Halo 2

media

Halo 2 Available on HBO

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]

12:20 PM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By Mark Wilson
1,769 views, 16 comments

charity

Buy Bungie's Halo Soda Machine

The Bungie folks are auctioning off the Halo Mountain Dew vending machine that's been sitting in their office forever. The machine is signed and illustrated by the entire team and features Halo's Master Chief from the second game. The machine has never actually been used, so it's in terrific condition. All proceeds for the auction will go to The Make a Wish Foundation. If you're a HUGE Halo fan this is probably a one-of-a-kind get. The auction is currently at a whopping $15,000 and doesn't include the shipping charge, which is likely to set you back another $200 to $2,000 depending on where you live in the U.S.

If Bungie really loved children they'd throw in a steak dinner with Luke Smith.

Signed Halo Mountain Dew Vending Machine! [eBay]

8:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Brian Crecente
2,798 views, 43 comments

Latest by icarusprime: Would LOVE to HAVE! <3 <3 <3 more »

rumor

Halo 2 Finally Going Platinum Hits?

It looks like Microsoft may add one more title to its Platinum Hits line of budget games—Halo 2. Curiously missing from the line of best-sellers and still ringing up for $29.99 US at many retailers, the "Best Selling Xbox Game Ever" may finally be slashed all the way down to $19.99 when it's saddled with a shiny silver border. Yup, it's time to finally pounce. Pounce, people!

As the box art tells us, Halo 2 plays on Xbox 360, so you really have no reason for it not having a place in your gaming library. Me? I still have plenty of reasons.

No date on this one yet, as we came across it on one of Microsoft's marketing sites. The question: why now? We're asking Microsoft to find out.

3:00 PM on Mon Feb 11 2008
By Michael McWhertor
2,697 views, 82 comments

ces08

Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Updates "Winding Down"

Speaking with Albert Penello, group marketing manager for the Xbox 360, at CES this week, we touched on the future of the Xbox past. The most recent update to the list of original Xbox games that are playable on the Xbox 360, bringing the total to 465 last gen titles, could very well be the last, according to Penello. "I don't know if we have plans to do any more releases," Penello said "It feels like we kind of hit the point of diminishing returns there. I know with the Xbox Originals, there are still things happening there, but in terms of a lot of engineering work around bringing out new titles, I think they're winding that down." More »

2:20 PM on Wed Jan 9 2008
By Michael McWhertor
17,527 views, 130 comments

Latest by productofapathy: does no one care about tenchu anymore? I NEED NINJAS!!! more »

news

Man Uses Live to Stalk, Threatens Rape

A New York man was arrested Friday after allegedly stalking and threatening to rape two Spokane girls he met while playing a Halo game on Xbox Live, KHQ reports.

Joshua R. Stetar was arrested Friday in Spokane, Washington after the man drove 40 hours straight to the city and started texting and driving by the house of the 15-year-old girl and her sister, police said.

Police say Stetar met the girl in 2006 in "Halo" using Live and that he had sent packages and flowers to the parent's home, but they were always returned. He also allegedly text messaged the girl hundreds of times and finally drove to the town.

More »

12:00 PM on Mon Dec 31 2007
By Brian Crecente
15,722 views, 197 comments

xbox 360

Msoft Wants Halo 3 To Top $155 Million in First Day

Microsoft doesn't just want to top Halo 2's first day sales record with the sequel, it wants to blow it out of the water. Variety reports that Microsoft has its eye set on topping the opening weekend box office record of $151 million set by Spider-Man 3, raking in $155 million in a single day. More »

6:00 PM on Mon Aug 13 2007
By Brian Crecente
6,103 views, 135 comments

only in japan

Japan Gets Halo History Pack

And by Halo History Pack, Microsoft of Japan means a "Platinum Collection" package featuring both Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 for a paltry 2,980 yen (about $25 USD). Microsoft is readying the super-budget two-in-one Halo History Pack to get Japanese gamers—okay, Western ex-pats—hyped up for the Xbox 360 release of Halo 3. The double pack, with built-in backward compatibility updates, ships to Japanese retailers on September 12.

Sick to death of hearing about everything Halo yet? You'd better get out of this chickenshit outfit now then, buddy, 'cause it's only going to get worse.

Halo History Pack [Xbox Japan]

4:40 PM on Tue Jul 31 2007
By Michael McWhertor
3,234 views, 44 comments

comic con 07

The Halo Product Madness Won't Stop

Halo fans with a little walkin' around money will need to start talking to building contractors, like, yesterday, as the amount of Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3 licensed everything is going to require it's own room. At Comic Con, Kotobukiya, Wizkids, McFarlane Toys and Gentle Giant showed off a ridiculous amount of Master Chief stuff coming this year and the next. Pics of nearly everything in the gallery below.

5:30 PM on Sat Jul 28 2007
By Michael McWhertor
4,465 views, 41 comments

Latest by NYC Armor Guy: I personally can't wait for much of this - Esp. the Gentle Giant statues. BTW - It loooks like it's just one case worth of stuff & a statue I was hoping to see the plasma rifle & plasma pstol... more »

i play banned games

Library Offers Halo 2 Competition, People Freak

To attract a teenage readership, an Illinois library has planned a Halo 2 competition for this weekend. Minors can come and participate as long as they've had a permission slip signed by an adult. But to the National Institute on Media and the Family, that's just not enough. President David Walsh claims:

...it borders on irresponsibility for a public library to sponsor an activity for kids as young as 12 that the industry itself has said is for adults.

And while the permission slip doesn't specify the game is rated M, how many books in that library—perfectly accessible to children—hold the same level of violence, maturity or societal subversion without any designation? Ah, nevermind. Books like that are better off banned, anyway.
Critics say 'Oh no' to Halo [via gamepolitics]

12:00 PM on Tue Jul 24 2007
By Mark Wilson
2,869 views, 64 comments

Latest by aslum: Someone asked why Anne Frank was banned. It hasn't been banned to my knowledge, but it has been a target of frequent challenges. Note that not all of the books on that shelf have been successfully banned. Many have been more »

its in the game

It's Peter Moore Photoshop Time

We're sad to see Peter Moore move on from Microsoft. Not that we're Xbox fanboys, just that it's going to be really hard to put together a list of questions about Madden NFL 2009 or whatever year FIFA is on now ('99?) to ask of Moore next time we see him. To comemmorate his departure from the Xbox family and to have a bit of fun, we're having a Peter Moore Tattoo Photoshop Throwdown. Yes, of course, this is clearly a Something Awful forums Photoshop Phriday swipe, but that doesn't mean we won't enjoy ourselves. More »

7:40 PM on Tue Jul 17 2007
By Michael McWhertor
16,315 views, 49 comments

Latest by Dumptrick: I just read about this contest at 9:01 :( Was going to do a 360 red ring of death tatoo but I'm sure someone already has that covered. more »

week in games

Week in Games: Mario Party 8 Edition

As I depart the Big Apple (where I've been reporting from all weekend) I leave you with this list of games coming out this week. Mario Party looks like it might be some fun with the addition of the Wii remote mechanic and I'd like to see how the 2d to 3d Crush is for the PSP. Other than that, I can satisfy myself with finishing up Silent Hill 2 which for some reason I decided to haul out of the mothballs. Anyone going to round out a holiday weekend by picking one or two of these up? Flynn De Marco More »

4:00 PM on Sun May 27 2007
By fdemarco
3,086 views, 70 comments

Latest by RedShell: The only people who deserve to bitch about MP8 are people who bought all the others (why?!). Companies can release rehashed games all day long as long as they turn a profit. That said, why can't the board game portion of more »

gallery

Halo Zune Hands-On

As I write this I am listening to the haunting strains of Ancient Machine from the Halo 2 Volume 1 soundtrack on Halo Zune. The Zune, sent my way from Microsoft, is pretty neat looking, and does have a slew of original content, but it's still a Zune. That is to say, while I love the huge screen for video playback and the great all-you-can-eat music service, I'm still ticked that it skips when playing some music back and that Microsoft still hasn't gotten around to adding television and movies to their store. More »

12:07 PM on Mon May 21 2007
By Brian Crecente
5,459 views, 63 comments

Latest by AZRoboto: Man, I really do want that Halo Zune. It looks so nice and I need a new MP3 Player, but... I don't like the Zune's bulkiness There's got to be a hardware upgrade in a couple months The iPod is going to more »

week in games

Week in Games: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Edition

It's a mixed bag of titles this week. We have a movie franchise game, a new RPG, the re-emergence of a classic, a comic card game, mechs, a high school sim and even the simple crossword puzzle. Not a whole lot that's of too much interest to me although I kind of want to see the Pirates game just because those character models are stunning. Anything here you'll be picking up? Flynn De Marco More »

7:00 PM on Sun May 20 2007
By fdemarco
2,447 views, 26 comments

halo...halo again

Clip: Halo 2 VS Halo 3

Every time I see new Halo 3 footage, I struggle to see the real improvement over Halo 2. I can see upgraded textures and skins and such, but otherwise I cannot discern much difference. If only there were some sort of...comparison video for the two games available through..say, GameTrailers. More »

2:20 PM on Fri May 18 2007
By Mike Fahey
6,946 views, 116 comments

cross promotion

A Music Player For Master Chief

Microsoft cross-promotion at its best! On June 15th, a special Halo 3 Zune music player will be available exclusively at GameStop for US $249.99. The 30GB black device (better than brown!) comes pre-loaded with tons of Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3 goodies like vids, music, trailers and artwork for you to stare at on that 3-inch screen. Hit the jump for the details. Yes, the details! Brian Ashcraft More »

4:00 AM on Thu May 17 2007
By Brian Ashcraft
1,996 views, 28 comments

buy vista plz

Clip: Halo 2 Vista Trailer

Witness Microsoft and Bungie's latest attempt to get me to not only buy a game I've already played through but also cripple my computer with Windows Vista at the same time. More »

6:00 PM on Wed May 9 2007
By Mike Fahey
8,129 views, 65 comments