 | January 2009 |  |
January 2009 Archived News
News January 7 2009 
I wanna push you, baby
According to Bungie.net, the Push-To-Talk upgrade mentioned recently is now live - with playlist changes following soon. Go play push-free! (Louis Wu 22:19:09 UTC) (permalink)
Buddies don't let Buddies Game Alone
Bungie has spotlighted Buddy System Gaming, a group that exists to help you find a good game - and once you read the mini-interview, you can check out what THEY consider fun by perusing Bungie Favorites. Thanks, urk. (Louis Wu 20:16:09 UTC) (permalink)
Recreate your favorite gaming moments in MS Paint
I highlight this because it's just plain cool. Falagard, over at NeoGAF, used a Wacom Bamboo tablet and MS Paint (!!!) to whip up an image which should IMMEDIATELY resonate with any long-term Halo fan. Kick-ass. (Louis Wu 20:01:26 UTC) (permalink)
SicktistiK's Community Halo 3 Montage
Over at Halo3Forum, SicktistiK put together a set of random fileshare clips into a really nice montage of great gameplay footage. Thanks, Z. (Louis Wu 15:49:42 UTC) (permalink)
Help the Halo Bible, Get Stuff
Dantrell stopped by with word of some big prizes if you're willing to participate in the Halo Bible Forum - go read! Update: Dantrell has added a few more rules - check out this post for details. (Louis Wu 15:12:15 UTC) (permalink)
In this darkness LIVE can show the way
pete_the_duck wrote up another night of exploits on Xbox LIVE - and added a fun highlights video. Both are worth your time. Comments can go in his forum thread. Update: Whoa, another one - it's a trend! This one was put together by Avateur. Lots of pics. Check it out! (Louis Wu 15:09:10 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Comic Cornucopia
Aside from the new issue of Chaos Theory mentioned in the last news post, there are a bunch of OTHER webcomics going live today: - anthraxgoon let us know about X36 Chapter 1 Issue 9
- Andrew Kleiner pointed us to Outbreak, a comic he's been hosting on a forum for a while now; there are a lot of episodes
- Since it's Wednesday, it's time for another ODS Steve over at Hawty McBloggy - she's jealous of his shooting abilities
Enjoy the funnies! Update: Late to the party, but still today: OddGodHMK told us that the latest Boring Comic references Halo. Update 2: I should have remembered (and looked for) the forum post for Reclaimer 133... it IS Wednesday, after all. MOAR COMIX (Louis Wu 14:59:31 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Blog Bonanza
Lots of tidbits in the Bungie Blog yesterday afternoon - here's a summary. - A video showing a team of HaloBabies regulars taking on the Bungie Annual Challenge
- A video of funky clips from Halo 3 - old, but cool
- The webcomic Chaos Theory, Episode 6 was announced (this was also announced on our own forum - thanks, Adam)
- A video premiered during the Halo Community Live broadcast, now available for separate viewing - Last Resort in a storm (the story made no real sense to me, but the effect was cool)
- A continuation of the 'Average Joe' series, this time talking to GhaleonEB, a centerpoint of the NeoGAF Halo community (if you skip the rest, read this)
Good stuff, and lots of it! (Louis Wu 14:50:08 UTC) (permalink)
News January 6 2009
Monthly Mythic Challenge - a Winner!
We got word from Daniel 'Tyrant' Morris, the Mythic Master, that his January Challenge was (almost) met - B0ANERGES managed to complete 8 of the missions in the time allotted (and the final mission since then), thereby becoming the 10th Mythic Conqueror on record... and winning the 1600 Microsoft Point pot Tyrant put up for the first finisher. Congratulations! (Louis Wu 21:33:27 UTC) (permalink)
A Standoffer You Can't Refuse.
Our friendly neighborhood punmeister was inspired (possibly by a fragment of an underdone potato) to poke fun at one of the most common denizens of Halo 3 matchmaking - check out the latest One One Se7en for full details. (We may have to start numbering these for real again at some point...) (Louis Wu 15:19:14 UTC) (permalink)
But I like my wreath!
It's Tuesday, and it's a new year, so XerxdeeJ is back with word of updates on the Tied the Leader blog - TTL Venus sat down with TTL Demag0gue for a pretty in-depth interview about Halo, comics, horses, and Chicago cops... and OboeCrazy whipped up another volume of Gunslinger highlights - highlights for me were Hoovaloov's flag steal, and Snatch's clutch bomb protection. (The whole thing was fun to watch, though.) Check out the goodies! (Louis Wu 15:14:19 UTC) (permalink)
Why the Master Chief is the Man
Rune Of Red has been reading the Halo novels, and has decided to elaborate on what, for him, makes the Master Chief special. See if you agree! (Louis Wu 15:13:26 UTC) (permalink)
He's got your back!
Heh - Mid7night found a cool video showing Johnson getting an Overkill on the last level of the campaign... unfortunately, all four deaths were players. (Louis Wu 14:53:19 UTC) (permalink)
News January 5 2009
Saturation City
nomis78 posted links to three new panoramas he's created - the first couple have some funky effects! Check 'em out. (Louis Wu 21:48:45 UTC) (permalink)
Halo Goodies Bring in Kudos
Customers Rock!, a website devoted to pointing out customer service and its results, has issued its Top 3 Customer Rock Stars for 2008... and Bungie pulls in the number one spot for their handling of Ragingterror's 'wiped' Xbox. Tell us something we didn't know, Customers Rock! (Just kidding - that's pretty cool.) Thanks to Hawty McBloggy for the heads-up. (Louis Wu 21:44:53 UTC) (permalink)
Free-wheeling at Weta
Schedonnardus let us know about a short clip on the Xbox LIVE Dashboard, viewable by visiting the 'Spotlight' section. For those without access to that particular fount of goodness, we've put up 720p versions for download - both QuickTime (90 mb) and WMP9 (106 mb) formats. It's under 3 minutes, and consists of stock footage interspersed with an interview by an OXM reporter of a Weta employee, discussing how the hog differs from the in-game model... along with some driving practice. Fun!
(Louis Wu 20:56:47 UTC) (permalink)
BamBam.
Bored? Feel like playing with Bungie.net's tagging system to find cool FileShare content? The latest example of urk's tutorial series shows off some pretty sweet hammer pics. (Louis Wu 20:56:15 UTC) (permalink)
Equipment Emporium
Another fun highlight - Rast07's Equipment Emporium, where you can buy anything you need to augment your battle fun, at discounted prices!
(Louis Wu 20:51:07 UTC) (permalink)
Real7alk Podcast #6 Now Online
Bungie's blog pointed out Real7alk's Podcast #6 - a farewell to a site founder, and interview with a montage master, and a discussion with the moderators of halotech.org - 92 mb, 110 minutes. Go listen. (urk warns that you might need a bathroom break. Or something.) (Louis Wu 20:49:20 UTC) (permalink)
I thought he was immune...
Over at HaloGAF, Kibbles pointed out a pretty interesting YouTube vid... I'd love to know how this happened. (Minor spoilers, I suppose, for those who haven't played Halo or Halo 2.) (Louis Wu 20:31:20 UTC) (permalink)
Operation: Master Chief
ManKitten is working on an assault rifle - he's even started up a facebook profile to keep track of progress. Check out his forum post for a link, and a pic of the progress so far. (Louis Wu 16:26:58 UTC) (permalink)
Candlestick
It's Monday - so TTL Demag0gue tells us about Reclaimer 132 - wherein Ferial gets a surprise.
(Louis Wu 13:24:05 UTC) (permalink)
vetovetovetovetovetovetoveto
Hawty McBloggy ran across a video which gives you a nice (hmm... maybe the wrong word) snapshot of Halo 3 voice chat on Xbox LIVE - people are pretty random, aren't they? (Louis Wu 13:23:45 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3 is top LIVE game of 2008
Yesterday, Major Nelson released a list of the Top 20 LIVE Games of 2008, based on unique users... and Halo 3 came out on top of the pack. Impressive feat, given the competition! Thanks to many - first seems to have been LostSpartan987.
(Louis Wu 13:23:23 UTC) (permalink)
Friday's Fanfic (a little late)
Apologies - the normal Fan Fiction update for Friday never made it out; life here's been a little topsy-turvy. It's up now, though - four new stories for you to read. Check 'em out! (Louis Wu 13:22:32 UTC) (permalink)
Friction
deadly alive stopped in with word of 'Friction', a machinima about a soldier who discovers that not all is as he thought. It's pretty long - almost 26 minutes, in two parts - but it's well-done, and has a few twists to keep you interested. Swing by the post for download or streaming links!
(Louis Wu 13:19:14 UTC) (permalink)
News January 4 2009
Spriggs Shorts:
Molten Slowa was the first to let us know about the return of Spriggs... sort of. (It's a Spriggs Short.) Good stuff!
(Louis Wu 22:53:53 UTC) (permalink)
British Spartan Armour
FireDragon04 wore some Spartan armor today - and filmed it. Video is on YouTube, photos are on MySpace.
(Louis Wu 22:53:33 UTC) (permalink)
Dispatch Films podcast Episode 1
ODST Sarge let us know that Dispatch Films podcast Episode 1 has been released - you can listen to it at blip.tv.
(Louis Wu 22:53:07 UTC) (permalink)
The 'Duke Nukem Forever' Guy is Always Late
Lord Dark Numchuck has a webcomic called 'My Life as an Evil Genius' - and today's strip has a Halo reference. Give it a read!
(Louis Wu 22:52:49 UTC) (permalink)
Halo's Hot in 2009
The Sri Lanka Sunday Times put up a '10 Hottest Games of 2009' list... and two Halo titles are on it. Not too shabby! (Louis Wu 22:52:23 UTC) (permalink)
Explosive Ordinance Disposal
Bungie.net's blog has word of a short machinima created by Dispatch Films - 'Explosive Ordinance Disposal' looks at the job of the EOD soldiers... in a slightly different light. Great cinematography.
(Louis Wu 22:52:08 UTC) (permalink)
News January 3 2009
Halo Wars demo next month?
Mirel pointed out a Dutch website that claims that there'll be a Halo Wars demo in February - not very specific, and no cited source, but... (Louis Wu 18:36:18 UTC) (permalink)
Not Space Capable... but Slick!
Bry put together some Halo 3-themed planes for Microsoft Flight Simulator - nice work!
(Louis Wu 18:35:51 UTC) (permalink)
Gender Follies
A surprisingly long thread blossomed from a prediction by Vid Boi that the ODST protagonist of Bungie's upcoming Halo 3: ODST will be female. It even inspired some... odd art. What do you think? (Louis Wu 18:35:28 UTC) (permalink)
All at Once
A10M1C continues his ODST-themed wallpaper series with an image called 'All at Once' - gorgeous. Available in both Standard and Widescreen formats. (Louis Wu 18:35:03 UTC) (permalink)
Debate This: Push-to-Talk vs Lag
One of the changes mentioned in yesterday's Weekly Update was that the 'push-to-talk' requirement was being bumped up from 4 players per team to 6 - but that the downside to this change was greater potential lag. Hawty McBloggy wants you to weigh in on this issue in a new feature on her blog called 'Debate This' - is the convenience for larger teams worth the potential lag? Swing by and add your voice!
(Louis Wu 17:54:32 UTC) (permalink)
Bungie Weekly Update - Close-out, 2008
The Bungie Weekly Update went live last night, as usual - pretty impressive given the holiday status, and Washington State's weather woes. Mostly, it's a discussion of upcoming changes to the Matchmaking playlists - many of these look to be very helpful. Check it out! (As usual, you can read it in our Weekly Update Archive if you so choose.) (Louis Wu 17:53:20 UTC) (permalink)
Hayabusa Armor - and More
Over at the Bungie log yesterday, urk posted a link to a video of some fan-made Hayabusa armor. If you swing by the creator's YouTube channel, you can find lots and lots and LOTS of Halo stuff - including Halo Wars costumes. Good stuff! (The Halo Wars elite walking through a normal house/neighborhood is fun to watch.)
(Louis Wu 17:52:50 UTC) (permalink)
HaloCE game Archive 2008 Year End update
Dennis Powers sent along a year-end summary of the Halo Custom Edition game Archive - total assets are nearing 3800 items, with 828 of those added in 2008, and 59 added in December. Notable December additions: Dmt-Cairo Station by DMT Inferno (a model of the Cairo space station as seen in Halo 2), Wet Dunes and Delta Cliffs by Ki11a_FTW, and Danger Valley by Spartan 8 (a large forerunner valley). Go check it all out!
(Louis Wu 17:52:03 UTC) (permalink)
Friday Caption Fun, Round 29
Yesterday was Friday, so it was time for another episode of Friday Caption Fun over at Hawty McBloggy's - some great submissions for last week's pic, plus a new shot for you to play with. Go see!
(Louis Wu 17:51:36 UTC) (permalink)
News January 2 2009
New Rules
TTL Demag0gue announced that Reclaimer 131 is now online - we get to meet a new AI (this one working for the UNSC), and glean some additional info about Ferial. There's still other Halo news in the queue - but that's going to have to wait, sorry. (Louis Wu 23:36:20 UTC) (permalink)
Quality, not Quantity
RuneOfRed takes gamemakers to task for abusing their intellectual property and fans alike. Halo (and Bungie) get off cheap. Go read! (Thanks to him for letting us know.) (Louis Wu 23:35:48 UTC) (permalink)
Halo-ize your Google Searches
hurrvish noticed a couple of Halo-themed styles for Firefox (which will affect Google search pages); swing by his post for examples and information. (Louis Wu 23:35:19 UTC) (permalink)
DigitalPh33r's Holiday Special: Part 2
DigitalPh33r has posted Part 2 of his Holiday Special - things get a little more violent than the first part. Thanks, AvatarAang. (Louis Wu 23:33:56 UTC) (permalink)
Halo 3: Make Love Not War (Episode 1)
The Bungie.net blog has a mention of an interesting video showing what happens when you try to be peaceful in Halo 3 matchmaking. (Hint: it doesn't always work.) (Louis Wu 23:33:15 UTC) (permalink)
News January 1 2009
Master Chief Theater 3000: Season 2 Finale
mrsmiley let us know that the final episode of Pyrosmile's Master Chief Theater 3000 is now online , covering the final cutscenes of Halo 2. (Apparently, it was submitted a couple of weeks ago, but machinima.com has been backlogged.) Go watch - and enjoy their happy new year wishes! (Louis Wu 18:28:50 UTC) (permalink)
Nielson stats show gaming patterns
Gamecyte has some interesting statistics from Nielson about PC/Console game playing over the past year - did you know that Halo: Combat Evolved is still the number 3 PC game title in the US, behind only World of Warcraft and CoD4? Did you know that while the installed base of the Wii is nearly twice that of the Xbox 360, the 360 gets nearly 30% more usage time in US homes (due in large part to games like Halo 3)? Good stuff. (The PS2 still trumps everything.) (Louis Wu 17:29:20 UTC) (permalink)
A Video for Which There is No Title
Time Glitch let us know about A Video For Which There Is No Title, a zombie film like no other. And that's probably a good thing (though it IS pretty funny). Check it out!
(Louis Wu 17:27:45 UTC) (permalink)
3
AnTi PRO sent word of 3, an epic tale of 3 Spartans who take on the Persian empire. Until it's time for homework.
(Louis Wu 17:23:16 UTC) (permalink)
Arbiter
Happy new year, everyone! (If your spoiler settings have reverted to 'no spoilers', you can use the 'Change this!' link to reset them - sorry about that.) Ian simmons sent us a link to a couple of vids by FarhanK501 on YouTube - some background visits between the Arbiter and the Prophets. Hmm... (Louis Wu 17:21:56 UTC) (permalink)
| January 2009 | |
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