For a long time now the HBO crew have been systematically searching the Bungie trash cans forclues to the identity of the Bungie Webmaster. Since the move to Redmond howeverwe’ve had to wait in line to get at them. But today we edge that bit closer to the tru7h! Hamish *insert Souless death cry here* Sinclair over at the Marathon’s Story pagenoted a post by Nathan Bitner on R.net where he lets slip a name. And that name is Matt. Hamish asks “Is the Bungie Webmaster Matt Soell?”.

HBO spin… we get dizzy and fall down!

More Bitner news… The Story page (busy today!) received another note from Nathan about his new company, now (almost) officially known as Island Four Software. There’s some info on the platform choices, and the tidbit that in anticipation of the multiplayer aspect, IslandFour.net has been registered as well. This seems to be a company dedicated to bringing good stories to life:

Island Four Software Corp. is dedicated to bringing you an exciting EXPERIENCE that captures the imagination not only of our unique employees, but also of the unique gamers. That imagination will create and enhance our gameplay. Island Four will create experiences that “you can’t put down,” just like your favorite book.

We certainly wish him the best of luck – his success is our gain! Read the full letter at the Marathon’s Story page.

Hamish Sinclair has added a new screenshot to his ‘Ring Motif in Halo‘ section of the Marathon’s Story page… it backs up the theory that the glyphs strewn around the Halo’s structures were put there by the builders, not the Covenant. Amazing what turns up in movies…

Massa, of Halo Network, points out that Giga Games, a German television show dedicated to videogames, did an interview with Boris Schneider-Johne, a Microsoft Xbox PR rep, who stated that the PC version of Halo will follow the Xbox version by 3 or 4 months, with the bulk of the time being spent on multiplayer. This info was reported by Gamestar.de (and gibes well with what is known here).

Thanks to J Moyer, who noticed that EBWorld.com actually has a mockup of the Halo Strategy Guide cover mentioned last week. It’s old artwork, so it’s most likely not the final product… but interesting nonetheless. (Does it mean that Sybex isn’t doing the Xbox version, or that EBWorld is just focusing on the PC side?)

Wow. Talk about quick… yesterday, Josh Inglima, aka 3of9, a regular to the R.net community forum, registered islandfour.org:

IslandFour.org is here to provide news, rumors, gossip and anything that seems somewhat related to the new gaming company Island Four.

OK, so it may seem a little premature to launch a news site for a company that isn’t even officially named…but I have a good feeling about this one.

Now THAT, my friends, is confidence in a new company. Today, NetSol’s database was updated to reflect that Nathan Bitner registered islandfour.com. Islandfour.net is still available. Thanks to Pallor for the heads-up.

Last week, HaloWar posted a story saying someone had sent in the cover to the Halo Game Guide. Today, Halo Center has an interesting bit on the origins of that image. If at first you don’t succeed…

Dink!… The Halo SETI Marines fall yet ANOTHER notch in the Battle of the Teams… down to 47th position (and 80th on the full Teams list). Ouch! We lost And0, but gained Lacrymosa, a net gain of 500 units. Those Covenant soldiers are coming, marines… see who’s trying to do something about it on the 7 day stats page.

Chris Cox has submitted part 2 of his Warrior saga, a tale told from the point of view of a Covenant officer. Nicely written… definitely worth a read! You’ll find it in our Fan Fiction section.

Nathan Bitner (former Producer and Creative Developer of Halo) sent us along this cryptic note:

I haven’t forgot about you or your gifts, but have been waiting for theannouncement that I made at approximately 6 a.m., Sunday Morning, December3, 2000.

The message was sent only to Hamish, but you are the only other “entity” whoknows it’s coming (bungie.org that is).

The secret of Island Four, of Sharon and the Burger Pimp, of Cortana even(maybe), will “soon” be revealed. Feel free to post the message to yoursite and pass it around. Hamish should have it up shortly.

Best Wishes and Peace to all of You,

Nathan

If you’re confused then head on over to the Marathon’s Story page to read Nathan’s announcement. A new gaming company called “Island Four” devoted to games thattell stories. And what’s with that secret email address?!

Thanks to Lophan for a random Halo sighting: CNET GameCenter did an article called ‘Kick Ass and Take Names: Five New Action Games Examined‘. Halo wasn’t one of the five, but at the bottom of each page of the article is a small box called ‘Rumors and Innuendos’… and Halo gets the nod on page 4:

Ever since Microsoft bought Bungie Software earlier this year, the world hasn’t seen a whole lot of Halo, Bungie’s highly anticipated action game. It’s probably a safe bet that the game will be a launch title for Microsoft’s Xbox, but mum’s been the word regarding the status of the PC version (although Bungie’s declaration that the game will still be available for the Mac gives us hope).

Nice to know that even the big boys don’t know much. 🙂

Heavy machinery? Matt Soell’s weekly report is back after its holiday hiatus, and it’s intriguing. The rewritten Halo engine has now surpassed the rendering ability of its predecessor… how far can they push it? Read all the goodness for yourselves.

Québec64.com, a french-language Nintendo64 site, seems to have posted an image of an Xbox prototype design. It’s much more believable than the ice-cream-sandwich-looking thing Daily Radar commented on last week… I can’t seem to find the news on Québec64.com’s site right now, so here’s a copy that Magic Box, another N64 site, put up. (Thanks to Nijhazer for the heads-up.)

Kudos to Jon Chang, who points out a Halo mention in a New York Times Online article on cinematics in video games. (You’ll need to sign up for a (free) account to be able to see this.) The article discusses ‘parallels between the movie market and the game market’, and points to Halo as an example:

In Halo, a futuristic Earth-versus- Them shooter and strategy game scheduled for release early next year by Bungie, the computer-generated preview that sets up the game lasts for nine minutes.

An interesting read, overall… makes me drool for the work that Joe Staten and Marty O’Donnell are doing right now!

In a reply to a reader’s letter at the MSXBox site it was reported that Halo might be one of the titles to accompany the Xbox launch. Here’s the fullreply to the readers question:

The Xbox will hit the UK around the same time it is released to the rest of the world. No more reading about experiences of gamers from other countries who get systems earlier than the UK. While the launch list for games is not finalized, it seems the most likely games, according to early indications, that will accompany the Xbox launch are Halo, New Legends, Oddworld : Munch’s Oddysee, and several Microsoft sports titles.

HBO spin: Halo may actually be bundled with XBox which makes sense since it’s a Microsoft title. Also since you won’t be able to play Halo without the Xbox hardwareit’s certainly consumer friendly to throw in a few games as well.

Haloplayers has put up some alternate links for the Incite movie that is no longer available from its original source. It’s WAY out of date now, but there are lots of fans who want to see EVERYTHING. Thanks, HP!

Diogo Barbosa has submitted another version of his beach-scene wallpaper. You’ll find it on our Wallpaper page.

Yeah, we said the first chapter was short… but the second followed 6 hours later, so we forgive. One Who Knows has submitted his second installment of his ongoing saga… check it out in our Fan Fiction section! (Remember, you can always use the “More by this author” link that follows each story to read them all, in chronological order, on one page.)

ParaDoxX writes to say that CrimsonRush.com has decided that Halo and Tribes II are the future of gaming, and therefore plans to spend much more time covering them. Stop by for the latest info.

Thanks to One Who Knows, who submitted the first (very short) chapter of a work-in-progress… check it out in our Fan Fiction section!