Claude "Louis Wu" Errera of HBO, the "ultimate Halo fansite" adds a few sticks to Jack Thompson's bonfire his input in the latest addition to the CBS interview series on videogame violence. (The pic of Wu with the Battle Rifle model adds a lot to the presentation--Ed.)
James "Fiend" Schneider of Major League Gaming has interviewed Alfonso "AYB Fonzi" Chartier. Fonzi and his teammates came to the fore with the launch of Halo 2. Thanks Dolbex.
Microsoft's J. Allard commented rather off-handedly, in an article about the size of Microsoft Game Studios, that Bungie will double in size (currently 65 people) in order to work on the "next installment" of Halo. Thanks Louis Wu at HBO. (Remember, though, Allard isn't technically Bungie, even if Bungie is technically Microsoft --Ed.)
CBS News is putting up a series of interviews on videogame violence in their weekly GameCore column, shooting a battery of questions at various figures in order to compare the answers. First up was attorney Jack Thomson, who routinely sues companies whose games are mentioned in conjunction with violent acts by teens who play those games.
The Junkyard has broken its three-month Halo spotlight silence with a new piece on Ross "Oz" Mills; check it out. Thanks Mhaddy. Also, the Junkyard's opinion piece on the Xbox power cord replacement program by Jake "Evergreen98" Billo is also worth looking at, if you haven't already.
[image:9096 left hspace=5 vspace=5 border=0]Only slightly more than three years have passed since the Xbox brought Microsoft into the console wars, and the next generation, if rumors are to be believed, will be upon us by the 2005 holiday season. Ahh.. Xbox. A console of infinite games... assuming they're all made by Bungie.
Here's a look at recent items about upcoming consoles, as well as goings-on in the Bungieverse:
...the lazy do news roundups. Here's what didn't quite manage to slip past us in the past few days, hours, or even weeks:
Filefront has interviewed Steve Collins, CTO at Havok, the company that makes the Havok physics engine used in many games, including Halo 2. An important note is that their measuring stick for what is "right" is what game designers think feels correct, not necessarily scientific accuracy.
... that there aren't more items in a day than we have minutes (to say nothing of hours) to post them. So here's what happened when I wasn't looking:
At the Halo Story Page, Mnemesis interviewed Bungie's Joe Staten on the Halo storyline, setting to rest some old debates, such as who really released the Flood, where the other SPARTANs are and whether or not it's important, the relationship between the Forerunners and the Flood, and time travel. Joe also adds some information about the HSP Timeline. A must-read.
Now that everyone is back from vacation, the gaming world is moving and shaking again. Here's a look around at items relating to Bungie, Halo, or the Xbox:
Chris Butcher talks about the difference between synchronous and asynchronous network schemes with regards to Marathon, Halo 1 and Halo 2 at How Stuff Works. Thanks HBO.