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More Halo 3 footage for your Halo obsessed soul
Bungie has posted a video featuring a behind the scenes look at the creation of the Halo 3 trailer, complete with commentary from several Bungie employees and footage of the orchestra and choir that was used to create the backing music. If, for whatever reason, you can't view the video, here's a quick summary of the content: Amusing quotes if taken out of context: Marty shows early signs of dementia with his paranoid "Where are we? Who is this? What's happening?" sound bite. A few snippets of unseen footage, mainly from different angles of the Halo 3 trailer. This could possibly be proof that the trailer was rendered in real time, although it's very likely that the sound, AI and everything else was pre-rendered. Some more mystery surrounding cortana: dare we say she's gone rampant? A lot of meaningless marketing lines that amount to not much more than hype. Phrases like "dynamic", "real stuff" and "that epic feel" don't tell us much about how Halo 3 is coming along. Overall, there isn't that much new to see here, although if you're a fan of Halo (who isn't?) the video is probably worth a few moments of your time. [Image: Emily Fulford]
Halo 2 reaches half-billion matchmaking games played milestone
Yesterday, according to Bungie, the 500,000,001st game of Halo 2 was played on Xbox Live. To be clear, this number does not include player-sessions or games that were lost because Bungie.net was down, or other technical issues. While it's certainly an achievement Bungie should be proud of, it's hardly a surprise. 6.4 million units of the game were sold in less than three months. Even if another copy was never sold, and even if only 5% of those 6.4 million units were associated with an Xbox Live account (that's 320,000 unique players) -- and given that the game has been in release for 573 days -- each of those 320,000 players would only need to average (roughly) 3 matchmaking games per day. C'mon, the Joystiq crew clocks those numbers before breakfast. Let us know when you hit 1 billion, Bungie. Then we'll be impressed. (We kid, we kid.) [Thanks, Shizzle]
Halo 2 celebrates half a billion games played!
Bungie is partying it up, and with good reason: Halo 2 is proud to have had half a billion games played on Xbox Live (we know a lot of you contributed!). From the words of Bungie, these are actual games and not player-sessions. The number was logged as of noon yesterday, and we suspect it won't be long 'till their next milestone is reached. Congrats!
AoE 3: Warrior's Path registration begins
Ensemble Studios is now accepting email registrations for their Age of Empires III tournament, Warrior's Path. You have until June 12 to sign up for the online competition, which takes place during the weekend of June 17-18. The top four combatants will be invited to Ensemble's Dallas digs for two weeks to live out their Grandma's Boy fantasy of testing video games and providing feedback to a development team. Oh, and if you live within 100 miles of Dallas, parent company Microsoft "reserves the right to provide alternate means of travel to and from destination" (read: bus). Good luck![via StrategyPlanet]
Gears of War: the box
We're still not sure when this so-called 'Emergence Day' is ... but at least, now, we know what the Gears of War box is gonna look like: My Marcus, what a big gun you have! You wouldn't be compensating for any shortcomings, would you?Check out: Hands-on with Gears of War multiplayer.
Metareview - Rise of Legends
The double-edged sword of success must have weighed heavily on the minds of Brian Reynolds and his creative team at Big Huge Games. In developing Rise of Legends, they were faced with the challenging, yet unenviable task of following up the game's hit predecessor, Rise of Nations. So what do you do for an encore? First, retain Nations' user-friendly interface, and then overcompensate for some poor audio choices by introducing three oddly original, and exceptionally balanced races. Those looking for a unique twist on traditional RTS civilizations will appreciate Legends' blend of classic fantasy, myth, and technology, as well as the visual quality Big Huge has become known for. 1UP (90/100) gives kudos for balance and diversity among the Vinci, Alin, and Coutl races: "Whereas Rise of Nations had a bunch of historic civilizations with relatively minor distinctions in their units and technology, Rise of Legends throws only three races into the fury, but they're both unique and incredibly well balanced." IGN (82/100) likes a good fight in campaign mode: "The AI is generally very good. The enemy knows how to use its hero units and, though it still suffers from the trickle tactics of most RTS' AI, it can still manage to put together a sizable enough force to make you break a sweat. If the challenge level isn't just right, you can actually adjust the game's difficultly at any point during the campaign." Gamespot (76/100) warns of a potentially difficult transition from standard RTS fare: "Each of the civilizations is so offbeat that there are no reference points, no similarities to RTS conventions that you can latch onto and use to dip a toe into the weirdness. The story in the campaign is decidedly convoluted, as well." [via Metacritic]
The Engadget & Joystiq Interview: Microsoft's Shane Kim
If you haven't already watched the video, now you can read the transcription of our interview with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios. During E3, Vlad Cole and I got some time to sit down and ask him about some of the biggest questions facing Microsoft's early entrant into the next-gen console wars, like whether there are any more developer acquisitions lined up, which Xbox Live Arcade titles will show up on Vista with Live Anywhere, what are the plans for ad-supported gaming, and just how many paid subscribers does Xbox Live has. We're corroborating with several sources: is Peter Moore's [Grand Theft Auto 4] tattoo real?You know, I wasn't there when it was put on there, it's a very personal thing so I can neither confirm nor deny. Okay... so it's real. Prior to E3, people were really looking forward to actual demonstrations of the Wii controller. That was the big buzz coming into the show and, after they unveiled it, I think people were more or less satisfied with it. So how do you think you fared versus that intense excitement towards that controller?I think we fared extremely well. One of the big things we talked about yesterday was all the momentum we're going to have this next generation. We're going to have 10 million units in consumers' hands before the competitor even ships unit one. We're well on our way to 6 million connected members on Xbox Live and we're going to have 160 games in the market by the end of the year. We've got great momentum. We had Bill Gates attend E3 for the first time ever to announce the vision of Live anywhere. Again, demonstrating leadership in the online space isn't just about what we've achieved to date, but also about how we're going to take that forward across multiple platforms and devices. And finally, first and foremost, it's about the games and the content. Yesterday we started with Gears of War and ended with Halo 3, and we sprinkled in a little bit of Fable 2, Forza 2, Alan Wake, and, oh by the way, the Grand Theft Auto 4 announcement as well. So I think from the content standpoint we're definitely doing great there. So, better online, better content, and better pricing than some of the competition; we feel good about where we're at. Do you think it's important to win E3? I think most people say you have, at least in terms of the keynotes. I think it's always great to be recognized for what you're doing, whether it's at E3 or any other point. Sometimes I worry there's too much importance placed on that but since people are saying we won this year, I'll say it's a great thing we won E3.
The Engadget & Joystiq Interview: Microsoft's Shane Kim [update 1]
If you haven't already watched the video, now you can read the transcription of our interview with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios. On Wednesday (in the middle of E3), Vlad Cole and I got some time to sit down and ask him about some of the biggest questions facing Microsoft's early entrant into the next-gen console wars, like whether there are any more developer acquisitions lined up, which Xbox Live Arcade titles will show up on Vista with Live Anywhere, what are the plans for ad-supported gaming, and just how many paid subscribers does Xbox Live has. We're corroborating with several sources: is Peter Moore's [Grand Theft Auto 4] tattoo real? You know, I wasn't there when it was put on there, it's a very personal thing so I can neither confirm nor deny. Okay... so it's real. Prior to E3, people were really looking forward to actual demonstrations of the Wii controller. That was the big buzz coming into the show and, after they unveiled it, I think people were more or less satisfied with it. So how do you think you fared versus that intense excitement towards that controller? I think we fared extremely well. One of the big things we talked about yesterday was all the momentum we're going to have this next generation. We're going to have 10 million units in consumers' hands before the competitor even ships unit one. We're well on our way to 6 million connected members on Xbox Live and we're going to have 160 games in the market by the end of the year. We've got great momentum. We had Bill Gates attend E3 for the first time ever to announce the vision of Live anywhere. Again, demonstrating leadership in the online space isn't just about what we've achieved to date, but also about how we're going to take that forward across multiple platforms and devices. And finally, first and foremost, it's about the games and the content. Yesterday we started with Gears of War and ended with Halo 3, and we sprinkled in a little bit of Fable 2, Forza 2, Alan Wake, and, oh by the way, the Grand Theft Auto 4 announcement as well. So I think from the content standpoint we're definitely doing great there. So, better online, better content, and better pricing than some of the competition; we feel good about where we're at. Do you think it's important to win E3? I think most people say you have, at least in terms of the keynotes. I think it's always great to be recognized for what you're doing, whether it's at E3 or any other point. Sometimes I worry there's too much importance placed on that but since people are saying we won this year, I'll say it's a great thing we won E3.
PC Halo 2 update
GamePro has some new details on the PC release of Halo 2. Two Microsoft directors in the Games for Windows division confirmed that Bungie's popular shooter will arrive "just after" the launch of Windows Vista in Q1. They also suggested that the PC version will not be cross-platform compatible with the original Halo 2 until they find somebody to "re-code the Xbox version" so it can interface with the Xbox 360. I hear there are a lot of programmers up in Redmond, so hopefully this will be resolved.
Molyneux's Fable 2 dance recital at E3
Lionhead Studios founder Peter Molyneux addressed the media at E3 this week, where he discussed his company's acquisition by Microsoft and the highly anticipated Fable 2. Unfortunately, the sequel to one of the Xbox's bestselling games is not quite demo-ready, and Molyneux wasn't exactly forthcoming on development details. Instead, he chose to focus on the importance of emotional engagement in Fable 2, one of the stronger elements in the original game.Molyneux did hint at the possible inclusion of an Xbox 360's friends list feature for his next action RPG, and is intrigued by Microsoft's new Live Anywhere technology, but again, he confirmed nothing. Throw us a friggin' bone here, Pete! At least we have a pretty trailer to look at.Lionhead's other games include The Movies and Black & White 2.See also: Molyneux predicted a Revolution...in '04
Joystiq Video: Shane Kim, General Manager, Microsoft Game Studios
We got the opportunity to interview Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, and the man responsible for making sure that Microsoft produces killer games. Of course, we asked what we wanted answered, so you'll hear questions about: the Nintendo Wii, E3 dominance, Grand Theft Auto 4 on 360, developer acquisitions, Xbox Live Arcade, in-game advertising, Xbox Live subscription numbers, and more! Get the video[Video] Get the full interview[Cutdown1] Grab part one here[Cutdown2] Done with part one? Get part two here.[Cutdown3] You've made it to the final level.
Halo 3 trailer: See it again for the first time
Here's the Halo 3 trailer again, embedded for your puny viewing pleasure. If you want more pixels and have no luck with XBLM, try Xboxyde's 720p torrent or Bungie's large Quicktime version. Oh yeah, Bungie reminds the world this baby is real time with an appropriately sarcastic announcement: Nobody saw it coming. Halo 3! Who knew? For the last year or two, people have speculated about what our next project was and surprisingly, in all that time, not a single person guessed that it would be Halo 3. Not one. We declare it the best kept secret ever. ...We won't ruin the content of our short presentation by describing it frame by frame, but we will note that everything you're seeing here is being rendered in real-time on the Xbox 360, using the current version of our Halo 3 game engine. The HDR lighting, self-shadowing, GPU-run particle system and many other effects should make it intact (and more) to our final game. Worth repeat viewing.
Halo 3 trailer blows up XBLM
All hail Master Chief. As you probably already know, the trailer for a little game called Halo 3 is now available for download on XBLM. The pic above is from the MS keynote. I hear the Marketplace is slammed, but you can check it out here as well. Does this first glimpse meet your high Halo expectations?
Halo: Combat Evolved on XBLM?
The April issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly has yet another Halo rumor to report (p. 67): In last issue's Rumor Mill, I mentioned that Xbox 360 owners will soon be able to buy full Xbox 1 games via Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace. And now I've got the juicy scoop on the first game that Bill Gates' crew will make available. Look for Bungie's epic first-person shooter Halo on the Marketplace sometime before this summer. I only hope the developer makes this version's multiplayer mode Xbox Live compatible." Not a bad way to fill up a couple gigs worth of HD space and sort of believable given Sony and Nintendo's plans to release old games online. How many people think this will come to pass? If they can can make Halo available via XBLM, why not Halo 3? [Thanks, Zilazapper]
Rare to unleash Pinatas on 360s this holiday season
Rare's next project is apparently an original IP concerning living piñata animals that will be featured in a Saturday morning TV/3-D/CG show and then in an Xbox 360 game debuting this holiday season worldwide.
Rumors squashed! MS debunks top 10 360 rumors
Microsoft's Cesar Menendez has decided to take out the trash, tossing the top 10 Xbox 360 rumors out. Here's his list: 10. Kameo is a kid's game: Not true. It's got a T rating. You can impale baddies with the spikes on your own back. Impale! 9. Xbox 360 is being recalled: There is no recall. Period. Return rates are actually lower than consumer electronics (CE) industry averages. 8. Microsoft is intentionally withholding product so as to build artificially high demand: Seriously. Think of the revenue hit we'd take if we actually did that. 7. Halo 3 is finished, and just sitting in a warehouse somewhere (in Poughkeepsie): See #8. Actually, come to think of it: we haven't announced anything about anything of which you claim we've announced or finished, as it were. 6. ____(insert name)___ is an alien/getting fired/fighting with _______ (Robbie Bach, Brian Lee, Peter Moore, J Allard, etc.): Nope. Peter's my boss' boss' boss, and I just want to say, in case you're reading this: "you're great!" 5. Everyone at Xbox is evil (or a robot, or is money grubbing, etc.): Dude - we're gamers. We're just trying to make a better games and entertainment than the other guy. 4. We stopped working on backwards compatibility: Still going. 3. We chose Barbie's Horse Adventure first, because we didn't want PGR2 to be BackCompat: Nope, some titles are just bonus because other titles work. 2. Sony will launch a broadband service better than Xbox Live: A big, bold claim. Two words: Emotion Engine. 1. Bungie has no plans to take over the world: Not true. Just look at their seven step plan. I have to agree with just about every one of these, except the Kameo one (which I didn't care for). Though it may not explicitly be a children's game, the reality is that it's not sure what it is. It looks like a children's game, but you impale enemies. It's not a rumor per se, but a misinterpretation due to a lack of focus or direction. Can't blame him for trying though.
Hexic hacks don't affect Xbox Live
Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) of Microsoft did some digging and determined that our report of Hexic haxxoring was only partially correct. While it's true that the game has been extracted from kiosk disks used for European Xbox 360 kiosks, and while it's true that the game has been modified, and while it's even true that tinkerers have been able to make it appear as if they're winning achievements, the fact of the matter is that none of this has any effect on the Xbox Live leaderboards. An email from the Xbox Live Arcade team to the good Major stated: "While Hackers can play the game and trigger the achievement awarded animation as if is still there but they don't actually earn anything since they can't connect to Xbox Live." There you have it! Back to collecting black pearls the old fashioned way.
Xbox 360 hackers cheat at Hexic, make inroads into hacking the 360 [Update1]
The hacking community has been very busy this weekend. Accomplishments include: Successfully ripping Hexic off of a kiosk disc and executing it in a PC browser (it runs very slowly) Successfully modifying Hexic and running it on an Xbox 360 connected to Xbox Live Hacking Hexic to earn several of the achievements without doing any of the work Successfully running simple Flash applications that were never on the Xbox 360 (such as a clock application) Modifying certain aspects of the King Kong kiosk demo to create the simple program pictured here Speculation: Could this third item be behind the reset of the Xbox Live leaderboards? We hear people were earning some sick scores in Hexic before the reset (according to a blog post by Xbox Live's Larry Hyrb, the reset is a technical glitch having nothing to do with security issues.) These findings might make it possible to run a flash-based browser, flash-based media players, or even other flash games not available on Xbox Live Arcade There are many avenues of research that the hacking community is exploring. Given the history of past efforts by Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft to prevent modification (all to no avail), it seems inevitable that one or more of these seeds of opportunity will yield fruit How far away are we from a gamer points reset, given that some gamers have been able to cheat to obtain them? Will it become possible to cheat at other games? That's the surest way to sap the enjoyment from any game, as Halo players on Xbox Live who have been the victims of cheaters can attest. [Update1: linked to statement from Microsoft's Larry Hyrb regarding the leaderboard reset.]
Fanboy QuickTake: Hexic
Our friends over at Joystiq have already reviewed Hexic HD, the Xbox Live Arcade puzzle game that comes preloaded on the 360's hard drive. Posing the best value for money out of all arcade games (provided you have the hard drive), it's an excellent starter into the world of Xbox Live Arcade and the concept that the 360 can be used for things other than expensive store-bought games. The gameplay is deceptively simple. Rotate triplets of hexagons to form clusters of three or more of the same colour, which vanish from the board. New hexagons drop in to replace them, repeat ad infinitum. It's like a psychedelic episode of Blockbuster. There are three game modes: Marathon has a gradual difficulty increase and is the most fun, while Timed mode provides those adrenaline rushes, and Survival mode is for patient nitpickers who like their boards kept clean. There are no real changes from the PC version, but somehow playing it on an Xbox 360 makes it more fun.
Rematch: AoE III vs. Civ. IV, who's buggier?
The two went head to head in a metareview showdown: Civilization IV versus Age of Empires III. AoE III won in sales, but got edged out in overall rankings, but then it was revealed that Civilization IV was playing injured. Reports of buggy software flooded the nets, and then it was AoE III's game to lose. Then today, a reader informed us that AoE III suffered from a plentitude of bugs as well. The forums are buzzing with comments like: vodka-mike: Ensemble's devs and brass should feel ashamed [of] this release. Vincedia: OK, so we bought this game, get it home, start to play, and find out we are paying to Beta test? I've had the game for a bit over 2 weeks now and I still can not stop the crashing to desktop. gman: What I haven't seen is a response from ES at all. There are hundreds of posts just like this one, on this forum alone! Is this a case of two competitors both rushing their competing titles out the door only to have them compete against another rushed product? Or was the lucrative holiday season looming, so the "patch it later" mentality kicked in. We love Sid Meier, but we want him to know that the DS doesn't work that way. Now, if Microsoft brings AoE to the 360, maybe they could patch it... but let's not even think about that.
