Halo-Wars
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Halo Wars demo out before the game releases
Some developers like to share their products before they release and give consumers a taste for the greatness to come, while others like to build anticipation and hold out on a much deserving demo-o-greatness (here's looking at you Assassin's Creed). But good thing for us is that Ensemble Studios is all about showing off the goods. Behind the mysterious "closed doors" of E3 during a Halo Wars demo, Joystiq learned from Halo Wars producer Chris Rippy that a demo is in fact planned to release "for sure before the game comes out". Ensemble Studios' generosity is probably due to the fact that they want to convince the masses that not only is Halo Wars teh greatness, but that their control scheme is teh greatness too. But you're in for a wait fanboys, because Halo Wars and the promised demo are penciled in for sometime in 2008.
Joystiq impressions: Halo Wars
In his enthusiastic Halo Wars presentation, game developer Graeme Devine is more than willing to share information with the press. Though most of the knowledge gained by eager listeners was related to science-fiction shenanigans and enormous space hoops, the most important fact given is one that's never directly stated. Mr. Devine, like most of his comrades at Age of Empires developer, Ensemble Studios, is somewhat of a control freak. And that's a good thing, especially when an entire genre hinges on how well you can control your on-screen armies. The real-time strategy genre has never enjoyed the same level of success it has on those platforms equipped with handheld rodents, and it's a problem that's been gnawing at Ensemble ever since the decision was made to plunge into the Halo universe. For the first six months of its two and a half year development period, Halo Wars was nothing more than a testing platform for console-based strategy controls. "There was no game," reveals Ensemble Studios producer, Chris Rippy.
Video: Halo 3 and Halo Wars make us salivate
Fresh from E3 are two Halo videos that made us salivate uncontrollably and just may make some fanboys become giddy little school girls. Yup, they're that good. Embedded above is the trailer everyone and their grandma is talking about and is the the new Halo 3 campaign trailer shown at E3. The Arbitor, Cortana and the entire Covenant race make an appearance in the trailer and be sure to watch for the Brute Chopper ... it's teh badness. After watching the trailer we think we can all agree that Halo 3 is looking a lot prettier and will feature one epically awesome campaign. Also, be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3 E3 trailer analysis. The second video is embedded after the break and is Halo Wars' coming out video featuring gameplay footage. Not only does it look graphically impressive, but it looks darn fun to play too. Ensemble Studios has done a fantastic job on this one as we can't wait to get our hands on those little Warthogs and Grunts. Adorable little guys. Halo 3 and Halo Wars ... this is gaming my friends.
First gameplay footage of Halo Wars
Hot from the smoldering work stations at GameVideos, 30 seconds of gameplay from Ensemble Studio's highly anticipated RTS, Halo Wars. It's only a tiny morsel of what's in store for us down here in Santa Monica, but it sure is a tasty one. Halo's signature vehicle, the Warthog, flying majestically through the air as though it were a Pelican. Gorgeous, close-up shots of units that make us weep -- knowing that we'll be spending the game zoomed out for tactical reasons. All in all it looks to be very Halo, all the way down to the selection reticule. We'll be sure to hunt it down this week and let you know how it's shaping up. If you don't feel like squinting, visit GameVideos and download the high resolution version.
Halo Wars will reveal itself in July
The latest Halo Wars update over at the official forums doesn't bring any new fancy videos, screenshots, or even concept art, but it does give fans something else ... hope. Ensemble Studios dev man Thunder says that the team has been playing a bunch of Halo Wars at the studio lately and also confirmed that the the veil of mystery surrounding the game will be lifted in July. Thunder says that they'll be posting new exciting info July 6th and that "next month is going to be a big one for Halo Wars". E3 will be going down in a few weeks and we already know Halo Wars will be shown in some capacity, hopefully it'll be a hands on demo. July will be Halo Wars media heaven! Or so we think. [Thanks, Master Devwi]
Rumorang: Halo Wars Dec. 31st Release? Exobably not
We got a couple tips about GameStop listing Halo Wars' release date as 12/31/07, and before this spreads like wildfire, we'd just like to point out this reeks of pea soup. Excardon our logic here, but why would Halo 3 and Halo Wars release in the same year, let alone Holiday season? Obviously, GameStop is just trying to secure some pre-orders, but you may want to get a canceltation on those before you get your hopes up. Once we get some concrete details on the development and release on Halo Wars, we'll report it here. No probalo![Thanks, Joseph]
Halo Wars already a blast to play
Buried under the massive weight of the Halo 3 beta, a new Halo Wars update has been quietly released by the folks at Ensemble Studios. The update focuses on the ongoing multiplayer playtests of Halo Wars, and apparently things are moving along swimmingly. It looks like Ensemble is happy with the control scheme now, so they can spend more time actually playing the game. The game's placeholder features (such as plain, rectangular buildings) are slowly being replaced by more detailed assets. Finally, artists are spending a lot of time tuning the game's scale. In other words, you want your infantry units big enough to see, but not so big that they look like giants compared to buildings and vehicles. Hit the "read" link to check out the update. [Via Arrogantics. Thanks, zizzy]
Halo Wars update is somewhat informative
We're a little late on this one, but at least we're honest about the fact and are still reporting on the goods. Over on the official Halo Wars forums Ensemble Studios' own Thunder posted a brief status report on Halo Wars' progress and asked lead designer Graeme Devine a few questions. Although the update and interview don't give us any new media or reveal any big news about Halo Wars, we do learn that Graeme is Irish and likes his Guinness. So, if you're feeling a little adventurous, make the jump for Ensemble Studios' April Halo Wars update.
Finally, we get a Halo Wars update
Over on the official Halo Wars forums Thunder posted a special update for our little Halo gem. The Ensemble Studios development team had to reach one of their first development milestones by getting a preview build of Halo Wars ready for some visiting Microsoft execs. And to our surprise, they actually created a multiplayer build so the whole team (including those Microsoft execs) could spend the day blowing stuff up real good. Thunder also went on to say that they've "got a long way to go still, but it's very encouraging when a group like this can sit down and have fun beating the hell out of each other so far from any ship date". True, they do have many milestones to achieve before Halo Wars goes gold, but we're extremely exciting knowing that such an early build was so well received. Anyone's thirst for Halo Wars news been quenched or do you demand 20 gallons worth of screenshots? [Thanks, DjDATZ]
MTV interviews Phil Spencer about Halo [update 1]
If you haven't had your fill of Halo 3 news this week, then check out MTV's video interview with Microsoft's GM of publishing of first party titles Phil Spencer. Phil talks about everything Halo related including Peter Jackson's upcoming project, Halo Wars, and the Halo 3 beta. He discusses where they are at with all their projects, how involved they are with Mr. Jackson, how the Halo Wars RTS came to be, and gave us no news on the beta that we didn't already know. It's good to hear about the status of the other Halo projects as it looks like we'll be hearing about Halo Wars in the near future. RTS FTW, SS! (For those of you who aren't l33t, that translates to "real-time strategy for the win, super sweetness!")Update 1: Corrected our source and video links.[Via 2old2play]
Halo 3 beta: Microsoft says "the experience will be deep"
While at D.I.C.E., MTV News' Stephen Totilo spoke with Phil Spencer, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios, to check in on the status of some of Microsoft's bigger projects ... say, the litany of Halo games in the works. While Spencer wouldn't say much about Peter Jackson's as-yet-untitled Halo project, or Ensemble Studios' Halo Wars RTS -- both are still in the early stages of development -- he did have a little more to say about the upcoming Halo 3 beta. When asked about the size of the beta, Spencer responded, "It isn't really a tease ... People should expect a pretty robust experience when they're playing. Don't call it a demo." More than one map? Spencer assures us, "The experience will definitely be deep." Deep, eh? Remember, if you didn't get a Rule of Three invite, you can always grab an "initial" copy of Crackdown.%Gallery-1676%
The latest on Halo Wars: mocap goodness
It's been a long time coming (and we're a week late getting to it), but the latest update on Halo Wars has finally arrived. Posted on the Halo Wars forums, the update centers around a recent motion capture session (mocap to the kids). The makers of Halo Wars set up some test sessions with an LA motion capture studio, House of Moves, to see if mocap could be beneficial to Halo Wars. So, several actors were set up with light reflecting ping pong balls and asked to re-enact scenes from the game. They even set up a plywood warthog and gave the actors some crazy stilts to emulate the way Elites walk. See more pictures after the break.
Halo Wars art, new info in December
The Playstation 3 and Wii are launching this week, and it looks like Microsoft wants to make damned sure that players remember why they love Xbox. We're talking about Halo, of course. The above piece of concept are showed up in our inbox a few minutes ago. It's a UNSC Shortsword bomber, one of the units available in Ensemble Studios upcoming 360 RTS, Halo Wars. We went over to the official Halo Wars site just to see if anything was new. Sure enough, Ensemble has posted an update on the game's progress. In truth, the update is really just there to let us know that they plan to do monthly updates from now on. Still, Ensemble takes the time to congratulate Bungie on Halo's fifth-iversary and welcomes gamers to share their ideas for Halo Wars. If you have an idea, or just want to share your enthusiasm, head over to the Halo Wars forums -- you can also download hi-res versions of the above concept art in their image gallery. Expect a real update in December. What would you like to see in a Halo RTS?
X06 announcements crammed into a single post
Microsoft's X06 event started off in a thunderous explosion of news, with pieces of informative debris raining down upon the unshielded denizens of the internet since yesterday. If you're feeling clueless or overwhelmed, allow us to subject you to a helpful hail of bullet points: Peter Jackson reveals a new partnership with Microsoft Game Studios. The king of the rings and his newly established Wingnut Interactive studio will work on an original property for the Xbox 360, as well as an unnamed Halo title. One can only hope that the crappy-game-based-on-a-movie and the crappy-movie-based-on-a-game curses cancel each other out when it comes time to play Peter Jackson's Halo: The Game of the Movie of the Game. A new RTS, Halo Wars, is unveiled. Set in a time before the first Halo, the real-time strategy game is being developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios. Many confused pundits take the opportunity to point out that the Xbox 360 does not have a keyboard or a mouse. Grand Theft Auto IV will have two "epic" downloadable episodes exclusively on Xbox 360. Rockstar and Take-Two promise that the new episodes will provide "hours" of new gameplay and will be available "just months" after the game's October 2007 release. The vague wording of the announcement fails to rule out the possibility that the PS3 could receive different downloadable episodes of its own. The next Splinter Cell game is console-exclusive to the Xbox 360 -- meaning handhelds and the PC are still fair game. Fewer people are upset by this than those who realize Splinter Cell: Double Agent isn't available on anything yet. Bioshock is exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows when it releases "next Spring". The wording of the press release says nothing of the game should it release during any other season following Spring. Of course, nobody likes waiting ... Project Gotham Racing 4 is coming. And the surprise hit gamers with all the force of a linen sheet flapping in the wind. Rare is working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game. Presumably, players are still keen on collecting all the coins, apples, music notes, beans, feathers, diamonds, pearls, potions, rings, blocks, wrenches and / or yams mysteriously floating around the finely rendered landscape. Marvel Universe Online is announced for the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista. It's being developed by the folks behind City of Heroes -- perhaps you remember Marvel suing them for creating tools that allowed people to venture online as, err, Marvel characters. Doom and Sensible World of Soccer join the Xbox Live Arcade lineup. The classic first-person shooter was already available yesterday for 800 points ($10). The Amiga footie title has not been given a release date yet, though the press release insists on using the word "soon." The Xbox 360 HD-DVD costs $199.99 in North America and €199.99/£129.99 in the UK, France and Germany. It arrives in mid-November and will include the Xbox 360's Universal Media Remote and the HD-DVD version of Peter Jackson's King Kong. And with that, the circle is complete. Congrats, scavenger hunter, you've found the secret c o d e good for one free copy of B A N K S H O T B I L L I A R D S 2: PRF4Q W798V G7JX9 2RX2W VT94G (Contest ran on 12/30/2006. The code has been redeemed.)
Halo Wars trailer gives us goosebumps
Okay, so you missed the X06 briefing and the Halo Wars trailer. Your 360 crapped out on you and you couldn't download it from Marketplace. To top it all off, your slavish devotion to X360F prevents you from looking it up on one of the internets. It's okay, friend, we understand your pain. You need merely click "continue" to see the video embedded after the break. And by the way, that headline is not a joke. It gave us goosebumps (well, maybe not Ken, but he is made of sterner stuff than I). So, who wants this game? Raise your hand.
BIH content, 9/28: big sweaty men edition
The Bringing It Home content train just keeps a' rollin'. Today we are blessed with another demo, Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007. The full list goes a little something like this:Tony Hawk's Project 8 trailerWheelman trailerFrontlines Fuel of War trailerX06 Game Montage videoCrossfire trailerWWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007Fable 2 theme (150 points)X06 theme (free)Also new today, Europe can finally download all Oblivion content packs (insert obligatory horse armor joke here). Oh, and we missed it last night, but there is now a Halo Wars theme (150 points) and picture pack (80 points) available.
Bringing home a barrage of Xbox 360 trailers
Major Nelson has once again updated his blog with a convenient list of X06 additions to the Xbox Live marketplace. If you're in any way enamored with glitzy trailers, pre-rendered footage or relentless teasing, you'd best switch on your console and start downloading some of these clips: Call of Duty 3 Banjo Kazooie Marvel Ultimate Online Viva Pinata Assassin's Creed Splinter Cell: Double Agent Blue Dragon Lost Odyssey Bioshock FIFA 07 Rainbow Six Vegas Halo Wars If you're a more traditional gamer and actually enjoy interactive forms of entertainment, you'll be pleased to learn that several of our readers have spied F.E.A.R. and Sonic the Hedgehog demos scurrying about in the marketplace. Be sure to let us know what you think of them, but not before viewing the embedded video (after the break) and answering one simple question: What the hell is going on with that nose?
Tons of new X06 Marketplace content
Following today's press briefing, there is now a boatload of new trailers on Marketplace. They are, in no particular order:Assassin's CreedBlue DragonLost OdysseyHalo WarsViva PiñataCall of Duty 3Marvel UniverseBanjo-KazooiePGR4Splinter Cell: Double AgentBioshockFIFA 07All this and a bag of DOOM. We have to wonder, though: what the hell will we get next? They've got two more days to fill after all. Any predictions?
MS announces Halo Wars, a new RTS [update 1]
A real-time strategy game based in the Halo universe has been announced. The project, entitled Halo Wars, will be designed by Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires) "exclusively for Xbox 360" (read: no PC). This announcement comes weeks after Bungie issued a cease-and-desist to the Halogen project, a C&C: Generals mod based in the Halo universe. It was at this time that 1UP's Luke Smith predicted an official Halo RTS in collaboration with Ensemble Studios. Somebody buy this man a drink, because he nailed it. After bringing Scott Henson, Director of the Game Development Group at Microsoft, up to speed on the Halogen incident, he assured us Halo Wars "has absolutely nothing to do with that" (whether he meant the mod's shut down or the game's inception is vague). The original Halo: Combat Evolved, in earlier stages of development, was a real-time strategy game in the vein of Myth, another Bungie RTS. You can read all about it in the pages of Bungie's lore. While we're very intrigued by the thought of a Halo strategy title, we're a bit concerned about how it will play on an Xbox 360 controller. Must ... use ... mouse ... [Update 1: The Halo Wars official website has also just gone live, with a pretty (yet entirely pre-rendered) trailer. The FAQ explains that Halo Wars takes place before the events of Halo 1 and its controls have been built "from the ground up" to work with the Xbox 360 controller. We have also embedded the trailer below, via Game Videos.]
