During an online chat session through the US PlayStation.Blog, Killzone 2 producer Seb Downie hinted they've got something cooking. Revealing the dev team has "secrets still to announce" for the game Downie gives hope to stat junkies on PS3. We'll apparently know more when "the new version of the site goes live."
With Halo Wars fast approaching, we sat down to chat with Halo Studio's Lead Producer about the highly anticipated Xbox 360 RTS.
Releasing some scary numbers, Bungie have posted that as of February 28th, Halo 3 has "served" one billion matches to online gamers. Poking their database they've calculated total matchmaking playtime so far is over 2 trillion seconds, or 64,109 years. Team Bungie admit they're in "awe" but the devs "not done yet."
Sony has achieved their fourth fastest selling title in the region with Killzone 2, with PS2's God of War 2 the last to manage the feat back in April '07. So far the first-person shooter Killzone 2 has kept Microsoft's real-time strategy Halo Wars from claiming the coveted crown. It's now the second fastest selling PS3 title in the UK.
Microsoft announced today that Halo Wars has reached more than one million sales worldwide, making it the most sucessful real-time strategy game on any current generation console. Full press release inside.
Halo Wars is one example how the franchise is "actually bigger than its past", Microsoft Game Studios say they aren't out just to exploit it. Exec Phil Spencer says with the RTS they had "an interesting story, an interesting universe" that could bring more players to the Halo table. Games are planned with selling the console in mind.
Allen Murray, Bungie producer, has revealed the studio will most likely be still developing goodies for Halo 3 across two more years yet. Halo 3: ODST is releasing this year and is Bungie's last full hooray in the franchise, but that doesn't mean the content stops there. The developer is busy on "multiple projects right now."
Team Bungie love math so much they can't help but scare us with it, and now they reveal gamers have killed over 17.5m Covenant a day since release. That's roughly about 650 kills per player say Bungie, with around 12,000 of the alien blighters off'd every minute. This mega awesome kill count is from Halo 3's campaign stat ticker.
Robot Entertainment, one of many new splinter studios from former Ensemble, has revealed some initial gossip on the next update. It will address "matchmaking bugs, balances a few things" inside and out of gameplay with a new feature on the way too. The two bonus units will be multiplayer friendly as well.
It was only a matter of time before the world craved a single tome of Halo knowledge, now that hunger is almost ready to be sated. The Encyclopedia is in "full collaboration" with Microsoft and stands at "352 full-colour pages" with all the Halo trivia you could ever want. It'll include details on everything from all the games.
Microsoft has announced the first downloadable content for Halo Wars, it'll add three new modes and as well four new achievements to be unlocked. Keepaway is Halo War's own capture the flag where teams look to nab "a free-roaming Forerunner Sentinel". In Reinforcement, waves of units are provided but are "ever-changing".
We all know the injustice of The Prophet of Regret's land speed being slightly higher than other leader units, well that's been stamped out. While not bulging with balance tweaks this Halo Wars title update does carry six of them. The 'Ready for the Sequel' achievement works properly now, with Crevice and Exile enjoying easier troop movement.
Launching new intellectual properties for just film, TV or videogame is so boring now. Jerry Bruckheimer Games wants multi-medium IPs to conquer the future. To that end, ex-Microsoft guy Jim Veevaert and ex-Ubisoft dude Jay Cohen have been enlisted over at Bruckheimer. They're president of production and development respectively.
In case you've forgotten or been busy fighting actual Covenant, the Strategic Options add-on for Halo Wars went live yesterday for 800 Microsoft Points. It adds three new modes of play to the console RTS, requiring a "re-think" of player stratagem says Major Nelson. Could you withstand "waves of troops" with set reinforcements?
Battlestar Galactica's number Six, also known as Tricia Helfer I guess, is to lend herself to the upcoming Halo 3: ODST which arrives in autumn. She's "not allowed" to spill details but could say her character's name is Dare, and admits to "love doing videogames". Fans of the star may note she graced Nod in C&C3: Tiberium Wars.
According to a screen grab of the Bungie forum's search function, the developer has something called 'Halo: Reach' cooking behind closed doors. What gives credence to this? A novel called 'Halo: The Fall of Reach' was published in 2001, a prequel to the original game. Four Halo projects are said to be in the making.
During a press demo for the expansion to the Halo universe, Creative Director Joe Staton over at Bungie let slip the ODST game is essentially done and dusted. There shouldn't be a single bump in the road for its release come September 22nd, meaning Bungie devs should have it so polished it'll reflect your very soul, or at least your mug.
Developer Bungie don't have "an actual firm date" for Halo: Reach yet but do confirm a beta to run sometime between Halo 3: ODST and release. Fans "will need" a copy of ODST to gain entry into Reach's beta program when it goes live, which is anytime after this September 22nd. It explores the fall of the first human colony.
CrimeCraft is not "a full-featured MMO" and they don't want to be, developer Vogster want "a solid shooter with good character customization" and social aspects. While MMO All Points Bulletin may have 100 players on at a time, CrimeCraft has 1500 says the team - outside of customisation CrimeCraft is "a very, very different game" from APB.
Previously Bungie's Joe Staten said they didn't think of Halo: Recon "as a $60 title," this was shortly after its announcement and before it name changed to ODST. Bungie's Brian Jerrard added they were "not viewing this" as a full game release at the time. This E3 revealed a different assessment, with Halo 3: ODST as a full-priced retail package.