Eastbeast314 posted up links from Let's Kill Dave to the PPT presentations at this year's GDC, as offered by Microsoft. The Graphics Track (caution, direct link to large file!) includes a portion called "HDR The Bungie Way" about HDR lighting.
Despite the fact that the Campaign mode of Halo 2 was extremely fun -- in fact, it's my favorite part of the game --, there are still some things I disliked about it.
Gravemind wrote an "Open Letter To Bungie" offering feedback on Halo 1 and Halo 2, with suggestions for changes and inclusions in Halo 3.
San Jose Mercury News columnist Dean Takahashi, also author of books on the Xbox and Xbox 360, has a new column up saying that a small team of developers within Bungie Studios, led by Jason Jones and Chris Butcher, aren't working on Halo 3. They're working on something else:
Yesterday I responded to Ozymandias' reasons why he couldn't endorse modchipping for adding new functionality, such as that supported by the excellent Xbox Media Center software, because it would harm Microsoft's business model, in which they subsidize the hardware and depend on you buying software and accessories. The assumption here is that every hacker who uses his Xbox for running Linux and XBMC spends less time gaming and buys fewer games. The real allegation there, of course, is that all hackers are really interested in is pirating games.
Ozymandias listed one other reason he thought someone might want to modchip an Xbox, and, not surprisingly, he doesn't condone this one, either.
Click "read more" below from the front page for the entire article.
Yesterday I mentioned Ozymandias' blog entry where he lists several reasons why an Xbox owner might want to modchip his console, as well as why he, in his own personal opinion, apart from being a Microsoft employee, could not approve of such actions.
The first was fairly clean-cut: because it enables piracy. Fair enough. Ozymandias then went a bit off the deep end on the piracy issue, which I commented on yesterday.
Another reason he says an owner might want to install a modchip would be to run other kinds of non-piracy related code on the Xbox. Some people just want to run Linux on an Xbox for the heck of it. Far more people are interested in the free Xbox Media Center software, which makes the media center features of even the newer Xbox 360, coupled with Windows Media Center edition, look like a black and white television with rabbit aerials.
Ozymandias' objection to the homebrew crowd is that it breaks Microsoft's business model. Poor Microsoft!
Click "read more" below from the front page for the entire article.
A lot of things about the console that would become the Xbox 360 were not clear before it was released.
Would it be backwards compatible-- yes or no? The answer ended up being... sort of.
What will the plot of Halo 3 do to the franchise? Is the secret in the novels, the I Love Bees radio drama, or (gasp) in the games themselves?
This series looks at what's happened so far in the Halo universe and what hints it might offer to what's going to happen in the "conclusion to this story arc" they call Halo 3.
Microsoft doesn't want you to modify your Xbox or Xbox 360. It voids your warranty. It might let you pirate games, meaning less revenue for Microsoft and its partners. You might use it to run Linux. Or you might use it to cheat on Xbox Live.
Is it possible for Microsoft to stop modding? Should they try? Or is there a way to engage with the modding community in a way that makes sense for everyone?
