Considering the volume of fan-made game trailers cast onto the YouTubes every day, we're guessing MI6's "Making the Cut" competition will bring in a number of qualified entrants. Here's the deal: Any college student who makes a "non-traditional" trailer for either Halo: Reach or Dead Rising 2 can send said trailer into MI6 (the marketing agency, not the branch of British intelligence services), which could be chosen to receive an award during the annual MI6 Video Game Marketing Conference and Awards Show.
Participants are encouraged to use their imagination, but must also incorporate gameplay footage provided by the games' developers. Interested collegiate filmmakers can check out the rules and regulations or register for the contest on the official site. Then, it's just a matter of brainstorming and filming an eye-catching concept. How about ... backwards pre-teen zombie girls? Those seem to be pretty "in" right now.
#itsadate
Microsoft has nailed down a March 15 release date for the Halo: Reach Defiant Map pack, punctuating the announcement with a set of fresh screens showing off the three maps you'll be paying $10 for. More »
Beware the Ides of March! Actually, you might not need to "beware" it, though you may want to consider calling in sick from work or school -- Halo: Reach's first major expansion, a three-map DLC pack titled "Defiant," will arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace on March 15 for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).
Check out the gallery below and the trailer posted after the break to get an idea of what the three new arenas -- named Condemned, Highlands and Unearthed -- look like! We really, really hope they come with the aforementioned trailer's gruff-voiced narrator. "Way to totally shoot that dude," the narrator would say, gruffly.
Today on Amazon, you can get the $150 Legendary Edition of Halo: Reach for what the regular edition cost at launch: $60. That's like buying the game and getting a free Noble Team statue and in-game helmet! If you'd like to spend a bit less but still get something special, the Limited Edition is just $40. (The regular edition is currently priced at $32 and change.)
Of course, these two sales constitute Amazon's Deal of the Day and will expire either at midnight Pacific (3AM ET) or when the retailer runs out of stock. And we've heard that this Halo stuff is pretty popular.
#comics
My weekly comics round-up returns, though the list of promising new releases is short this time. A fitting disappointment, perhaps, in a week marred by the sad news of the sudden passing of superb comics writer Dwayne McDuffie, whose Milestone books were among my favorite comics reads of the 90s. More »
Reach for your wallet, because more Halo's on the way. The Halo: Reach "Defiant" Map Pack, first seen in leaked images last week, has been officially revealed by Microsoft as a set of three new multiplayer maps, available next month for 800 Microsoft Points.
"Condemned," set on a space station above the planet Reach, is designed for 6-12 players in various team modes and Free for All, while "Highlands" is a Big Team Battle, Team Slayer, and Team Objective map set in the "Wilderness Training Preserve" on the planet. Finally, "Unearthed" is a new Firefight map set inside a titanium mine.
It's worth noting that the maps were created "in partnership" with Age of Booty developer Certain Affinity, a team of Bungie vets that has made maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops and World at War, and Halo 2.
#toyfair
Last year, I went to Toy Fair and saw some Halo Mega Bloks. They were pretty cool. This year's are better. This line, which I shot at Toy Fair 2011, is slated for release throughout the year. More »
#toyfair
This is a Banshee prototype, one of a couple of impressive Halo prototype toys shown at Toy Fair 2011. Most of what was in the Halo section of the McFarlane toy company's booth has a release date, but the best stuff, like this Covenant vehicle, isn't quite ready for production. More »
French site Halo Destiny, a unofficial fan community, has posted several images of what is alleged to be an upcoming map pack for Halo: Reach. Reportedly called the "Defiant Map Pack," the site claims the DLC will contain three maps: "Condemned," "Unearthed" and "Highlands" (which echoes Halo 3's High Ground map in name). Condemned reportedly takes place aboard a human frigate, while Unearthed plays host to more open spaces. As for Highlands, its most prominent feature appears to be a giant Covenant cruiser in the process of glassing a planet.
Additionally, the Highlands map is referred to as "Training Preserve" on the Flickr account where the images are hosted, so it may not be related to the old High Ground map at all. Oddly enough, Unearthed bears the strongest resemblance to High Ground, but, unfortunately, the low resolution of the images makes detailed analysis difficult.
As of publishing, the Halo Destiny site is down for maintenance, though the Flickr images are still available. We've contacted Bungie for comment and will update if and when we learn more.
#video
Myth: You can kill an opposing player in Halo Reach by shooting their helmet attachments. Busted. Myth: You can survive a fatal Reach vehicle crash by bailing out. Confirmed. More »
#xbox360
The ups and downs of Halo: Reach multiplayer... how do they affect the human heart? One player decided to monitor his heartbeat during a six minute game session to track the effects of Xbox Live on the old ticker. More »
#art
Isaac Hannaford is a concept artist at former Halo developers (and series creators) Bungie, and recently got the all-clear to post a ton of his work on his personal site. Good news for us! More »
The new Halo house, 343 Industries, is once again hiring for "Halo jobs," ranging from "multiplayer designer" to "environment artist." Though the dozen listings don't spell out anything specific about a new project, job applicants must "demonstrate that you've played all of the games and thought a lot about the [Halo] franchise."
So far, there's been no official announcement regarding a new Halo game, with 343's current focus on "supporting" Halo: Reach, according to Microsoft. An HD remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, built with the Reach game engine, is rumored to be in development.
Defend The House returns with episode number 5 of its delightful Halo: Reach Mythbusters series. This time around, it tackles such myths as destroying holograms with armor lock, protecting yourself from assault bomb explosions and -- perhaps coolest of all -- actually catching a rocket in an armor lock hold.
The gang also shows itself "wearing" powerups from the game, which is confirmed to be possible, although it's basically a glitch that the host can't actually do. Being as it's a glitch, you'll have to try that one at your own risk -- Bungie may not take kindly to it once discovered. It is probably good with the rocket catch, though, so do that one all you want. It's pretty awesome.
#clips
The force of a gravity hammer will not save you from a terrible fall. That and other Halo Reach myths are busted (and some confirmed) in the newest episode of Halo Reach Mythbusters. More »
Following the launch of Halo: Reach, we reported that the game's co-op functionality requires an Xbox 360 hard drive. This was of particular concern to those who had purchased one the newly released 4GB Xbox 360 S models. At the time, we were told that the issue was "temporary" and that Microsoft was "working to resolve it."
Repeated attempts to confirm with Microsoft when the situation will be resolved have been met with assurances that the company would let us know when there's an update, though no further details have been provided. It's currently unclear if and when the issue will ever be fixed, so consider this a PSA: If you've been holding off on picking up Reach until this particular shortcoming is addressed, you may want to start shopping for hard drives instead.
Just as promised, Greg Bear's Halo: Cryptum is now available for purchase on your reading device or, dare we say, at your favorite book store -- as if people still buy books! Cryptum is the first of three planned novels focusing on the Forerunners, the race of aliens preceding humans and the Covenant in the Halo universe. The books will finally shed some light on what pushed the Forerunners to extinction and offer greater detail on the Precursors, the other super advanced race which preceded the Forerunners.
It's likely that no skull has provided more joy in a Halo game than "Grunt Birthday Party," the toggle that makes headshots on the Convenant's Grunts explode into confetti while children cheer. An enterprising Halo fan has recreated the charming little bit of flair in real life, building a papier-mâché grunt, loading it up with some confetti and an exploding rifle target, then shooting at the thing with a real-life gun.
As Bungie's official blog says, "Don't try this at home." But we're glad somebody did -- you can see the headshot in slow motion, along with some making-of pictures, after the break.
Eric Ruth, the de-make whiz responsible for the 8-bit-inspired Pixel Force: DJ Hero, has given the original Halo: Combat Evolved a retro makeover. The result is a side-scrolling shooter slash top-down Warthog driving game you'll be able to play yourself next month (until Microsoft pulls it).
To celebrate the holidays, we're having twelve straight days of giveaways up through Christmas day. And while we say it's to celebrate, really ... we're simply getting rid of some of the larger packages around the ol' office.
Our theme for day eight is Halo: Reach and, we'll be honest ... it's a strange collection. First (and certainly foremost!) is this pair of military-grade Oster hair clippers and virtually indestructible Pelican case. Some of you may be more interested in an actual video game than hair clippers with video game branding so, for you, we've got another Halo: Reach-themed case. The press kit briefcase, pictured after the break, includes a copy of the game, The Fall of Reach book by Eric Nylund, the Halo: Reach gamepad, and some other trinkets. We're going to send both cases out to one lucky reader. Find out how to enter after the break.
The Grunt genocide continues, a fact highlighted in Bungie's latest and very thorough infographic for Halo: Reach. 11 billion grunts have met their demise at the hands of a Spartan, representing a full third of all Covenant kills across all gametypes. Between September 14 and December 10, players have logged "just over 1.3 billion games," taking up a collective 24,000 years of actual human time and earning 900 trillion credits.
A stunning 1,500 people have managed to hang on to enough of those creds to nab the "Pestilence" armor effect, while only 1,000 have earned "Inclement Weather." More unbelievable? 320,000 people have won the "Unf-believable" medal, earned by completing 40 kills without dying. We totally would've gotten that one too, had that kamikaze Grunt not popped around the corner at the last minute. Never again!
The infographic can be seen in full just below the break.
#screengrab
This colossal infographic anchors the latest Bungie Weekly Update. Thirty-three billion have been killed in firefight, campaign and multiplayer. The smallest number: 1,000 have unlocked the "Inclement Weather" armor effect. Thanks to Ursus-Veritas for the tip. More »
Put a megaton of Fallout 3 in your Halo: Reach with an impressive Forge World recreation of the town that has an undetonated nuke* as its centerpiece. *Nuke does not actually explode in Reach version.
#clips
This may be the sweetest wedding proposal I've ever seen. Sid Ceaser, Muppet fan, had two puppets made, one in his likeness, the other, his girlfriend's. Then he made a movie with them. Then he had the clip played at the movies. More »
