We may not know much about Bungie’s first game with Activision, but we now know that it will include someone or something being brave and someone finding their destiny. Or…something like that.

Bungie fan site Halo.Bungie.org reports that Bungie is now the clear owner of the trademarks for “Destiny” and “Be Brave.” The two slogans were previously trademarked by fake corporation Podophobia Entertainment in typical wacky Bungie fashion.

Bungie’s new project is known currently as Codename Tiger and is the studio’s first non Halo, non Xbox 360 exclusive since the original game launched on the original Xbox.  Want to dig really deep? Like Inception style into what Bungie’s got up their sleeves?  The video below, directly from the studio is reportedly filled with hidden meanings and nods to the project. Aaaaaaaaaand discuss.

Master Chief makes his long awaited return with the recently announced Halo 4; a fact that Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer is very happy about.

Spencer says he wants to make sure that the game “lives up to what I think gamers fell in love with,” and he suspects that the Spartan Warrior has a lot to do with that. The VP went on to say that though the past Halo games were good, they weren’t as “centered” as the original Trilogy.

“Halo Reach made more sense to you if you were a Halo fan. If you were new to Xbox 360, 360 is where you started playing on Xbox, you understood what Halo 3 was. ODST and Reach, maybe you weren’t as centered.

When it was first announced, Halo was supposed to be a Mac exclusive. Ten years later and it’s the biggest franchise on Microsoft’s Xbox. Welcome home Bungie.

Today, Bungie releases Bungie Mobile, a free app for iPhone and iPad. Just what does it do? Well, as of right now it just serves as a social networking service for the studio’s final Halo title: Halo: Reach but the company’s blog promises big things including “plans to keep updating Bungie.net Mobile with new features and enhancements in the months and years to come.”

Just what that means? We can’t be sure, but expect it to be incorporated into the company’s new game with Activision.

If there’s anyone who knows Master Chief, it’s Frank O’Connor. The former Bungie employer has been with the acclaimed Halo series since its inception and now serves as its franchise director. With two new projects; Halo Anniversary and the highly anticipated Halo 4, O’Conner opened up to Time Magazine about chief, and the long running series.

O’Connor opened up about the evolution of Master Chief, and how he’s gone from your typical Space Marine to almost a cultural institution.

“The Chief is a strange cat because people graft their own impressions of what he’s about onto him, and he’s become kind of an avatar for people’s heroic experience,” O’Connor said. “I often have conversations with people about the Chief, and all of the things they are saying are true, but they’re not written down anywhere, they’re not actually recorded anywhere in the games.”

Even though the studio plans to grow Master Chief throughout the next few games, O’Connor stresses that the upcoming Halo Anniversary, which is a suped-up HD version of the original Halo game is as close to the original as you can get; in fact — it uses the same code.

“What you’re seeing  is mostly the original Halo code running under a second engine, which is a graphics layer we worked with our partner Saber Interactive on. There’s a lot of technology under the hood to enable things like switching, and to enable the simultaneous blending of that. We knew going into this project we absolutely couldn’t touch the basic gameplay.”

“People want to know if they can still do Warthog jumps. Yes, you can. People wanted to know if they could still do grenade tricks. Yes, you can. All of the gameplay is going to be identical. There might be tiny little changes that we just haven’t tested through yet, but you shouldn’t really encounter any major differences with this game and the original.”

So the elephant in the room, Halo 4. When can we expect further details on the hotly anticipated shooter? According to O’Connor; it’s coming, but don’t hold your breath.

“We’re not going to talk about that for a little while. We are going to have some people from 343 Industries at Halo Fest at PAX this year, and we’ll start talking a little bit more, but don’t expect a huge flow of info out on Halo 4. But will talk a little about it, and probably have some of technology guys there as well.”

Read the entire interview here

One of the most disappointing aspects of this year’s E3 was the fact that we didn’t see anything from Respawn Entertainment, the new studio formed by former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. Now, the week after show, we’re starting to get a bit of information on the mystery title.

The tidbits come from an E3 meeting with Frank Gibeau, EA Games Label President. ““Titles like Respawn – and I think the Insomniac title (Editor’s Note: The Insomniac game would later be revealed to be Overstrike) is a little bit more of an action game than a pure shooter – we’ll sprinkle those in where we see opportunistic gaps, either in a release schedule or in a genre standpoint,” said Gibeau. Those typically are more sci-fi oriented shooters, where as the Medal of Honor and Battlefield brands are obviously more modern military oriented. So it allows us to pick and choose the best of the sci-fi shooters. It allows us to compete with things like Gears and Halo and put them on places in our release calendar where they’re not cannibalistic to the core business and that’s the essential strategy going forward.”

Gibeau went on to say that EA will be alternating releases of Battlefield and Medal of Honor, but would release the as of yet unnamed Respawn title when the time is right, or when an “opportunistic window opens.”

Respawn Entertainment was formed by West and Zampella after a messy divorce from Activision and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.

LOS ANGELES — For Microsoft and Xbox 360, Kinect is clearly the way of the future. If their E3-opening press conference is any indication, that future is woefully underwhelming.

Following an opening salvo of Modern Warfare 3 gameplay, Microsoft spent the majority of their conference demonstrating an array of new Kinect-enabled games. They featured some big name titles such as Mass Effect 3, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Star Wars, and Fable: The Journey but throughout their demonstrations of new Kinect controls I found myself asking “why?”

Take Mass Effect 3, for instance, which will allow players to use their voice to respond in conversations and to issue orders to their squad in combat. Is it really more efficient or effective to say those orders rather than simply hitting a button? The same could be asked for the conversation system. I suppose that using the voice interaction could heighten the immersion of the experience but without hands-on time it’s impossible to determine whether that would actually improve the game experience. Now, if the conversation system would allow you to dictate your own response as opposed to merely reading what’s on screen, then that would really be something.

Other games featured similarly pointless or clunky motion controls with the Star Wars Kinect game looking to be the most egregious offender. Light saber swings had noticeable delay and enemies more or less stood around waiting to be destroyed. And then there’s the movement issue which has obviously yet to be cleverly implemented by any developer. Star Wars handles it by giving the player a dash mechanic which sounds nice but in the demonstration led to a cycle of dashing to an opponent and then slashing in place before moving off to the next victim. Other Kinect titles, like Fable: The Journey, place the user on rails which is certainly more efficient but amounts to little more than Time Crisis with waving hands as opposed to a firearm.

One title that appeared to do some nice things with Kinect is Ghost Recon: Future Soldier which demonstrated a nifty weapon modification UI. Motion controls were used to separate guns into all of their component parts, select new options, and voice controls could load saved combinations. Their developer stated that their controls in this system were accomplishing things that would not be possible with a regular controller and for the most part that appeared to be true. However, that simple statement reveals what is really the largest issue with Kinect: developers have yet to grasp how to develop innovative controls with the device that do things a standard controller can’t instead of simply replacing already efficient methods with either motion or voice. Ubisoft clearly doesn’t have it all figured out as moments later their stage man proceeded to show off their shooting mechanic which required him to flick open his closed fist to fire each shot; /facepalm.

The other direction Microsoft has clear intentions of taking the 360 is toward the family and youth markets with titles like Disneyland Adventures, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, and their Fun Labs tool suite. The Sesame Street game looks to be a natural fit with the humorous designs of Tim Schafer and the folks at Double Fine and could be a surprise hit for more than just kids. While Fun Labs might not provide endless entertainment, it did show off some promising technology that could have intriguing future game applications. Most notably was the scanning feature which allows gamers to use their Kinect to create virtual, 3D representations of real-life objects. In the future, developers could allow players to scan in their own items (say a family heirloom shield?) for use in their games.

Here’s some final quick hit thoughts to end on:

• Tomb Raider is impressive but the gameplay they showed relied a bit too much on QTE
• Forza 4 looks to be the racing game that Gran Turismo 5 should have been
• Getting console exclusivity for Minecraft is a huge win for Microsoft but it will be interesting to see if it can captivate the console masses the way it has on the PC
• Speaking of the PC, it appears Microsoft just doesn’t care about its roots anymore
• Halo 4 “announcement” might have been ruined by the news leak prior to the show but it was still the biggest of the day so far, particularly the news that it will be the beginning of a full trilogy.
• Mass Effect 3: Kinect controls, meh. Tech sword, WANT.
• I’m disappointed that Peter Molyneux and Lionhead are cranking out another Fable title. I was hoping that he was using his creative genius to create something new.
• Microsoft should let Cliff Bleszinski and Ice T tag team every future conference from start to finish. Cliffy B is a natural showman and Ice T is flat out cool.

LOS ANGELES — Blast is seated at the Galen center and ready for the Microsoft E3 2011 press conference to begin. Will we hear about Star Wars Kinect? the next Halo? A new Kinect overhaul?  Click Here to follow along and find out!

Liveblog transcript:

9:23

hello folks! we’re seated and grtting ready here at the Gallen center!
Monday June 6, 2011 9:23
9:24

briefing begins in 5 minutes!
Monday June 6, 2011 9:24
9:27

By the way, this is Blast Games Editor Joe Sinicki and i’m incredibly greatful you’re all with us.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:27
9:29

one minute warning
Monday June 6, 2011 9:29
9:31

lights are dark. were underway
Monday June 6, 2011 9:31
9:31

were talking modern warfare 3
Monday June 6, 2011 9:31
9:32

whoops, the trailer was interrupted.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:32
9:32

impressive scope and pacing for mw3
Monday June 6, 2011 9:32
9:33

the trailer shows an underwater mission as seen in the teasers. live gameplay now.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:33
9:34

giant fucking sub passes over.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:34
9:35

submarine blown to bits, we come over the water to a birning new york city
Monday June 6, 2011 9:35
9:36

Critics be damned, modern warfare 3 looks very tight and polished
Monday June 6, 2011 9:36
9:39

were viewing an on rails section on a raft in the water, very tense. very awesome.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:39
9:40

robert bowling and glenn schofield on stage
Monday June 6, 2011 9:40
9:41

proud to be teaming with infinity wardsl to create biggest, most epic cal of duty yet
Monday June 6, 2011 9:41
9:41

don mattrick welcomes us now
Monday June 6, 2011 9:41
9:42

he promises new kinect, bigger blockbusters and a new way to enjoy tv
Monday June 6, 2011 9:42
9:43

were getting our first look at the new tomb raoder now
Monday June 6, 2011 9:43
9:44

new tomb raider much grittier, much darker. sort of like uncharted.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:44
9:47

cool way to hide amid the debris shown. very cool
Monday June 6, 2011 9:47
9:48

very cool platforming session shown. quick time events inclused.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:48
9:48

the scale on the new tomb raider is absolutley stunning
Monday June 6, 2011 9:48
9:49

game will launch in fall of next year
Monday June 6, 2011 9:49
9:49

peter moore hits the stage
Monday June 6, 2011 9:49
9:50

four ea sports titles, tiger madden, fifa and a mystery title will feature kinect functionality
Monday June 6, 2011 9:50
9:51

sims pets and family game night also getting kinect support
Monday June 6, 2011 9:51
9:51

bioware is on the stage to talk mass effect 3
Monday June 6, 2011 9:51
9:52

its true, mass effect 3 will support kinect via voice re ognition
Monday June 6, 2011 9:52
9:53

youll interact with characters via kinect
Monday June 6, 2011 9:53
9:53

you read the text on screen rather than pressing a button.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:53
9:54

very intuitive and very fluid
Monday June 6, 2011 9:54
9:54

kinect will also be used for combat, issue commands to squad members via voice commands
Monday June 6, 2011 9:54
9:55

kinect will also be used for combat, issue commands to squad members via voice commands
Monday June 6, 2011 9:55
9:55

kinect will also be used for combat, issue commands to squad members via voice commands
Monday June 6, 2011 9:55
9:56

very impressive.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:56
9:56

were now talking the kinect infused Ghost Recon, future soldier.
Monday June 6, 2011 9:56
9:59

flicking through and customizing weapons via kinect. really cool and futurisitc. 20,0000 different choices
Monday June 6, 2011 9:59
10:00

were now aiming and shooting with kinect
Monday June 6, 2011 10:00
10:01

all future tom clancy titles will support kinect
Monday June 6, 2011 10:01
10:02

marc witten is out to talk xbox live
Monday June 6, 2011 10:02
10:02

talks about making tech more fluid
Monday June 6, 2011 10:02
10:03

new xbox experience looks a lot like windows media center
Monday June 6, 2011 10:03
10:04

increasing content and partnerships for more content. you tube comibg to xbox live
Monday June 6, 2011 10:04
10:05

bing is coming to xbox live. ability to search all of your entertainment options
Monday June 6, 2011 10:05
10:05

bing makes finding things kn xbox live so much easier. take that google…
Monday June 6, 2011 10:05
10:06

live tv is coming to xbox 360
Monday June 6, 2011 10:06
10:06

live tv is coming to xbox 360
Monday June 6, 2011 10:06
10:07

new experience launches this fall
Monday June 6, 2011 10:07
10:08

dana white is on stage
Monday June 6, 2011 10:08
10:09

ufc partners with xbox, live fights and interactivity similar to that of espn
Monday June 6, 2011 10:09
10:10

phil spencer is next
Monday June 6, 2011 10:10
10:11

talking about games making the brand what it is.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:11
10:11

were talking Gears of War 3.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:11
10:12

war pigd teaser plays
Monday June 6, 2011 10:12
10:12

cliffy is here
Monday June 6, 2011 10:12
10:12

ice t is here too
Monday June 6, 2011 10:12
10:13

were looking at the campaign now. giant sea creature. huge set piece.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:13
10:14

im a scale whore. im in heaven
Monday June 6, 2011 10:14
10:15

were being shown silverback footage
Monday June 6, 2011 10:15
10:17

horde mode iw back.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:17
10:18

were now Finally getting a look at codename kingdoms.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:18
10:19

well, maybe its called ryse now
Monday June 6, 2011 10:19
10:19

and now were on to Halo
Monday June 6, 2011 10:19
10:20

the remake is real, and looms stunning
Monday June 6, 2011 10:20
10:21

fully remastered campaign, coop and seven favorite maps
Monday June 6, 2011 10:21
10:21

getting a lpok at Forza 4
Monday June 6, 2011 10:21
10:22

all in game footage is absolutley gorgeous
Monday June 6, 2011 10:22
10:24

peter molyneux is talking fable next
Monday June 6, 2011 10:24
10:24

yep. its fable: the journey
Monday June 6, 2011 10:24
10:25

its kinect controlled as we reported yesterday
Monday June 6, 2011 10:25
10:26

controlling and riding a horse, throwing magic via kinect
Monday June 6, 2011 10:26
10:27

kinda cool. crowd seems unimpressed.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:27
10:28

phil spencer back on stage
Monday June 6, 2011 10:28
10:28

minecraft!
Monday June 6, 2011 10:28
10:28

kinect controlled minecraft hits xbox this winter
Monday June 6, 2011 10:28
10:29

disney hits Kinect this year too. visit a virtual disneyland.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:29
10:30

peter pans flight controlled throgh kinect, as a Disney fanatic…i say yea
Monday June 6, 2011 10:30
10:32

available this holiday
Monday June 6, 2011 10:32
10:32

and were talking star wars
Monday June 6, 2011 10:32
10:33

lots of footage now. very diverse worlds
Monday June 6, 2011 10:33
10:34

were in cloud city as a jedi looking for prisoners. kinect light saber of course
Monday June 6, 2011 10:34
10:35

kinect force powers
Monday June 6, 2011 10:35
10:36

still shows lots of lag though.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:36
10:37

tim schaefer is out to talk once upon a monster
Monday June 6, 2011 10:37
10:41

coming out this fall
Monday June 6, 2011 10:41
10:42

kudo is on the stage
Monday June 6, 2011 10:42
10:43

kinect fun labs is official. its a way to let players use the kiect.mods weve been seeing
Monday June 6, 2011 10:43
10:43

kinect me makes an avatar for you. much like the 3DS
Monday June 6, 2011 10:43
10:44

really cool
Monday June 6, 2011 10:44
10:44

kinect finger tracking
Monday June 6, 2011 10:44
10:45

kinect sparkler lets you draw in 3d using your fingers.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:45
10:46

impressive
Monday June 6, 2011 10:46
10:46

also new is object capture
Monday June 6, 2011 10:46
10:46

scan any obkect, its n the game
Monday June 6, 2011 10:46
10:47

really cool kinect features here
Monday June 6, 2011 10:47
10:48

kinect fun labs is live today!
Monday June 6, 2011 10:48
10:48

kinect sports 2
Monday June 6, 2011 10:48
10:49

baseball, golf, tennis…football
Monday June 6, 2011 10:49
10:52

coming this holiday
Monday June 6, 2011 10:52
10:53

dance central 2 features voice commands and the ability to import tracks.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:53
10:53

simultaneous dancing
Monday June 6, 2011 10:53
10:55

this holiday
Monday June 6, 2011 10:55
10:55

don matrick is back
Monday June 6, 2011 10:55
10:58

were looking at new footage from Halo!
Monday June 6, 2011 10:58
10:58

its halo 4!
Monday June 6, 2011 10:58
10:58

holiday 2012.
Monday June 6, 2011 10:58
10:59

were done here. join us for ea

E3 2011 is under two weeks away, and it’s shaping up to be one hell of a show. As usual, there’s a ton of rumors circulating around just what’s going to be revealed June 7-9 in Los Angeles. This week, we’ll be bringing you our predictions of just what we’re going to see. Here’s our Microsoft predictions, be sure to check out our Nintendo predictions.

Love it or hate it, Microsoft was all about Kinect at last year’s E3, and don’t expect this year to be any different. This year is going to be critical for Kinect, and expect Microsoft to bring the goods, albeit different than last year. Expect a lot of new game reveals,  but this time they won’t all be the casual gamer stuff we saw last year. Expect full reveals for the now Kinect enabled Ghost Recon: Future Solider, and finally the Kinect Gears of War title we’ve been talking about for the last year. We should also see reveals for the Suda 51 Kinect title Codename D. There’s also even talk of a Crimson Skies Kinect title.

Oh, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get those casual gamer target titles. A big rumor suggests that we’ll see a title called Kinect Me and one called Kinect Fun Lab. What exactly are they? We don’t know, but we’re hearing they’re Microsoft’s response to the plethora of hacks that have been hitting the device, fun little games allow you to be creative with the world around you. Just how many new Kinect games will we see? I’m going t go with 10.

E3 2011 will bring more information on Avatar Kinect

It won’t just be new games we hear about for Kinect, we’ll also finally hear about the updates software that’s going to bring improved tracking and new features to the peripheral. We’ll also see more information on Avatar Kinect, the cool chat function announced earlier this year.

Microsoft’s press event won’t be all about Kinect though, as we’ll see a slew of new titles and information on highly anticipated titles. Expect new info on Gears of War 3 as well as the new Xbox Live Alan Wake title. Expect one or two major announcements about major games coming to Xbox Live as well. Killer Instinct maybe?

My gut tells me that either Sony or Microsoft will be showing off new Modern Warfare 3 gameplay at their event, and given Microsoft’s DLC deal, and the fact that they showed Black Ops last year, expect a reveal here.

Then there’s the game that brought Microsoft to the dance in the first place. Halo. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the release of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, and I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see the long rumored HD remake. I don’t think we’ll see brand new Halo game just yet.

One of the major rumors for Microsoft’s press conference is that they’ll be unveiling 3D technology for the Xbox. While it’s not too far fetched, I don’t see it happening. Microsoft has been strong in their convictions against 3D and I don’t expect much to change.

What do you expect to see from Microsoft at this year’s E3? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to keep with Blast during this year’s E3, as we’ll be live blogging the press conferences and giving you our hands on impressions of the latest games and info.

Check back later this week for our predictions for Sony!

One of the biggest questions leading up to this year’s E3 has been whether or not we’ll be getting our first look at Bungie’s first post Halo project with Activision. Well, we won’t, as the studio announced via its blog that they’ll be missing the show this year.

“We won’t officially be at E3 this year. Remember the Band-Aid approach I talked about last week? This is what it feels like in practice. Sorry for the sting. We wanted to make sure you didn’t get whipped into a rumor-fueled frenzy only to have your expectations unceremoniously dashed during expo week.”

So there you have it, of course, it could all be a ruse to surprise gamers.

In a recent interview with CVG.com, Frank O’Conner, creative director of 343 Industries, who Microsoft put at the helm of the Halo series following Bungie’s departure says that the next game in the long running shooter series is going to feature dramatic innovations.

Citing the series constant evolution, O’Conner says that the next game in the series must “go deeper” than any before it. ”Bungie tried to reinvent the Halo series every time,” he told CVG. “If you think about it, with Halo it was about putting the controls on the sticks, which hadn’t been solved properly. With Halo 2 we recreated the System Link, LAN party experience on Xbox Live and that wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been on Xbox… So there are a lot of things that comes from partnership with the hardware and platform guys, and a lot of innovations come through necessity, which is going to continue to happen with us.”

Don’t worry though, 343 isn’t setting out to reinvent the wheel when they take over the Halo franchise (presumably later this year with a 10th anniversary HD re-release of the original Halo: Combat Evolved), and thinks that the game’s core mechanics will stay the same. ”Ultimately the core game mechanic and strength of the universe doesn’t need to be changed, it just needs to be taken deeper. We want to make Halo games – we don’t want to make Call of Duty or Ridge Racer. We want to make Halo games because we understand what’s special about Halo.”

When Halo creators Bungie announced that they had signed a multi-year publishing deal with Activision, everyone wondered what their next game would be. Now, months later, it seems like we may finally be getting our first clue.

Back in July of last yeat, Bungie registered a slew of domain names with the US Copyright office that seemingly have nothing to do with any of their previous works.

• DeadOrbit.com
• DeadOrbit.net
• DeadOrbit.org
• NewMonarchy.org
• SevenSeraphs.com
• SevenSeraphs.net
• SevenSeraphs.org

While there’s no indication as to just what these domain names mean, it’s a good bet that they have something to do with the firm’s newest game, which we should see unveiled at or around this year’s E3.

Credit: supererogatory

Since Bungie released its Halo swan-song earlier this year with Halo: Reach, everyone has been wondering how the newly formed 343 industries would handle Halo. The answer may be in the past.

Games Master Magazine is reporting that 343, the new studio created by Microsoft to handle all things Halo, is working on a brand new remake of Halo: Combat Evolved in anticipation of the game’s 10th anniversary this November.  The remake would reportedly run on the Halo: Reach engine and come before a full fledged Halo sequel in 2012.

Think it’s far fetched? UK Xbox boss boss Stephen McGill seems on board. “I imagine it’s a good idea. I think some people want to go back to older games and see them revisited and I think a lot of developers want to see that too,” he said.

There were three years between the release of the original Halo and it’s sequel and three more years passed until the release of the third game. If Microsoft has its way, you’re going to be getting your Halo a lot quicker and a lot more often.

In a recent interview with IGN, Phil Spencer, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Game Studios said that Microsoft is looking at releasing new iterations of the blockbuster shooter more frequently.

“There’s no explicit strategy that says we’re to ship a Halo game every year. I will say I think one Halo game every three years – which was kind of our old cadence – is probably not frequent enough,” said Spencer.

Spencer also noted that 343 Industries, Microsoft’s internal division which will now handle all things Halo after Bungie’s exit is working on continuing what has made the series a best seller for nearly a decade.

“343 Industries is thinking a lot about how to take this franchise and turn it into something that people feel like they have an ongoing relationship with and they can entertain themselves more often,” Spencer said. ” But it’s not, hey every November 6 or whatever we have to ship a game and build a production plan around that. We want to do things that make sense as a first party.”

Halo Reach released earlier this month and made $200 Million dollars world wide in its first day. Blast gave it an A+, and an Editor’s Choice award.

So, Halo: Reach is awesome and all (just check out our review, but one question remains — where’s Master Chief? The series poster boy and lead spartan soldier hasn’t been since seen the end of Halo 3 — or has he?

Fair warning, there’s a hefty amount of spoilers ahead, so you probably want to stop reading now if you haven’t finished all of Reach yet.

Alright, the video below apparently shows the one and only Master Chief about to take off for battle. Though Bungie hasn’t commented on the video, it does make sense as the final events of Reach lead directly into the events of the first Halo game. What do you think? Check out the video below and let us know.

I’m not a Halo guy. At least, I’m not anymore. While I lined up for the first three games, somewhere between the end of Halo 3 and the beginning of ODST; I just got burned out on the series. Still though, there was something about Halo: Reach that intrigued me. Maybe it was the space battles, maybe it was the fact that this is series creators Bungie’s final game in the series before they start their 10 year, multi-platform deal with Activision. Who knows what it was — I just knew that Halo: Reach was something I had to at least experience.

Good thing I did. In a word, Halo: Reach is simply breathtaking. It’s not only everything a fan of the Halo series could want, it’s everything that makes shooters what they are. What’s more; Reach is simply the best Halo game to be released yet, somehow Bungie manages to craft a much larger and epic story that still manages to create a strong lasting emotional connection. Between the beefed up campaign and the surefire multiplayer suite — Halo: Reach is the ultimate Halo experience.

The meat of Halo: Reach is in the game’s campaign mode. Much like ODST before it, series protagonist Master Chief is nowhere to be found. Instead, players assume the role of a Spartan-III soldier, known simply as Noble Six as he’s been reassigned to the Noble Team. His welcome isn’t a warm one though as the team meets their newest member with a bit hostility — seeing as the previous noble member sacrificed his own life against the Covenant (those are the bad guys for those not in the know). Awkward much? Very.

Reach is easily the most well thought out of the Halo series and features some amazing character development. I’ll admit that in previous Halo games, I would shoot my AI controlled comrades if I needed any ammo, but in Reach, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Yes, you’re going to become attached to your squad mates, be them fellow members of Noble team or simply UNSC soldiers. Being so attached to those around you has an obvious impact on how you play through the game’s story. Reach is undoubtedly the best Halo game in terms of story (read: it’s the easiest to follow). There’s a large section of gamers who play Halo yet never even try the single player, Reach could change that.

Another equally impressive aspect of Reach is just how detailed everything is. While Bungie has never been a slouch in the visual department, everything seems much crisper and much more focused. Take for instance one particular section of the game that features Noble Team attempting to defend a city from the attacking covenant forces. From the fleeing citizens, to the covenant; whose ships and soldiers are shooting at literally everything that moves, there’s a lot going on here at once and reach handles everything exceptionally well.  The same can be said for how the game processes the plethora of customization options found within Halo: Reach. While these options, including customized armor and gadgets may not do much (let’s be honest, as much as the game says they’ll help, they’re purely cosmetic) — it’s great to see how fluidly they’re handled.

Long after players have finished Reach’s single player campaign –  long after all of the daily and weekly challenges are finished, the game’s legacy will be written, of course by the game’s multiplayer suite.  Reach features everything you’d expect from a Halo multiplayer experience, but adds to it everywhere that matters. Whether you’re playing co-op with a friend, or taking on…ahem..noobs in one of the game’s competitive modes, you’re sure to sink a ton of time in to the suite. Be advised though, if you were part of the much publicized multiplayer beta that was released earlier this year, there have been a few tweaks that may catch you off guard, namely in the headhunter and firefight modes, but none of them make a huge difference, and most gamers won’t even know what’s changed.

Undoubtedly, the game’s biggest time suck will be in the much improved Forge mode. Simply put, Forge is a virtual playground for Halo fans, where they take an empty map and build whatever they can dream up; it’s like Little Big Planet – except you know, with guns and grenade launchers and stuff. In Reach, Bungie has given players the biggest map ever and far more tools to create. The coolest part of Reach’s Forge mode though is definitely the ability to create with other players and create the ultimate Halo experience.

The Blast Factor: Sure, the game has its problems, like a few quirky AI stumbles and the fact that if you want to get anywhere in the game’s vehicle levels, you’re going to have to drive rather than shoot, but these are all minor gripes. Halo: Reach is an incredible experience. It’s almost as if Bungie is outdoing themselves as a challenge to whatever studio Microsoft puts in charge of the next iteration of the series. Halo: Reach is not only the best title in the franchise to date, it’s easily one of the finest Xbox 360 titles to date.

Famed Halo developer Bungie signed a ten-year publishing exclusive deal with Activision last month, but that’s not stopping bitter rival Electronic Arts from pursuing the developer and locking them in for a deal.

Bungie’s deal with Activision extends to only one immediate intellectual property, and, given the growing size of the studio, could spiderweb, a la Rockstar Games, and create sub-studios like Bungie East or something, in addition to the headquarters in Washington state. This way, Bungie would be able to enter into an agreement with Electronic Arts as well as Activision.

“We had extensive conversations with them, but could never really figure out a deal that made sense for both of us. It just didn’t come to fruition,” David DeMartini, Electronic Arts Partners boss said. “Obviously, they were able to come up with some kind of deal that made sense to Activision and made sense to Bungie and we hope they make great games. It’s healthy for the industry to have big independent studios that are making great products.

“I don’t want to see them fail – I want them to be successful. And when they start up a second team, we’ll have other discussions with them about that game as well – because they’re a great studio. There are probably only 20 studios in the world that are that highest level – and they’re certainly one of them.”

Whatever happens, the gaming world should be excited. Bungie’s making a game not called Halo. Weird, huh?

via CVG

About a year ago, at the newspaper I wrote for at the time, myself and a group of peers were tasked (and it was a monumental task!) with determining, to our best ability, the top 100 video game franchises of all time.

It was a b*tch, but we got the job done.

But you don’t care about my list. The news here today is that the Guinness Book of World Records, specifically the Gamer’s Edition, a annualized manifestation of excellence in every category, has named the top 50 video game series of all time.

What franchise took home the top spot? Well, here you go.

1. Halo
2. Call of Duty
3. The Legend of Zelda
4. Guitar Hero
5. Metal Gear
6. Super Mario Bros.
7. World of Warcraft
8. Gears of War
9. Super Smash Bros.
10. Grand Theft Auto
11. Pok©mon
12. Resident Evil
13. Fallout
14. Half-Life
15. Sonic the Hedgehog
16. Counter-Strike
17. Runescape
18. FIFA
19. Kingdom Hearts
20. Final Fantasy
21. Pac-Man
22. Madden NFL
23. The Sims
24. Tomb Raider
25. WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw
26. Rock Band
27. LittleBigPlanet
28. Saints Row
29. The Elder Scrolls
30. God of War
31. GoldenEye 007
32. BioShock
33. KillZone
34. Skate
35. Left 4 Dead
36. Need For Speed
37. Chrono Trigger
38. Gran Turismo
39. StarCraft
40. Ratchet & Clank
41. Pong
42. Tom Clancy’s
43. Star Wars: Battlefront
44. Battlefield
45. Diablo
46. Lego Batman
47. Mario Kart
48. Burnout
49. Crash Bandicoot
50. Pro Evolution Soccer

Uhhh. Mario Kart at #47? What’s wrong with this world!?

Over the past week, I’ve played a heck of a lot of the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta. My feelings about the experience have thus far been mixed (but I’ll save those thoughts for my impressions post down the road).

What I didn’t know about the beta though were some of the oddities Bungie decided to change up from Halo 3.

For example. Did you know the blunt force of a grenade is enough to kill an opponent? Or by crouching right before landing, you’ll suffer no health damage? I didn’t.

Thankfully, Defend This House put together a Halo: Reach Betabusters video, which details just such occurrences. Enjoy.

The date you’ve had circled for weeks is finally here.

Today is, thankfully, May 3, which means the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta begins today.

To get in on the action you’ll need a copy of Halo 3: ODST, where you can access the early play via the game’s main menu.

Right there

Check out the video (embedded below) featuring the lovely Aisha Tyler coaching you through basics of the beta and read Bungie’s Beta Guide, for even more detailed information.

You’ll want to start fragging your way to victory soon, as the beta will last a mere 2.5 weeks and end on May 19.

Feel free to add me as a friend on Xbox Live and we’ll get some Blast Magazine slayer going. My GamerTag is “eddie not eddy.”

Update SEPTEMBER 16, 2010:

HEY DUMBASS: Read the date this article was published. APRIL FOOLS!! — love, management.

In a completely unexpected move announced minutes ago, Halo studio Bungie, revealed it will bring Halo: Reach to Sony’s PlayStation 3 a week earlier and $10 cheaper than that of its Xbox 360 brother.

“We’ve wished to harness the massive power of the PlayStation 3 for one of our games for ages now and truly felt Reach, with its epic scope, was a perfect match for the system,” Brian Jarrard, creative director on the Halo: Reach project told Blast Magazine this morning.

What’s more, the studio said it plans to offer the game for PS3 enthusiasts at a cheaper price point of $49.99 on September 7, a week before it comes to Xbox 360.

“We wanted to make up for lost time with the PS3 crowd and saw this as an opportunity to dazzle the fans both creatively and where they truly care; in their wallets,” Marcus Lehto, marketing manager of Halo: Reach said.

Reach coming to the PS3 will mark the first time in over a decade the studio has developed for anyone except Microsoft but Bungie promises that its team of engineers and designers know how to program for the PS3 backwards and forwards.

“We set up two teams after Halo 3 launched in September of 2007; one for Xbox 360 and one for Playstation 3 and since then have had only great things to say about the PS3,” Tom Patrick, a programmer for the project said.

Backlash over the announcement is already permeating the Internet, as forum postings on sites like Halo-fanboys.com and TeamMasterChief.net all have scathing things to say about Bungie migrating the franchise to the longtime competitor.

Where do you stand in the battle for the universe? Happy to see the game reach its full potential on another console?

Bungie, the Halo maker, is gearing up for a big Halo: Reach reveal or announcement this week, if the developer’s Twitter account is to be believed.

The studio released a teaser image today and a cryptic message, both are below.

“Just got this mysterious image and word that something big is dropping this week?!”

What is this?!

Feel free to speculate about what you believe the image is in the comment section below but remember, April 1 is this Thursday and Bungie are a giddy group of people, the type who might pull a fast one on the community. Just a thought.

Grab your red pens folks, Microsoft has nailed a date down for Halo: Reach. According to retail sources, the shooter comes to Xbox 360 September 14.

That puts it a full two months before Activision plans to launch Call of Duty 7, a game believed to take place in Vietnam.

“It gives Halo enough time to maximise sales before CoD arrives,” said one senior trade source. “Xbox 360 is pretty synonymous with Call Of Duty, so it makes commercial sense for Microsoft and Activision to agree both games won’t come out too close to one another.”

We already knew it was penciled in for Fall 2010, so this date makes sense. Fans looking to get in on the action sooner can do so May 3 when the multiplayer beta goes live.

Source: CVG

Bungie continues to tease Halo: Reach tidbits this week in its Weekly Update, this time revealing a new grenade lobbing mechanism.

Grenades in Halo: Reach will have orange tracer attached to them, allowing users a better ability to place and detect grenade tosses.

What’s more, there will be a faint light emitted from the grenade lob that dynamically changes when sweeping through the game’s environment, allowing those without their sound turned on to still detect incoming ‘nades.

And if your sound is turned on, you’ll hear a distinct “metallic clink.” And the louder the clink, the heftier the damage. Bungie says adding this effect will make those “no way, how did he kill me?!” moments disappear.

Sadly, no images of the new trajectory effect or grenade clink noise were provided.

As an avid Halo gamer, this news is most delightful. I can’t even begin to estimate the number of “WTF, how did I die so quickly” moments associated with grenade tosses. Now at least I’ll know when I die at the hands of a perfect grenade toss.

Source: Bungie Weekly Update.

This is what Bungie’s Halo: Reach studio looks like at 11 p.m. on a Thursday night. The team is hard at work making what will likely contend for Game of the Year in 2010. What, did you expect something spiffier?

Bungie Studio

As seen on the Halo: Reach Dev Blog

Bungie released a beautiful new screenshot for its upcoming prequel Halo: Reach today.

We’re looking at a Spartan here getting a Energy Shield almost rammed down his or her throat. Hope someone helps.

Roughly 540 years in the future, the human race is at war with an intergalactic alliance of alien races called the Covenant. A genetically engineered warrior — the last of his kind — fights fervently to drive back the advancing alien force. Soldiers of the United Nations Space Command fight at his side, know his name, and spread his legend, Master Chief John -117. Welcome to the universe of Halo. Climb deeper into it — or explore it for the first time — with the animated feature that hit shelves last week.

The seven animated stories in “Halo Legends” unfold over eight episodes. The artificial intelligence Cortana narrates “Origins,” the first two animations in the set. The plot gets somewhat labyrinthine as she explains the origins of all life in the fictional universe. A trip to the Halo Wiki might help, if you get lost.

“Origins 1″ — narrated to the unconscious Master Chief — details the rise of what are called the Forerunners. Cortana tells Master Chief that these advanced beings reached technological heights thousands of years ago. It was all fun and games until they met a biological terror called the flood. The flood was to the universe what a really bad virus is to your hard drive; to wipe it out you have to wipe out your hard drive. The Forerunners fixed the problem by wiping out all living things in the galaxy. But they were smart. They backed everything up and started from scratch. Once the universe was rebuilt, human history could begin.

“Origins 2″ picks up were the first one left off. Humanity, it turns out, was rather good at making war. Once humanity spread to the stars the ability to blow itself to kingdom come became cool on a whole new level. Fighting over land and resources was equally fun in space. When the Covenant joined the party, humanity turned their attention away from killing each other and toward killing the aliens. Then the flood showed up again, and the real fun started. These two stories bring you nicely to a place where you have some idea of what is going on if you are unfamiliar with Halo.

“The Duel” quickly puts places you in unfamiliar surroundings, where you have no idea what’s going on. The story takes place on the alien world of the Elites. The water-color style animation follows the Arbiter, a general of his species, as he defies the Covenant. The Covenant has another Elite fight him in a Samurai-style duel. By this point, it would be nice to see some Spartans kill some aliens.

“Homecoming” gives you just what you are thirsting for: alien blood, and lots of it. The story intertwines with a flashback. Daisy, a Spartan who wears red close-quarters battle armor, is helping some soldiers escape an over-running Covenant force. As she assists them, by blowing aliens of various sizes away with a shotgun, she remembers attempting to escape from the facility where she was turned into a Spartan.

“Odd One Out” raises a new question for Halo fans. What if Halo was more like Dragon Ball Z? A Spartan falls out of a passing ship. When he hits the ground he encounters kids dressed like cavemen whose dinosaur tries to eat him. The children have a big brother and big sister who help the spartan fight a crazy Brute creature. Just when you can’t stand any more ridiculous antics it ends.

“Prototype” provides some relief by being pretty awesome. This sergeant is trying to get his men to safety after executing a mission. He does this by using an armor suit of high-tech weapon systems to blow tons of Covenant forces off the face of the planet.

“The Babysitter” details a mission where Orbital Drop Shock Troopers deploy with a Spartan. In the course of their sniper mission together the team and the Spartan earn each other’s respect. The Spartan has to buy a Gravity Hammer in the face to do it, but there has to be some downside to being a super-soldier.

“The Package” delivers the goods. It does this by answering an important question. Where the hell is Master Chief in these stories? Not only is there quite a bit of Master Chief, there is quite a bit of shooting aliens and even some first person animations.

Overall the feature contributes to the lesson of Halo. Generations to come will learn that if there is one thing aliens need it is to be shot in the face, or stabbed in the side of the head with a close-combat knife, or even smashed in the skull with the butt of a rifle.

“Halo: Reach” is likely to be the biggest game of 2010 and for good reason. It’s Bungie’s “definitive” Halo effort and a multiplayer beta begins for it May 3 (you’ve requested time off already, right?).

But at this stage, with scant details, the excitement is all hype, and this is more.

Posted on the Halo: Reach Dev Blog by Marcus Lehto, Bungie’s creative director, was this screenshot of a bunch of red-eyed, hairy, large men in the Bungie cave staring at a screen with smiles streaking across their faces.

Mystery awesome.

What they’re looking at? Only time will tell.

Here’s what the image description says: “Holy crap. This is when the magic happens. I wish I could show you what amazing new thing we have on screen tonight”

To stay up to date with the “Halo: Reach” development process, keep an eye on the development blog.

Bungie today side-stepped a previous statement and said it would not rule out developing another Halo game after Halo: Reach this coming fall.

Bungie’s Brian Jarrard said thoughts about ending the series entirely are “premature.”

“You know, it might be premature to say we’ll never ever, ever make a Halo game again. We sort of have a little special place for Halo in our hearts. But for the foreseeable future, this [Halo Reach] is it.”

Jarrard added that there’s an inherent pressure built in to designing the “final” game of the franchise but he’s not worried.

“There is a degree of pressure there but I also think that inspires our team. If we don’t ever come back to Halo again, we better damn well make sure that our last game is the best one ever. Let’s set that bar really high and at least leave our fans something really special.”

Well, I expected Bungie to back off the “this is our last Halo game” statement, but this is certainly not a guarantee of another Bungie-developed Halo title.

Source: CVG

According to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, Bungie’s “definitive” Halo game, Halo: Reach, will be the biggest game of 2010 in terms of sales.

Pachter, or the Pach attack, says the game will move eight or nine million units and bump it into the blockbuster category, but still well below Modern Warfare 2.

“At the risk of being called an X-bot, I think the most likely is going to be Halo Reach. I think that last year’s best-seller, MW2, is probably not going to have the same buzz this year with this year’s version of Call of Duty. It’s not Infinity Ward working on the game so I don’t think that one will compete,” he told GameTrailers.

“There’s a chance perhaps that some Nintendo game’s going to surface that’s going to generate higher sales, but I really think Halo Reach is the one – with a round 8-9 million units, not 15 million like we saw with CoD.”

I’m pretty much completely excited for Reach and am glad come May I can jump in and see what the buzz is all about.

Source: CVG

Halo: Reach, Bungie’s final Halo game, as we’ve already seen, is gearing up to be the biggest, baddest and most powerful Halo game Halo-heads have ever seen, but what  it all boils down to is multiplayer.

Halo 3 remains the second-most played game on Xbox Live, as multiplayer, is arguably where the game succeeds at its finest and Reach has high hopes for Xbox Live.

Revealed in this week’s Bungie Weekly Update was the first multiplayer environment for Halo: Reach.

It’s called PowerHouse. It’s based off an environment from the game and looks to be a menacing, multi-layered beast. Below is PowerHouse, in its conceptualized form.

In the game’s video documentary it was revealed that the power-ups like Sprint and Cloaking would make their way into the multiplayer universe of Reach, but Bungie has lots more in store for multiplayer.

“There’s some monumental stuff looming in Reach’s multiplayer world that’ll flip the script if all goes to plan. Sounds all kinds of mysteriously ambitious, doesn’t it? It is,” according to urk at the Bungie Weekly Update.

The multiplayer beta for Halo: Reach begins May 3, 2010. Are you ready?

Microsoft, at its X10 invite-only event in Washington State today revealed a May 3, 2010 release date for Halo: Reach as well as the game’s box art, which is pretty snazzy.

Beginning in early May, gamers with a copy of Halo 3: ODST can jump into the action and experience the new look and feel of Bungie’s final Halo game.

As for the game’s box art. It’ll look like this.

If you’re expecting a film set in the expansive and alluring Halo universe soon, don’t get too excited, but keep reading.

Frank O’Connor, former producer at Bungie, who now works on Halo-related items every day under Microsoft, spoke with IGN about the future of the Halo world, specifically, if a feature-length film is possible.

He said he’d like to make the movie, but noted the time, place and people connected with the project had to be ideal.

“I do work every week connected to when a movie, or if a movie, is eventually made, are we ready to go? And the answer is very much so, yes. But we can afford to bide our time and wait for the exact perfect time and the exact perfect partner.”

He then flexed his Microsoft muscle and said he’s truly in no rush.

“And we’re Microsoft,” said O’Connor. “We’re muscular. We can afford, much like James Cameron, to sit here and wait for the best opportunity…And by the way, can you print, right after I said that, I do not think that Halo is going to be the next Avatar? Cuz I will be dragged through the streets, bleeding, unless I caveat that!”

He’s right and I agree with his reasoning, but that statement came off, at least to me, with a bite to it. You know, the movie could fail. Halo isn’t guaranteed money afterall.

Source: IGN

For any game franchise that lasts multiple titles spanning many years, the game’s art and how it looks, is something gamers look forward to with every new title.

And throw in a series as massive as Halo and we have a story on our hands.

Bungie recently released a handful of ‘evolutionary shots’ of Halo weapons, enemies, vehicles and characters, that show what’s changed, in terms of style and presentation from the days of Combat Evolved to this fall’s Halo: Reach.

Check out the images below, click them to make larger, and be sure to jump over to the Bungie Blog for lots more on the changes.

The Assault Rife (AR)

AR

Warthog

The 'Hog

Elites

Elites

Grunts

Grunts

Marines

Marines

In case you missed our initial post over the weekend, Bungie created one hell of an event for gamers looking to lend a hand to Haiti.

Check out our original story for every last detail, but if you want the quick and short: GO PLAY HALO 3 or ODST!

For every 1000 gamers logged into Xbox Live this evening until midnight, Bungie will donate $100.

Just make sure to change your emblem to the image below and you’ll be counted!

Get on it!

Add me on Xbox Live at eddie not eddy and I’ll try to get a Custom Game going. I’ll be on all evening intermittently.

Gaming for the greater good. Do your part. Be a hero!

The Spartan world of Halo and James Cameron’s epic Titanic are two franchises you probably never thought you’d hear in the same breath, but hey now, here we are.

Interviewed at Edge, Bungie’s Marcus Lehto dictated that the narrative in the upcoming Halo-prequel Halo: Reach will be a somber affair. If you’ve read the book, The Fall of Reach, you know the planet of Reach gets destroyed and millions upon millions die. And much like Cameron’s Titanic, where filmwatchers knew the dreary end, so will Halo enthusiasts, come this Fall when the title releases.

“Reach is like Titanic,” he told Edge, “we know the end from the beginning. Reach is going to fall and 700 million people are going to perish as a result.”

“It’s a very dark story to tell,” he continued, “and our goal is to allow the player to experience the Noble Team’s efforts and get satisfaction from them continuing to fight forward and achieve the final acts of what we can’t talk about today.”

Lots of death. Lots of action. Lots of suspense. And likened to the highest-grossing film of all time. Sounds like Halo: Reach is the real deal.

Source: Edge via Destructoid

Real Halo fans can disregard this post, but for the rest of you, here we go.

Beginning February 2, Bungie and Microsoft will put the Mythic Map Pack collection on Xbox Live for 800 MS Points/$10.

Longshore. My personal favorite.

As you know, the three maps were included on disc 2 of Halo 3: ODST when it launched last September and I’m willing to bet, based on our epic and grand tournament we held, most of you bought the game and already have the maps.

But maybe you took a multi-month cruise around the world are just returning home now. If that’s you. Go for it.

Source: Kotaku

Below is a Q&A session with rising anime star Hiroshi Yamazaki, the director of “The Duel” episode of Halo Legends — an all-new seven-episode anthology expanding the Halo universe.

The Blu-ray and DVD will be available February 16

Anime director Hiroshi Yamazaki provides fans with a distinctly different artistic vision of the Halo universe with his painterly approach to animation in “The Duel.”

Yamazaki’s episode goes back to ancient times, at the dawn of the Covenant. A shamed Elite defies his role as an “Arbiter” — an honored but suicidal role that would regain him a shred of honor—to take a path of revenge against those that stole the only thing that matters to such an amazing warrior: His true love. This ancient Arbiter must fight his way through ever-growing groups of his former allies (grunts, elites, hunters, etc.) until he finally stands face-to-face with the elite who betrayed his trust.

QUESTION: What made you think Halo would lend itself to anime/animation?

HIROSHI YAMAZAKI: I believe that the suitability (of a property for animation) depends upon each story. This story definitely worked well in animation, and in this style.

QUESTION: What was the inspiration for your artistic vision in your episode of Halo Legends?

HY: I have been a lover of viewing the Halo art /illustration collection books and such for some time and the entire collection of Halo properties inspired me.

QUESTION: Were there any particular images within the Halo realm that helped shape or drive your creative vision?

HY: When I was contacted by I.G about the project, I imagined that the project would be very Sci-Fi in taste. However, when I met Mr. Frank
O’Connor (of 343 Industries, Microsoft Games Studios) for the first time, his requirement was to create a Samurai episode featuring an Arbiter, and I was considerably and happily surprised.

QUESTION: What did you set out to accomplish in this episode, and why do you think you achieved or exceeded your goals?

HY: What I was aiming for in this project was to make audiences understand there should be other styles of animation beyond the existing two primary kinds of animation presented — precisely cel-drawing 2D style and CG 3D style. I wanted to show that creators are not limited, that they have many options for different (animation) styles to create stories.

QUESTION: Did you feel you had the proper Halo experience to to bring the world to life in anime?

HY: I have played Halo 1 and 2 all the way through to the end. As I was so busy in this project, I could not play Halo 3 but instead I watched the gaming movie many times from the beginning to end.

QUESTION: Did you include any "Easter eggs" for the devout Halo fans in your episode?

HY: I employed the phrase "Akuma-da!" ("He is a devil" in English) as part of the dialogue of a grunt soldier for fun for game lovers. I’m not
certain whether everyone will get to enjoy that treat, though, as I understand the English version and Japanese version differ considerably and I am not sure how this dialogue by the grunt is treated in the English version.

If you played Halo 3, or ODST, connected to Xbox Live today, you were prompted with a message from Bungie telling you the Bungie Store is finally, after a long down time, is again open for business, right in time for the Holiday shopping season.

Available in the Shop de Master Chief are all things Halo and Bungie-related.

There’s Tshirts for men, women, and babies. Software including ODST for $50, Halo 3 for $35 and Halo 2 for $20, as well as Soundtracks, various collectibles, and backpacks.

As a huge Bungie and Halo fan I’ve been squirming in my Recon armor for what feels like ages waiting for the day when I could deck myself, my room, and my child oh God no, in these nerdastic items.

Have a look for yourself, maybe someone on your list is a Halo fan too!

The Bungie Store

Microsoft’s Halo studio, 343, recently released the first episode in the Halo: Legends anime series, but today the company gushed details on the second episode, exclusively available on Xbox Live tomorrow, Nov. 21.

That’s right, the second showing, “The Duel,” will come to Xbox Live’s Halo Waypoint tomorrow, and will be available for all to view, but only for 24 hours, at which point the episode will sadly disappear.

Here’s the synopsis, as told by 343:

"The Duel" takes place thousands of years in the past at the dawn of the Covenant. The story follows a shamed Elite who defies his role as an Arbiter to take a path of revenge against those that stole the only thing that mattered to him. This ancient Arbiter must fight his way through ever-growing groups of former allies (Grunts, Elites, Hunters and more) until he finally stands face-to-face with the Elite who betrayed him.”

Sounds like drama only comparable to high school! I’m ready, are you?

And as a reminder, the Halo Waypoint, where the Legends films will be shown, is available for both Gold and Silver members right now, but after this weekend, Silver subscribers get the boot, sorry.

For you collectors, the Halo: Legends series will come, in its entirety, to DVD and Blu-Ray, in Feb. 2010.

Grenade, grenade, fire, fire, melee. Master Chief can do more than that quick combo, which almost always gets you a kill in multiplayer, in the upcoming Halo animated feature.

“Halo Legends” will hit DVD and Blu-ray on February 9. Distributed by Warner Home video and produced by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft Game Studios, the CG and traditional anime will explore the history and origins of the Halo universe and some of its characters. The eight episodes will cover seven storylines, which will also be available via On Demand and Digital Download.

The episodes will fall inside Halo’s 26th Century continuity as humanity battles aliens to protect the ever-expanding space colonies of Earth. Halo fans will recognize some characters and locales from the games. Each episode will be 10 to 17 minutes long, with about two total hours of viewing.

Halo Legends will have the same look and feel as “The Animatrix” and “Batman Gotham Knight,” in that each episode will be self contained. Each episode will be presented as imagined by a the director or animator. Children of the 80s and anime fans, alike, will recognize the work of some of these creative contributors including Shinji Aramaki, who did character designs on “MASK;” Mamoru Oshii, creator and writer of “Jin-Ro;” and Hideki Futamura, a key animator on “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.”

Extras on the two disc will include a “making of” feature, audio commentary with the directors and a mini-feature detailing the rise of the Halo franchise from an Xbox game to a mammoth property commanding over $1 billion in revenue with games, comics, novels and other merchandise. The Blu-ray will retail for around $35, the two-disc set for around $30 and the DVD for around $20.