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Interview: 343 Industries' Frank O'Connor

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 6th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Now that Halo Waypoint has launched and the Halo Legends anime project will soon begin airing on Xbox consoles everywhere, we got the chance to discuss the current state of Halo with 343 Industries creative director, Frank O'Connor. After the break, you'll find discussion on Waypoint, Legends, Halo 3: ODST sales and whereabouts of Ryan Payton. We also talk about the whether or not there's just too much Halo out there, whether we'll see any Halo games for kids and we even squeeze in a question about Pimps at Sea.

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Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD continue to dominate

by Xav de Matos { Oct 31st 2009 at 11:05PM }

Surprising no one, Major Nelson's weekly list of most-played games on Xbox Live showcases Halo 3 and a double dose of Call of Duty on the top of the charts, with Modern Warfare and World at War grabbing second and third, respectively. XBLA top-seller Trials HD continues to lead the downloadable space, beating out newcomers Tower Bloxx Deluxe and Panzer General: Allied Assault.

The most notable item on the list is Gearbox Software's Borderlands, debuting at (a disappointing) ninth on the list. Perhaps evidence that inventory shortages may in fact muck up the wheels of a critically acclaimed game's launch. Color us surprised ... then trace us with sarcasm.

G4 competition dishes out rare Halo 3 flaming armor

by Xav de Matos { Oct 31st 2009 at 8:00PM }

Beyond cries from fanboys for Recon, the rarest of all Halo 3 armor permutations -- or at least the rarest option -- is strutting around multiplayer matches with a flaming skull. Originally only available to employees of Bungie, the heated helmets are now the prize for G4's upcoming Sarkathlon.

In order to enter the contest, which runs until midnight on November 8, players must download a special variant of the map Longshore (only found on the second disk of Halo 3: ODST) and find eight hidden grenades scattered throughout the map. The player who completes the task and crosses the finish line in the shortest amount of time with saved replay proof walks away with the flaming skull. It's the Halo equivalent of painting a giant bulls eye on your back, so why wouldn't you want it?

[Image Credit: Hushed Casket]

Halo Waypoint live with Dashboard preview program, includes Avatar Awards

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 30th 2009 at 5:15PM }

It's not quite Wonka's chocolate factory, but the Xbox 360 Dashboard update preview participants are getting a taste of some delectable bonuses regardless. Earlier today, those lucky folks were granted their promised early access to the Halo Waypoint beta. Lo and behold, 11 Avatar Awards arrived alongside the addition (five for each gender's Avatar, one for both), unlocking based on various Achievements from Halo 3: ODST, ranging from Recon helmets to ODST t-shirts. Microsoft has provided little in the way of details on the addition, so feel free to let us know if you see anything particularly strange or interesting.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Halo players to compete in WCG ODST tournament

by Justin McElroy { Oct 20th 2009 at 7:15PM }

We're not big fans of pro gaming, in fact, we think it's all a little hokey. But maybe you're a fan of getting free money for being good at Halo and really, who are we to stand in the way of that? It's in that spirit we tell you about the WCG USA Halo 3: ODST Locked and Loaded Tournament.

The 24 teams participating will have a chance at $5,000 in cash and Samsung-related prizes. If you'd like to join the kinda hokey but possibly lucrative fray, you can register here.

Halo Waypoint detailed, captured on video

by Christopher Grant { Oct 19th 2009 at 1:55PM }

This way to the Waypoint gallery

With the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update preview kicking off today, Microsoft dropped some more details on Halo Waypoint, the Dashboard playpen for the Master Chief enthusiasts among you. The preview video – found after the break – walks you through some of the destination's functionality, notably the "career system" which will track "in-game accomplishments across multiple Halo games." Unsurprisingly, that career will be limited to the Xbox 360-released Halo games: Halo 3, Halo Wars, Halo 3: ODST, and "all Game Add-on content for those titles." Oh, you beat Halo 2 in under 30 minutes? We'll just have to take your word for it.

Halo Waypoint is being developed collaboratively by Microsoft's internal Halo studio, 343 Industries, and Certain Affinity, the Austin-based developer (with some former Bungie staffers) behind Age of Booty. Waypoint will be available November 5 for both Xbox Live Gold and Silver members; however, come November 26 those Silver members will have to pony up for Live if they want to keep their Waypoint access. That's a solid three weeks to determine if the exclusive Waypoint offerings – like the Nov. 7. preview of the "Halo Legends" anime anthology – are worth it. We imagine it will be for the hardcore Halo fan ... but we'd assume they've already got a Gold account.

Gallery: Halo Waypoint

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There's a Battle Rifle in ODST after all

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 15th 2009 at 5:45PM }

Many Halo fans were not pleased to hear that the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle had been cut from the Halo 3: ODST. Like, seriously unhappy. Thanks to Halo.Bungie.Org. we're pleased to report that the hardest of all hardcore weapons was actually included in the game after all. Unfortunately, the weapon only shows up in a cut scene. You'll need quick eyes -- or the pause button -- to see it, but it's definitely there, wielded by an NMPD officer at the end of the NMPD HQ mission. Well, he wields it up until a Brute Chieftain uses the officer's gray matter as hammer lubricant, anyway.

No, you can't use it, but at least you get a badass pistol to compensate for it, right?

Three ex-Bungie vets form Moonshot Games

by David Hinkle { Oct 7th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Tired of telling the tale of Master Chief and all of those spinning rings in space, three Bungie veterans have packed their bags and left the company, GI.biz reports. The trio -- Michel Bastien, Damián Isla and Rob Strokes -- have decided to embark on their own adventure together as Moonshot Games, a studio based in both the Seattle and Boston areas.

There's no word on what the new studio will be focusing on, but with all three having spent years making Halo 2 and Halo 3, we'd say it's safe to assume the studio's new project won't include any AI constructs or multi-billion dollar cyborgs. Well, unless they decide to stick to what they know best ...

Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD, Forza 3 demo

by David Hinkle { Oct 6th 2009 at 2:45PM }

As our more astute readers likely gathered from this very post's headline, another week has gone, so it's about time we checked in with Major Nelson to see what made his list of the most-played games on Xbox Live. Unsurprisingly, Bungie's dynamic duo of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST managed to do well, taking the first and third spots, respectively -- Call of Duty 4 was in the second slot, while Forza 3's demo managed to get some play time on folks' boxes, taking a tight turn into the seventh place spot.

On the XBLA side, Trials HD did backflips to the top of the list, beating out recent releases Zombie Apocalypse and Bust-A-Move Live!. The remainder of the XBLA list saw favorites Battlefield 1943 and Shadow Complex rounding out the bottom end of the top five.

TGS 2009: Wait to play Halo 3: ODST, get UNSC threads

by Xav de Matos { Sep 27th 2009 at 1:00AM }

During the last day of TGS 2009, Microsoft was handing out free (and stylish!) UNSC-branded t-shirts to gamers willing to wait in line to play (the already released) Halo 3: ODST. For their effort, gamers seemed to enjoy the reward of partaking in local multiplayer sessions of ODST's Firefight mode.

Check out a closer look at the shirt after the break.

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Users report Halo 3: ODST disc read errors

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 24th 2009 at 3:30PM }

According to a rather lengthy thread on Bungie.net, several Halo 3: ODST players are having technical issues with the game. Users are reporting that disc read errors are occurring during the game, rendering it unplayable. Some believe the issue only affects older consoles, specifically those with older DVD drives. Anecdotally, our own David Hinkle encountered the DRE issue on a 2008 Elite. According to Hinkle, installing the game to the hard drive seemed to fix the problem. He later bought a second copy of the game and hasn't encountered the issue again. It's also worth noting that this issue seems to be isolated to the ODST campaign and Firefight mode. The Halo 3 multiplayer disc appears to be unaffected.

Bungie is looking into the problem, with a member of the test team asking forum users for specific information about problems that have been encountered. For those out there with a copy of ODST, let your voice be heard in the poll below.

Halo 3: ODST logs over 900K players in one day

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 23rd 2009 at 5:15PM }

It's been on store shelves for less than two days and Halo 3: ODST has logged nearly a million players in the last 24 hours. More specifically, according to Bungie.net, the game had logged 936,278 players when this post was written. All of those troopers have managed to put away 5,653,310 games. That's roughly six games per person in a 24-hour period. On a weekday. We don't want to jump the gun here, but Bungie just might have a success on its hands.

Save time with the ODST armor generator

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 23rd 2009 at 3:15PM }

So, now you have ODST. The second you get home from work / school / gambling, you're going to pop in that disc and get ready for some Firefight. But what's this? You have a whole new character to customize and you haven't done any planning? Getting your color scheme just right could take you hours, possibly even days. And that's why we're here to help by pointing you to the new Halo 3: ODST armor generator.

Now you can check out all the custom color and helmet options anywhere, even at work / school / the track. Just like the original Halo 3 armor generator, the ODST generator lets you pick your character, colors and even your helmet preference, and then shows you the results in real time. Go ahead and get your choices settled now. That way you won't have to waste any time later.

Our suggestion: Go with a classic "Pink and Black Attack."

Free ODST theme drops onto Xbox Live

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 22nd 2009 at 6:13PM }

For those looking for just one more way to celebrate the release of Halo 3: ODST, we've got some good news. A premium ODST theme is available now on Xbox Live Marketplace. The theme obviously offers up some art from Halo 3: ODST, but also lets you surround the poor souls on your friends list with menacing Brutes. Best of all, the theme is free for Gold members (unlike the grotesquely expensive Sgt. Johnson). Go ahead, add it to your download queue and complete the ODST experience.

Be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3: ODST Review, as well as in-depth analysis of the Campaign and Firefight games modes -- and our new miniFAQ!

ODST's Sgt. Johnson DLC only $1,250 on Xbox Marketplace

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 22nd 2009 at 5:45PM }

Pre-ordering is for the weak -- those who truly want Sgt. Johnson will pay the price he's worth for his survive-anything awesomeness, which is currently 99999

on the Xbox Marketplace, a measly $1,250 converted to Earth dollars. That pre-order price is lookin' pretty good now, huh?

Carpe diem, capitalists! Those with the code can put that on eBay for ... $10?! Hey, Microsoft, are you trying to rip off someone who's got too many points burning a whole in their virtual wallet? Carpe diem, capitalists, indeed!

[Thanks, Jesse]