Halo 4
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Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn earns Emmy nomination
Halo 4 live-action web-series Forward Unto Dawn is up for an Emmy - no, not a tech Emmy, the real primetime deal. It's going up against the likes of HBO's The Newsroom and CBS' Elementary for this year's Main Title Design honor. The Main Title Design category rewards work that goes into title sequences, so we should doff our cap towards German 3D animator Polynoid, who collaborated with Halo 4 dev 343 industries on the intros for the five Forward Unto Dawn episodes. Machinima and Microsoft first released the series on YouTube last year, leading into the launch of Halo 4, before bringing it to Blu-ray and Netflix. If you've not seen it and you've got 90 or so minutes to spare, we'd say it's worth the watch, and not just for the titles. As for the Emmy, the winner will be revealed at this year's ceremony on September 22.
Halo 4 'Champions Bundle' DLC announced
Three new DLC packs are headed to Halo 4 on August 20, available separately or in one big blob of stuff called a "Champions Bundle." Purchasing the DLC in bundle-form sweetens the pot through the addition of 18 in-game items "only available for a limited time exclusively through the bundle," according to the announcement. The three new DLC packs include the "Bullseye Pack," which features two multiplayer maps, "sports-themed" armor and a new "Ricochet" game mode. The "Infinity Armor Pack" delivers "impressive and legendary new armor" of some sort while the "Steel Skin Pack" throws some "steampunk" all up on your weapons. Though, based on the trailer above, we're not sure if 343 Industries' definition of steampunk is quite the same as our own. The entire bundle will be available for 800 MS Points, whereas the Bullseye Pack will run a la carte at 480 MS Points – the Infinity Armor/Steel Skin Packs will cost 240 MS Points when purchased separately. %Gallery-193233%
One Halo 4 champion to win $200,000
Microsoft and Virgin Gaming have announced the Halo 4 Global Championship, which will see one Spartan claim a grand prize of $200,000. The tournament officially begins on July 5 at the Rooster Teeth Expo and opens to Xbox Live on July 15. Another live event will take place at Gamescom in Germany from August 21 to 25. There will be five weeks of free-for-all competition on Xbox Live, which will require players to complete at least 20 games a week on specific playlists. 6 finalists from each live event and 20 from the Xbox Live competition will then compete on Microsoft's home turf in Seattle, with the winner pocketing a cool 200 grand. Another $100,000 will be distributed among the remaining 7 finalists, with 2nd place receiving the lion's share at $75,000. All participants will be eligible for randomly drawn prizes, including Xbox 360 games and Avatar items. Those interested in participating can register now at Halo Waypoint. Complete rules and regulations can be found here.
Halo 4 is Microsoft Studios' best seller so far
Halo 4 is the "best-selling Microsoft Studios title ever in the U.S. market,*" performing better than Halo 3 did during its fiscal launch year, according to ol' Microsoft. That all-important asterisk denotes that claim as being "according to Microsoft retail sales sell-through data for each respective fiscal year." Presumably, this means that Halo 4 has also outperformed other Microsoft Studios launches, such as Fable 3 or Forza Motorsport 4. It's no wonder, then, that Microsoft has decided to expand the Halo series' current "Reclaimer" trilogy into a "saga," a term that translates to "as many games as we feel like" or "why on Earth would we ever stop," depending on the dictionary you're using.
Halo Warthog gets rainbow colors in Seattle Pride parade
Halo's indispensable military buggy sided with Team Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Violet at the Seattle Pride parade held on Sunday, June 30th.
Halo 4 multiplayer gains more powerful guns, quicker Spartans
Wonder where that extra oomph in your Carbine came from today? 343 Industries has issued sweeping tweaks to all multiplayer weaponry in Halo 4. A lot of weapons have had their damage increased - for example, the Battle Rifle is now capable of killing in four bursts instead of five. Automatic weapons (Assault Rifle, Storm Rifle and Suppressor) all have had their damage increased slightly and will kill in three fewer shots now. Finally, chain guns on the Mantis and Warthog have had their damage output increased by 35 percent. A lot of the update seems to be geared around increasing weapon damage, but sticky aiming and range on many of these weapons have also been adjusted and player movement speed has been upped by ten percent. For the full breakdown of Halo 4's massive multiplayer update, check out 343's Halo Waypoint blog.
Halo 4 for $18 at Best Buy today
If you've yet to experience John 117's latest adventure, you should know that Halo 4 is a mere $18 at Best Buy today. That deal is valid only for today, by the way, giving you a great excuse Forerunning to the nearest store. [Thanks, Hank!]
PSA: Halo 4 'Castle Map Pack' available now
Halo 4's final piece of DLC included in the War Games Map Pass, the Castle Map Pack, is available now on the Xbox Marketplace. For those without the pass, the map pack is $10.The pack adds three multiplayer maps (Daybreak, Outcast and Perdition), with Outcast featuring "frequent Mantis vs. Wraith battles." The maps were designed for objectives and vehicles.%Gallery-181272%
Halo 4's second run of McFarlane toys includes exclusive DLC
McFarlane Toys' second run of Halo 4 action figures will include special vouchers for exclusive DLC in 343 Industries' game. Master Chief, Elite Ranger, Storm Jackal and two different Spartan figures will be offered – plus a deluxe nine-inch tall Didact figure, planned for the fall.In a blog post over on the McFarlane Toys site, nothing is revealed regarding the exact nature of the DLC, just that more information on the specifics are promised for later. The first run of Halo 4 figures from McFarlane didn't include any complementary DLC.
Halo 4 as a love story: The personal origins of Cortana's breakdown
The Halo universe's sentient artificial intelligence programs – smart AIs – have a limited lifespan. After seven years, they begin to break down, acting irrationally and eventually thinking themselves to death. This process is known as Rampancy and closely resembles humanity's own end-of-life conditions such as dementia. In Halo 4, the rampancy of Master Chief's personal AI, Cortana, serves as a central element of the story, putting the Chief in a desperate bid to save the life of his longtime companion.Speaking during a Halo 4 postmortem at GDC, 343 Industries franchise creative director, Josh Holmes, revealed that telling such an emotional story within the confines of a first-person shooter was no easy task. "At the beginning of our campaign in Halo 4, Cortana is 8 years old, and she's struggling to keep hold of her mental faculties," said Holmes, "and the Chief is faced for the first time with an obstacle that he may not be able to overcome." He's charged not only with saving the galaxy, but with saving his best friend. It was a radically different direction for a Halo game, and one that was difficult for the team. "There was a lot of skepticism from members of the team [about] whether this was something we should even take on.""Early on, [senior writer Chris Schlerf] was having a crisis of confidence. He was literally tearing his hair out, because he didn't know how to tell this story," said Holmes. "There were times when he came to me, and he said, 'Maybe we shouldn't do it. Maybe we should just focus on the A story and put this story aside, because I don't see how we're going to be able to tell it.'" But for Holmes, telling the story of the relationship between Chief and Cortana was very important. It was "the human heart of Halo 4's campaign." And, as Holmes soon revealed, some of the inspiration for Cortana's breakdown came from a very personal place.%Gallery-184626%
Overheard@GDC: 'Thanks for your question.'
Speaking at a Halo 4 GDC panel (there were a lot of them), 343 Industries franchise creative director Josh Holmes spent some time discussing the game's story, specifically that of the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana. We asked a question during the Q&A period – the only question, really. Head past the break to find out what it was, and how Holmes responded, but be warned that it involves a major spoiler.
What went wrong with Halo 4's Prometheans
"We had a number of concerns about the Forerunners that we thought went not completely according to plan and could be improved upon," 343 Industries design director Scott Warner told the audience at his GDC 2013 panel, "The Design of New Enemies for Halo 4," which discussed the design philosophies behind the game's new breed of bad guys.First and foremost, communication issues between the design and artwork departments exacerbated problems early in the studio's existence – growing pains associated with starting a new company. "We were a brand new team at 343," Warner said. "You have to consider the challenge that we had was starting from zero people and going to about 340 before we shipped."In a similar vein, the "absence of high level vision" on the various creatures' gameplay mechanics caused 343 to spend time developing ideas that would eventually prove fruitless: "It would have been easier for us to understand if we'd had more definition around these characters early on, as far as who they were." An early prototype build was shown as an example, in which two Promethean Knights balled themselves up like Samus and attacked Master Chief.
New Halo 4, Gears of War Judgment DLC available for free today
If you feel like shooting aliens on your Xbox today, you are very likely to be able to do so in a new venue. Both Halo 4 and Gears of War Judgment have new DLC, available at no extra cost.Having passed certification early, Microsoft has released the Halo 4 "Forge Island" map well in advance of its expected April 11 date. On their own, these aren't the most exciting locations – three big, flat islands – but they're intended to be the base for Forge Mode customization. %Gallery-184351% Gears of War Judgment's Execution multiplayer is also available today, along with the map Haven, "courtesy of Maxim and Epic Games." Weird. Microsoft warns that you have to download this DLC directly from the title menu or from the Dashboard. "The dialogue box prompting you to download the pack in the matchmaking menu is not functioning properly and will be fixed as soon as possible." %Gallery-184350%
Forward Unto Dawn and staying true to Halo
You might think that the biggest challenge in creating Halo 4's Forward Unto Dawn series was translating one of gaming's most beloved franchises into a live-action film that was not only true to the source material, but also worth watching. You'd be right, of course, but for fans the biggest challenge was in making sure Master Chief sounded right.During the Forward Unto Dawn postmortem at GDC, 343 Industries franchise development director Frank O'Connor noted that the casting of Master Chief was "a source of much consternation" for series fans. "We did a couple of tests using the actor who plays Master Chief in the game, and he's an older guy," said O'Connor.The ending of Forward Unto Dawn reveals that the superhuman Spartan soldiers are just as young as the film's UNSC cadets, so giving Master Chief the gravelly voice we all know and love would be out of place. "He can't sound like he's 50," said O'Connor, "and so we had to find a young actor whose voice sounded like his voice might eventually grow into the Chief's."
Halo 4 getting new Forge Island map for free on April 11
343 Industries has announced at PAX East this weekend that Halo 4 is getting a new Forge map, with plenty of blank, open canvas for Halo level makers to paint their creativity on. As you can see in the quick video on IGN's page, "Forge Island" actually has three different islands of varying size, all completely flat and round, to give map makers lots of room to build whatever they want.The map will also come with some new Forge pieces, which the developers have already used to build a copy of Hang 'Em High. 343 specifically asked at the panel if a fan would be kind enough to remake Blood Gulch on the biggest island, so that's possible too. The new map and related tools are all being released for free on April 11, just a few days after the Castle Map Pack arrives on April 8.
Halo 4 lowers drawbridge for Castle Map Pack on April 8
Halo 4 is getting yet another batch of DLC next month. Entitled the Castle Map Pack, the content adds three new multiplayer maps: Daybreak, Outcast and Perdition. The new maps are designed around objective gametypes and vehicle use, with Outcast in particular promising "frequent Mantis vs. Wraith battles."The DLC will be available for $10 staring April 8. A new 6-on-6 playlist catering to the DLC will launch on the same day. The Castle Map Pack also marks the third and final pack included with the War Games Map Pass.%Gallery-181272%
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn DVD/Blu-ray bundle coming to Europe
A region two Blu-ray / DVD combo of the Halo 4 miniseries Forward Unto Dawn has been spotted on Amazon UK. If you missed it the first time around, Forward Unto Dawn is a prequel of sorts to Halo 4, telling the story of a Covenant invasion of a UNSC training facility. In addition to Blu-ray and DVD copies of the film, the deluxe edition will also feature several extras, including a poster, art cards and over 100 minutes of bonus content.The Forward Unto Dawn Deluxe Edition is slated for a May 27 release in Europe. Amazon UK currently has it listed for 18.70 ($27.80). We've contacted Microsoft to find out if the set will also be released in North America.
Halo games tumble in opening day of Xbox Live's Ultimate sale [update: and more]
Microsoft's week-long Ultimate Game Sale for Games on Demand content makes its opening pitch today, and first up to the plate is Master Chief of the Halo Space Marines. We'll let you be the judge of whether or not the green giant knocks it out of the park with today's offers.Three games slide down from $29.99 to $9.99 in the form of Halo 3, Halo: Reach, and real-time strategy black sheep Halo Wars. It's not quite as big a discount for the Chief's most recent adventure; Halo 4 shifts its price to $39.99 for a 33 percent discount.Update: A number of other games are also on sale, including Grid, Call of Juarez, BioShock, and Tomb Raider: Legend. It's not wholly clear, but the wording suggests these particular games are staying discounted through to the end of the Ultimate Game Sale on March 5. Dirt 2 - $4.99 Grid - $4.99 Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements - $2.99 Rayman Raving Rabbids - $2.99 Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X - $4.99 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas - $4.99 Kane and Lynch: Dead Men - $4.99 Call of Juarez - $4.99 Tomb Raider: Legend - $4.99 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter - $4.99 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - $4.99 Virtua Fighter 5 - $4.99 BioShock - $4.99 El Shaddai - $2.99 The Darkness - $4.99
Xbox Live cloud services down
There may be a few clouds hanging over your Xbox Live experience today. Microsoft reports that users are experiencing troubles accessing cloud saves and other remotely stored information on Windows 7 and Xbox 360. We've also received reports of trouble with the Halo 4 servers.The (crackpot) theory going around the Joystiq think tank is that Sony's testing PS4 cloud services and taking up all the bandwidth in the imaginary "cloud." Xbox Live isn't working right, because Kaz Hirai is streaming some Cool Boarders 2 to QA.
Learn how to rush rockets in Halo 4's Landfall map
Here's a video for the Landfall map in Halo 4, with is part of the upcoming Majestic Map Pack. The rockets are in the back. What else do you need to know?
