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Bungie Day On X-Play -- Celebrate Bungie's 20th Birthday, Hip Hip Hooray!

Fri, 8 Jul 2011 11:11:00 -0700

X-Play is celebrating Bungie Day on the house that Halo built's 20th birthday in this video, hosted by the ever-lovable Morgan Webb. Watch the evolution of Bungie as a company as well as the "giant, ravenous fanbase" that has supported them throughout the years below. Also: Flaming blue helmets, as modeled in the video by none other than yours truly.

Sadly Bungie Day has come and gone, taking the ability to procure blue flames and steaks with it, but Bungie's legacy as a community-focused development studio will soldier on. So pour yourself a toast, pick up a controller, and let's get to it.

MLG Dallas 2010 National Championships Winners Wrap Up - Sunday Funday Report

Mon, 8 Nov 2010 09:34:00 -0800

Just arrived home after a whirlwind of a weekend at the Major League Gaming tournament in Dallas. The best word I can use to describe the event is epic. Over the past three weeks, between Blizzcon and MLG, I've spent a lot of time with my fellow gamers. I can't even begin to express how awesome everyone has been. Especially at MLG and SixJax Gaming. With MLG, where the gamers are competing for huge prizes, they are all so humble and appreciative of fans, and congratulate one another whether they win or lose. "GG" is often seen as an insult in gaming nowadays, something along the lines of "pwned n00b, gg." But at MLG, it was always said with respect, sometimes even with a "well played" afterwards too. I love that about professional gaming. So, with that said, here's a recap of all the fun from Championship Sunday at MLG Dallas 2010.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Going into the Super Smash Bros. Brawl National Championship match, Gnes had lost only one game in the entire tournament. He played Tyrant in the final matches of the day, but Tyrant was no match for the unstoppable force that was Gnes. In a punishing 3-0 victory, Gnes pummeled Tyrant to take home the $12,500 in prize money. The first game was on Battlefield, a 1 stock 64%. Second game was on Brinstar, a 2 stock 124%, and the third game was on Norfair with a 2 stock 91%. Gnes made it look easy and before we all knew it, he was the well deserved MLG National Super Smash Bros. Brawl Champion of 2010.

Tekken 6

I didn't forget about Tekken! Don't rage. The finals in the 1v1 Tekken 6 match between Kor, playing Bob, and Anakin, playing Jack were utterly intense. In the best out of 11 format, Anakin went into the Championship match up 3-0 over Kor in a now extended series from the semifinals. But for Kor it was an uphill battle from the start, and even though he did manage to take two games away from Anakin, the crazy-haired Kor was just no match. Aanakin went on a seven round win streak with a juggle combo rate of 1.286 versus Kor's .429 and took home the win. Along with $12,500 Anakin also received a ridiculous Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion arcade cabinet and a trip to Japan to visit Namco. Sa-weet!

Halo 3

Final Boss with the three-peat! In a best of 11 game format for the title, Final Boss went up against Status Quo with a 3-1 lead to start the series off. The first match, Team Slayer, put them even further ahead with a 50-38 score. In the second game, Pit Capture the Flag, Status Quo took two flags in a row towards the end of the match and beat Final Boss 3-1, putting the series at 4-2. Status Quo was starting to catch up now! But in the next game, a Team Slayer Heretic match, Final Boss made quick work of Status Quo with a score of 50-43. Then, in what would prove to be the final game of the tournament, Guardian Oddball, Status Quo could never hold on long enough to be a threat, even though they were looking good early. The score ended up 212-172 in favor of Final Boss, and thus they became the 2010 Halo 3 MLG National Champions!

Here are some fun facts about Final Boss for winning the Halo 3 MLG National Championship for the third time in a row. Dang. First, they're the only team that has ended as National Champions for every single Halo title in the series. They won for Halo in 2004, Halo 2 in 2007, and now Halo 3 in 2010. They have 4 MLG National Championship titles, from 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010, a 57% National Championship win ratio. One of their members, Ogre2, is now the only player who has been on the team for all of those wins. Meaning, he's the only player in the entire league to exit each game in the Halo franchise as a National Champion. Not only that, but he's the winningest player in all of MLG's history, with 24 Halo tournaments across 3 iterations of the game. And finally, Final Boss is the only team in Halo 3 history to win three back to back tournaments in any season. Congratulations Final Boss for truly dominating this competition.

StarCraft 2

While the Championship set was going on, the room where the StarCraft 2 matches were taking place was almost entirely filled. There were hundreds of fans in there waiting to watch LiquidJinro and Fnatic TT1 face off before the servers went down, and it was really an amazing sight to see. In only its third ever appearance at an MLG event, the ridiculous popularity of StarCraft 2 truly shined through, and that's great! Like I said earlier, the players in the StarCraft 2 tournament are decidedly polite and good sports. They would always shake the hands of their opponents after the games and it was so amazing to see such a large community come together to support StarCraft 2 and its professional players. So after two days of playing through a ridiculously sized 128 person bracket, it was down to just two players: Jinro and TT1. Who would win!?

Technical Difficulties won the StarCraft 2 National Championships! ...Just kidding. In an almost two hour epic struggle with Battle.net, the will of gamers everywhere pulled together to make the servers eventually stop crashing so that Jinro could finally face off against Fnatic TT1. Jinro wasn't messing around when the servers finally came back up though. He took a swift victory using only a one base push of Banshees, Ravens, and Marines to seal the Championship. It was probably the most anticlimactic game of the entire tournament, but after waiting such a long time to be able to play it, I'm sure he just wanted to get it over with. He took the series 4-1 over TT1 and nabbed a hefty $6,250 in prize money, along with the title of the very first StarCraft 2 MLG National Champion.

MLG also did StarCraft 2 players a solid and released most of the tournament replays here for anyone wanting to analyze their favorite pro players, or just catch whatever matches they may have missed. All you have to do is click the more info link in order to download the replay if it's available.

And there you have it! The 2010 MLG National Championships are over, and it truly was a blast to head down to Dallas and see it all go down in person. The MLG staff couldn't have been nicer and they put on a fantastic event as usual. Also a very special thanks to SixJax Gaming for helping me to spread the word about how amazing e-sports can be. Congratulations to all the winners, and stay tuned for an interview from the StarCraft 2 Champion, LiquidJinro, along with some of his teammates HuK and TLO!

MLG Dallas 2010 Tournament Wrap-Up - Saturday Report

Sun, 7 Nov 2010 11:17:00 -0800

MLG Dallas's National Championship Sunday has begun at Major League Gaming's 2010 tournament!

Click here for the Halo 3 stream.

Click here for the StarCraft 2 stream.

The early matches of the tournaments began late Friday evening and kept rolling along Saturday. There were definitely some major upsets in the StarCraft 2 scene, but zerglings weren't the only thing to keep me occupied at MLG Dallas. There was also a huge Halo 3 tournament going on, and the brackets there were absolutely intense. Things will keep rolling along today, but here's my wrap up of the hottest Halo 3 and StarCraft 2 happenings from Saturday of at MLG Dallas.

HALO 3

There were several notable things that happened in the Halo 3 tournament Saturday. First and foremost, Instinct and Final Boss both made it to finals. Congrats to them! Instinct pulled off an extremely narrow win against Triggers Down in the Winners Bracket semifinals. When the matches between them were tied 2-2, in a best out of five tournament format,
Instinct won a Team Slayer Amplified 50-47 to take the set. The power of Roy and Cloud combined was no match for Triggers Down.

And then came the Final Boss matches. Final Boss was playing Status Quo in the semifinals and were down for most of the first match but managed to eek out ahead in the end for a 1-0 lead. In their next match, Slayer Pit, the teams were tied at 47 for a good while. With only twenty seconds left, Final Boss took the lead 48-47 which caused Status Quo to come out of hiding for an all out assault. A well shot rocket miraculously landed Status Quo a 50-49 win to tie the match at 1-1.

The final match of the set allowed the true colors of Final Boss to shine through. In a King of the Hill showdown, the score ended up a massive 237-212 due to a sick triple kill from FearItSelf. The win secured Final Boss a spot in the finals against Instinct which will take place today.

STARCRAFT 2

In the third appearance of StarCraft 2 at an MLG tournament, the amount of upsets and amazing games is fierce. Some of the fan favorites fell to the losers bracket and even out of the whole tournament earlier than anyone expected. And in some of the longest games of the evening, Lazarus' Gaming PainUser surprised everyone by stomping all of his opponents, including the legendary LiquidTyler, a.k.a. NonY, a StarCraft Brood War legend, in one of
the final matches of the evening.

In the game between TeamLiquid's Nazgul and Team Evil Geniuses IdrA, the eventual outcome was surprising, but well deserved. TeamLiquid actually spent two weeks coming up with a strategy specifically designed to defeat IdrA in the tournament. Nazgul, TeamLiquid's player manager and one of their weakest players, pulled of the strat brilliantly and managed to send IdrA packing into the losers bracket very early on.

And then, in what came as probably the largest upset of the day, IdrA was defeated by Dignitas' SeleCT in a fairly anticlimatic fashion. When the match was tied at 1-1 in a best of three format, SeleCT used a cheese proxy strat, and with the pressure of two barracks beating at IdrA's front door, IdrA said "GG", the official "I surrender" of StarCraft 2,
and was knocked out of the tournament to everyone's surprise.

In another upset, team fnatic's TTOne, a relatively middle of the pack player, sweeped the German Behemoth Liquid'TLO 2-0 and continued on in the winners bracket. At the end of the day, seven of the top of the eight seeds were either out of the tournament or pushed down into the losers bracket. The four players left in the winners bracket were Liquid'Jinro,
R00t.Slush, Liquid'Machine, and Lazarus Gaming's PainUser.

In the final winners bracket match of the day, between LG PainUser and Liquid'Tyler, when the game was heavily in Tyler's favor, a technical mishap happened. Apparently, the map that the two were playing on was not the one that had been chosen by the players, so they had to restart the game. With his game a bit thrown off over the mishap, Tyler fell to PainUser 2-0 in two epic games lasting almost thirty minutes each.

Things will finish up tonight here in Dallas. The Halo 3 National Champion will be crowned and receive a whopping $100,000 in prize money. And the very first MLG National Starcraft 2 Champion will also be announced.

If you want even more e-sports coverage to fill your weekend, including an interview with the champion of the StarCraft 2 championships and more coverage from the SoCal regional tournament that's going on this weekend, tune in Live On Three. A webcast featuring lead StarCraft 2 broadcaster Marcus "djWHEAT" Grahm, Rod "Slasher" Breslau, and Team Evil Genisus Manager Scott "Sir Scoots" Smith.

Halo 3 MLG Pro Teams To Follow in Dallas

Fri, 5 Nov 2010 10:00:00 -0700

The Major League Gaming National Championships for Halo 3 are right around the corner, so what better time than now to get you acquainted with some teams to watch for this weekend in Dallas? Every group competing at MLG Dallas has had to go through multiple qualifiers throughout the year, and only the best eight are competing for the number one spot and an impressive $100,000 in prize money.

The Halo 3 tournament is set up in a double elimination format. Eight teams of four players each have to win the best of five games per match to proceed. Each match consists of two Team Slayer games, two Multiflag games, and one Team King / Team Oddball game. So without further ado, check out the four teams I'll be to paying close attention to at MLG Dallas:

UoR Final Boss: Ogre2, FearItSelf, Victory X, iGotUrPistola

2010 has been an amazing year for Final Boss. They've placed very high all year and took the finals at both the Raleigh and Washington D.C. MLG tournaments. With this much momentum leading them in to Dallas, Final Boss could definitely go for the "three-peat", and ultimately, the Championship. Final Boss features an impressive roster, including the legendary Halo player Ogre2. As of their victory in Raleigh, Ogre2 was crowned the best player in the history of Halo.

Instinct: Lunchbox, Roy, Elamite Warrior, Cloud

Instinct came into the 2010 pro season like a Banshee out of hell. They won their first two MLG tournaments earlier this year in Orlando and Columbus after switching some team members around. They were eventually taken down by Final Boss in the finals in Raleigh, and the team will probably be looking for some revenge this weekend, so look for a strong performance.

Triggers Down - Best Man, Hysteria, Totz, Neighbor

After an Xbox failure in the 2009 Finals that may or may not have cost them the title, Triggers Down was out for blood this season. They picked up one of Instinct's core members, Neighbor, and did very well in the latter part of this season. They took 3rd place in Raleigh and 2nd place in Washington D.C. Could they move up once more and take the title in Dallas?

Carbon: Walshy, Chig, Soldier 187, SK

Carbon is coming into the Championships as the clear underdogs. They had a rough past few years with placements and members, and this year has been no different. But that doesn't mean they aren't talented. They've played all of the opposing teams before, and could easily make a comeback and take the title away from these big dogs in Dallas.

So there you have it! These are my picks, but Status Quo, Dynasty, UoR Believe the Hype, and UoR Warriors could easily mix things up. Who will you be rooting for? Keep in mind that since Halo: Reach has been released and is slowly being introduced into the Pro Circuit, the chance to become a National Champion of Halo 3 is swiftly dwindling as it gets replaced. Whoever wins this tournament could very well be the last MLG Halo 3 Champion ever crowned.

Stay tuned for my StarCraft 2 players to watch as well. It's gonna be a wild weekend!

MLG National Championships Hitting Dallas This Weekend

Thu, 4 Nov 2010 11:30:00 -0700

The 2010 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit is hitting Dallas this weekend. With it will surely come some of the most exciting championships for the world's greatest competitive games, including Halo 3, StarCraft 2, Tekken 6, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The event is being advertised as "the pinnacle of pro gaming" and I'll be there to give you extensive coverage on some of the best tournament matches happening.

For those that aren't fully aware of what MLG is, let me learn you. MLG was founded in 2002 and is now one of the largest professional video game leagues in the world. That's right kids, some of the people playing in MLG tournaments are professional video game players. And it's no joke, either. Pro players are being awarded six-figure contracts and corporate sponsors are lining up to plaster their logo on to players' jerseys.

But the MLG isn't just for pros. They also hold separate amateur events to help newer players get recognized in the scene. Winning the National Championships in Dallas doesn't exactly come easily. In some cases, such as with Halo 3, only the best of the best are even allowed to compete. These FPS pros must battle it out throughout the year at various qualifiers in order to place in the top eight. Only then may they compete for the National Title in Dallas.

In other cases, like with Starcraft 2, the competition is open for everyone in a massive 128 player bracket. Even the most n00b players have a chance to compete for e-fame and glory against some of the best StarCraft 2 professionals in the world. It's anyone's guess who will become the very first StarCraft 2 MLG Champion this weekend.

Over the next few days I'm going to be getting a bit more in depth behind the players and teams that I'm most looking forward to watching in Dallas (and believe me, the Cowboys won't be one of them, ha!). There are sure to be some major upsets, heartbreaks, and most importantly, pwning, coming this weekend. Stay tuned!

The Halo: Reach "Honor the Code" Taste Test

Fri, 1 Oct 2010 07:23:00 -0700

Shocking but true: I've never drank a Mountain Dew before in my life. My mom never approved of neon yellow soda, and though I'm a full fledged adult now, the rule still applies...unless it's got the Halo: Reach logo plastered all over it.

Yesterday, we received a mysterious Halo: Reach Honor the Code kit courtesy of Mountain Dew and Doritos holding just that: six different flavors of the go-to drink for gamers attempting to pull an all-nighter of Firefight and two bags of chips to round up a healthy, nutritious meal. If that wasn't enough to make us feel special, the kit also included special "Honor the Code" cards of each new Halo: Reach character, describing their positions, background and birth date. (Did you know Commander Carter was a Leo? That means he's super charismatic and positive thinking!)

As fans of Halo: Reach, we thought it appropriate to don our Mark V helmets, reload the assault rifles and take these drinks out for a taste test ride on the company Warthog. We met back at base camp to compile our thoughts and here's what we found.

Mountain Dew "Regular" featuring Noble Team Leader Carter S-259
Classic, surgary flavors with a hint of citrus and a nice, fizzy finish. Just like Commander Carter, there's not much to remark upon but it gets the job done.

Mountain Dew "Voltage" featuring Electronic Warfare Specialist Kat
The bright blue color of Voltage promises a raspberry citrus flavor, but the taste only reminded us of an icy Slurpee made from leftover Halloween candy. There's nothing wrong with that. It was like a handful of glowing plasma grenades stuck to the roof of your mouth--and who doesn't like that?

Mountain Dew "Code Red" featuring Assault Specialist Emile
Oh, Code Red: the soda that every man swears by, because somehow the supposed "cherry" taste adds a unique fruity touch. We may be a team of Spartans hardened by years of alien warfare but the flavor of fruit punch always brings back childhood memories of...whatever Spartans used to do when they were kids. Were they ever kids? I don't know. Code Red is hands down our favorite with its perfect blend of fizzy Needler sharpness and the familiarity of Hawaiian Punch.

Mountain Dew "Diet" flavor featuring Sniper Jun
I kind of feel sorry for Jun S-266 because he got stuck with the diet flavor. What are they saying, that he's fat? He's the hottest guy on the team (aside from Kat with her robot arm). Who likes diet, anyway? This drink just left a bad taste in our mouth from the fake sugar and we gamers don't like the fake stuff. GIVE US OUR GAMES AND GIVE US THE PROPER NUTRIENTS FOR THAT SUGAR HIGH! Regardless, that well-known Mountain Dew kick was as welcoming as stumbling across a fully loaded fuel rod cannon in a horde of dirty Brutes.

Mountain Dew "LiveWire" flavor featuring Heavy Weapons Specialist Jorge
How can you go wrong with tangerine, or the bright, glowing orange color? This bottle of Mountain Dew was the least surprising to taste, thanks to the distinct flavor of tangerine, but still brought a jolt of flavor to the mouth like a well-aimed Spartan Laser. Orange also means Vitamin C, so this drink is healthy...right?

Mountain Dew "White Out" flavor featuring Noble Six
This was the Top Secret drink in the "Honor the Code" kit as a limited edition flavor not available in stores and for "true Mountain Dew fans." The drink promises a smooth citrus flavor, but our soldiers were a little disappointed with the taste. In our books, smooth means sleekly gliding through the air in a Covenant Banshee, but this White Out reminded us of those times when you throw a frag grenade at an approaching Hunter, only to have it bounce harmlessly off his amor: weak.

Mountain Dew "Suicide" flavor
What, you thought we weren't going to mix all the drinks together to create our own suicide flavor? Team impressions of this concoction ranged from the best ("Mmmmm!") to the worst ("I can't drink any more of this.") but everyone agreed: the flavors exploded in our mouths like the burst of colorful birthday party confetti after you successfully shoot a dirty Grunt in the head. Perfect.

More Frequent Halo Releases Planned

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:40:00 -0700

Halo: Reach came out a year after Halo 3: ODST, and there was even less of a gap between Halo: Wars and ODST. Look for this trend to continue.

According to Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer, "There's no explicit strategy that says we're to ship a Halo game every year. I will say I think one Halo game every three years -- which was kind of our old cadence – is probably not frequent enough."

This is not to say that Spencer and company plan to release a Halo title on an annual basis, though.

"I'll just, again, be honest as a gamer. I used to look at annual releases of non-sports games as people just trying to milk me. I figured nobody had enough time to do a good job, and all of the negatives that we would associate with those kinds of scenarios," Spencer told IGN. "Kudos to Activision because they've done a good job building a good game, continuing to release each year and I think the fans feel like it's a good thing that they do that. I think there are some things to learn, some positives and some opportunities, in what they do with that. Obviously they've kept the quality extremely high, which I think is important."

We were playing the original Halo around the office the other day, and everyone was struck with how little has actually changed from the first game to the current one. Sure, there are new weapons, improved AI and cosmetic changes, but the original's gameplay is so locked in, so flawless, that there has never been a need to do much but tweak it. Even given the small changes to the game, the novelty, new levels, and story are enough to sustain Halo through yearly incarnations. So, I welcome annual additions to the Halo Universe.

How about you guys? Is there enough Halo for you?

Source: IGN

Missing Master Chief?

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:00:00 -0700

It’s a rare and gutsy move for a franchise to shift its focus away from an iconic – and more importantly, marketable – protagonist in favor of exploring some tangental element of the gameworld. Before the unique aesthetic or hallmark location that identifies titles like Fallout or BioShock, an identifiable hero can make or break a franchise. Certainly, games such as Halo or God War or Devil May Cry would somehow be made lesser by the absence of Master Chief, Kratos or Dante...Without their familiar brand of blood-letting, the series would inevitably stumble and falter, right?

Or would they?

In addition to the recent announcement that the Devil May Cry reboot will be dumping it’s white-haired, red-cloaked demon slayer for a younger, less identifiable iteration, rumors continue to circulate that future titles in the God of War franchise may do away with the face-painted Kratos altogether…Now, however, these series need only look toward Halo: Reach for the nod of approval that the strategy can work. While Halo Wars did part ways with series’ mainstay, Master Chief, it also ventured into a completely new genre, the RTS. Halo ODST never managed to feel like a fully fleshed title, a brief, self-contained and ultimately insubstantial chapter in the Halo universe that fans would hardly consider an essential part of the canon.

But with Reach, Bungie has told an epic story of tragedy and invasion without the iconic figure that had previously driven the core experience forward. Yet, as we battle through the final, dramatic moments of Reach, alongside our fellow comrades in Noble Team, we’re forced to ask ourselves an important question: Do we even miss Master Chief?

The answer, quite frankly, is no…Oddly, the lack of the green-clad SPARTAN seems to have both clarified and focused the story. Where the Chief’s journey often bordered on the confusing and utterly incomprehensible – virtually requiring the Halopedia to keep the details straight – the shift toward a more grounded, character-driven experience has proven wildly successful. Throughout the course of Reach, you’ll no doubt come to bond with your ill-fated teammates, and the sense of world creation – now rooted in a single, collapsing bastion for humanity – pulls the player into the narrative far more effectively than any scenario set against the dull, purple walls of a Covenant cruiser. Factor into this a vastly improved engine and a number of design choices that make the combat considerably more harrowing, and you’ve got an experience that eclipses lesser titles in the franchise.

While we do miss the singular bond between the Chief and Cortana, the vestiges of Reach’s story, heartbreaking and more tightly told, leave Master Chief at the very fringes of our imagination, floating through space until the inevitable Halo 4 reunites us all…In the meantime, with so many of us here at G4 blasting our way through Reach, we thought we’d pose the question around the office and see what the others thought…

Do you miss Master Chief?

“Didn’t miss him for a second. I like Master Chief, but he’s an invincible cipher at this point. He’s never going to die, he’s a gaming icon, and he’s utterly predictable because once a character reaches that level of commercial recognizability, it’s rare to see his handlers do anything interesting with him ever again. Reach uses unknowns who are by definition doomed, and essentially replicates the blank slate of Master Chief with Noble 6....The placement of Reach in the timeline also allows it to dovetail into the opening scene of Halo 1 and creates a nice self-contained narrative loop for the Bungie era of Halo. Where the series goes from here will inevitably be seen as a separate endeavor, as it should be.” – Matt Keil

“I’ve only played around 10 minutes of Reach so far, but as a fan of ODST, I think not having Master Chief has really widened the whole universe in the best possible way. The story isn’t just about one singular character’s journey, but a refreshing variety of characters, narratives and different personalities. In a way, it’s gotten more human for me, knowing that there are different roles that we can play in the world. That being said, I still miss Master Chief but that’s because I have some sort of weird crush on him.” -- Moye Ishimoto

“I don’t care about no Master Chief! I follow the stories in most video games I play, but not Halo. I’ve completed Halos 1, 2, 3 and I really liked all three games, but I don’t think I’ve watched a single cut-scene all the way through in any of them. I don’t even get why Halo has cut-scenes to be honest. It seems to me the story goes like this: I’m a dude with a lot of guns, and these aliens want to kill me. I murder them. Sometimes, I drive a Warthog. The End. It’s probably because I don’t care for Sci Fi as a genre, or because we never see Master Chief, but I just do not give a rat’s ass about his absence. I mean, I’m a dude in a suit of power armor in Reach, so what’s the difference? (I’m not proud of these views.)” – Stephen Johnson

“As a diehard fan of the Halo series, I am thoroughly enjoying being able to experience the universe through a new set of more developed characters. Bungie has evolved not only as game makers, but also as story tellers and the emotional tale of Reach is proof of that. By breaking away from the Master Chief storyline, which I am still a fan of, they have been able to shake some of the pre-conceived notions gamers have about a Halo game and give fans a new and reenergized experience.” – JP Shub

Master Chief Is Actually In Halo: Reach

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:20:00 -0700

I know! You thought it couldn't be done! That it would never happen! That this game absolutely, positively would not have Master Chief in it at all! Well, that's not entirely true. We've confirmed at Gamescom 2010 that Master Chief will be in Halo: Reach ... just not in the way you're probably expecting.

Bungie has an elaborate "Player Reward System" in the game, where you earn credits from everything you do in the game, even working in Forge. You can spend these hard-earned credits on armor upgrades that become available to you as you level up. These items are opened up by the community at large as well, and Community Lead Brian Jarrard's hypothetical was example was, "When the community collectively kills one billion grunts, a new tier of armory options might become available."

You can choose to save your credits and purchase special items like Armor Effects and Firefight voices. It determines whose voice you hear while you're playing first person in Firefight. These brand new, newly-recorded voices include Buck (yes, Nathan Fillion is back), Sergeant Johnson ("Suck it up, Marine!"), Cortana (that'll be strange) and ... Master Chief. In fact, Master Chief has more lines in this game than he did in any of the other Halo titles. "You're going to hear him talk more than he ever talked in the original Halo games."

So, there you have it. There's some brand-new Master Chief content in Halo: Reach, but you'll have to pay (by playing) to earn it.

Can't Wait For Reach? How About a Halo 3 Remix While You Wait

Sun, 2 May 2010 11:14:00 -0700

Well this is sort of random, but anything Halo-related is extremely welcome, especially considering we’re all suffering from Halo: Reach Beta Fever! The DJ duo known as Tritonal have remixed Michael Salvatori’s “Never Forget” from Halo 3 into an utterly delicious trance groove. Even better is that they are offering it up as a free download! Grab a glowstick and an Unggoy dance partner and come inside for a listen.

Tritonal is Chad Cisneros and Dave Reed and the two of them have taken an already majestic and familiar piece of music and morphed it into an epic trance anthem that should instantly appeal to both Halo gamers and trance aficionados alike. Thinking back on it, this seems like such an obvious piece to give the trance treatment to, I am surprised no one in the pro-DJ realm had thought of it yet.

Watch Larger Version of this Video

The base melody will be familiar to anyone who has booted up a copy of Halo 3 (I think there are a couple of you out there) and the quick addition of trance instrumentation and rhythms makes the vibe come together perfectly. There’s no reason other DJ’s should hesitate in mixing this into their sets for something unique sounding.

The track is being offered as a free download from Mugasha, for just a newsletter sign up. Now I don’t have my Halo 3 soundtrack sitting with me, so I can’t check to see if “Never Forget” was a co-composition between Salvatori and Marty O’Donnell, so I will at least name check Mr. O’Donnell here anyway, because he has been very cool to me on the occasions I have met him and its hard not to mention him when writing about the music of the Halo ‘verse.

Ah how I love Twitter, for without it, I wouldn’t have known about this remix. If you are into these kinds of sounds you might want to follow @Mugasha or the guys behind @Tritonal. You can stay in touch with me as well via @LinerNotes.

Last Chance To Enter Our Halo: Reach Early Beta Sweepstakes

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:21:00 -0700

You need to hurry: G4 is giving away early Halo: Reach Beta keys, and here's your chance to get yours. We're dropping twenty codes for Halo: Reach fans who want early access to the multiplayer beta. This will let you enter the fight this weekend, before the May 3rd beta release. And all you need to do to win is enter our sweepstakes and be lucky enough to be chosen. Easy, right? But you need to be quick.

The entry period ends at 3:00PM PT on April 29, 2010, that's only a few hours away! So visit our sweepstakes page now.

The Future Of Bungie -- Halo Creator Talks New Games And Signing With Activision

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Activision and Bungie dropped a bombshell surprise on the video game industry early this morning when the two announced a 10-year partnership for a brand-new intellectual property (Bungie, Microsoft and Sony have all since issued statements). In this case, however, Bungie will own their next project, while Activision's signed up to publish.

Bungie is about to move into a post-Halo world.

So far, Bungie's been mum about specifics. They're willing to say it's an "action game," but that's about it. I spent some time on the phone with Bungie community and franchise director Brian Jarrard this morning to discuss the post-Halo future of Bungie, a future now tied to Activision.

Brian Jarrard: Sorry, I'm a few minutes late.

G4: It's okay. I expect you guys are a little busy today.

Jarrard: Yeah, been making calls for a while now.

G4: Well, you guys are just calling and individually giving out Halo: Reach codes.

Jarrard: I thought that's what you wanted to talk about. Here, let me read your code to you. B-Y...

G4: Give me the sense of what you're feeling right now. Is it relief? You guys said this was a nine-month deal, so where is your head at? Where's Bungie's head at?

Jarrard: Honestly, it is exciting for us to know that our future is solid now, that these crazy ambitious ideas we have for our next big game universe and sort of the next decade of what we want to do can now be a reality. That's a huge burden off our shoulders, and I know for people like Jason [Jones, co-founder of Bungie], it's going to be reinvigorating to know that we don't need to worry about that anymore. We can just fully focus on what Bungie does best and that's building out what will be our next big universe.

Just for perspective, the long-form agreement for this contract just got signed this week. We decided that we needed to get the news out there because we can't keep things like this under wraps; that never seems to work.

G4: You guys were worried about a leaky ship at some point?

Jarrard: Yeah, and, you know, we also talked a lot about this -- it's important to us that we quickly get our heads right back down and finish working on Reach and we didn't want this to turn into something that would start to overshadow our beta our become an issue at E3. As soon as the deal was 100% final and signed, it just made sense to go and get it out there, and we just wanted to get right back to business and keep making games.

G4: You talked about Jason working on the game already. Did not having a deal make the development process on that so far difficult until the ink was signed and you knew exactly where this game was going?

Jarrard: I don't know; not entirely. In this state, I think it certainly comes up [with Bungie's] leadership, in terms of just making sure that they can make the whole greater studio feel confident that when Reach is finished that we have something to move onto and everything is great and secure and that we're still marching towards world domination, so there's a portion of our leadership team that's definitely been working super hard to make that happen.

Honestly, if I had to speak for Jason, I'm sure he doesn't lose a lot of sleep over it because he assumed people would sort it out, and he's just going to keep his head down. But I do know the whole studio now collectively can just rest easy and know that when Reach is done, that we have a great relationship, a great framework and some great plans to do some really awesome work.

It's just peace of mind, I think, for the broader team now. I don't think there was any doubt that it was gonna happen, but not only do we have that stuff secure, but we were able to pretty much get the exact deal that we sought to get and retain all the things that are most important to Bungie. That alone has been super exciting and invigorating, as well.

"I don't think there are many developers out there who could demand this type of agreement and get it"

G4: Crucial to that has been the discussion of the few studios that can retain control over the IP. Would you guys have signed with anyone if you couldn't have retained that full control?

Jarrard: That was one of our most important criteria. In fact, when we divested from Microsoft back in 2007, we drafted a constitution for our studio that the whole team signed. One of our articles states that we will own what we create, and it's a core tenet of our studio, and it wasn't something that we were really willing to negotiate or budge on at all. Ultimately, that's one of the reasons why Activision ended up being the final partner that we landed with, because they were able to come to an agreement that still met the terms that are important to us. And, in return, we certainly feel that they're one of the leading publishers in the entire industry, and when it comes to taking our next big game and bringing it to market in a huge way and getting us the biggest possible audience across multiple platforms, it was hard for us to find a better partner than that.

G4: It sounds like, from everything about this, from the 10-year thing to control of the IP, you have very ambitious plans. How many publishers could really even sign up for something like this?

Jarrard: Not very many. Not really. We did talk to a lot of different people over the past year, but, yeah, ultimately, you're right. There's just not many people that are going to be in a position to want to take that kind of a leap. It's a massive -- it's a pretty landmark agreement, just in terms of the tenure and scope and ambition but also the fact that Bungie does get to retain IP ownership, and we are still independent, and we do have creative control. There's just a lot of great things in place that are pretty unprecedented in a traditional publisher-developer relationship. So, you're right; I don't think there's many publishers out there who could even be at the scale of this type of agreement, but I also don't think there's very many developers out there who could demand this type of agreement and get it.

G4: The 10-year part of the deal is one aspect people are latching onto pretty quickly. Walk me through, as much as you can: Why 10 years? Is that an arbitrary number? How did you guys arrive at a decade being part of the agreement?

Jarrard: Well, we basically spent about a decade on Halo thus far, in terms of that universe and the types of experiences and stories that we've told, and we're looking at the next decade in a similar way, in terms of building a universe and a framework that we think is gonna live for along time and is gonna spawn a lot of interesting stories and experiences for our fans. We kind of have a 10-year plan. It's not arbitrary. We already have things that are scheduled out, as crazy as it is to think about, and, like, how old my kids will be in 10 years, but we have that stuff all scheduled out, and we have a pretty good plan that we believe in, and where we're going to take fans over the course of a decade, and how they're going to experience this new universe.

G4: It sounds like you couldn't have put together a deal like this without having thought that far out, even though you haven't published the first part of this new IP and knowing things might change; rather than the process with Halo, where it was kind of figured out as it went along.

Jarrard: Yeah, you're right. I mean, Halo didn't start that way and, you know, we learned an awful, awful lot about all of this stuff. Our studio today has learned so much through the last decade working on Halo, just in terms of not owning that IP, what that's meant for our creative people and the relationship with Microsoft and how that's worked out for us. Not having that plan and having to retroactively kind of squeeze stuff in, we've learned a lot of, and we think that we can do even better if we have a really good vision going into it of how these things fit together.

And you're right, things might change, but we had to have a real plan. We have to have a real pitch and some real substance to be able to attract a deal like this with a publisher like Activision. Clearly, we get our foot in the door just because of who we are and our track record and our ability to release predictably solid games that will make money for shareholders and what not, but this is a massive investment for their company as well, and it's a big commitment to our vision, so we had to be able to demonstrate something that we felt they could believe in and get excited about, and, thankfully, we did.

G4: You mentioned the deal was just signed recently. Did the Infinity Ward situation give you any pause, or because the deal was so different from the normal structure, did it not play a role?

Jarrard: I think the only pause that it gave us was in terms of the overall timing of the announcement and just all the noise that's out there right now. It's unfortunate. Just in terms...it's not unexpected what people's immediate reaction might be, given what they've been reading out there, but in terms of the actual partnership and the deal, it didn't really give us any concern at all because, again, this has been about nine months in the making, so a lot of this goes back well before [the Infinity Ward situation].

But because we do have the deal that we wanted, and we are still independent, we're not owend by Activision, we do own this IP and we do have creative control over it, and we do have a plan that we shaped, we feel really good about the spot that we're in.

But, you know, it's just unfortunate that there's a lot of other noise out there right now, and we wanted this to be a happy time for us, but because the deal was just signed, which is not something that we felt like we could just wait and talk about also. Like I said, we didn't want this to bump into all the great Reach stuff that's going to be happening between now and launch, either.

"We just want our fans to know that we're secure [and] we've got pretty ambitious, crazy-awesome plans"

G4: Bungie has extremely loyal fans. You guys are talking about going multiplatform with this and then you have the Activision name itself carrying a lot of weight. What was your gauge on how the fans were going to react and have you had a chance to see any of it this morning? The reaction seems to be very excited but very mixed.

Jarrard: Yeah, I think you're exactly right. People are just going to react to what their own perceptions and what they're reading online. I don't know anything more about anything else that's going on [at Infinity Ward] than what I read that you're reporting on. I think, based on what people know and hear, they may immediately have a perception. Honestly, we're just not worried about it because we do, like I said, in terms of our studio and our business and our creative plans, we have a solid, solid plan and partnership that's gonna work exactly as you want it to.

But in terms of the fans, one guy pinged me this morning, and he's like "hey, congratulations, internet's melting down! I'd be concerned, but I'm not. I've been a Bungie fan for 16 years; I remember when Microsoft bought you guys and that was the end of the world as well." I think that worked out okay for everyone and, ultimately, I think it's the games that are going to make or break our fan relationship with the studio, and now we just want our fans to know that we're secure. We've got pretty ambitious, crazy-awesome plans, and now all we need to do is just worry about executing those and everything else is...we don't have to worry about it anymore. It just frees us up to do what Bungie does best.

G4: Speaking of fans, you guys aren't talking very much about specifics of the project, other than it's just an action game, but what do you consider to be the tenents of a Bungie game that you can say would carry over into this one?

Jarrard: That's a great question because I definitely don't want to get too granular about trying to start to pin down what this game will be. You're right, we are definitely saying this will be our next big, action game universe, but a lot of the core people that have defined what Bungie is today and have brought us the success that we've had are still here and they're still driving our future projects.

I think when you hear the word "action" that's definitely a core, but I think, also, clearly is you look at our commitment to online, our commitment to community and to social engagement. We're definitely really excited about how we can continue to innovate and push those experiences further, certainly in a world where we have more ways and touch-points to engage with fans. There's just new technology and new devices and a lot more opportunities now to really kind of think outside the box and try and figure out new ways to create cool, meaningful engagements for fans. I think people can expect to see all that kind of stuff carried forward to our future projects.

G4: You mentioned the importance of online. Did Blizzard play a role in your decision in ultimately choosing to go with Activision?

Jarrard: It certainly didn't hurt at all. I mean, we're huge fans of Blizzard. We were just joking that I have yet to find out when I'll get my free WoW account loaded with gold and epic armor. I don't know if that's going to happen.

G4: You guys didn't get that in the contract?

Jarrard: I'm not sure that was actually in the longform agreement. That may have been an oversight.

Realistically speaking, we are definitely excited to be able to have the opportunity to work a little closer with those guys. We have tons of respect for them and certainly in terms of Activision and Blizzard's experience running massive entertainment on an online scale -- there's just a lot of things that they're doing that we're definitely interested in I think that will positively influence and education us on where we want to go with our next universe.

G4: You have the 10-year plan with the next universe. In the past, you guys have said you wouldn't rule out eventually going back to Halo. Given that 10-year commitment and that you tend to be a single-game studio, does this change your perception of what you may or may not do with the Halo franchise 10 years down the line?

Jarrard: We don't really have plans to revisit the Halo franchise. We're definitely going to be sticking by Reach and supporting the game on Xbox Live and supporting our community as we have in the past, but we're not planning to return back to Halo down the road. We're taking everything we have and the full might of our team to get the next project out the door and to really deliver on this 10-year plan that we have.

G4: You guys aren't talking specifically about what other platforms you might support, but getting up and running from a single platform exclusive studio to multiplatform development sounds like an engineering feat. How are you guys changing your pipeline to make that possible?

Jarrard: We have some incredibly talented engineers that are on the case, but they're not hard, real problems that we've had to tackle or solve yet because at this point in the project it's really broader brush strokes and defining art style and terminology and the universe and style guides. There's all these other crazy things that are happening, but there is a lot of technological work that is taking place. I know it's exciting to think about the ability to now have this broader reach and to touch more fans and just to have a broader engagement with more people, but I also know to our guys it's a little bit terrifying because we've come to know the Xbox very well over the past 10 years, and we don't have the type of intimate expertise on other platforms, but, thankfully, that's one of the great benefits of Activision, as well. They do have a lot of internal resources and expertise that will definitely be valuable and helpful us to help us make the right choices and hit the right platforms that best align with our game.

"I wouldn't expect to hear anything else about this game this year"

G4: Everyone, of course, wants to know more about the game. Given the 10-year deal, one of the first things that I got back from readers was, "well, does this mean we're not going to see this game for five, six years? Is this going to be on the next generation of hardware?"

Jarrard: That's a little ways out for sure. We haven't really been even -- like I said, we're kind of just in the beginnings of pre-production, technically speaking, right now. The goal would certainly be that once Reach is complete, the majority of our team would roll right into this new project in a meaningful way, and then when we start doing all the things that Bungie does well. I definitely don't want to pencil in a timeframe, but it's going to be a while for sure. I would even go so far as to say I wouldn't expect to hear anything else about this game this year because we really want to keep our focus and our priorities set on Reach right now.

G4: So definitely nothing at E3.

Jarrard: No, we will not be focusing on this at E3.

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Bungie Sends Mysterious Gift Box

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:21:00 -0700

This morning, Sterling McGarvey, G4's reviews and previews editor, found a mysterious suitcase on his desk, sent from Bungie:

What could be inside? Click the cut to find out!

Why, it's a copy of Halo: Reach and an electric razor!

Look closer:

The only problem is, they sent this gift to Sterling... who says he hasn't had a haircut since Labor Day 2002. Sterling describes his hair as a self-maintaining organism that apparently needs neither trimming nor pruning. It's a little like an eco-system, or a sentient being... here's Sterling's reaction:

Obviously Bungie sent us this razor to shave TheFeed's Jeff Kanjananpanga's head.

We are going to have him play Halo: Reach multiplayer when the beta launches, and each time he dies, we will take a massive swipe of his head until he is completely bald. This will be fun for us.

Jeff has vetoed this idea by pointing out that he'd rather not shave his head. Balderdash, I say! We will shave him; trust me.

Sony Calls Bungie Deal And Multi-Platform Plans "Great For All Gamers"

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:56:00 -0700

If you haven't heard, Activision and Bungie are working together. As part of the new deal, Bungie said it's expanding into mulit-platform development. So far, the studio hasn't named which platforms it's looking at, but given the company's tech-happy games, PlayStation 3 seems very likely.

Obviously, this news makes Sony very happy. The company was quick to issue a statement to me this morning about the Bungie and Activision news, praising the deal as "great for all gamers."

Read the full statement below.

"This is great news for all gamers," said Sony's senior director of communications and social media Patrick Seybold in an e-mailed statement. "When Bungie's amazing talent and creative minds are unleashed and married with the incredible power of PlayStation 3, amazing things will happen. Ultimately, as a gamer, if you want the best content available from the industry's most renowned developers, today's announcement further signifies that PlayStation 3 will be the only place to get it. With last years amazing and award winning PS3 titles, to the roadmap and surprises we have for this year, the momentum for PS3 and PSN continues. I think I speak for everyone, when I say I can't wait to learn about this new IP and world that Bungie is creating."

Now, the wait begins to find out what Bungie is actually up to.

Background: Check out the original Bungie partnership story. Bungie, Microsoft and Sony have all issued statements. And here's our in-depth interview with Bungie as well.

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Microsoft Reacts To Activision, Bungie Deal

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:47:00 -0700

Bungie is still working with their former owners, Microsoft, on Bungie's potentially last Halo game, Halo: Reach. Activision and Bungie's decade-long publishing partnership for an upcoming intellectual property comes as Halo: Reach is about to enter beta for a select number of users.

What does Microsoft think about the deal? The company has issued this brief statement:

"Our partnership with Bungie as a first-party developer for Xbox 360 remains unchanged," said a company spokesperson over e-mail this morning, "and right now we’re deeply engaged with them on the development of 'Halo: Reach,' which is poised to be the biggest game of 2010."

Activision was unlikely the only company Bungie spoke with about their post-Halo plans. For whatever reason, however, Bungie chose to go with a partner other than Microsoft for this one.

Missed out on our previous Halo coverage? Don't worry, we have you covered!

Halo developer Bungie Studios has signed a deal with Activision.
Bungie has released a brief statement about its shocking 10-year partnership with Activision.
Microsoft has issued a brief statement responding to the Activision and Bungie partnership.
Sony has issued a statement on the Bungie and Activision deal, calling it "great for all gamers."
Patrick Klepek spoke with Bungie about the future of the studio, now that it's signed a 10-year deal with Activision.

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Bungle Releases First Statement On 10-Year Partnership With Activision

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:38:00 -0700

Microsoft isn't going to publish Bungie's next intellectual property, Activision is. Your mind might have melted a bit, but don't worry, the rest of the industry is still reeling from it, too.

What's behind Bungie's decision? The studio should be making the rounds with the press this morning to explain themselves, but Bungie released a brief statement on their website already.

"The story of Bungie is wild, winding, and full of majestic wonder. We’ve treaded many pathways over these last nineteen years. But for all the twists and turns we’ve taken, we’re still doing what we set out to do from the beginning, back when the whole of “Bungie Software Products Corporation” consisted of two friends operating out of a basement in Chicago:

Making kick ass games that we want to play."

Keep reading for the rest of Bungie's color commentary on today's big news.

"And as Bungie has grown, the industry’s best and brightest have been totally accretive to our own creative margins. It’s no secret that while the full might of our studio has focused on making Halo: Reach, another core team, led by our co-founder and Studio Creative Director, Jason Jones, has already begun laying the groundwork to bring our newest universe, stories, and characters to life.

Today, we’re poised to open a new chapter in Bungie’s history—one that begins with a partnership between Bungie and Activision and ends where we always knew it would, with World Domination. Our Next Big Thing now has a concrete path, leading from our studio to the platforms of our choosing. The business formalities are behind us. Our Constitution remains unchanged. We are still Bungie, still independent, and now we are free to bring our stories to an ever bigger audience.

Next up, the most ambitious game we’ve ever made, Halo: Reach. Built upon ten years of experience developing the Halo franchise, we’ve assembled the best team, the best technology, and the best talent to ensure that Reach is the game our fans deserve. Strap in and buckle up tight, we’re sending our baby out with a bang.

Once the smoke clears, all the pieces will finally be in place for Step 7. Don’t worry, though. We won’t let World Domination go to our heads. We’re gonna keep making kick ass games on our own terms, and since you’ve been so supportive throughout the years, we’d love to bring you along for the ride."

Missed out on our previous Halo coverage? No worries, we have you covered.

Halo developer Bungie Studios has signed a deal with Activision.
Bungie has released a brief statement about its shocking 10-year partnership with Activision.
Microsoft has issued a brief statement responding to the Activision and Bungie partnership.
Sony has issued a statement on the Bungie and Activision deal, calling it "great for all gamers."
Patrick Klepek spoke with Bungie about the future of the studio, now that it's signed a 10-year deal with Activision.

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Halo: Reach Multiplayer Combat Overview Video, Part Three

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:41:00 -0700

In part three of our in-depth look at Halo: Reach multiplayer, we talk to Bungie designers Chris Carney and Derek Carroll and go way into depth about the game's maps. You can't win at Halo unless you know your maps, so get one up on all the other Halo players by checking out the game's battlefields before the beta even launches!

Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version

Check out Part One, and Part Two.

The Daily Reacharound: Is Halo: Reach A System Seller?

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:28:00 -0700

These days, it seems like most hardcore gamers have managed to purchase both an Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, ensuring they're not locked out of any of the must-have video games that are sometimes exclusive. Some G4tv.com readers, however, are still holding out on one system or another. For example, reader pcNorth_mOnster will be buying an Xbox 360 specifically because of Halo: Reach.

"i dont even own a 360 but im going to soon be buying one and this is going to be on the list for [sure]"

Since 10 other G4tv.com readers gave his comment a thumbs up, is he onto something?

Halo: Reach Multiplayer Combat Overview Video, Part Three

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:31:00 -0700

Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version

Check out Part One and Part Two!

Bungie Believes Halo: Reach Beta Could Include Three Million Gamers

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:54:00 -0700

Halo: Reach is going to be a much bigger deal than Halo 3: ODST. How much bigger? In the beta alone, Bungie believes as many as three million gamers could participate -- if not more.

"My expectation is it could be upwards of three million people," said community and franchise director Brian Jarrard in an interview with The Seattle Times. "I think that's a fairly conservative estimate. Certainly there will never be a console beta of this magnitude."

Will you be one of the millions checking out Halo: Reach early next month?

Source: The Seattle Times

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.