Logged by Konrad in #hbo on irc.bungie.org after the commercial aired.
Konrad: Frankie, is the so-called Shield Grenade a game element?
Frankie: Nothing in the trailer was placed there by the agency - that is to say, every object and action was put in there with Bungie's consent and usually assets.
Frankie: Which you have t assume we wouldn't do without good reason, riht?
Although it is only sixty seconds in length, there's actually quite a bit of content to pore over in the CG animated Halo 3 TV commercial. It starts slow, moves quickly, and ends suddenly, so pay attention.
There's also a transcript of the events in the advertisement pointing out various items, but without any commentary on what they might mean.
Two children, a boy and a girl, are lying in a clearing amongst blades of grass, staring up at the night sky.
Boy: You ever wonder what's up there?
Girl: Like what?
Boy: Maybe someone up there is wondering what it's like here.
Girl: I guess. Do you think we'll ever meet them?
Boy: I hope so. Don't you?
We see the Master Chief's helmet now in same clearing where the two children were a moment before. Screams, noises of combat and what sounds like incoming artillery fire can be heard.
If you missed the Halo 3 CG trailer today then view it here at http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?link=halo3ad
The fan community switched into high gear this evening as the Halo 3 CG TV Commercial aired, and digitized versions began popping up immediately.
One of the first is a very small, relatively low quality WMV version kindly provided by HYB.
[image:43093 left hspace=5 vspace=5 border=0] Halo fans will be reaching for their remote controls this evening as they get ready to watch the first television advertisement for Halo 3 tonight during Monday Night Football in the U.S.
The commercial was created by Digital Domain using some of Bungie's models for Halo 3, but unlike most promotional materials for the Halo series to date, is not actually rendered in the game's engine and is not intended to be representative of gameplay.
A frame from the upcoming CG television ad for Halo 3, due to be broadcast the evening of December 4.
Also at the Escapist today, a Microsoft "perception engineer" confirms something about Halo I've long been terribly annoyed by: the tendency of enemies that are far away and do not see you to luckily dodge just as you are about to shoot.
1Up.com obviously didn't get enough Bungie in their "three weeks of Halo 3" coverage, because now the company is getting a mention again-- this time for Marathon.
Unfortunately, it's not a flattering mention. Marathon 2 is featured in their Best Worst Ads 3 feature, on page six, which shows their ad from 1996 that compares video games to a skinner box.
The Escapist has a nice piece on how Microsoft has gone from being a puppy to a big dog in the computer and console game space, and how often that has been achieved through acquisitions.
More music transcribed by Halo fans on www.vgmusic.com.
It is only midi's so there is no sheet music but they do have some really impressive stuff. For those of you who wanted to hear what siege of madrigal sounds like they have that there too.
Anyways click on the music menu (the thing on the bottom right side of the video game music archive picture) and scroll down to xbox. Then click G-R or classic style and scroll down to Halo. The first music you should see is A Walk In The Woods.
[image:42911 left hspace=5 vspace=5 border=0] A selection of the screenshots of Halo 3 multiplayer that have been featured in gaming magazines and embargo-breaking European websites for the past week or so are now up at Bungie.net in pretty high resolutions. Inside the main Halo 3 image gallery, Rampancy now has a Halo 3 Multiplayer screenshot gallery for them. Enjoy!
