bungieweeklyupdate
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'Destiny' sequel set for next year
Destiny's Valentine's Day event is well under way, but developer Bungie is taking an extra step toward proving its devotion to fans. The long-rumored (and apparently delayed) sequel to the sci-fi online shooter is slated for release next year, corroborating earlier reports from Kotaku.
Bungie.net gets upgraded for Halo 3
When Halo 2 launched years back Bungie.net received a fancy new facelift and implemented snazzy stat tracking features that shocked and awed everyone near and far. And Bungie is doing it again with Halo 3's release. In this week's Bungie Weekly Update team Bungie highlights some of the new changes Bungie.net will be getting, from the addition of a screenshot gallery to being able to queue up saved films which will download to your 360 instantly the next time you sign into Xbox Live. From the look of their preview screenshot, we think Halo 3's stats and content sharing online will be even more amazing and awe inspiring. The Weekly Update also features a lot of talk about press events, what's in store for the crew in the weeks leading up to launch day and other German culture references. It's a Bungie Weekly Update, read and take it in.
Forge talk, iMax and pay to go Bungie Pro [update 1]
Just like clockwork, the Bungie crew released this week's Bungie Weekly Update revealing some info about the Forge, how amazing Halo 3 is on an IMAX screen, details about sharing content and a little thing called Bungie Pro. What's Bungie Pro you ask? Well, it's more or less a subscription system through the XBLM to give you more room to share your Halo 3 files. Normal Halo 3 players will be treated to free storage of six slots equaling no more than 25MB of videos, screenshots, or gametypes. But they're also offering a subscription to Bungie Pro which will cost 750 Microsoft points a year and bump your storage to twenty-four slots equalling no more than 250MB. It's an "interesting" idea and since all this shared content is server side it kind of makes sense ... doesn't it? Full Bungie Weekly Update text awaits your reading after the jump.Update 1: Just to clarify, the talk about open slots, MBs and the Bungie Pro plan are just for content you want to openly SHARE with others via uploading to the Bungie servers. These storage limits do not dictate how much content you can save to your Xbox 360 HDD.
Halo 3 beta's Friends & Family program explained
This week's Bungie Weekly Update brings a variety of news. Most importantly, Frankie details how the Halo 3 beta Friends and Family program will work. If you don't know, the Friends and Family program is a small number of people who will get to play the Halo 3 beta earlier than the general public. It's kinds of a thank you to those who are loyal Halo community members. Anyway, Frankie said that they have already selected the lucky few and all who qualified will be notified on May 11th via a PM on Bungie.net. Yup, those of you who are lucky enough to be part of the Friends and Family program will get your Halo 3 beta download code on the 11th exclusively through Bungie.net's PM system. So, be prepared, watch your PM inbox, and don't take it to heart if you aren't selected. We still love you. Again, there is just too much Halo 3 news in this week's Bungie Weekly Update for us to recap, so make the jump already. Frankie doesn't write a mini-novel every week for his health, it's for you!
Halo 3 details and rumors shot down
Holy informative Bungie Weekly Update Batman. This week, Frankie brings new Halo 3 details and talks the big boy talk, so let's jump right in. Some big news is that the Halo 3 beta will support a (widescreen enhanced) two player split screen option. So, you'll be able to share the Halo 3 beta love with your friends. Speaking of the beta, Bungie unveiled the default control scheme for the game with a pretty graphic that maps out each button's function. It looks like the RB will take most of the X button's old functions and that silly d-pad will activate voice chat. Also, Frankie shot down a few Halo 3 rumors that hit the intertubes this week. First, May 11th is only important for those lucky enough to be considered "press" as they'll be playing the beta a few days before the rest of us so they can get their stories written ... that's it. Secondly, Halo 3 is not going to be native 1080p at 60fps as speculated earlier, it's just not practical. And finally, the image above is the second wave of Halo 3's marketing materials considered the "emotional" phase. Can't you feel it all, Cortana's eyes, the despair, the hope ... it pulls at your heart strings. You know what to do, make the jump for all the Weekly Update details to make sure you're the cool kid who has this week's Halo 3 dish.
More Halo 3 beta talk and Halo 2 news
The latest Bungie Weekly Update brings us a few more details about the Halo 3 beta and talks about the changes going on over in Halo 2 land. First, let's jump into the beta news. Frankie further clarifies his clarification about the new X button "Equipment" function. The X button will pick up and drop equipment items like the bubble shield and tripmine (others items may be in the works), but not "throw" them. So, they'll be items on a map that have to be picked up like any other weapon and once dropped ... they'll activate. Also, the bubble shield will allow people to pass through it, but stop bullets and grenades in their tracks. It's also interesting to note that the bubble shield will be "breakable" and stationary in the beta, not rolling once dropped. For those of you who are overly excited about Halo 3's recording function, it'll be available in the beta, but in a stripped down version only. And before we forget, there is plenty of Halo 2 news to be read about various problems, the new matchmaking structure, and information on the new maps. Again, we can't recap every jewel from the Weekly Update, so it's your fanboy duty to make the jump and read it all. Quickly, jump!
Bungie hints at big announcement this week
This week's Bungie Weekly Update brings us talk of Halo 2, Halo 3, and a hint at some significant news coming this week. On the Halo 2 front, Bungie announced that they will be rolling back all the ranks for all gametypes in preparation for the new maps. They'll also be releasing an update that'll allow their patented Banhammer to further bring the pain, which could make for some rocky matchmaking the first week or so. Be prepared, you were warned. But that's Halo 2, we want Halo 3 news and we want it now! And Frankie didn't disappoint as he discusses the evolution of the fusion core, ambient sounds, and announces that another Halo 3 vid doc will be coming down the pipeline in the near future. Most exciting is Frankie's hint about this week's news saying that there will be "Big changes coming. Big changes and big news. Next week is going to be significant". Big changes and big news eh? We can only speculate to what will be gracing our ears and eyes this week (Halo 3 beta news anyone?), we're eager with anticipation. Enjoy the update and enjoy the sun, make the jump and have some fun.
Bungie adds vehicular AI into Halo 3
Remember in Halo 2 when you proudly drove around in your spiffy warthog with an AI controlled gunner manning the turret only to be annoyed by him, because he was shooting at a tree and not the five ghost riding Elites in front of you? Well, according to this week's Bungie Weekly Update we'll be able to write off that problem in Halo 3. Frankie says that the AI controlled marines who fight by your side will be a lot smarter and will actually take hints to where they should be shooting simply by knowing where you are looking. Point your camera to the right and the gunner will shoot to the right, storm straight ahead and the gunner will unleash death bullets in front of you. Better AI always rocks. The other interesting news from this week's update is a promise that we'll get to see some of the behind the scenes work that went into creating the Legendary Edition of Halo 3, including how the spartan helmet case came to be. Frankie also dropped an interesting tidbit referring to why the Limited Edition includes an art book that the holy grail Legendary Edition doesn't. He says that "Legendary Edition purchasers will be pleased to know that they will not have to live without that content at all". Interesting, no? Okay, this is getting too long. Just make the jump and read all the new newness that is Halo 3.
Bungie keeping that Halo "aesthetic"
In this week's keenly named Bungie Weekly Update Frankie discusses some design decisions the team has made pertaining to Halo 3 and a few other things. In the past, a bunch of people have negatively critiqued Halo 3's prettiness factor (though, we've only seen leaked alpha screen grabs), saying that the game should look a lot better. Frankie reinforces that they have"gone to great lengths to make sure that the new game retains the 'Halo' aesthetic. It still looks like a Halo game, but just rendered with vastly more detail and content and some visual effects that simply weren't possible on Xbox"So, we aren't going to be seeing Gears of War style graphics or that same art style ... it'll still be Halo, just a more shiny, pretty, and curvaceous version. Moving on. Do you remember the talk of the A-hole button? It's Halo 3's vastly improved and easier way to mute annoying kids in multiplayer. We now know the exact button combo to execute the muting frenzy, which could take less than a few seconds for some players. So, to mute a person in multiplayer, simply press the BACK button, use the right thumbstick to highlight the player, and press X ... that's it! What a convenient process that's entirely separate from and quicker than the Xbox 360 guide. Make the jump for a few more Halo 3 information nuggets, but don't let the Bungie.net webmaster see you ... he's a drunken gorilla maniac who blames everyone else for his problems. It's sad really.
Frankie wrote a novel of a Halo 3 update
This week's Bungie Weekly Update is a long one, almost epic in scale. In it, Frankie discusses many things, from Halo 3's campaign AI to Marty's award winning music. But what we love to hear about is how the game looks, how the world will interact with every multiplayer footstep we take, and how each blade of grass will sway. Frankie's water effects are coming along nicely, as the water reacts to whatever is in it, can get muddied, and could possibly move weapons (or bodies) down the river current. How cool is that? We also get a hint to where one of the new Halo 2 maps will be located, as Frankie tells us that "one map features some awesome monkey noises". Could it be in a Brute forrest or at the San Diego Zoo? We'll leave it up to you to do the speculating. Phew ... there's just too much information in the is weekly update for us to list, so we're making you read the other nuggets of information over at Bungie.net. Go ahead, Bungie doesn't bite (too hard).
Halo 3 materials and control scheme, oh my!
We're finally getting to a point where we get actual juicy details on Halo 3 from Bungie's Weekly Updates. This week's deep fried nuggets of information include the revealing of the first promotional material for Halo 3 (see above). According to Bungie, this marketing goodness is the first in a series that will be coming out throughout the year, similar to Halo 2's campaign with the whole orange background thing. Also note that it does read "Fall 2007" ... nice. Frankie also mentions that progress is being made on the campaign front, that the Halo 3 beta will not begin next week upon Crackdown's release, and that Bungie.net is getting an overhaul. He also posted the current default controller layout for Halo 3, dissecting each and every button and what each is used for. Though, Frankie makes it very clear that things could change and that the mysterious "X" button could be moved too. We're interested in how talking in multiplayer will work and currently there is a scheme using the d-pad, but he also mentions that it is in the extremely early stages of how the function will work. Please Bungie, make it so we don't have to push a button to talk, we can deal with loud people with our A-hole button. Go ahead and make the jump to get your weekly dose of Halo 3 knowledge.
Bungie Weekly Update: How we love thy Cortana
This week the employees at Bungie have been battling the dreaded space germs virus, but fear not fanboys because nothing can stop the development of Halo 3. In this week's Bungie Weekly Update Frankie reveals that they've been recording dialog for the game including the voice of Cortana, Jen Taylor. This time around Jen is getting the chance to flex her acting muscles, because Cortana is a little darker and more dramatic in Halo 3. Everyone at Bungie nearly wept during Jen's recording session ... oh how we love you Cortana. Bungie is also polishing weapon animations and revealed that they are implementing the "A-hole button". And what is this A-hole button we speak of? Well, you know those annoying Xbox Live members who refuse to be quiet or say something constructive, right? Well, for Halo 3 Bungie is implementing an easier and quicker way to mute unruly Live members, something we're welcoming with open arms. Frankie also talks about a new Halo 2 playlist, new tshirts, and a new Halo audiobook ... just make the jump and get learned.
Halo ActionClix and a pentathlon, oh my!
It's Bungie Weekly Update time and this week we get a glimpse of the uber legendary Bungie Pentathlon. Bungie's pentathlon is a yearly event that pits Bungie's finest against eachother in an all out death match-o-fun. With events including Gears of War, Halo 3, Pictionary and Wii Bowling ... we can't help but be a little jealous. Let us in the pentathlon Bungie, we'll pwn you at Gears! Anyway, this week's update wasn't all about the pentathlon, oh no. We received confirmation that there will be over 80 HaloClix released this September! Little Halo ActionClix, we're giddy with excitement. There wasn't much more news than that, but we still recommend making the jump to read the rest of Frankie's Weekly Bungie Update ... it's so good.
