They Likes 'Em Crispy, And So Do We
Fuhrman has put up a batch of photos from Louis Wu's latest LANfest, Crisp Death.
Death by intelligence.
Making The Next Xbox
1Up has a story that brings together a "panel of Xperts" as they put it to talk about what Microsoft needs to do in order to make the sequel to the Xbox a success. One of the Xperts is none other than Alexander "The Man" Seropian, cofounder of Bungie and founder of Wideload Games, scheduled to release a Halo engine game next year.
Halo 2 Released To Certification
The big news in the latest weekly update by Frankie is that, barring any serious bugs, Bungie is essentially finished with Halo 2. They've sent the game out to be certified ready for production.
While short, this update is full of quite a bit of interesting information about clans, about XBL, and even a tidbit about single player:
August 13, 2004. Originally at Bungie.net.
Note: Frankie is out of town this week and the Bungie Princess is our special guest author.. (I'm just posting it). Now brace yourselves for the most fact-filled top-secret-spoiling update EVER!...
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE - August 13th
Frankie’s in Mexico and I’m in charge! So, listen up…we are taking a break from all that blah-blah about Halo 2 and we are discussing a truly important topic…HAIR! I will be devoting several hours of my Saturday to some serious “diva-time� along side my best friend at Joel’s salon. There will be lots of girly-girl talk and wine to be had for all. The only dilemma is what color should I do my hair? Anyone who has known me longer than about a month knows I absolutely love to change my hair color. It is a running joke around here. I am currently blonde, but am thinking it is time for a change. In the spirit of by-passing all that typical video game talk I think we should devote a forum to helping me choose my new hair color. But seriously, I am supposed to be giving you some weekly information about our big project over here in Bungieland.
Biggest news of the week involves the rancid Bungie refrigerator. We are bursting at the seams over here and need to find some space to sit some more people helping out on the game. So, I figured what the heck why not the fridge…that is some prime real estate. But seriously, the dev team doesn’t know it yet but they have lost the battle of the fridge and it’s pungent odor will soon be seeping onto their side of the room.
I ate dinner with the boys tonight (frightening). Have you ever had the pleasure of attacking a taco bar with 70 hungry men…hhhmmmm, let me be the one to tell you this is not a pretty site. Amanda has quickly learned that food is the precious commodity in this office. The way to a man’s heart is most certainly through his stomach. We will be making the ever dreaded Costco trip next week to stock up on goodies. The people at Costco, employees and customers alike, hate me. When I roll up to the check out lane with two industrial size carts stacked to the point of towering over my head and a flat bed stock piled with beer in tow…let’s just say I am not typically greeted with a warm “How are you?� but rather an overwhelmed look of panic.
So, my week has not solely revolved around food and nasty refrigerators. In addition to feeding the masses, Amanda has been hard at work helping Harold keep a running inventory of about a thousand computers…man, these guys are expensive. She has also called all over the world in search of elusive Xboxes from other countries…so if you have one that you don’t need, feel free to send it in…kidding. I just got the 2nd pass of the art book back…looking very cool guys...keep your eyes open come November 9th (oh yeah and Halo 2 will be on shelves as well). The rest of my time this week was spent modeling Dunn’s ever-growing collection of crazy hats. I have been a cowgirl, a gardener and Frank Sinatra so far.
Weekend News Roundup
Chibi Master Chief Hits The Tokyo Scene
The Gaming Age Forums has a thread with comments and pictures from the Tokyo Game Show. Therein you can observe some of the peculiarly Japanese wrinkles on the way Halo 2 is being promoted, such as the "chibi" Master Chief image and a possible set of Halo Kubrick figures. Thanks goatrope. Just don't ask about the part where it thrusts...
The Waiting Game
Frankie is in Japan at the Tokyo Game Show, running errands for Pete Parsons, discovering Korean delicacies, and in generally bemoaning how Halo 2 is so close to finished, there are even people at Bungie with nothing to do. Horror of horrors!
Bachelor's Guide To The Halo 2 Launch
When we posted this, nearly two years ago, thinking about the Halo launch was merely a pleasant fantasy; now, with scant weeks left to go, it's almost a practical checklist. So, we repost c0ld vengeance's Halo 2: A Bachelor's Guide. We still might actually do this.
Seventh Column Site Returning, Piece By Piece
The night-owls among you may have noticed that Bungie.net is at least partially back online, and with it, the new My Groups feature that replace the Chapters that were part of the old Seventh Column site seems to be nearly ready. Links to look for existing Groups or create new ones are on the Community page of Bungie.net along with the forums. Right now there's only one Group theme; a theme builder is coming soon according to Achronos.
September 24, 2004. Originally at Subnova.
This week's update comes from Frankie who is in Tokyo showing off Halo 2 at TGS. He has spotty internet access so I'm posting this for him. Enjoy!
BUNIGE WEEKLY UPDATE
So Parsons comes up to me and he says, 'Frankie, do you like kimchee?' But more on that later.
BUNIGE WEEKLY UPDATE
So Parsons comes up to me and he says, 'Frankie, do you like kimchee?' But more on that later.
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?
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.
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.