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Reminder: New Halo 3 maps available now
We know that with the slew of new games being released, it's easy to forget about a little indie title called Halo 3 that came out in late September. But don't you miss those first days? Don't you miss that feeling you got when you first ripped open the plastic, greedily snatching the disc within and sliding it into your 360, praying all the while that the rings would not choose this day to visit you?Now, you can reclaim a bit of that old wonder with the new, 800-point Heroic Map Pack, which is now available on Xbox Live. For $10, you can get three new maps (Foundry, Standoff and Rat's Nest) and remind yourself why even old, old, old men can recognize Halo 3's greatness.%Gallery-10581%
Time magazine names Halo 3 game of the year
It's time for Time magazine and every other publication to start dropping their "top whatever" lists of the year. Taking the high honor this year from Time in video games for being "a pebble that has been rounded over the centuries by the gentle splashing of the ocean waves" is Halo 3. The magazine notes that Bungie has refined the series to the point of "pure, unadulterated gaming bliss," though we're a little lost when it calls Halo "graphically gorgeous." Still, it's Time -- we're not expecting too much accuracy from the mainstream press when it comes to video games lately.The next two spots on the Time list are held by The Orange Box and Rock Band, with both games getting their spots for presenting a bunch of things in one package. Rounding out the top five are Super Mario Galaxy and BioShock. With any luck, BioShock won't be missing from many mainstream lists just because it came out more than a month ago. Heck, we're hoping it doesn't get forgotten on a lot of industry lists.
Mass Effect sells 1 million, Halo 3 moves 5 million
It's time to shoot off the confetti cannons and drop the balloons, BioWare's Mass Effect has sold over 1 million copies and Halo 3 is at the 5 million mark!Corporate Vice President of Xbox 360 Global Marketing and oh so likable Jeff Bell confirmed with GameDaily that Mass Effect's sales have officially eclipsed the 1 million sales mark worldwide after being on the market for only three weeks. And that's good news, seeing that estimates initially slated Mass Effect to move around the 300,000 unit mark. Bell also confirmed that a little game called Halo 3 has sold an amazing 5 million copies worldwide since its release in September. Congrats to both BioWare for delivering a solid RPG and Bungie for making Halo 3 what it is. We love you both so much ... we promised we wouldn't cry. Sniffle.[Thanks, Charles]
Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack available for purchase
The planets Halos have finally aligned and the time has come ... Halo 3's first downloadable content is here. Available for download off the XBLM is the 800 Microsoft point Heroic Map Pack featuring three multiplayer maps including Standoff, Rat's Nest and Foundry. You can take a looksy at the new maps via the gallery below, read over Bungie's Heroic Map Pack FAQ or you could just jump in and make the purchase already. We're off to download now ... time to pwn some n00bs in the Foundry.%Gallery-10585%
Red vs Blue introduces Heroic Map Pack
Red vs Blue debuted their latest machinima masterpiece during last night's Spike VGAs and it had one purpose. To make you shell out your Microsoft points and purchase the Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack. The 300+MB video can be downloaded off the Xbox Live Marketplace under the New Releases section of Game Videos labeled as "Red vs. Blue: D.I.Y." Follow Eyeball 3000 for a tour of the new maps, laugh at the traffic cones being launched at Griff and be amazed at Standoff's manual light enhancer. Give it a watch and tell us what you think of the new maps.
Bungie discusses playlist tweaks for tomorrow's Heroic Map Pack
Some news for you on the eve of tomorrow's release of the Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack: new playlist info! Via Bungie's Weekly Update, the crew is ready to incorporate the new maps into the general playlists, as well create a playlist just for those folks who don't want to mingle with the unwashed masses (ie: people waiting to pick up the maps for free in Spring '08). Worried about not being able to enjoy a round of matchmaking if you haven't dropped the 800 points ($10) for the maps? No worries, Bungie says, "Relax, you can matchmake fine, and you won't know or really see any difference." But that's not all they're doing. They've got "variety updates" for "almost all of the playlists" including "some long requested [Battle Rifle] Start variants, wider map selection in the Ranked playlists, and a couple of map variants that we're going to try in [Big Team Battle] to start with." Sounds tasty. Expecting more? Well, the cats and kittens at Bungie are sorta busy with the whole map pack thing but you can look forward to December 18th's update, which will include the Team Hardcore playlist. More info straight from Bungie's collective mouth here. %Gallery-10581%
Fan created Halo 3 forged face illusion
Halo 3 forger Rit Dye likes his face. He likes his face so much he decided to do a self portrait of his mug using the forge in Halo 3. And if that sounds like a difficult task then you are correct, because forging the easiest thing to do. But Rit Dye figured he'd take his portrait forging up a difficulty level to legendary by creating his masterpiece not top down like others, but from the side. As you can see in the image above, Rit Dye placed random Halo 3 objects horizontally on Sandtrap's surface creating an optical illusion. The illusion, when viewed from a distance, creates an image. An image of Rit Dye's face. A+ for effort, A+ for execution and A+ for total commitment. Next up, an optical illusion that'll make us better Halo 3 players.[Via Optical Illusions, Thanks Ethan Stearns]
Red vs. Blue vs. the Halo 3 'Heroic Map Pack'
Need a crash course for Halo 3's new "Heroic" map pack? The Rooster Teeth crew have reprised their Spartan roles for a special Red vs. Blue episode showing off the three new maps due out tomorrow. Those who persevered through last night's Spike TV VGAs already got to see the video, but for those who had better things to do (like what? No, really, we want to know) or want to watch it again, we've embedded the video above.The "Heroic Map Pack," featuring new maps Foundry, Standoff and Rat's Nest, are due out tomorrow for 800 MS points ($10) or free if you wait until sometime early next year.
Army sponsored Xbox Live Halo 3 tournament [update]
Update: Microsoft kindly asked us to remove the information originally outlined in this blog post, because the press release was sent out in error. So, we took down the info. Keep your eyes peeled though, we have a hunch there there will be an Xbox Live Halo 3 tournament going down sometime in the near future (wink, wink).
Class Action Connect offers lawsuit against Bungie for Halo's missing pixels
Have you or someone you love been egregiously injured either physically or emotionally by Bungie Studios, whose mega-blockbuster Halo 3 displayed at an upscaled output of 640p, despite being advertised as displaying in full, 720p HD? Do feel like you've been cheated out of 80 pixels that you paid good money for? Has it been a while since you sued McDonalds for selling you hot coffee that you proceeded to pour on your genitalia? You may be entitled to recover some of the precious funds you spent on the game, according to Class Action Connect, a site that allows possible plaintiffs to find class action attorneys to represent them for a number of different class action suits. It's like MySpace for lawyers! Just click the new lawsuit link, titled "Possible False Advertising: Halo 3 Is Not Native High Definition," and reap the rewards of our country's justice system.After we successfully get an 80 pixel refund from Bungie, we'll being going on a suing spree of developers who didn't include things they promised would be in their games. Peter Molyneux, you might as well go ahead and start liquidating your assets.
Halo 3 matchmaking playlist updates detailed
Bungie sends word that with the Heroic Map Pack 's release next Tuesday, December 11th they'll usher in a new matchmaking playlist update as well. We've known about this mini update for a while now and it'll add a new Heroic Map Pack playlist as well as make tweaks to the current offerings by adding new gametypes, etc. Then, come December 18th, another playlist update will be unleashed bringing Team Hardcore to the mix, an overhaul of Team Objective and a new playlist called Team Control. And if that wasn't enough, Bungie promises to release another matchmaking playlist update in January that'll feature ranked Big Team Battle. Got that? All the deets can be read in this week's Bungie Weekly Update ... consume the information after the jump.
After a brief hiatus, the Bungie Podcast is back
Happy Friday kids, the Bungie Podcast is back! With the ringing of bells and sounding of trumpets still echoing through the hills, you'll be able to get your latest Bungie Podcast fix over at Bungie.net. And this week they're talking with Christopher Barrett about life at Bungie HQ, the Heroic Map Pack and more. We haven't had a chance to give their 'cast a listen to or our official X3F critique, but we have confidence that you'll be able to practice safe podcast listening skills. Enjoy and be sure to give team Bungie lots of crap in the forums for taking a vacation ... we serve Fancasts weekly, vacation or not.
Gorgeous high-res Halo 3 rank insignia artwork
The Halo 3 insignia rank artwork that is available on Bungie.net is so 1998. It's low-res, .gif based and is just so darn ... "meh". But fret not artwork lovers, because halo.bungie.org member Beorn is here to save the day with re-worked, re-created and oh so beautiful insignia artwork. Beorn took the liberty of re-creating all the Halo 3 ranked military insignias (everything from Recruit through General Grade 4) in vector form and super high res .png files. The new insignia artwork is spot on accurate and allows you to use your Halo 3 military rank for any high-res need that you may have. Thanks Beorn, now we feel like we're living in the digital artwork age of 2007.
Will it Blend beats Halo 3... by blending it
It's a fact: most of life's problems can be solved by blending (or, was that bending?). Either way, Tom Dickson of "Will it Blend" fame has apparently been playing Halo 3 with his grandchildren, and getting his ass skillfully handed to him. His solution? Take their copy of Halo 3 and blend it. Gee, you're a helluva guy, Tom.Of course this video raises some obvious questions. Why wouldn't you just blend the case too? Wouldn't it be cooler to blend the Collector's or Legendary Editions? And, perhaps most importantly, why is Tom playing an M-rated game with his 4 and 5-year old grandchildren? That knock on the door, Tom? It's everybody's favorite attorney.
Gaze at Halo 3 'Heroic Map Pack' images
Be honest now. It's not like you have anything better to do than to stare at a series of polygonal environments and pretend you're dashing through them, mowing down multicolored cyborgs and kidnapping defenseless flags. In the gallery below you'll find images depicting the three environments comprising Halo 3's "Heroic Map Pack," which arrives on the Xbox Live Marketplace on Dec. 11th. It'll set you back 800 MS Points ($10) unless you're the patient and/or apathetic type, in which case it'll cost you nothing early next year. But then, we already lost the apathetic readers at the headline.If you've made it this far (kudos to you for putting up with an unreasonable amount of filler nonsense), you'll want to be reminded about those three new maps again: "Rat's Nest," an indoor area rife with vehicles! "Standoff," a valley overshadowed by a large melancholy dish who's always staring off into space! "Foundry," a level you get to strategically clutter up (sometimes with soccer balls) in Forge! The constant use of exclamation marks is unnecessary and annoying!%Gallery-10581%[Via X3F]
Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack image overload
Holy screenshots! Bungie has posted a digital ton of screenshots taken from the upcoming Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack. We've taken the liberty of nabbing the screenshots and adding them to our Heroic Map Pack gallery for your perusal. Perhaps the most interesting shots of the bunch are the shots of Foundry, the map built especially for Forge. There are several shots of the level in different configurations, giving us an idea of what's possible. Check out all the screenshots in the gallery below. So, are you planning on purchasing the Heroic Map Pack next week? %Gallery-10585%
Master Chief the snowman is a jolly happy soul
Winter (where there is snow) brings out the best and worst in people. It's a fact that the white stuff we call snow causes extreme mood swings for the better and worse. Some people get crazy angry, some get crazy happy. It's just how it goes. And if one experiences the crazy happy side of winter, it'll also create a snowball effect (pun intended) on a person's mental state where they'll revert back to younger times allowing their creativity to be unleashed. And if you need proof of Winter's effect on a person, just look at the picture above. Look at that Master Chief snowman and try to tell us that the person who made it didn't experience a "snow-high" which resulted in enhanced creativity (and boredom?). That pile of snow didn't even see it coming.[Via Digg]
Bungie: Heroic Map Pack pricing isn't left up to us
The announcement and impending release of Halo 3's Heroic Map Pack hasn't been met with overwhelming praise, specifically due to the content's pricing. 800 Microsoft points for three (yes, three) multiplayer maps is a bit spendy and translates to a higher cost per map than the once uber expensive Hidden Fronts maps offered by Gears. But Bungie wants you to know that they feel your pain and that they do not have any input to how much Halo 3 DLC costs.Speaking in this week's Bungie Weekly Update, Frankie talks about all kinds of Halo 3 updates going on and mentions the DLC pricing saying that the it is "not something we decide unfortunately – but in the long term, like those Halo 2 maps they'll eventually be free of charge". Which is true, the fact that the maps will eventually become free content. But the fact is that diehard Halo fanboys want the content now and 800 points is, well ... 800 points. Maybe we have to accept that Microsoft Game Studios loves their spendy DLC and sometimes we just have live with it and not buy a latte this week. But lattes are so good ...
Master Chief speed painting is incredible
We'll admit that sometimes we start to think a little too highly of ourselves. We'll just be sitting in the back of the limo popping Cristal with Shiggy and Mario or getting massages with CliffyB, and we'll all of a sudden realize that we're getting above our raising, as they say. Luckily, YouTuber macpulenta's striking drawing of Master Chief is there to remind us that Ben Folds had it right - there's always someone cooler than you.His art is fantastic, that's a given. But the special thing about macpulenta should become pretty quickly. Namely: He's a drawing android. Or he's using magic. If there's any other excuse for the speed with which he's able to render our favorite Spartan, we'd love to hear it. [Thanks, Moo]
'Faulty' Halo 3 discs lead to MS and Bungie lawsuit
Is anyone familiar with the process to become filthy rich in America? That's right, use the courts, makeup a frivolous lawsuit and sue corporate America for all their worth. And that's exactly what's going down in San Diego.On behalf of all Halo 3 owners (how sweet), Randy Nunez of San Diego has filed papers claiming that Microsoft and Bungie knowingly released a faulty product that "consistently causes the Xbox 360 to crash, freeze, or lock up while the game is being played". Nunez claims that his copy of Halo 3 (specifically) causes his 360 to act all funky and he wants compensation. Right ... Mr. Nunez may not be familiar with the whole Xbox 360 hardware failure fiasco that came to a head this year and was acknowledged by Microsoft to cause Xbox 360 problems.We're pretty darn confident that Nunez's 360 hardware problems aren't Halo 3 specific. If we could give any advice, we would say to call 1-800-4-MYXBOX and we think Microsoft would be willing to take care of the hardware issues lawsuit free. But then again, that wouldn't result in boatloads of cash. And heck, even if a person were lawsuit happy and wanted to specifically attack Halo 3, aren't there other more credible issues to go after? Frivolous lawsuits are lame ...[Via Joystiq]
