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Halo: Eye of the Storm is anything but calm
You know, the younger crowd has more ways than ever to pay homage to their favorite games. Back in our day, the only "machinima" we could produce were crude sketches of Chrono and the Battletoads in our Trapper Keeper. Now kids can produce short films about their favorite game using their favorite game! And that's pretty much what Halo: Eye of the Storm is. Created under Microsoft's Game Content Usage Rules in Halo 3, this 22 minute epic re-imagines the events of The Storm, the game's fifth campaign mission. In his submission email to Joystiq, creator Philip Kang told us it took over two years to create Eye of the Storm. He had to play through the same mission over 100 times trying to get the AI to do specific things necessary for each shot. Actors, right? In the end, it was all worth it: Kang's created a video masterpiece, now featured on a website our friend's uncle once called "a website."
PSA: Canadian 250GB Xbox 360 bundle with 5 games now available
Do you come from the school of thought that equates "free stuff" with "money saved"? Is a $20 gift card as good as $20 off? Did you buy that useless robotic vacuum dog because it was so steeply discounted you'd practically lose money not buying it? We understand your plight, friend. And if you're Canadian, we think we've got a deal for you. News broke yesterday that our gentle neighbors to the north would be alone in getting the above limited edition Xbox 360 bundle which, while still $300, manages to throw enough free stuff in there that we're actively considering a pricey Canadian road trip –-- we'd practically lose money if we didn't buy it! Your $300 nets you a 250GB Xbox 360 S console, and full game downloads of Halo 3, Gears of War 2, Fable 3, Halo Wars, and the excellent Alan Wake. And, beginning today, it's available at Canadian retailers like Future Shop and Best Buy. It's not a price cut, but who needs cash off when you could get that much free stuff? [Thanks, MakoXL.]
Xbox 250GB bundle throws in Alan Wake, Gears 2, and 3 more [update: Canada only]
Reader Darren Christie tweeted a rather official-looking image of a new Xbox 360 bundle. According to the picture, taken at the Future Shop store in which Christie works, the new package includes a 250GB Xbox 360 console and download codes for five of its biggest games: Alan Wake, Halo 3, Halo Wars, Fable 3, and Gears of War 2. In addition to being big in terms of profile, they're also big in terms of file size, with the box warning that these games will occupy 29.51 GB on the hard drive. Christie told us that the bundle will be released tomorrow for $299.99. He is located in Canada, so it's possible this hardware package is a Canadian-only promotion. We've checked in with Microsoft to get the details. Just to be safe, maybe you should wait a day or so before buying an Xbox. Update: Shacknews received confirmation from Microsoft that this bundle is exclusive to Canada, out tomorrow, and available for a limited time.
Half-Minute Halo: An Interview with Jaime Griesemer
"In Halo 1, there was maybe 30 seconds of fun that happened over and over and over and over again. And so, if you can get 30 seconds of fun, you can pretty much stretch that out to be an entire game." Or maybe even five games. The succinct secret to Halo's success, that half minute of fun, has long been a mantra repeated by developer Bungie, repurposed by game critics, and presumably whispered by Master Chief himself before he tosses a plasma grenade into a gathering of grunts. It's inoffensive, catchy and it sounds about right. Doesn't it? "Yeah, it's probably the most famous thing I ever said," says game designer Jaime Griesemer. "For some reason it really resonated with the community and got quoted and repeated to the point where I would hear it from people that didn't realize where it had come from in the first place! Especially with journalists." Like many of you, Griesemer has heard the phrase on podcasts (yes, including The Joystiq Podcast) and read it in several articles, such as Clive Thompson's examination of Halo 3 playtesting in Wired. "Some of the guys at Bungie were calling me 'Mr. Thirty Seconds' for a while ... heh." If only we had paid attention to Mr. Thirty Seconds for about, oh, 30 seconds longer.
Bungie on developing the character of Master Chief
Speaking to IndustryGamers, Bungie's Joseph Staten shared some insight on the studio's character choices for Halo's enigmatic Master Chief. According to Staten, it was a conscious design choice to keep players in the dark about specific details from the Chief's life. It helped immerse players in the role, said Staten, adding, "The less players knew about the Chief, we believed, the more they would feel like the Chief." Staten shared a few other details, notably that Cortana began solely as a "functional design requirement," namely a guide for the player; however, as she evolved, said Staten, she grew to highlight the Chief's humanity. Check out the full article for more on Bungie's design choices, including how the team introduced themes of loneliness and abandonment in order to help players "feel the weight of the Chief's heavy responsibilities" throughout the series.
Weta offers new Halo helmet replicas, earns even more ire from cats everywhere
Let's be honest, it's not like that replica Spartan helmet is going to sit on your desk, right? These things were made for cats, the inevitable conclusion of the unholy tryst between feline and fandom eventually available for all to see on flickr. It's just what people do and you can now expand the contents of your cat's chiffonier with three new quarter-scale helmets: CQB, EVA and the Mark VI. Each will set you back $60.
Bungie discusses the Halo beyond Halo
Even if you've never touched a Halo game, you're likely familiar with the basic story. But as only the devout know, there's another, deeper fiction behind Bungie's baby that predates even the series itself. Today IGN encapsulates that daunting mythology in a new feature that's well worth a read.
New Halo novels to continue Ghosts of Onyx story
Tor Books has announced that a new series of Halo novels are on the way. Not to be confused with the upcoming trilogy by Greg Bear, these will be penned by Karen Traviss, author of the Gears of War novels as well as the short story "Human Weakness" from the 2009 Halo Evolutions collection. The first new novel to be penned by Traviss will serve as a sequel to Ghosts of Onyx, and will reveal the fate of its team of Spartans. The series promises to "explore the Halo Universe in the wake of the final events of Halo 3." Presumably, the novels will also contain a heavy does of alien murder. We've contacted Tor in hopes of pinning down a release window for the new novels. Meanwhile, Bear's trilogy is set to debut this year. Find the press release after the break.
Halo Elite costume sets the bar for DIY
Oh, you've made your own assault rifle from Halo? That's cute. Wait, you've made your own Spartan suit? Meh, it's okay, we guess. See, the dudes at Peter Mander FX have ruined us forever, because they've produced about the best homage to Halo one could ever hope for: the ultra-realistic Elite suit you see above. Largely comprised of plastic, TLC and dark magicks, the suit not only looks impressive, but it's animatronic. We can't imagine the blood, sweat and/or tears it took to produce such a lifelike recreation of this Covenant class, but we can get some idea from the video documenting the creation of this behemoth, which you can find past the break. [Image source: Device Magazine]
Fan totally Nerfs the Halo assault rifle
The Halo assault rifle has had a difficult time earning respect. It was totally outshined by the pistol in Halo: CE, ditched entirely for Halo 2 and brought back again in Halo 3 -- only to lose the spotlight to the battle rifle. Now, thanks to a creative Halo fan, the assault rifle has been brought to life ... and completely nerfed. (Like, it's actually a Nerf gun -- get it?) Taking a stock Nerf rifle and an "infamous knock off dollar store assault rifle," a modder known as Moz cobbled together this Halo assault rifle, adding custom pieces and paint. The best part: It actually works; albeit with a slightly lower rate of fire than an actual assault rifle. See it in action after the break. [Via Kotaku]
Halo 3's 'Believe' and PS2's 'Mountain' make 'epic ad' list
Halo 3's amazing "Believe" campaign and the less well-known PlayStation "Mountain" ad have found a place on AdFreak's list of "The 25 most epic ads that aren't [Apple's] '1984.'" The Halo 3 campaign made it all the way to the eighth spot, while "Mountain," with its 1,500 extras, climbed to 17th place. The PS2 spot just barely beat out the incredibly memorable US Marine Corp "Chess" ad -- yeah, the one with the wizards and knights. Halo 3's ad campaign was certainly an achievement, with atmosphere that eclipsed anything the game eventually provided. "Believe" had all those memorable elements: the diorama (wow, that diorama), the old men reminiscing, the History Channel feel of it all. It was the type of pretentious that works -- which is more than we can say for Halo: Reach's Nair boy and his Gatorade injections. Check out the "Believe" campaign and "Mountain" ad after the break.
Halo: Reach beta now available through ODST
Fly -- don't run -- to your Xbox 360 and cram that Halo 3: ODST disc into the drive, because it's time to play some Halo: Reach. Bungie has just informed us that the beta, which runs until May 19, is now live. Have you watched Aisha Tyler's informative introduction yet? You don't want to waste time fiddling with the controls on your first day. Let us know how the download process goes and what you think of the game once you're set -- assuming it all goes smoothly. You're not preparing another outrageous letter, are you? Some quick words of warning from Bungie: "The download process may be subject to extended wait times. Server load is expected to be extremely high, especially during the first few hours and days of Beta availability. Please bear with us and stay tuned to Bungie.net for news and information."
Halo: Reach beta visually dissected by Digital Foundry
Well, we knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? First things first: Yes, Halo: Reach is apparently running at a full 720p according to Digital Foundry's review of the beta thus far (so many Ps!). And, like Halo 3 before it, the Reach beta achieves a near constant 30 frames-per-second of highly frenetic gameplay, albeit dropping a few every now and then during, um ... explosive situations (let us once again remind you that the game is still in beta). In fact, aside from the occasional screen tear and a bit of a "ghosting" issue ("frame bending" -- two or more images being blurred together -- can sometimes result in objects on screen not appearing solid, as seen in this image), DF is quite impressed with the beta's visual presentation, not to mention the gameplay. The three pages on the beta go into far more detail than we've dropped into this post, and, well, we've got a lot more Reach to play, so we'd encourage you to read more right here.
Xbox Live Top 20: Modern Warfare 2, After Burner Climax reign supreme
Microsoft's Major Nelson has released his weekly report of Xbox Live activity today, featuring Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 and Sega's After Burner Climax in the top spot. With one last activity update to be released before the Halo: Reach beta, we anticipate an upcoming fight in Xbox Live list's top three. Bungie's 2010 release Halo 3 secured second place for the sixteenth week in a row with EA's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 closing out this week's three-hole. On the Xbox Live Arcade list, the collective biomass of classic arcade titles solidified Game Room in second place for a second week in a row while Capcom's Final Fight: Double Impact closing out the top three. Other notable highlights include Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Conviction jumping from ninth spot to sixth and EA Sports' FIFA 10 overtaking Call of Duty: World at War for fourth spot. The full breakdown can be found at Major Nelson's blog.
Halo: Reach 'Pre-Beta' video walkthroughs, gameplay footage
Note: This footage is best viewed in high definition. Click 'HD' to enable it. Halo fanatics will finally get their hands on Halo: Reach when the multiplayer beta, included with the purchase of Halo 3: ODST, is activated next week. You've already read our impressions but now you get to see some of the action, with hours of Halo: Reach Pre-Beta footage carefully trimmed down to the essentials. By showing the new armor customization options, control changes, comparisons to Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST and full gameplay matches in high definition, we're hoping to answer as many of your questions as we can before you get your own quality time with Reach on May 3.
Master Chief Sings: a 19-disc set of John 117's best
With all of that space travel going on, there's got to be plenty of downtime for the last Spartan in existence. Sure, Master Chief can just hop into a cryo-chamber and saw some wood between Halo games -- but every now and then, when nobody's around, MC likes to exercise the old pipes. You would not believe how dynamic his range is, clearly exhibited in the video past the break from IGN. Oh, and before you watch the video (and inevitably call that number to order your own set), know that we think we've finally figured out John 117's identity: Michael McDonald. [Via LazyGamer]
Halo 3 available on Games on Demand, load times may be affected [update]
Halo 3 was recently added to Xbox 360's Games on Demand service, but Microsoft has not confirmed that the longer-than-normal load times present on a hard drive installation were fixed for the digital release. Developer Bungie had previously been quite clear that Halo 3's design functioned best when not installed on the Xbox 360's HDD. Bungie Community Director Brian Jarrard told Kotaku yesterday that to the developer's knowledge there was no additional work "done on the code to optimize the game for HDD installation." We've patiently been awaiting a response from Microsoft on this issue and will update as soon as we receive one. In the meantime, we'd steer those Halo 3 latecomers toward a brick-and-mortar retailer. Update: Microsoft's official response can be found after the break.
Interview: Bungie's Lars Bakken on Halo: Reach and the franchise
Following my extensive hands-on preview of the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta at Bungie's Seattle area offices last week, I spoke with Lars Bakken, lead multiplayer designer, to discuss how Reach fits into the studio's long term strategy, how community feedback affects design decisions and the future of the Halo franchise. Joystiq: What did you learn from how you conducted the Halo 3 multiplayer beta? What are you doing differently for the Reach beta? Lars Bakken: I think one of the things we learned from the Halo 3 beta is that we want to keep this thing focused and that might mean less playlists initially. But that's really to keep the people focused and keep them playing the same thing, so we'll be turning on things and turning off other things as the beta progresses. And that's something we really learned from Halo 3, because we wanted to make sure that we were getting all the relevant information that we needed to get -- all the data -- and make decisions and changes on the final game. %Gallery-91245%
GamePro looks at Halo's influence on gaming
We'd explain that Halo influenced gaming in that it influenced many to play it, but that's hardly a secret. It's a cash juggernaut; an epic tale of dudes in space suits that cost more than it does for us to go to space right now. And, of course, bags of tea. But GamePro offers its own, more poignant analysis of Microsoft's biggest franchise. There are the obvious effects of Bungie's success -- such as regenerative shields and the popular control scheme mimicked by many of Halo's successors -- but one of the biggest is the emergence of online multiplayer in the console FPS. The series has helped pave the way for some of console gamers' favorites. We can't help but point out that GamePro is neglecting one crucial item: Theater mode. Before Halo 3, just about everyone's crazy stories of conquest or humiliation were suspect and impossible to prove. Now every console player on the message boards can see how awesome you are, and you can't really put a price on that now, can you?
Reminder: Original Xbox games lose Live support tonight at midnight PT
Just a heads up for those who long for Halo 2's embrace: as of midnight PT tonight, Microsoft is pulling the plug on Live support for original titles. As of this publication, you have a little less than seven hours (as of this writing) to get in a few more rounds of Capture the Flag and Oddball with your friends of old, before having to go out and pick up an used copy of Halo 3 -- at least there's 400 MS points in it as a consolation prize.
