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Video: The Halo Wars universe expands even further
As if we haven't already been smothered with gobs of Halo Wars footage lately, a second Halo Wars: Universe Expanded documentary has made its way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace. Us being the ninjas that we are, we captured the video and uploaded it to the internet for everyone's viewing pleasure.Just like the first Universe Expanded vid, this second ViDoc talks about the scope of the Halo Wars story, explains the key players involved and Adam Sessler is seen expressing himself using grand hand gestures. It's a great watch and a superb example of how to artistically decorate a film set using honeycomb shapes.
X3F TV -- Behold: The Halo Wars Limited Edition unboxing
Joystiq Xbox presents to you the fantabulous Halo Wars Limited Edition unboxing video. Gasp as you see the iron-on patch unveiled. Scream as you eye the coveted Mythic Map Pack DLC redemption card. Shriek as you peer at naked Elite flesh in the graphic novel (no, seriously).If none of that works for you, you could always just watch the video in thoughtful silence. You should definitely watch it, though.[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon).[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Halo Wars includes final farewell from Ensemble Studios
With today's (North American) release of Halo Wars, we thought we'd share Ensemble Studios' heartfelt goodbye message included in the game's end credits. The video, which shares the same sentimental weight as Bruce Shelley's final remarks, starts with a message to all of Ensemble's fans and is followed by individual notes from everyone on the development team.We wish the best of luck to everyone who was a part of the team at Ensemble Studios and hope success follows with their new ventures.
Killzone 2 is UK's 4th fastest-selling Sony title, Halo Wars is best-selling console RTS
This past week saw a massive resupply of ammunition for both the Sony and Microsoft fanboys on the treacherous European front of the current console war -- first of all, the highly anticipated Killzone 2 nabbed the top spot in the ELSPA GfK ChartTrack Top 40, and became the fourth fastest-selling Sony-published title ever released in the UK. Its first place finish in the Top 40 charts gave it an edge over number two finisher Halo Wars. You read that right, people. Killzone 2 has become, as many of its zealous acolytes claimed it would, a "Halo killer."However, the situation isn't exactly grim for said murdered Halo title -- within its launch week, it became the UK's best-selling console RTS to date, beating out former leader Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars by a three-to-one margin. So ... we guess Halo is a "Command and Conquer killer," now? We're not sure. All this inter-franchise homicide is hard to keep track of.
GameStop plans nationwide Halo Wars midnight launch events
This coming Monday, March 2 at around 10 pm, over 2,000 GameStop stores Stateside will be hosting Halo Wars midnight launch events.No, there won't be a DJ or any beverages being served at these gatherings. Instead, GameStop plans on wooing midnight launch goers with trivia challenges, a dress up contest, some sort of Warthog races and (because it's Halo'verse related) a Halo 3 tournament. Some attendees can even win (get this) a Halo themed Xbox 360 skin. We only hope their employees are prepared for the influx of fanboys that will descend on their teeny-tiny establishments.A list of stores participating in the midnight launch can be viewed here (PDF alert), but we recommend giving your local GameStop a ringle-jingle. Also, if one night of Halo Wars excitement just isn't enough to satisfy, be sure to check out their pre-launch Halo Wars tournament that takes place this weekend.
Video: The expanded Halo universe of Halo Wars
With the release of Halo Wars less than a week away, Microsoft has released a new video examining the expanded Halo universe present in the game. Believe it or not, Halo actually has a very detailed background. Over the years, it's been laid out in books, graphic novels, comic books and even ARGs. Still, for a great deal of Halo fans, Halo Wars will be the first time players get to experience the history behind the first three games.Check out the video and learn your Halo history, because it's much more fun than learning about real history.
GameStop hosts Halo Wars pre-launch tournament
GameStop is holding a tournament in Halo Wars throughout 1,000 of its stores in the U.S. this Saturday, February 28, 2009. It's a single-elimination, one-on-one tournament that should start at 2pm (call your local store for the exact time). Each store's winner will walk away with a copy of Halo Wars CE and a T-shirt. 2nd place winners will receive a T-shirt and a long, quiet ride home in mom's minivan.For the full list of participating stores, entry stipulations, as well as FAQs, click here.%Gallery-1676%
Even more of your Halo Wars questions answered
Technightly posted an extensive Halo Wars Q&A that aims to answer some common and rather peculiar game-related inquiries. The list of 74 questions covers topics from UNSC and Covenant unit details, to the explanation of Flood's involvement in multiplayer. If there's a random Halo Wars question in need of answering, reading through this informative Q&A would be a good place to start. Then again, one could wait a week for the game's retail release to become an all-knowing Halo Wars expert.[Thanks, Mills]
UK woman is most definitely, absolutely the #1 Halo Wars fan -- 100 percent confirmed!
In all of our time playing Halo online (68,873 combined hours, to be exact), we've encountered numerous people who say they are females, but we know the truth: girls don't play games ... ever. Also, they have cooties. Our world has been flipped upside down, though, thanks to south Londoner Amanda Johnstone. She apparently likes Halo Wars -- a lot. Amanda loves the game so much that she doesn't mind having 5 of the same poster on her wall. She's that into it. Pay no mind to the fact that the game comes out in the UK next week. This isn't a promotional thing. Amanda actually owns 8 Halo Wars cups and sits around in her short-shorts and Halo Wars tanktop all the time. It's a way of life for her.Source (NSFW) - UK Resistance
The life and death of Ensemble Studios
Maybe its staff wasn't surprised, but it was quite a shock to us when the plug was pulled on Ensemble Studios five months before the release of its baby, Halo Wars. Now, after reading a post-mortem delivered by studio founder Bruce Shelley yesterday at D.I.C.E., we finally feel like we have a firmer grasp on exactly what went wrong.It seems that not just one factor was behind Ensemble's demise, everything from lack of diversification to fragmentation among the staff played a role. If you're as curious as we are about how a profitable studio can still go under, you should absolutely give his discussion a look.
Joystiq Review: Halo Wars
click to enlarge Halo Wars is a loaded game. For one, it's the first Halo title developed outside of Bungie, and you can bet Microsoft doesn't want anyone killing its golden goose. Furthermore, the developers have touted the control scheme since the game was first announced, allowing myself and others to hope that it might, just might, do for console RTS games what Halo did for console FPS games. And then, of course, it's the last game from Ensemble Studios ... ever. That's a lot to live up to.%Gallery-45393%
Ensemble Studio vets start a Bonfire
And then there were two. Two studios born out of the still smoldering embers of Ensemble Studios, that is. Last week it was Robot Entertainment, founded by the man behind Ensemble, Tony Goodman. Now introducing: Bonfire Studios, a start-up staffed by 35 former Ensemble employees and established by David Rippy, a lead producer on Halo Wars.In fact, all of Bonfire's employees had a hand in the creation of Halo Wars, which streets on March 3. The studio, based in Dallas, TX, is at work on an original IP -- genre unknown -- described on its site as "fast, fun and addictive," with "an in-depth story, combat and game play."Speaking about the pair of phoenixes rising from Ensemble's ashes, Rippy said that, "Ensemble had an incredible group of highly talented people and the companies coming out of it are really made up of the best of the best," adding, "Ensemble was one of the few studios with two A-teams." Now we have what will (hopefully) be two ... A-studios.
Ensemble gives strategic advice in Halo Wars ViDoc 4
The fourth and final Halo Wars video documentary (the cool kids call 'em ViDocs) just made its way online. This time, Ensemble Studios talks about the design process, how much enjoyment can be had with the various multiplayer modes and a few Ensemble members even detail their personal Halo Wars strategy. Pottinger's plan that involves two Scarabs firing blue death like an uncontrollable fire hose is pure strategic genius.
Robot to develop further Halo Wars content, new IP
Recently formed Robot Entertainment has answered the question of who's going to support Halo Wars after its launch on March 3: the people who made it. Robot -- created by ex Ensemble Studios staff, including its founder, Tony Good -- will not only provide online support and community management for the Halo universe RTS, but will be working with Microsoft Game Studios to create future content for the game.Robot will also be working with MGS on the Ensemble-created Age of Empires franchise going forward, with the intent to handle support for current and future titles in the series. In a release issued today, the developer also announced that it has begun work on a new project based on an original IP. Given the various unannounced projects revealed when Ensemble closed its doors, we'd be surprised if this new game turns out to be another RTS.
Ensemble Studios founder creates Robot Entertainment
It's been just under two weeks since Age of Empires and Halo Wars developer Ensemble Studios closed its doors and already one of the two previously announced development studios springing from its demise is forming like Voltron -- appropriately, they've named the new studio Robot Entertainment. Tony Goodman, founder of Ensemble Studios way back in January of 1996, appears to be heading up the studio, whose website promises "big ideas" and ... well ... not much else. Will Robot Entertainment be the studio supporting development of the promised Halo Wars dlc? That remains to be seen but, given co-founder Bruce Shelley's words last month in his final blog post on the community site (which is now shut down), there's roughly a 50/50 chance: "There are at least two new studios being formed by ES [Ensemble Studios] employees and I expect both to do very well." We've put in word to Robot Entertainment for comment and will update this post accordingly as news comes in.[Via Gamasutra] [image]
Ensemble talks controls in Halo Wars ViDoc 3
The third in the Halo Wars video documentary series has been released. The third ViDoc centers around the game's control scheme, which was crafted from the ground up for the Xbox 360. The boys (formerly) from Ensemble Studios discuss how the control scheme came about and explain some of its nuances, such as the circle menu. Sure, you could watch the video to learn about the history of Halo Wars, or you could just watch it to see tiny men slaughter each other. We won't judge.[Thanks, Sgt Barone]
Halo Wars demo enlists over 2 million recruits
With news that the Halo Wars demo on Xbox Live has been downloaded over 2 million times, we tried to think about the why. Why would over 2 million gamers check out this particular demo? We came up with a few reasons: Xbox owners enjoy free demos Xbox owners enjoy games with Halo in the title Xbox owners enjoy free demos of games with Halo in the title So, as you can see, it's really anyone's guess as to why the demo has become so popular. As soon as we find out that why though, we'll be sure to let you know.
Brick by brick preview of Halo Wars Mega Bloks
Action-Figure.com just posted a few pre-release photos of this Summer's upcoming Halo Wars Mega Bloks and, yes, they're mildly cute. You know, in a blocky, mini-fig kind of way. Per the preview photos, we can confirm that most of the iconic Halo characters (and vehicles) will be Mega Blok'ed. Spartans, Elites, Grunts, Warthogs, Ghosts, Hornets, Scorpions and even Banshees are all there. Our only question: Will the building instructions be presented in a radial pie menu? [Thanks, sambob117]
Listen up! Halo Wars soundtrack debuts on AOL Radio
Even though Monday has all but expired, there's still time to catch a preview of the upcoming Halo Wars soundtrack. All day today, AOL's Video Game Scores channel is exclusively debuting Spartan-inspired songs from the album. The tracks will air every hour, on the hour throughout the evening.The Halo Wars soundtrack will be releasing to stores February 17th, which means it'll be available just in time to melodically accompany your Halo Wars gaming this March and your Mega Blok construction this Summer.
Halo Wars trailer advises us to 'command the forces'
Much like your backseat gamer girlfriend during intense Halo 3 sessions, Halo Wars finally lets you shunt Spartans around, telling them to shoot over here and hide over there. You can experience the real-time stategery for yourself in today's Halo Wars demo, or check out the latest trailer embedded above. "Command the forces" strikes us as particularly helpful advice.If you'd like even more, you can access the official Halo Wars manual at Xbox.com (PDF) -- it's not like you'll read the copy included with the game next month.
