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Bungie talks Reach issues, promises fixes for release
If you've been playing the Halo: Reach beta -- and, statistically, you probably have -- you've likely noticed a lot a changes compared to Halo 3. Look a little closer and you'll find something more sinister: bugs, glitches, issues. Of course, it is a beta test, so such things are expected. Still, in the latest weekly update, the folks at Bungie decided to calm our fears and explain that things will be fixed for the final release this fall. Among the issues addressed: teammates stealing flags in Stockpile, barely visible aiming reticules and the ad nauseam barrage of "Flag taken ... flag dropped" in CTF matches. Bungie assures fans that these and other issues have already been fixed in the current build of Reach. In other Reach news, Bungie has posted a handy beta survival guide compiled by community member Shake Appeal. If you're having trouble adjusting to the new weapons, abilities and overall feel of Halo: Reach, you may want to give the guide a once over. Source - Bungie Weekly Update 5.07.10 Source - Halo: Reach beta survival guide
PSA: Halo: Reach beta gets Invasion mode today
If you've been waiting to lay waste to some split-jawed Elites -- or, conversely, to some uppity Spartans -- then today is your lucky day. Bungie has tweeted that Invasion mode will be added to the Halo: Reach beta at "around 11am PDT" today. Lest you forgot how Invasion mode works, it's a 6-on-6, Spartan vs. Elite gametype that sees the Elites on the offensive, trying to take objectives and unlock new sections of the map. The Spartans, obviously, have to defend said objectives. Also, unlike most other modes in Reach, Invasion allows players to respawn next to a designated teammate (out of combat), adding to the strategic possibilities. On paper, it sounds a bit like Bad Company 2's Rush mode. In the beta, Invasion can only be played on Boneyard, a new, huge map with lots of vehicles and progressively deadlier weaponry unlocked as the match plays on. In other words, clear your schedule. You have plans tonight.
Halo: Reach beta logs over a million players on first day
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/06/halo-reach-beta-logs-over-a-million-players-on-first-day/'; It looks like Bungie is well on its way to engaging its expected three million plus players for the Halo: Reach beta. According to a recent news post on Bungie.net, the ongoing Reach beta logged well over a million players on its first public day. Specifically, the beta saw 1,170,112 total players, who manage to frag, stick, headshot, pummel or otherwise maim one another 157,972,986 times over the 14,205,611 games played, totaling 936,864,266 seconds of play time. That's 260,240 man hours or over 29 man years. If you prefer your jaw-dropping facts to be less numerical, Bungie concluded that the Reach beta saw more action on its first day than the Halo 3 beta did over its entire three-week run. One stat missing from the rundown: How many jet packs were used? We're presuming the number is incalculable.
Halo: Reach beta opens to Xbox Live Silver members May 14
Are you an Xbox Live Silver member? Have you been staring with green-eyed envy at all your Gold-subscribing friends currently enjoying the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta? If so, we've got some good news, because Shacknews reports that the Reach beta will be opening up to Xbox Live Silver members next week. Starting May 14 at 9:00am PT, Silver members with a copy of Halo 3: ODST will be able to access the beta. You'd better get as much as you can though, because the party ends on May 17 at 9:00am PT, two days before the beta closes for everyone else. But hey, some Reach is better than no Reach, right?
EA: 'We're going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time'
EA's upcoming reboot to the Medal of Honor franchise has a few major contenders, one of which EA itself created, to compete with when it arrives at retail this October. But EA Games prez Frank Gibeau remains confident in MoH, telling Gamasutra in a recent interview that, "With Medal of Honor, we're rebooting the series to get into the top 10." Gibeau lays out plans for an extensive marketing campaign first aimed at "core shooter fans," then branching out to a "true mass-market campaign." Speaking frankly, he claims "It'll be a big launch with a lot of dollars behind it. We're going to go in and we're going to compete." He believes that, between the IP's pedigree and the quality of this reboot, EA's " going to be in the Medal of Honor business for a long time." Meanwhile, executive producer Greg Goodrich and senior creative director Rich Farrelly do their best to assuage worries of internal competition between themselves at EA LA and DICE, the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer now working on MoH's multiplayer mode, or the ex-Infinity Ward founders' new studio that EA recently inked a deal with. Goodrich says, "Battlefield and Medal of Honor are two very different franchises. They have a certain tone, and we have a certain tone for our game. We think there's room for both, not only in the genre, but within EA." Also of note, apparently DICE has been working on MoH's multiplayer since "right after Battlefield 1943 came out" (last July), which might help to explain why we've seen such little post-launch support for the downloadable title. That said, with Medal of Honor's development assuredly nearing completion, we're holding out hope that those folks will have some time to invest in the other downloadable title we heard about recently.
Halo: Reach Betabusters: things you probably didn't know about the beta
For as much as you've been tirelessly playing (or trying to play) the Halo: Reach beta, we're sure there are some things you didn't know. Example: did you know that you can actually kill somebody by hitting them in the face with a grenade? Yup, totally possible. How about a tried-and-true way to avoid fall damage? It's a lot simpler than you may think! Thanks to Defend The House -- of Modern Warfare 2 Mythbusters fame -- we now know how. And you too can feel the Quickening-like surge of power that is knowledge by simply heading past the break and watching the first episode of Halo: Reach Betabusters. Enjoy!
Halo: Reach beta update: chugging along, but still needs a little work
If you were trying to get your Halo: Reach on last night, you probably remember that crucial point in time when it just plain stopped working. It was a dark time, to say the least, but Bungie is working hard to get things in order. A recent post on its forums states that while you should still expect "suboptimal performance," you can at least get into some games now. While we'd certainly appreciate a fully functional beta, we're not complaining -- playing a few matches is better than playing no matches, after all.
Halo: Reach beta now available through ODST
Fly -- don't run -- to your Xbox 360 and cram that Halo 3: ODST disc into the drive, because it's time to play some Halo: Reach. Bungie has just informed us that the beta, which runs until May 19, is now live. Have you watched Aisha Tyler's informative introduction yet? You don't want to waste time fiddling with the controls on your first day. Let us know how the download process goes and what you think of the game once you're set -- assuming it all goes smoothly. You're not preparing another outrageous letter, are you? Some quick words of warning from Bungie: "The download process may be subject to extended wait times. Server load is expected to be extremely high, especially during the first few hours and days of Beta availability. Please bear with us and stay tuned to Bungie.net for news and information."
Aisha Tyler: Halo Reach beta tester and teacher
Aisha Tyler provided us with countless chuckles and guffaws during her stint as the host of Talk Soup -- now she's providing us with sage-like advice on how to succeed in the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta, which Bungie says will drop "late morning PDT." Check out the video above to watch Tyler give a rundown of the series' new maps, game types and weapons. She'll even demonstrate the proper way to handle said weapons using comically oversized props. Heads up: Throughout the course of the video, Tyler uses about 22 variations of the phrase "kick your ass," so you should file this one under "NSFW."
Halo: Reach beta visually dissected by Digital Foundry
Well, we knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? First things first: Yes, Halo: Reach is apparently running at a full 720p according to Digital Foundry's review of the beta thus far (so many Ps!). And, like Halo 3 before it, the Reach beta achieves a near constant 30 frames-per-second of highly frenetic gameplay, albeit dropping a few every now and then during, um ... explosive situations (let us once again remind you that the game is still in beta). In fact, aside from the occasional screen tear and a bit of a "ghosting" issue ("frame bending" -- two or more images being blurred together -- can sometimes result in objects on screen not appearing solid, as seen in this image), DF is quite impressed with the beta's visual presentation, not to mention the gameplay. The three pages on the beta go into far more detail than we've dropped into this post, and, well, we've got a lot more Reach to play, so we'd encourage you to read more right here.
Xbox 360 Fancast -- Halo: Reach beta special
The Joystiq staff, among many other lucky gamers, was fortunate enough to get early access to the Halo: Reach beta this week. Rather than waste all this fun on ourselves, we've decided to check in with you, our loyal listeners. Grab this special Xbox 360 Fancast episode to see what we think of the Halo: Reach beta so far. Will it suck away your soul, or will you stick with Bad Company 2? Give it a listen and here what we've got to say. [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3). [RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM, @senseiram), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander, @xandersliwinski), Xav de Matos (Snypz, @xav) and Dave Hinkle (KnifefightYaDad, @davehinkle) Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta. Break: "Subliminal Message" by Happy Birthday. For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group
Halo: Reach marketing buzz takes a bald new step (this is about hair clippers)
The Halo Reach clippers, guaranteed to take you from Brute to Spartan™ Paired to go along with the beginning of the early access "friends and family" beta for Halo: Reach came the above tool, some seemingly military-grade Oster hair clippers, bundled in a heavy duty Pelican case that probably cost more than the clippers themselves. Inscribed with the WelcomeToNobleTeam.com URL – haven't you seen the short yet? – and delivered at the oh-so-welcome hour of 7am, the package contained another treat: a copy of Halo 3: ODST. Of course, that ODST disc won't gain you access to the beta until May 3rd, but luckily this morning's announcement of a partnership between Halo Reach developer Bungie and Activision – solidifying the dev's departure from Microsoft, Halo, and platform-exclusivity – will give you plenty to think about over the next four days. Check out the entire kit in the gallery below while we figure out the best way to give it to a reader. %Gallery-92034%
Full Halo: Reach live action short is ... longer
Listen, we love atmosphere. Don't get us wrong, if someone was making a list of websites that liked moody, atmospheric advertising, Joystiq would be right there at the top. With a bullet. We watched that Gears of War "Mad World" ad and thought "Hmm, not enough atmosphere and pensive reflection." That said, the two-minute-and-thirty second version of the live action Halo: Reach short "Birth of a Spartan" is just ... well, it's too much. For future reference: If by the halfway mark we're shouting at the screen, "Just hit Powder with the muscle juice already and let's get to shooting fools!" you know you've overdone it.
Halo: Reach beta's live-action short makes its online debut
Alright folks -- it's time for another live-action Halo short, this one for the upcoming Reach beta. We told you about it yesterday, now a short version of the short is making its way through the pipes of the internet, winding up on YouTube in advance of a higher-quality version due later this evening arriving from Microsoft on Wednesday morning. We've embedded the clip -- "Birth of a Spartan" -- after the break above The not-so-short (i.e. full) version of the, er, short will hit Thursday morning, April 29. Consider your appetite for more officially whetted. [Via Geoff Keighley, Twitter]
Waypoint's Halo Reach content schedule, Avatar award teased
The Halo: Reach marketing machine is working overtime this week, as Halo Waypoint will release new content everyday until the Beta launches on May 3. If that isn't a big enough tease for you, the schedule of content the team at Waypoint sent to us still has a few "To be announced" placeholders. It's bad enough Halo fans need to wait, but waiting for the content provided to help diminish the wait for the Beta is just cruel, guys. Here's the Halo Waypoint schedule of content for the days leading to the Halo: Reach Beta. In a recent Reach ViDoc, an Avatar award is briefly mentioned by designer Luke Smith as the only thing beta testers will start with when they begin their testing duties on May 3. Halo Waypoint will also see a title update sometime before the beta launches. While it's unconfirmed if the two are related, Team Waypoint recently tweeted more "details" would be released regarding an image of a "Halo: Reach Beta Tester" Avatar hoodie recently uncovered by NeoGAF; it's looking likely that this is the gear you could be getting for playing the Halo: Reach beta. The content schedule for Halo Waypoint can be found after the break.
Halo: Reach live-action short arrives this week
The live-action marketing for Halo 3 was top notch, from the stellar Believe campaign to Neill Blomkamp's preview of what could have been in Landfall. So, we're understandably excited for Halo: Reach to get the same treatment in "Birth of a Spartan," a new live-action short directed by Noam Murro, the man behind the underrated 2008 romantic comedy Smart People. Yes, you're right, it sounds like a perfect fit. Detailing the procedure that takes Carter 259 from zero to Spartan hero, the short will be available online, on US and UK TV, in movie theaters ... well, it's going to be hard not to see it. Let's just put it that way. Look for a 60-second version to premiere April 27 in the US during V (at 10 p.m. EST) and on the UK's Sky Sports 2 at the full time whistle of the semi-final between Lyon and Bayern Munichand, which kicks off at 7:45 BST. It'll be on the trailer's official site that night and a two-minute-thirty-second version will appear on Xbox Live for Gold members the next day. Like we said: Hard to avoid.
Halo: Reach 'Pre-Beta' video walkthroughs, gameplay footage
Note: This footage is best viewed in high definition. Click 'HD' to enable it. Halo fanatics will finally get their hands on Halo: Reach when the multiplayer beta, included with the purchase of Halo 3: ODST, is activated next week. You've already read our impressions but now you get to see some of the action, with hours of Halo: Reach Pre-Beta footage carefully trimmed down to the essentials. By showing the new armor customization options, control changes, comparisons to Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST and full gameplay matches in high definition, we're hoping to answer as many of your questions as we can before you get your own quality time with Reach on May 3.
Halo: Reach ViDoc: Carnage Carnivale, plus a 3D screenshot
More Halo: Reach news than you can shake a gravity hammer at today, as Bungie, in addition to revealing the Reach special editions, has also released a brand new multiplayer ViDoc and a new 3D screenshot. The ViDoc goes over the various weaponry and modes you'll be playing with in the beta next month. The shot showcases a still from Reach's new Invasion mode which, if you haven't heard, sounds just super great. Check out the video above, and have fun with the 3D screen after the break.
Halo: Reach special editions confirmed, including $150 'Legendary' set
click for Legendary size The pair of Halo: Reach special edition packages we shared with you yesterday have been verified by Microsoft. In addition to a standard edition (which includes the best part: the game), a $79.99 Limited Edition will be sold in special ONI "black box" packaging, along with an exclusive in-game Elite armor set for multiplayer and an "artifact bag" containing "Dr. Halsey's personal journal and other classified documents and effects that unravel long held secrets from the Halo universe." Meanwhile, the $149.99 Legendary Edition will come in UNSC packaging and contain everything found in the Limited Edition, plus a hand-painted, numbered statue of Noble Team (crafted by McFarlane Toys) and an "exclusive multiplayer Spartan armor effect." That effect, incidentally: flaming helmet. You can peruse the contents of each edition -- including screens of the Elite armor and flaming helmet -- in the gallery below. %Gallery-91442%
Bungie expects 'upwards of three million' for Halo: Reach beta
Are you guys excited for this Halo: Reach thing? Yeah, we're not that concerned with it, but apparently it's kind of a "big deal" or something -- we guess there's a beta coming on May 3? Psh, whatevs. Anyway, according to a The Seattle Times interview with Bungie's Brian Jarrard and Chris Carney, the developer is anticipating quite the turnout. "My expectation is it could be upwards of 3 million people. I think that's a fairly conservative estimate," Jarrard said. "Certainly there will never be a console beta of this magnitude." That's a considerable increase from the Halo 3 beta, which managed to snag 820,000 participants during its 26-day run during the summer of 2007. Sure, the inclusion of jetpacks undoubtedly raised some eyebrows, but we would never have thought the potential for atomic teabags would be that big of a selling point. C'est la vie. [Via 1UP]
