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Behind the scenes with Halo ActionClix
So, how do you take a tabletop game and turn it into something that the average Halo fan will enjoy? Bungie.net has an article up explaining just that. Lukems took some time to sit down with Mike Elliott, senior game designer for Wizkids, to discuss the upcoming Halo ActionClix. Easily the most interesting aspect of this new Clix series is that Wizkids didn't just take the old rules and apply them to Halo branded miniatures. Instead, Wizkids took some of Halo's core gameplay elements and melded them with the Clix game. First and foremost, Halo ActionClix has players set up respawn points and games are played to a certain number of kills. When a character is killed, it respawns, unlike other Clix games in which that character is simply removed from play. You can also choose to switch that character with another of the same point value. You know what, you'd better just read the article if you're interested. If we keep talking about this, you'll discover what nerds we really all.(Psst! Does anyone want to trade a Master Chief for my Arbiter? Hello? Anybody?)%Gallery-4408%
The end is here: Red Vs. Blue #100
Well folks, today is the day: the end of The Blood Gulch Chronicles. Rooster Teeth promises that there will be a few one-off Red Vs. Blue episodes, but for now, the series as we know it is no more. Episode 100 is available now in all its 15 minute glory. The episode hasn't been released in embeddable format, so you might as well head over to Rooster Teeth, watch the episode, and join the already lengthy discussion. Yes, it is the end of an era. We wish the crew at Rooster Teeth the best of luck in their new endeavors.[Thanks, NitroFrost]
Shadowrun now playable on XP
X3F readers will recall that Falling Leaf was preparing to save Windows XP gamers a lot of cash by making the Windows Vista versions of Shadowrun and Halo 2 compatible with XP. Unfortunately for Falling Leaf, the hacking group Razor 1911 has already cracked* Shadowrun according to the Inquirer. Apparently, all the crack does is overwrite a few files in the installation directory. It should be noted that the crack only allows for single player against bots and multiplayer over LAN. As far as we know, online multiplayer is still restricted to Vista.Falling Leaf expects its solution to arrive in late July.[Via Joystiq]*If you want the crack, you'll have to find it on your own; we're not linking it.
Halo 3 beta: Did it kill the hype?
Over the weekend, David at MyArcadePlanet tossed around the idea that the Halo 3 beta actually hurt the game and killed off much of its hype. He feels that the beta was both a fun and entertaining experience, but his hands on time with the game released much of the built up Halo 3 excitement within' him. His personal stash of Halo 3 hype is gone.And we can agree with David to some extent, because Bungie is treating the Halo 3 release differently than its we're tight lipped, no one can touch our game, Halo 2 launch. So, we're sure some fans' hypometer may be running lower since they got hands on time and know what to expect, even if it was only a little taste of what's to come. But on the other side of the coin is that the beta has actually increased the hype in other fans' eyes, because they loved their time playing the beta and want to see, learn, and play more. But we can all agree that the Halo 3 beta has had some effect on those who played it, good or bad.But what about you. Did playing the beta increase or decrease your excitement (and overall hype) for Halo 3?
Click your way to the Halo ActionClix website
Wizkids has unveiled the official Halo ActionClix website, where you can learn all there is to know about the collectible miniatures game. Well, actually, you can't learn everything. Right now there is only a basic description of ActionClix in general and a blurb about the new Halo ActionClix. We assume that once the various units and vehicles are revealed, you'll be able to learn about them at the official site. In the meantime, there are forums for the obsessed Halo and tabletop gaming fans everywhere. There is one tasty bit of new info, though: it looks like you can get your hands on pre-release figures at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con and Gen Con Indy. These conventions roll out in July and August respectively, so if you've just got to get some HaloClix before September, you'd best start making travel plans.[Via Evil Avatar]
Open your eyes, Iris ARG continues
The Halo 3 ARG, Iris, is finally starting to get interesting. Yes, we've moved beyond mock websites and the requisite countdown clocks. Now we actually have something concrete ... sort of. The IP address revealed at Halo3.com/comic (206.16.223.65) now displays one of the "servers" pictured on Halo3.com. Incidentally, Halo3.com shows that the server is unlocked as well, though clicking it produces no results. On the IP address, the floating "server" (or whatever it is) rotates. Clicking on it allows you to rotate it manually and click on certain hidden symbols, which prompt you to download certain documents (including the image above). Additionally, a symbol on the front of the object causes it to unfold and display a movie which contains cryptic messages spliced with strange footage (and a few snippets from previous Halo games).Right now, we're not certain what it all means. Hopefully, Iris will develop into a more concrete experience in the coming weeks. Check out some of the various new documents after the break, including the video.
Todd McFarlane talks Halo toys
Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn and self-named McFarlane Toys, recently sat down with the boys at Bungie to discuss the creation of the new line of Halo toys. While we don't get any new pictures of the upcoming toys (we want a shot of the light-up Cortana ... now), we do get to hear Todd's impressions of Bungie, as well as the philosophy behind creating great toys. Thankfully, McFarlane notes that the most important aspect of toy creation is authenticity. With the Halo toys, the goal is to strike a balance between detail and cost. Obviously, they want the toys to appeal to die-hard Halo fans, but they don't want to price them outside the range of the mass market (which is one of the reasons the figures are relatively small). Finally, McFarlane says that the Halo universe presents McFarlane Toys with a chance to "do all of the things we're good at," namely aliens and badass superheroes. Hit the "read" link for the full interview.
Halo 3 weapon replicas available for preorder
The guys over at Achievement Junkie dug up news that professionally done Halo 3 weapon replicas will be available this September. The replicas are being cast by Master Replicas (who've previously created Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise) and will come in two delicious flavors; the Carbine and the Battle Rifle. Both replicas are preorderable over at Gamestop for $19.99 each, but no other details are available. Though, Achievement Junkie seems to have unearthed pictures of the replicas, but we can't be sure if they are prototypes and we certainly can't tell their scale. But if these bad boys are decently sized and the craftsmanship is there, we'll definitely put down $20 so our Master Chief helmet doesn't feel so alone.[Thanks, Jonah Falcon]
Buy Me: Elite featuring airbrushed Halo 3 artwork
Last night, while searching for some cheap Microsoft points on eBay, we stumbled across an Xbox 360 Elite that looked very familiar. Up for auction is a custom airbrushed Elite console featuring the same Halo 3 artwork as the one Bungie autographed for charity and sold for for $20,000+. And from what we can tell, the airbrushed artwork looks spot on. If you're interested, the Halo 3 inspired Elite auction ends in about one day and is currently sitting at around $620 Canadian. We think that we can all agree that airbrushing never looked so good.
Halo 3 ARG "Iris" update and it's getting good
Our once nameless Halo 3 ARG has flowered into a beautiful "Iris". Yup, that's the official name attached to our ARG per a Microsoft spokesperson who spoke with Eurogamer."'Iris' is a spiral campaign designed to take gamers on an incredible journey through the Halo Universe. Led by an 'unknown' hand, users will discover bits of previously unknown information about the Halos, the Flood, the Forerunners, and the true origins behind the Halo trilogy."Sounds fun doesn't it? That description alone makes us want to play and learn more. So ... that's about it for ARG news. Wait, you want to know more? You want the dish on what has been happening with AdjuntantReflex and SOTA? Well, we're push-over bloggers and you sound sincere enough. Complete recap of what has happened in the Iris ARG (since our last update) is posted after the break. Enjoy.
Halo 3 Achievements. 'Nuff said
Badass. We got the Halo 3 Achievements list from the workhorses over at Xbox 360 Achievements. Man, does it have some interesting morsels. First off, 9 missions in the campaign? Check. One Skull to be found per mission each mission? Retroactive Achievements for beating the game on Normal, Heroic and Legendary? Triple Check, though will co-op count? We hope so. Three Achievements based on the ranking system that aren't out of reach for players? Check. Fun kill based Achievements for ranked multiplayer worth 5 GS a piece? Check. Accessing Terminals in the campaign whilst referencing Bungie's first FPS franchise, and some score based "meta-game" in each mission of the campaign? Double Check. One of the best damn Achievement lists on an Xbox 360 FPS game? Checktacular.
It's no movie, but FOX will handle Halo 3 licensing
Over the weekend Variety ran a story reporting that 20th Century FOX has partnered with Microsoft to become the primary merchandise licensor for the Halo franchise. But such news has been twisted as some media outlets picked up the story and are instead reporting that this confirms the once stalled Halo movie is back in production. Sorry folks, as much as we'd love to hear news that our Halo movie dreams are coming back to life the Variety article makes no mention of such resurrection. To be fair, the article does mention the Halo movie when setting up the story and talking about Microsoft and FOX's previous relationship ... but that's it. We know, it hurts us too.So, you can expect a crazy amount of licensed Halo goodies this Fall, but don't bank on the Halo movie going into production anytime soon. And if you think about it, getting a Halo 3 lunchbox is just as good as a blockbuster movie ... right guys? Right?[Thanks Nitin, Via Filmwad]
USK removes Marathon 2 rating for 360
Either we spoke too soon, or Microsoft's ninjas are pretty damned quick. X3F readers will recall that the USK (essentially Germany's version of the ESRB) rated Marathon: Durandal for the Xbox 360 last week. This led us to assume that our wild speculation from last November was true, and that Marathon was making its way to Xbox Live Arcade. Now, it looks like something is amiss. We checked the USK listing during our weekly Fancast recording session on Sunday, and lo and behold, the listing was gone (gasp!). No, really, check for yourself. So, here's the question: was the USK hallucinating, or has Microsoft demanded that the USK lower the veil of secrecy on what should have been a top-secret project?
Fanboylicious! McFarlane to create Halo 3 figurines
Today, McFarlane Toys announced that they have partnered with Microsoft to create eight exclusive Halo 3 figures that'll be available Spring 2008. McFarlane will be creating highly detailed figures that are roughly five inches tall including five character figures (Master Chief, Cortana, Brute Chieftain, Jackal Sniper and a Grunt two pack) and three vehicles (Warthog, Ghost and the new Brute Chopper). But there are a few things we're confused about. Why the heck is it taking until 2008 to get our action figure fix? It's not like they didn't know the game was coming out this year. Second, what happened to Joyride Studios creating Halo figures? Maybe they lost their street cred.Prototype McFarlane Master Chief figure in all his five inch glory posted after the break. Enjoy.[Thanks, TMD]
Progress is being made in Halo 3 ARG
Progress is being made as our beloved Halo 3 ARG has officially been kicked up a notch. And before we get into the news we have to warn you that these ARGs can and do get a confusing, but we'll try our best to recap the past few hours' events. Anyway, here we go ...After the AdjuntantReflux went to sleep, Halo3.com received a little update. The website now displays five servers that are "locked" leading us to believe that our goal must have something to do with getting these servers online. But this rabbit hole gets a lot deeper. A paper boy posted a URL on the Bungie.net forums that he found after paging through this Sunday's Circuit City ad. The URL links to a Halo comic on Halo3.com that hides a IP address. This IP address is a page featuring a standard ARG countdown clock and when it hits zero, we're expecting more fun. But we aren't done. After doing a little reverse whois search a new website was found that is home to the Society of the Ancients. This society looks to be where ARG players will be registering, finding evidence, and solving this mysterious Halo puzzle of confusion. The thing is that all this progress may have been found earlier than was intended due to the Circuit City ad URL being leaked days before expected. Keep track of the latest news and details over at the Halo 3 ARG wiki.It's late, our heads hurt, but we still find ourselves pulled in by the "game". How about you?[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Bungie's Halo 3 beta breakdown
Not satisfied with gigantic numbers and statistics? Bungie has posted a brief article detailing the team's thoughts on the Halo 3 beta. We must share one more number first, though. Remember those twelve million hours that were logged into the beta? According to Bungie, 816 years worth of that time was spent in-game. Yowza. Back to the task at hand, the Bungie team is pleased with the information gleaned from the beta. Network bugs in particular were weeded out very effectively. However, those of you hoping for any drastic weapon changes may be disappointed, as the team will leave the weapons mostly the same. There will be minor tweaks, of course, but don't expect anything drastic. Finally, the team is definitely aware of the many map escaping exploits (particularly Banshee ... in ... Space) and plans to seal the maps a little tighter for the retail release. Still, Bungie knows that fans are dedicated to finding ways around such measures, and has no illusions that they won't. Hit the "read" link for the full article. Update: Clarified Bungie's claim of 816 hours worth of play time.
Mysterious Halo 3 email makes us say ARG!
Ever since ILoveBees shoved Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) into the limelight, it seems like they're everywhere. Microsoft used one to promote the Xbox 360, one was used to promote EndWar, and now Microsoft is using it again for Halo 3. It began earlier this week with forum postings from one Adjutant Reflex -- the name of a Forerunner AI if we've ever heard one -- and it continues today. Subscribers to the Xbox Flash newsletter (including us) received a cryptic email this morning. The email warns of history repeating itself and an enemy closing in. It concludes by telling readers -- referred to as "keepers of the flame" -- to look out for signs that will lead them to victory. Given the dark, horrific description of the enemy and the warning of "history circling back upon us," we're inclined to believe the email is referring to the Flood.The email contains three links, all of which lead to Halo3.com. Adjutant Reflex's postings noted that "Archives/Resources will be compiled" by 1:00AM this morning. Whether or not this email is tantamount to archives or resources, we don't know. On top of that, Halo3.com appears unchanged at first glance. Any theories? Read the full text of the email after the break.
Halo 3 accessories officially unveiled, new pics
While we got a glimpse of the new Halo 3 accessories yesterday, Microsoft has now made their existence official. In celebration of the very successful Halo 3 beta, Microsoft has released high resolution shots of all the accessories for fans to ogle. We imagine most Halo fans will opt for the Master Chief controller rather than the significantly less interesting Brute controller. Along with the new shots of the controllers, Microsoft also released images of the McFarlane Toys Master Chief figurines that will come with the controllers. It looks like each controller will come with a different MC figurine (one with a shotgun and the other with an assault rifle). The figurines look pretty small, though no scale has been given. Microsoft has confirmed that the accessories will all retail for $59.99. The controllers will be available on September 18, while the wireless headset is slated for "early September."You can check out high resolution shots of all accessories and the figurines in the gallery below.%Gallery-3905%
Adjutant Reflex hints at possible Halo 3 ARG
Cryptic messages have been appearing on the forums over at Bungie.net and halo.bungie.org from a mysterious "thing" that goes by the name of Adjutant Reflex. It talks of data, hibernation, and events related to the Halo universe all while maintaining a veil of secrecy. Just what are we talking about? Well, simply put, things are coming together that make us believe that a new ilovebees style alternate reality game is about to begin, but Halo 3 style.Adjutant Reflex seems to be some sort of in-game AI who's data-mining the internets, responding cryptically to user's questions, and is connected to the Bungie.net and HBO forums. Communication, details, and knowledge about this whole Adjutant Reflex stuff is a little over our heads right now, which heavily favors the idea of a complex new ARG getting ready to begin. But what we can tell you is that this "thing" has stated that "Archives/Resources will be compiled" at around 1:00AM PST Thursday morning, so hopefully we'll get a feel for what's going on at that time. Until then, we advise checking out Hushed Casket's writeup of the events that have taken place including all kinds of links or checking out the UnFiction forums where experienced ARGers are looking into this.If this is a new Halo 3 ARG similar to ilovebees you can count us in. We just loved the adventure and community behind the fun. But what about you? Did you follow ilovebees and do you enjoy this alternate reality gaming?[Via Joystiq]
A quick look at Halo 3's cinematics
It's crunch time over at Bungie Studios and those gorgeous in-game cutscenes are coming together quite nicely. How do we know? Well, we read the Halo 3 cinematics update over on Bungie.net silly. In the cinematics update, Bungie talks about the work they are doing and how they've hired big name movie animators D.A.M.N. FX to help them create the most amazing cutscenes ever! D.A.M.N. FX has worked on movies like King Kong, Shrek, Transformers and Lord of the Rings making them more than qualified to touch our Halo 3. Make the jump to read what goes into animating Halo 3 and how very colorful the description of an animation can really get.
