Halo-Wars
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Microsoft promises a few surprises in 2009
After confirming plans to stick with its current Xbox 360 pricing, Microsoft UK head Stephen McGill has informed Videogamer that there's a "lot of great stuff" headed to the Xbox 360 in 2009. Secret, surprising stuff."I know a lot of the games coming out from us and our third parties. Most of them, in fact, have not been announced because everyone's very focused on what's out for Christmas" says McGill, admitting that "there's lots of great stuff coming in 2009 that people know about. Lots more, I'm sure that they don't know about." Hmm, lots more we don't know about huh?True, we're all focused on the jam packed Holiday 2008 game lineup, but we've been keen to remember that 2009 will bring Halo Wars, Halo 3: Recon and even Resident Evil 5. But even more surprises in 2009? Unimaginable! We'll be accepting of these Xbox surprises, but we're not sure our bank account will be as understanding.[Via Game Stooge]
Downer: The Flood not playable in Halo Wars
So, Joystiq put up an article summing up its impressions of Halo Wars. Sure, there are a lot of gameplay details to glean from the article, and Ensemble Studios explains why there are vehicles in Halo Wars that aren't in any of the Halo games. There are lots of things you can learn in the article, but there is one glaring thing that stands out like Cliff Bleszinski in a rainbow clown wig: the Flood is not playable. Again, the Flood is not playable in Halo Wars. It's a sad reality, and one we're not willing to accept. Already, we're contorting Ensemble's promise of future DLC to mean that maybe, just maybe the Flood will be added in the future. If not, well, there's always Halo Wars 2.
TGS 08: A guided tour of the Halo Wars campaign
Shortly after learning that the Flood would be making an appearance in Halo Wars, we were whisked away to a meeting with Ensemble's Graeme Divine where we immediately asked: "Is the Flood a playable race?" As quickly as we asked it, we were answered: no. With an emphasis on the story-driven single-player campaign, Divine told us that the multiplayer component would only include the UNSC and Covenant forces, as already revealed, and the campaign would only be playable as the UNSC, not the Covenant. But that brings up another issue: how is the Flood present in a prequel taking place 20 years before the events in Halo: Combat Evolved? The more Halo-aware amongst you (read: total nerds) will recall that the introduction of the mysterious Flood in that seminal title was a surprise to the player and, indeed, to the entire UNSC command. When asked if they're retconning the Flood earlier into the Halo timeline, Divine said that the events observed in Halo 1 "was the first time UNSC knew about the Flood." So how does the existence of the parasitic aliens twenty years earlier go entirely unrecorded? Unsurprisingly, they're not saying (our guess: everyone dies). %Gallery-1676%
Video: Halo Wars demo (with the Flood!)
A video demonstration of Halo Wars from TGS has hit GameTrailers, and we think it's fairly safe to say that the game is looking pretty good. Then again, we thought as much when we got a chance to play it at E3, so what would you expect? Nevertheless, the video showcases some things that we didn't see at E3, namely a commander unit, the Vulture "Uber Unit," and a new command ability called the Cryo Bomb which freezes enemy units, giving you extra time to destroy them. Without a doubt though, the most intriguing part of the video happens right at the end of the demonstration, when we get our first glimpse at the Flood. We only get a general idea of how the Flood base is structured and also a brief look at the Infection Forms as well as what look like (former) human Combat Forms. Now, if we can just get this time machine working, we can play it right now.
TGS 08: Halo Wars in early '09, Flood confirmed!
It was just revealed at the Tokyo Game Show that the long, long delayed Halo Wars (whose developer has had a bit of a struggle) will be releasing to the Xbox 360 EARLY 2009. Got that fellow fanboys, EARLY 2009 and you can bet we're going to hold Ensemble and Microsoft to that. Also confirmed (after months and months of speculation) is the inclusion of the Flood in Halo Wars. No specifics yet, just know that they'll be part of the Marine and Covenant party.
Roll up your pants, the Flood confirmed in Halo Wars
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/08/roll-up-your-pants-the-flood-confirmed-in-halo-wars/'; Stop your speculating, the Tokyo Game Show gives us all sorts of goodies, like the fact the the Flood is going to be in Halo Wars, which is coming "sometime" in 2009. Our own Chris Grant, esquire is jaunting off to a meeting about Halo Wars as we type this very post, and he's going to do some investigating to find out if the Flood is a playable race, or just something thrown in to make life a living hell for everyone. Now, if you got to play as Gravemind, that would be pretty cool.
Video: Halo Wars 'Field Trip to Harvest' trailer
Just as Mr. Geoff Keighley promised, a new Halo Wars trailer titled Field Trip to Harvest recently aired over on Gametrailers (it's their exclusive, don'tcha know) and it gives us our first taste of what the Halo Wars storyline is all about. And in typical Halo fashion, the trailer is hella' entertaining, visually impressive and quite the informative piece of video. Check out the trailer embedded after the break. We also wanted to say that if the presented images are the actual in-game cut scenes, then man oh man will we be impressed. It's freakin' beautiful! Oh, and for the geeky Halo folks in the crowd, our own Richard wanted to point out that the the main Elite towards the end of the video is wearing the Arbiter's armor. That means he'd be the Arbiter Elite that was bestowed the "honor" prior to the Arbiter we came to know in the Halo games. Geektacular!
Halo Wars cinematic trailer makes its GTTV debut
We were awakened last night by a terrible din -- a wailing which echoed through our streets like a funeral dirge. The sound poured from nearby houses; voices making slightly varied proclamations with a singular theme. In near-unison, they pierced the night: "WHERE IS MASTER CHIEF?", "WHY NO LASER SWORDS?", and, perplexingly, "GEOFF KEIGHLEY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CORTANA?"These confused souls were reacting to the cinematic trailer for Ensemble Studios' swan song, Halo Wars, which debuted on GameTrailers TV last night. For those who were laying eyes upon the title for the first time, we can understand any resulting bewilderment. The trailer (which we've posted after the break) is excellent, though it boldly lacks the things players love about the series to date -- including any sign of returning characters, or any heinous acts of postmortem facial desecration.
First Halo Wars footage releases this Saturday
Halo Wars fanatics, listen up. This Friday night (technically Saturday morning at 1:00AM eastern), GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley will be airing in-game footage from Halo Wars, introduce us to the cast of Halo characters and debut some cut scene footage. Not only that, but Keighley will sit down with the Ensemble crew to discuss their feelings (Dr. Phil style) about being shut down by Microsoft. And just from watching the GTTV teaser trailer, we can't wait to see the informative Halo Wars cinematics that they're going to share. Joy![Via HBO]
Former Metal Gear 4 producer joins new Halo team
Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that former Konami employee Ryan Payton will be joining Microsoft Game Studios. Payton will join a newly formed team that is responsible for all current and upcoming Halo titles. In response to a rumor that Payton had been tapped as the lead producer for the long awaited Peter Jackson Halo Project, Microsoft would only confirm Payton was one of many employees recently hired to make up the new team, according to EDGE Online. Among the other members of the Halo team announced is fan favorite ex-Bungie employee, Frank O'Connor. as well as former members of Gearbox, id and Pseudo Interactive. Payton, who is best known for his work as an assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, left Konami in August. [via Joystiq]
Ensemble founder blogs studio closure, disappointment
Earlier in the month the industry was shocked when rumors circulating about the closure of famed-RTS developer Ensemble Studios turned out to be accurate. Having finally broken his silence on the situation, Ensemble Studios founder Bruce Shelley outlined his take on the matter on Ensemble's blog last night."I believe we thought we were immune to shut-down talk because our published games have done so well and have been so profitable," Shelley wrote. "We thought we were among the best studios in the world, and that may be true, but we don't fit in the future plans of MGS as an internal studio so we're out."According to Shelley, Microsoft outlined a number of reasons why the studio had been selected to close but at the end of the day the bottom line is the bottom line. "The new leadership of the game group at Microsoft has a new plan for making the game group consistently profitable, especially over the next few crucial years, and we are the odd group out."As previously announced, the outgoing development house will close its doors after the Xbox 360 exclusive Halo Wars releases in 2009 and members of the team will form a new company signed to maintain content for the game. Shelley has confirmed he will not be joining the new company formed after Ensemble Studios closes its doors and maintains the studio is "very disappointed" in Microsoft's decision. We agree.
New details on Halo Wars Marines and Hornet
The Halo Wars website has been updated with info on two new units as well as two new structures. The first is the trusty UNSC Marine, deployed in squads of five from a barracks, they come equipped with MA5 assault rifles and grenades. They are quick (and cheap) to train and, from the sound of things, their grenades can be upgraded to rockets. They are described as a good all around unit and effective in large numbers. The second unit is the Hornet, which is deployed from a UNSC airpad. It is described as an anti-aircraft unit, though it does have the ability to attack ground units as well. We imagine they make a decent reconaissance vehicle as well. Hit the source links below to see images of the new units as well as some videos of each unit in action. Source - UNSC barracks and Marines Source - UNSC airpad and Hornet %Gallery-27630%
Brutish new concept art from Halo Wars
Scavengers that we are, we are obligated to post everything, nay, anything related to Halo Wars, the upcoming real time strategy game from (soon to be defunct) Ensemble Studios. With this slavish devotion to duty in mind, we present you with concept art of the game's Brute units. Brutes, for the three of you unfamiliar with Halo, are huge, muscular, gorilla-like soldiers with the kind of grim determination usually reserved for freight trains. The Brute uniform in Halo Wars -- which takes place before the first Halo -- looks decidedly different than the uniforms in any of the Halo games. Our heads are filled with all of the nerdy reasons for -- and implications of -- the differences. We won't jump down that rabbit hole just now (though we hope Ensemble gives us a few hints). Instead, we simply direct you to the images, which you can find in the gallery below. Our biggest question: At what point between Halo Wars and Halo 2 did Brute beards go out of style? %Gallery-32026% %Gallery-23398%
MS: 'More than two or three teams' working on Halo
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, head of Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer talked about where the Halo franchise is headed (among other topics) and confirmed that multiple development teams are indeed working on numerous Halo projects. "There's more than one team building Halo games right now. There are more than two or three teams building Halo things right now" says Spencer, adding "some of them we will own, some of them we won't." Hmm, interesting stuff. Currently, we're aware of two Halo titles, Halo Wars and the Peter Jackson projected dubbed Halo: Chronicles. So, if there's more than three teams working on games, how many Halo titles does that equate to and when do we get to hear about them? Whore that Halo franchise MGS, whore it out good!
Microsoft exec. sends breakup letter to Ensemble
GI.biz got a hold of the letter sent out by Phil Spencer, big cheese of Microsoft Games Studios, to the staff about the closure of Ensemble Studios. He explains that the closure isn't Ensemble's fault, it's Microsoft's; the company just needs to grow, and is "accountable for making tradeoffs and the right level of investments that will drive profit and future growth." Of course, like any good break-up, Spencer still wants to be friends with the newly dejected. He says that Microsoft will try to pick up any employees not moving on to the new company being started by Ensemble's leadership team. Spencer emphasizes in the letter that Microsoft is still heavily invested in making video games, but is looking to put the money where it can get "the most ROI" (return on investment) -- and yet, Rare survives? We'll take that to mean Microsoft wasn't getting the bang for its buck from RTS-developer Ensemble.
Ensemble Studios to close its doors, Halo Wars will remain unaffected
In a shocking announcement made late last night, Microsoft confirmed rumors that Age of Empires and Halo Wars developer Ensemble Studios will be shut down as soon as work on Halo Wars is completed. An astonishing decision Microsoft claims to be one that is "fiscally rooted". Wowzaz! In Microsoft's official statement to the media, Ensemble Studios' closure is addressed, mentioning that after completion of Halo Wars, the "leadership team will form a new studio and has agreed to provide ongoing support for Halo Wars as well as work on other projects with Microsoft Game Studios." Microsoft also makes it clear that they'll "place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft" and insists that the studio's closure has nothing to do with "Ensembles talent or the quality of Halo Wars."What can be said? How random, how unexpected and how troubling it is to hear this news. News that we never would have seen coming. From our early experience with Halo Wars and the Age of Empires franchise, the level of talent the entire Ensemble crew possess is more than apparent as we wish them all the best with their future endeavors.
Microsoft confirms Ensemble closure, new studio opening
After only briefly being classified as rumor, Microsoft has confirmed that Halo Wars developer Ensemble Studios is indeed closing. Said the company in a statement (via Gamespot), "This decision does not reflect at all on Ensemble's talent or the quality of Halo Wars -- in fact, many people who have had a chance to test drive Halo Wars agree that it is on track to being a fantastic game."According to Microsoft, Ensemble's "leadership team" is founding a new development studio that has already agreed to support Halo Wars after its launch in addition to other Microsoft Games Studios titles.
Rumor: Ensemble to close after Halo Wars [update]
Multiple unnamed sources have allegedly confirmed that Ensemble Studios will be shuttered upon completion of Halo Wars, reports Shacknews. Layoffs have reportedly struck staff not currently working on the project, while Microsoft, Ensemble's parent company, has supposedly offered incentives to those employees critical to the Halo-themed RTS, goading them to stick around. We'll hit you with an update as soon as we've got one.Update: Confirmed.
McFarlane announces Halo Wars figures for '09
To compliment their already expansive sets of Halo 3 figures, Todd McFarlane and crew just announced that they'll be releasing Halo Wars figures to retail beginning March 2009. The first series of Halo Wars figures are actually mini-figures, 2.5 inches tall (aww, shucks!), rotatable at the waist and sold as a three pack. At release, the first series will be comprised of four different sets including Spartans, Marine Infantry and Covenant with each set packaged with various weapons. You can get learned about all four different Halo Wars sets after the break and view the work-in-progress figure sculpts in the gallery below. Lovely, aren't they?%Gallery-31539%
Halo Wars monthly: Weird code, scrambled image
As we've come to expect, the latest Halo Wars monthly update doesn't contain much in the way of juicy information. No new UNSC units have been uncovered. There are no details about how the Covenant plays. No, what we get is some general info that the game is coming along nicely. There are promises that more info is on the way soon though, along with some significant changes to the Halo Wars website. And then there is the image at right (click here for full size), which is undoubtedly the most intriguing part of the update. It's accompanied by the text below. "Scrambled Transmission Incoming Sub Space Trans Encode ####121478####121381#### ONITrans Priority; Delta ReceiveTrans Loc; Subspace Relay 000003878 ReceiveTrans Loc; Subspace Relay 000003879 ReceiveTrans Loc; Subspace Relay 000017438 CovCarrier Detect; Encode [ Null ]" What does it all mean? We have no idea. We're fairly certain that the image is some kind of environment. Dare we hope it's a Flood containment facility? Given the presence of human lettering in the lower left corner, we're inclined to think it's not. Thoughts?
