at Bungie.net, but feel like they’re not hi-res enough (they’re only 1280×720, after all), or you’re unhappy with the Bungie watermark… swing by the Xbox.com Press site, and grab the official press screenshots (70 mb, zipped). What do you get for those 70 megs? You get the 5 images in uncompressed TIFF format – 10-16 mb each – at the absurd resolution of 6400×3600. Wonga.
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Exclusive Elite for Comic-Con visitors
There’s a bit of totally non-Halo-3-related news, as well, today – for example, Toynews International reports on an upcoming exclusive action figure – a Halo 2 White Multiplayer Elite; only 3000 will be made. You can only buy this, though, if you show up at the San Diego Comic-Con in July (though if there are any left after the show, Toyrocket.com will be selling them on their website.) Thanks, Littlebigman.
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Lots of Trailers Versions Online
There are a whole bunch of sites offering mirroring or re-encoding of the Halo 3 trailer; I really don’t see a need to list them all, because the official sites (Bungie.net and Xbox.com) are doing an admirable job of keeping up with demand. (Bungie.net has actually re-released the WMP9 versions, because the original ones had some odd aspect stuff going on.) The one link that’s probably worth passing on, though – at least if you’re on a Windows box with a pretty fast processor – is the official press release of the 720p WMP version – 5.1 audio and all. It weighs in at 132 mb, and is USELESS for Mac users (it’s encoded with Windows-only codecs), but it’s as high-res as you’re gonna get on the web. Thanks, MC Smoke. (And I’ll mention the Halo: Portable versions, too, because there aren’t a lot of places out there to grab versions for your PocketPC/iPod/PSP.)
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Forum High Gear
Predictably, the forum has exploded with speculation about yesterday’s released trailer. Much of the discussion could be considered spoiler-laden, for folks either avoiding the trailer or still in the dark about the first two games… but I’m of the opinion that there’s nothing here that Bungie doesn’t want you to see. A few intriguing threads (by no means ALL the stuff worth reading):- Dogchow was the first, but Big Lou’s version is nice, too – it’s Cortana’s voice, but who’s really speaking?
- Many, many threads are discussing the re-emergence of content from the Cortana letters, released 7 years ago, but left behind after some overzealous use by a now-ex-Bungie employee. Search for ‘Cortana Letter’, all, to find a few.
- There are lots of people happy to see the Assault Rifle back, there’s plenty of speculation about the Chief’s visor reflection, people noticed stuff like missing Banshee pilots, and there are folks looking at some of the images flashing through the trailer, attempting to decipher hidden meanings. Pixel by pixel analysis continues apace.
- Rachda and GLuebben took a look at the forerunner glyphs once again, in light of this trailer (check this post for a clearer version of GLeubben’s PDF).
Again – this is by no means a comprehensive list. Over 1200 new posts have appeared on our forum in the last 24 hours (before this announcement, we were averaging 2-300/day). It’s just a random selection of fun stuff. See what else you can find.
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Dean’s LAN Fest winners… where r ya?
Of the three lucky winners of the Dean LAN fest raffle, only ONE has replied! So please, Brian Kirchhoff and Ben Thompson, check your email and get in touch with me! If I don’t hear from you soon, you will forfeit your prize!
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Halo 3 Content Now Up
For what it’s worth: The Halo 3 content at Bungie.net is available. (Up until now, clicking any of the links in the Top Story or on B.net’s home page simply redirected to the home page… but the section is now live.) The screenshots are all from the trailer (though they’re considerably clearer than screengrabs), and the only wallpaper available is a ‘Finish the Fight’ one. The FAQ is worth reading – especially the bit about how the trailer is a real-time piece of work. That is: this trailer is NOT like the X02 trailer, which was rendered in-engine, but not in real time; this was recorded in real time, off stock Xbox 360 hardware. Yes, it looks that good.
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Halo 3 Announced, Millions Pee Their Pants
I hate to say I told you so but… I told you so. Ok I don’t hate it that much.
The fateful day has arrived and we are treated to a trailer rendered on 360 hardware with the Halo 3 engine (which means that will be the quality of the graphics and sound). 
Let us know what you think!
Hear that? That’s the sound of Podtacular shifting a lot of focus onto Halo 3 and becoming “the Halo 3 but we still play Halo 2 until it comes out show.” Or the Halo 3 show for short. For episode 63 we’ll be talking just about Halo 3, the trailer, the little nuances we find, the chatter on the web, the Bungie.net article, etc. So let us know what you think! And if you find some obscure factoid or graphic that we missed, send it on in. Just be sure to include your gamertag so we can give you credit.
Deadline to get your comments on the show is Thursday night. Ok, I need to go wash my pants now.
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Halo 3 Announced, Millions Pee Their Pants
I hate to say I told you so but… I told you so. Ok I don’t hate it that much.
The fateful day has arrived and we are treated to a trailer rendered on 360 hardware with the Halo 3 engine (which means that will be the quality of the graphics and sound). Let us know what you think!
Hear that? That’s the sound of Podtacular shifting a lot of focus onto Halo 3 and becoming “the Halo 3 but we still play Halo 2 until it comes out show.” Or the Halo 3 show for short. For episode 63 we’ll be talking just about Halo 3, the trailer, the little nuances we find, the chatter on the web, the Bungie.net article, etc. So let us know what you think! And if you find some obscure factoid or graphic that we missed, send it on in. Just be sure to include your gamertag so we can give you credit.
Deadline to get your comments on the show is Thursday night. Ok, I need to go wash my pants now.
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Content for EVERYONE
Swing by Bungie.net – now back up, and with a pretty amazing top story. The announcement trailer is available for all – in QT and WMP9 formats (with more options coming soon, looks like) – plus Screenshots, Storyboards, Wallpapers, a new FAQ, an About page, and a new forum. WONGA. Go take it all in. Update: hmm… looks like the non-trailer content isn’t actually accessible yet (I just get redirected back to the main page). Patience. 🙂 (The movie links work fine, though.)
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More Marketplace Content
For the 360 owners out there, there are even MORE goodies for you – a new Halo 3 theme and gamerpics to match. Go look.
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Halo 3 – Announced
If you’ve got a 360, jump on to Marketplace right now. You can download a 104 mb trailer for Halo3 there. (To the best of my knowledge, this is not available outside of Xbox Live’s Marketplace.) Thanks to many – looks like Dan Chosich was first.
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It’s A Shirt, Jim.
Lo, the Hype Machine Cometh. Kotaku’s got a story about a Halo 3 shirt sighting – no guarantee that the person WEARING the shirt is not a fan who made it himself, but hey – it is what it is. Only a couple more hours until the MS press conference; it’s likely we’ll know SOMETHING more by the end of it all. Thanks, Dylan Crawford.
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The WPI Map
GT Juggler has just finished up his first year at WPI, and he and some friends have released a playable map of the campus, so that EVERYONE can enjoy fragging each other at his school. The download is 24.5 mb for HaloCE, or 25.7 mb for Xbox (you’ll need a modded Xbox to play this one). There’s a movie on the site, as well, showing a runthrough of the map – it looks amazing! (WPI is like any other college in America, it seems, except that all the faculty drive red warthogs.) Check it out!
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The Valley of the Forerunners Part 11
The Valley of the Forerunners Part 11, the Conclusion of season 3, has been posted over at the Halo CE Chronicles website. A heroic sacrifice and some philosophical musings bring closure to this epic tale. Dennis Powers has posted a list of links to all parts, for folks who were waiting for the series to be complete before watching. Pick your flavor, check out how gorgeous Halo scenery can be merged with a thoughtful story.
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He’ll Make You An Offer That You Can Refuse If You Want
Halo 3 Boards has an interview with our own distinguished Louis Wu, the “Godfather of HBO” (also known as the “Legal Guardian, Babysitter, and Annoyingly Wiser Cousin of HBO”). Anyway, check it out, and take a look around there while you’re at it!
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Beautiful Needler – the Video
A year ago, Archie Gates started creating Needler songs over at Gamespot. (Unfortunately, his profile is now private, so I can’t link you there.) He’s since created 4 (search our news) – and just recently, imSuck, of HollywoodHalo, submitted ‘Beautiful Needler’, a music video based on the first Needler song, to the MPRRS. The reviewers loved it. Go grab a copy. WMP9 version is 43.2 mb, QuickTime version is 41.9 mb. Awesome, classic song, perfectly synched to Halo action. Christina would be proud. (Well, okay, maybe not – maybe she’d be like ‘OMGWTF’, but she SHOULD be proud.)
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Marvel’s HGN Ad
A couple of days ago, Ross Mills pointed out that there was an advertisement for the Halo Graphic Novel in a Marvel product he was looking at. It’s a pretty nice ad, with some heretofore unseen pics in it – so we’re putting up a copy (189K). I have trouble believing Marvel would have a problem with the free publicity.
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Shirt/Raffle Info
Thanks to all who preordered the first official HBO shirt, and entered our E3 raffles – I wanted to let you all know that the shirt is still available, but it’s no longer at pre-order pricing. (It’s now $14.89, instead of $11.29, and at the moment, only mediums and larges are available.) That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy one, though! The 3 DeanFest slots will be announced later this morning, by Mig – we’ll be picking the poster winners from the fest itself. (The raffles are now closed, if that wasn’t clear before.)
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Episode 61: Halo 3 and Amaz Show
Download | Show Notes (PDF)
It’s the Halo 3 show, where we talk about only the coolest speculation for halo 3. Just in time too, as we’ll probably hear more very shortly! As usual big thanks to Ciclonic for the editing. Hopefully we’ll get episode 62 out this week as well along with another special addition to podtacular. Also, thanks to Capnkrunk for fixing the site. I’m sure it was a pain but we appreciate all the hard work.
