As part of a promotional effort from Microsoft, several sites (including Powet.tv) were sent out part of a large ‘Halo 4′ image, split into 32 parts.

I got the email less than a half hour ago, but enough other fans and blogs got it that a forum goer from NeoGAF was able to stitch them all together.

What appears to the left may well be the box art for Halo 4. Behind the crouching Master Chief is the UNSC ship Forward Unto Dawn, broken in half from the event of Halo 3, is being sucked into the maw of the mysterious monster planet we saw in the E3 trailer last year. Also along for the ride are a few Covenant ships and who knows what else behind that fire and debris.

This next image transcends implications into an outright leak. This is the card back to one of the Halo 4 action figures. The first wave has Master Chief, an Elite Zealot, a Grunt Storm (whatever that means!) and a Red multiplayer Spartan.

Advertised as Wave two is another Spartan, Cortana, and two new characters: The ‘Crawler’ and the ‘Watcher’ with images of each. They’re kind of hard to see, since they’re toys and the images isn’t the best to begin with. Hopefully these new enemy classes mean we’re officially beyond The Flood as late game enemies. The Flood did not appear in ODST or Reach.

Halo 4 will launch on November 6 in North America, and is available for pre-order now. More news is expected soon, during E3.

Master Chief or Commander in Chief? If you’re in the US, thats what you’re facing on November 6, as Microsoft will be launching the first chapter in the next Halo trilogy, Halo 4. This day also happens to be Election Day, with national and local offices including the Presidency on the ballot in all states and territories.

Halo 4 is still pending a rating, but is expected to be rated “M” like others in the series. M rated games are available to those age 17 and up, while those 18 and up are eligible to vote. Just a friendly reminder to vote by absentee ballot if you’re planning to attend a midnight launch and spend all night playing.

Halo 4 is on the cover of the next issue of Game Informer (see image) and many details from the interior article are already online. Expect the Covenant to return in reduced numbers, a Forerunner planet, and a new faction that will challenge players beyond previous games.

The video starts with the closing cinematic from Halo 3, so spoilers beware if you managed to not complete that game since the last time Earth had a leap day.

The designers and producers at 343 Industries walk through some of the changes to the Spartan armor and do reveal that multiplayer features the next generation Spartan IV equipment. Master Chief himself was (or is?) a Spartan II, and much of the Noble team from Reach were Spartan IIIs. 343 were not kind enough to talk about armor abilities, but it does seem that dual wielding is gone for good.

Only a small fragment of campaign footage appears, and they’re not revealing the enemies just yet. We’ll probably have to wait until E3 in June for more answers.

Does allowing gamers to create their own worlds within a game make that game better, or does it just excuse the developers from having to create any content themselves? Vinnk and Sean discuss their first experiences with user-generated content (on the NES!), the wonders of the Famicom Data Recorder, and which games they thought were helped or hampered by being able to draw dongs on the sides of racecars.

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we certainly have a lot to be thankful for, such as our friends, family, jobs, health, and fortune. We as gamers especially have cause to be thankful. With all the games being canceled throughout the years, we’ve had several classic games that have made to store shelves. On the flip side, we should also be thankful for all the crappy titles that were not released. This is a follow up to this past summer’s article about canceled games. As you read this list, be thankful for all those triple A titles you enjoyed that were released.
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Franchise director Frank O’Conner says every comic, book, and additional content released around Halo over the last 4 years has been building up to this.

“Reclaimer” is a term used by 343 Guily Spark in the original game, “Halo: Combat Evolved.” Master Chief John 117 was charged with activating the Halo super weapon, but its vague use in the series may imply John specifically or any human or Forerunner who manipulated a Halo, The Ark, or a Shield World. This might sound all like gibberish to anyone who didn’t play Halo, and I can assure you its almost gibberish to me, and I’ve played all the games multiple times.

In any case, the concepts seen in the teaser seem to imply a lot more Forerunner structures and new planets will be explored in the new trilogy. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of the Flood, though. And the last of the Brutes. I could do without Skirmishers as well. You know what, lets just halo Halo 4 with all Hunters and Grunts! Yeah!

Below, hear some of the creators at 343 Industries talk about taking Halo into future. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The developers of Marathon, Myth, and Halo game series have turned 20!
Bungie Studios has had the bittersweet duty of handing over the Halo franchise officially this week to Microsoft’s internal Halo team, 343 Industries. Now is a great time to get acquainted with the team as they embark on their next big action game (which is still a total secret, but definitely coming to PS3 and XBox 360).
They’ve put together a 55 minute documentary on their history, worth a watch if you’re a fan of any of their games or you just want to see how a company can go from a few guys in an apartment to one of the biggest and most powerful in the industry.

Master Chief John 117 and a crew of marines are dropped on to a beach with a wide variety of Covenant enemies at the ready. This level also features the music commonly thought of as the “Halo Theme”

The demo shows a talked about feature: Classic mode. Tapping the “back” button on your Xbox controller will swap the new graphics for the original 2001 graphics. Honestly, I think the game looks pretty good either way, and the classic mode really does more to show off what they could accomplish with new textures and a few layers added on to the old engine.

This demo is what was originally shown behind closed doors at E3 last month, but is being shown to everyone at San Diego ComiCon.

If you Pre-Order Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, you’ll get a bonus in game, the “Grunt Funeral Skull.” What does it do? Well, here is a video…. [Read the rest of this entry...]