The rate things are going, they may never make a Halo movie. So that short Neil Blomkamp put together last year may be as close as you get. And these shots of the Warthog used in that short may be as close as you get to it. Built by WETA, the guys behind the special effects for Lord of the Rings, it's crazy the amount of detail that went into a vehicle built not for a movie, or even a trailer, but a cheap concept pitch. Plenty of pics at the link below. Close Up: Weta's Warthog (Part 1) [NZGamer]
Cinco de Mayo Means Double The Halo 3 XP For Some Reason. This weekend leads into the Mexican holiday that commemorates the victory of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla, giving everyone else an excuse to get mucho sloshed on Coronas and margaritas. It also, for some strange reason, means that Halo 3 players will gain twice the experience in game with "Fiesta" style rule sets. As Bungie.net states "Cinco De Mayo requires both the Heroic and Legendary map packs for participation." Good times!
Purdy! These heavily PhotoShopped Halo pictures are the handiwork of flickr user joshuadamon. Not sure if they're just in-game screen grabs that have been reworked or pics of Halo toys that have been PS'ed or a combination of both. What we are sure of is that these sure are beautiful.
Latest by TeknoVagrant: [img233.imageshack.us]
That Image is straight from a tv in a Halo 3 replay. To check out some cool halo 3 pics just look at the bungie favorites. They have some awesome pics there. more »
When the gang at MTV Multiplayer sniffed around some Microsoft job listings earlier this week, confirming that the publisher was staffing up for one of the two Peter Jackon backed "entertainment experiences," some concernedly stuttered "Bu-bu-but, what about Bungie?" Oh, they're fine with it, informs the Bungie Weekly Update. Community man Frankie O'Connor says that "having worked with him already, we are possibly more excited than you are to see what someone of Peter Jackson's imagination, talent and resources can bring to a Halo game experience."
Bungie is said to "continue to remain very much involved in multiple aspects the Halo Universe as part of our ongoing relationship with Microsoft", teasing that one of their in-progress projects will be revealed "in the very near future." Perhaps it's that Halo prequel that EGM taunted us with? Is it the future yet?!?
Latest by Lman: I like Peter Jackon. I like him better than that Peter Jackson guy. He is getting on my nerve with that overhyped Halo thing ... more »
The newest issue of EGM, due to arrive any minute now we hope, features more than just sexy details on Splatterhouse, it also contains rumored details on Halo developer Bungie's next project. Unsurprisingly, EGM says that it will be a shooter set in the Halo universe, with a move to a third-person perspective and a setting that predates the original Halo.
The enigmatic Quarterman writes that "WETA is definitely involved in some capacity" and that we might hear more about Bungie's post-Halo 3 work as early as November, officially.
At least one of the Halo-themed projects helmed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is closer to reality, as MTV Multiplayer has dug up job listings that hint heavily Microsoft is hiring for one of its "two new interactive entertainment experiences." A confirmation from the company reveals that it's going to be developed internally and not at Halo 3 developer Bungie.
The job listings, all of which are linked to at the MTV Multiplayer report, are light on concrete details. They look to be intentionally vague, deemed "Not Product Specific" and only mentioning that they take place in the Halo universe. See if you can decipher them with your Master Chief decoder rings!
Imagine Master Chief hanging out with Chicken Little. A Warthog drops from the sky and kills Master Chief. And Chicken Little is left with nothing to do but spend hours reviewing tape, discovering just who made the sky fall on our lovable hero/Little's fiance. Wait...was Chicken Little a girl? Was Master Chief a boy? Can we get some confirmation on this stuff before proceeding with the lame metaphor?
Thanks Jason!
Latest by ShineyBlueShoes: See this kind of thing, that crazy plasma grenade video, that kind of stuff actually makes me consider picking up Halo 3. more »
When gamers think "Halo," do they think Microsoft, Xbox 360 or Bungie? That's a question Bungie faces going into the future with its umbilical cord severed from the Microsoft machine—especially when accounting for the millions in branding dollars that tied the Halo franchise so closely to entities other than the developer. Bungie Community Lead Brian Jarrard voiced such concerns to Edge:
Not everyone that buys Halo knows what Bungie is...We want to convert Halo fans into Bungie fans and so we'll take them with us when we do the next game.
And while we feel for Bungie's situation, really, they're probably the most recognized developer in the US outside of Nintendo...to a pretty large and loyal fanbase, at least.
"We want to convert Halo fans into Bungie fans" [CVG]
Latest by DaiMacculate: @munkah: Yeah, see you helped expand my example there, because I've never played the Epic game you mentioned...therefore I wouldn't say it sucks either ;)
The Marathon XBLA port has some...issues. Its a valiant effort, but for one thing its a more »
Screenshots? Bah. Video is the wave of the future! To wit, Bungie's latest "vidoc" focuses on Halo 3's upcoming Legendary Map Pack, combining video walkthrough goodness with good old witty banter from the map's designers and developers. If you want to get an in-motion perspective on the trio of downloadables hitting next week, there's 10 full minutes of animated goodness in the clip. Check out those "juicy" filter effects! For giant downloadable versions of the short, grab it from the official site.
Next week, April 15, Halo 3 gamers will be soaking in new, Bungie-created downloadable content, a moisturizing formula of Ghost Town, Avalanche and Blackout. Just imagine the slurs you can toss out in these new environments! I can't promise these 27 screen shots of the new Legendary Map Pack will convince you to drop the Microsoft Points on new multiplayer arenas, but I'm pretty sure fans of scaffolding and planks will be pretty darn excited to lay their rods and cones on this pic. Simply stunning in its plank-ticity.
We're not sure that you're ready to enter the world of custom, one of a kind My Little Pony creations, but perhaps the bitter pill of fandom tucked within a meaty treat will help the medicine go down. This unique pony, decked out in Master Chief's Mjolnir armor, is almost exactly how we pictured it in the many fanfics we've read on the My Little Pony-Halo crossover forums and certainly not too rich for our blood.
Just think, your little Master Pony will always be there right by your side. He'll be there right by your side. Definitely worth dropping $100-plus on to get the promised hand-sculpted assault rifle. Bid early and often, folks.
Halo.Bungie.org (HBO) has just finished uploading all Halo 2 cutscenes to their servers in gloriously trendy high definition. Halo fans and machinima enthusiasts take note: all of the assets are available for standalone download (none of this embedded crap) and ready to be edited as you see fit.
We'll be putting Master Chief's exploits to Crecente's latest hip hop single (as soon as he cuts it, hides it in his brush collection and some very committed Kotaku reader leaks it to Bittorrent).
Halo 2 Cutscene Library [HBO via Xbox360Fanboy]
Enterprising map makers and modders will have a handful of new toys to play with in Halo 3's Forge creation tool when the Legendary Map Pack ships. And while new scaffolding and tweaked shipping containers may get you moist, it's the new suite of visual filters that may excite Halo fans most. The latest Bungie weekly update reveals the latest Forge improvements, including funky and fresh filters that will give your map a "juicy", "gloomy" or "old timey" look. That's great and all, Bungie boys, but what we need is the ability to generate lens flare under any lighting condition. We require massive amounts of lens flare!
If you can't wait for the Halo Legendary Map Pack, Bungie understands. And while they won't be releasing any maps earlier than their April 15th target, they are happy to give you a trailer to set the mood. It's a pretty decent watch (we have a particular penchant for the overtly dramatic), and it provides a solid glimpse of the new maps Avalanche, Blackout and Ghost Town.
Legendary Map Pack Trailer [Bungie] Thanks Preston!
Either there has been some impressive organization between the hardcore Halo 3 community in the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania or the boys at Bungie are pulling a fast one on us. Considering that it's *sigh* still April 1 Pacific Time, we're guessing it's the latter. Kudos to the Halo teamsters for their subtle and cheery geek map.
If you missed it the first time, 1UP's coverage of LEGO Halo—which actually debuted about a month ago in the April issue of EGM—is now online, on April Fool's Day, for your mock-up viewing pleasure. No, it's not real, in spite of the genuine looking pair of screen shots, and that fall release date isn't happening. It's a respectably sound idea regardless, as I would expect half of everything will be LEGO-fied within the next decade. Someone at Microsoft and LEGO has to be seeing the profit potential on this crossover.
When fans built a Master Chief model for Unreal Tournament 3 (playable on the PlayStation 3), some of us giggled. Others of us, including Business Week, didn't think that Microsoft would be too happy. Now Microsoft attorney Don McGowan is speaking up on his blog to address the situation.
Actually it's nothing more than the Game Content Usage Rules...in action. When these were developed, people all thought they were focused on machinima. The truth is that while they do address machinima they also allow for a lot of other things. Mods like this are one of them.
He continues...making things a little more personal:
More »
The third and final map to be included in the upcoming Legendary map pack for Halo 3 should be familiar to fans. Known as "Blackout," the map is a remake of Halo 2's "Lockout" and joins "Avalanche" and "Ghost Town" in the forthcoming downloadable. The official Bungie site has a quick Q&A with the "Blackout" design team in which much hilarity ensues. Ha ha. There are also pictures!
Latest by XenonXylophone: I was already sold on this for the remake of Sidewinder. Good times with Warthog races on that map in the old days!
And the reveal of Lockout Mk2 is music to my ears too. Always found that this map was more »
Kotaku
The rate things are going, they may never make a Halo movie. So that short Neil Blomkamp put together last year may be as close as you get. And these shots of the Warthog used in that short may be as close as you get to it. Built by WETA, the guys behind the special effects for Lord of the Rings, it's crazy the amount of detail that went into a vehicle built not for a movie, or even a trailer, but a cheap concept pitch. Plenty of pics at the link below.
Cinco de Mayo Means Double The Halo 3 XP For Some Reason. This weekend leads into the Mexican holiday that commemorates the victory of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla, giving everyone else an excuse to get mucho sloshed on Coronas and margaritas. It also, for some strange reason, means that Halo 3 players will gain twice the experience in game with "Fiesta" style rule sets. As 
