HALO 3 REVEALED.

Despite a stern warning from Bungie, the first scans from swedish game magazine “Level” have appeared online. All details, screenshots, etc are taken from Bungie’s first ever Multiplayer test of Halo 3 with the media. EGM already promised a full cover story for their next issue, but thatwon’t be in the mail for another week or so.

Video Games Blogger has published the scans and compiled translated info from members of the NeoGAF Surround yourself in the hype!

Some of my favorite bulletpoints:

• 4 Disc Collectors Editon, filled with documentaries, Red VS Blue, and HD cut scenes from all 3 games
• Valhalla is the new name for Blood Gulch
• 3 new weapons: Spartan Laser, Spiker, and Nail Grenade
• Weapons not in use will be visibly strapped to the players back. No more hiding the sword or Rocket Launcher!
• Two words: MAN CANNON

UPDATE: Bungie Weekly Update says they successfully test Halo 3 Matchmaking last night online with real testers on the regular internet. Wheee! They also mention the movie is going forward, and that EGM will publish more info and hi-res screens will be on 1UP and Bungie very very soon. so no need for me to go mirroring this swedish magazine photo.

UPDATE AGAIN: 1up.com has their Halo 3 mini site up and will be updating 3 times a week starting November 6.

UPDATE ONCE AGAIN: Looks like we’ve got some high res scans of this Swedish magazine right here and a more thorough translation of the article over at Geezer Gamers. These maps look incredible. – Ernie

Breaking: Variety is reporting Fox and Universal are pulling out of the adaptation of Bungie’s massively successful Xbox game. Citing rising costs and Microsofts unwillingness to back down on their cut of the gross or their upfront payday, the two studios are cutting financing, leaving the software giant to find a new partner.

Bungie themselves have been eerily silent about the movie. They promised a big update on their site around the time Neal Blomkamp was announced as director, but still haven’t said anything to even acknowledge that much. Weekly updates do continue to note when Bungie staff go to New Zealand to meet with WETA for pre-production. Executive Producer Peter Jackson seems more dedicated than ever, even starting work on his own Halo game for the Xbox 360.

Pre-production is rolling on according to reports, but no formal statement has been made from Microsoft or Bungie. The guiding light and motto for this whole production has been “make a GOOD Halo movie or make NO Halo movie” and I’m inclined to say it looks like the latter right now.

This does however make me thinkg Halo will miss 2007 and possibly 2008 for release. Hey Microsoft: Pay for it yourself! Then just hire a distributor! It worked for George Lucas.

The biggest news: Microsoft Partners with Peter Jackson. Not only is PJ producing the forthcoming Halo movie, he’s also developing a brand new game with his new Wingnut Interactive development company. In addition to the brand new game, he’s scripting a new Halo game with Bungie. A Halo game that is not Halo 3, but a brand new entry in the series.
Further, theres the long rumoured, much anticipated HALO WARS. Its an Xbox 360 exclusive Real Time Strategy game set at the outset of the war with the Covenant, back when Master Chief was actually a Master Chief of a group of highly trained SPARTAN warriors and not just a clever name. Read more direct from Bungie here.

Also, DOOM available on XBLA. Right now. Seriously. Doom 1. Full game, multiplayer, everything. Download it, play tonight.

Guitar Hero 360 is coming next year. Downloads are promised, but that white Explorer guitar is only a prototype.

For reasons unknown, Microsoft is allowing Rare to make another Banjo game.

We’ve already shown you Marvel Universe Online, but may I say this game looks like it may just cure the blues for folk like me who are bummed only 24 playable characters are in Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Let’s just hope Cryptic tries to grab hold of the X-Men Legends audience with great gameplay.

Thanks to SparkStalker for links!

This is not the Halo 3 logo, but they have revealed the real final logo. Take a look at the real Halo 3 Logo.

That Halo movie… they still making that? Yes they are. Aint it cool’s Quint put Peter Jackson in the hotseat and made him talk about producing the Halo movie.

Bungie Weekly Update‘s big story is the new podcast. I’m still listening to it, but so far the most startling revelation has nothing to do with Halo 3. Bungie’s staff composer Marty O’Donnel is responsible for the “Flintstone Kids” and “Mr Clean” commercial jingles. Wow. Just… wow.

If you feel like a laugh, read An Interview With A Cheater over at Aeropause. A Halo 2 cheater justify’s his existance. Poorly.

I just read the first Halo novel “The Fall Of Reach” this week and I’m kind of amazed I liked it. I also think it would make a better movie than the first game.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Sorry to interrupt the actual news reporting and editorials we usually do around here, but I clipped together this charming little video, and the least you can do is watch it.

Audio is provided by the Halo 3 trailer, and video is entirely footage from Transformers: The Movie. Since it feels like I can’t go a day without doing stories about Halo or Transformers, its only fair I end up putting both tags on the same story at least once.

Strangely, the announcement is not on Bungie.net yet, but Halo has a director. His name is Neill Blomkamp. He’s never directed a major motion picture before, but he’s got a long history of TV and commercial work. Stop cringing. This is a commercial he directed:

Thats right, the dancing Citroen. In fact nearly all of his projects have been heavy on special effects and high technology. Joystiq invites you to scrutinize his resume.

But don’t take our word for it. Whats Executive Producer Peter Jackson say?

“As a gaming fan, I’m excited to bring Halo’s premise, action and settings to the screen with all the specificity and reality today’s technology can provide,” said Jackson. “Fran and I are intrigued by the unique challenges this project offers, and we’re delighted to be working again with our friends at Universal, and with our new ones at Fox and Microsoft. With Neill on board, I’m even more excited by the potential of this project.”

Wow, thats press release quality quoting there!

Halo is now due for a 2008 summer release.

MTV News sat down with former Ultra Game Players and Xbox Magazine writer and current Bungie content manager Frank O’Conner about his ability to bait and tease fanboys.
Frank also turns in a great photo-filled journal of ComiCon. I should really call this column “This Week In Frankie”
Rumor time!!! SPoNG says a New Bungie Title that isn’t Halo will be revealed at X06, certifying that Halo 3 will in fact be the last in the series. It is said the game will still take place in the Halo universe, not unlike their Mac classic, Marathon.
Joystiq stupidly spit out A Bungie with business sense would make Halo 4 and 5 and… and made me literally sneer. Who are you kidding man? They’re going to finish the fight with Halo 3 and then move on. This is the same kind of mindset that makes terrible sequels commonplace. A Halo 4 would be horribly tacked on. Bungie has clearly mapped out this universe and history to include many, many events that may never make it into games. Not unlike Star Wars or Star Trek, they’ll find new places to set new stories with new characters without leaving the world we know. Theres a vast history of the Spartan program the Covenant and the Forerunners that we haven’t… hey… wait a minute… Forerunners… Yeah, that could easily be where the rumour came from. We’ll have to wait and see.

The biggest news in the Halo universe this week (this week having no Halo 3 news of course) is that Marvel and Bungie are going forth with an ongoing Halo comic book.

Frank O’Conner was also caught by a pirate at ComiCon, which explains why he didn’t pen this week’s update.

I found out about Halowiki, which is vast repository of information on Halo 2’s multiplayer. These guys are experts and mapped out every advantage and weakness of every weapon on every map. Best of all, they’re sharing the knowledge so we can all be better players. Of course it goes without saying they beat Bungie in 3 game match.

Last week some friends got up in arms about Oscar Winner Denzel Washington playing Master Chief John Spartan. Denzel was in New Zealand recently and was spotted chatting with Richard Taylor of the Weta special effects design team (Lord Of The Rings, King Kong). Apparently theres something wrong with a highly respected and talented actor lifting this franchise beyond its inferred b-grade game roots. Well relax, denizens of the internets: according to AICN Denzel was just making a visit to Weta workshop for another movie he’s directing. Richard Taylor isn’t even working on Halo, since Bungie is doing all art and conceptualization in-house. Weta is just going to build and model what Bungie designs.

If you like boxart and you like fan art, then how about some fan box art? With limited elements at hand and no knowledge of the game itself, these are some convincing Halo 3 covers.

Finally, Joyride studios made a new ODST figure for ComiCon. He’s limited to only 1200, and is probably gone by now. I can’t imagine how much this will fetch on the secondary market as first wave figures like Sgt Johnson already command $80 and over.