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The GameWit blog at the Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA) thinks that the amicable separation of Bungie and Microsoft might be a good object lesson for Activision in its current conflict with the "hopes to be something other than just the Call of Duty" developer Infinity Ward, which was incidentally formed by developers jumping ship from the developers of Medal of Honor.

Tied the Leader's Hoovaloov does an excellent job with this detailed video commentary on the Halo Reach multiplayer beta trailer. Includes some very good predictions about the new multiplayer modes (Invasion, Arena, and Headhunter) as well as the Loadout feature.

Bungie's latest "Big Reveal" is the multiplayer teaser for the Reach Beta, opening to owners of Halo 3: ODST on May 3, 2010.

First episode of the new season of Master Chief Theater 3000... which might not feature the Master Chief, since it seems to be based on ODST...

It's not hard to see the appeal of the idea of the Firefight mode in Halo 3: ODST. If you follow Bungie's shooter roots back to Marathon, and to the PC shooter that really kicked off the modern era, Doom, you can see the start of it.

Doom didn't have discrete multiplayer 'levels' the way Marathon and Halo did. It had a series of Episodes, each broken down into Missions that comprised one map. Each map had a series of keys necessary to open a series of doors. The last door was the Exit and led to the next Mission. Between you and each key and each door were a number of demons to kill. You could tackle this challenge solo, or bring in some friends on a local network.

Of course, you could just as easily shoot your friends as the demons. You could also set up a game on any Mission map without any demons and just play deathmatch, or you could play a deathmatch game with continually respawning demons on it.

Marathon had a similar setting, an "Aliens" checkbox that put enemies from the campaign mode onto the multiplayer maps. So while it wasn't always referred to the same way, Marathon had all the current play modes: campaign solo, campaign co-op, multiplayer (deathmatch and objective) and deathmatch-with-aliens. That's essentially what Firefight is, except it's supposed to be more towards cooperative.

So we can now safely say that with the release of Halo 3: ODST, in combination with Halo 3's multiplayer mode, has finally brought all the features of a 1994 Mac shooter to Xbox Live.

I'm only half kidding.

 Click here for the complete text.

Lone Wolf from Halo: Reach. Enjoy.

Got some interesting mail from Amazon today.

First:

Hello from Amazon.com.

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on August 26 2009 (Order# 104-9132614-4806655):

"Halo Reach"
Estimated arrival date: October 26 2009

Two months ago? That's great! Send it right away. Sure, the developer says it won't be out for another year, but I don't mind getting a sneak preview!

Then, an hour later:

Hello from Amazon.com.

Unfortunately, an unexpected delay from our supplier may prevent us from delivering some items in your order placed on August 26 2009 (Order# 104-9132614-4806655) by December 24. We'll keep working to obtain these items for you, and we'll ship the items as soon as we receive them. Other items that may be in stock will still ship separately, with no increase in your total shipping charges.

"Halo Reach"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BSA20M

The developer said this game will be out in Fall of 2010. How is failing to ship in Fall 2009 an "unexpected delay"?

Ten more minutes go by.

Hello from Amazon.com.

We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on August 26 2009 (Order# 104-9132614-4806655):

"Halo Reach"
Estimated arrival date: January 22 2010

These are the kinds of messages that send customers screaming to fansites that games are being pushed up, delayed, or cancelled. The developer has stated to everybody "FALL 2010". Is there a reason Amazon's ordering system seems to be ignoring that general date and instead consulting psychics?

UPDATE: I sent the above into Amazon's feedback system and got back another automated message that makes about as much sense as the first three. Stripped of its administrivia, it says:

Regarding your "Halo Reach":

I see we sent you an e-mail message about the unexpected delay in obtaining "Halo Reach." I realize this has been a frustrating experience, and I'm sorry about this.

When we ship your order, we'll send you an e-mail confirming the date, contents, and tracking number. Please contact us again if you don't receive a shipment confirmation by January 22. You can reach us at www.amazon.com/contact-us.

If you'd rather cancel your order, I understand.

Which is ridiculous. There is no way I, nor anyone else, is going to get a shipment confirmation on Halo Reach by January 22. I realize that retail outlets MUST give some kind of release date to people who buy preorders. Why they don't pick a more accurate date is beyond me-- why tax themselves by having to dance this little dance, "delaying" the game by a few months every few months?

Blackstar of Blackstar Productions and Narcogen of Bungie fansite Rampancy.net wrap up some loose ends from Halo 3 and look forward to Halo 3: ODST.

Also in this episode: special guests, Bungie's official #1 fan, Miguel "Freewill" Chavez of Bungie fansite Bungie Sightings and Cody Miller of High Speed Halo.

Show highlights:

• Is Halo Too Easy?
• Why ODST is Better than Halo 3
• VISR, VISR Burning Bright
• Campaign Forge
• Best Confrontation
• It's Not Easy Being ODST
• Fade to White
• Reaching For Higher Difficulty
• Retconning Reach in Advance
• Halo 3 Warthog Run
• Foe Hammer
• Forerunners == Humans
• Babysitter
• Parting Shots

This is the enhanced AAC version of the podcast; however, as this episode doesn't cover any specific campaign level it has no additional podcast art. Podcast art makes a return in the next episode, covering the first two levels of Halo 3: ODST, the first area in Mombasa Streets and Tayari Plaza.

read more

Here is a transcription of Orbital Drop Shock Trooper from Halo 3: ODST.

Credits to Benjamin Bergem aka. The Halo-Dragon for his transcription of this song (http://rampancy.net/blog/HaloDragon/28/11/2009/Orbital_Drop_Shock_Troopers), as I relied rather heavily on his version for the middle section (specifically, bars 69-111, which is almost identical to his version).

This version attempts to incorporate more of the orchestral parts.

The midi took quite a bit of fiddling with dynamics and articulation, but I think it turned out pretty well this time.

As always, pedaling, dynamics and articulation are left to the pianist's discretion, the sheet music is just a guideline.

Share and enjoy!

6 Dec 09: Slightly edited.
9 Dec 09: Edited again.

Difficulty: Quite Hard

Attachment includes:

• Sheet music (.pdf)
• Midi sequence (.mid)
• Finale Notation file (.mus, .bak)

Please rate and comment!

This is an extended part not found in "Another Rain". Benjamin Bergem's transcription can be used for the rest of the song: http://rampancy.net/blog/HaloDragon/05/10/2009/Another_Rain. After the second "all alone" alto sax solo, insert this music, and then cut back to "Another Rain". Finale Notepad wouldn't allow me to have two bass clefs in the staff, so the top line is in treble clef, but should be played an octave lower (8vb). Here's a video of how I played it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_0-pDpc20o. The zip file contains a Finale Notepad file and a PDF.

Cast Aside, from the track "No Stone Unturned" by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, for a piano, a string ensemble and an oboe.

WorthPlaying notes that the coupon code ASPYRTHANKS can be used at GameAgent to reduce the price of Wideload Games' Stubbs the Zombie from $10 to free. Sweet!

Now that I've actually gotten my hands on the game, I've been able to add some more data to that Google Earth Network Layer for Halo 3: ODST.

Each of the 29 audio locations in the Mombasa Streets level are labeled. So far there's no additional information (screenshots, descriptions) but I will add that as I go through on my next playthrough.

I've also added the mission beacons, the supply caches, some landmarks and some of the health pack locations, although these are not exhaustively listed yet. The city streets can get to looking like a twisty maze of little passages, all alike, at times, which is why I'm trying to include notable landmarks like wrecked Oliphants, crashed Banshees, drone wreckage, and other items that might make it easier to tell one place from another.

Again, in Google Earth, choose "Network Link" from the Add menu and insert this URL: http://rampancy.net/sites/rampancy.net/files/mombassa_odst.kml and when you launch Google Earth you'll get the latest updates to this layer.

If you have additions or changes, put the new or modified items in your own KML file and mail them to me at narcogen@rampancy.net and I'll include them in the network layer.

Reborn Relic in Halo 3: ODST. The Halo 3 version is longer, I think.