Halo: Reach Message Board older than one year ago

Walmart has a pretty spectacular deal going on for Xbox owners. The chain is currently offering one year of Xbox Live Gold and a select game for $79. SlickDeals notes that shipping is only $1.97. Don't fret about that "select game" business in the previous sentence either, as the eligible games are actually pretty good, including Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and many, many others.

Considering a 12 month Xbox Live sub usually runs for $60 on its own, you might as well toss in a $20 game (that also usually runs for $60), right?

#clips When building a ramp in the Forge level creator in Halo Reach, don't get your hopes up. Not only will it not get you anywhere, but it may just break the laws of Halo physics. More »

#speakup Today in Speak-Up on Kotaku, commenter Culebra takes a look at the biggest games of the year that he never got around to playing. More »

Alan Marsala and Chance McManus (best name ever, by the way) both like Halo: Reach. They also like making movies. Perhaps it was inevitable then that the two would be combined. Whatever the reason, we're glad it happened -- their short film, You Will Never Get the Power Core, is a whole lot of fun.

Defend The House, a troupe of game sleuths, just debuted its fourth episode of Halo: Reach "Mythbusters," dispelling the hearsay of the land's people and offering us the cold hard facts we desire. Be sure to thank them the next time you almost try to trick a sniper with a hologram.

Defend The House, a troupe of game sleuths, just debuted its fourth episode of Halo: Reach "Mythbusters," dispelling the hearsay of the land's people and offering us the cold hard facts we desire. Be sure to thank them the next time you almost try to trick a sniper with a hologram.

#clips What if the Halo movie was like Who Framed Roger Rabbit starring Master Chief and some real actors? Wonder no more. This is it. It's called "You Will Never Get the Power Core." More »

Microsoft has responded to European chatter surrounding a Halo: Combat Evolved high-definition remake by saying, "Right now our focus is on supporting Halo: Reach. We have nothing to announce at this time." Putting that through the Joystiq PR Translation Machine pops out one thing: "42." Clearly, we need to call maintenance.

Eurogamer published the quote from Microsoft after Games Master magazine implied that a Halo remake was underway at 343 Industries (the current Halo custodian), using the Reach engine. Allegedly, the HD Halo would drop next November, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the original Xbox shooter.

#xbox360 Halo: Reach got a fresh injection of new maps earlier today courtesy of the Noble Map Pack. Why many of us are content to play within the confines of Bungie's three new maps, others would prefer to explore. More »

INCOMING MESSAGE

ORIGIN: OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE
CLASS: SSSS | ORIG MSG IDENT: 19738244 | DISTR: LIMITED / CODE-WORD RESTRICTED
SUBJ: ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING PROGRAM (NOBLE MAP PACK)

Message to all Spartan III operatives: Environmental training program classified "Noble Map Pack" is now available for download and evaluation. Program contains three new environments: Breakpoint, Tempest, Anchor 9 (see: visual archive). 800 Microsoft Points ($10) required for program access. New honorary distinctions (classification: "Achievements") will be awarded to the most dedicated personnel. Access to program may be obtained at this node.

MESSAGE ENDS

We got a brief demonstration last week of the three new Halo: Reach battlefields present in the Noble Map Pack -- however, don't you want a tour from the sage minds who created said arenas? Well, then, look no further than the three Bungie video tours posted just after the jump.

Halo: Reach for $40? Split/Second for just $20? It's just Cyber Monday -- the online equivalent of last Friday's big brick-and-mortar shopping day -- at Best Buy.

Other highlights include Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit at just $35, and Medal of Honor gets the same $25 discount. If those deals weren't enough, for every two games you purchase Best Buy even throws in a free $10 gift card. All without leaving your computer! Head past the break to see all the deals.

Less reading, more buying!

Amazon's lightning deals for today include Halo: Reach ($30), Fable 3 ($30), God of War 3 ($35), God of War Collection ($10), Red Dead Redemption ($29) and Fallout: New Vegas ($35). More deals open up at 12:15 PM PST (likely to add Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for $35) and 6:15PM PST, which might bring in NBA Jam for $27.

Let us know what you decide to pick up ... and how you intend on finding enough time to play some of these excellent games.

#clips Among Xbox 360 fans of shooters, and that includes the two in my house, the great debate is whether Call of Duty: Black Ops or Halo: Reach is the better game online. More »

Did the trailer for the Noble Map Pack fail to sate your still-watering palette? Did you need a more extensive taste of the new Halo: Reach multiplayer arenas before their release next Tuesday? S'cool, we gotcha -- IGN has posted a video tour of the new maps, which we've embedded past the break.

Bungie brings something for everyone in what might be their best maps yet.

Looking for a fashion statement that says, "Hey, I'm potentially violent, but I've also got a big, sweet heart?" Look no further than this Good-Game-Media eBay auction: a replica of the Halo: Reach helmet worn by Emile; the proceeds from which go to Child's Play and the Brian Wood Memorial Trust.

#clips The scenery is lovely. The wind whistles. It's quiet. And then something happens. More »

If you pre-order the Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack from GameStop, you'll receive a Flaming Mark V Spartan Helmet for your Xbox Live Avatar.

Yay, free stuff -- but that's beside the point. The point is that GameStop is taking pre-orders on downloadable content. Isn't the point of pre-ordering to secure a copy in case the store runs out of stock? Not ... really a problem for DLC. It would seem that GameStop's strategy for dealing with a scarcity-free market is to hope nobody notices the lack of scarcity.

The best part: This offer is available in-store, but doesn't appear on GameStop's website. So you have to go to GameStop to pre-order the DLC, and then go to GameStop again so you can get the code to download your map pack from Xbox Live.

#clips Halo Reach player and Forge tinkerer "Carnage A51" spent a month in the Xbox 360 game's level maker, crafting a Rube Goldberg machine with a red letter ending. It may take a while to get there, but it pays off. More »

Major Nelson has posted a schedule of content coming to Xbox Live Marketplace this month. Some stuff we knew about -- Crazy Taxi November 24 on and the Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack to name a few -- but others, including the Deal of the Week on November 22 and a special promotion for non-Gold members of Xbox Live, are news. You can find all of the pertinent details past the break.

About a month ago, Microsoft's UK director of Xbox and Entertainment, Stephen McGill, said he expected Halo: Reach to outsell Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops. We had a nice laugh about it in the company of some analysts. Later, in an interview with Eurogamer, McGill waffled like an Eggo and wasn't willing to put money down on the claim.

Asked if he would bet a "tenner" that Halo would outsell Call of Duty: Black Ops, the executive said Activision's shooter would jump ahead because it's multiplatorm (logical!), whereas Reach is only available on the Xbox 360. When the bet was adjusted to be only for the Xbox 360, McGill stated, "I'm tightfisted with my cash, so I'm not going to bet anyone any money about anything."

We have an exercise routine after the break that won't cost a dime.

Okay, guys. It's time to get yourself into a mental place where you can accept the fact that Black Friday is just around the corner. You there? You ready? Okay -- the entire Sears catalog for the holiest of shopping days has apparently leaked onto the web, revealing a whole mess of gaming offers, including:

• Limited edition Red and Green DSi bundles for $149.99, which include Mario Party DS
• 160GB PS3 bundle for $299.99, which includes Uncharted 2 and a Blu-ray of (the new) The Karate Kid
• PSP 3000 bundle for $129.99, which includes LittleBigPlanet and a UMD of (the new) The Karate Kid
• 4GB Xbox 360 bundle for $199.99, which includes Halo: Reach
• $10 off the standard black Wii bundle
• Discounts on games like Medal of Honor, Fable III and Halo: Reach, all of which will be available for $39.99

We've contacted Sears to get a comment on the catalog's authenticity. For now, check out the relevant gaming offers posted after the jump! (Side note: A full-on ping-pong table for $259.99? Don't mind if we do.)

Okay, guys. It's time to get yourself into a mental place where you can accept the fact that Black Friday is just around the corner. You there? You ready? Okay -- the entire Sears catalog for the holiest of shopping days has apparently leaked onto the web, revealing a whole mess of gaming offers, including:

• Limited edition Red and Green DSi bundles for $149.99, which include Mario Party DS
• 160GB PS3 bundle for $299.99, which includes Uncharted 2 and a Blu-ray of (the new) The Karate Kid
• PSP 3000 bundle for $129.99, which includes LittleBigPlanet and a UMD of (the new) The Karate Kid
• 4GB Xbox 360 bundle for $199.99, which includes Halo: Reach
• $10 off the standard black Wii bundle
• Discounts on games like Medal of Honor, Fable III and Halo: Reach, all of which will be available for $39.99

We've contacted Sears to get a comment on the catalog's authenticity. For now, check out the relevant gaming offers posted after the jump! (Side note: A full-on ping-pong table for $259.99? Don't mind if we do.)

This place is a prison.

We did it, Halo: Reach players! By working together and racking up 117 million daily and weekly challenges, the Reach level cap has been raised and new armor has been unlocked. Sure, none of it really means anything, but we'll be damned if the prospect of new shoulder pads isn't exciting.

[Thanks, Sean]

Let's be honest, it's not like that replica Spartan helmet is going to sit on your desk, right? These things were made for cats, the inevitable conclusion of the unholy tryst between feline and fandom eventually available for all to see on flickr. It's just what people do and you can now expand the contents of your cat's chiffonier with three new quarter-scale helmets: CQB, EVA and the Mark VI. Each will set you back $60.

#clips Why don't we! More »

Just in case you were worried, the Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack isn't above good, old-fashioned 'splosions. If you need more than our word to convince you, we suggest you check out this new trailer. It's positively loaded with kablooeys, kablams and kapows. Also stabbing. And bludgeoning.

Bungie's given word that the remainder of the online playlist updates for Halo: Reach that it had planned for this month have gone live this evening. You can find a full list of tweaks and changes the developer made after the break. If you're not already too busy playing Reach, that is.