Homepage

Today is BIG NEWS day apparently. With 3 big stories coming up over the internet. The latest is this here bungie's first Halo Reach ViDoc. Enjoy Everyone. (also available for HD download in the downloads section)

It has been four years since Microsoft last put on an event like X10, but the publisher seems to be making up for lost time with all the announcements it made yesterday: official release dates, collectors editions, a brand-new console bundle, and previews of some of the biggest games coming out this year were all on the docket.

Normally, you don't see this many headlines outside of shows like GDC or E3. That Microsoft was comfortable making as many announcements as it did at a private event in San Francisco makes us wonder what they'll have in store for us later on this year. In the meantime, hit the jump for some of the bigger news items.

Everyone has wanted to know about Halo: Reach since it was announced at E3, and Microsoft gave everyone a good, long look at the game. Since the multiplayer beta is set to launch on May 3 (but you can only play it if you have a copy of Halo 3: ODST), Bungie displayed one of the multiplayer maps, "Powerhouse." It turns out that this area will be used as both a part of the single-player campaign and as a multiplayer arena.

The map showcased a number mixed environments (both indoor and out), and it looks like Reach will live up to Microsoft's claim of it being "the definitive Halo experience." Players will assume the role of a rookie Spartan warrior in Noble Squad; during the demonstration, the team consisted of eight soldiers going up against roughly 30 members of the Covenant. The game's creative director, Marcus Lehto, said that the game will help reintroduce the Covenant to players; in order to make them feel truly alien again, Covenant forces will have new designs and won't have translations provided when they speak.

The game is set to feature a "completely rewritten" game engine that will not only provide higher-quality graphics, but has also let Bungie create a much more expansive world. More importantly, battles will have a more dynamic, sandbox-like style; every participant's actions will affect the outcome, and fights won't be nearly as scripted as they have been in the previous Halo games.

Microsoft announced today that Xbox LIVE support for original Xbox games will be discontinued on April 15, 2010.

Halo 2 fans take note - you have ten weeks left to play multiplayer games over Xbox LIVE before the service will be discontinued. Microsoft announced today that as of April 15th they will no longer be supporting the original Xbox console or software on Xbox LIVE. This also applies to original games being played on an Xbox 360.

You can read their official announcement HERE

Mark your calendars now - on April 14th let's all rally to go online for one last hoorah. One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2.

At 4:53pm on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake swept through the Republic of Haiti and shook the nation to its knees. We’ve watched in shock, horror, and sadness as men, women, and children scramble amidst the rubble looking for friends, family, and loved-ones. We struggle to make sense of it and can’t help but feel helpless as we witness their struggle for survival from afar. Sadly, the situation is only getting worse.

For some of us, this is a grim reminder of our own tragedies. We hear echoes of the ocean spilling into the streets of New Orleans. We recall broken buildings slipping away from our skylines, falling into dust. And as shattered families in Haiti begin their own relief and rescue effort, we are reminded that the divide between our nations and our peoples is not so wide, that we are not so different, and that we are not so helpless.

We can do something. We can make a difference. But we can’t do it alone. We’re calling on the Bungie community. We’re asking for your help.


So, you want to help but don’t have a way to get one of our shirts or make a monetary donation? Not to worry, we’ve got you covered with the easiest possible way to be a hero – playing Halo!

We are rallying our fan community to show their support by playing Halo 3 or ODST online next Wednesday or Thursday while wearing a special emblem signifying your commitment to the cause. For every thousand heroes that participate, we will make a $100 donation on behalf of Bungie and our fan community to the Red Cross for Haiti relief efforts, up to a maximum of $77,000. All you have to do is don a special emblem and play a game online and know that you’ve done a small part to help those in need.

Please mark your calendars and help spread the word!

Here are the specifics:

1. Round up all of your friends and hop online with Halo 3 or ODST any time next from 00:01AM PST Wednesday, 1/20, through 23:59PM PST Thursday 1/21.

2. Edit your appearance settings so your character is wearing the RED HEART emblem.

a. Press START
b. Select “SETTINGS” / “APPEARANCE”
c. Select “EMBLEM”
d. Select “Hearts” ICON, “Circle” BACKGROUND
e. Back out to the APPEARANCES menu and select “COLORS”
f. Set “EMBLEM PRIMARY” to RED (or MAROON / BRICK / ROSE depending on which game you’re playing!)
g. Set “EMBLEM SECONDARY” to WHITE

3. Once your emblem is set, play! This can be a custom game or a matchmaking game, just make sure it’s played online, on Xbox LIVE, or we can’t track it.

If you keep playing more games through midnight on Thursday, KEEP THE HEART EMBLEM ENABLED or you may not get counted.

New Years For Our Friends Down in Australia has already happened here is the spectacular fireworks display and the new-years events.



Part 2

One of Podcast Guests Liquid Fire 3 (I'm still working on updating to the new site i will have her page up shortly) has put together a ODST Christmas Themed Tree. We will let her tell you all about it.

Liquid Fire 3 Writes:
For your nerd pleasure, a Halo themed Christmas tree, from the recently released Halo 3: ODST video game from Bungie. I decided on ODST this year for three reasons: 1. I love to make themed Christmas trees, growing up I always had to decorate our main Christmas tree different each year; 2. Two years ago, I moved in with my boyfriend, and he turned me into a huge Halo nerd. In return, it was only fitting that I made a Halo tree for Christmas, so I decided on a Forerunner theme, mainly the colors; I got some white LED lights, purple and teal Christmas balls, silver garland, and put our Cortana figure on the top as the angel! 3. What's not to love about Christmas balls decorated with the Superintendent's various moods/facial expressions?


This year I knew I had to make an ODST tree. It was our first Halo game that we anticipated together, preordered together, and played till dawn together the night we brough it home. So naturally I had to change up the theme. I went to Walmart and found the perfect black Christmas balls (for all you purists out there telling me they should be green, I have a reason I did black; green would've made them disappear into the green tree, and the black is better for the overall ODST theme), I also purchased red and blue LED lights, to mimic the color scheme for New Mombasa streets at night, and because LED lights are just awesome! I drew the faces on each ball with a silver Sharpie and an insane amount of precise measuring, along with painter's tape. Next, I put the lights on the tree, and hung the ornaments according to facial expressions, the happiest being on top, and the sleeping one on the very bottom. The finishing touch was the tree skirt made from black and grey camo fabric. I would've liked to get a Rookie figure to put on the top, but I think I'll wait for the Veronica Dare figurine coming out next year.

From one Halo uber nerd to another, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The Staff at HaloTech would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Yes here we don't get into the whole political game of we have to call it the holidays or will get sued. (sue me if you don't like it). .

But on a more serious note we would like to thank everyone who donated to the charity drive. We will be rewarding those who donated and will be posting a post charity carnage report (once i can get the time here to go drive 2 hrs to deliver the check for 205 bucks).

We hope everyone has a Great Christmas **cough** Holiday and has a great time opening up all their new gifts. HaloTech will soon be giving you a gift to Unwrap ASAP. We wanted to get this done for Christmas as a present for everyone but like anything else it has proven to be a bigger task than expected. So stay tuned on that. Hope to see everyone posting on the new forums and feel free to give feedback and suggestions on what we can do. *note* feel free to make some images or something

Well its now 1:40 am and I'm going to go put my Presents under the Tree. I will give everyone a big report after the Holidays are over. Merry Christmas

If Your Christmas lights are like the guys on the right ill give you a cookie


HaloTech Staff
~ Bigstack