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Nov-07-2009Halo Waypoint live, Halo Legends starts tomorrow(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- Starting on November 7, you'll be able to watch episodes of the upcoming Halo Legends series. (More...)
- Halo Waypoint will also be the place to hear all of the latest Halo related news, and get access to all of the latest trailers, developer interviews, documentaries and screenshots, including fan-created content. (More...)
- Your one stop shop for everything Halo goes live, along with the first of new Halo animated series. (More...)
- The question is do you integrate in or integrate out? We obviously haven't figured out what we're going to do with Waypoint as relates to Halo: Reach, which is the only game on the horizon that we're talking about. (More...)
- Following each preview episode on Xbox LIVE, fans will receive exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at each studio'''s creative process through "making of" specials. (More...)
- The place for all things Halo related, was made available for Live Gold members in the U.S. last week. (More...)
- I love the way that you can tell stories in our universe very quickly and very directly in a way that is difficult in a video game, where you have to keep the focus on the action. (More...)
- I mean, we have five New York Times best-selling novels, the encyclopedias you mentioned, one of Marvel's best-selling graphic novels, comic books series, all that stuff. (More...)
- Opened it up and bam. 6 Avatar awards. (More...)
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Starting on November 7, you'll be able to watch episodes of the upcoming Halo Legends series. This is a whole lot of support for one gameso how big does a franchise need to be before it gets the royal treatment on Xbox Live? Frank O'Connor, Halo's franchise development director at 343 studios, told Ars that it's important to both be a popular series, as well as having a world that gives you enough content to support a destination on the dashboard. "Folks don't like clutter, so I doubt you're going to see one of these for every game or even Franchiseand it's quite an investment of people, time and resources," he explained. [1] To backup the launch of Xbox Live hub, Halo Waypoint, Microsoft's detailed the release schedule for anime series, Halo Legends. The first preview episode of the series, created by famed anime house STUDIO4C, will be released through Waypoint this Saturday, November 7, Microsoft has confirmed. The Babysitter follows the story of a group of ODSTs who reluctantly accept a Spartan sniper into their strike team, says the blurb. As they embark on a perilous mission to assassinate a high-ranking Covenant Prophet, old rivalries must be re-examined if the mission is to succeed. Watch what happens as the mission progresses into hostile territory, and both the Spartan and the ODSTs discover something important about each other.[2] Sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, previews of four new "Halo Legends" episodes will be available only on Halo Waypoint during 24-hour live-streaming events on Xbox LIVE over the next three months. The first "Halo Legends" preview episode, "The Babysitter," is created by famed anime house STUDIO4''''C, and follows the story of a group of ODST'''s who reluctantly accept a Spartan sniper into their strike team. As they embark on a perilous mission to assassinate a high-ranking Covenant Prophet, old rivalries must be reexamined if the mission is to succeed. Watch what happens as the mission progresses into hostile territory, and both the Spartan and the ODST'''s discover something important about the other.[3]
An online portal devoted to everything Halo has opened its virtual doors on Xbox Live. The first round of exclusive content for Halo Waypoint will appear this Saturday, as portal managers plan to release full-episode previews of the anime series Halo Legends.[4] Launched yesterday as part of the Xbox Live service, Waypoint will serve as a social hub for Halo players, as well as a place to go for daily updates of Halo-related content. Microsoft promises "daily updates of fresh, exciting content such as developer interviews, trailers and screenshots, exclusive video footage, community activities and the latest Halo news." First among these "fresh, exciting" pieces of content will be the new anime show " Halo Legends."[5]
Josh Holmes has been in the industry for around 15 years. He was part of the EA Canada exodus that formed Propaganda Games in 2005, having previous worked on the first two Def Jam titles and the NBA Street series. At Propaganda he worked on the most recent Turok game. He came to Microsoft's 343 Industries and now holds the position of executive producer of the Halo 3 franchise. My first question for Josh following yesterday's release of the Xbox Live Halo hub was what's next for the Waypoint team? His answer? Sleep. Waypoint has been a labor of love for the development team from the get go, to the point where they stayed up well into the early morning on Wednesday night, watching the players download and explore the fruits of their labor. "The team here has been really grinding to complete this and launch it.[6] The Blu-Ray release of Halo Legends will hit shelves right alongside the DVD on February 9th, reports Blu-Ray.com, and will include "several hours of special features, including a BD-exclusive overview of the Halo universe up until the end of Halo 3." This isn't quite as earthshattering as if this were the actual Halo games - quite easily Microsoft's flagship series since the launch of the first Xbox - coming to its mortal enemy's console. but even so, it's not the sort of thing that would have been easily imaginable even just a year or two ago.[7]
Much like previous universe-expanding anime features, each "episode" of'' Halo Legends will be helmed by a famous anime director, and all of the episodes will'' produced (and written)'' by 343 Industries, a division of Microsoft Game Studios (the creators of Halo ). The "animetion" studios involved with the project are all pretty famous, respectively responsible for such notable anime series such as Ghost In The Shell, Full Metal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, Dragonball Z, Patlabor, Macross Plus, Vampire Hunter D, and of course, The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight.[8] The seven chapters (10 to 17 minutes long) also will be available on demand and for digital download. The two-disc special edition features several hours of bonus material, including: "The Making of Halo Legends," an introduction to Legends followed by a making-of segment for each episode; "Halo: Gaming Evolved," which explains the "Halo" phenomenon from its inception as an Xbox video game to a present day entertainment franchise; and audio commentary with franchise directors Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou.[9] The stellar roster of animation talent on Halo Legends is highlighted by creative supervisors Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) and Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell); directors Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed), Hideki Futamura (The Animatrix), Daisuke Nishio (Dragonball Z), Hiroshi Yamazaki (Karas), Toshiyuki Kanno (Black Lagoon), Koichi Mashimo (Blade of the Immortal) and Koji Sawai (Patlabor); directors/action designers Tomoki Kyoda (Eureka Seven, Evangelion 1.0) and Yasushi Muraki (Macross Plus, Vampire Hunter D); and writer Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop). Halo is a centerpiece in the world of video games, selling more than 27 million units to a devoted legion of fans - including the latest hit Halo 3:ODST. The Halo franchise has driven more than $1 billion in revenue from its award winning Xbox games, New York Times best-selling novels and comics and a wide variety of other merchandise.[10]
As most gamers would probably imagine, it was really only a matter of time before Modern Warfare 2 made an appearance on Avatar Thursdays. Aside from some stylish MW2 branded hats and T-shirts, including some jazzy logo and Infinity Ward apparel, the Modern Warfare 2 collection is also offering up a full Ghost Uniform suit and a sleek remote controlled UAV prop. It all comes as good news to fans of the series, who no doubt are already feeling itchy fingers as they patiently wait for the drop of one of the mostly highly anticipated games of 2009. This week's offerings don't stop there, because also being offered up on the rack is a not to be understated assortment of great gear from Activision's newest rhythmic game, Band Hero. In this new collection is found some truly funky styles ranging from Cuffed Jackets, Ties and Jeans, to some groovy new props like the stand-up Microphone and the iconic Boombox, which even includes break-dancing Avatar animations. If all of that were not enough great news this week, Microsoft and Bungie have upped the ante with a whole new way to experience the Halo universe in the form of Halo Waypoint.[11] Available for "Halo" fans worldwide following a successful preview period, Halo Waypoint brings all the richness of the "Halo" universe together in one place. Halo Waypoint features daily updates of fresh, exciting content such as developer interviews, trailers and screenshots, exclusive video footage, community activities and the latest "Halo" news. Halo Waypoint includes an innovative career system that tracks players''' accomplishments across multiple "Halo" games and gives them new ways to show off their heroic gameplay feats.[3] What is Halo Waypoint you ask? Well I am glad you asked. It informs fans of the latest Halo news and activities, and grants access to content ranging from interviews, trailers and screenshots, to exclusive video footage and community content that you won'''t find anywhere else. It also provides a new challenge for Halo gamers with a career system tied to in-game accomplishments across multiple Halo games.[12]
Halo Waypoint allows players to track their progress across the many Halo games as well as keep up-to-date on all the latest Halo news.[11]
Players can unlock Achievements to gain access to "Halo 3: ODST" Avatar Awardables. As a bonus for enlisting to Halo Waypoint, fans will receive a Monitor accessory for their Avatars modeled after the "Halo" character, 343 Guilty Spark. The Monitor will help fans find their way around Halo Waypoint, the new destination for all things "Halo" on Xbox LIVE.[3] Not only will Halo Waypoint act as a 'career' tracking system, recording players' achievements across Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo Wars, you'll also be rewarded for accomplishing certain feats in the games with extra Xbox LIVE Avatar content, such as virtual shirts and ODST armour.[13]
By downloading and "enlisting" in Halo Waypoint, players will be rewarded with a variety of Bungie-created "Halo 3: ODST" Avatar Awardables for attaining specific Achievements in the game.[3]
Players can also receive special Avatar awards for completing specific accomplishments within games. Players that download the city map to their VISR in Halo 3: ODST receive a free t-shirt for their avatar. Players who have already captured these achievements will earn the rewards once they join Waypoint.[4] Starting 8 November 2009, players will also be able to preview episodes of the upcoming Halo anime series, Halo Legends. Those who have Halo 3: ODST and have already unlocked all the achievements will be awarded new Halo related items for their Avatar (a different award for a specific achievement). Those who have yet to unlock these achievements will be awarded with these items the moment they are unlocked.[14] To kick things off, Halo Waypoint will play host to a full-episode preview of the first episode of the Halo Legends anime series, entitled 'The Babysitter,' followed by previews of the remaining episodes in the collection of short films in the coming weeks, with exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at the production of each episode.[13] The rollout of exciting new "Halo" content doesn'''t stop there. This Saturday, the first preview episode of the highly anticipated anime series, "Halo Legends," will debut only on Halo Waypoint.[3]
Daily updates include developer interviews, trailers, and screenshots, to name just some of the goodies that gamers can expect to find in the new application. This coming Saturday, Halo Waypoint will be playing host to the first episode of the new "Halo Legends" anime anthology.[11]
We knew that the first installment of the Halo Legends anime project was debuting November 7 on Halo Waypoint, but now Microsoft has revealed the dates for most of the remaining episodes.[15] The first episode of Halo Legends is scheduled to air on the 7th November on Halo Waypoint but now Microsoft have revealed the full schedule for the Halo Legends episodes.[16]
Microsoft have today announced the air dates of most of the Halo Legends episodes coming to Halo Waypoint in the next few months.[16]
Exclusive previews of Halo Legends will be available on the new Xbox LIVE experience, Halo Waypoint, starting November 7, 2009.[10] Halo Waypoint, the new virtual home for all things "Halo," launches today on Xbox LIVE, and will be the exclusive destination for full-episode previews of "Halo Legends" beginning Saturday, Nov. 7.[3]
Waypoint is the online destination for everything related to the Halo franchise. At this new section of Xbox Live, players will be able to find exclusive content (screenshots, trailers, interviews, news, etc.) pertaining to Halo. Screenshots, trailers, interviews, news, and more will be released through this channel.[17]
If you don't feel like waiting until February to see the short films, the entire collection will be streamed live on a weekly basis via the new Halo Waypoint portal on Xbox Live starting Nov. 7.[18] Microsoft's detailed the Avatar Awards Xbox 360 owners can unlock in Xbox Live's just-launched Halo hub, Halo Waypoint.[19] Microsoft has announced today that the Halo Waypoint has been officially launched on Xbox Live today.[14] Microsoft has launched its long-awaited Halo Waypoint for Xbox Live members.[20]
I don't think we planned for Waypoint to be selling games. I imagine it's going to sell a few more Halo Wars, and push up some rentals as people realize there's a couple of Achievements that if they got, they'll get some kind of reward within Waypoint's career. I expect us. the one thing I kind of have my fingers crossed for is, that Halo Wars will creep back into the top 20 or 10 on Xbox Live for multiplayer as people sort of try to get those last Achievements that they've missed and complete their Waypoint career.[21] The film is based on the " Halo " video game franchise which is exclusive to Microsoft's XBOX 360 console not a supporter of the Blu-ray format. This isn't really a hint or anything that they plan to start supporting the format by the first quarter of 2010, in fact they don't. It's been widely made known by Microsoft's " Major Nelson " that the folks behind the "360 think that "downloads are the future". I personally believe this to be a load a crap when even one of their video games ends up being marketed on the format as well as obviously on DVD and as no-doubt a download via "XBOX LIVE Video Marketplace" for about half the price of the physical copy and half the quality.[22] Microsoft Game Studios has allowed the likes of Toei, Casio and Production I.G. --of Ghost in the Shell fame--to create a total of seven animated short stories for the video anthology. The release of the video has now been dated for February 9, 2010, on both the DVD and Blu-Ray high definition formats. Of course, for most informed gamers, the irony of the situation is that Blu-Ray is the competing high definition format that won the format war in which Microsoft backed HD-DVD. While the Halo gaming franchise itself remains exclusive to the Xbox 360 and PC platforms, it seems that PS3 owners can at least watch the high def, disc version of the intellectual property on their PS3s, something that Xbox 360 owners will be unable to do.[23]
Halo is already a gangbuster game franchise, selling more than 27 million units, including latest installment Halo 3: ODST. When including its themed novels, comics and other merchandise, the Halo brand has churned out more than $1 billion in revenue, according to the studio. "Warner Home Video is proud to partner with Microsoft to bring this videogame phenomenon to fans in an altogether different entertainment medium," said Amit Desai, the studio's VP of family, animation and partner brands marketing.[24] "Halo Legends is a perfect complement to the game's growing canon of ancillary entertainment options." "Warner Home Video is proud to partner with Microsoft to bring this video game phenomenon to fans in an altogether different entertainment medium," said Amit Desai, WHV Vice President of Family, Animation & Partner Brands Marketing.[10]
PHYSICAL: Warner Home Video is spinning hot videogame franchise Halo into a made-for-DVD/Blu-ray Disc title set to street on Feb. 9. Halo Legends, produced by Microsoft's 343 Industries, will roll out as an eight-episode series of animated short films, designed in both CGI and traditional animation.[24] Warner Home Video next year will release a series of original animated shorts revolving around the venerable "Halo" video game franchise developed by Microsoft.[9]
With home video distribution support from Warner Home Video, the Halo universe will expand with Halo Legends, currently scheduled for domestic release early February 2010.[25] Warner Home Video has announced the new Halo anime project Halo Legends that was unveiled at Comic-Con this past summer is coming to Blu-ray Disc and DVD on February 9.[26] Available for purchase from the first week of February 2010, Halo Legends will be distributed via Warner Home Video in three manners, single-disc with an estimated runtime of 119 minutes ($19.98); two-disc special edition ($29.98); and Blu-ray Disc edition ($34.99).[25]
Warner Home Video has announced that it will be releasing an anthology of short traditional and CG anime films for Halo Legends. Similar to the Animatrix or Batman: Gotham Knight, this eight-episode anthology will have work from Ghost in the Shell's Production I.G., Cowboy Bebop's Bones, and Dragonball Z's Toei Animation.[27]
BURBANK, CA (November 5, 2009) - Go deeper into the Halo universe than ever before with Halo Legends, an all-new, CG and traditional anime PG-13 experience that presents enthralling new stories from one of the world's most popular video game franchises.[10] Hardcore Halo fans will soon have a chance to experience the game's expansive universe in an entirely new way thanks to Halo Legends, a collection of animated short films created by some of Japan's most acclaimed animation studios. Microsoft announced today that the collection will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Feb. 9, 2010 in both a standard edition and 2-disc special edition.[18] The studio is touting the title as the first major filmed tie-in to the Halo brand. With Peter Jackson recently bowing out of a Halo theatrical project, the game's fans may take some solace in these animated shorts from Warner. Halo Legends, carrying a Jan. 5 pre-order date, is priced at $29.98 for both two-disc standard-definition DVD and Blu-ray versions.[24]
"Halo Legends offers fans stunning, new creative visions of the popular video game's expansive universe, providing added depth and perspective to these beloved characters and thrilling environments," said Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor.[10] Waypoint will feature daily content updates, including developer interviews, trailers and community activities. "Waypoint is really an extension of the Halo universe, a place where Halo fans of every stripe can explore - in deeper and broader ways - the fiction and the community that ties them together," said Frank O'Connor, development director at 343 Industries, the division overseeing the Halo franchise. "All we want to do is give them a way to do that from the same spot on the couch and the same controller that they use to engage with the core of that universe: the games."[4] Bonus features will include The Making of Halo Legends; Halo: Gaming Evolved; Halo: The Story So Far which covers the Halo universe time line of events through Halo 3; and commentary tracks from Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou on each episode. The official synopsis is as follows: This 8 episode anthology of 10-15 minute length each, explores the origin and historical events of the HALO universe, and various characters inhabiting the world.[26] The collection will feature seven stories told across eight episodes, all serving to expand the mythology of the Halo universe, much in the same way that the recently-released Halo 3: ODST sought to do.[8]
Now the fans are watching Halo Waypoint. They're keeping track of their progression; replaying Halo 3 and Halo Wars in order to complete innovative achievements that span all the Halo 3 360 titles; and learning about the Halo Universe through an stylized information database.[6] I wonder why people keep talking about over saturation. There are so far 3 main Halo games, and 2 spin offs (ODST, and Halo Wars) Things such as the books, Halo Waypoint, etc. are all extra, and optional items for people who are fans of the series.[21] One of the problems right now is, if you play the games on the console and you're not a hobbyist, and you're not a forum-going game advocate, there's a lot of stuff that you're sort of loosely interested in, and there's no channel to watch it on, and obviously Halo Waypoint very firmly, very directly addresses that. It gives people who are sitting on the couch with that controller a way to engage more deeply in the universe that they want to, and it gives us a chance to share the stuff that we already have, and the stuff that we're planning on making and building in the future much more directly with that audience. It's pretty one-way. It's content that they're digesting and exploring.[21] The aim is to have daily updates, with content that, if viewed on a regular basis, give players an idea of what's going to happen next in the Halo Universe. While you can read all about the regularly scheduled content in Halo Waypoint in Stephen's excellent article on the future of the service, it's the amount of weight that player feedback will have on future content that's the most interesting aspect of Waypoint.[6]
Waypoint will also use a career tracking system charting a player's progress across all games in the Halo universe.[4] You have to keep the focus on the player. It's much easier, for example, to describe the Master Chief's character in a paragraph of text than it is in any amount of gameplay, right? Because you're imprinting yourself on that experience, so that's, I think, one of the reasons why the Halo universe is successful outside of the game is that there's a lot of corners to explore, and a lot of character and a lot of, obviously, a huge number of events. It's a big universe with a big timeline. It's possible we do something else in that vein, but we just got off of more than a year solid of frantic production on seven different episodes with five different studios, so I want to have a week off.[21] There's no two ways about it. Adults will enjoy it at a slightly different level, but it's absolutely kid-safe. There's literally no. there's no gun violence in it at all, for one thing, and there's lots of corners of the Halo universe that are perfectly safe for kids to explore, it's just that the games are rated Mature and parents have to be on top of that one, honestly. That makes sense. Moving on to Halo Legends, that's going to debut this weekend.[21] Right now, I'm kind of split on these "universe expansion" anime films; I loved The Animatrix but only felt so-so about Batman: Gotham Knight. Personally speaking, the actual storyline behind Halo has always taken a back seat (as in waaaayyyyy back) to the run-and-gun excitement and multiplayer mayhem of the games, but I know, for example, that there is a whole genre of fan-fiction dedicated to expanding and exploring this particular sci-fi universe, so I guess that devotion warrants something like Halo Legends being released.[8]
Now that Halo Waypoint has launched and the Halo Legends anime project will soon begin airing on Xbox consoles everywhere, we got the chance to discuss the current state of Halo with 343 Industries creative director, Frank O'Connor.[21] PS/ Halo Waypoint will be the only place to watch the Halo Legend series of animes.[12]
Four preview episodes of the Halo Legends anime will debut exclusively through Waypoint.[17] Tomorrow (11/7) a preview episode of the new show, "The Babysitter" will be available through Waypoint and will be followed a week later by behind-the-scenes footage and a "making of" special. C and Microsoft's internal Halo team 343 Industries, follows the story of a group of ODST's who must integrate a Spartan sniper into their strike team.[5]
Starting Saturday night, four episodes from the Halo Legends anime series will be made available for a 24-hour period every other weekend, alternating with making-of videos.[6] The Halo franchise is going the Animatrix route by releasing a series of anime short films in a collected anthology entitled Halo Legends.[8]
Halo Legends has been created in the same breakthrough format as The Animatrix and Batman Gotham Knight with each individual episode imagined by a cutting-edge, renowned Japanese anime director/animator, including Shinji Aramaki, Mamoru Oshii, Hideki Futamura, Tomoki Kyoda and Yasushi Muraki.[10] In case you missed hearing about it the first time around, Halo Legends is a collection of eight episodes telling seven different stories set in the far-flung future universe of Halo, created by five prominent Japanese animation studios: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4C, and Toei Animation.[7] Halo Legends will be a seven-story anthology, stretching across eight individual episodes, tracing the historical precedent which gave birth to the Halo universe and its many characters. As mentioned before, the animation collection will use a production structure similar to that of other east-west collaborations, what with writing conducted by both counterparts, and full production handled in-house by the eastern component.[25]
Halo Legends is a seven-story anthology - told across eight spectacular episodes - that explores the origin and historical events of the Halo universe and its intriguing characters.[10]
There are a lot of things in the Halo universe that aren't rated mature. The books aren't rated mature, although, they're sometimes under that umbrella, that ESRB umbrella. Ancillary products aren't rated the same, and we have, for example, one of the episodes of Legends that's coming up, it's off canon. It's created by Toei, and it's definitely for kids.[21] We used the exact same technique. We made a list of our favorite artists in a genre, in this case it was anime, but back then it was comic books, obviously, and we contacted them, either directly or through their agents and said, "Hey, how do you feel about interpreting the Halo universe through your talent and through your specific skill set?" And we, again, we lucked out this time and we got the people that we asked for pretty much the first time, so the Legends collection, it's designed as a one-off.[21]
Microsoft has also announced an official "broadcast" schedule for Halo Legends, which explores back-stories based on various themes and character in the Halo universe.[20] The best part about the whole thing (other than getting to watch Halo Legends in HD, of course) is going to be watching the die-hard Sony and Microsoft fanboys try to process the information without admitting that Halo is actually pretty cool and that Blu-Ray is an impressive technological format, respectively. Maybe their heads will explode.[7] Warner will release Halo Legends Feb. 9, 2010, as a special-edition two-disc version on DVD and Blu-ray Disc for $29.98 and $34.99, respectively, as well as single-disc DVD for $19.98.[9] Halo Legends the spin-off Halo anime project has been announced for release on blu-ray on February 9th.[28] Unfortunately, Bungie's ridiculously popular trilogy (quadrology?) isn't being ported to the PS3 - but the Halo Legends collection of anime shorts is being released on Blu-Ray.[7]
Halo Legends on Blu-ray will come to life in 1080p video and 5.1 lossy Dolby Digital audio.[26] The portal offers full-episode previews of Halo Legends, along with developer interviews, trailers, screenshots and exclusive video footage.[20] As mentioned earlier there will be previews of Halo Legends episodes, fans will receive exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at each studio's creative process through 'making of' specials.[14]
On sunday, command's gonna release the first of the Halo Legends animated episodes, The Babysitter, followed by a making of special.[29]
Halo Legends will feature animation direction by many of Japan's leading cartoon innovators, placing one of the west's leading game properties in the hands of visual artists of an altogether different type.[25] Frank O'Connor and Kevin Grace, who helped steer Halo's game development, are behind the Halo Legends story lines.[24] Halo Waypoint is your destination for all things Halo, but 343's Frank O'Connor tells Ars that not every game will be able to support this sort of portal.[1] Even if you are not a huge Halo fan, but played and finished the games, you will unlocked some cool avatar awards for just loading up Halo Waypoint.[12] Being able to track your progress across an entire series of games, as well as the opportunity to get information about things like books, music, and movies is certainly worthwhile for fans, and the ability to unlock items for your avatar gives gamers another reason to stay engaged. Microsoft and 343 have leveraged Halo's popularity and depth to give gamers another way to interact with the game, and it's likely other publishers are taking notes.[1] I know I'm not the only one when I say it doesn't look very good, way too Japanese for my tastes (in animation style of course). Microsoft isn't completely against Blu Ray, they are part of the BDA (for Windows IIRC), and Blu Ray licenses codecs created by Microsoft. That being said, I think the Blu Ray release would be more of a studio thing than a Microsoft Game Studios thing. Some of them look good, the Production I.G. one will no doubt have the best production values, those guys are frakking pros. Plus they have the right sensibilities to do a Halo story.[22] Combat on foot, by vehicle, or in any other manner accessible to humanity's latest frontline against the Covenant, gamers of Halo are accustomed to an immersive fantasy world conveniently littered with white-knuckled firefights and advanced technology too good to be true. Now, Microsoft Game Studios is ready to expand the Halo brand even farther, dipping their toes into the realm of international co-production, mixing and merging east and west talent and resources, akin to The Animatrix (2003) or more recently, Batman: Gotham Knight (2008).[25]
For Halo fans its a really nice addition to the games, books and all the rest. I think it's a good addition and I hope they do it for some other franchises too.[2] Target. Well as long as they are good games, and Halo fans enjoy them, I don't think they have much to worry about. They're a little late. Reply[30]
If you don't like anything other than the games, then you don't need to buy it. If I was a die-hard Halo fan, I would be extremely happy that they are continuing to support, and put out new content for a fiction that I love. It is obvious most of this stuff isn't for someone who just plays the games and is done (such as myself) but more of a fan service than anything else.[21] "But there are lots of different types of Halo fansfrom casual MP fans, to hardcore fiction/canon folks. We just try to create stuff that pinpoints those areas, but has value for anyone who's reading, watching or listening. It should all be clearly labeled so you're not investing time watching something outside your realm of interest." O'Connor told us he wouldn't be surprised to see more games given this sort of destination on Xbox Live, but again, there has to be enough interest, and there has to be a world that offers enough depth to keep players coming back.[1] We're hoping to do more in the future, obviously, and really make your Halo career a very integrated feeling thing. We're still working on that, and there's only so much we can do with the existing ways that those games talk to Xbox Live.[21]
Head on over to the virtual home for all things Halo, starting Saturday. The Xbox Live rollout of Halo Waypoint is almost here, and this upcoming Saturday is the day you can drop in and check it out.[3] Halo Waypoint has launched, bringing all things Halo to your Xbox 360 via Xbox Live.[1]
Yesterday 343 Industries released Halo Waypoint, the Xbox 360 destination for all things Halo.[6]
Halo Waypoint will also include a career system that will keep track of a player's accomplishments in Halo video games.[14] Rewards vary from stylish T-shirts to full sets of ODST armor. The experience is retroactive, so if players have already unlocked the requisite Achievements, the awards will be ready for them once they enlist in Halo Waypoint.[3] Halo Waypoint is a portal and hub that will serve as a virtual home and meeting point for avid Halo players all over the world.[14]
If there's something you'd like to see or a new feature you'd like implemented on the Halo Waypoint service, make some noise.[6] Waypoint will feature Halo related updates, interviews, trailers, screenshots, exclusive footage, community updates and just about all the latest news and happenings.[14]
Beyond Waypoint simply airing each episode, Halo fans will also be treated to "making of" features for each episode.[15] The dramatic, action-packed stories feature characters and locales familiar to Halo fans, and episodes range in length between 10 and 17 minutes - resulting in nearly two hours of animated adventures.[10]
The Blu-ray version will include all of the aforementioned content, plus a feature called " Halo : The Story So Far," which basically just provides an overview of what's happened over the course of the first three Halo games.[18] Waypoint also features a career system that keeps tabs on your performance throughout various Halo games and doles out rewards depending on your specific accomplishments.[17]
Waypoint includes a career system that tracks your accomplishments across multiple Halo games, says MS, rewarding you with Bungie-made Avatar Awards for specific Achievements.[19] Even Silver members are able to access it for a limited time. This great new (and free to download) career tracking application not only monitors what achievements have been gained in Halo games, but also offers a significant amount of Avatar Awards.[11] Every time a new Halo game is announced a lot of fanboys and fangirls love to shout, "big surprise, more Halo[21]
I've heard more people who hate, just out right hate, Halo oppose all the games than I have heard from fans or people who don't mind it. It also comes from a lot of the "Xbox 360 is only for shooters" type arguments out there.[21] I think Halo is doing just fine. I think it hasn't "sold out" or become over-saturated, and I think most of the additional content is aimed more for the hardcore Halo fans, the people who just gotta have their Halo.[21] I'm just curious what your take is on the sales of ODST. I know that they're in line with expectations. I think they exceeded them as well, so we're pretty happy with it. It's definitely in an odd place in terms of the pace and the rhythm of Halo things. I think that Bungie knocked it out of the park in terms of the amount of content and the quality of content in there, and that's probably one of the reasons it's selling so well. It's. I guess your overarching point is that it's not Halo 4, right? And the fact that it's not Halo 4, it's Halo 3: ODST, and I think we're not only pleased with it but I think we're ecstatic with the sales and the amount and quality of content that Bungie got in there.[21] After the break, you'll find discussion on Waypoint, Legends, Halo 3: ODST sales and whereabouts of Ryan Payton.[21]
Unlocking the 'Campaign Complete: Normal' Achievement in Halo 3: ODST for example, will gift your little Xbox bloke with a nice set of ODST Body Armour.[19] The original Halo videogame was released for the Xbox gaming console (11/15/2001), which has since been followed by Halo 2 (Xbox; 11/9/2004), Halo 3 (Xbox 360; 09/25/2007), and most recently, Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360; 09/22/2009), among others.[25]
In our case, it happens to be Halo. It also lets people who follow all the games kind of track their career across that prior engagement with the other games, with ODST, with Halo 3 and with Halo Wars, specifically.[21] Because of my progress thru my Halo games I was able to unlock a full head-to-toe ODST suit for my avatar along with various other goodies.[5] Plus, depending on how much you have beaten the 360 Halo games(Halo 3, ODST and Halo Wars) you can also get lots of free unlockable content for your avatars and free themes for your 360.[5] "There's a ton of great ideas that the team has had brainstorming about the types of things we'd like to do in the future, but we're also going to be really taking the lead from a lot of feedback we get from the community." The community focus came up time and time again throughout the interview, generally after I suggested potential upcoming content, such as excerpts from the upcoming Halo Evolutions anthology novel, or more avatar rewards.[6]
A lot of us would rather see more time between high-quality major Bungie releases, rather than see 343 slap the "Halo" trademark on a bunch of filler products because that will boost sales. I think a lot of the over-saturation comments come not from fans of the series, but from those who are opposed to it in general.[21] I think people will keep talking about oversaturation if the tie-in products are of lesser quality than the flagship product. I found both ODST and Halo Wars to be good-but-not-great. To be quite frank, I think both products probably did higher sales numbers than were warranted.[21] The Halo Legends schedule has been released, and among other things, there's a new encyclopedia out, there are two more books on the way, comic books.[21] You will get a new piece of Halo Legends media each week from now until January, take a look at the schedule below.[16]
According to reports, the individual episodes fall within Halo's 26th Century, as the battle between humanity and aliens rages on in an attempt to protect Earth and mankind's expansive number of space colonies. These installments of Halo Legends will range in length between 10 minutes and 17 minutes, totaling roughly two hours of direct-to-video programming.[25] Titled Halo Legends, the seven-story anthology explores the origin and historical events of the "Halo" universe and its characters.[9] The dedicated Halo Legends website URL halolegendsdvd.com will include an enticing sweepstakes offer to drive traffic and viral activity.[10] "The great storytelling, memorable characters and truly astounding CG/anime makes Halo Legends a must-have for the fans."[24] You can find the complete airing schedule over at the Halo Legends official site.[18] Check back regularly for the addition of Halo Legends pre-order information from Amazon.com.[26]
Halo Waypoint will also be the place to hear all of the latest Halo related news, and get access to all of the latest trailers, developer interviews, documentaries and screenshots, including fan-created content. [13] Halo Waypoint provides a dynamic experience that continues to grow and expand with new content updated regularly.[12]
This week on Avatar Thursdays gamers are getting some Modern Warfare 2, Halo Waypoint, and Band Hero items on the Avatar Marketplace, including a sweet Avatar Awards collection for HALO; a UAV prop and Ghost Uniform for Modern Warfare; and a standing Microphone and Boombox from Band Hero. It's a big haul this week, so let's get to it! Be sure to check out each section below for some truly great new Avatar items.[11] As a bonus, everyone who enlists to Halo Waypoint will receive a 'Monitor' accessory for their Avatars, modelled after the Halo bot, 343 Guilty Spark, says MS.[19]
Josh Holmes and the 343 Industries Halo Waypoint team are paying attention. Send an email to Michael Fahey, the author of this post, at fahey@kotaku.com.[6]
On Halo: Waypoint, there's a video that shows glimpses of other episodes done by different production studios and I'd have to say the only episode I'm worried about is the one with the childish manga feel to it, in which the master chief is attacked by a T-rex.[15] Set to be distributed in early 2010 by Warner Home Video, the anthology of anime short films will tell all-new stories in the Halo saga.[5] Produced by 343 Industries, a part of Microsoft Game Studios, the exciting tales-beyond-the-games will be distributed February 9, 2010 by Warner Home Video as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ for $29.98 (SRP) and $34.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP) due date for all versions is January 5, 2010.[10] Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros.[10]
Your one stop shop for everything Halo goes live, along with the first of new Halo animated series. [29] The point that you brought up in the first place is that, there is a lot of Halo content. It's a big franchise, and it's a fairly broad franchise.[21] "Avatar awards are just one of the ways we can reward people for being a fan of the franchise and a good member of the Halo community."[6] Kotaku spoke to Halo franchise executive producer Josh Holmes about how fans will help determine the direction Waypoint takes.[6] During the first few hours of availability, some users experienced problems downloading Waypoint due to the overwhelming response fans have to anything Halo related.[6]
For Halo fans its a really nice addition to the games, books and all the rest.[2] I am waiting for a Halo movie. This looks really cool, although the brute from the preview that was released way back when looked twice the hieght of Master Chief, which makes me a little concerned. It would be really cool if the game followed the book, The Fall of Reach, and to let us play as other spartans, and hopefully, someday, we'll get a Fall of Reach movie, which is probably the best Halo novel out.[8] Because Ratchet doesn't have all the tertiary stuff that Halo does (books, board games, comics, anime, multiple toy lines, spinoff games, etc), at least as far as I know R&C doesn't.[30] We made a Halo Risk game because it was based on Halo Wars, and Risk and real-time strategy kind of had a natural connection, and there was a strong demand for it. That's stuff's measured by the retailers and the partners that we license from. They get these requests. You know, they'll get a request from a store saying, "We want more Halo stuff. Can't you do anything in this genre?" So that one made sense, but we've had other requests to do board games that didn't make any sense. They didn't match the material. There was a demand for it, but if it doesn't actually make sense, and it's completely crazy, we won't do it.[21] O'Connor noted Halo Wars Risk, saying that the two games "had a natural connection" and that board game manufacturers actually received requests for a Halo strategy game. He said that 343 has also had requests for things that "don't make any sense." Even if there is a demand, said O'Connor, "If it doesn't actually make sense and it's completely crazy, we won't do it." Keep an eye out for the full interview later this week.[30]
Bonus features, from the two-disc and Blu-ray editions, will include a "Making of Halo Legends" featurette, "Halo: Gaming Evolved" featurette, and audio commentary with directors Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou.[25] Speaking to Joystiq, Microsoft's Frank O'Connor, creative director of 343 Industries, said that he worries "constantly" about the possibility of the market being oversaturated with Halo.[30] The stories are inspired and produced by the creative minds of 343 Industries, including Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor and managing editor Kevin Grace.[10]
Written and created by an array of renowned anime studios and produced by 343 Industries, "Halo Legends" will explore never-before-told stories based on themes and characters in the vast "Halo" universe.[3] The Blu-ray edition includes the identical bonus material from the special edition, in addition to "Halo: The Story So Far," an overview of the Halo universe up until the end of Halo 3.[9] I can vouch for the books myself. Many people write them off as crappy fanfiction types (a recent VGcats springs to mind), but they're competent books. I enjoyed all of them (Except for The Flood, it sucked) immensely, and they really add to the Halo universe.[30] You mentioned Waypoint as being something that you access from the couch, obviously something a little bit more, I don't know if casual is the right word for it, but obviously trying to expand the Halo universe a little bit.[21] The shorts explore the origins of the Halo universe and its cast of characters.[24]
The question is do you integrate in or integrate out? We obviously haven't figured out what we're going to do with Waypoint as relates to Halo: Reach, which is the only game on the horizon that we're talking about. [21] Well, I mean, I worry about that constantly, but bluntly speaking, we just came off the launch of a game, and there's really no more material out there than there typically is. I think the big difference this time are the two projects you mentioned in terms of scale, which are Waypoint and Legends, which are a little bigger than the kind of support stuff and ancillary canonical stuff that we typically do year-in, year-out.[21] While I personally hate Halo, I don't think they're over saturating the market. When it becomes like Mario and he has a tennis game, a go kart game, a soccer game, an rpg, ect then I'd worry.[30] Anyone else think it's kinda funny that it's coming out on bluray? And the bluray has extra content. It's almost like the ps3 is getting exclusive Halo content.[18]
We're not a replacement for something like Bungie.net or HBO Forums. It's very much complementary to both of those types of things. OK. So, this is just a way for maybe some of the consumers who aren't hardcore internet savvy, just a way for them to keep in touch with Halo.[21] Halo inhabits kind of a weird place. It's rated Mature in the U.S. because of the way the ESRB deals with shooting things with guns, but anyone who's played Halo understands that the emphasis is more on big sci-fi than it is on any kind of carnage, right? So, kids have got to be the right age to play these games and parents have to control that.[21]
You download the application, and you can use it to track your achievements in all the Halo titles, and even earn clothing items for your Avatar by playing your existing games.[1] We also talk about the whether or not there's just too much Halo out there, whether we'll see any Halo games for kids and we even squeeze in a question about Pimps at Sea.[21]
Microsoft's social hub for all things Halo-related successfully launched yesterday, and the new animated show "Halo Legends" will kick off tomorrow.[5] Microsoft has sold more than 27 million units and generated more than $1 billion in revenue from the "Halo" franchise, including the latest edition, Halo 3:ODST.[9] Last year, Microsoft confirmed that Ryan Payton was working on a Halo studio.[21]
Following each preview episode on Xbox LIVE, fans will receive exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at each studio'''s creative process through "making of" specials. [3] Just for "enlisting" in Waypoint, you'll get a free Xbox Live Avatar accessory that resembles the infamous 343 Guilty Spark.[17]
The place for all things Halo related, was made available for Live Gold members in the U.S. last week. [12] What the hell, Warner has the rights to HALO, or just this animated release? It's HALO, so I buy. I hope they do the franchise justice and throw in a killer mix.[22] I'll stop my rant here and get to some details. The release itself will be comprised of eight shorts, sort of like " The Animatrix " or " Batman: Gotham Knight " both of which were also from Warner. Much like those other films mentioned, this will contain lots of "Anime" (Japanese animation) and CG animation as well.[22] I'm interested to see it, but still kinda worried. From this trailer it seems like they've thrown too many anime clitches onto the game (traditional japanese armor covenant at 00:50, mecha suit master chief at 1:16, and'super punch' at 1:30) I mean, it's made by a japanese animation studio so they're probably gonna add the norms from their country's design the same an american studio would add theirs i guess i should've expected that. Because of that, idk how well this will fly outside of japan.[18]
Personally I'm getting bored with CG animation and I've never been a fan of American animation, I think Clone Wars looks like sh!t. Yeah I can see where your concerns are, they might represent Master Chief like some miniature "typical anime robot".[22]
I really like the bits I've seen of this. It's like Animatrix, which is a good thing. It is a little odd that Japan, which was previously not keen on American games, put so much into an anime version of one.[18]
I love the way that you can tell stories in our universe very quickly and very directly in a way that is difficult in a video game, where you have to keep the focus on the action. [21] Mike Snider began covering the video game industry during the Super Nintendo-Sega Genesis clash in 1992. An original pinball wizard, he eventually was seduced by Robotron: 2084 and Tempest. These days he is a fan of action/shooters and lives out his Keith Moon fantasies playing a mean drum kit on music games.[4] Brett Molina has been writing about video games for USA TODAY since 2005. He is well-versed in Madden NFL, the fighting genre and first-person shooters. The first video game he played was Asteroids at a local arcade. He has been hooked ever since.[4] Josh first mentioned community feedback in response to my query about the possibility of eventually meeting friends and launching games from within Waypoint.[6]
The week after each episode is released, a "making of" video will hit Waypoint.[17] As well as an episode of Legends each week Microsoft will release a "making of" segment for each episode.[16]
In a move that is sure to be noted with great irony within the gamer culture, an upcoming Halo direct-to-video release has now been confirmed to include a Blu-Ray version according to home-theatre website, Blu-ray.com.[23] "We're lucky that Halo has a loyal audience and a wide variety of contentbooks, animation, user generated stuff.[1] Regarding the various Halo products, O'Connor said, "All of that stuff has existed in the past, and it exists because of one simple reason, which is demand.[30]
I mean, we have five New York Times best-selling novels, the encyclopedias you mentioned, one of Marvel's best-selling graphic novels, comic books series, all that stuff. [21] We have effectively infinite stuff to choose from and that's not going to be the case for every game." He also points out the challenge of dealing with the different types of fans while servicing the overall community. "Each piece, whether it be a top-ten splatter montage, or an audio excerpt from a book, is designed to focus on a specific audience, with the hope that the broader audience will enjoy it too," he told Ars.[1]
The Career section of Waypoint is also ultimately in control of the fan base. "We may be looking at additional ways to compare data between friends in the future, and might be one of the things we evolve if we hear from fans that that will be something valuable to them."[6] Waypoint actually already has a lot of community-created content on it, and our method of delivery is your television set, ultimately, so we're definitely going to steer towards the things that work best in that medium, and that means audio and video. It's not much fun to read a long essay, for example, on a TV screen, but we can do things with audio and video interviews and documentaries and cover the user-generated content that's out there.[21]
Opened it up and bam. 6 Avatar awards. It's glad to see that Microsoft are taking advantage of their own features. [14] Every month we bring you the latest reviews of new technology and PC components, in depth features on everything from overclocking to console hacking, and gaming previews and interviews.[29]
There's even a mess of new avatar wearables you can unlock by nailing achievements in your ODST training. It's retroactive, too, so if you've done your drop into Mombassa, the new gear will be waiting for you.[29] We do publishing support for Bungie. That's ODST and Reach and stuff like Legends, so it's. we're very busy. That's what we're working on right now.[21]
SOURCES
1. 343s Frank OConnor talks Halo Waypoint: not for every game - Ars Technica
2. News: Halo anime gets release schedule - ComputerAndVideoGames.com
3. Halo Waypoint goes Live this weekend - Gaming Age
4. Halo Waypoint debuts on Xbox Live - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness - USATODAY.com
5. Halo Waypoint live, Halo Legends starts tomorrow, News from GamePro
6. Halo Waypoint Will Be What You Make Of It - Halo waypoint - Kotaku
7. The Escapist : News : Halo Comes to the PS3 in February
8. 'Halo Legends' Animated Feature Coming in 2010 - Screen Rant
9. Warner to Bow Animated '''Halo Legends''' on Blu-ray | homemediamagazine.com
10. activeanime.com | HALO LEGENDS TAKES POPULAR UNIVERSE INTO NEW REALM WITH ANIMATED SHORT FILMS | Halo, Legends, Video, Ndash, New
11. Modern Warfare 2, HALO Waypoint, and Band Hero infiltrate the avatar marketplace
12. The Asylum
13. EL33TONLINE: News - Halo Waypoint launches today, Halo Legends preview tomorrow
14. Halo Waypoint launches today - Xbox 360 Video Game News - PAL Gaming Network
15. Microsoft details Halo Legends preview schedule
16. Microsoft Detail Halo Legends Schedule - StickSkills.com - Where the Gamers Go!
17. Halo Waypoint Launches, Halo Legends Preview Arrives Saturday
18. Halo: Legends Animation Collection Detailed And Dated - G4tv.com
19. News: Halo Waypoint's Avatar Awards detailed - ComputerAndVideoGames.com
20. Microsoft launches Halo Waypoint
21. Interview: 343 Industries' Frank O'Connor
22. Warner bringing the direct-to-video release "Halo Legends" based on game franchise to Blu-ray in February 2010 | HighDefDiscNews
23. Halo animated anthology confirmed for Blu-Ray
24. Warner sets Halo Legends title in February - 11/4/2009 - Video Business
25. 'Halo Legends' Animation Marked for Release
26. Halo Legends Blu-ray Details and Cover Art | TheHDRoom
27. Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » Warner Bros. to produce Halo anime anthology
28. Play Halo On Your Playstation 3 - PushSquare.com
29. Halo Waypoint launches on Xbox Live - Console Games - Game - News - Atomic MPC
30. 343 Industries worries 'constantly' about Halo oversaturation
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