Chronique:BWU 21/04/2006

Posted by Frankie at 4/21/2006 5:13 PM PDT

When everything that happens in a week is secret, there's really not much to tell you. We do however, break down the exact numbers of players per matchmaking playlist, to prove mathematically that your complaints are either correct, or unfounded.

I've been swamped all day making last minute edits to the Halo Graphic Novel. Which is why this update is so short. The last few lettered pages from the Simon Bisley/Lee Hammock story are coming in, and let me just say, that story gives you a pretty rich insight into the relationship between the Elites and the Prophets. It also has a couple of nasty surprises.

I've been in the unenviable position of editing text by folks way more talented than me. The good news is that the text bubbles seldom contain more than a paragraph. Want a sneak peek? Here's a line from the mina story in the graphic novel, "Aieeee!" Now, there you go. Don't say we don't ever do anything nice for you.

Marty has been busy too. He recently finished a recording session with a 60 piece orchestra and a 24 member choir. He says it was for his personal ringtone for his new phone, but I suspect something slightly more epic in nature. It's interesting to see him in composing mood, tinkling away on the ivories like some latter day Liberace, only, you know without the excessive jewelry and furs.

The question is, what was he recording, and why ? More news on that soon, I promise.

Marty's had a lot going on this week too, between the announcement of the Soundtrack Mash Mixer Contest, which you can read about HERE , and the fact that he will be appearing live in Chicago at the Play! Concert series, along with legends like Nobou Uematsu and Koji Kondo (as well as signing autographs for a meet and greet) and again, more information on that HERE .

Eric Nylund's work on the next Halo novel continues and we can only assume he's packing it full of awesomeness.

We've recently implemented some back end changes to the website that make it significantly easier to both submit and edit content. Many's the time where we've printed a mistake or two on the website and basically had to suck it up because it was near impossible to actually edit content. Tommy G, Zach R and Roger W have all been hard at work making sure we have nice fun tools to help us do our job faster and prettier.

And speaking of prettier - the weekly team meetings are getting prettier and prettier too. We're showing fully playable, often fully lit locations and scenarios.

It looks like the Mister Chief T-Shirts are actually happening. I've been asked to come up with a Mister Chief logo. I'm not sure my skills are up to the task, but I promise to do my best.

People often ask what the breakdown of Matchmaking playlists is, especially when they’re desperate for their favorite to get more precedence, but NinjaOnFire wanted to display exactly what the percentages are, which may surprise some of you, but probably fits in with most folks' assumptions about who's playing what. This is how it looks:

No news from the Halo movie yet. We do know that Joe Staten and studio manager Harold Ryan are talking to Peter Jackson right now in New Zealand, but as for actual announcements, none until the studio is ready to make them. And speaking of movies, I just checked out the reviews of Silent Hill on RottenTomatoes.com and although it's um, challenged, I think I'll still go see it. Who doesn't love Pyramid Head?

Oh, and a reader asked what Mister Chief and Johnson would look like flying to a magical land in a Miyazaki-inspired Yojimbo-Copter.