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Halo 3 Brute video: thoughts, impressions
Okay, the Halo 3 Brute documentary is now available on Marketplace. Doubtless, many of you have watched it already, while other poor souls are forced to go to work (if you are stuck at work, check out some off screen images here). You know what time it is? That's right, time to over-analyze!
Confirmed: Halo 3 documentary hitting XBLM at 2AM
Bungie just posted a confirmation note that the new, as they call it, ViDoc will go live on the XBLM at 2 AM PST Wednesday morning. Frankie mentions that this is solely a documentary looking into the world of the Brutes and their role in Halo 3 and does not represent finished graphics or game models. He did make note that the documentary will be 7 minutes long and only be available on the XBLM in English, but will spread to new formats soon. SD and HD versions will be available so get ready ... more Halo 3 content is coming in a matter of hours. Gimme' a wort wort wort! [Thanks, Ben]
Halo 3 case mod is ... erm ... backwards
The above picture is reason enough to leave case modding to the professionals. Klyde over at xbox-scene's forums proudly posted his first 360 case mod and was looking for a little feedback. The cutout of the Halo 3 logo was done quite well, craftsmanship is on par, but there is one tiny problem. The logo was cut out backwards, making this mod look ... craptacular. Oh well Klyde, this was your first case mod so we know your future mods can only get better (as we're looking forward to them). [Via Digg]
New Halo 3 campaign video next week
Okay, so we got a big nasty rumor about playable Brutes and a new Halo 3 video yesterday. Those that stuck with the story know that Bungie's own Frankie later debunked the idea of playable Brutes. Luckily, part of the rumor is true, as Frankie has announced that we will be seeing a new video next week. He reveals almost nothing about the video, except that it will deal with the campaign mode of Halo 3. We've only had one snippet of the campaign mode so far, and that is the image above, so we're damned excited to see something new. Naturally we have our dreams (more Spartans?) but we'll try not to get our hopes too high. Let us conclude by making one Christmas wish: oh please let it have actual gameplay.
Rumor: Brutes are playable in Halo 3, video on Dec. 20th [update 1]
digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Brutes_are_playable_in_Halo_3_video_on_Dec_20th'; Update: Bungie's Frank O'Connor, under his NeoGAF alias, Stinkles, has debunked part of this rumor (twice). According to Frankie, Brutes will not be playable characters. The video may still come to pass, though. We'll just have to wait and see. We get tips from time to time, some of them small and some of them big. The tip we received this morning, however, is a doozy. Coming from the blog of YLA G -- creator of the kickass Google application, GooMGC -- the info goes something like this: Brutes will be playable in Halo 3. Not only that, but a video confirming this fact should hit Marketplace on December 20th (I knew Bungie wouldn't forget my birthday). The video is supposedly seven minutes long and gives us backstory on the Brutes and tells us what skills they will have at their disposal. Even better, 2 and a half minutes of the video should be actual gameplay. This is strictly a rumor at this point, as the article has no source listed, but it wouldn't surprise us if it's true. In fact, it makes perfect sense considering how many new Brute weapons have been announced for Halo 3. Playable Brutes opens up many questions of course. Will they have berserker attacks? Will they still have their dome protecting, headshot deflecting skull caps? Will Brutes be in the beta? Does this mean that Elites are no longer playable? Oh the possibilities. Assuming this is true, what do you want to see from the Brute class? [Thanks, lollersticks]
Euro 360 site caught selling H3 beta codes
digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/European_360_site_caught_selling_Halo_3_beta_codes'; We brought you the news before on how to get into the European Halo 3 beta, in which several sites within the XCN (Xbox Community Network) were granted codes that allowed access to the beta. These codes were to be distributed by each site, in most cases as part of a promotional contest. It seems, however, that one of these sites saw the codes as an opportunity to make some Euros, and decided to sell them instead. Britxbox is reporting that they received an email from Microsoft today, issuing a warning to all the sites in the XCN. While the site guilty of the act has not been made public, we do know that Microsoft will cut off all contact and support for any offending site. The XCN is officially supported by Microsoft and the sites within it are promoted directly by Xbox.com. Members of the XCN are naturally disappointed that one of their own would abuse an opportunity in such a way. Britxbox is understandably concerned that such an act could damage future interactions with Microsoft altogether. Here's hoping the offending site will be punished and that will be the end of it. [Via Hexus]
For the obsessed: Halo 3 ad breakdown
In Joystiq's latest "hottest game video," 1UP discusses every nuance of the new Halo 3 commercial. If you want to see step-by-step, frame-by-frame analysis of every detail in the Halo 3 commercial, then look no further. We think it's probably safe to say that the commercial has been milked for all it's worth at this point*. Of course, that won't stop people from analyzing it like the Zapruder film, trying to find the ultimate truth buried within. Follow the jump to watch a 13 minute analysis of a 1 minute commercial.
H3 ad remixes: a gallery
Okay, we drew a line in the sand yesterday, asking all worthy Halo 3 commercial remixes to step across. Much pushing, shoving, and name calling followed, and we are left with only a handful of decent efforts. We really received so many that it would be unadulterated madness to put them all here, so we've singled out a few of them for your viewing pleasure. We'll try not to beat this into the ground, so we probably won't feature any more until next week. If we get enough, maybe we could turn it into a TGIF kind of thing. Watch some of the best submissions after the break.
Smell that new Halo 3 clothing
Over at the Bungie Store they're offering brand new clothing that will keep you warm and cozy. There's a brand new "No Scope To The Dome" tshirt and a Halo 3 micro fleece jacket. Is it just me or are the prices rather high over at the Bungie Store? Even shipping is a tad exaggerated ... or maybe I'm just so damn frugal. Go snoop around the site and see if anything makes you happy, because you know all the cool kids wear Halo merch.
H3 ad remix: It's Halo 3, f*ck yeah ... [update 1]
Wow. We asked for Halo 3 ad remixes earlier today, and we already have our first one. Frankly, this one is going to be hard to top. Set to the theme song from Team America: World Police, it's about as good as it gets. Props to the creator for maintaining all of the dialogue and sound effects, too. Check out the video after the break (lyrics NSFW).
Halo 3 ad: It's a mad (ring) world
Sure, most of us were satisfied with a badass Halo 3 commercial, but for some, it just lacked the emo panache of the famous Gears of War "Mad World" ad. Well, fear not, true believers, for 360 Fanboy reader, BrotherEstapol, has ripped the Mad World music and slapped it onto the Halo 3 commercial, creating a Frankensteinian delight the likes of which you've never seen. Honestly, the song is so hauntingly memorable that Microsoft could probably use it for every sixty second ad they produce and get away with it. And now for the challenge: it's time for some Halo 3 ad remixes. We already have tons of them for the Gears of War ad, and we wouldn't want the Chief to feel left out. In fact, while you're at it, try sticking Mad World into other 360 ads and see what happens. Maybe it's like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz. If you come up with anything good, send us a link and we'll post it.
Slow down! Speed painting Halo 3 commercial
Not 24 hours have passed since the Halo 3 commercial has been released and already fan art has surfaced. Rahll over at deviantART created the above masterpiece in about an hour and a half after being inspired by last night's Halo 3 commercial airing. This is one of my favorite scenes from the commercial where Master Chief throws down the force field grenade and BLAM! ... it gives me a tingly stomach. So, for all you competitive artistic types, can you do better? I'm a big sucker for Halo inspired artwork, so if you're up to a challenge then get out your Crayolas and create some Halo 3 inspired artwork. And if you do a good job, I just might do a follow up and recap the best fanboy artists, there work and maybe even be some personal blog linkage. [Via Digg]
Halo Wars art, new info in December
The Playstation 3 and Wii are launching this week, and it looks like Microsoft wants to make damned sure that players remember why they love Xbox. We're talking about Halo, of course. The above piece of concept are showed up in our inbox a few minutes ago. It's a UNSC Shortsword bomber, one of the units available in Ensemble Studios upcoming 360 RTS, Halo Wars. We went over to the official Halo Wars site just to see if anything was new. Sure enough, Ensemble has posted an update on the game's progress. In truth, the update is really just there to let us know that they plan to do monthly updates from now on. Still, Ensemble takes the time to congratulate Bungie on Halo's fifth-iversary and welcomes gamers to share their ideas for Halo Wars. If you have an idea, or just want to share your enthusiasm, head over to the Halo Wars forums -- you can also download hi-res versions of the above concept art in their image gallery. Expect a real update in December. What would you like to see in a Halo RTS?
Happy Halo music day
With the recently leaked screens of Halo 3 and news about the postponed Halo movie turning everyone's eyes to Master Chief, we thought it would be appropriate to turn everyone's ears to some renditions of the Halo theme. We've tracked down three excellent and varied renditions performed from the lofty heights of the Hollywood Bowl, the somewhat more ignominious perch of a school auditorium, and the comparatively pathetic confines of a guitarist's bedroom. Enjoy! Previous video game music days
Halo 2 wastes lives, 4 billion games played
In all of our pumpkin carving madness, we somehow missed this little benchmark the other day. On October 30th, Halo 2 officially surpassed the 4 billion games played mark. This game hasn't even been out for a full two years yet (eight more days)! Let's do some math, just for fun. That's over 2 billion games a year, 166 million games a month. If the average match lasts 10 minutes, that's 666 million hours wasted. Wait a minute ... 666 million, just in time for Halloween ... is Halo 2 a sign of the Apocalypse? I'm scared. [Via The Xbox Domain]
Halo, the Latin epic
To what extent is Halo an extension of the interactive storytelling of old? The latest issue of The Escapist has a thought-provoking piece comparing Bungie Studio's Halo with Virgil's The Aeneid. The theme of a revered, super-human warrior protecting his home world against two enemies (one with whom we can sympathize, in the case of the Covenant / Greece) is prevalent through each tale. The interactivity, according to author Roger Travis, is an illusion for both the gamer and the Roman audience: we are immersed within the story but have no say over its outcome. Master Chief as Aeneas notwithstanding (no word on where multiplayer fits into the comparison), to what extent could one design a game where the progression is wholly determined by the user? Could the lore of World of Warcraft be expanded through the present-day actions of its masses? Even open-ended games like Fable and Oblivion have main quests and endings. To play devil's advocate to our own question, perchance a central plot is required in story-driven games in order to give the wandering avatar an initial feeling of purpose. Could there be a cutoff point where the user is left to his or her own devices, or must we always be in pursuit of some tangible outcome laid before us?
Halo Wars trailer gives us goosebumps
Okay, so you missed the X06 briefing and the Halo Wars trailer. Your 360 crapped out on you and you couldn't download it from Marketplace. To top it all off, your slavish devotion to X360F prevents you from looking it up on one of the internets. It's okay, friend, we understand your pain. You need merely click "continue" to see the video embedded after the break. And by the way, that headline is not a joke. It gave us goosebumps (well, maybe not Ken, but he is made of sterner stuff than I). So, who wants this game? Raise your hand.
MS announces Halo Wars, a new RTS [update 1]
A real-time strategy game based in the Halo universe has been announced. The project, entitled Halo Wars, will be designed by Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires) "exclusively for Xbox 360" (read: no PC). This announcement comes weeks after Bungie issued a cease-and-desist to the Halogen project, a C&C: Generals mod based in the Halo universe. It was at this time that 1UP's Luke Smith predicted an official Halo RTS in collaboration with Ensemble Studios. Somebody buy this man a drink, because he nailed it. After bringing Scott Henson, Director of the Game Development Group at Microsoft, up to speed on the Halogen incident, he assured us Halo Wars "has absolutely nothing to do with that" (whether he meant the mod's shut down or the game's inception is vague). The original Halo: Combat Evolved, in earlier stages of development, was a real-time strategy game in the vein of Myth, another Bungie RTS. You can read all about it in the pages of Bungie's lore. While we're very intrigued by the thought of a Halo strategy title, we're a bit concerned about how it will play on an Xbox 360 controller. Must ... use ... mouse ... [Update 1: The Halo Wars official website has also just gone live, with a pretty (yet entirely pre-rendered) trailer. The FAQ explains that Halo Wars takes place before the events of Halo 1 and its controls have been built "from the ground up" to work with the Xbox 360 controller. We have also embedded the trailer below, via Game Videos.]
Halo 3 has revised controls, panic abounds
It's a rough time for Halo fanboys. Every week Frankie gives us an update with almost zero information. It is our job as fanboys then to take this information and blow it way out of proportion. So what is it this week? Bungie is changing the controls! Egad, it can't be true. What's more, Bungie is toying with the idea of adding plenty of new setups ranging from hardcore to grandma friendly. The end result of all this is that we'll have a setup that makes more sense on our 360 controllers -- especially now that the black and white buttons don't exist. Basically, all we know now is that the bumpers will receive more logical actions than turning on the flashlight and teamspeak. The only other tidbit of news this week: the AI is coming along nicely. As an example, the AI of a warthog gunner has been changed significantly. In the words of Frankie: "In previous Halo games, the gunners were smart and would pick off targets in a logical fashion, but this time around, and it could be my imagination, the gunners are more precise and easier to influence. You can target individual bad guys by steering the Hog and even 'convince' your gunner to pick a more relevant target and have him stop trying to blast a lone grunt hiding behind a rock when a bigger menace approaches." Hey, as long as we can still stick a sniper with infinite ammo in the passenger seat, we're cool. Other than that, it's all quiet on the Halo front -- unless you'd like to read what Peter Jackson has to say.
2010: A Halo 3 Pre-Order Odyssey
A certain big box store is taking pre-orders for Halo 3 with a listed release date of December 30, 2010. The whole idea of pre-ordering video games, which hardly ever sell out, is pretty stupid to begin with, but this stretches a tired ploy to the limit -- no matter how low the rate of return on your junior savings account. Not that anybody puts stock in retailer release dates, but let's hope Bungie works a little faster than than the slow minds at Best Buy. [Thanks WickedOwl]
