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Achievements, a double-edged sword
You might remember our old pal David Dreger (aka Knuckles Dawson) from such articles as Achievements 101 and as the newest blogger for Rooster Teeth Productions. Well, it seems that talking Points on X3F wasn't enough for KD as a recent interview he conducted with Turok game designer Paul Parsons has just hit the internets.In the interview Knuckles and Parsons tear down the curtain and reveal the mysteries and drama of Achievement points. According to Parsons, Microsoft issues a guideline of best practices to developers when creating an Xbox 360 title. Included is an Achievement guide that is used to help developers make the most of Microsoft's mandatory stat system.Parsons also discusses how some achievements had to be removed because they broke the pace of the game during testing, including multiplayer points that balance the modes, the four types of gamers according to the guideline (Killers, Socializers, Explorers and Achievers) and much more. As an added bonus, Rooster Teeth is holding a dino-themed contest for some Turok swag. We suggest you check it out.[Thanks, Knuckles]
Cinemassively: Inside Eye4You island on Teen Grid
As an adult with access to the Second Life Teen Grid, I can only go to two estates there, Global Kids and Eye4You Alliance. However, I'm sure that many educators and Main Gridders would like to see what parts of TG look like. HVX Silverstar posted some brief machinima clips leftover from 2007, covering such topics as teen drivers, meetings, and machinima.The clips are meant to show off the island and their projects. I'd have to say that my favorite part of the footage is where they watch Red vs. Blue in their theater. Machinima being viewed inside a machinima is so meta! Some other things I'd like to point out are that Storm Basiat manages the island for the teens, Brooke Barmy built the theater, and at least one of the residents in the video, Mercury Metropolitan, is already on the Main Grid!
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.
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.
Cinemassively: Going global
Our latest clip is Not Safe For Work (NSFW). If you didn't get a chance to see the stream for the UK Machinima Festival that took place on October 13th, 2007, you really missed out. Rooster Teeth, the creative force behind Red vs. Blue, debuted a special Halo 2 Machinima just for the audience. I've eagerly awaited it's public release to share with you!As a warning, this clip has plenty of cuss words and can be quite politically incorrect. With that said, it's absolutely hilarious. The majority of this short consists of showing how different Red vs. Blue would be if it were made in a different country. If you are from England, France, Germany, Russia, or Japan, I apologize in advance.
Brand new RvB mini-series headed to XBLM
Well, well, it looks like our Rooster Teeth friends haven't completely thrown in the Halo 2 machinama towel yet as they just announced plans to release a new mini-series onto the Xbox Live Marketplace.In their latest blogging update, Burnie mentions that in the weeks to come, a new RvB mini-series entitled "Red vs Blue: Recovery One" will be releasing to the internets and onto the XBLM. "Recovery One" will mirror that of their "Out of Mind" project, but with new characters and it is going to officially be their final Halo 2 project (fighting ... back ... sadness and tears.) Burnie promises more information on "Recovery One" in a few days, but until then you should make the jump and check out their latest video that they made for the 2007 European Machinima Festival. We can only describe it as ... worldly.[Thanks, Skandil]
Red vs. Blue crew discusses their roles in Halo 3
If you've gone through Halo 3, you may have stumbled upon a comical exchange during level 3 ("Crow's Nest") featuring some familiar voices. Well, familiar if you're a Red Vs. Blue fan. Roosterteeth, the team behind the wildly popular machinima series, bid $9000 at last year's Child's Play event to get their voices included in Halo 3 (naturally, Bungie later told them they could've pitched in even if they hadn't won the auction).GameDaily caught up with some of the crew last week to get their feedback on the experience and their thoughts on Halo 3 in general. Jason Saldana (voice of Tucker) said, "What's pretty cool about it is that six of us provided audio for it, so you end up hearing different voices depending on what difficulty level you play." Take a peek at all four of the different easter eggs involving RvB characters after the break.Also, RvB fans may want to check out last week's Xbox 360 Fancast featuring Red Vs. Blue's Geoff Ramsey for some more Halo 3 chatter.
The end is here: Red Vs. Blue #100
Well folks, today is the day: the end of The Blood Gulch Chronicles. Rooster Teeth promises that there will be a few one-off Red Vs. Blue episodes, but for now, the series as we know it is no more. Episode 100 is available now in all its 15 minute glory. The episode hasn't been released in embeddable format, so you might as well head over to Rooster Teeth, watch the episode, and join the already lengthy discussion. Yes, it is the end of an era. We wish the crew at Rooster Teeth the best of luck in their new endeavors.[Thanks, NitroFrost]
Red Vs. Blue draws to a close today
This is it folks, the end is nigh for Red Vs. Blue, the series that brought machinima into the limelight. Later today, Rooster Teeth will be releasing the 100th and final episode of the long running series (it began in April of 2003). The final episode will be a 15 minute affair, the longest episode Rooster Teeth has ever made. Rooster Teeth notes that there will be occasional episodes of the series in the future (some of them no doubt commissioned by Microsoft), but the story itself will end today. Chris Kohler of Wired has written an article briefly chronicling the genesis and success of the series, giving us a "big picture" view of the series in anticipation of today's final episode. If, like us, your viewing of the series has been lax of late, you can check out the latest season at the RvB archive.Of all the things we've lost, we think we'll miss Caboose the most.[Via Joystiq]
RvB episode 24 on Marketplace
Episode 24 - Sweet Ride of Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, is available glorious HD on Xbox Live Marketplace. It weighs in at 158 MB and costs you the standard 80 Microsoft Points. Just out of curiosity, how many of you are downloading the series off of Marketplace? We usually just pick up the DVD ourselves, but then again, this is available in HD, whereas we'd need to play our Season 2 DVD in an HD DVD drive through VGA to upscale to HD resolutions. So, we ask again, do you get your RvB fix off of Marketplace?
Watch the exclusive Red vs. Blue content without a Zune
The Halo 3 branded Zune comes packed with some exclusive content, including a Red vs. Blue video that you can't possibly see anywhere else. Oops, except the internets. Thoughtful YouTuber NitroFrost ripped the video and uploaded it for all the world to see.The ultimate slap in the face will be folks watching this on their video iPods, completely Zune-less. Thankfully Microsoft and Bungie didn't outfit the Master Chief with one of these things in the new game ... yet.
Halo 3 Zune available, exclusive Red vs Blue vid
We figured we'd give everyone a little heads up that the previously announced Halo 3 Zune is now available for purchase from Gamestop. For $249 you can get your hands on this rather sexy music player that is jam-packed with Halo content including an exclusive episode of Red vs Blue. And, thanks to one kind hearted soul, that exclusive video was posted on YouTube and embedded above. So, ponder a Zune purchase, sit back, and watch the Zune exclusive episode of Red vs Blue. Oh, and uhhh welcome to the social ... or something like that.[Thanks, NitroFrost]
1-800-Magic Episode 1 calls XBLM
The first episode of the Shadowrun machinima by Rooster Teeth Productions that we showed you yesterday, 1-800-Magic, is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. As you may have saw, the production values are rather high, but that's to be expected from the RvB crew. The video weighs in at 227.59 MB, which shouldn't take too long, and getting a higher resolution version to appreciate the finer details of their work is never a bad thing. If the series was regularly added to Marketplace, and continue to be free, would you follow it on XBLM?
Today's most is-it-Halo-yet video: Red vs Blue orientation
While the Halo 3 multiplayer beta is trickling its way out to the masses, pass the time while all of your neighbors try to download it simultaneously with the latest from Red vs. Blue. (Oh, who are we kidding? We know you're going to watch the progress counter ratchet up to 100 percent, with the same adoration as if you were reading Hemingway the multiplayer guide.) As the Red vs. Blue guys inch closer to the 100th episode blowout, the latest short shows off some important basics players need to know about the multiplayer beta. Think of it as an orientation initiation into Halo 3. Welcome to the social.See the video after the break.
Bug reporting 101 in RvB's Halo 3 PSA
Only one hour left until the Halo 3 beta goes live and the Red vs Blue gang thought they'd welcome everyone with a public service announcement. Up for download off the Marketplace (and online) is a Red vs Blue Halo 3 PSA where the gang shows off their new look, demo some of Halo 3's new features, and show everyone how to report a bug. And since you have nothing better to do for the next sixty minutes, give the video a download, and prepare to get excited for the new and improved Halo 3 tea bagging. Check out all of the X3F Halo 3 beta coverage
Red vs Blue Baddie Picture Pack
Major Nelson gave word that a second set of Red vs Blue gamer pictures have hit Xbox Live Marketplace. This time, the theme is based on all the bad guys of the series, hence the name of "By the Numbers: Evil Picture Pack". For a cool 80 Microsoft Points, you get 8 pictures of "all your favorite Evil characters". So that's like, O'Malley, Wyoming and er ... six other pictures. You'll have to excuse us, we just buy the DVDs at PAX rather than watch it piecemeal. Either way, the other six favorites are featured, to be sure. Sadly no Mike Myers, though.
Wacky Red Vs. Blue gamer pics stick XBLM
Red Vs. Blue may be drawing to a close, but these guys sure are keeping busy. A new pack of RvB gamer pics is now available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace. Dubbed the "Wacky 1 Picture Pack" the pictures have a certain ... well, wackiness to them. Our favorite though, has to be "Is it a spider?" The line is a classic. So classic in fact, that it was worked into the achievements for Gears of War. Should you desire these images of utter silliness, they will set you back 80 Microsoft points (a mere $1 in US currency).See Also:The Red Vs. Blue gang is ready for download
Red vs. Blue comes to Xbox Live: first five episodes for $1 each
Popular Halo machinima series Red vs. Blue is coming to Xbox Live. The first five episodes of the concluding series are already online and selling at 80 MS points (US $1.00) each. The videos range from 77 to 138 MB in size.As 1UP points out, it's not hard to find much of the series online for free viewing (including the official RvB website, which features some episodes on a rotating basis). You can also purchase a nineteen-episode DVD for each season, with bonus features, from the Rooster Teeth store for $20.Still, one dollar might be that golden price point where, like Apple found with iTunes store, consumers don't mind paying for the convenience of downloading content. We'll probably have an indication of how well the price is working with what we presume is the inevitable release of episodes six to 10.[Update: math error with DVD.]
Going all Grindhouse with your controller
After posting about the new Red vs Blue content on the Marketplace, we checked out Rooster Teeth's website and stumbled upon their latest comic. We must preface the ensuing discussion by saying that we do not support cutting off your arms or legs for the sake of gaming. But, if you so choose, we will not hold it against you. Okay, carrying on. After giving the comic a look over we surprisingly enough came away with new found knowledge. We learned that going all Grindhouse on your extremities just for the sake of having controllers for hands may seem genius at first, but in reality it's a horrible idea. That is unless you want to be a human gamepad and have people line up to play with your hands. Then you'd be golden! She's an entertaining comic, so just go take a look at her already.
The Red vs Blue gang is ready for download
Rooster Teeth's little Halo machinima that could Red vs Blue is making its season one debut on the XBLM. Up for download are episodes one through five of Red vs Blue with each episode setting you back a very reasonable 80 Microsoft points. It seems like only yesterday when we downloaded our very first episode off the internet, listening to Caboose's childish banter, tolerating Sarge's brash remarks, and that oh so pink Donut acting so ... Donut-like. Ahh the memories we have had with you Red vs Blue and at only $1 US per episode, how can we not re-ignite the flame we once shared?
