Halo 2 Developers Are Wired
According to SketchFactor and Louis Wu at HBO, there's a massive 9-page feature on the Halo 2 development team in this month's issue of Wired. HBO promises scans once the issue is off the shelves.
Death by intelligence.
Playing Halo 2 With Red Vs Blue
guS and Burnie have written up their own compendious Halo 2 Preview based on their trip to Bungie, complete with photos of themselves and other Bungie staff and fans, and a nice rundown on maps, vehicles and weapons.
Fireflies Are Entering The Matrix
Anton P. Nym, author of the Enkidu Terminals fan fiction, has been following the I Love Bees ARG quite closely on the Fireflies wiki he's created. In recent developments, "trustworthy" players are apparently being drawn more deeply into the game, interacting directly with Melissa. He's posted about it in our bees forum.
Halo 2 Shows Up On Games Radar
GamesRadar has put up a two-page piece on Halo 2 from EDGE magazine, talking about how great multiplayer is, and repeating the complaints of journalists worldwide who wanted a peek at the single-player campaign and haven't been able to cajole any information out of Bungie. Editor's Note: longtime Bungiefen might recognize the "grey, hairless" beast pictured in concept art in one cubicle that's mentioned in the article. Another Marathon-Halo crossover?
The Gun Pointed At The Head Of Microsoft
Microsoft employee Andy Pennell asks in his blog whether or not the launch of Halo 2 on November 9 will affect Microsoft's overall corporate productivity. Although XBL won't work on the company's network, apparently System Link games and tunnelers do. In fact, one of the comments on Andy's blog mentions a tunneler we seem to have missed before now: Xlink Kai.
Xbox Live Coop Rumors Persist
A GameStop manager identifying himself as tenaciousdave, who has apparently made a habit of posting about the annual store conferences he attends, has indicated that Microsoft is telling retail operations that Halo 2 will have cooperative play over the network, a feature that has in no way been confirmed by Bungie. Take it with some salt, people. Thanks Rams at HaloPlanet.
Get Your Free Plantronics Halo 2 Headsets
HaloTV.net is giving away 10 Plantronics Halo 2 headsets for free; details are in their Headset Giveaway Forum. Editor's Note: That forum thread just mentions the real giveaway thread; to be able to see that thread, you need to register on the site.
Big Toys For Big Boys
A site called The Man Room has done up a preview of Halo 2's vehicles, and promises that a preview of weapons will come tomorrow. Thanks HaloPlanet.
That's Not The Sound Of Silence
Marty O'Donnell has been interviewed by Electronic Gaming Monthly; the three-page article is online at 1Up.com. Fun fact: Halo 2 has about 15,000 lines of random combat dialogue. So far.
While most of Bungie has been mum lately about the single player campaign, Marty does reiterate how his sound work is contributing to it, and what Bungie is trying to do in the second game:
WorthPlaying Previews Halo 2
WorthPlaying has put up a two part (one, two) preview of Halo 2. Thanks HaloPlanet.
Bungie Collates Weekly Update Q&A Session
The impromptu interview that SketchFactor and Frankie conducted with fans last weekend has been collected on a question & answer page that serves as last week's update.
Bungie Update: Ask Frankie And SketchFactor
This week's Bungie Update took a slightly different format: Frankie and SketchFactor offered a question and answer session (excepting those on the story or campaign mode).
Get Ready For Halo 2
Xbox.com has posted a page it calls the Halo 2 Readiness Guide. Most of it, of course, is there to urge you to buy Halo 2, or, more specifically, to pre-order the special edition (as if anyone needed to be told).
Baby Blast The Frog Core
FrogBlast makes an appearance (sort of) and Baby Master Chief gets a Halo 2-style makeover in the latest Halo Babies comic. Thanks mrsmiley.
September 17, 2004. Originally at Bungie.net.
Bungie Weekly Update : Special Q&A Edition
For the latest Weekly Update we decided to mix things up a bit and try something a little different. With poor Frankie stranded in LA going on his fourth day without sleep and everyone else in the studio madly crunching away on the game, a traditional update looked very unlikely. So, instead of Frankie's usual insightful and witty commentary on the latest happenings within the studio, the forums were used to take questions from Bungie.net members. The flood gates were opened around noon and within 2 hours we had over 16 pages of questions. Then, for the next hour, Frankie and myself went into New Mombasa and did our best to answer as many questions as we could.
To make things easier to digest for those who weren't here to experience it live yesterday, I'm recapping the whole thing here in this handy top story. And, as an added bonus, I'm even going back and answering a few additional questions! (though obviously there are dozens and dozens that we can't or won't be able to answer just yet...)
So, without further ado, here's the special Q&A addition of the Bungie Weekly Update!
Q
KPaul asks: Does Shishka still have that evil look in his eye despite the fact that he's working at his dream job?
A
Shishka is as evil as ever.. in fact, he's got a new nickname courtesy of Frankie : Evil Lord British (look it up). Though his eyes are now mere narrow slits due to his lack of sleep and being overworked like a kid in a Cathy Lee sweatshop.
Q
TRfeuer asks: uhmmm...exactly how many guns will be usable in multiplayer?
A
We're not able to give a specific quantity for this, but if you do some research with all the coverage from the recent Beta, you'll see quite a few covered. (the latest reveals are things like the Covenant Carbine, the Covenant "Beam Rifle" (aka Cov Sniper Rifle), the Brute Shot, Magnum (pistol), etc..)
Q
Sticky Fingaz asks: Can I block the plasma sword?
A
No, you can dodge it, but there's no block button. Quick horizontal dodging is essential. And you need to remember that they can dart at you vertically very quickly.