The first episode of Halo Legends, The Babysitter, was released earlier this week on Halo Waypoint. It was only up for 24 hours for whatever reason but now you can check it out on YouTube before it gets taken down!

The episode follows a few Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and a SPARTAN II as they go on a mission to assassinate a Prophet. We also get a nice look at some ancient Forerunner buildings showing that the Forerunners may have possibly been as big as Zentradis from Robotech. 

I know this is anime, but I can't get over the fact that most of the characters hair styles are completely against military regulation. Come on! Check out the second part of the episode after the break.

[via AnimeVice]

view full story + comments

Last week I introduced a new format for these weekly game debates, and it went great! I used two of the most loved series in the game industry of all time, and the result was just as vicious from both sides as I expected to see. It was a lot of fun to read through everyone's extra commentary on the additional bonus questions, and it offered a whole lot more insight into what we considered before casting our votes. Here was the outcome:

• Legend of Zelda series (91 votes) -- Winner!
• Final Fantasy series (57 votes)

First of all, yes, spinoff games like Halo 3: ODST and Half-Life episodes are included, but Counter-Strike and all other mods of either game are not counted. From there, the choice is up to you.

Which series do you like better as a whole, and why? What aspects or individual games of the series made up your mind? Is your choice mainly due to support for that series, or your dislike of other series? Give it some serious thought, share your thought process with all of us, and then get some FPS friends to join in on the fun.

New Bonus Questions! Hit the jump to see not one, but all of the bonus questions. From now on I'm going to try a slightly new format to encourage more discussion! Feel free to suggest bonus questions of your own that you'd like to see used in next week's debate topic, which is also listed below.

view full story + comments

YouTuber petemander1 is going to be the talk of his Halloween party as he's going to have the best Halloween costume of the night. petemander1 is working on a Covenant Elite costume based on the Halo games. The thing that makes his costume stand out from others' though, is that it incorporates animatronics and the eyes and mandibles are all remote-controllable.

The video above and after the jump shows off what petemander1 has created so far. It looks great, yet it also looks pretty scary. I don't know about petemander1, but if this was my project, I'd use it to run around scaring little children in order to steal their candy ...

Man ... I'm a jerk.

[via Joystiq]

view full story + comments

Okay, first of all, there's a community devoted to modifying Power Wheels. That's just awesome.

Anyway, user flux83 over on the Modified Power Wheels Forums took a Street Scene Silverado Power Wheel and beefed the thing up to become a Warthog from the Halo series. flux83 detailed the entire project over the Power Wheels forum and the thing looks great. He even named it the Chupa Thingy, based on a joke from Red vs Blue. 

This is totally the luckiest kid ever and he is officially more cooler than this Halo kid now. 

[via HotBloodedGaming -- Thanks, Kreyg!]

A new challenger approaches! Former Bungie developers Michel Bastien, Damián Isla, and Rob Stokes have formed a brand new development studio, Moonshot Games. Moonshot will specialize downloadable titles, with an aim to produce AAA-quality titles on a small scale and modest budget.

Based in Seattle and Boston, Moonshot is currently scouring both regions for talent. The talent currently on board have all worked on the Halo franchise, so their experience with blockbusters hits cannot be questioned. They seem pretty confident and eager to get started, so I'm equally eager to see what they can do. 

Sounds like a promising little outfit, and I'm certain we'll be hearing big things from them soon. Best of luck to Moonshot Games!

view full story + comments

Microsoft has responded to the Halo: ODST disc-reading issues. In a statement given to Eurogamer, the hardware publisher as well as Halo-keeper said that it was aware people were having problems and were investigating the issue. Microsoft also noted that it wasn’t a widespread issue, which is sure make those who are experiencing the “Unreadable Disc” problem very, very happy people.

“We are aware of a very small number of people who are reporting they can’t play the game,” said a Microsoft representative. "We are looking into it, but at this point it doesn't appear to be a widespread issue."

To get you caught up with this gripping story: people are experiencing problems with their ODST discs. During stress times, like loading Chapters, the game tosses up an “Unreadable Disc” screen, thus eliminating the opportunity to play the game. As we last checked, Bungie is still collecting data, perhaps attempting to figure out and then fix whatever is causing the problem. Some folks in the lengthy thread on the game’s official message board attribute the issue to older disc drives, others think it has something to do with the hard drive.

Just for fun, we’ll ask again: can you still play ODST?

Microsoft is generous ... I mean, if you can call giving away a free picture that costs nothing to make generous, of course. To celebrate the launch of Halo 3: ODST, a free Premium Theme has been made available for download on Xbox Live. You'll have to hurry though, as it's a limited-time deal.

Naturally, this offer is only available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, since Microsoft is poverty-stricken and badly needs the cash. A free picture is totally worth signing up to Xbox Live for though, so make sure you go and do it!

ODSTs aren't the only ones getting their hands on upgraded gear to prepare for the upcoming Firefight. Available only for a limited time and free of charge for Xbox LIVE Gold Subscribers, this expertly crafted Halo 3: ODST Premium Theme will get your Xbox 360 ready for a combat drop into the city of New Mombasa.

What are you waiting for? Go and download it right now! Your very life depends on this thing.

One of the major problems people have of Halo 3: ODST is that its campaign is incredibly short. However, apparently our perception is at fault here, not the game itself. Bethesda's production director, Ashley Cheng, believes the game was marketed in entirely the wrong way, and that consumer backlash could have been avoided if Microsoft hadn't "bungled" the advertising.

"Microsoft and/or Bungie totally bungled the marketing on this," he argues. "First saying it was a standalone expansion pack, then coming out and saying wait, no, we’re charging full price because -- surprise! -- we put 'more' stuff in it and it’s called Halo ODST now, vs it’s original title, Halo Recon."

"Like Microsoft was ever going to sell this for less than full price. It is a new Halo title, it’ll sell like hotcakes no matter what.

"Because of the waffling, reviewers are now mentioning that Halo ODST may not be worth the price point, that it should’ve been cheaper, etc … Give me a break. First off, most games -- especially first person shooters -- are anywhere from 5-10 hours. Tops. What makes Halo different from others? You can’t just ping Halo ODST for it. I bet if Microsoft hadn’t screwed up the marketing messaging, there would less talk about pricing."

Harsh, harsh words. Do you agree? Should Microsoft had been more smart about its marketing, or is ODST truly not worth full price?

Remember when Cabela's Trophy Bucks came out in 2007? If you say yes, then you're a f**king liar. It was the same week that Halo 3 came out, so of course you don't remember. The Cabela guys found this out too late, though, and needless to say, Bungie ruined their party.

Well, it looks like Bungie did it again. Those jerks are releasing Halo 3: ODST tomorrow, the SAME DAY that Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2010 is coming out. The Cabela guys thought it was safe to release their new game, but it seems like Bungie wants to do nothing more than to destroy the poor developers behind the animal hunting series. 

The Cabela guys try to stop Halo 3: ODST from going on sale, but are unsuccessful. You can watch them try after the break. 

view full story + comments

By now you've surely read our hot review of Halo 3: ODST and are either thinking, "Man I want to buy that," or "Pfft, Uncharted 2 will be better because BIAS!" If you're thinking the former, then you might want to make your purchase at Toys R Us, where a free action figure and $20 gift card is being offered to each customer.

This isn't pre-order based, so you can just hot-tail it to your local Giraffe emporium on Tuesday and walk away with some neat swag. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. 

Toys R Us seems to really be trying to cut into Gamestop's stranglehold on North American videogame retail. Its expanded trade-in program was the first salvo, and if the store starts to offer these kinds of superior deals on a more regular basis, then Gamestop's monopoly could seriously be in jeapordy. 

What do you think? Could deals like this help create a bit more diversity in the brick n' mortar retail arena? Where will YOU be buying ODST from?

Late last night, we brought you a review and a video review of Halo 3: ODST. It's one of year's most anticipated titles and it takes the Halo series in a slightly new direction with all of its new features. Is it worth the purchase though? You'll have to read the review to find out for yourself.

If words aren't your thing, we have plenty of new images from Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode as well as some images from the new Mythic maps for the original multiplayer mode of Halo 3. Firefight, to me, is worth the purchase alone and you're going to find yourself devoting a ton of time to it.

Jumping from Firefight to regular multiplayer mode may confuse some people for awhile, as it did for me. After spending a good portion of the day playing the single-player and Firefight mode at the review event, we all jumped into the deathmatch multiplayer of Halo 3 to check out the new Mythic maps. It wasn't until half way into the first match that I remembered I could use Equipment items and dual wield guns again. I actually said out loud "Oh right, I'm a Spartan again! Awesome!" 

Sure, it's a ton of fun playing Firefight, but it's also nice playing as a genetically enhanced badass. Plus, killing other people is always more gratifying then killing the AI. 

The Halo series is one of gaming’s biggest franchises to date. From videogames, books, comics, toys, to clothes -- Halo was even almost turned into (and could very well still be) a Hollywood film. Halo 3: ODST is the latest Bungie-developed entry into the Haloverse, in what is being hailed as a new direction.

There’s no Master Chief and no SPARTAN IIs of any kind here. Instead, you’re playing as the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs). They’re not just a regular group of humans, however. Before the SPARTANs were brought into the UNSC military, the ODSTs were the top dogs. They’re some of the military’s toughest group of soldiers, and they have to be, seeing as how they’re willing to make high-altitude drops encased in small metal pods time and time again.

Still, the ODST are not SPARTANs. They don’t have energy shields, MJOLNIR armor, or bioengineered enhancements to their bodies. So playing as the ODST feels different compared to past Halo games.

How different? Hit the break and you’ll find out all there is to know about the single-player campaign and the new Firefight multiplayer mode in Halo 3: ODST.

view full story + comments

Developer Bungie retains its streak of awesome video documentaries in their latest dubbed “Terra Icognita.” In the mini-documentary -- the third released for Halo: ODST -- several members of the studio discuss building the game, its music and emotion, the city exploration, a few plot points, its characters, and mention several key departures from the core franchise like the differences between the Rookie and Master Chief.

The video was originally released September 15th, but if you haven’t seen it yet, definitely give a click on the header image. Running over six minutes, this piece of Halo-goodness will prepare you for everything ODST.

Halo: ODST drops on September 22nd. Look out for our review in the near future.

Halo 3: ODST, that one game that's totally been completed since May, is launching soon. Tuesday of next week, to be exact. As is the case for most big-name games with a sizable marketing budget, there will of course be a launch party to celebrate its release; that's where you come in.

If you happen to find yourself near Seattle's Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame on Monday from 6:00 - 11:00 PM, you can join in the Halo 3: ODST festivities. Firefight mode, one of the game's biggest selling points, will be playable.

Additionally, Creative director Joseph Staten and Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor will be at the launch party to not only have a good time, but to speak on panels as well. There's even going to be a costume contest, although the guys who dress up as Master Chief likely don't need a reason to do so.

Check out the full agenda with complete details of the event after the break.

view full story + comments

In the latest episode of Bonus Round over on GameTrailers, Brian Jarrard of Bungie revealed that Halo 3: ODST has been completed since May. It could have been released at any point now, but it’s been held back in order for Microsoft to promote the game and in preparation to rape your coffers this holiday season.

Yet, doesn't it feel like the promotions started off late? The Halo 3: ODST truck started touring the country a couple of weeks ago and the amazing new new ad rolled out two weeks ago during PAX. It just seems a bit out considering Halo 3 was promoted like crazy for months before the game was released.

Speaking of Halo 3: ODST, look for our review on the game this Saturday.

[via GamePro]

Keiji Inafune, who is known best for his involvement with Mega Man, Onimusha, and Dead Rising, recently stopped by Bungie's Seattle-based studio. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a big deal in and of itself; what made the trip so special was a comment made by the industry veteran.

Bungie is an amazing studio that has made incredible games. So I was always curious about how they made their games in hopes of being up to add some of the flavor into Capcom games.

Also, I wanted to come down to Bungie in order to see just how well our philosophies on game design matched up. If things clicked, I know it would be interesting to collaborate together on a title in the future.

An interesting thought, to say the least. Reiterating his genuine interest in such an idea, Inafune-san says "a Bungie-Capcom collaboration would certainly create something amazing as well ... but I guess we’ll have to see if the next twenty years holds something that special or not."

Do you think this would be a good idea for the two companies to pursue? I'm not sure such a collaboration would automatically net a great project or anything, but I'd personally be curious to see what kind of game could come of it.

[Via The Escapist]

Remember, remember, the fifth of November, at least if you're a Halo fan. Xbox Live's ultimate Halo destination, Halo Waypoint, launches on the anniversary of Britain's most famous political assassination attempt. How auspicious.

"Nov 5. Mark it on your calendar. That's when you will get your hands (or controllers) on Halo Waypoint," claims the official Twitter feed, because Twitter is slowly replacing all press releases. 

Halo Waypoint will be packed with video and audio content enabling you to follow your "Halo career" by tracking your progress and Achievements in previous Halo games. Obviously, this is not something I'm interested in, since everybody knows I don't complete Halo games.

Randy Nunez is a man on a mission. A mission to make Microsoft and Bungie pay for their crimes against gamers. Despite Halo 3 being a relatively well polished, complaint-free game, Nunez claims that he is one of a great many people who have encountered game breaking glitches, and he wants his day in court.

"Halo 3 does not function with the Xbox 360, and to the contrary, attempted use of Halo 3 consistently causes the Xbox 360 to 'crash,' 'freeze' or 'lock up' while the game is being played." alleges Nunez. The suit also claims that there have been "mounting" complaints about the game, which neither Microsoft nor Bungie have seen fit to address. There doesn't seem to be an explanation as to why this complaint is happening in 2009 when the game was released in 2007. 

"Because Halo 3 is not fit for either its ordinary purpose or for the particular purposes for which it was sold, defendants have breached the statutorily implied warranties of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act," the suit continues.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Three years too late, and simply very wrong indeed. The very fact that something like this could even get filed is evidence enough that America's legal system has been f*cked by too many stupid people clogging it up with frivolous, greedy idiocy. I hope this guy gets humiliated.

With Halo 3: ODST coming to blow the minds of Xbox 360 fans, Microsoft has been kissing Bungie's arse like you wouldn't believe. ODST producer Alex Cutting is the one with the brownest nose, declaring that Bungie polishes its games like nobody else, and explaining why the studio is so brilliant to work with.

"Bungie is an awesome partner. They say this a lot, and I believe it, they make the games they want to play," he declares. "What’s cool about Halo games is, you can be a year out from their actual street date, and the game’s playable. People are actually playing the game at that point. We can watch people play, and we can get 60 people’s feedback on just one experience in that game and polish that thing and hone it until it’s triple A quality.

"Not many people can do that. A lot of people who are just getting a game engine off of the ground don’t have the ability to iterate on an experience like that. Bungie is all about gameplay. They spend more time polishing gameplay than anyone I’ve ever seen.

"They also have incredible artists. The skies and the environments in that game are in my opinion unequalled. They’re a triple A talent up and down, from design to art to execution, they’re awesome. Everything Bungie puts on the table is awesome"

Jesus Christ, dude. If you love Bungie that much, why don't you marry them? Seriously, I've seen some marketing hyperbole in my time, but I've never seen an executive speak as if he is in actual love with a studio. Like, real, romantic, "I'll kill myself if you don't return my calls" love. If I were Bungie, I'd be checking outside at night to make sure Alex Cutting wasn't pawing through my garbage.

Disney Interactive Studios is getting serious. They spent $4 billion on Marvel last week, and now they've brought Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian on-board. With Seripian comes his whole development studio, Wideload Games. How much money does Disney have?

"We're really trying to be a magnet in this industry for talent, as we are in so many other parts of the entertainment world," Graham Hopper, GM of Disney Interactive Studios, told CNBC. "It really is about building a team that can win."

The folks at Edge say that Disney has about 1,200 people working on games, but they're looking to triple that figure now. According to Hopper, they're looking to build up, release new IPs, and eventually become a major player in the market. With these recent developments, I'd say that they're well on their way.

Bungie recently reiterated plans to not support Halo: ODST with post-launch downloadable content. Speaking to Eurogamer at PAX 2009, Bungie community head honcho Brian Jarrard confirmed that the studio might not create DLC for the not-so-budget-priced Halo 3 expansion. He pegged Bungie’s next title as the reason for the lack of future ODST content

"The number one question these days is whether we're going to do DLC for ODST and add more Firefight maps,” said Jarrard. “Right now we honestly have no plans to do that because we have another huge game in the works.”

This shouldn’t be a surprise, especially considering that ODST is an expansion containing several other bits and pieces of expansionary content. But notice that Jarrard didn’t count it out. There’s at least a chance that more Firefight stuff -- which is a mode that will be undoubtedly hot with fans -- could come. Believe.

Firefight, Bungie’s answer to Horde -- a mode in Gears of War 2 that pits four players against waves and waves of AI-controlled Locusts -- could make its from Halo: ODST to Halo: Reach. Speaking to Eurogamer, Bungie’s Brian Jarrad revealed that if fans enjoyed Firefight enough, the studio may consider including the cooperative mode in Halo: Reach.

"I can't talk too much about Reach specifics,” Jarrard said, “but hopefully the game mode's going to be received as well we think it will be, and people are going to enjoy it. I don't think we've ever been known to really take things away from each successive release, so I think it's safe to say that if Firefight gets a lot of traction and people love it, it probably has a good future home in our next title as well.”

Our resident Halo enthusiast and community manager got a good taste of Firefight at E3 this year. Check out his thoughts if you’re curious about what Bungie is planning to bring to the multiplayer table on September 22nd.

I think it's a safe bet to say that we all have heard about Halo 3: ODST. We know about its story, its background and its gameplay. In fact I'm pretty sure since it's a Halo game that there are plenty of people out there who know every detail they could possibly get their hands on about the game. So what was discussed at the PAX panel on the game? All that stuff of course, but the devs also revealed that ODST would feature a fully developed sub-story that is separate from the main plot of the game.

Bungie has been working with Fourth Wall Studios to make "Sadie's Story," a secondary story that will be presented within ODST about the life of New Mombasa resident named Sadie during the final hours before the city is destroyed (as occurred in Halo 2). Not much was revealed about the story except a few flashes of images, but the story was written by Bungie lead writer and ODST Creative Director Joe Staten and Fourth Wall, and they both collaborated with well known comic artist Ashley Wood. 

Other than a brief glimpse of concept art for Sadie, there was no hint given to how the story would be presented in the game. It was revealed, however, that the work done on "Sadie's Story" doubled the amount of voice acting the studio had to do for ODST and that you'll be be picking up snippets of the story as you play through the main game as the rookie. "Sadie's Story" will also have connections to ODST's main story and the Halo universe as a whole. It sounds like Bungie is putting a ton of effort into something that many people might not even see if the story is optional. Makes that $60 price tag seem a bit more valid.

Bungie’s Lars Bakken crushed hearts and set the Internet on fire when he told IGN that Halo: Reach would be the studio’s last Halo title. His July statement lacked optimism, which is a quality that is being displayed by Bungie PR director Brian Jarrard in regards to the studio and the Halo franchise. In short, Jarrard believes Bungie may or may not be done with Halo after Reach. Time will tell, we suppose.

"The clarification is we just don't know at this point. I'm not really able to speculate on what we're going to do after Reach,” Jarrard told VideoGamer when asked to clarify Bakken’s comments.

“I wouldn't confirm or deny at this point. We're really excited to get Reach out the door. Beyond that, we're not at liberty to say right now what's next.”

"I think there's a lot of work just to get Reach done between now and next fall,” he added. “At that point anything's possible. We're going to keep looking at making the games we want to make. Maybe that's Halo. Maybe it's not. We'll have to wait and see."

Call me crazy, but I don’t think Bungie will ever be done with Halo. A Halo without Bungie is like having a cup of oatmeal without salt, a pair of scissors without rubber grips, or a bubble bath without a Michael Jackson casette. These things need each other to rock proper-like.

The Engineers have long been talked about in the Halo novels. They're a class of super smart aliens that can fix anything they touch. For whatever reason, the Engineers were never in an actual Halo game, until now.

GameVideos has a new Halo 3: ODST video up showing the floating little aliens as they move around the battlefield. We don't see what the Engineers can actually do, but I suspect they are some sort of support class alien and will aid the other Covenant forces in some way. 

You can check out the floating little creatures after the break as well as a quick look at the bonus round in Firefight mode. Halo fanboys, you happy that the Engineer is finally in a Halo game? 

view full story + comments

Halo 3: ODST drops in just under a month from now, forcing Microsoft's hand in finally beginning to promote and hype this thing up. Seriously, what makes these people think that they can wait until the last possible minute to start getting people interested in a title? Why, you'd think they would have been releasing footage and creating teaser websites a year ago if they wanted us to be sufficiently prepared for its release.

Lack of marketing aside, the upcoming expansion for teh Haloez looks pretty sharp. In a video released by Microsoft today, there's some in-depth description of the new "Firefight" multiplayer mode. It looks like some kind of "survival" test where you face off against a "horde" of enemies in increasingly more difficult waves. And you can turn skulls on and off to adjust the difficulty.

At the end, the video mentions the previously announced pre-order bonus of a playable Sgt. Johnson character. It's also reasonably funny. You can check it out for yourself by following the lovely link below.

view full story + comments

Starting this Saturday in Redmond Washington, Bungie will be driving to various GameStops around the nation to give people a chance to play Halo 3: ODST before it’s dropped into stores on September 22. People will have a chance to play in Firefight mode and get some Halo themed swag too.

The truck transporting Halo 3: ODST is going to look like the above image and is a modified M820A2 expandable truck. It measures at 27 feet long, 14 feet wide when fully expanded and weighs a whopping 13 tons. Should be plenty of space for the eight Xbox 360s that will be on board.

Hit the break to see if the ODST truck will be making a stop at a GameStop near you.

view full story + comments

The new Halo 3 maps coming with Halo 3: ODST look pretty great. Midship was definitely a map worth getting remade and LongShore looks like a great open area. I’m on the fence about Citadel, as the video from GameTrailers makes it seem like there’s just not much to the map.

The new maps are coming out with Halo 3: ODST this September and if the videos after the break aren’t enough to convince you, then check out our preview on the three new maps from earlier today.

Oh, and you better believe that Halo 3 Friday Night Fights will be reborn again this September. It's been far too long since a bunch of us have done that. Plus, Firefight sounds like a ton of fun!

view full story + comments

If you've been following, you know that Halo: ODST ships on September 22nd, and with it comes a brand new gameplay experience. " Firefight" is a multiplayer cooperative that is completely new to the Halo universe -- up to four players team up together on new maps to take down waves of Covenant bastards.

It's Bungie's answer to what they hear as a fan outcry for a multiplayer experience that is more cohesive than team slayer and involves AI. Personally, I was getting sick of being repeatedly "pwned" from behind by Mythic players online, and I can't imagine it was any fun for them either, so Firefight is pretty exciting for multiple reasons.

More after the break. 

view full story + comments

Bungie invited Destructoid out for a glimpse of some new hot Halo action this week. Of course, being close to Seattle and an unabashed Halo fangirl, I answered the call with the enthusiasm reserved for special clients only.

In addition to some juicy Firefight action, I was able to preview the new Mythic Map Set and, as expected, get my ass kicked in some new locations, including the much anticipated Midship remake.  

Let's be honest -- all three maps give me a Bubble Shield. In my pants. Hit that jump.

view full story + comments

A few months back, Tor Books announced a new trilogy in the Halo universe that would be set on the ancient Forerunner race. You know, the race that killed themselves off with the Halos after they created the Flood.

Today, Tor Books has announced another Halo series called Halo: Evolutions. Evolutions will be multiple tales from the Halo universe and will be penned by Eric Nylund, Karen Traviss, Tobias Buckell and other bestselling and award-winning writers. There will also be contributions from games writers and creators, such as Robt McLess who contributed to the original Halo.  

Evolutions will feature multiple tales which I'm going to guess will be in a similar style as World War Z (mostly because that's the latest book I've read with multiple stories spread throughout it.) We'll see stories based on popular aspects to the game right down to some obscure stuff even. 

Halo: Evolutions will be out this November alongside an audiobook edition.

view full story + comments

With Bungie soon able to cast off the shackles of Halo and pursue fresh IP, Bethesda's Ashley Cheng has been talking about the studio's future, and positing that only a very small number of publishers could afford to snap up the house that built Halo. Naturally, Bethesda is one of them. 

"I suspect Bungie only owes Microsoft two more games and they're done. Halo ODST and Reach and that's that. No more Halo for Bungie," states Cheng. "You can count on one hand the number of publisher's around who can afford to publish Bungie's next game: EA (via EA Partners), Activision, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and of course, Bethesda. I can only imagine how much it will cost to snag their next title."

Cheng also adds that Sony would be a possible contender as well, but that a Sony-published Bungie game would be "unlikely." It would certainly be quite interesting, and one can only imagine the fanboy fallout that would ensue from such a move. I really think Sony should go for it, as it'd be hilarious. 

In the meantime, who wants to stump up some cash so we can buy Bungie's next game?

Bungie is finally leaving the Halo franchise after Halo Reach. They have been committed to the series for many years now and ODST sort of blew up into something bigger than they ever expected if you take their word for it. So what's next from the studio that saved the Xbox and when will it get here? No one knows, but evidently the new IP is close to having a publsiher.

The game, which isnt' tied to any platform, has been in development for a while now, but very little is known about it. Speaking with Eurogame about the game having a publisher Lars Bakken of Bungie said, "I think internally we'll know sometime soon. I don't handle these things, but I'd imagine we're going to know way before we make the public announcement of who's handling that! But sure, I think those talks are, I guess, close."

That's some real firm confirmation there, huh? Talks to get a publisher may, kind of, be on the way at some point. I find it hard to believe that Bungie will have any trouble finding a publisher unless this new game is actually macaroni artwork, and even then I'm pretty sure someone would produce it as long as they could say "From the developers of Halo" on the box.

So far, Microsoft's precious Project Natal has been associated with waving your arms and feet around like an idiot, and ... well ... not a lot else, actually. It certainly hasn't been associated with Halo, and franchise creator Bungie reckons that it just wouldn't work, at least with a proper Halo.

"I think that Natal has some really cool technology," says senior designer Lars Brakken. "Obviously it doesn't make sense to use Natal for a full Halo control scheme. At least in my brain I can't think of a way for that to work right now. That doesn't mean that it can't work in the future but I think Natal could enhance things. It's so far off it's hard to think about how it could work in a Halo game."

Hopefully, Microsoft will keep its original franchises as they are, and keep Natal for a bunch of gimmicky, "casual" crap in yet another failed bid to ensnare the soccer moms and grannies that Nintendo has under their thumb. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Master Chief's Crossbow Training appear at some point in the future.

Bungie is gearing up the promotion for Halo 3: ODST, and it's actually looking really, really nice. Taking a step away from Master Chief to focus on this "Orbital Drop Shock Trooper" fellow makes things feel a little fresher, even though he basically looks like Master Chief anyway.

We have a hype-flavored trailer for you and a bunch of sexy screenshots. Considering the game isn't running in HD, it's quite an achievement to get such saucy looking graphics from the engine. Looks like Halo fans are in for a treat, and as someone who isn't a big follower of the franchise, I must confess that I'm tempted to pick it up myself. 

Hit the jump for the video.

view full story + comments

Apparently, this is something to make a big deal over, but Halo 3: ODST will not be in HD. Perhaps this is because Halo 3: ODST is based on Halo 3, which also did not run at 720p. Despite this blatantly obvious fact, people are still apparently surprised about this, especially given that the game's visuals impressed a fair few people.

"Everything that existed in Halo 3’s engine was there from the beginning." says senior designer Lars Bakken. "So the graphical differences that you’re seeing in ODST is really testament to the artists, because they were able to just take the tools that we had from the beginning, and just make awesome looking stuff."

At first, Bakken seems unwilling to admit that ODST isn't in HD, simply saying that the game is "the same as Halo 3." When specifically asked if this meant it would run at less than 1280x720, he responded with, "Yes, exactly."

So there you go. Not everything really has to be in HD to look good, as Call of Duty 4 has adequately shown, but nevertheless this is something that someone's going to care about, somewhere. He probably owns a PlayStation 3 and is on a message board right now, telling everyone that Halo 3: ODST definitely sucks now.

I have the biggest man crush on Nathan Fillion ever. This man is amazing. It’s the accent. I’m in love with his accent. It's just that Southern drawl of his. Intoxicating!

In this MSNBC exclusive, Nathan talks about his upcoming role in the game as Sgt. Buck. He’s going to be your leader in Halo 3: ODST and he’s a little cranky. Don’t blame Buck though. It has something to do with a love interest coming back into his life at the worst possible time. Damn women.

Hit the break to see Nathan talk about his role and about his experiences when playing Halo.

view full story + comments

Every seventh day of the seventh month is Bungie Day. The Bungie team has a giant hard-on for the number seven, and each year they celebrate this day by giving back to their fans. Throughout the day today, Bungie will be taking people on in Halo 3 in a special Bungie Vs. The World playlist. The playlist is made up of 35 user-created maps in an attempt to give players a chance at actually beating the Bungie folks.

That’s not all! The new Bungie Pro Video service launched today, there’s going to be a special Bungie Day podcast and there’s going to be a chance for you to win some Recon armor.

Bungie also released three new screenshots of the three new maps coming along with Halo 3: ODST. I’m really looking forward to playing on Heretic, the remake of Midship from Halo 2. That map was always so hectic and fun.

Okay, so it's Saturday and news is always slow on the weekends. Still, I think I would have posted about this any other day in any case. Why? Because it's f**king Nathan Fillion!

Bungie invited Nathan up to their HQ where he got to play Halo: ODST, which according to the latest Bungie update, Halo: ODST "is all wrapped up." Nathan actually has a role in ODST as Buck, the squad leader of the ODST soldiers you'll be playing with.

It looks like Nathan is a big Halo fan. He played Halo: ODST for about six hours when he came to the Bungie offices the first day and then came back for more the following day. He even got to see some super secret details on Halo: Reach.  

Oh, Nathan. I'd let you hold my sniper rifle any day. 

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford has been talking about two of the most well-respect FPS developers in the business, Bungie and Infinity Ward, claiming that while he has big respect for what they do, he's waiting for a brand new idea from the teams known almost exclusively for the Halo and Call of Duty franchises.

"I keep waiting to hear what Bungie is going to do that’s not Halo," explains the man whose studio is currently making Borderlands. "Those guys are amazing, right? They walk on water! And the same with Infinity Ward. It’s like, dude I’m totally psyched to get my Call of Duty fix every year, but you guys are amazing! What else have you got? Can you give me something I haven’t seen before?

"The folks that are innovating need to be rewarded so that the folks that are making big bets can take that risk. It’s too big of a risk for Infinity Ward to do anything but what they’re doing, because there’s too much value and there’s really big scope for it."

I'd certainly love to see what these studios can cook up outside of the Halo and Modern Warfare franchises, definitely. Like Pitchford says, however, it's often too big a risk to break out from the norm, especially when you've found a winning formula that customers are guaranteed to drop money on time and time again. It's sad, but that's life.

Pre-order a copy of Halo 3: ODST from a participating retailer and you'll be able to play as Sgt. Johnson in Firefight mode. Here's a break down of all the participating retailers around the world offering the Sgt. Johnson bonus so far:

• United States: Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Wal-Mart 
• France: GAME, FNAC, JV&Co, Virgin, Amazon, Pixmania, Cdiscount, Rue du Commerce
• Germany: Amazon, GameStop
• Italy: Gamestop
• UK: Game, GameStation, Amazon, Play

I think it's a great little bonus to be able to play as Sgt. Johnson. He was there when the war first began on planet Harvest and almost lasted long enough to see the war end. 

Take a look at the gallery below to see Johnson going at it in Firefight mode. Are any of you looking forward to playing as him?

MTV Multiplayer asked Bungie's Brian Jarrard whether the Master Chief would be making an appearnce in Halo ODST. The answer: No. Duh. ODST takes place on Earth in between the events of Halo 2 and 3. The Chief is off on another Halo in some distant galaxy during this time so obviously he won't be appearing in the upcoming sidestory.

If you are wanting some more Master Chief in your life, then you'll just have to wait for Halo Reach. The Chief, or a bunch of other SPARTAN IIs, should have a starring role in Reach. Seriously, go buy the first Halo book. It's really good.  

[Image]

What makes a game valuable? Sorry if you're just rolling out of bed from a Saturday night hangover, and I'm dropping a major question on you, but where does value come from when we're talking about videogames? It's a question cropping up more and more as DLC and non-retail releases start becoming more and more popular. How does one decide when a game is actually worth $60 dollars? We only paid $50 for Super Mario Galaxy and that was worth more than most $60 games.

This long and pondering intro is to make you think a bit about the question before you respond to Microsoft's justification for charging $60 for a game they originally claimed was viewed as almost An expansion: Halo: ODST. Originally both Brian Jerrard and Joe Staten of Bungie said the game was not going to be full retail, with Jerrard literally spewing the words "We do not view this as a $60 title."

E3 rolls around though and suddenly we're paying $60 bucks for a game that two lead Bungie guys said wasn't going to be worth that. Why? A Microsoft rep answers all. "At the time of those statements, the overall scope of Halo 3: ODST was not yet finalized, and since then the project has grown increasingly more ambitious. We believe this standalone experience is much more than just an expansion. Halo 3: ODST provides a new campaign from the point of view of an entirely new character. Combine that with three new multiplayer maps, the entirely new cooperative mode called Firefight, and the complete Halo 3 multiplayer collection on a standalone disc, we feel this is a good value and tremendous addition to the Halo franchise."

So how do you place value on a game, and within that value system does ODST live up to $60 or did Microsoft screw the pooch on this one by telling everyone it wasn't a $60 game right off the bat.

McFarlane Toys' Halo Series 6 line is coming out this October but you can check out all of the figures right now over on Spawn.com. The new figures will include:

• Elite Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadumee
• Brute Bodyguard
• Flood Pure Form Stalker
• SPARTAN with white Recon armor
• Red Grunt
• The Rookie from Halo ODST.

Each figure will come with an assortment of weapons and multiplayer medals such as the Incineration! and Double Kill! medals. 

I'm glad toys don't have the same effect on my as they used to. Otherwise, I probably would get every single Halo related toy that's out just as I did with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys. You remember these stupid TMNT related friends and foe toys? They were all horrible ... I had every single one of them.

[Via HawtyMcBloggy]

I know a lot of people were upset when Halo ODST's price was announced. I thought $60 was way too much for what Bungie was calling an expansion back at TGS 08. After seeing everything that ODST had to offer so far from my meeting with Bungie, I think the price is actually justifiable. 

ODST takes place between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3 and the main character you play as is the new recruit to the ODST team. The Oribital Drop Shock Troopers are sent in to deal with a Covenant threat but things don't go according to plan.

Hit the break for more.

view full story + comments

I had a meeting with Bungie yesterday where they were showing off Halo ODST's campaign and Firefight gametype. While Paul Bertone (Bungie's Design Director) was running through the campaign, I noticed that the weapon pick up icons weren't showing the dual wielding options.

Turns out you won't be able to dual wield in Halo ODST. It makes sense why, as you're playing as a regular soldier and it's not easy to dual wield oversized weapons like the SPARTANs can. The ODST soldier also loses the ability to make use of Equipment items (Bubble Shield, Energy Drainer, etc). You'll still see Equipment items as the Brutes can use them. 

In place of the Equipment is the ODST's VISR and it allows the ODST solider to see in the dark. The environment gets brighter with VISR and there's no limit to VISR's power. You could play the entire game with it on in fact. VISR is also a target acquisition system that highlights friendlies/enemies and takes the place of the motion tracker.

Check back for a more detailed look at Halo ODST's campaign and Firefight mode later today. 

Okay, so, wasn't expecting a full retail price for ODST here. Yup, it's going to go for $59.99. There's also going to be a collector's edition which will go for $99.99 and will include a Halo ODST themed controller.

As for the new mode Firefight, it sounds lot like Gears of War 2's Horde mode. It's a cooperative multiplayer mode where players have to fight together as ODST soldiers taking on waves of enemies. You'll also be able to play as Sgt. Johnson if you pre-order the game from certain retailers. 

We'll see three new maps on top of all the Legendary, Heroic and Mythic maps bringing a total of 24 maps. Another interesting fact here is that ODST is going to be two discs and the second disc will have all the multiplayer maps.

Finally, ODST will include a beta key for Halo: Reach's multiplayer.

Check out the full press release after the break. What do you think about the pricing for ODST? 

view full story + comments

Wow, I am impressed. The Halo ODST trailer makes it look like you'll actually care about the main characters and about the story.

The new abilities look hot, the pistol looks cheap (hah!) and ODST does look better than Halo 3 graphically. There are some weird textures issues that pop in the trailer which is kind of surprising that it made it through in the video. Still, can't wait for this. 

Check out the video and gallery full of screenshots, character art and a look at the new guns.

 

Halo ODST takes place a few weeks before the events of Halo 3. The ODST soldiers are in the City of New Mombasa, Africa where parts of Halo 2 took place in. The ODST soldiers have some new tools at their disposal that the Master Chief never got such as sound suppressed weapons and a low light vision mode to help them see in the dark. We'll also see a brand new pistol that fans of the original Halo will really dig. ODST will also have a brand new co-op mode called Firefight. Expect Halo ODST to come out this year on September 22.

That's all we know so far, but we should be seeing the game later this week and we'll bring you more as soon as we get to check it out. In the mean time, check out our live blog for more on the Microsoft E3 09 press conference going on right now.

 

Battlestar Galactica beauty Tricia Helfer revealed on last night's GameTrailers TV E3 special that she has a role in Halo: ODST. Tricia will be voicing a character named Dare in the upcoming game.

Yup, that's pretty much all the info Tricia revealed. We haven't heard much about Halo: ODST since Tokyo Game Show and the biggest new bit of information is about the voice talent. Not sure about you, but the last thing I could care about in a Halo game is the voice talent. Halo 2 and 3 had various celebrity voices and none of them could do anything to help the horrible presentation of the plot. 

Microsoft's both at E3 is heavily promoting Halo: ODST so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more info on the game next week finally. In the mean time, enjoy the Tricia Helfer gallery below! 

The United States educational system has just been dealt a devastating blow today -- DK Publishing has announced that it's collaborated with Microsoft to publish The Halo Encyclopedia this November. The reasons for going to class to learn anything are diminishing...

The comprehensive Halo guide will cover all of the games characters, weapons, vehicles, equipment, and locations from the series' universe. That includes, of course, all three proper Halo games, Halo Wars, and the upcoming Halo 3: ODST. That's 352 pages of full-color Halo nonsense that will consume portions of your brain that should be reserved for things like math, social skills, and the ability to balance a check book. But f**k it -- knowing Master Chief's belt size is very clearly more important. 

The book will be made available to Halo fans across the globe, as it's being translated into multiple languages. Like the bible, but with one or two more references to the Needler.

Whoops. Quit rejoicing Halo 3 fans. Bungie are not planning any additional Halo 3 content after the release of Halo: ODST.

“We'll never say never, but currently Bungie has no plans to make new Halo 3 content beyond the release of ODST," Bungie recently told Eurogamer. "We will, however, continue to support the Halo 3 online experience with regular updates to matchmaking playlists and wield the Banhammer as needed.”

During a panel at GDC this week, producer Allen Murray crushed the assumption that the ODST spin-off would signal the end of Halo 3’s content when told the audience in attendance, “We’ll probably be working on [Halo 3] for two more years.” Obviously, war things have changed. (Or he misspoke.)

Hey, at least there’s the Mythic map pack, right? That’ll be enough to keep you interested until Halo 4 ships.

I have a few rules in life, and one of them is that if you're going to eat at Taco Bell, whatever you don't ever, ever open up a taco to see what's inside. Just eat it. Knowing anything beyond "it's tasty" is a bad idea. What Bungie did is kind of like that. 

The developer recently pulled together some information to calculate how much time people have spent playing Halo 3 online since the game's launch in September of 2007. The result? 2,023,153,340,764 seconds. Or 64,109 years. And that's only data calculated based on matchmaking; it doesn't take into account offline or custom games.

Oh. My. God. 

Kind of makes you want to go out for a jog or have a picnic in the park, right? 

[Via Apartment Therapy -- Thanks, Debbey!]

Turns out that there was a little slip up last night during Robbie Bach's presentation at Microsoft's keynote. He had stated that Halo Wars would be coming out February 28, but as it turns out, it's actually coming out on March 3 in America, Canada, Mexico and South America. The demo is still set for February 5.

Japan and Asia Pacific will be getting Halo Wars on February 26 and Europe, Middle East and Africa is getting the game on February 27. 

That's really all there is to report on that. So to fill up this post, here's a top ten montage of suicides from Halo 3 made by Machinima. I was going to use it on Weekend Destructainment this weekend, but this works out too. Enjoy! 

The CES 2009 keynote just wrapped up where our boys Nick Chester and Dale North tweeted their brains out about all of the new Microsoft products coming out soon. Windows 7 looks pretty tempting!

Anyway, Robbie Bach of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division talked about all things Xbox 360-related and dropped some Halo-related information for all you Halo fans. Why yes, people actually still play Halo! In fact, the average user has played 150 hours of Halo on Xbox LIVE! Oh snap!

After we got some stats about Halo 3, Robbie talked briefly about Halo Wars and Halo: ODST. A demo for Halo Wars will be hitting Xbox LIVE on February 5, a few of weeks before its release, which was confirmed for February 28. It was also revealed that Halo Wars is going to be rated Teen, a first for the Halo series.

As for Halo: ODST, nothing at all was said about it other than that it's coming out this year, which was already known. Looks like Nick was right about the keynote being a snoozefest. 

[Update: Halo Wars coming out in America on March 3.]

Last week, Bungie teased one brand-new screenshot from the Mythic Map Pack coming out next year along side Halo Wars. More screenshots were promised for the week of Christmas and they delivered a very nice holiday treat for Halo fans.

The gallery above contains mostly new images from two of the Mythic Map Pack maps, Orbital and Assembly. Of the two, Assembly looks to be the most fun, as the map is out in the open. Nothing is more satisfying than using the Gravity Hammer to knock a guy off of a map in Halo 3.

Are any of you planning on getting the new maps? Personally, I'm going to wait for Halo: ODST instead and get the new maps then.

Halo: Combat Evolved has been slashed in half as this weeks deal on Xbox LIVE. The game is now going for 600 MS Points and is a must get for any Halo fan that doesn’t own the original game. Especially since I think it’s the best Halo game in the franchise.

So, why do I think Halo: CE should be cheaper? Microsoft milked the hell out of the original game. After a game sells over 400,000 copies within the first nine months of release, a game is supposed to become a Platinum Hit and sell for $19.99. Halo didn’t become a Platinum Hit until years after its release. In fact, Halo 2 didn’t even become a Platinum Hit until just this past year, months after Halo 3 came out.

600 MS Points ($7.50) should be the actual price instead of a one-week sale price. Oh well, there’s always piracy I suppose.

If you were a Halo fan excited by Bungie's upcoming not-an-expansion-but-not-a-full-game Halo: Recon, get used to saying this: Halo: ODST. 

Yes, the game formerly known as Halo: Recon has pulled a Prince/Cliffy B and is now known as Halo: ODST. For those not familiar with the Halo universe, "ODST" stands for "Orbital Drop Shock Trooper," one of which you will control in Halo: Recon ODST.

Maybe it makes more sense with where Bungie is going with the game, but "Hay-low Ree-con" was so much easier to say than "Hay-low Oh Dee Ess Tee." But I guess it doesn't matter -- the game could have been called Halo: STD and it still would have sold truck loads. 

One of the more welcome changes that the New Xbox Experience brought with it was the ability to install games on your console's hard drive, resulting in quicker load times. Pretty handy, eh? Well, not always. In the case of Halo 3, for example, installing the game will actually make it slower.

Bungie has confirmed reports that installing Halo 3 will result in less optimal experience thanks to the way it was developed. Halo 3 was designed to copy maps from the DVD to the HDD in the first place, which is what it does whenever you play the game. However, if you install it, the game will then copy maps from the HDD to the ... HDD. Since Bungie never had to account for installs, the game simply assumes it's running from a disc, even when it isn't.

The process is longer because one device can only do so much at once. If you are putting the entire process of reading and installing on the shoulders of the HDD rather than splitting it between the HDD and the disc, it will take a bit more time. Bungie explained it in a more complicated way that made my head hurt because I am ignorant.

The bad news is that Bungie won't be fixing the issue, since it would be a lot of effort. Can't really blame them, since it's non-essential and the benefits aren't worth it. Just don't bother installing Halo 3 is the message of the day.

Despite time concerns, it appears as though Halo 3 Recon will have a bit more meat to it than what we thought. According to the latest Game Informer spread on the game, Recon will feature an open environment where players can traverse the game’s focal point, New Mombasa, and take missions at will.

The new details stemming from the article (via CVG) are numerous. First of all, players will be experiencing Recon through the eyes of a soldier called The Rookie. Just like Master Chief, he’ll remain behind his helmet. Apparently, he won’t be talking either. He’ll lack shields, but not the ability to regenerate health. Basically he’s a step down from the Chief, which should lend credence to the slower paced, strategic gameplay.

The story of the game revolves around the disappearance of four squad members. Each member’s location is provided as a pinpoint on the game’s map system, which can be checked via a PDA. After getting the map hammered, players will visit the scene of a disappearance and put together clues to solve what happened. At this point, the game will put players in the shoes of the missing soldier to act out what happened in the scenario.
 
More details are included in a nifty list after the break.

view full story + comments