Master Chief
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Official Champions DevBlog: Randy Mosiondz, lead designer on roleplay and gameplay
It's been on a short hiatus, but Massively's official bi-weekly Champions Online DevBlog has returned with a column from lead designer Randy Mosiondz concerning the balance between roleplay and gameplay. If you happened to have missed the previous entries, simply follow our Champions Developer posts and easy access to even more thoughts and commentary from the likes of Randy Mosiondz, Bill Roper and Jack Emmert.
Bungie: No plans for more Halo 3 content beyond ODST
Seemingly in contrast with recent comments made by producer Allen Murray, Bungie has told Eurogamer that it currently has no Halo 3 content planned following the Fall release of Halo 3: Overly Descriptive Subtitle Treatment. "We'll never say never, but currently Bungie has no plans to make new Halo 3 content beyond the release of ODST," came the explanation. The formerly Microsoft-owned studio does, however, intend to keep supporting the popular first-person shooter with matchmaking playlist updates and uninhibited use of the fabled Banhammer.Whether the task of generating Halo 3 content into 2010 will fall away in favor of a new game, or simply be handed over to a different studio, remains up for speculation. Either way, it seems Halo 3 will be watched over by its creators in some form or another until we all finally stop playing -- and that could be even longer than Murray's supposed two-year time frame, right?
Custom Master Chief Transformer becomes Warthog, collector's item
The custom Master Chief Transformer we wrote about last year? It's so last year. There's a new green custom 'bot on the (auction) block, and it -- quite fittingly -- becomes a Warthog in vehicle mode. Its creator (and eBayer) built the 5 and 1/4" tall marvel out of a McFarlane Toys Master Chief figure, an Actionclix Warthog and an actual Transformers toy (Hound, in case you're wondering).Want this one-of-a-kind Halo artifact on your bookshelf? Be prepared to pony up a hefty sum. With 52 bids as of this writing, the figure is currently going for $320 -- with an entire week to go before the auction closes. Click through after the break to see it in Warthog mode.[Thanks, Rev Freakshow]
Mario does battle with Halo's Spartans ... again
We don't know what Mario has against the Halo universe, or why Spartans can't stand denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. But, senseless though it may be, the two worlds have met again on the battlefield and, as you can see after the break, the conflict makes their last meeting look like a tetherball match.Now that the ground is littered with helmet fragments and soaked with the blood of Yoshis, can the two move toward peace? Or at least unite in a mutual hatred of Kratos? Only time will tell.
NYCC 09: Marvel Comics releasing two more Halo mini-series
If you enjoyed Marvel's yet-to-be-completed Halo: Uprising comic series then you may be interested in a recent announcement from Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada -- during his Cup O' Joe panel at NYCC, Quesada confirmed that Marvel will be publishing two more Halo miniseries by the end of the year. Hopefully, these two won't get bogged down by late-in-the-game story revisions and accompanying year-long delays.The first five-part series, which is set to deploy this summer (and could conveniently wrap in time for Halo 3: ODST) will be penned by She-Hulk writer Peter David, and drawn by Gigantic's Eric Nguyen. The second series, due out in winter, will be produced by Fred Van Lente and Francis Portela, the writing and illustrating (respectively) team behind Wolverine: First Class. Best of luck, guys -- you've got some awfully big shoes to fill.
Want to kill some time? Check out Mario vs. Spartan: The Game
Joystiq's Free Game Club picked up on Mario vs. Spartan: The Game and, by golly, we're glad they did. This simple title is easy to get a grasp on, even though the premise makes no sense. But, hey, you get to beat up on a billion dollar cyborg dude thing (whatever that Chief Master guy is supposed to be) with Mario. That isn't too bad, right?So, if you find yourself stuck in front of a computer today just like us, check out the game here. It's a good way to kill some time. See also: It's a Wonderful (Super Mario) World[Via Joystiq]
Master Chief takes on Mario
Each week our sister site Joystiq showcases a free PC game available to those who posses both too much free time and the internets. This week's entry is Mario vs. Spartan: The Game. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. Sure, the game isn't considered top tier in the world of free flash games but it features two things our readers may be used to; Halo and hating on other platforms / characters from other platforms. Can you, as Master Chief, finally dispatch the nuisance that is Super Mario? We suppose it's time to find out if you can finish this fight. Believe. [Via Joystiq]
The Joystiq Free Game Club: Mario vs. Spartan: The Game
Yes, the idea of Master Chief being dispatched by Bowser to kill Mario tests the limits of even disturbingly circuitous fan fiction logic. And OK, fine, the gameplay leaves a certain something to be desired. And no, we don't know why our favorite Spartan brought only grenades and no guns. But Mario vs. Spartan: The Game is what we're going to talk about this week, so you're gonna have to deal with it.It has a lot of shortcomings, but the idea of Master Chief fighting Mario is just so devastatingly badical, we found ourselves powerless to resist. Seriously, we bet you could find the design doc written on the back of a binder in Wite-Out somewhere. Awesome.Are you leet enough to finish teh fightz0r against Mario? Share your accomplishment in the comments below.[Via Hawty McBloggy]
Fable 2's Spartan armor and energy sword pictured
DailyGame had published several screens of Fable 2's "Master Chief" armor and "Elite Energy Sword" before Microsoft requested the images be taken down. The Hal's Outfit (that's what the MJOLNIR looking suit's called) is obtained by purchasing the Fable 2 Collector's Edition. After downloading the bundle's exclusive content from Xbox Live, players will apparently receive the Hal suit from a treasure chest after leveling up for the first time.The outfit can be seen above and we've placed a better image of the sword after the break.[Via X3F]
First screens of Fable II's Master Chief outfit
Way back in August, we reported that a Master Chief outfit -- a Spartan outfit, if you want to get technical -- would be making an appearance in Fable II. Now, thanks to DailyGame, we have the first screenshots of the outfit, which is known as Hal's Outfit in the game.. It looks slightly different from the original images. Overall we'd say it's closer to the actual look of the Chief's iconic suit. Also pictured in the new screenshots is the energy sword -- Hal's Sword. It looks nice and all, but it only deals a paltry 22 damage, so let's hope it has some amazing bonus properties. Head over to DailyGame for more images.
Bungie considers the challenges of a Halo MMO
Bungie community and PR director Brian Jarrard recently told gamesindustry.biz that a Halo MMO has been the subject of "heated discussions" at the house that built Master Chief. Jarrard opines on the topic for a while, concluding that a lot of new lore and characters on top of the already-extensive universe that is Halo for a workable MMO.That point of view rings quite true with us here at Massively. Typically, any time a non-MMO property is tapped for entry into the genre there are mountains of conceptual alterations that need to be made -- not to mention the catch 22 Jedi concession. You can't have a compelling Star Wars MMO without Jedi, however there needs to be some serious lore considerations if a developer is to allow hundreds of players run around their game world as laser-sword swinging, neo-space faring, monk/samurai. The same rule applies to the rare and elite Spartan warriors of the Halo universe.
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.
Surprise!: Spartans are awesome in Halo Wars
Though Master Chief is little more than an adorable baby during the events of Halo Wars, it should come as no surprise that his Spartan brethren are a pretty big factor on the battlefield. Ensemble recently went into detail about the role of the Spartan in a fight on their official site.The secret to nailing the right feel for the Spartan according to Ensemble? Not nerfing them. Spartans aren't just dudes in good armor: They're one-man tipping points, able to grab an enemy vehicle and turn the tide. Sounds good to us; now, if there were only some way to get some more Spartans on the box.[Via X3F]
Master Chief crash lands into Fable 2
click to embiggen If you noticed in the details to Fable 2's Collector's Edition, there was an "Otherworldly Bonus" for in-game content. Packaged with the announcement were screenshots, including one conspicuously labeled "Fable2_MasterChief.jpg." Yep, that's not just a coincidence, you're looking at a faux-medieval variant of the Halo superstar. (Halo 3 ending spoiler alert) I guess we know what universe he crash-landed in. And here we thought Minstrel Chief was the only Halo reference we'd find. Fable 2 is coming October 21 for US and October 24 for Europe.%Gallery-29242%
We'll Halo there: 'Cold Storage' map free on July 7
click for more pics of Cold Storage Like the rumbling of thunder in the distance, an unstoppable force is audibly and rapidly approaching us. Soon, a cacophony of clicks will ring through our ears, the reverberating result of posting an article which not only concerns Halo 3, but prominently features the word "free." What have we done?Bungie's Luke Smith has announced via Bungie.net that "Cold Storage," a chilly new multiplayer map for everybody's favorite cyborg shoot-em-up, will be downloadable -- for free -- from the Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Monday Bungie Day, July 7. The map will be implemented in regular rotation in playlists that require the Legendary Map Pack, which will also drop from 800 MS Points ($10) to 600 MS Points ($7.50) on the same day. If you haven't tried those environments out yet, now's the time to join in on the gradual extermination of Earth's population.[Update: Check out a tour of Cold Storage, along with a tease of what Bungie's got in store for Bungie Day, here.]%Gallery-26795%
Master Chief is full of air and needs to splode
Behold, fellow fanboys! It's Halo's Master Chief, fully balloonified and ready to storm a birthday party near you. And don't you just want to pop him?This Master Chief, erm ... balloon sculpture is the work of Balloon Guy Entertainment and we don't have to tell you how in-freakin-credibly cool it is. Don't you just want to pop him? It almost makes Master Chief look chubby, bubbly or just full of air, not that that's a bad thing though. Don't you just want to pop him? We also just realized that a balloon sculpture like this must have taken hours upon hours to create, a crazy amount of skill and patience that we will never, ever have. And darnit, don't you just want to pop him? Because we do. We have a twisted yet totally uncontrollable urge to stick a needle straight into Master Chief's gold visor to see his face explode. Wait! Even better! We have a Needler that we've been wanting to try out ... (evil grin)[Via HBO]
Master Chief's keyboard of choice
We're certain that Master Chief has to check his email every now and then (Spartans have to keep connected too), and we expect Master Chief would use a keyboard that looks similar to the one pictured above. It matches his manly armor. The Halo 3 Xbox 360 inspired custom keyboard (and 360 controller) shown above is the creation of Kroden who put his artistic skills to good use. It's very green, military-like and ... uh, green? We know Master Chief would be proud of Kroden's work, but we still think the CTRL, ALT and DEL buttons should have been painted red. Just saying.
Halo 3 marketing designed to not make Master Chief a 'reckless American cowboy'
At the MI6 marketing conference in San Francisco, GameDaily reports on how Halo 3's marketing molded the image of Master Chief. Jerret West, global group product manager at Microsoft, explains they didn't want to portray Master Chief "as a reckless American cowboy." They needed him to be accepted as a savior of humanity and integrate Halo into pop culture. West notes the team had pop culture benchmarks like making the cover of Time or Wired, and worked with numerous other companies to push marketing ideas. Chris Lee, a product manager from Microsoft, points out that Halo didn't have an awareness problem, it had a perception problem for being too hardcore. Looks like the team's efforts to make the Master Chief mainstream worked out. Halo 3 ended up becoming one of the best selling games last year.
Master Chief gets My Little Ponied
Filed under the category of 'simply astonishing', we recently received word via Hawty McBloggy that a custom created Master Chief My Little Pony was up on eBay for purchase. Wouldn't you know, there is one. Created for a Kentucky anime/gaming/comic custom pony contest (we guess they do exist), this Master Chief pony was carefully crafted by Anime Amy from the finest epoxy known to man with care and buckets of love. The pony bidding starts at $45 and really, who could say no to a My Little Pony Master Chief at that price? Heck, we'll go as far as to say this item falls under the "priceless" descriptor.[Via Hawty McBloggy]
Microsoft lawyer says Master Chief in Unreal is 'great'
We're sure you saw the delightful cross-platform mash-up that put everyone's favorite Spartan smack dab in the middle of PS3 shooter Unreal Tournament 3. While we got a kick of it, we couldn't help but wonder how Uncle Bill and his army of lawyers felt. According to one of those legal eagles, MS thinks that it's the bee's knees.Here it is straight from the source: "The developers aren't selling the mod, they're not monetizing Microsoft's IP, they're just creating something to share their love of the Master Chief on a new platform. It's a great thing for us and a great thing for the gaming community." Apparently, we've got the Game Content Usage Rules to thank. Now ... do those apply to G.I. Joe?
