Once again, I find myself extremely stunned, disturbed and very amazed at the creativity, ingenuity and obsessive love of video game fans. Of course, we reported about the full-size replica of Link’s shield last week. Now I have to pick up my jaw from the ground as I tell you that some guy actually created a life-size of the Arbiter from Halo 2 and Halo 3.
Obviously, the Master Chief himself is a very popular choice when it comes to creating authentic costumes based on video game characters but I never thought somebody would want to be the Arbiter. Anyway, a talented guy calling him Peter Mander FX recently created a very convincing, animatronics-equipped Elite warrior costume that’s seven feet tall. I guess he really loves the Arbiter, huh? Click here to watch Mr. Mander FX building the Arbiter costume on YouTube. You can also click here to see a full gallery of images documenting the development of this creation.
Source
If you still haven’t said your final goodbyes to Halo 2 you better do it fast because the game is going offline tomorrow. In leui of this, Bungie has stuck a bunch of in-game messages to thank players for their continued patronage, bidding them farewell.
Joystiq has some screen shots similar to the one above which you can check out here. Alternatively, you can just hop on Xbox Live and play the game for one last time and check out the messages. Whatever floats your boat, homie.
We’ve been hinted at these for some time now but finally Bungie has taken the veil off of the 3 all new multiplayer maps that will be included with Halo 3: ODST.
Halo 2 players will recognize the above map as it is a remake of the extremely popular Midship and is now entitled Heretic. The two other maps to be included are Citadel and Longshore and are sure to renew your Halo 3 vibes.
Halo 3: ODST will be on store shelves on September 22nd of this year.
To peep picks of both Citadel and Longshore, head here.
Microsoft’s “Xbox Live Originals” service allowed gamers who were afflicted with a twinge of nostalgia or an unfortunate low cash flow to download some classic titles like Halo and Fable. It was a good idea, except for the fact that they’re all available for an even lower price online in the original disc format. As you might imagine Microsoft hasn’t been seeing quite the high sales from this offering they had initially hoped for.
They’ve announced that there’s only one game left for the Xbox Originals service. After that gets posted Microsoft will leave the games available for purchase of course but will be focusing their efforts in other directions. They haven’t announced exactly what the game is, but smart money of course points at Halo 2. With Microsoft having abandoned backwards compatibility updates some time ago this means that to play any neglected favorites you’ll have to go out and find a used Xbox. Hey, at least those don’t have any RRoD issues.
Today is Monday, but this past Saturday Halo 3‘s 1 billionth game was played by a lucky group of people.
Bungie details said billionth game was a 3 minute 19 second Infection game on Foundry between 4 people. They then go on to announce that 2,023,153,340,764 seconds of Halo 3 matchmaking has been played. Thats over 64,000 years of playtime.
And to put this amazing achievement into perspective, the hugely popular Halo 2 hasn’t even had 1 billion games played, and that was released in 2004, Halo 3 was released in 2007. Amazing.
Read (Bungie)
Ever since Halo 2 on Xbox Live for the original Xbox, there have been those users unhappy with their ranking who feel the need to manipulate the network to their advantage.
Well, the problem hasn’t stop and it has infact escalated. Apparently, creators of such methods are selling programs, and even offering services, that kick your opponent off of Xbox Live. How is it done?
Well, the cheater routes their Xbox connection through their computer, obtains your IP address, floods it with packets, and kicks you off. Sounds like fun? It’s not, I’ve encountered one too many of these guys on Halo 3.
Microsoft has issued the following statement on the subject:
We are investigating reports involving the use of malicious software tools that an attacker could use to try and disrupt an Xbox LIVE player’s internet connection.
This problem is not related to the Xbox Live service, but to the player’s internet connection. The attacker could also attempt [to] disrupt other internet activities, such as streaming video or web browsing, using the same tools.”
Read (Kotaku)
While video games have slowly made a climb from the simple pixellated games like Space Invaders and Super Mario Bros. to breathtakingly real-looking games with picturesque landscapes and fluid animations, the quality of the music quickly outstripped the achievements of the visuals. Even titles like Final Fantasy VI (# 3 in the USA) are remembered for how stirring and immersing the music was despite being purely digital.
With the advent of disc-based games came the ability to cram a lot more information into a small unit, so games’ soundtracks grew accordingly. Full orchestras were brought in and many games feature music that would be appreciated by gamers and non-gamers alike. Whether you love or hate Bungie’s oft-debated series there’s little doubt that Halo brought the feeling of epic struggles to life by their blending of classical instruments, chanting and modern instruments.
Sumthing Else Music has announced that they’re releasing the Halo Trilogy Soundtrack. It’s a five disc set that encapsulates the entire audio experience of the FPS games and gives you a sneak peak at the sounds of Halo Wars. The first disc is the soundtrack of Halo: Combat Evolved and the second is the second volume of the Halo 2 soundtrack. The third disc is a DVD which features four tracks from Halo Wars, a ‘making of’ featurette on the game’s music and also contains the opening cinematic for the campaign mode, “Five Long Years”. Discs four and five are the Halo 3 soundtrack. The set is available beginning tomorrow, December 2nd.
