Chronique:Halo Bulletin 17/08/2011

17 Août

Original

[[ |center|450px]] Come on in, the water’s warm.

If I had a small pool filled with scalding, jet-propelled water, I would expect you to assume it’s a hot tub time machine. I would also invite you to travel back in time to my teenhood, primarily so I could give you a tour of my straight-out-of-the-90s bedroom. You would catch sight of numerous Andre Agassi posters, dangling from the ceiling directly above my daybed. Your nose would pick up the faint smell of fruit-scented plastic ponies, each one sporting a carefully coifed tail and impeccably styled mane. And your ears would be graced with the sounds of the greatest boy band that has ever walked the face of the earth. Oh yes, I’m talking about NKOTB.

If you’re one of the newer kids on the block, perhaps you’re unfamiliar with that particular acronym. Let’s just say this group had the right stuff. Oh yes, they blew my mind that time. So many times, in fact, that I’ll be loving them forever. The most amazing thing about this denim-clad bunch is that they’re still hanging tough. And that’s something I can attest to, considering I saw them perform last month. Sure, they’re older, wiser, and their voices are no longer cracking. But Joey still has baby blue eyes capable of piercing your soul. And Jordan still has a falsetto that instantly makes you weak in the knees. And they all still know the original step one. No, not cut a hole in the box, but the one that involves having lots of fun.

Despite having not heard the songs in years, I sang along with each and every tune at the top of my lungs, unabashedly off-key but nailing every word. I did the often ridiculed dance moves, step by step, to near perfection. I screamed at the top of my lungs with the rest of the crowd when the camera focused on their endless hip thrusts. I felt like a teenager again, as did the numerous other daisy duke-wearing, temporarily unattached, caught up in the past attendees

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Reliving my boy crazy, awkward-acting, pimple-covered youth was easily one of the nerdiest and most amazing things I did last month. And considering my high level of geekdom, that’s saying something. But being transported—sans time machine—back to the days of side ponytails, knotted-at-the-waist t-shirts, and puff painted shoes was a real treat, and one we’re hoping you’ll experience when you dip into Halo: Anniversary later this year. No, I’m not saying you’ll suddenly have a Rubik’s Cube in your hands and Air Jordans on your feet—I am saying we hope when you meet the Flood again, you’ll feel the same sense of horror you did when you encountered them for the very first time. Or, when you successfully complete the Warthog run with the shiny new graphics, you’ll remember how good it felt to finally beat the clock. Or, when you set foot upon the revamped Damnation, you’ll instantly get taken back to the days when you played system link every spare moment, traversing that classic Multiplayer space until the wee hours of the morning.

It’s because of those memories that we remade six of the most popular Multiplayer maps and bundled them with Anniversary (and one Firefight map makes seven). And it’s because the game has continued to evolve that we’re also including a second variation of each. While I could give you the lowdown on the specifics, 343 Industries Producer David Ellis thought you could use a break from my mindless ramblings. Psh, what does he know, anyway? Actually, you’re about to find out…

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