Microsoft's "old cadence" of launching a new Halo game from Bungie every 3 years looks to be retiring, as Microsoft Game Studios wants a faster cycle. They're thinking of a more "persistent Halo engagement" so they don't go "dark for two years," potentially losing fans. Xbox Live multiplayer "helps obviously".
The Bungie sci-fi shooter managed to clear 300k copies within its first 24 hours in the UK, but it also shot Xbox 360 hardware sales "up 99 percent". This "marked effect on hardware" was felt for the week ending September 18th. Halo: Reach launched earlier on the 14th. It's the 5th biggest UK launch.
Those crafty Bungie types have only gone and hidden an easter egg minigame called 'Reach Racer' in their super sci-fi shooter Halo: Reach - cheeky. It involves 2 players standing in particular spots on in ONI: Sword Base, which then triggers a two-Warthog racing game complete with waypoints.
While Halo: Reach may be setting videogame sales charts a flame, breaking new records and helping Xbox 360 sales rocket - it's not conquering Xbox Live. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3 hold the top 2 positions in unique user count respectively, with Halo: Reach managing 3rd place on Live.
Developer Bungie has just revealed Halo: Reach's statistics for its first week out in the world. There's been 5,901 years worth of game time online. 165 billion credits have been earned. Reach's first week online count "dwarfed" Halo 3's, getting "four times" as many unique users. There's more...
Bungie's Halo: Reach has been nudged by the arrival of Codemasters' F1 2010 racer. Capcom's Dead Rising 2 bites Mafia II for 3rd place. 2K's Civilization 5 lands ashore in 4th position, setting up lone PC digs, and Activision's Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock strums feverishly at 6th.
Bungie has released a playlist update for Halo: Reach. Amongst tweaks to what game modes appear in what playlists, Bungie have also tweaked the betrayal system, and moved the 'Infection' game type to its own 'Living Dead' playlist, for anyone who's not a great fan of the mode.
That little studio that Steven Spielberg founded, DreamWorks, is apparently trying to coral a few or two on the Halo film front, dodging Universal and Fox. The hope for DreamWorks is that the Halo novels can succeed where the videogame-sourced film projects have failed, which avoid the legal issues?
Team Bungie will roll-out Campaign Matchmaking playlists in a week's time, with "tweaks and improvements" to other playlists alongside it. This update's changes are "pending final test review" but Bungie hopes to include a "dedicated Infection and Snipers playlist" as well.
Microsoft has just announced its first downloadable map pack for Halo: Reach. The "Noble Map Pack" introduces three brand new maps into the game's multiplayer segment, as well as adding 250 points worth of extra achievements...
Microsoft has slipped out the NPD figures for September's US sales with Halo: Reach flexing a strong 3.3 million units for its launch month. At 2nd place in the top ten software list is EA Sports' Madden NFL 11, followed by Capcom's Dead Rising 2. Modern Warfare 2 holds on 10th place.
Bungie says they'll be "blowing the lid off" Halo: Reach's current level cap of Lt Colonel Grade Three, but only once 117m challenges are completed. The studio estimates this should happen in November with the new ranks then made "magically available for you" in the Armory. Better get to work.
Microsoft isn't frothing at the mouth to revisit Xbox games and inject them with HD for a re-release on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Not a "bad idea" though. Frankly there's not enough room to "weave into" the portfolio a bunch of remakes. Any such a project would need to "provide real value" to the consumers.
Microsoft has been enjoying a bumper crop in Xbox 360 sales these past 3 months, selling 2.8m, and they largely cite this down to Halo: Reach. It's a 38 percent rise of sales from the same period of July to September from '09, while Halo: Reach pulled in $350m its first two weeks on sale.
A presentation slide from Activision's stint at the BMO Capital Markets 18th Annual Digital Entertainment Conference has given us Bungie's IP platforms. It would appear to be heading for consoles, PC and online too. Not since Oni in 2001 has Bungie developed a PC title internally - desktops are jubilant.
A job ad for 343 Industries has revealed the first clues as to what Microsoft is going to do with the Halo franchise post-Bungie. The ad, for a Senior Technical Artist, reads: "Microsoft's' 343 Industries is looking for exceptional talent to help breathe a fresh vision into a new Halo experience."
Activision's best bud Bungie are looking for gamers who are "willing to lend a helping hand" to the studio with stuff like playtests, surveys and betas. They warn that "not all who enlist" will get in the programme. You need only a Bungie account and a valid email, and Lady Luck's blessing I guess.
Microsoft has revealed that the official Halo Wars website and its stat tracking will be closing down forever, as it integrates into Halo Waypoint. They know it'll be "rough on a lot of you" to lose precious statistics to poke and brag over but the decision has been made, and it wasn't done "lightly".
Once again Microsoft has said a Halo movie is still in the cards, despite not really needing one, although Halo "would work" as a TV series probably better. The reason film plans tend to derail for Halo? Microsoft "owns all rights" to the IP and so "things fell apart" when the lawyers got involved about money.
Halo: Reach was going to include multiplayer space battles in orbit above the planet, however it soon felt "pretty silly" to the dev team so they stopped. They had rough cut working "very early on" but the game was already an "incredibly ambitious" project, with an "aggressive schedule" to keep on track.