About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal

The Halo Bulletin 12.18.13

Posted on 12/19/2013 by Sal

This week’s bulletin contains exactly TWO articles. A HUGE Q&A with Frank O’Conner and the Screenshot Spotlight. That being “Holiday”.

So let’s get to this article. Any commentary from me will be highlighted in light blue, otherwise, the rest is the Q&A.

Ask Frankie: Frank O’ Connor Q&A

Who is your favorite character?
– AStreamOfCream
Frank O’Conner (FO): In the entire history of the franchise? It would be a tossup between Guilty Spark and Foe Hammer. The former because he’s an interesting, pivotal and possibly misunderstood – and in my opinion – sympathetic character. The latter because a lot of people think she’s a spaceship and not a callsign. And just as many who think she has an especially lyrical and overwrought surname.

What is your favorite weapon, generally speaking?
FO: The one I’ve used most consistently across the series is the Plasma Pistol – as a secondary to strip shields or stop vehicles. As a utility weapon, either the H3 BR or the H4 DMR.

If you could change one thing about the Master Chief, what would it be?
– xLG Atomix
FO: I would change his rank, or better still, people’s understanding of his rank. The Master Chief Petty Officer is a naval rank that is the highest attainable for enlisted men. It demands respect but demonstrates worth, ability and hard work. All things that you can assume are true of someone in that role. And the role demands such respect that you’ll even see senior commissioned officers defer to, or at least acknowledge that rank in decision making and general behavior.

What is your favorite game type in Halo 4?
– YouTube Unyshek
FO: SWAT.

Pancakes or whiskey? Tough choice, I know.
– aVeryEasyTarget
FO: A little whiskey in the syrup might actually taste decent. Then you can have EVERYTHING.

What is your favorite Halo book?
– HurryingCandy
FO: They are all my favorites. But I am going to see the Hobbit on Saturday with Joe Staten, so Contact Harvest today.

Why did the UNSC stick to projectiles as their main form of weaponry, or even now when ONI has developed lasers?
– Seeeyeare
FO: The truth is that creating a distinctive human flair, sound, silhouette and look for the universe is important to the nature and identity of the canon, and the canonical reason would be that projectiles are something you can build easily and cheaply in almost any human-friendly environment. And we don’t shy away from the fact that we have a massive military industrial complex at play. Halo actually takes place at the cusp of a more energy-efficient shift in our tech – and you have these contrasts – FTL travel and standard caseless ammo. Frankly speaking it is like that because it feels good.

What’s your favorite thing?
– Jeff McRae
FO: Right now my Xbox One. I went on vacation and got annoyed because I couldn’t command the TV to do my bidding with my voice.

If I wanted to join 343 Industries someday, what would you recommend I study?
– RJCCJ
FO: Where’s your passion? If you’re literally a human blank slate that can do anything and has no feels, be an engineer (Computer Science) because you’ll get paid slightly more when you start and you’re harder to hire and in greater demand for more varied jobs. If you’re not a carte blanche, pick the thing you care most about, or the thing you’re best at.

Did Beamish survive the attack on Corbulo Academy using his mighty mop?
– DHG Siul S249
FO: He survived a massive Slipspace jump outside of a cryotube, with nothing legal to eat. He’ll survive a glassing. In fact, being Scottish, he’s probably already been glassed.

What is your favorite moment in Halo, be it in novels, games or any kind of media?
FO: You haven’t seen it yet. But I have.

Are you going to cameo in the Halo TV series like you did in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn? 😀
– Stckrboy
FO: My agent has a phone. Have your people call my people.

From your practical experience, what are real and meaningful steps an industry outsider can take to work his way into PR / Marketing for game development studios?
– FatalFord
FO: There are a ton of perfectly good college courses dealing with marketing, media and public relations – and knowing the subject matter helps.

Can I haz Mister Chief armor for my Spartan in Halo 4 or Halo Xbox One?
– JDHarbs
FO: I don’t think you really want to be victimized in matchmaking like that.

What’s your favorite coffee and how do you flavor it? If you don’t like coffee, maybe pop or beer?
– Nfected Spartan
FO: That coffee that civets eat and then poop. Look it up. It’s a real thing.

Any chance of an in-game ranking system in Halo Xbox One?
– FroZeN 4S
FO: There’s always a chance.

Have you made a potato cannon and witnessed the glorious, awesome power of the flying potato?
– TI Inspire
FO: Yes. And a lot of bows and arrows when I was a kid. I shot Gregor Fergie in the eye. Just like his mum warned us I would.

What inspired you to work in the gaming industry, and what did you do to get involved in it?
– aThomasKid
FO: Playing games inspired me.
What is your favorite game besides Halo?
FO: When I’m feeling nostalgic? Looping on Coleco Vision.

What do you exactly do at 343 industries?
FO: I do everything imprecisely. I work on story, franchise, canon, licensing, even marketing. A bit of everything.

If you were to play in a 4-player Free-For-All with Dersky, Neighbor, and Bravo, how many kills would you win by?
– xBrutaIity
FO: I think if it were FFA SWAT I would get some kills, period. I would get Steak Dinnered though, for sure.

Frankie, would you give me a high five?
– halo mahkyla
FO: High five!

After creating your first Halo as a brand new studio and taking on one of the largest franchises, what would you say was the biggest success and failure with Halo 4?
Austin7934
FO: Like any new studio, we had plenty of failures. Our biggest success will be accepting them and learning from them. I think that our growing understanding of the audience and ourselves and the new platform will stand us in good stead.

HFFL: Finally a REALLY good pertinent question. Folks, I get that you want to have fun, but this was the opportunity to ask the really hard questions! Man, had I known, I’d have been asking all sorts of questions…

There has been a ton of feedback, both positive and negative, in regards to the direction that Halo 4’s multiplayer took the franchise. What feedback have you taken to heart the most, and what changes have 343 made to their multiplayer philosophy and approach to reflect said feedback?
– a Polish Korean
FO: I think that’s probably the most important question for our community, and I think we’ll start answering it honestly and directly in due time. So I won’t touch on philosophy here, other than to say you’ll see a lot of those learnings when we start showing things. There’s no semantic dance I can do here that will satisfy every segment of our audience – there are just too many pitfalls and inter-community disagreements on what makes Halo MP great. So we will be open and receptive and honest with ourselves.

Was the inclusion of cosmetic elements (armor variants, weapon skins, etc.) in Halo 4’s DLC seen as a success? How do you think you can improve DLC more broadly?
FO: Yes, but everything can be done better, more simply or reinvented in unexpected ways. I will leave it at that.

Has there been any discussion in regards to the merit of returning to a veto style voting system as opposed to sticking with the voting style from Reach / Halo 4?
FO: I will say that dedicated servers and cloud technology will give us options that expand upon that premise and the former rigidity of matchmaking, period.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?
– halo mahkyla
FO: Pepperoni, jalapenos and sometimes red onion. But I like all of them. Even Hawaiian.

Does the Master Chief wear boxers or briefs?
– FearlessNoba
FO: Is this a comic-con panel?

Are there any major Easter eggs left undiscovered in Halo 4?
– Snoop Rocket
FO: Major? No. Minor, yes.

What qualities, in your opinion, make an ideal lover?
FO: Gentleness. And rough, calloused hands, like a Glaswegian U-Boat cleaner.

Objective or slayer?
– Ozzy Onya A2Z
FO: Me? Slayer. Especially once the rubber band physics from CE vanished. Rocketing my body into the base on Blood Gulch after exiting a moving Warthog with the flag….

From one baldy to another, what’s your favorite part about being bald?
– TashiGAF
FO: Consistency. And shaving it in the car with a Bic. And being mistaken for Mister Clean.

Will Halo: Spartan Assault take advantage of the Xbox One impulse triggers?
– FireGhost90
FO: Not particularly, but the next Halo FPS will.

What are you planning to do with the Arbiter and that of the Sangheili, in both the story and gameplay?
– kaine nar rano
FO: Can’t talk about it. But a lot.

HFFL: Oooh, another great question. See folks THESE are the kinds of questions people should have been asking…

Back before Halo was a big franchise and Halo: Combat Evolved was being developed, how much of the universe did you have planned?
– Kokaza118
FO: Bits and pieces. The reality of developing a game is that you have to delete whole swathes of ideas – and those have a knock on effect. I know roughly what the universe looks like years from now, but not precisely how we’ll get there, because the game will define that, not a roadmap.

Did you expect Halo to become such a giant cultural phenomenon that I feel is approaching a level of Star Wars?
FO: When I start getting that George Lucas type money, we’ll talk. But it is a weighty responsibility even now.

Did you initially plan to develop Halo 2 and the rest of the trilogy?
FO: The game was developed like any new franchise, with the hope that it would be loved and the possibility there could be another. And the humility to know that most new franchises don’t make it.

How did you balance enemies and weapons for gameplay and story? For instance, Promethean Knights use highly advanced weaponry capable of disintegrating and piercing through armored marines. They can however die by salvos of M118 bullets. In gameplay, the Sangheili have a quicker and stronger melee than Knights sometimes. What do you comment on it?
– Erickyboo
FO: One simple example is using hardlight as projectiles that can compare with human projectiles. But really the answer is a massive chart and years of conversations and comparisons. And some of the differences are designed to be aesthetic as well as balanced for gameplay.

The Master Chief, Commander Palmer, Fireteam Majestic, and Spartan-IVs in the Halo 4 Campaign all use full armor sets, yet we see Spartan-IVs in War Games usually wearing a mix-and-match combo. Do Spartans use different armor pieces in the canon? If so, how often do they do so?
– OompaMyLoompaa
FO: They technically choose pieces that are suitable for both the mission at hand and their own personal fighting style.

How was Hesduros left out of the loop, to the point where it is still very religious and adopted its own traditions and technologies?
– M0aHerder
FO: You will definitely find out more about intra-Covenant disputes and religious differences in the future.

HFFL: Hmm, VERY interesting….

Are there any driving ideas and inspirations behind the redesign of the Covenant look?
FO: The changing nature of their relationship with the galaxy and the reclaiming of their own identity outside of the previous nature of the Covenant drive a lot of that, as well of course as game tech, fidelity and modernization.

HFFL: Gah, how about the real answer Frank? YOu wanted to put your own spin on the characters and get further away from what Bungie created, thereby making Halo your own? The Grunts and Jackals most certainly did not need any aesthetic changes to their bodies…. Rolls Eyes…

Will we see more development and “humanization” of the Covenant in the future, similar to what they received in Halo 2/3?
FO: Yes and more “alienization” too.

Will the nearly 500 year gap of the Halo timeline be further explored? There is a lot of content that can be back there, from initial interplanetary conflicts to early Human exploration and into the golden age of colonization, that can add significance to the story.
FO: Potentially, yes.

Will there be any clarification of the events of Halo 3, such as how many MAC platforms were still up, how much of the Home Fleet was intact, or how Arby N’ Friends got back to Earth?
FO: Those items may not be a focus for the next game. But they can be dealt with elsewhere.

What is the chance of seeing more books like Evolutions?
FO: Reasonable.

HFFL: Ah good. I really liked the ones that have come out so far. Do yourselves a favor folks and get those Evolution books. Great short stories in them. Not all great, but enough to be worth the cost of the book!

Humanity’s post war status looks quite promising considering how close they were to being wiped out. What is Humanity’s status during Halo 4? Colonies? Rebuilding efforts? Is the Infinity and Spartan-IV Program taking any attention away from other important issues?
FO: They are taking the initiative. Trying to keep the Covenant off balance. The Spartan-IV program is essential to that mission.

I have wanted to ask this question for ages. Do you wear a kilt?
– SergeantGUNZ117
FO: At weddings, sometimes.

HFFL: Okay, I’ll give that last question a pass. I kinda wanted to know that myself, LOL!

With that the Q&A portion of the Bulletin is over. Only other thing is the Screenshot Spotlight. There were a couple I liked from it. But you may want to take a gander for yourself HERE.

The next Halo Bulletin will be in 2014.

-Sal

An incredible UNSC Base made of Mega Bloks!

Posted on 12/18/2013 by Sal

Here is another custom made by fellow Halo Mega Bloks fan, Dielectric. It’s a massive UNSC Base! Take the time to look at all the detail, the kinds of figures (and how many of them there are), and so on.

Here’s Dielectric’s words on his project (His words in light blue text):

I haven’t had a base take took up a whole table since I had a massive castle as a child. Since Halo Mega Bloks came out, I’ve amassed a lot of sets. The UNSC lucked out, and go a base first, although the Covenant will end up having their own soon enough.

The base I have built is based partly around the concept art for the Highground map of Halo 3, Halo Wars base design, and Halo: Reach concept art.

The base fills a table that is three feet by five feet. It is covered by laminate that looks like granite that I got from work after they no longer needed it. I think it worked well as asphalt.

At a rough guess, the base ate 6 sets of Highgrounds, 2 Pelicans, 2 ‘Hawks, 2 Flood Sieges, 6 Banshee Blitz and 4 Countdowns. It is still a work in progress.

HFFL: That’s a ton of sets used for this. ANd it’s a GREAT repurposing of them, IMO!

The pad that the Pelican is being serviced on is not actually a landing pad, but a heavy freight elevator. The elevator will lead to the underground portion of the base, which still requires a structure, which I hope to have in place by the end of the year.

The roof of the command centre lifts off to expose the inside containing a large holo table, and nerve centre.

HFFL: This is TOO COOL! I love that Dielectric took the time to make a removable roof AND used blue translucent figures as holo table images. PURE Awesomeness!

Finally, a ground of technicians scramble around a Pelican Gunship to make sure it is ready for its next mission. Weapon drop pods are attached to the tail for rapid re-armourment.

HFFL: I have to admit, I’m jealous of the amount of UNSC Technicians (the guys in light grey in the above pic) he has… I hope Mega Bloks uses that figure more often. I’d love to build up a couple of squads of them.

You can view these in even HIGHER detail/resolution by dropping by Dielectric’s Photobucket page here.

While I do have many of the sets he has, I wasn’t fortunately enough to get more than one High Ground set or Countdown. Mega Bloks had toyed (pun intended) with the idea of making a UNSC Firebase a couple of years back. I hope the pics of this inspire them to bring their idea back to the drawing board and hopefully release a set like this. Maybe not so big (too keep it affordable).

-Sal

Halo 4 Cover Art done in Mega Bloks style!

Posted on 12/18/2013 by Sal

Halo 4 Cover Art Statue.

This is an unofficial custom for sale. It’s very well done and resembles the larger statue made by McFarlane Toys. Though this one won’t set you back $300+ dollars. In fact the creator of this custom is selling it and donating most of the proceeds to charity. Read on from the artist, “Geek Marky”.

I tried to somewhat recreate this wonderful work of art. I sculpted the base and glues Master Chief down, his head still moves as well as his right arm for additional poses. I’ve got a AR and sword pose as well.

This is by far my favorite project to date. So Im gonna list it on ebay and donate a large portion to charity. So don’t miss out on an opportunity to own this one of a kind scaled piece.

On ebay!! Here is the LINK

Thanks and enjoy!

HFFL: I’d LOVE to own this little version. Gawd knows I can’t afford the McFarlane one. Wouldn’t it be cool of Mega Bloks made an official version of this? Now THAT would be a very cool exclusive!

Halo TV show on XBOX early 2014??

Posted on 12/18/2013 by Sal

In this excerpt from a Variety article by Marc Graser, Nancy Tellem, president of entertainment and digital for Microsoft, talks briefly about the time table for the Halo TV show coming to XBOX.

Developing original series for Microsoft has taken a little longer than veteran TV executive Nancy Tellem had hoped, but her first slate of shows will launch on the Xbox videogame consoles early next year.

“We’re hoping we will be able to put something up in the first quarter, at minimum second quarter,” said Tellem, president of entertainment and digital for Microsoft, at Variety’s Dealmakers Breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. The shows will be available on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One through Xbox Live.

“I’m incredibly ambitious and impatient,” said Tellem, who took the job to produce original content for the Xbox platform in 2012. Because of that, the time it’s taken to develop the first slate of series, including a high-profile project based around “Halo,” with Steven Spielberg producing, has been “slower,” but “reflecting on what we’ve done and what lies ahead, it’s been pretty good.”

To read the full article (which doesn’t have any further Halo news), click HERE.

HFFL: I for one am extremely happy to hear that the Halo TV show is still a go and may be available to watch in just a few months. I was starting to lose hope on it. Thankfully that hope is renewed. I’m equally happy that it won’t be an XBOX One only exclusive.

So what say you? Are you excited for the TV show? I’m curious what time period in the Halo-verse will be used. I’d kind of like to see it start with the Insurgency, leading up to first contact. Mixed in once in awhile the EARLY story of how John met Halsey and began his spartan training at an early age. Yes, we know that story from the books, but it would be great to see it in action.

Part of the reason I think it’s going to be the Insurgency, is that there will be minimal CG. NO aliens to have to render. Plus that portion of the Halo-verse is RIPE for the telling!

Thanks to HBO for posting the link to this article on twitter.

-Sal

New Halo Avatar Items and Gamerpics available!

Posted on 12/17/2013 by Sal

You can now have a Forerunner artifact (prop). As well if you want just the Spartan Palmer helmet or Spartan Davis helmet, those are both available as well!

The Forerunner artifact can be yours for $3.99. Go here to purchase!

Fancy Spartan Palmer’s helmet? It’s $1.99 for it. Go here to get it!

How about Davis’s noggin? Yours for $1.99. Go here to get the GOLD helmet!

Want some Spartan Assault gamerpics? Just 99 cents. Head on over here to get them.

Hmm, I’m contemplating the Forerunner artifact…
-Sal

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks Ultimate Combat Pack

Posted on 12/17/2013 by Sal

Mega Bloks Ultimate Combat Pack: Set #97233

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: N/A
Set Piece Count: 167
Minifigs: Jump Pack Brute (Cyan Active Camo), Cyan Grunt, Cyan Spec Ops Grunt, Cyan Brute, Cyan Jump Pack Brute, Spartan CQB (Green Active Camo), Green Spartan CQB, Green Flame Marine. Green Spartan Recon, Green Spartan EVA, Orange Elite Pilot, Orange Elite Commando, Orange Elite Combat, Orange Grunt, Orange Spec Ops Grunt, Black Spartan Security, Black Spartan EOD, Black Spartan Scout, ODST (Bronze highlights), ODST (Silver Highlights)
Weapons: Crimson Needler X2, Crimson Plasma Rifle, Cyan Active Camo Plasma Rifle, Grey Brute Mauler, Purple Plasma Pistol, Purple Plasma Repeater, Purple Plasma Launcher, Black Spike Grenade, Translucent Purple Plasma Grenades (X4), Green Active Camo Grenade Launcher, Silver Assault Rifle, Silver Assault Rifle (Reach style), Silver DMR, Silver Grenade Launcher, Silver Spartan Laser, Silver SMG, Silver Magnum X3, Frag Grenade X2, Flame Thrower (Silver Flamethrower, Black Hose, Green gas tank)
Accessories: 2X3 figure stands (20 pieces), Cyan Active Camo Jump Pack, Black Backpack X2
Price: $49.99 Toys R Us Exclusive (My wife got this for the discount price of $29.99 on Black Friday)
Special Features: N/A
This pack is a TOYS R US Exclusive!

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The box is very nicely done showing the figures off quite nicely. This box art has a slightly different color scheme than we’ve seen in the past. It has green for the detail. Zoom in on the pic, especially the lower left side and you can see it. I really like this color scheme and hope we see it again.

The back of the bos shows the set of minifigs on the provided pieces that make up the display stand. I really like that Mega gives that extra effort to include those parts so people that want to display them outside the package have the parts necessary instead of having to buy expensive display stands. THANKS Mega!

A closer up pic of the figures included with their designations.

When you open up the box, there are slots on both sides that contain the long pieces for the display stand.

Likewise, the direction sheet is between the back of the box and the green cardboard insert.

This is what you initially get when you take the contents out. Some might say it looks cool like that. But I have to take take those figs out of the plastic tray.

You get a plastic bag and some more parts for the display stand. Within the plastic bag are the pieces shown above. It’s neat that Mega even included 4 tiles that show various emblems on them.

Here are all of the Covenant Weapons and Accessories in the pack. I do like that Mega made the one Plasma Rifle in Crimson, as that is the Brute’s color for the weapon. Of course, I’m very happy with the translucent weapons and nades.

Here are all the UNSC weapons (sans Flamethrower). That A/C Green Nade Launcher is AWESOME!!! I do wish the silver weapons were painted, even if two-toned. However, given the excellent price of the pack, this is minor.

The flamethrower assembled.

Now we get to the minifigs. First up, the Elites.What’s cool about this is now we have Orange Elites to match the Flood infected Orange Elites that came in the Flood Siege set last year. (Which I reviewed right here: https://halofanforlife.com/?p=2531)

Next we have the grunts.

I love my Grunties! Can’t have enough of those little guys!

The Brutes are next. I’m actually digging this cyan color. I didn’t think I would, but out of the box, they look GREAT! And of course, you KNOW I was going to love the translucent Brute regardless!

We move on to the UNSC figs.I think Black is one of the best choices for color. They feel so Spec Ops/Special Forces/Seal Team, etc. While I am not a huge fan of the Security helmet, I know there are a lot of Halo Mega Bloks collectors that are. I AM a big EOD fan, so I’m happy to have that one.

Next up are the ODSTs and Flame Marine.As with Grunts, I don’t think you could ever have enough ODSTs. The color highlights for these two are fantastic. Not over the top team colors. Just nice metallic colors that fit well with the uniform. I’m happy that the Flame Marine comes in the green color. My favorite color for these Spartans is the default green. To me, it harkens back to the little green army men of old!

Some additional views of the Flame Marine, with the backpack on.

Finally we come to the Green Spartans.Okay, ONE guess which one is my favorite….LOL. First, I’m extremely happy to have CQBs. They were my favorite helmet back in Halo 3. I WISH they’d come back to Halo. Hopefully the next game! Recon is always good to have. Like the Security helmet, I’m not a huge fan of the EVA’s helmet. I think it has to do with having such a large visor. It makes me feel like they are less protected, even though they have greater visibility. Note the A/C Green CQB’s visor is painted!

One more shot of my favorite fig in the set!

And lastly, a battle has indeed sprung up!!!!

Summary: No time needed to build this as it’s just the figures, weapons and their stands. The figs came pre-assembled. This is an excellent set. The mix of Covenant and UNSC is good. The further mix of Brutes, Grunts, Elites, ODST, Spartan and the Flame Marine makes this a well diversified set and an instant army!

Now you might be wondering why didn’t I make the display stand? I usually don’t. I instead use these black parts for an ongoing project….

Even if you didn’t get it for the sale price, at $50 for 20 minifigs, that still comes to only $2.50 per figure. That’s 50 cents to $1 cheaper than the single packed mystery figures and you know exactly what you’re getting in this set! If you lucked out and did get this for the Black Friday sale, KUDOS to you. I was surprised by my wife with this. She was a bit of a sneak and ordered this online. Ha, if I’d have known that, i wouldn’t have gone shopping for it. Then again, I wouldn’t have been able to help that nice family and save the mom $40 on the two packs she got for her two sons. So I guess it worked out for all anyway.

Overall Rating: I give this set 9.5 out for 10 medals. The only very minor thing was the bland silver weapons. Had they been two-toned, this would have got a perfect 10 from me. Still, it’s TOTALLY worth getting, even at the full price! I’d highly suggest getting this soon if you haven’t already and are on the fence about it. It’s sure to sell out during the holidays and I don’t expect Toys R Us to get a replenishment of them any time soon.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the review. If you have this set yourself, please give me your thoughts on it too!

-Sal

Halo Mega Bloks custom Cryo chamber!

Posted on 12/16/2013 by Sal

Over the next few days, I’ll be posting some Halo Mega Bloks customs. Since it’s the Holiday season, a time known for toys, I figure why not show off some impressive customs.

This one actually came to light to me just a couple of days ago. It’s made by a fellow Halo Mega Bloks fan, Dielectric. This is his custom build of a full bay cryo chambers.

Dielectric: I broke my phone last month, and was holding off until I could get a new Blackberry. I eventually decided to get a smartphone, and give up my qwerty. What does this have to do with anything? An 8MP camera, that’s what. I can now take pictures of my customs that have been collecting dust. 😛

First up: a Cryo Bay. I had several concepts before I went ahead and built it. First, it was an exposed two storey affair, but I lacked the bloks to do a decent job filling in the gaps. Next was a boring straight depth design. I went with a diagonal spread in the end, although I still lacked the bloks to fill in all the gaps in the back.

Built mainly using 12 Cryo Bay sets, along with pieces from Highgrounds, Cauldron Clashes, and an AA Turret.

The concept was to have the bay adjust curves of the ship. The support struts make it feel more like its somewhere in the bowels of the ship, rather than a spacious area.

The precious cargo sleeps until they are needed…

HFFL: I have to say this is an AWESOME custom build. It’s amazing what some people can come up with, especially given having enough extra pieces to work with. Look close at the people in the cryo chambers. They are not Spartans…LOL

Does Noble Squad outshine Chief in Reach?

Posted on 12/15/2013 by Sal

Writer Drew Toal would have you believe so.

I got the link to this article from a fellow Halo fan, “Deino” and felt it needed to be further passed on to other fans.

Here’s the article in it’s entirety:

Whatever their veracity, stories of battles like The Alamo or Thermopylae are more compelling than stories where the good guys run the table with barely a scraped knee to show for their trouble. A small band of fighters facing impossible odds but never flinching in the face of their impending doom inspires in a way that Rambo’s seeming invincibility never could. On the contrary, these never-tell-me-the-odds types meet their maker with a devil-may-care grin and a song on their lips.

In this context, the story of Master Chief—the taciturn protagonist of the Halo series and the future’s genetically enhanced super Rambo—is about as dramatic as watching the Denver Broncos play football against my hometown peewee team, the scrappy yet hypothetically overmatched Absecon Blue Devils. Watching the Chief mow down wave after wave of palpably terrified Grunts is good for a laugh, but the outcome is never in doubt. And while he may not be immortal (this isn’t established, by the way), it’s pretty safe to say that he’s developed an immunity to extraterrestrial small-arms fire. Through four full games, the Chief has wiped out entire civilizations while barely breaking a sweat. Even when he’s presumed dead, you know he’s just biding his time, waiting for the next big-budget sequel and the next horde of bad guys to dispatch with extremely bland prejudice.

The developers at Bungie, the studio that originally developed the Halo series, must have felt some of this malaise, as the last Halo they made didn’t feature the indestructible Chief at all. Released in 2010, Halo: Reach was a prequel of sorts, and it laid the groundwork for all the recycled carnage that would come later. But Reachwas fundamentally different, and not just because it was missing the face of the series.

From the game’s outset, it’s apparent that at least some of your comrades are not getting off the planet Reach alive. The first thing you see is a Spartan helmet with a bullet hole through the visor, half-buried in the muck of Reach’s blasted surface. It’s to be a heroic death, then, with no sequels and no happy ending, the stuff of songs and stories. Whereas the Chief will eventually be sent to a Spartan retirement home where he’ll fight pitched battles over Jell-O cups and the television remote, the heroes of Reach will die as they lived—kicking ass and taking names. Thousands of years on, do we remember Leonidas, or the guy who eventually defeated the Persians?

As the newest member of Noble Team, a group of Spartan soldiers similar to but less implacable than the Chief, you find yourself on Reach in the immediate lead-up to the main series’ galaxy-spanning conflict between humans and non-humans. Whereas Chief is a faceless, violent cipher—you never see his face—each of the characters in your squad has personality and a humanity that feels alien to the series—so much so that it’s hard to square the notion that Noble Team and Chief come from the same unfeeling hero factory.

There’s no doubt that the Master Chief has been programmed to get the job done no matter the cost—that his life has no meaning outside the mission. When he first appears on screen, he’s being ejected from a test tube for that very purpose. The members of Noble are equally invested in seeing things through, but these ferocious killers have a more human side. They clearly care about each other—their interactions feel more like family than co-workers—and they probably have hobbies outside of the oncoming xenocaust. Within the first few minutes of Reach, you learn that your character is replacing a recently deceased Noble member, and not everyone is pumped to bring in the new guy. Your commander has read your heavily redacted file. “We’re a team,” he tells you. “That lone wolf stuff stays behind.” Clearly, the “army of one” tactics of the Chief wouldn’t fit in too well with this group.

It turns out they really do need one another, because Noble Team is much less bullet-resistant than the lumbering Spartan man-monster we’re used to. As you fight your way across Reach and the scale of the invasion is slowly revealed, your comrades are whittled down. On a covert mission to take out a giant alien battleship, not everything goes according to plan. Somebody has to stay behind and manually set off the weapon that will destroy this space-invader leviathan. As the newest member of Noble team, that duty doesn’t fall to you. Your character will live to fight another day—or at least a few more hours. The same can’t be said for your buddy Jorge, who with his last breath sends those alien bastards straight to alien hell. He’s the first to die but certainly not the last, or even the one who suffers the most heroic death. When they made these Spartans, they must have spawned them from a DNA cocktail made from the genes of Audie Murphy, a lion, and Bruce Willis from Armageddon.

Only one member of Noble doesn’t get to choose how she dies. In one of the game’s more sudden and unexpected moments, the team’s single female member falls to a sniper’s bullet mid-sentence. Just like that, she’s gone. The moment is profound for a number of reasons besides the sad piano music. There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s an act of God, pure and simple. These games, the first-person shoot-for-all variety, almost always put you behind the scope of a far-off sniper rifle at some point and ask you to pick off helpless victims—soldiers, aliens, or civilians of a irreconcilable ideological bent—from a hidden perch. These are moments of extreme empowerment. The lives of distant targets are yours to extinguish with the mere pull of a trigger, and they are completely unaware. To suffer on the other end of that transaction is jarring. Your buddy’s death feels ignoble, and the means of her demise feel dishonorable. In that moment, these super-soldiers know what it’s like to be powerless. She’ll be the only one to endure such a fate.

As the game ends, the remaining members of Noble Team escort a group of scientists and important artifacts to an escape ship. But somebody has to stay behind and keep the aliens off their back in a desperate rearguard action. Noble Team fights valiantly as they’re swallowed up by waves of attackers. Your squad’s commander, riddled with bullets, crashes a ship into an alien craft to buy you time. Another gets a plasma sword through his back as he mans a gun to cover the escape of the Pillar Of Autumn’s, the ship from the original game that carries a still-hibernating Master Chief. (In Reach’s final scenes, there’s a split-second where you can see Master Chief in his cryogenic sleep chamber, right before he awakens to the events of the first Halo game.) It raises the question: You guys couldn’t have woken him up for this fight? Does he need his beauty rest?

Apparently not, and Master Chief’s absence neatly encapsulates the divide betweenReach and Halo proper. Master Chief is a product of science, a thing to be preserved at all costs. Your character in Reach has other plans. When presented the opportunity to escape, your fighter chooses instead to delay the enemy, thus allowing the survivors to slip away. Before the ship lifts off, the Admiral tells you that Noble Team’s sacrifice won’t be forgotten. He’s right. While the Chief is busy getting his 40 winks, the soldiers of Reach calmly stare down oblivion and fashion a legend, making their brief existence all the more memorable.

HFFL: Okay, so what do you think. The writer gives a compelling argument. Yes, I know nothing will ever truly replace Chief. Most of Noble do die a heroic deaths, but is that enough to say they outshine Chief?

Jorge’s death bothered me. He was my favorite of Noble and a fellow Spartan II like Chief. He made a call and did die very heroically.
Kat’s death was ridiculous. One snipe through the helmet?
Carter’s death seemed a little needless. Somehow he was riddled with bullets, yet I know we didn’t see that.
Emile’s death was a bit cocky, as he was. He didn’t have a choice though as he was snuck up on. Honorable, but didn’t outshine Chief.
Jun got away….
and finally Noble Six. Did he really need to stay on Reach? No, I think he could have gone with Keyes. That would of course changed the story. He did die honorably, but again, I do not think he is better than Chief.

Let me hear/see/read your opinion on this. Hit that reply link and give me your thoughts on this.
-Sal

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Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 4 Weapons, Wheels, Minifigs and more!

Posted on 12/12/2013 by Sal

Ah, here we are at the final part of the four part review of the Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth. It’s be so much fun so far. This last part brings it all together!

The next stage in the build is the Mini-Mac turret on the top rear of the Mammoth.

The above pic shows where the turret will attach to the Mammoth.

Next up is the cannon portion of the turret.

Next are the two Rocket Launchers. I’ve shown one in parts and one completed. This is the same Rocket Launcher design that comes with the Rocket Launcher Warthog, other than the color.

That turret really added some bulk to the top of the Mammoth! It’s almost done now. It just needs some mobility….

The wheels are the same as the ones with the Anniversary Warthog, except the hubcaps are of the Mammoth design.

Here it is!!! A BEAUTY!!! It’s MASSIVE. Mammoth you might say…

The front view finished. Wow, that command deck looks sweet. The tires add just a little bit of height, but they really do help to complete the model.

This would be the grounds eye view of the Mammoth if you were a minifig. You can see from this perspective how long the inside is. Also note the steps to the right of the pic inside the Mammoth.

The back view. With everything complete the rear of the Mammoth looks powerful! I believe those are heat vents from the Mini-Mac.

The is the shot from the back with both the ramp and the upper flap opened. Just look at how cavernous the inside looks from this perspective! Again you can see the steps, now on the left. And the Command Deck farrrr away.

The pic shows the Mammoth with all three of the roof panels set aside. As I mentioned in one of the previous parts of this review, this set is MUCH more than a vehicle. It’s a WHOLE playset!

Here are the minifigs. From left to right: Commander Lasky, UNSC Marine (w/brown skin), Spartan Operator, Spartan Recruit. I had thought the two Spartans were going to be part of Fireteam Majestic. Unfortunately the armor color is dark grey and the visors are red. So clearly these are not Majestic. Sadface…. Then again, I can understand why MEGA wouldn’t want to do that. Imagine if you HAD to purchase this just to complete Majestic. That might irk some consumers. So I’m cool with it. Though, that Lasky figure is a huge draw too. Hopefully, he’ll be released in a future set.

Here’s the finished set with minifigs in place.

And finally for pics we come to the leftover parts.

As you can see there are PLENTY of part left over. Hmm, so what can I make with those???

Why a Mini-Mammoth of course! (Well, as close as I could get to one with the parts left over.)

Only these three parts remained unused from the leftovers. I’ll probably put them inside the Mammoth attached for safe keeping.

Whew, so that’s the whole build of the Mega Bloks Mammoth. Okay, so let’s get to some specifics here.

First, I know this isn’t to scale. However, does that bother me? NO WAY! This really is big enough. WHile it would have been awesome to have one to scale, it would have been MUCH bigger and much more costly because of it. To scale with the mini-figs, we would probably have had a $400+ model, rather than the $180 that it is now.
Speaking of price…I think it’s TOTALLY worth it! You get more than 2,000 pieces with this set (not to mention those extras). Factoring in my usual 10 cents per piece, the set should have been over $200. Instead we get a break of about $20. (Yes, this is all in U.S. dollars, sorry overseas folks). When you consider the Forward Unto Dawn (FUD) set from last year, that set had almost 2900 pieces and cost $70 more than this, I think we get the Mammoth for a great price. It’s worth it’s weight in value, in my opinion.
Now as to the inside not being accurate to the game, while I would have loved that, again, it would have meant the model would have to be bigger and again more expensive. I think MEGA found a GREAT way to bring this vehicle to market, even making those scale and accuracy compromises. I really will not fault them at all. This is an AMAZING set.
As to the figs, while I wanted more of them with this set and originally it was shown that way in a prototype shot, I’m fine with what is included.

The set is VERY sturdy. The only very slight issue for me was the back ramp. When I close it, I have popped off two thin plates. They are easy to put back on, so no worry. Just be aware of that, should you get this. Again, not a big deal. The model does have some weight to it, so I wouldn’t recommend it for small children. Use your own judgement there though.
I did have a couple of defective parts. As mentioned in other parts of the review, the Roland Dias wasn’t working, and there was that one defective part on the front roof panel. AS well, you may have noticed that my Mammoth doesn’t have any of the stickers attached. That’s due to the sticker sheet being damaged. I think some moisture must have got onto it somehow as my stickers were curling up off the backing. When I tried to place a couple of the stickers, they wouldn’t stay in place for more than a few seconds before peeling off. The remedy was to call MEGA’s customer service number and ask for replacements. I was greeted by a very nice lady by the name of Pat. She took my order for replacement parts with no issue. I should receive those in a couple of weeks. When I do, I’ll post a short follow up to this review to show the new pieces in place and working, as well as the model itself with all of the stickers in place.

So you’ve likely been asking, “How long did this take to build?” Well, I can say it’s NOT likely a one-sitting affair. Hmm, though if you start early enough in the day, maybe… I took my time with it and marked clear goals for each day I worked on it. Mind you, my sorting process is likely longer than most due to my stacking pieces. However, I believe that actually helps me in the long run of the build as I can count pieces out faster on the fly. So the sorting time is negligible in comparison to the rest of the build. All told, sorting time was 3 hours. Lots of big parts and bags that were filled with only one kind of part made this a VERY easy sorting process and relatively quick, considering the piece count. The building time was just slightly over 6 1/2 hours for me. The building time was split over three different days about 2 hours each, with the last day being the longest of the three at 2 1/2 hours. Again, comparing that to the FUD, that’s pretty quick as it took me 5 hours to sort those pieces and 10 hours to build the FUD.

The dimensions for the set are as follows:
Height: 9.5in / 24.13cm
Length: 19in / 48.26cm
Width: 9in / 22.86cm

I have to say that the Mammoth is absolutely my favorite MEGA BLOKS set to date and will likely hold that title for awhile. Only a very few other ideas for sets might top that. Those being a Scarab or the UNSC Infinity. We’ll just have to wait and see.

So how do I rate this? Well of course this gets a 10 out of 10 medals. Again, for the scaled down version and some structural changes from the in-game model, this is still an absolutely FANTASTIC set! I’m just glad (a family member that I’m not allowed to disclose-not my wife) got it for me for Christmas. I know I wouldn’t have been able to afford this otherwise. If you’re lucky enough to afford one, GET IT! If you need to think about it some more, pour over the 140 or so pics from the 4-part review I’ve done for this and think about it some more. This is SURE to become a valued set of Halo collecting in the future.

If you have ANY questions regarding the set, please feel free to ask. I think I’ve covered just about everything in the review, but I might have missed something.
Also, please let me know what you’ve thought of the 4-part review as a whole. Click reply below. If you haven’t yet registered, please do. Click the link in the menu bar above for directions on how to register.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review of the Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth.
-Sal

The Halo Bulletin 12.11.13

Posted on 12/12/2013 by Sal

Well this week’s bulletin is fairly dull with one exception. Bravo writes this one up and starts with a rehashing of the events of 343 day which took place on December 9.

Next up is the Matchmaking Update.
This focuses on Race. Rocket Race will be starting on the 23rd of December. In the meantime you can play regular race in the rotational playlist. If you’ve wanted to see yours or other community made maps in race, you’ll need to first build them off of the race gametype from the official playlist. Sigh….with respect to 343, they have way too many checkpoints and those are often so bright that it’s hard to see the track in front of you to actually enjoy the race itself. Hopefully that will be fixed in the future…

The bright spot to this bulletin is the following Matchmaking Playlist Calendar.

The previously mentiones Race and Rocket Race are there. As well, Big Team Swat, then Team DLC (YES!!!). After that comes an old favorite in Heavies. Following that is Big Rumble which is a FFA playlist with 12 people instead of 8 as in Rumble Pit. After that comes Medal Madness. Looks like earning medals are the way you score in this game type. Not sure on that though, so I’ll update you as I find out. Also, team size to be determined. Extraction comes back for the two weeks follow. Then we get yet another DLC gametype in Squad DLC (YESSSSSSS!!!!). Lastly the secretive Ninja Assassins at the end of April. No details on that just yet, so let the speculation begin!

Here are the dates each of those gametypes will be active for two weeks:
1.6 – Big Team SWAT
No shields, but lots of players and headshots. Lots of those. 8 vs. 8.
1.20 – Team DLC
Team game types on DLC maps. 4 vs. 4.
2.3 – Heavies
Big guns, big vehicles, big fun. 6 vs. 6.
2.17 – Big Rumble
Free-For-All with 12 players.
3.3 – Medal Madness
Earn medals to help your team win the match. Team sizes TBA.
3.17 – Extraction
Extract supply sites to win. 5 vs. 5.
3.31 – Squad DLC
Team game types on DLC maps. 6 vs. 6.
4.14 – Ninja Assassins
Details TBA.

Next up is some news that Halo 4 will be the game of choice for the Red Bull 5G 2013 Finals. Nice to see Halo can still be used for gaming championships!
The finals will be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/redbull5g at 3PM JST on 12.15.13 (10PM PST on 12.14.13 /
The finals will be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/redbull5g at 3PM JST on 12.15.13 (10PM PST on 12.14.13 1AM EST 12.15.13).

The next article is one that showcases a community made map called Advantage. Bravo has an interview with the creator of the map. Decent read. The map reminds me of Uncaged from Halo Reach. Hmm, since Bravo talked to the fellow who created it, I bet we’ll see this fast-tracked into matchmaking…

Finally the Screenshot Spotlight. This week’s subject: YELLOW To be honest, I didn’t find any one of the selections to be appealing. I think it’s more to do with the color of choice, than what is in the pics. “YOUR IN” for some bright yellow…if you take my meaning. LOL

According to Bravo, there will be a bulletin next week, however, possibly not the two weeks following due to the holidays.

To read the full bulletin, go to the official site HERE.
-Sal

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The Halo Bulletin 12.18.13

An incredible UNSC Base made of Mega Bloks!

Halo 4 Cover Art done in Mega Bloks style!

Halo TV show on XBOX early 2014??

New Halo Avatar Items and Gamerpics available!

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks Ultimate Combat Pack

Halo Mega Bloks custom Cryo chamber!

Does Noble Squad outshine Chief in Reach?

Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 4 Weapons, Wheels, Minifigs and more!

The Halo Bulletin 12.11.13