"I forgot how fun and amazing that session was."
Halo composer Marty O'Donnell has shared a never-seen-before video that shows how the shooter's seminal's sound was created and recorded. It includes live sessions with iconic guitarists Nile Rodgers and Steve Vai that are hairs-will-stand-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck levels of amazing for any Halo fan.
Halo TV show due in 2020, features Master Chief in lead role
Will follow "a new story".
Broadcaster Showtime has revealed a few new details on its upcoming, and long-anticipated, Halo TV series.
Microsoft's Halo TV series is really happening
It's Showtime.
Nearly five years on, Microsoft has finally gotten its Halo TV series greenlit and into production.
Microsoft allows Halo PC fan project to live
Put a ring on it.
Amid the seemingly relentless shutdown of fan projects by big publishers, here's one game that's not just thriving but has the blessing of its IP-owning overlord.
The original Xbox turns 15 in Europe
Halo! Amped! Project Gotham Racing! More!
The original Xbox turns 15 in Europe today.
Xbox duo's card game Exploding Kitten taking Kickstarter by storm
10% funded in 20 minutes, 1000% funded in an hour.
There's a card game blowing up on Kickstarter that's designed by two senior Xbox bods.
Bungie ordered to return shares to composer Marty O'Donnell
After dev argued he'd be a "bothersome presence at board meetings".
Marty O'Donnell's battle with former employer Bungie continues. Now a judge has ordered the Halo and Destiny developer must return shares to the celebrated composer.
Bungie forced to pay $95k to ex-Halo, Destiny composer
Marty O'Donnell wins damages after departure from the company.
Halo and Destiny developer Bungie must pay $95,019 (around £56k) to former composer Marty O'Donnell, a US court has decided.
PC drivers for Xbox One controller now available
Plus, another Halo 2 Anniversary hint.
Microsoft has released PC drivers for the Xbox One controller.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection looks set for Xbox One
With access to a Halo 5 beta?
Microsoft will release Halo: The Master Chief collection for Xbox One later this year, according to a new report.
Microsoft: Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer "would have to be fantastic"
"In this fictitious world where that game existed..."
It seems likely that this year Microsoft will release Halo 2 Anniversary - a revamped version of Bungie's original Xbox shooter - although it has yet to announce it. But let's assume Microsoft had announced it. What, then, would be its most important feature?
Microsoft cryptic amid Halo 2 Anniversary rumours
"Your Halo journey on Xbox One begins in 2014."
Microsoft Studios chief Phil Spencer fuelled rumours of a Halo 2 Anniversary game - apparently due out later this year on Xbox One - in a tweet last night.
Veteran Bungie developer Joe Staten has announced his departure from the company.
Halo and Gears of War writer joins Amazon Games Studios
"I wouldn't be there unless something cool was brewing."
Sci-fi author and former writer and story consultant for Microsoft Game Studios, Eric Nylund, has joined up with Amazon Game Studios as its new director of narrative design.
Bungie explains that its scrapped Project Phoenix was "Minecraft-like"
"There were big castles and you could knock them down with trebuchets."
In the days of yore i.e. circa 1999, the Marathon devs at Bungie were working on a game codenamed "Project Phoenix," before the studio was acquired by Microsoft and shifted all its efforts toward Halo, leaving the abandoned Phoenix unable to rise from the ashes.
District 9 director Neill Blomkamp still keen on Halo movie - but only if given control
"I would really like to do that film."
District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is still keen on making a movie based on Halo - but only if given control over it.
Microsoft: no plans for any Halo game on Steam or a PC version of Halo 3
Speculation sparked by AMD beta drivers.
Microsoft has poured cold water on reports that suggested Halo 3 will be released on PC.
The Halo trilogy, Fez and Dyad outed on the Steam database
UPDATE: Microsoft denies Halo coming to Steam. Dyad creator confirms. Aiming for a March release.
Update: It looks like Halo isn't coming after all.
Bungie's Destiny “still quite like Halo”
Sense of exploration rekindles memories of Elite.
Bungie's new game, Destiny, is “still quite like Halo”, according to someone who's apparently seen it in action.
Why 343 isn't ready to show us Master Chief's face
But is it prepared to kill Halo's iconic hero?
343 Industries, the developer charged with continuing the Halo franchise now Bungie has left it behind, isn't ready to show the world Master Chief's face.
Paul McCartney writing music with Bungie
"Halo, Goodbye."
Former Beatle Paul McCartney is writing music with former Halo developer Bungie, he's confirmed.
Worldwide Xbox 360 sales hit 67m, 3m ahead of PS3
Kinect sells 19 million.
There have been 67 million Xbox 360s sold around the world, and 19 million Kinects, Microsoft has revealed.
PlayStation 3 has sold 63.9 million units worldwide.
Microsoft's chief Xbox marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi revealed the numbers in a company blog post.
BBC News mistakes Halo UNSC logo for UN
UPDATE: BBC tells Eurogamer: "Very occasionally mistakes do happen."
UPDATE: The BBC has responded to its broadcast of a Halo logo during Thursday's News at One, admitting its mistake and apologising to viewers.
Halo 2 ARG designer creates Oprah Winfrey Facebook game
"Unlock the superpower of gratitude inside yourself."
US chat star Oprah Winfrey has roped in game designer Jane McGonigal to make her a new Facebook game, which allows people to share gratitude for real-life good deeds.
Bungie closes Halo stats with eye-popping infographic
"We have followed your careers with great interest."
Bungie has closed its support for Halo stats and released a new infographic that shows just how popular the first-person shooter series has been.
The Xbox is 10 years old today
Charge your glasses.
The Xbox is ten years old today.
Microsoft: "We lost our way" with Halo
"Master Chief the John Wayne character."
Microsoft has admitted losing its way with Halo following the release of Halo 3 in September 2007.
Bungie bids emotional farewell to Halo
"Halo is in great hands... yours."
Bungie has bid an emotional farewell to the Halo universe it created ten years ago.
Halo marks 10th birthday with art book
Coffee table tome due out in October.
Microsoft is marking the Halo franchise's 10th birthday with a lavish 192-page hardback art book.
New game reveal at August PAX blow-out?
Microsoft will mark Halo's 10th anniversary with Halo Fest, a three day event taking place during the annual Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this August.
Billed as "the largest and most expansive live Halo experience ever" over on Halo Waypoint, you can expect tournaments, exclusive panels and prizes.
Could it also see a new Halo title announced? Perhaps that rumoured remake of Combat Evolved?
Mona Lisa Halo motion comic release date
Microsoft to improve Halo Waypoint.
Microsoft will release Halo motion comic The Mona Lisa through Waypoint and the internet next Saturday, 23rd April.
It retells a story from the Halo Evolution anthology, set shortly after the events of Xbox launch title Halo: Combat Evolved.
"Sent on a highly-classified mission in the debris field of the Halo artefact, the crew of the UNSC Red Horse discover a derelict prison ship – the Mona Lisa – adrift in space," reads the official blurb.
How Halo's monk chant music came to be
Composer "bitter-sweet" now it's gone.
For millions of Halo fans the series' iconic monk chant introduction music is instantly recognisable – but it almost didn't happen.
Age of Booty dev helped make Halo DLC
And Black Ops DLC, Halo Waypoint.
It is a little-known US developer, but it is behind the downloadable content of some of the biggest videogames of this generation.
Rumour: TimeShift dev remaking Halo 1
Reportedly has online co-op.
The heavily rumoured Halo: Combat Evolved HD remake is being created by TimeShift developer Saber Interactive, according to a new report.
Bungie: Why Master Chief hardly speaks
Less is more.
Bungie deliberately made Halo star Master Chief a man of few words so players would feel more like him.
Rumour: Microsoft remaking Halo 1
Using the Halo: Reach engine.
Microsoft's Halo studio 343 Industries is remaking Halo: Combat Evolved using the Halo: Reach engine, Games Master magazine claims.
Microsoft still committed to Halo movie
"Maybe we'll even fund it ourselves."
Microsoft remains adamant that a Halo movie will be made at some point – and it may even fund production itself.
Ex developer: Apple nearly bought Bungie
"Steve said yes."
A former Bungie developer has claimed that Apple was on the verge of buying the Halo developer just before Microsoft did back in the late nineties.
Apple boss furious at MS Bungie buy-out
Steve Jobs threw toys out of pram.
Microsoft's purchase of Bungie back in 2000 made Steve Jobs so angry that a special deal had to be brokered to appease the aggrieved Apple despot.
Bungie signs 10-year Activision deal
Infinity who?
Activision has signed Bungie in a mammoth 10-year publishing deal. The publisher will have worldwide rights to "bring Bungie's next big action game universe to market".
People still playing Halo 2 somehow
Refusing to finish the fight.
Some mad but brilliant people have managed to keep the Halo 2 dream alive for more than 10 days, despite Microsoft officially ending support for Xbox 1 titles on 15th April.
Xbox Live for Xbox 1 officially killed
Bungie says goodbye to Halo 2.
Microsoft should by now have officially discontinued Xbox Live support for original Xbox consoles and games.
Bungie recalls "brutal" Halo 2 crunch
Thought they were "all going to die".
Bungie has recalled a hellish Halo 2 development that remains a grim reminder of what the studio never wants to revert to ever again.
Halo 2 E3 demo was "smoke and mirrors"
Bungie had to scrap engine afterwards.
Bungie's admitted to Eurogamer that the Halo 2 E3 2003 presentation was a fanciful snapshot of a game that could never be recreated on Xbox hardware.
Loyal Halo 2 fans invited to Reach beta
Given other presents as consolation.
Microsoft is rewarding loyal Halo 2 fans with presents as both a thank you and a "sorry" for turning the game's multiplayer servers off.
The best gift is an invite to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta, which begins 3rd May. Previously, only Halo 3: ODST owners had been asked to participate.
Halo 2 loyalists will also be given three free months of Xbox Live Gold membership and a lump sum of 400 Microsoft Points (£3.40/€4.65), according to a copy of an email sent by Microsoft posted on the Bungie forums.
Frags to riches.
Microsoft and Bungie have solved whatever problem was preventing people downloading Halo 2 DLC ahead of the loss of Xbox 1 support on Live in April.
MS working to restore Xbox 1 DLC
Still killing it off in mid-April though.
Microsoft has said that it's attempting to restore downloadable content access for people still playing Xbox 1 games.
Bungie giving Halo 2 "one last hoorah"
But "saddened" by XBL Xbox 1 funeral.
Bungie's organising a send-off for Halo 2 a day before Microsoft shuts off Xbox Live support for Xbox 1 games.
Halo 3: ODST sales reach 2.5 million
Plus: Master Chief set to return.
Around 2.5 million people have snapped up Halo 3: ODST in the two weeks since it was released.
That's according to USA Today, which also reports the expansion pack has generated over $125 million in sales and brought the total number of Halo games sold to 27 million.
But what about the rest of the Halo franchise? Any sign of that movie? "We're being very careful to pick the right time and the right partner," said creative director Frank O'Connor. No, then.
Spielberg to produce Halo movie?
He is "blown away" by script, says report.
Steven Spielberg is in negotiations to develop a Halo movie, according to a report by IESB.
Jackson's Halo project "on hold" - MS
Um, they should probably give him a ring.
Microsoft has said Peter Jackson's Halo project isn't in the bin after all - it's just "on hold".
Jackson's Halo project officially dead
Blomkamp not interested in film, either.
Peter Jackson has confirmed the Halo project he first announced nearly three years ago is in the bin.
New Halo destination planned for Live
Waypoint to offer exclusive videos etc.
Good news, Halo buffs - Microsoft is launching a new "destination" on Xbox Live especially for you.
New Halo anime films on the way
They'll be released early next year.
Microsoft is working on a series of seven short anime films titled Halo Legends.
Microsoft settles in Halo lawsuit
Multiplayer patents allegedly infringed.
Microsoft has coughed up an undisclosed amount of money to tech firm PalTalk, settling a lawsuit over the Halo games.
All Halo music for one soundtrack
Costs a fair bit, out Monday.
Sumthing Else Music Works and Microsoft have decided stuff all of the Halo music onto a massive compilation soundtrack.
Maddie reference spotted in Bungie trailer
Controversy kicks off over what it means.
Speculation is mounting that the new trailer for Bungie's next Halo project features a reference to missing five year-old Madeleine McCann.
The trailer, released yesterday, has since been the subject of widespread analysis on the internet, as reported by Videogaming247.
Apparently the message "MADDIE, WHERE ARE YOU?" appears in three frames of the video. A debate has now kicked off over whether this is a reference to the missing girl, who disappeared in May 2007.
Gearbox in talks to do new Halo game
But no deal in place yet, says Variety.
Brothers in Arms developer Gearbox Software is in discussions about the next instalment in the Halo series, according to a post on the Variety blog.
Halo has "a lot to learn" from COD4
So says Bungie's AI boss.
Bungie's lead AI programmer, Damian Isla, has said he's keen to take a few tips from Infinity Ward and Call of Duty 4.
MS still seeking staff for Halo project
Creative director wanted.
More than three months after the first job ad appeared, Microsoft is still seeking a creative director for a new Halo project.
It's all about picking up pencils.
The next big step for artificial intelligence in games will be making a character walk up to a table and pick up a pencil.
It's more than grunts in space.
Mexican film director Guillermo Del Toro has been getting himself all worked up about a Halo film.
For Xbox and Xbox 360 owners.
The Halo 2 maps Bungie promised everybody back when it announced the public beta test for game number three will materialise on 17th April - and you'll be able to buy and download them using either an Xbox or Xbox 360.
670 million games played.
If you were in any doubt about how much of Xbox Live's popularity is down to Bungie's legendary Halo 2, consider the following statistic: at the point of scrapping its old recording system recently, Bungie had logged 4.75 million gamertags, out of around six million Xbox Live subscribers.
Including one that's not US-only.
If you are one of the many Eurogamer readers from across the pond who previously tried but failed to gain entry to the spring Halo 3 beta, do not despair! Microsoft has announced a further two additional paths to make your virtual dreams come true.
Your first option is to log into Xbox Live and play through three gruelling hours of Halo 2 online, between Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, 12:01 a.m. EST and Feb. 3, 2007, 11:59 p.m. EST. If your confidence still hasn't been shattered by twelve year-old toilet-tongued bratlings, then head over to the Halo 3 website and be one of the first 13,333 gamers to register for the "Rule of Three" program.
Failing to do this will leave you with only one other choice for now: to buy Real Time Worlds' co-op crime-busting title Crackdown. It's released across the US on 20th February, and in Europe on 23rd February, with certain marked copies of the game acting as keys that will let you download the required Halo 3 beta data from Xbox Live Marketplace.
Not necessarily MS-exclusive.
Former Bungie team lead Max Hoberman has told GamesIndustry.biz that his new studio, Certain Affinity, won't necessarily develop games exclusively for Xbox and Xbox 360 - despite a close relationship with Microsoft.
Still number one on Live.
Gears of War is now the most popular Xbox 360 game played on Xbox Live, but there are still more people playing Halo 2 overall.
Halo 2: 4 billion games played
Plus: new Halo trilogy theme.
It may only have managed to do about US$ 125 million in first-day sales on its way to selling north of 7.4 million units, but at least Halo 2 has been partly successful - with Bungie revealing that the number of online games played has skyrocketed.
But it will be back, apparently.
The Halo film has been postponed, Wingnut Films has admitted, following a number of setbacks including Universal and Fox's decision to ditch their interest in the adaptation over money issues.
Fox, Universal unhappy.
Microsoft's ambition to get a big-budget Halo movie into cinemas has taken a knock this week, with film studios Universal and Fox pulling out of the deal they had struck with the software giant after a last-ditch attempt to renegotiate terms was rebuffed.
On script, director, more.
Film maker Peter Jackson says that preliminary work and script doctoring on the Halo film he's executive-producing is going well, and he's got nothing but admiration for young director Neill Blomkamp, despite his relative lack of feature experience.
On the Chief, Covenant, more.
Newly announced Halo film director Neill Blomkamp has spoken out about how he's approaching the film's coveted source material, and about his views on Halo in general.
Director a relative unknown.
Halo will hit the silver screen in summer 2008, not 2007, Microsoft announced this week - and relative unknown Neill Blomkamp will direct.
It'll be published monthly.
At the Comic-Con held in San Diego last week, Marvel and Bungie announced plans to launch a new monthly comic titled Halo Ongoing.
As you might have guessed, it'll be based around the hit Xbox shooter, but that's all there is to report so far - there's no word on the comic's plotline, or on which artists and writers have been signed up to produce it.
Halo Ongoing is set to appear in shops later this year, following the release of the Halo Graphic Novel. As previously announced, the 128-page book will go on sale in the US this July, and its storyline will focus on the battles between the Covenant and the Flood.
Now available online.
Anyone looking forward to the Halo graphic novel might like to head over to Marvel.com right now.
That's because you can now enjoy a preview of the graphic novel - or "comic", as they used to be called in our day - online. You have to register for the site, but it's free and doesn't take too long.
As reported back in March, the Halo comic will weigh in at 128 pages and is set to feature a host of characters and weapons familiar to fans. It's being worked on by French comic book artist Moebius, along with the likes of Phil Hale, Ed Lee, Tsutomo Nihei and Jay Faerber, plus Bungie's own art team.
Bungie celebrates online success.
Bungie Studios has reported that more than 500 million games of Halo 2 have been played online since the game launched in November 2004.
Featuring all your old friends.
Marvel has signed a deal with Halo developer Bungie to produce a graphic novel based on the blockbuster first-person shooter.
Well, play them at Halo 2.
Hollyoaks. Love it or hate it, you can't deny that it's on every single bloody Sunday for what feels like seventeen hours and never did anybody's hangover any good at all.
MS auctions off Halo 2 billboard
It's for a good cause.
Halo fans can now buy themselves a little piece of history following Microsoft Australia's decision to auction off a giant Halo 2 billboard.
Unofficial, obviously.
Halo may never appear in 2d officially, but in its absence some enterprising Frenchmen have come up with a freebie version instead. Based on the Halo novel The Fall of Reach, Halo Zero is a 21MB download.
Would rather do Hellboy 2.
Guillermo del Toro has confirmed that he's in talks with various parties including executive producer Peter Jackson about directing the Halo film, but that he'd ideally like to do a Hellboy sequel first.
Peter Jackson on the Halo film
He hopes it won't suck.
Peter Jackson's revealed his lofty ambition as executive producer of the new Halo film, which begins shooting next year. "Hopefully it won't suck," he told film site Dark Horizons during a recent New York interview.
Prog-scan, widescreen, FSAA.
Bungie's confirmed suspicions that Halo and Halo 2 will be slightly shinier than the average Xbox game running on Xbox 360 - if indeed the average Xbox game does run on Xbox 360, although that's a separate issue.
Bungie hints at enhancements.
Halo developer Bungie has hinted that the hit shooter and its sequel are going to look even better on the Xbox 360.
X360 runs Halo 1/2 from day one
Come back evolved.
First of all, we've resisted the temptation to do, "Halo for Xbox 360 launch", so how about some biscuits? Second, according to numerous reports based on Microsoft's recent show-and-tell tour of the American tech-and-games-press circuit, Xbox 360 will launch with legacy support for Xbox titles Halo and Halo 2.
Peter Jackson exec-producing Halo movie
X05: Weta doing FX.
Microsoft has revealed that Lord of the Rings and King Kong director Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh will be acting as executive producers on the Halo film.
IN-FUSIO signs Halo for mobiles
Rings around the world.
IN-FUSIO has signed the rights to produce mobile games based on Microsoft's Halo series, the company announced today.
Plus, triple pack for Xbox?
The film translation of Microsoft's somewhat-popular sci-fi based first-person shooter franchise Halo has been given an official 2007 launch target by Universal and 20th Century Fox, according to a report in entertainment publication Variety.
Cheaters, your time is up.
Bungie has announced that today's the day it will release a new autoupdate for Halo 2 designed to put a stop to the antics of "hackers, modders and other flavours of cheat."
Anyone who wants to continue playing the game on Xbox Live will have to download and install the update in order to do so, and anyone attempting to play Halo 2 with modified content will be banned from matchmaking games.
"Most of the stuff in this autoupdate is designed to fix cheating, security or minor, invisible bugs," reads a statement on Bungie's website.
All nine maps up for grabs.
Today sees the launch of the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, which includes no less than nine brand new maps along with special updates to stop cheaters in their tracks.
Now free of charge.
Bungie has announced that a new set of Halo 2 maps is now available free of charge via Xbox Live.
His parents must've loved him.
Microsoft has named the Halo 2 World Champion at the conclusion of its global contest to discover the Halo 2 World Champion. Unsurprisingly, they've named him the Halo 2 World Champion. [I seem to remember you did a joke a lot like this about two days ago. Watch it. - Ed]
Big studios consider Halo flick
Film chiefs court Master Chief.
Microsoft's tough demands for the proposed Halo movie may have turned off many large Hollywood studios, but the firm's gamble may still have paid off - with Universal and Fox reported to be nearing agreement on a deal to make the film.
Wants big commitment.
Plans for a high-budget Halo movie are being pushed ahead by Microsoft, which delivered copies of the Alex Garland-penned script to Hollywood studios earlier this week - with a high price tag and tough conditions attached.
No word on European date.
European fans of million-billion-selling Xbox shooter Halo 2 have been left feeling shocked, stunned, confused and all funny inside following Bungie's confirmation that the Multiplayer Map Pack has been delayed by a week in the US. Probably.
Next Monday is going to be "Maptacular", says Bungie. And one of the packs is "Killtacular", too.
Bungie has announced that the first lot of downloadable Halo 2 maps will be available from Monday April 25 via Xbox live.
Halo 2 expansion pack revealed
Bungie confirms rumours of a multiplayer add-on complete with nine new maps. And they might even be free. Eventually.
Following last week's confusion over a possible Halo 2 add-on, Bungie has confirmed that a multiplayer expansion pack will indeed be in the shops by the end of June.
The Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack contains nine new maps set in a wide variety of environments including Delta Halo's frozen tundra, the winding streets of Old Mombasa and the remains of an ancient temple - take a look at Bungie's full overview for more details.
The disc will also contain two videos: an animated single-player side-story set in New Mombasa, and a short documentary featuring interviews with the developers. It will be available from June 28 priced £14.99.
Bungie says it will make "a major announcement" offering details of its new maps, which will be "available for everybody", as rumours of an expansion pack go unanswered.
Bungie is promising "a major announcement" this week offering details of its new maps for Halo 2 amidst rumours of a full-blown expansion for the game.
The hullabaloo kicked off late last week when eagle-eyed servants of the Master Chief spotted an update on Microsoft's Korean website listing a Halo 2 expansion called "X-Pack".
Microsoft hasn't commented on the entry yet, but the X-Pack - whatever it is - has since been removed from the site's release schedule, and Bungie's response has done little to quash the rumour mongering.
