Halo 3 Planet

Sorry folks, I meant to get this out earlier, but with Turkey Day just around the corner, I guess things have been a bit busy.

In any case, we are very happy with all of the entries we have received for the Halo FORGE-Tacular Contest we’ve been running.  I wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that we will be deciding a contest winner very soon.  It takes quite a bit of time to download the games to the console and what not, but hopefully we’ll have some winners for you by the end of the week.

Because of the Delay, we will be throwing in “2 Microsoft Points Prizes” to 2 randomly selected winners with enough points to purchase the recently announced [tag]Halo[/tag] 3 Heroic Map Pack!

Bungie finally gives us the full scoop on the brand new Halo 3 Map Pack (deemed the “Heroic Map Pack” going on sale December 11th for 800 [tag]Microsoft[/tag] Points).  This time, they’ve got some pictures of the maps to share.

Standoff

According to the folks over at Bungie, you can think of this new outdoor map as “Blood Gulch, except squished together, with 4000 foot satellite dishes.“  Are we excited about this so-called third installment of the Gulch?  More than ever.

Rat’s Nest

Rat’s Nest appears to take on the appearance of Crow’s Nest from Halo 3’s Campaign mode.  According to Bungie, it will be a great addition to matchmaking for Big Team Battle players.

Foundry

Foundry has been called “The Forge Level”, as it will be completely customizable to players using Forge… even more so than the levels shipped with the game.  It sounds like it can essentially just become an “Open Space” by deleting everything in Forge.  The possibilities are endless!

[Photos from Bungie.net] 

More photos of the new [tag]Halo 3[/tag] Maps will be released shortly after Thanksgiving Day according to Bungie.   They’ve also done a really great Q & A in their news post, which is definitely worth a quick glance.

[tag]Halo[/tag] 3 is getting three brand new maps come December 11th according to Xbox.com (Spring 08 for those not wanting to buy the maps).  Not sure how they were able to spill the details about the new downloadable maps before Bungie, but we’re excited that they are coming so soon!

Available for 800 Microsoft Points exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, each map presents a totally different play style.

• The symmetrical valley of Standoff, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types.
• The vast, labyrinthine passages of the Rat’s Nest bring something completely new to the multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise. Strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, this map is ideal for big team battles.
• Foundry is the ultimate Forge map. Players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, placing stairways, walls, bridges, and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map imaginable.

All three maps will become available for free download via Xbox LIVE Marketplace in Spring 2008, just prior to the next wave of new Halo 3 multiplayer maps.

Foundry sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun!  We may need to have another Forge contest soon!

One of the defining characteristics of the Halo Trilogy has been the incredible [tag]soundtrack[/tag] that accompanied the beautiful gameplay.  Both Halo 1 & 2 had done a fine job with the music, but [tag]Halo 3[/tag] truly brought with it one of the best soundtracks the video game industry has quite possibly ever seen.

Today, Bungie gives us a taste of the full Halo 3 Original Soundtrack. It should be familiar to all of us who have already played the game, but it might still be able to send shivers up your spine if you’re a true Halo fan!

There is a lot of great content on their preview site, and certainly worth a look for musicians out there.  Bungie has even gone so far as to provide the original handwritten score ([tag]Sheet music[/tag]) for Halo 3’s E3 appearance.  Also on the site are some nifty photos, videos, and of course a preview of the songs available.

Hmmm… got a letter in my mailbox today from the legal folks over at IGN Entertainment.  They are a bit concerned about folks being confused when they visit “Halo 3 Planet”, as they apparently run several video game related websites with “Planet” in the domain (See www.planetquake.com, www.planetduke.com, www.haloplanet.com).  While we were not trying to steal their trademark, we do respect their rights, so if it comes down to it, we might have to change our domain.

I did call them today, and we are trying to work something out, but until then, just be aware that we may be changing domains in the near future.  It’s a bit disappointing considering I’ve had this domain since mid 2006 (and considering there is a www.planethalo.com/ which is also not owned by them), and the community and I have worked hard to build up a strong, large, friendly community with this name.  I personally don’t think we resemble IGN in any way after visiting some of their sites… but we’ll see where this goes.

I’ll keep you updated here.

p.s. - Did our name confuse anyone else besides them?