Chronique:Halo Bulletin 06/07/2011

The Halo Bulletin: 7/6/11

There’s a magical place, barely visible off in the distance, where the sun merges with the horizon. Its integration is seamless; its colors, enchanting; its beauty, breathtaking. Cowboys ride off into it, dreams are born in it, and it’s the place where that which we anticipate resides. Right now, there are two main things that loom in that promise-filled skyline: Halo Fest and a Title Update for Halo: Reach. You will get the inside scoop on the second at the first, but I’ve got a serious case of ants in the pants (at least, that’s what I think is causing the itching), so I thought I’d share a few of the TU ideas I recently pitched to the team. Please put on your serious face for a moment, because the anal output is about to get real…

bs angel’s Top 5 for the Title Update

1. If I send out a hologram when playing Snipers and someone fires at it, make the bullets ricochet back at the shooter. Bonus points if I get credit for the resulting kills.

2. Add a “Wort-wort-wort” speech bubble, Heart Attack-style, Elite armor effect. Rainbows coming out of Spartans’ backsides would also be an acceptable addition.

3. Create a facepalm animation, accessible by pressing “X” immediately after dying. Appropriate uses would include the aftermath of these all-too-common (for me, anyway) occurrences:

a. I’m chasing an opponent, and they evade backwards and successfully assassinate me
b. I throw a Plasma Grenade, the intended enemy armor-locks, and it bounces back, sticking to my face
c. I get meleed to death after getting an Assist Streak in a rockets-only gametype.

4. Any time I nail people with a fully charged Plasma Pistol shot, shock them with a real life jolt of electricity through their controllers. Also, vids or it didn’t happen.

5. If I’m fighting someone, they’re almost dead, and they use Armor Lock, make their Xbox turn off. Perhaps forever.

When I shared these (what I consider to be) rather brilliant ideas to a previously attentive and enthusiastic audience, I was met with a collective and deafening silence. Then the person in charge of developing the Halo: Reach TU said, “Quit your day job.” I responded, “I think the phrase you were looking for is ‘Don’t quit your day job’” to which he replied, “Oh no, I totally meant quit your day job.” I’m pretty sure that means all my suggested changes are in!! I think there’s still room for more ideas, though, so tell us your top five for the upcoming Title Update here. And, in case you were wondering, you can expect more information on this front at Halo Fest.

Hitting the Double Digits

Speaking of Halo Fest, we are almost done putting the bells and whistles on a few of our panels and contests. You can partake in both even if you are unable to attend the festivities in person, so don’t go skipping this paragraph quite yet. To quench your big, grunty thirst for anything and everything Halo, here are all the details you could ever hope for (and more!) about just three of the panels we’ll be hosting at PAX Prime this August.

The team responsible for the 2011 reimagining of the classic Xbox title peel back the cover on the process behind bringing Halo: Anniversary to gamers on the 10th anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved. Panelists include Executive Producer Dan Ayoub, Producer Dennis Ries, Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor, Franchise Manager Kevin Grace, and more!

Over the past decade Halo has touched millions of people around the world. Come be a part of the 10th anniversary celebration as we welcome some of the people who helped bring the universe to life. Panelists include Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor, Franchise Manager Kevin Grace, Pete Stacker (Captain Jacob Keyes), Tim Dadabo (343 Guilty Spark), and Steve Downes (Master Chief).

Here is your first chance to see and hear from the 343 Industries team that is creating the exciting next chapter in Master Chief’s heroic story. Be there as we kick off the next 10 years of Halo! Panelists include Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor, Creative Director Josh Holmes, Executive Producer Kiki Wolfkill, Senior Art Director Kenneth Scott, and Audio Director Sotaro Tojima.

While we’re excited to repeatedly assault both your eyes and ears over the course of the game-filled weekend, there will also be a wide variety of other activities fighting for your attention—tournaments and contests being two such things. While we’re still kicking around ideas for the former (1 v. 1 Ninja Assault on Breakpoint, anyone?), the latter is solidified enough to share.

Ever Wonder Why We’re Here?

Should you fancy yourself a machinima-maker or a master map manipulator, get your Theater mode ready because we’ll be hosting both a Machinima and Forge Art contest for all who find themselves willing and able to participate. Both contests—the specifics of which will soon be available on our Facebook page—will be judged on creativity, originality, and themes that celebrate Halo’s 10th Anniversary. There are a ton of details our legal team makes us include (I got disqualified due to the obscenity clause), but what it boils down to is this: Make epic [yoink"] , and you’ll win epic [yoink"]. You need not be present to take home the trophy, so get to prepping your entry already. And as I’m sure you have no interest in the prizes, let’s wrap this sucker up.

Wait, you do want to know about the prizes? Ok, then! The machinima contest winner will get a walk-on voice role in a Red vs. Blue Rooster Teeth production, and the Forge art winner will get an ACME Archives limited print run of their submission in production along with an art quality print of their work. I’ve only got one thing to say about that: Blarg-Chicka-Honk-Honk!

And now, as a parting gift, I’ll leave you with this super-cool fan-made rendition of the Halo 4 E3 trailer, remade in Halo: Reach by Jamian Stephan. Until next week, my fellow Halo lovers…

PS: I like ribbons in my hair. Just thought you should know.