Halo Waypoint now live on Xbox Live

Starting Saturday, Nov. 7, Halo Waypoint will begin previewing new Halo content on Xbox Live. 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. Halo Waypoint promises daily updates featuring developer interviews, trailers and screenshots, exclusive video footage, community activities and the latest Halo news.

In addition, Halo Waypoint includes a career system that tracks players’ accomplishments across multiple Halo games and gives them new ways to show off their in game exploits. Players who participate in Halo Waypoint will be rewarded with a variety of Bungie-created Halo 3: ODST Avatar Awardables for attaining specific Achievements in the game. Rewards vary from T-shirts to full sets of ODST armor. These awardables are retroactive, so if players have already unlocked the requisite Achievements, the awards will be ready for them once they enlist in Halo Waypoint.

Turn on your Xbox 360 and log on to Xbox Live to learn more.

Former Bungie boys form Moonshot Games

Michel Bastien, and used to work at Bungie, now they work for themselves. The trio of former Bungie Software workers has opened a new development studio called Moonshot Games, with the goal of creating simple downloadable games. Headquartered in Seattle, the company features the talents of former Bungie creative director Rob Stokes, former Halo 2 and 3 producer Michel Bastien and engineer Damian Isla.

The company is currently considering which platforms it targets first but wants to make sure that the game they do create and release will be high quality affordable to make and fun. Don’t we all. More info when we have it.

It Came From G4: Sessler’s Soapbox and Halo 3 ODST

This week on Sessler’s Soapbox, G4’s Adam Sessler discusses The Beatles: Rock Band, and how it was difficult to properly review the game when it almost had to be looked at more as an experience than a game. You can catch it below or at G4TV.

Speaking of experiences, G4TV also has an interview with Bungie’s Brian Jarrard about Halo 3: ODST. I’m not a big Halo fan but ODST looks like an experience that, while still very Halo at its core, tries to create somewhat of a different angle into the Halo universe. You can find that interview at G4TV.

Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian joins Disney

Disney Interactive Studios has added Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian to its team to head up its in-house videogame development teams. Disney has also acquired another company that Seropian helped found in 2004 after leaving Bungie: Wideload Games.

“We’re really trying to be a magnet in this industry for talent, as we are in so many other parts of the entertainment world,” said Graham Hopper, executive vice president and general manager of Disney Interactive Studios, in a conversation with NBC. “Having someone of Alex’s calibre join us is a tribute to the great people we have here already.”

The company also owns Junction Point, which is bought in 2007, bringing along Deus Ex creator Warren Spector into the family. Spector is rumored to be working on a Steampunk style game starring the iconic Disney character Mickey Mouse currently codenamed “Epic Mickey.”

Finally and probably most important of all, Disney now owns Marvel and all of its licenses after making it official at the end of August - though shareholder approval is still pending on that deal.

Source: GI.Biz

Halo 3: ODST goes on tour in America’s

Hey there Halo fan boys and girls, if you can’t wait for Halo 3: ODST to deploy on September 22 then you’ll want to check out the Halo 3: ODST GameStop Tour when it drives through your city (or one that’s close by). From August 22 - September Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson and Bungie will drive The Halo 3: ODST Transport Vehicle across America breaking hearts and taking names - oh, and showing off ODST.

The action begins this Saturday, Aug. 22, in Redmond, Washington at the Redmond Town Center GameStop (17128 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA). The “Halo 3: ODST” Transport Vehicle deploys at noon and will remain active until 8:00 p.m giving fans in each city of the tour the opportunity to experience the all new Firefight multiplayer mode in Halo 3: ODST and score Halo swag for proving their skills (all participants must be age 17 or older, sorry teenage boys with haircuts like the Jonas Brothers and that idiot from high School Musical).

Built from a modified M820A2 expandable truck, the Halo 3: ODST is a mobile gaming experience measuring 27 feet long and 14 feet wide when fully expanded, and weighing at 13 tons. It’s also a Halo party on wheels, according to Microsoft, with eight Xbox 360 console rigs featuring Halo 3: ODST, ready for play.

You can check out the cities and dates for the tour at www.gamestop.com/halo.

Halo 3: ODST multiplayer maps revealed

Microsoft and Bungie today revealed the remaining three multiplayer maps that will come with Halo 3: ODST - to be released in September. Halo 3: ODST will also include a second standalone disc with three new Halo 3 multiplayer maps, all original Halo 3 maps, as well as the Legendary, Heroic, and Mythic Map packs for a total of 24 maps.

The three new Halo 3: ODST maps are Heretic, Citadel and Longshore. Shades of Halo 2 abound in Heretic; Citadel puts players in a long abandoned Foreunner stronghold and Longshore lets players run and gun in an industrial themed port. Details on all three maps can be found after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Halo Encyclopedia coming

For those who can’t get enough Halo information, DK Publishing has announced they are publishing the Halo Encyclopedia in 352 glorious full-color pages. The book is planned for a November 2009 release.

The press release at this point says the book will cover just the games. A call to the publisher has them scrambling to check if the books will be included as well, since the stories were sanctioned by Bungie and Microsoft. The forward of the encyclopedia will be written by Frank O’Connor, who left Bungie as content manager in May of last year to work at Microsoft and more closely with the Halo franchise.

We’ve had initial chats with DK to publish an excerpt or two of the encyclopedia as it gets closer to release, along with getting a few copies for a giveaway to our readers, so stay tuned.