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Over 6 million user-created maps are coming to 'Halo: MCC'
Microsoft and 343 Industries said they'd transfer Forge maps and game modes to Halo: The Master Chief Collection with the help of players, and it's clear many gamers were willing to step up. The two have revealed that over 6.6 million user-created maps for Halo 3, Halo: Reach and Halo 4 will be playable in MCC when ready. There's a good chance a favorite map from your Xbox 360 days will be available in remastered form.
Microsoft starts public tests for 'Halo: Reach' on PC
Halo: Reach is now playable on PC... for a handful of very early adopters. Microsoft and 343 Industries have shared a slew of Master Chief Collection update news, including word that it has started a public test of Reach on Windows PCs that lasts through July 1st. Don't get your hopes up for joining in this round, though. There are less than 1,000 Halo Insiders involved, and they're playing just one campaign mission. The developers plan to invite more people "over time," though, so you can consider this the start of a much larger test experience.
Halo: Reach free, Valiant Hearts discounted for Xbox Gold members
Welcome to the back half of September, which means Xbox Live Gold members can now grab Halo: Reach gratis from the service. Regularly priced at $25, the Halo prequel covers the events of the planet Reach's evacuation before it was overwhelmed by The Covenant. It's not an uplifting tale. Following that heavy theme, the emotional Valiant Hearts is also discounted for the week on Xbox One and Xbox 360 for gold members.
Games with Gold in September: Super Time Force, Halo: Reach
Xbox Live's Games with Gold rolls into a new month with Super Time Force and Crimson Dragon free on Xbox One starting on September 1. Super Time Force takes the place of August's Strike Suit Zero, and Crimson Dragon carries over into another month of high-flying, scaly action. Xbox 360 Gold members get Monaco: What's Yours is Mine for free from September 1 - 15, and Halo: Reach for free from September 16 - 30. Happy shooting, flying, sneaking and reaching this September! [Image: Capy]
Destiny to use facial motion capture
It's time for Destiny's close-up! The upcoming MMO is paying attention to more than just scenery and armor models, as Bungie has hired Faceware Technologies to provide facial motion capture for the game's characters. Faceware Technologies uses a "markerless" motion capture system to quickly scan and analyze actors' faces and record those expressions. Destiny artists can then take those expressions and put them on the game's models. Bungie previously worked with Faceware on Halo: Reach. You can read the full press release after the break.
Halo: The Fall of Reach, Gears of War writer now at Amazon
Eric Nylund, author of Halo: The Fall of Reach and writer for both Gears of War and supplemental Halo: Reach materials, has revealed his new job as Director of Narrative Design at Amazon Game Studios. As Couch Campus reports, Nylund left Microsoft Games in July, but had said nothing about his new gig until a recent Facebook posting revealed a business card with "Amazon Game Studios" emblazoned on the front. "I can't talk about specifics," Nylund wrote. "But I wouldn't be there unless something cool was brewing." It's difficult to speculate on what this means for the future of Amazon, as the only Amazon Games Studio game in existence right now is Air Patriots, which isn't quite on the same level as the Halo and Gears franchises. It will be interesting to see if Nylund can expand Amazon's library beyond the typical mobile and casual games, and bring the type of blockbuster stories he's known for. Update: This article originally listed Eric Nylund as a writer on Halo: Reach. While technically true, Nylund's contributions were to physical, supplemental materials included in the game's various collector's editions, rather than the game itself. The text of this article has been updated to better reflect Nylund's contributions to the series and history as an author.
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
Bungie's gift to a child who could use cheering up, in pictures
Reddit user fiscal_ reached out on the forums two weeks ago, asking if anyone had contact info for Bungie, the original team behind the Halo series. His young son was a huge Halo fan, but more importantly he was recovering from an intense liver transplant surgery, and fiscal_ wanted to cheer him up with something from his favorite franchise. Bungie delivered.Bungie sent over a full-size replica of Carter's helmet from Halo: Reach for fiscal_'s son to keep, along with a t-shirt and a card signed by Bungie staff wishing him well. "My family can't thank Bungie enough," fiscal_ wrote. "I know that they have had a huge impact on how well my son has been recovering after his surgery."This album of pictures tells the whole, heartwarming story.
Xbox 360 holiday bundles get $50 price cut
Microsoft cut the price of its 250GB and 4GB Kinect Xbox 360 bundles by $50. All holiday bundles included in the deal can be picked up at GameStop, Best Buy, Kmart, Target and Amazon.Each bundle is priced at $250 except for the standard and holiday 250GB Kinect bundles, which are $350. Most of the bundles have games and DLC codes packed in, including Forza 4, Kinect Adventures, Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, Fable 3, Halo: Reach and a digital copy of Skyrim.We've called GameStop and still have yet to find an end date for this offer, but we'll update as soon as we find out.
Halo stats blown out by Bungie as studio moves on
Bungie is out of the Halo stat-tracking biz, but says "so long and thanks for all the fish" with one last nuke of information. Since 2004, over 20.8 billion Halo matchmaking games have been played, with Halo 3 supplying a majority at 11.5 billion, at around 221 million games averaged monthly.The studio gathered all the data up in a mega infographic, covering stats of the great battles between humanity and The Covenant, and Red vs. Blue. At the end of Bungie's oversight of the online war, the body count exceeded 136 billion, with over 43 billion assists.Having moved on from Halo, Bungie is currently in a 10-year contract with Activision to produce ... something.
Save $50 on Xbox 360 Holiday or MW3 bundles on Amazon
Looking to save a little scratch on a new Xbox 360? Amazon has a couple of deals on offer, namely the 250GB Holiday bundle (including Halo: Reach and Fable 3) and the Modern Warfare 3 bundle? You can snag them for $250 or $350, respectively, $50 off the usual price.
10-year anniversary Xbox 360 bundle found on Amazon France
"But wait," you might be thinking. "The original Xbox launched on November 15, 2001. The tenth anniversary was last year, why come out with a 10-year anniversary bundle now? What's the deal? Oh my God, can you hear this? Quit listening to my thoughts! Get out of my head!!"Whoa, chill dude! The American launch was in 2001, but the console's European debut didn't happen until three months later in 2002, hence the 10-year anniversary bundle showing up on Amazon France in 2012. The €280.00 ($375.50) package comes with a 250-gb Xbox 360, two wireless controllers, a boxed copy of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, digital versions of Halo: Reach, Gears of War 2 and Fable 3, as well as a 3-month Xbox Live Gold membership card.The bundle is set to ship on March 9, and while we appreciate the sentiment and everything, we can't help but feel like a 360 reproduction of this might have been a more touching tribute. Make it happen, Microsoft. We'll give you money.
Bungie handing over Halo community services to 343 in March
As of March 31, 2012, Bungie will no longer host any Halo services on Bungie.net. Current Halo data will be transferred to 343 and, at that time, "all live Halo data will be managed by 343 Industries, and Bungie will no longer be able to update game stats and player service records, to host new user generated content, or to operate the Bungie Pro service." Using a peculiar bit of language, Bungie notes that "any replacement functionality" will be hosted by Halo Waypoint on halo.xbox.com.Notice that Bungie doesn't mention whether or not such functionality will be replaced, though it seems unlikely that Microsoft would allow Halo's community features to disappear. They are, after all, a hallmark of the franchise. Because really, what's the point of playing Halo if you can't show off how awesome you are (or, as the image above illustrates, how funny it looks as your Spartan's limp corpse sails through the air).
McFarlane's sixth Halo: Reach action figure series drops in February
Another platoon of Halo: Reach action figures from McFarlane Toys is set to be deployed to a toy store near you. Microsoft has revealed the Series 6 figurines, which include new individual Carded Figures and Deluxe Boxed Sets, will be available in February 2012. New individual figures include Noble Team members Kat and Jun, an Elite Zealot, Brute Major and the Team Objectives set seen above. Finally, Kat can live forever in both our hearts and our toy display case!
Halo prices dropped across the board on XBLM today, discounts on other titles in the pipeline
It's pretty unlikely at this point that you own an Xbox 360 without a copy of Halo: Reach in some form or another. But if for some crazy reason you just got an Xbox 360 and you're still missing out on Bungie's swan song to the Spartans, Microsoft's got a digital version of the game discounted alongside all of its DLC (well, most of it, anyway -- the Anniversary Map Pack is sadly absent). There's also a handful of Avatar clothing/items, as well as the always thrilling "Anchor 9 Premium Theme," you big collector, you. Head to Xbox.com's Halo: Reach section to see how today's discounts apply to your region. Should Halo not be your particular bag, a whole mess of other deals are being offering in the coming days and weeks, mostly of the Hasbro variety. Major Nelson has conveniently compiled them for you right here.
Halo Waypoint hits iOS, Android and Windows Phone on Dec 10, ATLAS 'GPS' is $4.99
Microsoft wants to make sure that you're thinking Xbox even when you're far away from your Xbox. First, the My Xbox Live and Xbox Companion apps debuted on the iOS App Store and Windows Phone Marketplace, respectively. And now we've got Halo Waypoint for iOS, Android and, of course, Windows Phone 7. And while Waypoint will pack the expected Halo: Reach stats, service record, and challenges, the ATLAS "companion experience" is a little more unique. As we reported in October, ATLAS is short for Assisted Tactical Assault System and it's a "near-real-time player data and tactical guidance" supplement for your Halo: Reach multiplayer matches. What does that mean? Detailed maps of the game's multiplayer levels, including boring stuff like spawn and health pack locations, and the cool stuff like "near-real-time locations for weapons and vehicles." That means GPS-like pinpointing of your location while you play the game. You can find more data direct from Xbox at the Source link below. There is one catch, however: While Waypoint will be free for all three platforms on December 10, ATLAS will run iOS and Android users $4.99 while Windows Phone 7 users get something to gloat about, with the app's $0 asking price.
Amazon's Cyber Monday sale starts Sunday, includes 360 bundle of joy
Amazon wants to keep the digital pepper sprayings and stampedes to a minimum this Cyber Monday, and has released a teaser list of its deals that will begin on Sunday, Nov. 27, and last throughout the week. So far Amazon has a few nuggets of gaming gold advertised, including an Xbox 360 250GB bundle that includes Halo: Reach and Fable 3 for $200. Check the press release for the full teaser, and make sure to read it all the way to the last sale item. We're pretty sure that's the one you've been looking for all along.
Halo Helljumper is a fanmade series that looks like a Hollywood hit
A group of dedicated Halo fans have put some serious time, sweat, tears (we assume) and talent (we can see) into a coming webseries, Halo Helljumper, based on the short story "Dirt" by Tobias S. Buckell. The film series will tell the tale of one ODST battling the Covenant before the fall of Reach. The first episode is set to premiere in January. Check out the trailer above and get some more information about the cast and props right here.
Microsoft lines up two Xbox 360 bundles for the holidays
Microsoft's annual Holiday bundle streak continues this year, with two different SKUs: one targeting the family crowd that enjoys flailing around together, the other targeting the hardcore gaming crowd that's all about no-scoping domes. Both bundles are shipping to retailers today, Major Nelson says. The first bundle includes a 250 GB Xbox 360 S console with a Kinect, a copy of Kinect Adventures and Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do, and three months of Xbox Live Gold, all for $399.99. The other bundle has a suggested price of $299.99, and sports a 250 GB Xbox 360 S console, three months of Xbox Live Gold and copies of Halo: Reach (downloadable) and Fable 3.
Halo: Reach DLC 50% off this week, Toy Soldiers DLC and more next week
If all the talk of Halo Anniversary has put you in the mood for more modern fare, the Reach map packs are down to five bucks each this week. Alternately, if the release of Dead Rising 2: Off the Record gave you a hankerin' for Dead Rising 2 spinoffs, you'll find those half off next week, starting October 25. Dead Rising the first will also be On Demand for 25% off. There's currently a "Shocktober" sale happening, including Castlevania Harmony of Despair for 600 Points ($7.50), and Alan Wake On Demand for just $10 more than retail. What a deal. Racing fans can get a rolling staaaaaaaaaaaaaaart on Daytona USA on October 26, and check out the Toy Soldiers: Cold War "Napalm Pack" and A World of Keflings DLC on the same day. And in Avatar accessory news, it's finally happening on October 20. KISS Avatar clothing.
