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I never thought I'd see Master Chief drive around Northumberland
Halo's armored hero, Master Chief, has fought the Covenant on a raft of planets throughout the galaxy. One place the super-soldier hasn't visited, though, is a village called Bamburgh on the northeast coast of England. That is, until now. At Gamescom 2018, I was shown a special Halo event that will appear in Forza Horizon 4 later this year. The course, presented as a virtual "training exercise," lets you drive the rugged Warthog through dense forests and sandy beaches. It looked like terrific fun and will, if nothing else, be a nice distraction while fans wait for Halo Infinite.
There’s a tiny Master Chief etched inside the Xbox One X
The Xbox One X, Microsoft's mid-generation answer to the PlayStation 4 Pro, is launching next month. The $500 system is a more powerful version of the Xbox One that will "enhance" games up to 4K and 60 frames per second. Other than its beefier specs, we haven't learned much about the new console, but YouTuber unocero got one early and popped it open and found a couple surprises -- namely, a depiction of Halo's Master Chief riding a scorpion that's etched into the system's circuit board.
The 'Halo 5: Guardians' soundtrack gives fans what they want
When Microsoft's in-house Halo studio 343 Industries took the franchise over from creator Bungie, it made a bold statement by abandoning longtime composer Marty O'Donnell's iconic score for one mostly written by Neil Davidge of the English trip-hop group Massive Attack. Think of it like Disney replacing John Williams' iconic Star Wars score with something by Randy Newman and you're about halfway there. His changes were drastic, eschewing established musical tropes for something simultaneously foreign and familiar, leaving no sacred cows behind. It was a ballsy move, and at the time 343's freshman bravado made a statement about how it would handle the franchise moving forward. But something happened in the three-year gap between then and now: 343 released Halo: The Master Chief Collection to disastrous technical results. How broken that game was (and in some cases still is) had an effect on the development team, and likely killed some of its confidence.
This is the 'Halo 5: Guardians' collector's edition statue
$250 worth of static love from Master Chief.
Halo 5 lands on Xbox One this October 27th
Ready for the next installment of Halo? The bad news is you still have a seven-month wait on your hands, but at least it's a concrete release date, right? Right? The news coincides with a new in-game teaser for Halo 5, with Master Chief et al. attempting to emote again --still while cocooned in giant spacesuit helmets. Hashtags have been readied, as have faux docu-diary tumblr blogs. But you'd probably like to see that trailer before diving down that particular rabbit hole; it's right after the break.
'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' needs 20GB day-one patch
When the long-awaited Halo: The Master Chief Collection gets released next month, the first thing players will have to do is download what's estimated to be a 20GB update, according to developer 343 Industries. The day-one patch, which is required to unlock multiplayer and add other features, isn't particularly shocking when you consider that this a 4-in-1 title -- still, that's asking for a lot of hard drive space from users. "Our philosophy has been to give Halo fans the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the collection," Dan Ayoub, Halo External Development's studio head, wrote in a blog post. "The result is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single Blu-ray (45 GB)." In addition, Ayoub let it be known that Spartan Ops, a co-op mode for Halo 4, won't be coming to The Master Chief Collection until December, which will likely disappoint a few fans of the franchise. But, most importantly, how do you feel? Let us know in the comments section.
Halo 3 marketing designed to not make Master Chief a 'reckless American cowboy'
At the MI6 marketing conference in San Francisco, GameDaily reports on how Halo 3's marketing molded the image of Master Chief. Jerret West, global group product manager at Microsoft, explains they didn't want to portray Master Chief "as a reckless American cowboy." They needed him to be accepted as a savior of humanity and integrate Halo into pop culture. West notes the team had pop culture benchmarks like making the cover of Time or Wired, and worked with numerous other companies to push marketing ideas. Chris Lee, a product manager from Microsoft, points out that Halo didn't have an awareness problem, it had a perception problem for being too hardcore. Looks like the team's efforts to make the Master Chief mainstream worked out. Halo 3 ended up becoming one of the best selling games last year.
The Master Chief vacuum totally sucks
Everybody knows that vacuum designers can draw inspiration from pretty much anywhere. How many times have you passed an odd man or woman staring at some feature of the landscape, lost in their own world and thought "I bet that's a vacuum designer." All the time, right? Well, finally, vacuum designers are turning their keen eye to video games for inspiration with the Samsung Silencio SC9540 which looks, well, a lot like Master Chief's helmet. First soda, now vacuums, is there anything that guy can't do? (Besides, obviously, taking his helmet off.) Now, we know the fine people of Samsung can't exactly start branding this with a Halo logo, but if we see one ad that tells us it's time to "Finish the fight ... against dust and allergens" we're going to be sorely tempted to finally invest in a vacuum.[Thanks, eldee]
Samsung Silencio vacuum looks like that Master Chief guy
It takes a lot to differentiate a given vacuum cleaner in today's high-tech world of Dysons and Roombas, so kudos to Samsung for attempting to appeal to the gaming crowd by designing a model shaped like a popular Xbox character. The Silencio SC9540 packs in all the high-end features you'd expect from a TV manufacturer making vacuums -- cyclonic suction, HEPA filter, super-special silver nanoparticle coating -- yet really stands out due to its rather striking resemblance to that dude from the Halo games. Samsung's Master Chief vacuum cleaner: Kills dirt. Dead. With a plasma rifle.[Via Slashgear]
Master Chief speed painting is incredible
We'll admit that sometimes we start to think a little too highly of ourselves. We'll just be sitting in the back of the limo popping Cristal with Shiggy and Mario or getting massages with CliffyB, and we'll all of a sudden realize that we're getting above our raising, as they say. Luckily, YouTuber macpulenta's striking drawing of Master Chief is there to remind us that Ben Folds had it right - there's always someone cooler than you.His art is fantastic, that's a given. But the special thing about macpulenta should become pretty quickly. Namely: He's a drawing android. Or he's using magic. If there's any other excuse for the speed with which he's able to render our favorite Spartan, we'd love to hear it. [Thanks, Moo]
Active camouflage Spartan from McFarlane toys
Expanding on their series of Halo 3 dolls, McFarlane toys started pre-orders today on the Halo 3 Active Camouflage Spartan figure. The action figure is modeled after the EVA Armor and will not be sold in stores. Pre-order registration begins today and runs through Dec. 12, the figure will be available in May '08.McFarlane also produced a set of Halo 3 controllers and a slew of other Halo figures. Wonder if McFarlane will come out with a Halo camouflage controller, which would consist of two clear pieces of plastic as the controller's body? Easy money.[Thanks TMD]
Today's apologetic video: Blame Halo 3
When he's not bringing Shatner back, MySpace user, James at War turns Akon's apologetic anthem, Sorry Blame Me, into a Halo 3 tribute. And while it's an attempt to appease the videogame widows as much a song about the game, notice how the lyrics never take responsibility; you can sense the singer slinking back to the game during the slow fade-out. Yes, that sounds like a typical gamer to us. Watch the music video after the break, and hum it to your loved ones.
Video: Master Chief Sucks at Halo 3
As satires of Halo culture go, the Master Chief Sucks series is pretty damned spot on, and the third entry is no exception.So, you all remember how much Master Chief sucked at the Halo 3 beta, right? And of course he sucked at Halo 2 as well. Well, now Halo 3 is finally here and he's putting it to the test. Far be it from us to spoil such a momentous occasion, but he sucks at Halo 3 as well. Still, the Chief manages to pull off an actual headshot. Yes, you heard that right. A headshot. So, what else can he do but make his own 1337 montage video? Nothing, that's what. Check out the video above. If you need a refresher on the first two episodes, find them embedded after the break. [Via Joystiq]
Today's sequelier video: Master Chief Sucks At Halo 3
Well, you thought maybe he was down for the count with the release of Halo 3, right? Master Chief would be far too busy to make a sequel. Perhaps even too busy to utter a single lolololololol. Well, you were wrong. Here's the proof. He's been drinking Halo 3 Mountain Dew, reading Halo novels, and wearing the Halo 3 helmet.You get to see how Master Chief puts his little videos together, how he types, and how l33t he is. Just check out the headshot he manages to get. We can hardly wait for Master Chief Sucks At Halo 4. There's gonna be one, right? RIGHT?! We'll be here, waiting. If you haven't seen the original Master Chief Sucks At Halo, or the sequel, then you've been missing out. Check 'em out, and then take a gander at part three.
"Halo 3, please. Oh, and a Wii."
In attending a few select Japanese stores on the morning of the launch of some game starring some guy about rings in space or something (the kids keep calling it Halo 3, but we've never heard of it), Kotaku found that many consumers also took the opportunity to purchase a Wii. As big fans of the console, we're always glad to see more people picking it up and checking out all of the awesome stuff available on the platform.But, it's such a night and day thing. When picking up a game for Microsoft's system, why would they also pick up a Wii console? Also, it might sadden a few of you still on the hunt to know that the Japanese retail outlets that the Kotaku folk visited were chock full of consoles, almost stacked to the heavens.
Joystiq megareview: Halo 3 campaign
Years of waiting have lead to hours upon hours of gaming and finally, we here at Joystiq are prepared to weigh in with our final judgements of what is easily the biggest event of the year: Halo 3. For our megareview, we've gathered three of our writers, each with his own unique perspective of the Halo 3 campaign. James Ransom-Wiley is our most learned reviewer, having been locked in a small room with Halo 3 weeks before most had even managed to get it leaked into their hands. From there, Jason Dobson fills the role of 'teh n00b' -- his Halo experience can be summed up in a single statement: Um, I know it's a space-alien shooter... Finally, yours truly, Jared Rea, is the be-all-end-all Master Chief groupie. Shall we proceed? %Gallery-2155%
Master Chief papercraft is pinnacle of sadness
Oh cruel fate! Here we are, delivering this exquisite Master Chief papercraft to you complete with instructions, and the only people who would likely take the time to replicate something like this are, you know, playing Halo 3. Bitter irony, thy name is papercraft.Luckily, the artist's work does not have to be in vain. Laymen like us can appreciate the wood pulp-based sculpture from afar without having to actually pick up the scissors and glue. ... Come to think of it, when the Halo dolls become sentinent (and they will) it's probably better that we have as few of these things lying around as possible.[Via Wonderland]
Today's one-to-one-scale video: Fan-made Halo helmet
We looked for something unrelated to Halo for our video pick, but eventually just learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. This Spike TV GameHead clip shows Halo fan, Devin White's rough process in creating Master Chief armor. (We'd call it cosplay, but that's like calling G.I. Joe a doll.) White casts molds from his clay sculptures to create plastic, glistening armor and helmets.The race is on to hollow-out the Legendary box into a small, pet-wearable helmet. Watch this fan build a human-wearable one from scratch after the break.
Analysts: Halo 3 shipping 4.2 million first week; Xbox may finally show profit
So there's this Halo 3 launch thing going on and it's apparently big, so big that firm Goldman Sachs projects it might actually bring Microsoft's Xbox division into "slight profitability." Analysts for the firm say that Microsoft will ship 4.2 million copies of Halo by the end of September. Even if all those were the normal $60 version that's still $252 million. Microsoft's fiscal quarter ends at the end of the week and the game is expected to bring in $170 million by then, meaning the Xbox division will have its first quarter of profitability since the launch of the original Xbox. It's back to black baby -- for now.The September NPD numbers expected in mid October will be incredibly interesting in terms of the Halo effect. Halo 3 is guaranteed to be the top selling game (only an act of whatever deity you believe in could stop that at this point), but we're more interested to see the Xbox 360 sales figures. Goldman Sachs expects the momentum of the Halo launch to last well into next year. Wait, hold up ... are they saying Microsoft could have two profitable quarters in the Xbox's entertainment and devices division? *faint*[Via GameDaily]
Today's most awkward video: Master Chief and your girlfriend
We can't figure what's more awkward about this "Halo Nights" music video: the idea of walking in and catching Spartan 117 feeling up your girlfriend with a plasma grenade, or the horrible dancing and singing done for the sake of satire. Either way, it's not a video you're going to want to watch more than once, so be sure to appreciate the actually-impressive Master Chief costume as it blue-screen boogies to the beat of Team Tiger Awesome. Awkwardness abounds after the break.
