Wow. This blows me away. Xbox 360, an Xbox news site, has recently (December 16, 2000) put up a preview of Halo. Given the date, and the focus of the site, you’d think they had current info, right? You’d be wrong. The few screenshots up are all using the pre-E3 models, the background (while nominally accurate) is all a year or more old… ah, well, to be expected from a review that promises

While no official list of weapons is available, several of them have been seen in action, and yes, one of them is a rocket-launcher.

I’m wondering if this article is a harbinger of a wave of under-researched pieces… was the early press Halo got going to be a hindrance?

Griffon writes to tell us that Halo Command Central will be closing for the holidays. They hope to be back up soon with new features. Have a merry one!

fAt, of MPZ Halo, sends word that FGN Online has an article suggesting that the Xbox will be delayed in Europe for as long as 3 months past the US release. There must be a big router out between FGN and here, because I can’t reach the site at all… but Daily Radar has a similar article, with some US commentary – apparently, the theory is that the delay is specifically to avoid shortage problems like those faced by Sony with its Playstation 2. This doesn’t seem to be affecting the US rollout date, and in fact might even bump it up, now that Microsoft isn’t going to be trying to coordinate a worldwide simultaneous rollout. Since the concern is a hardware shortage, and not a technical glitch, it will likely not affect the PC/Mac versions of Halo, either. Or… at least, that’s OUR guess. (If we’re wrong, we’ll hang Crux by his thumbs, and everyone can take a shot at him.)

If Hamish can do it, so can we. We’ve put up our holiday decorations, in honor of the first day of Winter (in the northern hemisphere, at least). Now I just need to finish hanging those lights on my REAL house…

Heh… seems Matt agreed with my dissatisfaction with the chat… he posted this note a few minutes after it ended. 🙂 More prep next time…

An hour late, but better than never. The log from the IGN chat this evening on IRC has been cleaned up a bit, and formatted for slightly easier reading. The format of the chat left quite a bit to be desired… but there’s some nice info nonetheless. Give it a read… and be ready with your tough questions for the next one!

The Land of the Xbox… where rumors are killed faster than we can propagate them! Monday, Gameweek.com reported that Microsoft might be bumping the processor in the Xbox up to 1 GHz, or even higher. We missed it, until this morning… and now we’ve noticed that Daily Radar contacted MS yesterday, and got a resounding ‘NO!’ in respsonse. The 733 MHz chip is still in the cards. We’ll try to get you the juiciest rumors BEFORE they’ve been debunked next time.

If you can’t invent it yourself, find someone who can. That seems to be the theory behind the wing contrails in this Tribes 2 screenshot… though I think even the July 99 Halo versions were more believable. Thanks to MakeMineRed, for the forum heads-up.

POLL SMASH! Kudos to Simon for pointingout another poll this time at MacAddict.

“What’s the best first-person shooter of all time?”

Marathon is listed along with UT, Quake 3 Arena, and Doom. Quick someone tell Hamish. 😉

YABR over at the Marathon’s Story page. FWIW Yet Another Blam Reference. This one appears in Oni’s ‘crash’ dialog box. FYI Blam was the codename for Halo and has featured in many Bungie games! BYMD. Pax.

Kudos to Tantalum-=SUN=- for passing on the detailsof the IGN chat with Bungie.

Where: Chat.Ign.Com
When: Wednesday, December 20th at 6pm PST
Who: Lead Designer John Howard, and Matt Soell from Bungie

That’s TOMORROW!

Is Louis back?

Poll Smash! Thanks to Scott Cline, who pointed out that Gamespot is running a new poll, as part of it’s article, “What game are you most looking forward to next year?” Halo’s on the list…but currently trailing by over 300 votes. show ’em who cares!

What color is blood? Covenant blood that is. Do the Covenant bleed? Is there blood in Halo?These are the questions raised by Darkk in thispiece:

The covenant at 00:01:06 in the full E3 movie bleed blue when shot in the head. The covenant at 00:05:38 start out showing light blue hits but at00:05:39 loose purple blood.

I think the light blue hits are made on an energy shield, and the fact that hits on the marine register blue (00:08:54) indicates they have an energy shield too.
As for the blue blood at the start, I think it’s the combination of the colors of the energy shield and the blood, or maybe cranial fluid (thosewere head shots).

Got an opinion? Then head on over to our forum. Pax.

We are rabid fans! Jesterpoints us to the first lines of a Daily Radar reviewwhich goes:

The big developers like Blizzard, id and Bungie are strangely “lucky” enough to have truly rabid fans. These people are the hardcore first adopters who frequent the forums, wax the web pages andgenerally keep their developer heroes on their toes.

HBO Spin: Toes! You should see Matt’s dancing feet!

Kaidu sends word that Halo Tiphas added an Event Calendar to their site. Pax.

News flash – Bungie Studios investigated by SPCA officials for alleged improprieties involving small canines. Peter Marks, a Bungie employee, was heard mumbling something about “[deleted] poodles” when asked about the various anatomical parts found on the premises.

According to a MSXbox news item Microsoft may be revealing Xbox at the Computer Electronics Showon January 6th. Bill Gates will be a keynote speaker. And what better way to demo the real thing than with a demo of Halo. Remember the reaction at MacWorld Expo New York 1999 when Jason unvealedHalo? If it happens the HBO crew will be there bringing you the latest info and pictures. Pax.

Beta test Halo? Thanks to Picky who points out in our forums thatMicrosoft have a Playtest sign-up form for their Playtest programwhich includes Xbox games. However to qualify you must live in the Seattle/Puget Sound region ANDbe over 13 years of age or older. Well that rules out half the HBO staff for a start! 🙁 Pax.