halo reach
Latest
Rooster Teeth Grifball series headed to Halo Waypoint
Microsoft has sent out the latest Halo Waypoint update, detailing the content that we can expect to see in the near future. The update goes over the recent Halo: Reach info that has hit the interwebs, namely the ViDoc and the box art. It notes that this and future Reach info will be posted on the Transmissions section of the official Halo site on Xbox.com. There's also a Valentine's Day screenshot gallery on Waypoint, with help from one Hawty McBloggy. The real meat of the update, however, is that a new short series from Rooster Teeth -- the crew behind Red vs Blue -- will begin airing on Waypoint starting this weekend. The three part series, entitled "Grifball: Expansion," will air every Saturday starting February 20 and concluding on March 6. The series "tells the story of Team Slipspace and their confrontation with the newest addition to the International Grifball League of Earth." Check out a trailer for the series above.
Digital Foundry analyzes the Halo: Reach ViDoc
By now, you've likely dissected every frame of the new Halo: Reach trailer, mining its most precious infoz to your heart's content. Or maybe (like us) you work for a living, or have other responsibilities that keep you from busting out the microscope and going to town. That's where Digital Foundry comes in. DF conducted a thorough breakdown of the X10 video, monitoring the frames-per-second (fups, as us cool kids call it) in all of the presented gameplay. All in all, the ViDoc seems to have spoken the truth: Halo: Reach's engine is a significant improvement over that of Halo 3's. It looks like Reach should run at a smooth 30fps, the same as its predecessor, at a higher resolution: 1152x720 over Halo 3's 1152x640. Yep, you pixel-counters just read that right. Head on over and give the video a gander. [Via HBO]
McFarlane's Halo: Reach figures infiltrate Toy Fair 2010
[Kotaku] A couple weeks back, McFarlane Toys announced it would be producing a line of action figures for Bungie's upcoming Halo: Reach. Nothing too surprising there, as most of us with any kind of flat open surface can attest -- you have lots of Halo toys already, right? Well, we hope you're ready to at least look at some more, because that's what this post is about! Kotaku attended this year's Toy Fair show in NYC today, where the preliminary packaging and prototype images for the toys were presented. The original announcement for the figures only detailed that we could all expect Halo: Reach stuff from McFarlane this year and well into 2011, but it would appear the initial run is being limited to Noble team (the Spartans the game revolves around) and at least one Ghost-riding Grunt. Hit up Kotaku for the images.
X10: The Recap Post
.nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } Microsoft's X10 press event has come and gone, and with it came a stack of Xbox-related news, trailers, screenshots and more. It was so much content, we nearly broke the Internet! Alright, that's probably inaccurate but we have to assume we were close. In case you missed anything, we've wrapped it all up and have it here for you in one tidy, little package. Alan Wake | Dead Rising 2 | Fable III | Final Fantasy XIII | Halo: Reach Left 4 Dead 2 | Modern Warfare 2 | Splinter Cell: Conviction | XBLA Block Party %Gallery-85281%
Interview: Marcus Lehto on Halo: Reach, Firefight, and ending at the beginning
Bungie's Marcus Lehto was grinning like a proud papa when we had a chance to chat with him during X10. The Halo: Reach creative director had been demoing his baby continually for around eight hours, but seemed excited just to be able to tell us more about the studio's final Halo game, his presentation of which had totally wowed us earlier in the day. We reached out, shook his hand, said Halo (okay, not really) and got cracking with our questions. Joystiq: As a game that is intended to cap off Bungie's work on the Halo series, how do you end a story by going back to the beginning? Marcus Lehto: What we wanted to do is kind of bring everything full circle. Going back -- to a prequel -- to delve into the stories of the Spartans on planet Reach and to tell their stories; What they did, what they did that transpired and led to the events of Halo 1, was such a cool thing for us to tackle. That's the thing that really got us excited about [Halo: Reach]. We came up with an amazing story tell tell. For us, like I said, it does literally bring things full circle for us because we're doing things in Reach -- and telling this story -- that really help us encapsulate the entire series and make sense of everything. %Gallery-64713%
Halo: Reach ViDoc heads Once More Unto the Breach
Coinciding with the info avalanche at X10, Bungie has released a new Halo: Reach video documentary (aka "ViDoc"). There's something for every Halo fan here: Spartan customization, new weapons, huge maps, new music, and plenty of human-on-alien warfare. A few things to look out for include a grenade launcher, stealth kills and a Spartan actually sprinting. You'll even get an un-textured peek at the huge battles Bungie demonstrated during X10. A full squad of marines, Spartans and 30 Covenant duking it out all at once? Yes, please. Once you pick the video apart -- and we know you will -- be sure to post your OMG megaton discoveries in the comments. Once you're done doing that, go download the ViDoc from the Xbox Live Markeplace and watch it in HD. Shortcut: Download the 'Once More Unto the Breach" ViDoc to your Xbox 360 [via Xbox.com]
Dress up your desktop with Halo: Reach box art wallpaper
During last night's Microsoft's X10 press event, Bungie revealed the final box art for Halo: Reach. (Spoiler: It's real pretty.) And just as we were about to tile images of the cover to dress up our desktop backgrounds, Bungie released perfectly sized wallpaper images on its official site. Nab the wallpaper for widescreen setups, CRT screens, and even your iPhone right now! It's the closest you're getting to the Spartan-heavy adventure until the beta launches on May 3. %Gallery-64713%
Bungie: Halo Reach multiplayer takes 'big risks'
When asked if Bungie was sticking to the tried-and-true multiplayer formula in the upcoming prequel Halo: Reach, creative director Marcus Lehto told Joystiq the developer would be taking some "pretty big risks" for its final Halo title. "While we'll still have all of the good stuff that players have come to know and love about Halo, we've made that better and given them new features on top of that," Lehto said.Lehto wouldn't detail the new risky features, but he would confirm players would see the "new multiplayer features" during the Reach multiplayer beta; beginning May 3. Lehto also reiterated that "currently" the multiplayer beta would only be accessible through a Halo 3: ODST disc.Brainstorm with us, folks: What new features do you hope for in Halo: Reach multiplayer?%Gallery-64713%
X10: Halo: Reach demonstrated, will be 'the definitive Halo'
Click to enlarge Bungie's "community guy " Brian Jarrard and Halo: Reach creative director Marcus Lehto were on-hand at X10 to provide a much deeper look into the workings of Reach, what they are calling "the best Halo yet" and "the most ambitious title Bungie has ever produced." The duo talked us through many of the changes being made to the established Halo formula, and new elements they believe make this "the definitive Halo experience." Lehto talked about the team's desire to "throw new things at the player," building on the hallmark underpinnings of previous Halos and even changing some things to suit the new game's more serious tone, but said Bungie wouldn't "be pushing it." Another key goal with Reach, according to Lehto, is to "reintroduce the Covenant," by both making them look different -- more alien, more savage -- and giving established enemies new behaviors. It was also mentioned that, to keep with the more realistic tone of Reach, players won't be able to understand what the Covenant are saying. %Gallery-64713%
Halo: Reach beta dated May 3, only for ODST owners
Click to Spartan-size With the X10 event underway in San Francisco, Microsoft has finally announced the first details surrounding the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta. The beta test will officially begin on May 3, 2010. As promised, owners of Halo 3: ODST will be able to access the beta through the ODST game disc. We'll have more details about the beta shorty. For now, sit tight and direct your attention on that new box art! %Gallery-64713%
Halo: Reach 'not a Natal title,' being made with a controller in mind
Sure, you could take Bungie's latest foray into Mythbusters territory as full on confirmation of Halo: Reach not having Project Natal support, or you could be like us and remain skeptical of the developer's still-not-straightforward wording. In a recent post on Bungie.net, the company attempted to answer a mess of "myths" about its upcoming Halo game, including "Myth: Reach is being built for Natal!" In answering, the post states, "Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind." That said, rather than outright saying, "No, there's no support for Project Natal in Halo: Reach," Bungie instead chose to loosely word the answer. It certainly doesn't help the situation that multiple Bungie employees have expressed interest in seeing Natal incorporated into the Halo series, with Bungie prez Harold Ryan even saying he could "absolutely" see Reach specifically incorporate Natal. So, about that myth ...
Fable 3, Halo: Reach and more to be shown at X10 event in February
Microsoft will hold its X10 event in San Francisco next month, giving us our first looks at Fable 3, Halo: Reach and Left 4 Dead 2 add-ons. The invite-only event will also include other games expected in 2010, including Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Final Fantasy XIII and the Xbox Game Room. Microsoft's "X" events have been held for the last few trips around the sun by our health-insured brothers in Canada. We'll surely be in attendance for the February 11 event and get you info as soon as we can. We'd let you tap into our ocular implants, but the event won't have wi-fi for an uplink. Sorry.
Bungie releases Halo: Reach screens, concept art and bios
Click image to Spartan-size We hope you wanted to see a bunch of screens from Halo: Reach today. Bungie has uploaded a ton of new images, showing off environments and gameplay, as well as an extensive collection of concept art (all compiled in the gallery below). You'll also find some character bios on Bungie's site, if you plan on getting to know your squad of Spartans a little better. The images are generally full of the things you'd expect at this point: Spartans; Covenant; and general Halo-y goodness, but one image in particular is very curious to us. Not only is the reticle not in the center of the screen, but there's also a HUD item scrubbed out. Whatever could it be? We know the internet has had way more experience than us in putting Halo stuff under the microscope, so we leave the guesstimating up to you. Best one wins our undying love and admiration forever! %Gallery-64713% [Thanks, Omer]
Halo: Reach 'bending the Xbox as far as it'll bend,' Bungie assures
Much like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves demonstrated in 2009, Halo: Reach will be expected to deliver an experience that not only speaks highly of its developer, but also of the technological capabilities and commercial identity of its home platform. Whereas Halo 3: ODST was built upon Bungie's 2007 space hoop outing (has it already been that long?), the developer tells Edge that its next shooter is already "bending the Xbox as far as it'll bend." Surely that voids the warranty? "We are... taking every advantage of everything on the CPU and GPU, and every bit of memory in order to produce the look of Reach beyond anything of Halo 3, " creative director Marcus Lehto noted, attributing the evolution -- which also benefits the size of environments and complexity of the AI -- to increased understanding of the hardware. "We're pushing it as far as we can go," Lehto said. "With every iteration we understand what more we can exploit with the hardware." Chalk up another win for longer console life cycles -- and for long-running franchises.
Bungie says Halo: Reach is like Titanic
It's got Kate Winslet? It's on a boat? It features just enough Billy Zane involvement? No, no, we can only dream. Bungie makes the analogy between Halo: Reach and James Cameron's disaster film because you know how it ends before it even begins. "Reach is going to fall and 700 million people are going to perish as a result," said Bungie creative director Marcus Lehto in a new interview with Edge. Dude, spoiler alert! How the developer is handling the seeming contradiction between the reward of "beating" the game and experiencing the fall of Reach is the meat of the Edge interview. It's a fine read if you want to know more about the next Halo game than just how many guns you'll be able to fire at the same time. (Seven, if you must know. Yeah, we were confused too.)
Halo: Reach screenshots leaked then pulled by EB Games website
Were you quick enough to catch the handful of Halo: Reach screens released via the EBGames website? Well it happened, we assure you, and luckily the folks at XCast Online snagged the whole lot of 'em. That said, if you've already got the February issue of Game Informer, chances are you've seen these screens before -- that's because a good deal of them are directly from that issue's cover story on the upcoming prequel. If EB Games has already gotten its hands on these screens, chances are we'll be seeing an official release from Microsoft in the not-so-distant future. In the meantime, we've pestered the publisher for some idea of when exactly that'll be. %Gallery-80182%
Game Informer profiles 343 Industries
As part of its month-long look at Halo: Reach, Game Informer has put together a brief video about 343 Industries, the group put together by Microsoft to handle the massive Halo franchise. The magazine puts a few questions to 343 Industries' Josh Holmes, Bonnie Ross and Frank O'Connor about how the group came to be, the creation of Halo Waypoint, and what the meaning is behind its mysterious name. According to O'Connor, Microsoft decided some time ago that Halo was large enough that it needed more than a handful of people to steer the franchise. As for the 343 Industries name, Ross mentions the obvious connection to everyone's favorite Forerunner AI, 343 Guilty Spark, but adds that it may be more fully explained in the future. O'Connor expands further, noting that the answer to the mystery behind 343 will "make itself evident in a few years." Our best guess: "Because it sounds cool."
Halo: Reach detailed in next Game Informer
Here's the news, Halo fans: You're going to buy the February issue of Game Informer. The magazine will have a ten page cover story on Halo: Reach, including screens, details and -- as illustrated by the cover above -- some new artwork. In addition to the cover story, the Halo: Reach hub on GameInformer.com will be receiving updates throughout the rest of January, including a look at the Halo franchise, profiles of Bungie and 343 Industries employees and "expanded details on the new game." The next update is set to drop on Tuesday, January 12. In the meantime, we'll be scrutinizing every detail of the cover for clues about the game. For example, did you notice that the third Spartan from the left has a skull painted on his visor? Because he totally does.
Greenberg: Crackdown 2 coming first half of 2010
On Major Nelson's weekly podcast -- with a host left laughing and teary-eyed due to the Xbox head's dental-related lisp -- Aaron Greenberg did some NPD boasting before ruminating on the first half of 2010. After pointing out Mass Effect 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Alan Wake, he confirmed Crackdown 2 as part of Microsoft's list of "triple-A, exclusive" titles heading to the Xbox 360 during "the first half of the year." "Those are just the exclusives, that doesn't include Final Fantasy ... there's no way we had a first half of the year like that last year," Greenberg added. The back end of the upcoming year is no slouch either in his eyes, with Halo Reach and Fable 3 said to be on schedule for launch in the Fall. Considering the first Crackdown's February release date, we're hoping for a similarly timed release of the sequel (just in time for its third birthday!). We've followed up with Greenberg and will update this post if we hear more. %Gallery-78857%
Spike VGA 2009 Wrap-up: The awards, the trailers, the premieres
As you can probably tell by looking at our front page, last night's Spike Video Game Awards show was a pretty prolific source of gaming news. From the big reveals of games like Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, to new trailers for Crackdown 2 and Halo: Reach, to ... well, the actual awards, it was a pretty busy night for all parties involved. We've collected all the stories, trailers, and winners of each award in this post to prevent you from hunting through our archives -- or our hateful, hateful liveblog -- to find what you're looking for. You'll find them all listed after the jump!
