There Is No 'Z' In Blackstar
Over at Truth and Rationalization, prometheus continues his focus on the Halo moviemaking community with an interview of Blackstar of Blackstar Productions.
In other news:
Death by intelligence.
Bungie Studios Moving Into New Digs
Over at Bungie Sightings, mnemesis points out a King County Journal story that says that Bungie Studios will be moving out of the Microsoft Millennium Campus in Redmond and into the Kirkland Hardware Store, previously home to the longest-running retail business in the area, open from 1890 to 2000. The move is apparently designed to alleviate space concerns and "maintain camaraderie".
Sergeant A.J. Johnson
Has anyone else noticed or does Sergeant Johnson appear to be more of a badass than the Master Chief? Note the following:
1. He survived the fall of Reach
2. He survived Halo
3. He was attacked by Infection Stage Flood spores and lived.
4. He helped the Master Chief commandeer the Covenant cruiser, Ascendant Justice, and lived through that.
5. He survived Delta Halo (that can be argured of course)
6. He survived being on the Covenant homeworld.
7. He is just a hardcore Marine, who is a whole lot tougher than those ODST troopers.
But of this is just my opinion.
When Xboxes Are Free, Halo Movies Will Be Art
Prometheus addresses the concern that so many bad Halo machinimas may end up being made that no one will pay attention anymore. However, he thinks that original writing and high production values will keep the wheat and the chaff sufficiently separated that this won't happen.
Will There Be Too Many Halo Movies?
Prometheus writes in his blog that he believes that originality will be the quality that separates wortwhile Halo machinima from the rest, and will prevent the market from being flooded with so much low-quality work that no one will pay any attention to Halo machinima at all.
2005 Video Gamers League Schedule To Include Halo 2
Jeff Gross of the Video Gamers League writes that they have recently announced a $20,000 gaming tournament that will include Halo 2. VGL is entering its fifth season, and the schedule for this year includes events in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando, San Francisco and Chicago. More information is available from VGL's website.
Run, Arby, Run
Mike Miller continues his Legendary Walkthrough of Halo 2; up this time is Quarantine Zone. Like the previous level, Sacred Icon, mostly he just runs right through it, and wonders why, with air transport available, the Covenant don't think of that themselves:
I guess there's no point in wondering why the phantom didn't just drop us off here to begin with. The Covenant probably execute their officers for asking questions like that.
Fear And Loathing In Blood Gulch
Nick at HaloDev has announced Prometheus, a map editor for Halo engine games. The editor isn't quite available yet, but information about the upcoming application is available at HaloDev; the team says they expect to provide updates on their progress at the site about twice a month.
Practice Scrimage
Hey everyone, hope yall are having a good day and everything that comes with it. :) My clan is working on improving itself, we have been practicing, practicing....and well you know...more practice. We wanna put our scrimages up to the test by having formidable apponents to face. Its nothing serious, its just a test run for all, its also a great chance for another clan who may wanna test there scrimages against us. I invite all who are willing to give this a chance and get some practice in. We are serious gamers, this will be serious practice, so only serious gamers need to apply.
News Roundup For A Slow Monday
Something Old, Something New
Big update with screenshots at H2CE, bringing some old maps to the new game. Thanks Katana at demented puppy dot com.
Cheaters Never Win... At Least, Not For Much Longer
Frankie's Weekly What's What Update is mostly about what Bungie is doing to deter cheaters and how close they are to releasing the fixes they've been working on. Very soon now. There's also a mention of the DLC-- just that it will be announced well in advance, and be made available to users of Xbox Live and other Halo 2 owners as well.
Marginally Improved Graphics, Indeed
Penny Arcade's side of the Humpday Challenge debacle is up now; responses come in both verbal and visual forms. Tycho thought that Bungie's triumphant victory would make up for their initial review of Halo 1..
Kill Covies For Christ
Louis Wu at HBO noticed, and Major Nelson also commented on, this article at the Christian Post about using Halo 2's storyline as an example for, and even the Xbox Live communicator as a vehicle for, as they put it, "testifying the faith"-- despite their apparent disapproval of the ga
If Sun Tzu Could Have Played Halo
Colin Plamondon wrote to let us know about a new series of Halo instructional videos at TalkXbox. The series will have seven episodes, and was created by Eisen Feuer, the new strategy video maker for TalkXbox. Online right now is an introductory trailer for the series.