Microsoft and 343 Industries are starting their marketing push for this fall’s Halo 5: Guardians. It’s due out on October 27, 2015, which means we’ll probably be seeing a lot more at this year’s E3. But for now, we’ve got what is frankly a really cool ad, with new character Spartan Locke hunting down Master Chief and confronting him about consequences. But then, there’s a second ad where Master Chief confronts Locke! I’d assume we’ll get to play as both characters a la Halo 2 (my personal favorite in the series). I wonder what twists we’ll see? Read more…
Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been plagued by bugs since launch, mostly affecting players’ ability to play online matches. To be fair, the multiplayer, which mixes in modes from different Halo games, is ambitious; but at the end of the day, the game should be working. As an apology to fans, 343 Industries is giving out several freebies for anyone who has played online between launch and December 19. While one free month of Xbox Live Gold, an exclusive in-game nameplate, and an exclusive avatar are small gifts, the other gifts will take more time. Based on fan requests, 343 plans to remaster Halo 3: ODST‘s campaign (despite Master Chief not appearing in it) and give it to the players for free. Read more…
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an interesting prospect, a way to look back on the series’ past achievements while looking forward to the future. The centerpiece is easily Halo 2 Anniversary, a graphical update similar to what 343 Industries did for the first game. Part of that are completely redone cinematics by Blur Studio, a graphics department responsible for most of the stunning trailers you likely associate with many recent games. There might be a bit of uncanny valley here and there in this trailer featuring their work, but putting that aside, the work they’ve done is quite impressive. Come November 11 when the compilation releases, I predict the Halo series will get a nice little nostalgic surge that will build some strong hype for Halo 5: Guardians. Read more…
I love behind-the-scenes looks into game development, so a documentary into how a game is made will always pique my interest. Microsoft is releasing a documentary about the development of Halo 2: Anniversary (the remaster of Halo 2) on Halloween. It’ll be available on Twitch as a live stream and on Xbox Live as a download. The Twitch streams will happen at 2pm ET on the 31st, then at 9pm ET on November 1st and 2nd. You can also check it out on the Halo Channel on November 11th (I didn’t even know there was a Halo Channel). Check out the trailer below! I’m curious if this’ll mostly be a promotional opportunity, or if they’ll delve into the details of game design? We’ll see! Read more…
Since 343 Industries took over the Halo series from Bungie, parent company Microsoft has been trying to reinvigorate the brand with more products. Maybe this is in hopes of recapturing the attention they had before the reign of Call of Duty. Regardless, this has resulted in more film experiments, such as Halo: Nightfall. They got Ridley Scott to executive produce this series about Agent Jameson Locke, the co-star of the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians. It’s looking pretty good, but many don’t know where to watch this series. So here’s a reminder: the episodes will be included with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, releasing on the Xbox One on November 11. Read more…
Despite Microsoft’s original content being shuttered, a few things escaped the flames, mainly Halo: Nightfall. It’s produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions and 343 Industries. It stars Mike Colter, and will be the lead-in to Halo 5: Guardians. Taking place on a fragment of the original Halo ring that has collided with a colony planet, Colter will play Locke (an ONI agent) as he encounters an ancient artifact. Evil, horror, strange biological attacks, you get the gist. It’ll be more Halo, but in a live-action format. The trailer looks cool enough! Check it out below. Read more…
E3 announcements are for suckers! Everyone knows the real way to get peoples’ attention is to sneak an announcement out in the weeks leading up to the industry’s biggest convention, that way, you won’t get buried in the deluge of other games. It’s a smart move, but when everyone else does it too? You just create a whole new flood slightly earlier. Oh well, the real news here is that Halo 5: Guardians has been announced officially. Microsoft did tease it at last year’s E3 with a short trailer, but now we’re seeing some details, like a cover art design and a new main character (who appears to be searching for Master Chief). It’s set to arrive in Fall of 2015. Check out the full image below and read the PR-speak here. Read more…
In incredibly stupid news, Bungie has fired longtime collaborator Martin O’Donnell. The man has worked with Bungie since 1997’s Myth, but he is most well-known for composing the music to Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach — all of the Halo games made by Bungie. His last work for the company was this fall’s Destiny, for which he composed with frequent collaborator Michael Salvatori and former Beatle Paul McCartney. O’Donnell tweeted that he was terminated by Bungie’s board of directors “without cause” on April 11. Bungie issued a statement saying goodbye “as friends,” but that seems pretty optimistic after firing someone for no reason. It’s a real shame, but I’m sure O’Donnell will land on his feet. As the composer of one of the few memorable, hummable soundtracks in 21st century Western console games, he’s well-known for his craft. I’d imagine many developers would love to have him on board to create more wonderful tracks. Read more…
Last year, Microsoft revealed they were working on a Halo TV series, in full cooperation with Steven Spielberg, who was producing. We haven’t heard much since then, but a new rumor is circulating now saying that Neill Blomkamp is being sought after to direct the pilot episode. This is a little ironic, considering Blomkamp worked on the failed Halo movie before moving on to do District 9. Whether Blomkamp wants to come back to the Halo universe after a failed project remains to be seen, but last we heard he said he was against the idea. Perhaps since a TV pilot is an easier commitment, he’d be willing to contribute? Read more…
Talk about cool – Volpin Props, the dude responsible for tons of crazy awesome replicas (which you can see on his site), was commissioned by Tested to make a replica of a Needler from Halo. Of all the guns from Halo, I always found the Needler to be one of the most distinctive weapons, and it looks great in physical form as well. In the video below are roughly 1400 pictures of the process behind making this piece. And if you want to see the in-depth step-by-step blog about it, check out Tested. Now, if only I could make things like this… Read more…
Bungie has been silent on the new game series they’re developing for Activision, possibly because all eyes are on the creator of the Halo series. We know that for now it’s called Destiny, but details have been nonexistent, at least until an advertising document leaked to IGN. Bungie has confirmed the leak by officially releasing one of the pictures (the one above) and promising more to come when they can talk about it, but for now, let’s look at the first story premise! Read more…
Halo 4 has been getting some pretty big press, hasn’t it? Forward Unto Dawn has been leading up to the release of the game on Election Day, but now it’s been upstaged by another short film, this time directed by Tim Miller (famous for Scott Pilgrim and the intro sequence of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and David Fincher. Last time I wrote about Halo, I said why not make a feature-length film? They’re getting all these big names to make 3-minute videos promoting their game, which is great, but it seems like a waste at times. I’m sure there are an abundance of legal and monetary issues preventing the Halo film from getting off the ground, so I suppose fans will make do with this for now. The trailer itself is great – watch it after the break. Read more…
With Halo 4 coming out this November, it’s time to get the marketing machine running, right? Well, with the success of previous Halo-themed short films, it’s no surprise that another one has been released. However, this new film, Forward Unto Dawn, is actually a series. This first part is nearly 20 minutes long, and it looks like we’ll be getting 5 parts total, leading up to when Halo 4 releases. While you can watch each segment as it comes out each week, it’ll also come complete in the Halo 4 Limited Edition. It’s a surprisingly solid film so far, making me wonder: why the heck don’t they finally just make a Halo TV series or movie? Read more…
I think one of the most creative uses I’ve seen of Halo is This Spartan Life which is a clever machinima driven talk show. For geeks these episodes are always pure gold as you have the ironic contrast between Charlie Rose intellectual chatting with a backdrop of a sci fi version of Apocalypse Now. The show has had some amazing guests to date but they need funding help to get it to the next level so they’re making use of kickstarter.com to raise funds from the fans. Most of us will never get to be big wig Hollywood producers, but this is a small way you can do that — but rest well knowing that you helped something of quality.
