Please Remain Calm
Looks like the Superintendent is back. Perhaps one (or more) of the Bungie announcements that were indefinitely postponed at this year's E3 are about to be made public.
Death by intelligence.
Halo AI: You're Doing It Wrong
EDGE has a feature up here: http://rampancy.net/weblink/bungie/Edge_Interviews_Isla about the AI in the Halo series. They interview AI programmer Damian Isla, where he brings up an interesting concept I'd love to see in a Halo game-- or any Bungie game, really:
There was the well-known example in Halo 2 where your 'hog full of marines would just drive off if you got out. That's actually not that easy a problem to solve because how does the game know you intend to come back?
Microsoft Closing Ensemble Studios After Halo Wars
What started as another one of those rumors within the span of a day became a confirmed truth: following the release of the upcoming Halo Wars RTS game for the Xbox 360 console, Ensemble Studios, known for the Age of Empires RTS series of games for Windows, will be shuttered. A new studio, like Ensemble part of Microsoft Games Studios, will be formed to support Halo Wars. Employees releated to Halo Wars will be offered spots in the new studio; those currently working on the project have been offered extra incentives to continue working on it through release.
IDk
COD4 Back On Top Again
According to Major Nelson's blog, Halo 3 and COD4 have done the top ten topsy-turvy trick again. Call of Duty 4 is on top (for the moment) and Halo 3 is playing second fiddle.
Master Chief Theater 3000: Season 1 Finale (Pt. 1)
First part of the finale of season 1 of Master Chief Theater 3000.
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From The Belly Of The Whale
Bungie president Harold Ryan tells Variety how to be swallowed by Microsoft and emerge unscathed. Some highlights: thoughts of going independent went back 3-4 years, the preparations went back more than 2 years, and one of the driving reasons was the freedom to work on non-Halo titles.
Bungie To Mattrick: We're Not Laughing
Bungie President Harold Ryan denied claims by Microsoft's Don Mattrick that he laughed and acquiesced with the publisher's decision to indefinitely postpone Bungie's E3 announcement.
Mattrick Says Ryan Laughed Off E3 Snub
I thought this story would fizzle out. If certain people had much any sense, it probably would have. Yet here we are.
Eurogamer has an exclusive interview coming up tomorrow with Microsoft's Xbox 360 boss Don Mattrick. They, of course, asked him about the cancelled Bungie announcement and the studio's reaction:
Halo 3 Back On Top
Well, it's been awhile since COD4 and Halo 3 did the flip-flop on Major Nelson's ranking of top games on Xbox Live, but it's happened again: Halo 3 is number one, and COD4 is number two. Again.
KWYS - Transcription
Never Forget Full Score
After transcribing "Unforgotten" into a full score, I decided to do it again for the updated version, "Never Forget". I did it to the best of my ability, had to guess on some things, but I played it side by side with the Halo 3 CD and it sounded pretty darn close, if not exact, to me. So I think I got it right. Also, at measure 25, I couldn't quite pin down which key Marty switches to so I just left it in G Maj/E min. until measure 51 when he obviously goes back to the original key of "Unforgotten" (which is A flat Maj/F min).
Unforgotten Orchestral Score (With Piano)
This is a transcription done by myself concerning Unforgotten from Halo 2. There are 3 horns, full string orchestra, and a piano. I do not have a MIDI or MP3 of this file as of yet. Shouldn't need one anyway. Just listen to the Halo 2 CD. Anyway, hope you like this one.
Massively Multiplayer Online Halo?
Rock, Paper, Shotgun thinks that a Halo MMO might be coming. Writer Jim Rossignol comes up with a laundry list of reasons why, some of which I don't find entirely convincing.
I'd probably play it if they made it, though. I originally thought Halo-- the first game-- would be something like PlanetSide. It'd be nice to finally see a game like that in a universe as compelling as Halo's.
Independence: Adding Insult To Injury
So a couple days ago I wrote a bit on how Bungie got the rug pulled out from under them at E3.
As near as the Intertubes can piece it together, a few days before E3, Microsoft let Bungie know they wouldn't be included in the press conference. Bungie then enacted contingency plans for their own announcement, which is what precipitated the countdown on Bungie.net.
On Tuesday Microsoft told Bungie they wouldn't be allowed to do that, either, and since Microsoft is Bungie's publisher for Halo games, and Microsoft owns the Halo intellectual property, and the announcement concerned Halo, Bungie had to do what Microsoft says, prompting Bungie president Harold Ryan's apology to the fans, which can also be interpreted as a nice polite way of flipping the bird to the publisher.