Got some major time to kill over Thanksgiving break? Maybe you check out 1UP”s newest epic podcast in which they talk with Bungie about Halo 3 for an astounding 1 and 1/2 hours. Yup, 90 minutes of pure Halo 3 goodness, almost as good as that pumpkin pie I had yesterday. I’d like to say I listened to the entire thing, but I simply don’t have enough time. Maybe you can listen to it all and tell me about it? Check it out here: Halo 3 Podcast

In other news, 1UP also had a major Q&A session with Bungie about how Halo 3 would handle match making. Bungie talks about how the system will be similar to that of Halo 2, however, they will also be adding in new safeguards against those dirty cheaters everyone hates, as well as other new features (you can’t have next gen without oodles of new stuff!). Check it out here: Halo 3 Matchmaking

Invalid Mob, a Finnish gaming clan, have collected a plethora of Halo based flash games on their site. They’ve got 17 total now; I have no idea where they found all these, as I’ve looked and only seen 3 or 4. They’ve got everything from launching warthogs to racing banshees to a sweet side scrolling CTF halo. You can check out all the games here: Halo Flash Games

In other news, the new Static Episode 5 is available. The episode is entitled “What Would my Daughter Think?” and in it, Alex has a near death experience and is forced to figure out his next move (I don’t want to give more away than that). Check it out here: Static Episode 5

PS. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Let’s get started. Today, ComputerandVideoGames released an article previewing Halo Wars. None of the information they present is concrete yet, instead, they’re using concept art to predict how the game will be. Their predictions certainly seem logical, and even if they’re wrong you still get to see the awesome Halo Wars concept art. If you’re one of the .02% of Halo fans who haven’t heard of Halo Wars, its an upcoming RTS from Ensemble (the guys who made Age of Empires) set in the Halo world.
You can read their article here: Halo Wars Predictions

Next on the agenda, Bungie officialy released 5 new high resolution screenshots today. You may have seen these pictures already, as they’ve been widely leaked around the net, but I don’t believe anyone has them in the uber high resolutions Bungie posted. You can check these bad boys out here (hint, they’re the ones date 11.20): Halo 3 Screenshots

1Up’s Episode 56 marks the end of their Halo coverage for this week, but boy do they go out with a bang. In this episode, they talk in great depth (and I mean GREAT depth, like analyzing the map on a white board depth) about 3 of Halo 3’s multiplayer maps, being High Ground, Snow Bound, and Valhalla. Start memorizing now, as they also give you lots of strategies to maximize your pwnage in Halo 3.

Now, for a little summary of the maps:

You can check out the entire 1UP Episode here: 1UP Episode 56
Or, if you want just the Halo part, go here: Halo 3 Maps

First off today, we’ve got news that, in honor of Halo Week, the latest OXM (Official XBox Magazine) podcast contains exclusive interviews with members of the Halo dev team. The podcast is over an hour long (killer for those with no time on their hands, ie. me); during the podcast they discuss such topics as the new Halo announcements this week, Ghosts of Onyx and many more. You can check the podcast out here: Halo Podcast

In other news, if you’re an incredibly rich person I’ve just found a great opportunity for you to immortalize your name. As part of Penny Arcade’s Charity Auction Dinner, Bungie has listed up a great package for sale. If you were to win, you would get a personalized tour of Bungie PLUS a line of dialogue in Halo 3 dedicated to you. How sweet is that? Read all about Child’s Play here: Child’s Play

Its the anniversary of Halo. What better way to celebrate than by amassing one of the largest collections of Halo 3 screenshots on the net? It seems 1UP and I think alike, as they’ve done just that. There’s a total of 33 screens, which is quite a collection considering how stingy Bungie has been with media content.

As expected, all the screens look gorgeous, even for an alpha build. I’m sure you don’t want to hear me babble on about them though, because, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

You can check out all the screens by clicking here: Halo 3 Screens

In other news, 1UP has also posted 1 new piece of concept art for the upcoming RTS Halo Wars. You can view the concept art for a flying marine by clicking here:Flying Marine

Get your Tivo set up now, you’re not gonna want to miss this! Bungie just announced that on December 4th they will be airing a worldwide commercial for Halo 3 during Monday Night Football.

Don’t break out the kegs yet, the commercial won’t show any gameplay, it will all be pre-rendered. But hey, I’ll take a Halo 3 teaser over a Mitsubishi commercial any day. Bungie had this to say about their decision not to include gameplay footage,

“As you know, we’re very protective of our baby and we will only show it when we feel it’s ready to be shown (and even then it’s sometimes pried from our protective fingers). We all agreed that a cooler thing to do would be to move as far away from gameplay-style footage as possible, and make something more movie-like. Let our fans see what the Halo universe looks like in a photo-realistic fashion.”

As an added bonus to the trailer, we’ll also be able to hear the new score composed by Marty O’Donnell. I have a feeling it will be quite good And lastly, if for some reason your Halo dedication falters and you miss the commercial, it will be available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace in glorious 720p.

Read the full Bungie press release here

Remember that big news I told you about in my last post? Well, its here now. Yup, Bungie announced it today, and boy is it a doozy. Without further adoo…

The first big thing for Spring is the announcement that Bungie will be releasing a flesh and blood Halo 3 Multiplayer demo. There’s currently no news on wether the demo will be available over Xbox Live or if you’ll have to obtain it somewhere else, but, Bungie have promised that it will be available for everyone in Spring. This means worst case scenario you might have to buy a magazine. Bungie had this to say about the demo,

“Through the resulting feedback, Bungie Studios will be able to further refine and hone the end result of Halo 3.”

Ok, so now moving on to the next bit of news. A Halo 3 demo is all fine and dandy, but what about Halo 2? Are Bungie forgetting about their current gen games? *Heck* no! Bungie have also announced that this Spring they will be adding new Halo 2 multiplayer mapS (notice the plural s) exlusiveley for Xbox 360 users.

Yes! In celebration of Halo’s 5 year anniversary, Bungie has announced that sometime this week, they will be giving us some big, no HUGE, Halo news.

Frankie of the Bungie team posted this,

“If you thought there was a lot of Halo information last week, wait ‘till next week. A bunch of stuff is going down to celebrate the 5th anniversary of a little game we like to call Halo. In November 2001, Halo launched alongside the Xbox console, and the rest is history. Next year, Halo 3 will conclude the story arc begun all those years ago and next week, we’ll take a long lingering look at the series to date. There will also be some pretty BIG surprises and maybe announcements. Who can say?”

I’m hoping this means more Halo 3 news, maybe even a new trailer! I guess we’ll have to wait and see though. We’re in for a crazy weekend (PS3 and Wii launches, plus this mystery news).

Be sure to check back this weekend, as I’ll be posting the news as soon as its released.

Original Article here

Our friends over at Halo Base have posted 5 new screenshots from Halo 3. The pictures are screencaps from the recent 1UP episode on Halo 3.

I’ll say it, I think the screenshots look *darn* (for our youngins) pretty. Some people have expressed that the screenshots aren’t anything special. However, these people seem to forget that these screens are from an alpha build. If the game looks this good now, imagine how the final product will look.
You can check out all the screenshots here: 5 New Halo 3 Pics

In other news, Cody Brigan has created a beautiful countdown timer for Halo 3. Right now, because of the lack of a release date, the timer points to Christmas. This will of course be changed once a solid release date is given. You can check it out here: Halo 3 Countdown