Death by intelligence.
New Maps Draw Fans At E3
Ender Illes made a short photo essay and writeup about the Bungie booth at E3 2005, where the next five multiplayer maps were available for play. SketchFactor has put it up at Bungie.net.
What's most interesting is the quote by Bungie in response to Gates' Halo 3 "announcement":
We are very flattered. Its hard to believe that a man as powerful as him holds Halo in such a high regard. He places a lot of faith in us, and it's flattering.
maps that would rock for halo 2
I was talking to one of my buddies last night and we got into an argument about what types of maps would be cool to add to halo 2.
I said one map should come with bots alredy on the level ones that you cant modify such as difficulty or teams. I dont know about you but i like a challenging game of capture the flag with 3 on 1. another thing would be every thing on the map is destructible because I hate it when snipers decide to hide out for the whole game behind a rock or a wall this way youcan grab a rocket launcher and blow a hole through there cover and fill em full of lead!
The Second Rule Is Do Not Ask Questions
MLG's rather lengthy and detailed list of rules, regulations, gametypes and guidelines for their MLG St. Louis event are now up on their website.
Geometry Dictates That Halo Has Holes
Wired has a piece up on the "patch" that Bungie provided for Halo 2, known to most of us as the 1.1 AutoUpdate. Not much new here for anyone who has followed the cheat fixes so far, but it's worth pointing out that they've covered it.
A few files over at my site.
Over at my site (http://www.port49.bl.am/) are 3 files. One is the "Conversation's from the Universe" booklet mostly translated.
One about the Covenant's units.
And another small one explaining about the Seven Ages.
i need help
I need help getting on top of coagulation evoryone else i have talked to has told my lies or left some detail out so if anyone out there in halo land could help me out it would be much help.
E3 Plasma Fiesta 2005 Writeup
Louis Wu has done a writeup of Plasma Fiesta 2005, the post-E3 gathering hosted by Deanero featuring his world-famous salsa and a Halo LANfest. More will surely follow.
Even More Doomed Than Before
When Id said story was important in Doom 3, some gamers who aren't diehard fans of Doom and Quake began to scoff a little.
Unofficial Halo 2 Map Videos From E3
DiehardSouljah has posted links to three videos in the High Impact Halo forum; they look like sneak peeks at some of Bungie's as-yet-unreleased Halo 2 maps due out later this summer. They're shakeycam footage, most probably from the E3 floor. Thanks supernostro for the heads-up in #hih.
'Never Admit It's A Game'
East Bay Express has a story called The Buzzmakers about 4orty 2wo, the studio responsible for the ARG (Alternative Reality Gaming) marketing promotions for the film A.I. (The Beast) and Halo 2 (The Haunted Apiary/I Love Bees).
There's a lot of detail in this nine-page story, including how staffers spent months tracking down working payphones.
Giving New Maps Short Shrift
Kiziko has a very short E3 hands-on with the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack. It's unclear whether they mean all nine maps or just the four so-far released, but as far as we know Bungie is allowing all nine to be played at the show.
Random Rants For E3 2005
So much has gone on recently that it's almost impossible to write a complete piece on each one before the news recedes into obscurity. Here are a few items of note and my take on each, then, before things pile up so high I can't get out from under them:
By their prices, you shall know them
From The E3 Floor: Pizza, Beer And Zombies
Mnemesis has posted an update in the HBO forum from the floor of E3: he says Bungie is showing off the next five multiplayer maps, Stubbs the Zombie by Wideload is "gritty, dark, hilarious, and really fun to play" and Major Nelson is a together guy who knows good pizza. Thanks Louis Wu at HBO for the linkage. Wu is on his way to E3 as we speak.
Xbox Games Will Need 'Recompilation' For Xbox 360
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Microsoft says Xbox games will need to be recompiled to work with Xbox 360. This would seem to indicate-- although it is not yet clear-- that even your old games will have to be repurchased in order to run-- unless the console can recompile it by itself, which seems extremely unlikely. Not good news for those banking on this feature.