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Rumor: Dreamworks looking at Halo novels for film adaptation
The success of Halo: Reach has spurred interest in a Halo film again, apparently -- this time with Dreamworks. As you all know, the idea of a Halo movie has been batted around for quite a while. Spielberg was rumored to be interested and Neill Blomkamp of District 9 even spent five months working on the film. Now it's in limbo, though a piece by Vulture offers fans hope. Dreamworks is apparently looking at novelizations of the game as source material, thus avoiding the quagmire of troubles Universal and Fox ran into sinking resources into developing a video game adaptation for the big screen. The Vulture piece says Fox and Universal resolved their issues out of court. So by focusing on the books, Dreamworks can claim that its project is something entirely different, allowing it to bypass the hefty costs the original project accrued. Oh, and before you get your hopes up, know that even if the movie is an honest possibility, it's still a long way out: as of now, there's been no writer hired, nor has a script been produced.
Halo: Reach playlists updated, campaign matchmaking this month
If you've started to lose that lovin' feeling for Halo: Reach's online multiplayer component, you may want to dip back in to check out the broad changes applied to the shooter's Matchmaking playlists in an update launched earlier today. The update also makes some minor adjustments to a handful of multiplayer maps and game modes -- the full list of which can be found just after the jump. Bungie has also announced that it plans to fulfill its promise to add Campaign Matchmaking to Reach in a smaller update, due out either Oct. 12 or Oct. 19, depending on how long it takes for the developer to finalize the patch. We'll let you know once Bungie's settled on one of the two.
FIFA 11 has third largest debut on UK charts, rushes top spot
Like a bowl of comforting chicken soup, FIFA 11 premiered at the top of the UK all formats chart. According to Chart-Track, the game had the third-largest debut in UK chart history, unseating previous bronze holder FIFA 10's first week by 21 percent in unit sales and 36 percent in revenue. Chart-Track also states that the top two premieres belong to CoD: Modern Warfare 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. We followed up with Chart-Track because this information doesn't exactly jive with details it provided a couple weeks back. At the time, FIFA 10 wasn't even mentioned in the top three and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was in the third spot. Turns out there are two charts the company is tracking, one that's "individual formats" and the other is "combined formats." We've placed both after the break for clarification. Surprise winner last week, F1 2010, lost its pole position and slipped into second. Dead Rising 2 maintained its third place with the help of a chainsaw paddle, while Halo: Reach began its slow fall down the charts, slipping two spots to fourth. Moving up a spot and rounding out the top five is Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, showing the rhythm genre has life in the UK beyond Just Dance (#12). Check out the UK's top ten after the break.
Bungie resets credits on 15K Halo: Reach cheaters
On top of announcing an earlier than expected playlist update (coming this Tuesday), Bungie revealed last night that it has reset the credits and ranks of "approximately" 15,000 Halo: Reach accounts. The studio also applied a one day credit earning ban on affected players, less for punishment than to "ensure that recipients receive an in-game notification of the action taken." The resets were handled last evening and specifically targeted folks who employed "an exploit that allowed players to complete a Challenge 20+ times via itentional network manipulation (i.e., disconnects.)." Bungie will also be completing a "more comprehensive pass" later this week, after the studio is confident enough in its automated banning system. We're taking this move as further proof of the age old adage -- cheaters never win.
Extend your arms and take hold of Halo: Reach for $45
If you've held off on purchasing Halo: Reach alongside all your friends because you knew that it would get a decent discount within a few weeks, your prediction's paid off: GoGamer's got the shooter on sale for $45.
F1 2010 races past Halo, Dead Rising 2 and Civ 5 on UK charts
It would seem the long-awaited return of Formula One racing to high-def consoles is more welcome than a doomed planet, a zombie-filled casino and even civilization itself, with Codemasters' F1 2010 taking the pole position on the UK charts last week. According to Chart-Track, the game didn't just take first -- it lapped the competition, beating sales of Halo: Reach and Dead Rising 2 combined. Reach lost its grasp on first, with an 80 percent drop in sales, while Dead Rising 2 premiered in third. Civilization 5 debuted in fourth, though it's worth noting that Chart-Track (like NPD in the States) doesn't track those nebulous digital distribution sales. Rounding out the top five is Sony Move's apparent breakout title: Sports Champions. Other premieres on the charts this week were Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock at sixth and Final Fantasy XIV in tenth. Dependable top ten titles Just Dance and Red Dead Redemption are out, dropping to eleventh and sixteenth place, respectively. Check out the top ten UK titles after the break.
Bungie update images add 250 Gamerscore, 10 'Cheevos to Halo: Reach
This week's Bungie.net news update brought with it more than just info about Halo: Reach's Xbox Live stats -- it also featured a couple of screens showing an extra 10 Achievements and 250 Gamerscore for the just released title. In a segment explaining how to install the game to the 360's hard drive, two screens can be clearly seen with the adjusted Gamerscore and 'Cheevo count (1250 up from 1000 Gamerscore and 59 up from 49 Achievements). Bungie doesn't directly address the changes in its update, instead hinting at "some new stuff" being added in a "potential second October update." Unfortunately, this hint is dropped right after talk of the regular housekeeping performed on Halo multiplayer, so it's unclear what's being hinted at directly. Halo 3 was eventually lavished with an astonishing 1750 Gamerscore when all was said and done, so the idea of an extra 250 doesn't seem like much of a reach if you ask us. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Grifball evolves for Halo: Reach, becomes the world's greatest sport
It should come as no surprise that we possess a strong affinity for Halo's official multiplayer minigame, Grifball. Though we never thought the time-tested formula of beating the snot out of bomb carriers with gigantic hammers could be improved upon, the new mechanics introduced in Halo: Reach have officially been introduced into the sport's ruleset, giving the proceedings a certain ... je ne sais quoi. Which we believe is French for "jetpacks." Check out a video of the recently evolved sport after the jump, or keep an eye on the official Grifball forums for your opportunity to get in on a game.
Protip: Don't release your game the same week as Pokemon in Japan
This is not the line for Halo: Reach's Japanese launch. In fact, it's just a minuscule sampling of the reported 2.6-million-and-then-some strong who picked up Pokémon Black and White in Japan last weekend. Reach debuted several days before, on September 15, selling a respectable 44,413 units through Sunday, and ranked fourth on the weekly Japanese sales chart, according to Media Create. Reach was hardly Japan's "Cabela of the Week," but it would seem that a new Pokémon diverted some sales away from Bungie's encore effort. Recall that in September 2007, Halo 3 launched in the #1 spot in Japan, recording about 59,000 units sold in its first week (though combined sales of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Toki and Yami reached 101,000 units that week, the games' third week at retail). Still, Reach's Japanese launch week sales easily trumped those of ODST (about 30,000 units), which was -- this is getting predictable! -- buried under sustained sales of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver a year ago. [Image credit: 1UP's RPG Blog]
Microsoft: One Halo game every three years 'probably not frequent enough'
"I will say I think one Halo game every three years -- which was kind of our old cadence -- is probably not frequent enough," Microsoft VP Phil Spencer told IGN. For Spencer, it's a matter of keeping players "engaged" and "not going dark for two years" at a time, akin to what Activision has done for Call of Duty. "I used to look at annual releases of non-sports games as people just trying to milk me," Spencer said. "I figured nobody had enough time to do a good job, and all of the negatives that we would associate with those kinds of scenarios. Kudos to Activision because they've done a good job building a good game, continuing to release each year and I think the fans feel like it's a good thing that they do that." He added that, "watching them and seeing what they do -- we take inspiration from a lot of places -- but obviously they're a big success." For Microsoft, the hurdle is now going to be a change in developer -- Bungie's leaving some big shoes to fill.
'Reach Racer' minigame found in Halo: Reach
Already tired of the mundane "shoot aliens" game in Halo: Reach? Thanks to this video from Achievement Hunter, you can move onto "Reach Racer," a two-Warthog racing game buried in Reach. Accessing it is as simple as getting two players to certain spots in ONI: Sword Base. Find out exactly how it works after the break.
Halo: Reach Avatar armor now on Xbox Marketplace
Having unlocked and equipped one of the various Halo: Reach bonus Avatar helmets, you may have found your plainclothes Xbox Live persona looking rather uncoordinated. You can now complete the Noble look by purchasing any of the five armor outfits for $5. So much for all those Reach credits!
UK Xbox sales double in wake of Halo: Reach
According to GfK Chart-Track, Halo: Reach delivered a Spartan-sized punch in the arm to Xbox 360 console sales. GfK director Dorian Bloch told Eurogamer that Halo: Reach drove a 99 percent increase in console sales during its launch week, which ended September 18. Eurogamer reports that sales of the limited edition Halo: Reach console, sold through retailer Game in the UK, played a significant role in the overall boost. Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, the game is selling pretty well too.
Halo Reach requires hard drive to play in co-op mode, Microsoft working on this 'temporary issue'
The Halo series has always been about addictive multiplayer experiences, so it's most disturbing to find out that campaign co-op gaming on the latest title is a non-starter for people without a hard drive attached to their 360. An issue has been identified by users of the 4GB Xbox 360, whereby attempts to team up on the baddies with your buddies -- whether locally or via Xbox Live -- is met with an error message saying that a HDD is "required for this game type." This affects both Halo: Reach and the earlier Halo: ODST. Adding extra memory via USB has been found to be ineffective, but at least Microsoft has stated that it's aware of the limitation and is "quickly working to resolve it." Standard multiplayer is predictably unaffected, so we suggest taking your rage out on some newbies while the MS techs figure out their caching algorithms.
Halo: Reach Invasion mode Forge guide
Having a tough time designing Halo: Reach Invasion variants in the game's expanded Forge utility? Yeah, us too -- that is, until we read Bungie's handy little guide for budding modders, which breaks down the process of creating an Invasion map from start to finish. The guide provides the know-how for setting up CTF and Assault-based objectives (and a host of other options), in addition to the 4-1-1 on creating multiple objectives in each phase of your custom Invasion game. If knowledge is power, then this guide is the equivalent of hooking up your brain to a car battery.
Halo: Reach tops UK charts, Sports Champions takes silver
Halo: Reach took the top spot on the UK all-formats sales chart last week. According to Chart-Track, Reach's first-week sales were 20,000 units ahead of Halo 3 and 200,000 more than Halo 3: ODST. The members of Noble 6 also had the fifth biggest launch ever in the UK, with the top four belonging to Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360 and PS3), GTA: San Andreas (PS2) and GTA IV (Xbox 360), respectively. Likely a distant, but still impressive, debut at the number two spot is PlayStation Move's Sports Champions. The only other Move-required games in the top 40 were Start the Party! (#29) and Ubisoft's Racket Sports (#32). Rounding out the top three was Mafia 2, which held the top sales spot for the three weeks prior. Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands turned back time and went up the charts to fifth place last week, likely due to the movie's home video launch and retail promotions. Also, Ubi's Just Dance made it back into the top ten in eighth place. It gave us a good scare last week when the stalwart Wii-exclusive slipped to 11. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Halo: Reach stats and upcoming tweaks outlined by Bungie
Bungie's first Weekly Update since the launch of Halo: Reach included some startling statistics regarding the amount of time we've already thrown at the game's armor-clad feet. As of last Friday, over 31 million matchmaking games had already been played, over 78 billion credits had been earned and over 953 and 1,365 years had been poured into the game's matchmaking and campaign modes, respectively. We shudder to think how those figures expanded over the weekend. Bungie also included some info on an update which will be applied to the game next month, saying, "the first matchmaking update for Reach will occur in early October and consist primarily of fixes for bugs and balance issues." The update will also add new game types and Forge maps to the Matchmaking playlists, and will enable co-op Campaign Matchmaking as well. Bungie also reports that it's considering changing its quick-to-boot betrayal system, but in the mean time, provides this clever workaround: "Stop shooting your teammates." Helpful!
Users report Halo: Reach disc read errors
Several tipsters have reported that Halo: Reach may be plagued with the dreaded "disc read error" problem. It seems that some users are greeted either with a disc read error or a frozen screen when inserting the disc. Installing the game onto the hard drive apparently does not ameliorate the issue. Based on what Bungie forum users are reporting, the problem appears to be related to hardware, as a disc might not read in one console, but will work properly in another. The cause of the problem hasn't been uncovered. In the meantime, Bungie advises those affected to call Xbox customer support (1-800-4-MY-XBOX) to report the issue. We've contacted Microsoft and will update this post when more information becomes available. Update: Microsoft has responded, saying, "We are aware of a very small number of customers reporting that their copy of Halo: Reach is causing a "disc read" error." The company advises players to call customer support for "troubleshooting assistance." [Thanks, Corey!]
Halo: Reach grabs $200 million day one
Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer just announced at the company's TGS press conference that Halo: Reach made $200 million on its first day at retail. We know that's not much of a stretch for you all to imagine, but it seemed like an important facticle to grasp. If most of those copies were sold at the $60 MSRP, that's about 3.3 million units.
Let their voices be unheard: Halo: Reach has an auto-mute feature
Blatant violations of standard netiquette practices have become sorrowfully commonplace in the online gaming arena -- so commonplace, in fact, that it sometimes just doesn't even feel worth it to mute your insufferable teammates. If you're planning on sinking a good chunk of your life into Halo: Reach, we ask that you muster up the resolve to keep on muting -- not just for yourself, but for the world. Bungie's Tyson Green (using the pseudonym "Ferrex") recently informed Ars Technica that Reach has a rather democratic auto-mute feature, which "notices, warns, and eventually defaults players to being muted when they enter games, if they are muted by enough people over a period of time." So, remain ever vigilant in the face of stupidity, dear friends. We thank you in advance.
