Note: Frankie is out of town this week and the Bungie Princess is our special guest author.. (I'm just posting it). Now brace yourselves for the most fact-filled top-secret-spoiling update EVER!...

BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE - August 13th

Frankie’s in Mexico and I’m in charge! So, listen up…we are taking a break from all that blah-blah about Halo 2 and we are discussing a truly important topic…HAIR! I will be devoting several hours of my Saturday to some serious “diva-time� along side my best friend at Joel’s salon. There will be lots of girly-girl talk and wine to be had for all. The only dilemma is what color should I do my hair? Anyone who has known me longer than about a month knows I absolutely love to change my hair color. It is a running joke around here. I am currently blonde, but am thinking it is time for a change. In the spirit of by-passing all that typical video game talk I think we should devote a forum to helping me choose my new hair color. But seriously, I am supposed to be giving you some weekly information about our big project over here in Bungieland.

Biggest news of the week involves the rancid Bungie refrigerator. We are bursting at the seams over here and need to find some space to sit some more people helping out on the game. So, I figured what the heck why not the fridge…that is some prime real estate. But seriously, the dev team doesn’t know it yet but they have lost the battle of the fridge and it’s pungent odor will soon be seeping onto their side of the room.

I ate dinner with the boys tonight (frightening). Have you ever had the pleasure of attacking a taco bar with 70 hungry men…hhhmmmm, let me be the one to tell you this is not a pretty site. Amanda has quickly learned that food is the precious commodity in this office. The way to a man’s heart is most certainly through his stomach. We will be making the ever dreaded Costco trip next week to stock up on goodies. The people at Costco, employees and customers alike, hate me. When I roll up to the check out lane with two industrial size carts stacked to the point of towering over my head and a flat bed stock piled with beer in tow…let’s just say I am not typically greeted with a warm “How are you?� but rather an overwhelmed look of panic.

So, my week has not solely revolved around food and nasty refrigerators. In addition to feeding the masses, Amanda has been hard at work helping Harold keep a running inventory of about a thousand computers…man, these guys are expensive. She has also called all over the world in search of elusive Xboxes from other countries…so if you have one that you don’t need, feel free to send it in…kidding. I just got the 2nd pass of the art book back…looking very cool guys...keep your eyes open come November 9th (oh yeah and Halo 2 will be on shelves as well). The rest of my time this week was spent modeling Dunn’s ever-growing collection of crazy hats. I have been a cowgirl, a gardener and Frank Sinatra so far.

Okay, okay enough my drivel, here are some updates straight from me to you on this game everyone keeps talking about (stage whisper…�Hey Brian, what’s the name of that video game we’re working on again….oh yeah…Halo 2…thanks!)

So Butchie put the beta out on a branch this week and really wants the code to stay jolly and happy until he goes to RTM…wherever that is…and what is he doing taking a vacation anyway?! All of the levels are undergoing performance reviews (are they even eligible for a raise?) and things are shaping up nicely. Even though Jaime's running around his level with ¾ of his screen filled with debug info, we still have trouble getting him to stop playing so Butchie can run his analysis tools. He's evidently having a blast, and that's a good thing.

Luke has been integrating our aiming code withhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, huh!?!? Ooops sorry drifted off there where was I…something about sniping and intending to shoot …I don’t know sounds, pretty cool and I guess the Counter-Strike and Quake people will really like the fact that you can’t snipe through walls. Which seems kinda lame to me, I think Master Chief should have x-ray vision and be able to snipe through walls, because then he could really wail on those damn Elite bastards.

Ryan, a very verbose gentleman, a man of many words has this to say regarding test:
Testing next beta update
Emblem Pass (it failed but no bugs encountered)
Working on test cases for release
Thanks for that lovely, in-depth update Ryan, it was truly moving.

Apparently, Adrian has some serious termite problems at his house because he is fixing bugs like a machine and patching all the holes in the drywall. He is having a really hard time determining if his house has too many holes or too many walls, but says it is gonna be so cool, so he must be having fun! Keep us posted Adrian and let me know if you need some help selecting new paint color and curtains when you’re done patching those walls.

Last, but certainly not least, Nathan would like to take a jab at "Pistol Pete" -- Pete apparently did some dorky thing when he introduced himself to someone last week and made pistols out of both hands and pointed and said "Pete Parsons"…I personally did get to witness a later revival of the pistol gesture and it is pretty lame. Nathan also mentioned something brief about "his first man hug with Chris (butcher).� Aaahhhhh.

Well, boys and girls, that’s it for me this week. I am sure you are sitting on the edge of you seat waiting for the next installment of the Weekly Update with special guest writer Bungie Princess…So far we haven't heard a peep out of ole Frankie and it's highly likely that he's in a small village in Mexico lying in a bathtub filled with ice minus a few internal organs. Don't worry, I'll keep bringing you the best updates ever until he surfaces again!

Ciao!
Yours truly,
Bungie Princess