Chronique:Halo Bulletin 28/06/2011

The Halo Bulletin: 6/28/11

I Say Hi; You Say Hello

A hug. A high-five. A gentle dropping of your shield. There are many different ways we greet each other, both verbally and physically, but I tend to prefer the simplest salutation. Not only is it short and sweet, but it also possesses my most favorite word characteristic ever—it consists solely of adjacent letters in the alphabet. There are very few such two-letter words, but the ones that exist are amongst the most used in my pint-sized vocabulary. My preferred welcome is one (Hi!), my response to almost every question is another (No!), and the third is an acronym we’ll get to soon. I would give you a hint, but my Magic 8 Ball said I should not, under any circumstance, tell you it starts with “T” and ends with “U”. So, we’ll move on for now, with a promise that I’ll update you later. Deal?

It’s a Big, Blue, Watery Road

Bungie is preparing their ship to set sail, but before they do, they’re pimping some amazing collectibles, all for a good cause. With 100% of final sales prices going to Child's Play—a community-based charity grown and nurtured by the game culture and industry—this is your opportunity to snag a one-of-a-kind Halo item while making a difference in the life of a needy child. Check out this piece of concept art, and just try to tell me it wouldn’t look fabulous front-and-center above your fireplace.

This auction is a mere sample of what’s currently up for grabs, so spend a moment wading through their astounding sea of swag, conveniently located at the end of this article. You can stop by their main eBay page to surf the entirety of their collection as well. We love all of these things so much that we’re bidding in a few of the auctions ourselves, and we hope you’ll do the same. For the curious amongst you, I’m not going to divulge which items have piqued our interest. After all, I am familiar with your sniping tendencies. Oh yes, fellow lover-of-the-long-barrel, your reputation precedes you.

They Say Goodbye; We Say Halo

It goes without saying that we can’t wait to see what Bungie has up their collective sleeve. We are—as well as folks tasked with continuing the epic Halo legacy—big gamers and fans of everything Bungie has done up to this point. And we know that what they’re going to do next is going to be every bit as exciting. So we wish them the best and look forward to playing it ourselves. But back at work, Halo beckons–and come August, we’re going to be running that particular show. Gulp…

Part of running that particular show is listening to the feedback you leave on our forums, across our social networks, and other places you frequently congregate. During one of our customary eavesdropping rounds, we couldn’t help but notice a few of you behaving rather oddly. Doing such things like stockpiling two weeks’ worth of emergency food rations instead of neutrally-placed flags. Or wondering, sometimes in all caps, if playlists will be updated come August and beyond. I’d like to take a moment to tell you that you don’t need to make alternative arrangements for your pet moas quite yet. Rest assured, your Halo adventures will continue to exist just as they do today.

The wheels have been, and continue to, turn at a startlingly fast rate as we find ourselves busy developing web updates, planning forum improvements, and brainstorming various new features which will roll out over the remainder of the year. These things won’t appear out of the blue tomorrow, mind you. They will, however, arrive after their gestation period has reached a state of completion. If you’re someone who likes to be prepared, I have drafted an incredibly detailed checklist of things you can do before August arrives.

bs angel’s Super-Official Gettin’-Ready Checklist:

1. Don’t worry.
2. Be happy.

Before you tackle the above tasks, there is one more thing we should talk about, something we hinted at both during E3 and, more recently, in the first paragraph of this Bulletin. We’re pleased to confirm that we’re planning a Title Update (a small download which will add some interesting functionality) for Halo: Reach in preparation for the multiplayer aspect of Halo: Anniversary.

If your heart suddenly sped up, fret not, Reach fan. This is something that will not only sit side-by-side with Reach’s existing gameplay and will be accessible by both Reach and Anniversary players, but will allow us to make fairly significant changes to multiplayer gameplay within the confines of Matchmaking. We’ve talked about this as a way to better recreate the classic Halo: CE feel for the new classic maps, and it will let us do some things in gameplay that simply aren’t possible now. I don’t want to give too much away until we get through gameplay and bug-testing, but an example scenario would be allowing you to play, say, [REDACTED"] with zero fall damage. Now that’s a limited and simplistic example, but it does speak to the way we’re approaching the changes philosophically. There are some bigger ticket “classic” Halo gameplay elements which people are clamoring for and which we intend to do our best to deliver on. More news about specific changes and the timing of the Title Update will be forthcoming. But I can say that, having tried a few of the more significant tweaks, certain “classic” elements are already working with beautiful and deadly efficiency.

We congratulate, thank, and celebrate Bungie as they close the Halo chapter of their lives. For those of us at 343, though? Well, I think we're just getting started…

PS: Speaking of just getting started, dip into the rest of the charity auctions, won’t you? Then hit the appropriate forum thread to discuss!